Playing For Keeps

by Deborah Fletcher Mello

  “Hey, y’all. My name’s Odetta,” she chimed, one hand resting on her wide hip. “What can I do you for tonight?” She chewed a large wad of chewing gum, snapping it loudly between her lips.

  “I’ll have a white Russian,” Bianca said. “And my friend here wants a Sex on the Beach from that guy,” she said, pointing directly at Malcolm.

  As the other two women both turned their heads at the same time, staring in Malcolm’s direction, he suddenly looked up from the drink he was pouring, meeting their stares. His wide grin pulled full as recognition registered on his dark face. He waved a slight hand toward them, suddenly looking like a ten-year-old with his first crush. Cilla’s eyes widened as her own smile burst brightly.

  Odetta looked from Malcolm to Cilla and back again, once and then a second time. “What am I missing?” Odetta questioned, her gaze skating back and forth between them. “Why is my boss looking at you like you’re the last biscuit on the platter and he’s got the only gravy in the room?”

  Bianca laughed. “I’m Bianca and this is Cilla, your boss’s new boo.”

  Cilla’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “Bianca! I told you about embarrassing me tonight,” she exclaimed, her eyes wide. She turned her gaze on Odetta. “I’m not his boo. Malcolm and I are just friends.”

  “Well, it looks like you’re his something,” Odetta said. “How long have you two known each other?” she questioned, her eyes narrowing in query.

  Cilla felt her face flush red with color. “Not long. Not long at all. We’re just friends!”

  “Humph,” Odetta grunted, flashing Malcolm another look. “Is that right?”

  Across the way Malcolm was rushing to fill his drink orders. Odetta still standing at Cilla’s table was beginning to make him nervous. The woman suddenly turned, moving in his direction. Before she reached the bar she stopped to whisper something to Romeo who was standing room center in conversation with another waitress and the club’s featured performer. The trio turned to stare where Odetta had gestured, then back at Malcolm who suddenly looked nauseous. Cilla looked uneasy as well, her anxiety rising at the sudden attention. Bianca found it all too funny as she laughed hysterically.

  Back at the bar Malcolm was shaking his head at Odetta. “Really, Odetta?”

  “What?”

  “You know what.”

  “Obviously I don’t know anything. Like I didn’t know you had a new girlfriend. So I don’t know anything at all.” She gave him the stink eye, her head lowered just so, her gaze nothing but thin slits and her mouth puckered in a full pout.

  “We’re just . . . we . . .” he stammered, then stopped, realizing there was no point in trying to explain himself so he didn’t. He gave her a look and Odetta laughed.

  “What are they drinking?” he asked instead.

  Odetta recited the order verbatim. “But if you ask me,” she added, “I think the sex on the beach she wants doesn’t come in a glass, if you get my drift.”

  Malcolm blushed profusely. “I really don’t need commentary from the peanut gallery,” he said as he poured booze into two glasses.

  He gestured toward Frank, the new bartender, to take the bar. “I’ll deliver these,” he said as he pointed Odetta toward the opposite direction.

  “I just bet you will,” she said with another deep chuckle.

  As her laughter echoed behind him Malcolm took a deep breath and then another. His smile returned to his face as he moved toward Cilla. He could feel his friends watching him intently, eyes following him across the room. He and Romeo shared a quick glance as his best friend gave him a thumbs-up. He suddenly felt nervous, perspiration breaking out across his brow.

  “Hi,” he said, his eyes meeting the stare Bianca was giving him.

  He didn’t wait for the woman to respond, his gaze shifting toward Cilla who was grinning at him. “Hey, you,” he said, his voice dropping to a loud whisper.

  Cilla nodded her head in greeting as she suddenly burst out laughing. Malcolm couldn’t stop himself from laughing with her. The tension lifted instantly, feeling like a burst balloon deflating. He pressed a warm palm to her bare shoulder as he eased his body into the seat beside her and sat down. His touch was electric and it felt like a bolt of current was shooting through every one of her nerve endings. Cilla pressed her knees tight together to stall the quiver that suddenly pierced her. She shuddered ever so slightly as Malcolm gently kneaded the flesh beneath his hand.

