You made me smile more than I have in a long time, and I can’t seem to get you off my mind (not that I want to). Looking forward to more dinners, more conversations, and more smiles with you.
Nolan
When I looked in his direction again, he gave me a wink before resuming his director duties, and I floated back to Dani’s chair as she bombarded me with questions about who sent the flowers to me. To which I answered, “Hell, Mr. Right, I think.”
Might be time to pack up my yoni wand.
Yessssssss!
*****
“I’m so jealous! You could’ve come over here to get ready for this date! I miss you! Just because I’m on maternity leave from business now doesn’t mean you can’t come see me. And Nat’s been asking about you, too,” Jo whined through the speakers of my phone as I talked to her while playing Candy Crush.
“I been busy acting and shit.”
“And, dating your director.”
“Jo, this is only the second date.”
“But you said y’all been eating lunch together every day this week.”
“Because we’re on set together. It’s not like we’re putting forth a lot of effort to have lunch together.”
“Still, you’re spending time together, talking, getting to know each other. Next thing you know, I’ma be your matron of honor.”
“Me, too!” Sage chimed in as she worked on my face. I preferred her work to Dani’s, because she had a much lighter touch. Dani applied makeup like it was for the stage instead of a film.
“You’ll be the maid of honor, Sage, since you’re not married,” Jo corrected.
“Damn, rub it in, why don’t you?” Sage muttered.
“Shit, I lost this level againnnnn!” I groaned.
“You know, I should be insulted that you’re playing a damn game while talking to me,” Jo said.
“I should be insulted that she’s playing this game while I do her makeup, got her damn head down…” Sage complained.
“You two heifers know what? I don’t have time for y’all. Jo, I will come visit you tomorrow morning, so you need to have me some breakfast ready. Now let me hang up and put this phone down before I have to hurt Sage.”
“Fine, bye,” Jo said.
“Bye!” I replied.
“I can’t believe she wasn’t eating,” Sage observed.
“Girl, she probably ate before she called to keep me from talking about her,” I said.
Sage laughed. “You probably right!”
An hour later, Nolan opened the passenger door of his Jag and offered me his hand, helping me to my feet outside the Beverly Hills Sable Inn. As he had when I opened my apartment door for him, he eyed me from head to toe and licked his lips before clutching my hand in his, handing the valet his keys, and leading me through the posh lobby to the ballroom where his friend’s engagement party was to be held.
I was wearing a downright disrespectful little plum-colored, one-shouldered dress that fell just above my knees and had asymmetrical draping that gave the illusion of me wearing a cape. With it, I paired gold Bentley ankle-tie stilettos. My heels put me a little taller than him, and knowing they would, I had been hesitant to wear them since some men could be weird about that. But judging from the look in Nolan’s eyes every time they skirted over my body, he didn’t mind at all.
As he rested a hand on the small of my back, leading me to our table in the packed room, I soothed my hand over my sleek bob and let my eyes take in my surroundings from the white fabric draped from the ceiling and walls to the white tablecloths and gold centerpiece arrangements. Whoever this friend of his was, he’d spared no expense to celebrate his engagement.
We’d only been sitting at the huge, round table a couple of minutes before we were joined by other couples until all the seats were eventually filled. Everyone was cordial, but I could quickly tell none of the couples knew each other.
Nevertheless, I leaned in close to that good-smelling-ass Nolan, and asked, “You know any of these people at this table?”
“Nah, Mike’s an investment banker, so I assume they’re some of his clients or maybe some of his fiancée’s friends and family.”
“Hmm,” I said, giving him a little nod.
He moved in closer, letting his mouth graze my ear as he said, “You look beautiful, by the way. Absolutely beautiful,” and backed away enough to lock eyes with me.
I looked into his dark eyes and smiled. “Thank you. Um, you don’t mind that the shoes make me so tall?”
Closing the space between us again, he murmured, “Shidddd, that’s the best part, makes those legs of yours look a mile long.”
