Nights of Fantasy

by Sherelle Green

  “Ah, so he’s still in town? He’s the young man from Chicago, right? The one you once told me you couldn’t stand then proceeded to complain about him during your entire weekend visiting me?”

  “Um, yeah, that’s him. But I still don’t understand what he has to do with the fact that you assumed I was dating someone.”

  “Oh, come on, I wasn’t born yesterday. You’ve randomly worked him into our conversations for years.”

  Seriously? How could I not have noticed that? “That’s because we share so many mutual friends. Besides, we aren’t dating.”

  “Oh, okay. Guess I was wrong. How are things at the store?”

  “Everything has been awesome. Sales are the highest we’ve seen them since we opened and Nicole and Aaliyah are killing it with the boudoir studio. We’re still booked well into next year.”

  “Oh, honey, that’s great to hear. Your brothers were just asking me about the boutique and the studio.”

  “Aw, how are they doing?”

  “They are both doing fine. They promised to try to visit this Thanksgiving or Christmas, but you know how your brothers are. Always traveling from place to place. I’ll believe it when I see it.”

  “Mom, are you sure you don’t need me to visit more? I can increase my visits to twice a month instead of once a month now that I’m within driving distance.”

  After Danni’s father, Derek, passed away five years ago, Danni had sworn she’d never leave Tampa since both her younger and older brother had already left home. However, circumstances had caused her to break that promise and because she had an amazing mom, Regina had been nothing but encouraging when she’d learned that Danni wanted to move to Chicago.

  “Oh, I’m fine, Danni. I’m glad I get to see my baby girl every month, and I know I will see my boys soon, but don’t put that pressure on yourself. I’ve joined enough organizations to keep myself busy.”

  “How could I forget? I think you introduced me to about three different groups of people that you hang out with during my last visit. Your social life is more active than mine.”

  “Speaking of social life, maybe you should ask Jaleen out on a date to help get his mind off work. I hear women asking men out is all the rage right now.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Danni said with a laugh. “He has been pretty stressed since he’s arrived in Miami. I think the project he’s working on is more difficult than he’d anticipated and, since it’s a family business, his family isn’t making matters any easier.”

  “Sounds like a difficult situation. I know he’s not your most favorite person, but I hope you’ve been supportive.”

  “I have been.” Danni took another sip of her tea. “And he isn’t that bad. We’ve managed to get along while he’s been in Miami.” Understatement of the year. Since the storage room was definitely a memorable experience, they’d still counted it as their second date. They still had to plan a third date.

  “So he isn’t as bad as you thought?”

  Danni thought about all the time they’d spent together so far. Needless to say, she couldn’t find anything she disliked about Jaleen except the fact that maybe she liked him too much. “No, he isn’t as bad as I thought. We’re developing an actual friendship.”

  “Friendship, huh? Well, I’m glad to hear that.” They discussed a few more things before wrapping up their call.

  “Oh, and before I forget,” Regina said. “Make sure you tell Jaleen hello for me when you go out to dinner tonight.”

  Danni almost dropped the phone. “Dinner? What dinner?”

  “Are we still playing this game?” Regina asked. “Don’t you have plans for dinner tonight?”

  Danni racked her brain, trying to figure out how her mother knew she was with Jaleen in Barcelona.

  “Mom, how did you know I was going to dinner with Jaleen?”

  “I already told you. Mother’s intuition.”

  “Seriously, Mom?”

  “Well, maybe I sent him a message on Facebook and asked.”

  Danni’s jaw dropped. “I thought you said you weren’t really on Facebook?”

  “I said I was occasionally on Facebook and an hour ago, I decided to send him a message.”

  “How did you even find him?”

  “Duh, I went and searched through your friends list. Maybe you should have hidden your friends list if you didn’t want me snooping. I requested to be his friend and he accepted me. That’s when I asked him when your next date was and he mentioned that he was having dinner with you today.”

  “So you basically tricked him? He probably thought I’d mentioned him to you.”

  “You have. Several times in fact.”

  “You know what I mean. He thought I’d told you we were dating and that you just wanted clarification.”

  “Hmm, you could be right. Just like he clarified that you went to Chicago with him and were now in Barcelona.”

  “He told you that?” Danni asked, her voice a little higher than usual.

  “No, but you just did.” Regina’s laugh filled her ears. “He posted two photos on his Facebook page. One of Grant Park in Chicago and another of a beach in Barcelona. I would ask why you didn’t tell me you were in Barcelona, but I assume you knew I’d be worried with you being there alone. However, you aren’t alone. You’re with Jaleen.”

  Danni rubbed her forehead. Whenever she forgot how observant her mom was, her mother would do something to remind her. “Okay, Mom. I think I’ve had enough trickery for one phone call. It’s dinnertime in Barcelona, so I should probably hang up and meet Jaleen.”

  “I understand, sweetie. Call me when you get back to the United States. I can’t wait to hear how you ended up traveling with this man you claim you don’t like. I checked out his pictures, too, and he’s a real cutie.”