  “I’m glad you could make it,” Malcolm said, his eyes still locked with hers.

  Cilla’s head bobbed a second time. “I told you I planned to check out your establishment.”

  He chuckled. “And I thought you were just here to see me.”

  Cilla tossed a quick glance over her shoulder. “Had I known I was going to cause all this commotion I might not have come all.”

  Malcolm leaned back in his seat. He looked toward the bar and around the room. Romeo, Odetta, Sharon, and Leslie were huddled together in front of the bar, each of them stealing glances in their direction. He blew a deep sigh, his brow furrowed. Before he could comment Bianca cleared her throat, pretending to cough to draw their attention.

  Cilla shook her head as she gestured in the woman’s direction. “Malcolm, this is my friend Bianca. Bianca, this is my friend Malcolm.”

  “It’s very nice to meet you,” Bianca said, extending her hand toward him. Her smile was bright and just shy of comedic.

  He shook the appendage, noting her firm grip and soft hand. “It’s very nice to meet you, too.”

  “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  “Please, don’t hold it against me. You can’t believe everything you might have been told.”

  Bianca smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind. So, my friend here was telling me that you . . .”

  Cilla suddenly held up her hand to stall her friend’s comment. “We are not going to do this. You are not going to interrogate Malcolm with your twenty questions.”

  Malcolm chuckled warmly.

  “I was just trying to get to know your boyfriend,” Bianca quipped.

  Cilla shook her head. “You don’t need to know him.” She stood up abruptly and stretched her hand out to Malcolm. “I would really like to dance,” she said, her eyes wide.

  With a full smile Malcolm nodded and moved onto his feet. Amusement flickered across his face as he tossed Bianca a look and shrugged his broad shoulders. He entwined his fingers between Cilla’s and allowed her to guide him to the hardwood floors that surrounded the stage. Bianca made a face at them both as she gestured for their waitress and another drink.

  Norah Jones was singing “Come Away with Me.” The song was soft and seductive, the musical intonation absolutely irresistible. Only a handful of couples were on the floor, bodies pulled so tightly that in the dimly lit room it was almost difficult to see where one began and the other ended. Around the room others shuffled and shimmied in their seats.

  They would have been better able to take the attention off them in a crowd than standing alone in the center of the floor with only three other couples, but neither seemed to notice. Cilla spun herself against Malcolm’s body, looping her thin arms around his neck as she tucked her forehead beneath his chin. As she did he wrapped his arms around her torso and pulled her even closer. One large hand pressed hot against the curve of her lower back, his fingers grazing the round of her backside. The other hand snaked around her body to that spot between her shoulder blades. Everything about their connection was heated as they began to glide against each other.

  Across the way Odetta dropped down into the seat Cilla had vacated. She and Bianca exchanged a look with each other. Odetta smiled.

  “My boy Malcolm’s a good guy. A really good guy. She bet’ not break his heart.”

  Bianca nodded. “Cilla’s my sister and she’s probably too good for him. So if he hurts her, I will hurt him.”

  Odetta winked an eye at the woman. “Glad we could come to an understanding.”

  Bian
ca laughed. Her stare drifted back to the dance floor. “Looks like them two might work out all right.”

  “We might have to intervene every now and again but I think so. I think they look good together.”

  “Me, too,” Bianca said in agreement. “Almost too good they’re so cute.”

  Odetta chuckled. “Boss man said your drinks are on the house. Can I get you another?”

  Bianca’s eyes widened. “I usually stick to a two-drink maximum but since the boss is insisting, I don’t want to be rude. I think one more wouldn’t hurt. I don’t think it’ll hurt at all.”

  Odetta laughed again. “And by the way, the brother in the pinstriped suit at the bar has been eyeing you all night but between us, I hear he’s lacking in the meat department, if you get my drift.”

  Bianca turned to give the man a stare. He lifted his head, nodding in her direction. “That’s a damn shame,” Bianca said, blowing a heavy gust of air past her lips. “’Cause he’s not bad on the eyes. Not bad at all!”