“Well, that’s good, because I have a closet full of stilettos.”
“And short dresses?”
“Mm-hmm…”
“Damn.”
“What the hell is going on here?! I know this ain’t Nolan McClain all up in a sister’s face! And a fine one, too! You lost, bruh?” The voice belonged to a tall guy built like a damn linebacker. He wore a very expensive suit and a genuinely shocked expression as he towered over Nolan.
“Man, fuck you!” was Nolan’s response. “I come to help you celebrate your engagement and you make it your business to fuck with me?”
“Shit, I’m serious! Did you run out of Russian girls? The hell you doing here with her?”
Nolan snaked an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to him. “Mike Otobo, this is my date, Bridgette Turner. Bridgette, this is one of my oldest friends and a certified asshole, Mike Otobo. This is his party. I’m sure the woman he somehow convinced to marry him is around here somewhere.”
This Mike guy just stood there and stared at me, open-mouthed.
“Damn, Mike. You gonna say hello?”
Mike stepped closer to me and extended his hand. “It is nice to meet the woman who drug this nigga back over to the dark side. I mean, congratulations, sister. Shit, you want a seat at the head table?”
“Nigga, if you don’t take your silly ass on!” Nolan said.
Mike finally broke character and howled with laughter. “I’m just fucking with y’all, but I really am lowkey shocked. Damn, when you decided to cross the tracks, you went straight to the good neighborhood.”
“Mike, man. I’ma leave if your ass don’t stop.”
“Naw, man, don’t leave. I’m glad y’all made it. I’ma hit you up later to find out how this happened, but right now, I got more guests to greet. Oh, wait! Here’s my lady…”
He introduced us to his lovely fiancée, Iyla, an actress I’d seen at a few auditions before, but she didn’t seem to recognize me, not that I cared. Nolan had me feeling too giddy to be concerned about anything. Add that to the fact that I hadn’t received any disturbing phone calls in a few days, and I was feeling great.
After Mike and Iyla left to continue their party-hosting obligations, Nolan said, “I’m sorry about that. Mike is a damn clown.”
“He’s funny. Tickled the shit out of me.”
“Yeah…”
“You know, if you keep seeing me, you’ll probably get more reactions like that from people given your past dating practices.”
“If I keep seeing you? Unless you say otherwise, there’s no question about that. I thought I made that clear in my note.”
“I read the note, but I wasn’t sure how many more dinners and smiles you wanted to share with me. I mean, what if you change your mind about me, revert back to your old ways?”
“I won’t.”
“You sure about that?”
“Let me show you how sure I am,” he murmured, and then gently pressed his lips to mine.
When he backed away from me, all I could say was, “Okay.”
Right at that moment, I was twerking internally from the vibes he was giving me, feeling all nervous, and shit, hopeful that this thing with him could become a real thing. And later on, when we hit the dancefloor? Wow! Nolan could move. I mean, the slow dance we’d shared at the club that night was nice, and I coul
d tell he had rhythm, but I’d never seen him dance dance before despite us attending a lot of the same events and McClain family gatherings. That night, he cut loose at his friend’s engagement party. He was smooth and sexy as hell, grabbing my hips and grinding on me to Galimatias’ South. Nolan was nasty, and by the time we left the floor, I was about ready to propose marriage to him.
Yeah, that Nolan McClain was something else.
*****
“Coffee or tea?” Nolan drawled into the phone. It was late, and neither of us wanted to hang up despite the fact that we both had to be on set early in the morning. We hadn’t seen each other outside of work for a few days and I suppose we were missing each other. This was my first time hearing any hints of his Texas upbringing in his voice. I guessed tiredness brought it out.
“Light-skinned coffee,” I answered.
“Oh, you one of those baby coffee drinkers, huh?”
“Don’t hate. Dressing or stuffing?”