  “Who are you?” Danni said, shaking her head. “I’m hanging up now.” Danni ended the call with her mom, still reeling over everything her mother had figured out.

  “Obviously anyone who calls me Sherlock Danni has never met my mom,” Danni said to herself. Just as she went back inside, there was a knock at her door. She grabbed her purse before she opened the door. Her steps almost faltered at how handsome he looked. He was wearing beige slacks and a sea-blue shirt that really made his complexion pop.

  “You look beautiful,” Jaleen said as he looked her up and down. The look he was giving her alone sent tingles running through her body.

  “You look handsome, as well,” Danni said before closing her room door. “So why did you want to meet early?”

  “I figured this was the only alone time we’d get.” Jaleen held open the main door so that Danni could walk through first. The minute they both stepped outside, they were welcomed by a warm breeze. “I thought walking along the beach may be nice. It’s only about a mile or so away.”

  The sun was setting, turning the sky a brilliant reddish-orange and casting a vibrant glow across the ocean.

  “A nice walk sounds perfect.”

  Jaleen removed his loafers while Danni removed her wedges as soon as they reached the sand. For the first couple of minutes, they walked in comfortable silence.

  “Do you remember when we first met?” Danni asked, breaking the silence.

  “When I made you that drink at the bar and you turned me down?”

  She glanced at Jaleen, unsure if she should jog his memory. “Um, I’m actually thinking about a time before that. A few days before to be exact. I guess we officially met at the bar, but we had crossed paths before then.”

  Jaleen looked at her questionably. “Okay, so when did this unofficial meeting take place?”

  You vowed you’d never bring up this moment. Yet here she was, bringing it up.

  “News was traveling fast about the Bare Sophistication masquerade lingeri
e parties and Winter and I had just finished our third party in a week. That particular night, we were in the Gold Coast area and it was going on two a.m.”

  She studied his eyes to see if recognition dawned and continued when he still looked confused.

  “The party had just ended and I was exhausted. The bride to be was a bridezilla so I decided to take a short break by sitting in the stairwell since I figured most the attendees would be taking the elevator, and Winter was catering to the models. I had unintentionally began nodding off when you almost tripped over me.”

  “You’re kidding me,” Jaleen said. “You were the masked woman in the stairwell who cursed me out?”

  “You’re damn right I cursed you out,” she said with a laugh. “You could have hurt me because you were too busy trying to tuck your shirt in your pants after leaving your booty call’s place that night.”

  “I’ll have you know that Trisha was not a booty call and I was there because she’d needed a friend to talk to after a long workweek.”

  Danni stopped walking and crossed her arms over her chest. “Save the lies for someone who doesn’t know you as well as I do. Besides, you admitted that it was a booty call that night.”

  “Oh,” Jaleen said sheepishly. “Well, I’m sure I only admitted that because you were trying to pick a fight with me. And why were you wearing a mask if you were hosting the party?”

  “We always wear costumes when we host a party,” Danni said. “It’s adds to the ambiance.”

  “So you knew who I was when I flirted with you a few days after at the bar?”

  “Of course I remembered you,” Danni said. “It’s not every night I meet a man who almost trips over me, then proceeds to tell me I killed his happy vibe. Before he gives me a big smile, probably while thinking about the woman whose apartment he just left.”

  “Man,” Jaleen said with a laugh. “I had no idea it was you. But I should have known that feisty stairwell beauty was none other than Danni Allison. You wanted to argue that night and any time we bicker, it’s because you start it.”

  “I’m pretty sure you’re the one who starts most of our fights.”

  “Not true,” Jaleen said. “You’re the one who is always claiming that I like to hear myself talk—”

  “Which is completely true.”

  “Even so, you like to talk, too, so that makes us even. And you’re always claiming that I joke too much—”

  “Which you do and I have people who would cosign that fact.”

  Jaleen snapped his fingers. “What about the fact that you call me a player all the time?”

  Danni rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on, you and I both know that you’ll date anything with a pulse. And I just reminded you about the first night we met. I’m surprised you even remember Trisha’s name.”

  Jaleen placed his arms over his chest. “I’m offended. Need I remind you that this so-called player managed to have you eating out of the palm of his hand in the storage room?”

  Danni gasped. “Of course you would see it that way!”

  Jaleen popped his collar. “I mean, I know I’m sexy, but you didn’t have to spill your dirty kissing secrets to get me to kiss you in the storage room. I would have done that free of charge.”

  Before she could second-guess what she was doing, she was chasing him down the beach not caring that they were headed to dinner in a few and she needed to look presentable.

  She was a fast runner but apparently not fast enough to catch up to Jaleen. When she stopped to catch her breath, he stopped and walked over to her.

  “There’s a bench over there,” Jaleen said between pants. “Want to sit for a few minutes?”

  “Sure,” she said before following him. Once they sat, she glanced over at him. His eyes were dancing with amusement that she assumed mirrored hers. They both broke out in laughter at the same time.

  “Man, I needed that laugh,” Jaleen said. “It’s been a rough few months.”