  Odetta nodded in agreement. “Yeah, girl! But you and I both know a few extra inches on the end of a shovel when you’re digging for gold sure does help!”

  Bianca laughed heartily. “Well, I’m really not looking. I’m off the market myself,” she said, waving her ring finger in the air. “Got me a man already.”

  Odetta laughed. “Girl, just because you on a diet, don’t mean you can’t look at the menu!”

  Bianca grinned. “I like that! I like that a lot.”

  Odetta winked her eye. “And a little taste every now and then won’t hurt you either!”

  When Michael Bublé began his rendition of Stevie Wonder’s 1972 hit “You and I,” Malcolm was still holding on to Cilla, unwilling to let her go. She felt good in his arms, like that was where she belonged. Every square inch of her body fit nicely against his. He had to admit that he liked having her there.

  The music seemed to billow around them, pulling them to a place that was going to be difficult to come back from. Malcolm knew the playlist had undergone a change or two, someone spinning one love song after another but he didn’t mind, knowing that eventually it would have to end way too soon. He blew a heavy sigh.

  Cilla lifted her chin to stare up at him. Her smile was sugary sweet and sheer happiness gleamed from her dark eyes.

  His mouth lifted, an even sweeter bend to his lips as he smiled back. “I apologize for my friends,” he said softly.

  She shook her head. “No apology necessary. They care about you. That’s what family does.”

  He nodded. “They are my family. We look out for each other. I know that Romeo and the girls have my back if I ever need them.”

  “Trust me, Bianca’s not much better! I’m going to hate it for you when she gets the opportunity to corner you alone!”

  “Now I’m scared,” Malcolm said, a deep laugh blowing past his full lips.

  “I’m sure we’re all going to get along just fine,” Cilla said. She brushed the tips of her fingers against the back of his neck, teasing his hairline.

  “I hope so. I’d hate for them not to like you. That would make it hard for me to be your boyfriend.”

  Cilla laughed, tossing her head back against her neck. “Who says you’re my boyfriend?”

  “You did.”

  “I did not!”

  “Yes, you did. Your girl said she was trying to get to know your boyfriend and you said she didn’t need to. You said it just before you pulled me onto the dance floor to seduce me.”

  “So now I’m seducing you, too?”

  “Hell, yeah! Don’t you know that at this very moment you could take full advantage of me and I’d be putty in your hands?”

  Cilla giggled. “I think a lack of oxygen is beginning to go to your head.”

  He grinned. “Might be but that’s what happens when you take a man’s breath away!” He pressed a kiss to her forehead and hugged her warmly.

  Closing her eyes Cilla savored the moment, enjoying the embrace. Leaning on him was easy and comfortable and she knew that it would take very little for her to get used to such a thing. She felt him press his cheek to hers, the warmth of his breath blowing gently against her earlobe and teasing her neck. She opened her eyes and met the look he was giving her. His stare was intoxicating, drawing her headfirst into the wealth of it.

  “So, do you want to be my boyfriend?” she whispered, a wave of nervousness passing over her expression.

  Malcolm smiled. “Woman, I thought you would never ask,” he whispered back.

  His large fingers cupped her chin, tilting her face to his. Cilla met his lips as he captured her mouth beneath his own. His kiss was eager and searching until his lips settled contentedly against hers. Both fell into the moment, the connection like nothing either had ever experienced before. Malcolm tightened the hold he had on her, his mouth like silk gliding against hers.

  Cilla struggled to stay focused, to remember where she was and what she was doing. But her mind was mush, not one coherent thought to be found. She had no words for their first kiss. Nor could she explain the wealth of emotion that suddenly consumed her. She had wholeheartedly enjoyed their banter, being as quick with the quips and jokes as he had been. The laughter that always followed never felt forced or contrived, it being as natural as the two of them breathing.

  But now, in Malcolm’s arms, sharing such an intimate moment with a roomful of people watching, she was speechless, unable to articulate what she was feeling about his touch and the nearness of him. Because in that moment Malcolm Cobb felt too good to be true. Everything about the man seemed unreal, as if he were an apparition who might disappear if she ever woke from the dream she imagined she had fallen into. Her heart was suddenly racing and she felt her body trembling uncontrollably. Right then and there Cilla knew she never wanted to kiss anyone else again.