“I’m from Texas. You know damn well I don’t call it stuffing, and neither does your Alabama ass.”
“Touché.”
“Uh-huh…Brian McKnight or Trey Songz?”
“Nigga, really?”
“I need your answer, and if we’re gonna keep seeing each other, it better be right.”
I was grinning as I lay there in my bed with my eyes closed. “Brian McKnight!”
“Whew, okay. Thought I was gonna have to delete your number, fire you from the movie, avoid you on the street—”
“Whatever! Jelly or preserves?”
“I’m from the country, Bridgette.”
“Me, too. So you better get this right.”
“Preserves, of course. Cable or Netflix?”
“Since I gotta have the ID Channel and I love me some Insecure, I have to say cable.”
“ID Channel? Damn, okay.”
I chuckled into the phone. “Armani or Hugo Boss?”
“We talking suits?”
“Yeah.”
“Hugo Boss, hands down.”
“Was that suit you wore to your friend’s engagement party a Hugo Boss?”
“Yeah.”
“Shit, I agree, then.”
He laughed. “Well, thank you.”
“Pumpkin pie or sweet potato pie?”
“Okay, first of all, that’s an insulting-ass question. And second, it was my turn,” Nolan said.
I stifled a giggle. Yeah, he made me giggle. “My bad. Go ahead, pumpkin lover.”
“I’ll be damned if that’s so. Me or Idris Elba?”
I snorted a laugh into the phone. “What?!”
“Me—five-eleven, one hundred and eighty pounds of brown muscle. Or that other dude with the accent who makes movies and shit. I mean, I make movies too. So, we’re basically the same.”
“I’ll take the five-eleven movie maker for one hundred, Alex. I don’t think Idris is all that anyway.”
“You’re lying.”
“I am, because he’s finer than a motherfucker, but so are you, Nolan. Fine as hell, and readily accessible. I definitely choose you.”
“Is that right?”
“Yeah.”
“Glad to know you think I’m fine, because I think you’re gorgeous. I could lose myself in you, you know that?”
Daaaaamn. “You could?”
“Yeah. You’re like…you’re perfect.”
“No, I’m really not, Nolan,” I said softly.
“You are to me. Absolutely perfect.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that, but he rescued me by saying, “I’ma let you go now. See you in the morning, Bridgette.”
“Night, Nolan.”
14
“You comfortable?” I asked, as we lay side by side on the floor.
“I’m good. Just wasn’t expecting to be lying on the floor of this place, but I guess this would provide the best view,” she replied, adjusting herself on her mat.
“Yeah. You ever been to one of these before?”
“A planetarium? No. Never crossed my mind to come to one. You?”
“Yeah, a while back. Neil used to really be into stars and space and stuff, so Uncle Lee took us to a planetarium in Houston one time when we were kids.”
“Uncle Lee? You’re bullshitting me!”
I chuckled as she turned her head and grinned at me. “Believe it or not, Uncle Lee really stepped up and helped my mom with us after my dad died. He was like Ev’s backup. Now, he was cursing the whole time we were there, but he took us.”
She laughed. “I know he had to cut up. Wouldn’t be Uncle Lee if he didn’t.”
Before I could agree with her, the person running the program or show for that night began to speak about light pollution and how the constellations are hidden from us because of it and some other stuff. When his spiel was over, he killed the lights in the room, and a few twinkling stars were projected onto the dome-shaped ceiling.
“This is what we see in the city. Not much, is it?” the host said. “And this is what you’d see without the light pollution.”
Projected onto the ceiling now were tons of twinkling lights. Gasps and squeals filled the room, and I had to admit that it was beautiful, breathtaking. Turning my head, I could see Bridgette lying there with her mouth open, her eyes glued to the ceiling.