  It wasn’t what he said that made her take notice, but the way he said it.

  “I’m sorry that you’ve been having such a hard time at Walker Partner Realty,” she said. “Must be difficult to work with family and have a difference of opinion.”

  “You can say that again,” Jaleen said as he placed his arm behind her on the bench. “My family has a long line of traditions that are not to be broken. Some of those traditions are life changing.”

  “How life changing?”

  “Well, my father is the oldest of five sons, however, my uncle Jake is the only brother who works for Walker Partner Realty. One of my uncles is a politician, another is a lawyer and the youngest is a doctor.”

  “Hold on a second. Is former Senator Jeffrey Walker your uncle?” Danni didn’t follow politics, but she knew enough.

  “One and the same. But, no matter what career a Walker has, one thing remains the same. Business always comes first. Not family. Not love. Business.”

  “Seems harsh.”

  “It is, but for my family, following a certain set of rules is expected. As close as I was to my grandfather, he also believed in making certain business decisions that would benefit the family both financially and in social standing. In my family’s mind, every Walker must appease to certain obligations by the time they reach thirty years of age. Guess you can call me special because I got an extra five years before I have to accept my destiny.”

  The crease in his forehead had been present the moment he began discussing his family. As the waves gently brushed on shore, she studied the man who intrigued her more every day. Judging by the way he described his family, they couldn’t be more different.

  “What is your destiny?” she asked.

  “Can I ask you a question instead?”

  She shrugged. “Sure. Ask me whatever you want.”

  He studied her eyes. “Have you ever wanted something so bad, that you feared by going after what you wanted, you’d hurt a lot of people in the process.”

  “Of course I have. I think everyone goes through some form of similar struggle in their lives.”

  “I agree. But the difficult part for me has always been the aftermath. What happens after I make a decision that I can’t take back. At what point does going after what you want constitute as being selfish if you blatantly disregard the feelings of others in the process?”

  “The same can be said for not going after what you want,” Danni said. “Others will always have an opinion on what they think is best for you, but it’s your prerogative to be your own judge of character, as well.”

  “Trust me. I’ve spent my entire life trying to live life by my own set of rules, while still maintaining the traditions and values I was raised with. Sometimes, it’s difficult to appease all parties involved when fate may have already played its cards.”

  “Is what’s deemed as your destiny the reason you won’t go after what you really want?”

  “Yes,” he said staring out into the ocean. “It is.”

  “And what is it that you want?”

  Danni felt as if Jaleen’s head turned in slow motion as her heart skipped a beat, awaiting his answer.

  “I’m looking at exactly what I want.” His penetrating stare held her hostage. “And sometimes, I even allow myself to dream that I can have it.”

  You can have it! Danni wanted to yell it at the top of her lungs, but his next words gave her pause.

  “In this case, the problem with getting what I want means that I would hurt you the most. And I could never allow that to happen.”

  “Why?” she asked, her voice so low she barely recognized herself. “Why would I be the most hurt?”

  “Because I’m a Walker,” Jaleen said in a serious tone. “And being a Walker means business will always come first. Not family. Not love—”

  “Busines
s,” Danni finished.

  She knew what Jaleen was trying to do. He was trying to warn her that he wasn’t the type of man she should fall for. She wondered if he realized that he was guilty of exactly what he claimed he didn’t like. He was trying to decide their fate without even giving her the option of proving him wrong.

  Chapter 9

  Danni hated to admit it, but even though she’d just seen Jaleen three days ago, she really missed him. Although she’d enjoyed their extended weekend in Chicago and Barcelona, the trip had been filled with more business than pleasure.

  When they’d arrived back to Miami, they had agreed on a date tonight. She was just finishing her yoga routine when her doorbell rang. Who could that be? When she looked through her peephole, she gasped at the face staring back at her. She glanced at her Fitbit, noticing that it was four hours before her date with Jaleen.

  “I’m sorry, did I misinterpret the time our date was supposed to begin?” Instead of responding to her, Jaleen leaned in for a quick kiss that was entirely too short for Danni’s liking.

  “May I come in?”

  “Of course.” She stepped aside to let him in.

  “No, you didn’t misinterpret anything. I needed to pick your brain before our next date. I should have talked to you earlier.”

  “How did you know I was home?”

  “I went to the boutique first and Summer mentioned that you were off today.”

  “Oh, okay. What did you need to talk to me about?”

  “About your list. The one that included things you wanted to do before your birthday.”

  “Aha, so I did mention what type of list it was to you.”

  “Not exactly. You only mentioned it was a ‘Thirty Things To Do Before You’re Thirty’ list and then you mentioned that I was on it...more than once.”

  She walked over to her yoga mat and began rolling it up. She was well aware of Jaleen’s eyes trained to her movements. “Any chance you can forget everything I said that night?”

  “Not a chance,” he said with a laugh. “I learned some valuable information that night. Had you never gotten tipsy, we may have never had the opportunity to get to know one another better. Or in the storage room.” He suggestively raised his eyebrows.