  The moment was interrupted when Odessa abruptly bumped against Malcolm’s back. “Excuse me,” she said as the two parted, both eyeing each other anxiously. Malcolm took a deep breath and held it as Cilla panted softly.

  “Y’all might want to get a room for all that,” Odessa exclaimed as she brushed past them toward a back table.

  Malcolm shook his head as Cilla’s face flushed with color, her cheeks deepening to a deep red. “What were you saying about family?” he jibed.

  Cilla grinned. She grabbed both his hands and reached up to press her lips to his one last time. “Why don’t you introduce me to the rest of your friends,” she said.

  Chapter Five

  “You’re never home anymore!” Cleo exclaimed, her expression showing her displeasure with her father.

  “I’m home all the time,” Malcolm responded. “Just because I have a date tonight doesn’t mean I’m never home.”

  “Who is she?” Claudia questioned.

  Malcolm blew a low sigh. The twins sat in the center of his king-size bed, both eyeing him curiously. His personal life had suddenly become a point of discussion when he’d announced he had a date and wouldn’t be able to join them at the community pool for an afternoon swim. The news had not gone over well and then the questions had come.

  “I told you already. She’s someone I met recently, that I’m getting to know. She invited me to join her at an art event this afternoon that one of her friends is hosting and I told her I would go.”

  “Is this the same woman you had dinner with two nights ago and coffee with the other day?” Claudia asked.

  He nodded, annoyance suddenly pulling at his expression. “She is. Is there something wrong with that?” He looked from one to the other.

  “You two have been spending a lot of time together to only be friends,” Cleo snapped.

  Malcolm hesitated as he met the stare his daughter was giving him. He and Cilla had been spending a lot of time together. As much as both could manage without neglecting their many responsibilities. They’d been meeting for coffee on the regular, sneaking away for lunch a time or two, and had even managed a few late-night excursions at
the club. Spending as much time with Cilla as he could had become one of his priorities behind his family and his businesses.

  He took a deep breath. “First, you better watch your tone, young lady. Now, I said we were only friends and I meant that. How much time we spend together won’t change that one way or the other.”

  “Can we meet her?” Claudia asked. She pulled her legs beneath her, sitting Indian-style as she eyed him curiously.

  He blew another low sigh. Malcolm had never before introduced his daughters to anyone he’d ever dated. Knowing those relationships would never go but so far, he didn’t think it right for him to shuffle women into and out of their lives. Lately though, with him and Cilla growing closer, he’d been giving some serious thought to her being the first to meet his girls. He looked from one to the other.

  “You always insist on meeting all of our friends,” Cleo retorted. “So I don’t see why we can’t meet yours.”

  He took another deep breath. “I’ll make the decision when I think it’s appropriate for you two to meet my friends, not you.”

  “You suck!” Cleo exclaimed as she jumped up abruptly, her eyes rolling toward the ceiling.

  “Excuse me?” Malcolm snapped. “Watch your mouth, young lady!”

  “You don’t even follow your own rules,” his daughter snapped back. “Why should we follow them?”

  “You’ll follow them because I said so,” he said, his voice rising slightly. “I’m the parent and you’re the child and you don’t have to like my rules but as long as you’re under my roof you’re going to follow them. Now this conversation is done and finished. If you’re going to the pool you need to go get ready before your grandmother changes her mind.”

  “You’re such an asshole,” Cleo muttered under her breath as she stomped out and down the hall, the door to her own bedroom slamming harshly.

  For a brief moment Malcolm stood stunned, shocked by his daughter’s mouth. He met Claudia’s stare, the young woman watching him intently. Her eyes were wide, something like fear across her face as she paused, waiting to see if her father was going to follow behind her twin to discipline her for the profanity. When another few minutes passed without him moving from where he stood she lifted her slight frame from the mattress and moved to her father’s side, throwing her arms around his waist.