We saw the solar system, asteroids, and the individual stars of the constellations before the images panned out to show the entirety of each constellation—Orion, Cygnus, Scorpio, Leo, Lyra, and many others. Life was busy, and I couldn’t recall the last time I’d looked up and paid attention to the sky or the stars or how many or few there were to see, so this? This experience? It kind of had me shook. It made me think about Bridgette and the ocean, what I said about taking things for granted. I’d been taking the stars, the beautiful sky, for granted.
I was knee deep in that revelation when I felt her grab my hand and squeeze it. When I looked over at her, she was still staring at the ceiling, but now there was a smile on her face, the kind of smile I wore as a kid when my mom would surprise us with candy or ice cream. It was an innocent smile, a pure smile. And in response, I turned my attention back to the ceiling, and I smiled, too.
“Aye! Aye! Aaaaaye! Come on, Nolan! Get it!” I shouted over the sounds of Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll. The crowd in the skating rink was sparse, which was a good thing since poor Nolan was skating like a newborn baby. And yes, I know newborn babies can’t walk, let alone skate. My point, exactly.
“When was the last time you skated?” Nolan shouted, as he fought to keep his balance. “This morning? Did you learn to skate in the womb or something?”
I chuckled as I skated around him. He grabbed my arm to keep from falling, almost making me fall. “Um, I think it’s been three or four years since I last skated. And I didn’t learn until I was an adult. When I first moved out here, I dated this guy who loved to skate. He taught me how, and we’d go skating every Saturday night. I can’t believe you never learned how.”
“I can ride the shit out of a bike, though. Best believe that.”
“Shit, so can I! And…I can skate.” I turned around, skated backwards for a few feet, and wagged my tongue at him.
“Damn show-off...”
I laughed. “This was your idea, Nole!”
“Hell, I thought it’d be easy to learn.”
“It is!” I said, taking off and doing a quick lap around the rink. I was bouncing to the music when I made it back to his side.
Lifting a brow, he said, “I mean this in the most respectful way, so I hope you take it like that. Fuck you.”
I laughed so hard, I almost passed out. Then I took his hand. “Come on. Let me teach you. It’s all about balancing yourself. To start out, you need to relax and keep your head straight. Don’t look at your feet, and just take small steps.”
“I feel like I need a fucking helmet,” he muttered.
“I got you. I’m not gonna let you fall.”
“You promise?” he asked sincerely
.
Leaning in and pressing a kiss to his lips, I nodded. “Yeah. I got you.”
There was something in his eyes. Relief, maybe, like he’d needed to hear those words. He followed my directions, moving from tiny steps to a decent scissor kick and was gliding before the night was over. Shit, he could almost keep up with me, but got a little too cocky and nearly busted his ass.
We laughed and skated and had such a good time. It felt like we were a couple of teenagers with no worries or responsibilities. And I loved every minute of it.
15
“I can’t believe you jumped at that one scene!” she said, through a giggle.
“They don’t call them jump scares for nothing, Bridgette. I mean, damn, the motherfucker just appeared out of nowhere with that shit hanging off his face. What was I supposed to do? Play it cool, act like that was some normal shit?” I replied, as I followed her up the stairs to her second-floor apartment.
“No, but did you have to jump straight to your feet? I thought you were about to run up out of there!”
“See, now you’re exaggerating.”
“No, I’m not! I was like, ‘Am I gonna have to take an Uber home or something?’ And you picked the movie out! I wanted to see that new Denzel flick.”
“Naw, something is wrong with your ass to just sit there and not flinch.”
She fell out laughing then, leaning her head against her door and clutching her stomach, and although she was making fun of my ass, she looked so gorgeous that all I could do was stand there and smile at her.
As her laughter died down, she stuck the key in the lock, tossed me a glance over her shoulder, and said, “Well, thank you for another wonderful night out, with your scary ass.”
“It was my pleasure.”
She finally turned back around to look at me, key in hand, tilted her head to the side, and upon seeing the expression on my face, said, “What?”
“I love your laugh.”
Let Me Show You (McClain Brothers Book 3) Page 7
