Red Velvet Kisses

by Sherelle Green

  She stood back to let him enter her office. “I thought you left,” she said, making sure her behind swayed when she walked back to her desk.

  “I was almost out the building when I remembered that I needed to give you a few notes I had about my parents. You know, their likes, dislikes...that sort of thing. That way, you can start planning now if you’d like.” He reached out his hand to give her a typed sheet of paper.

  As Lex took the paper, she made sure their hands didn’t touch. The last thing she needed was any close contact. She glanced up at him again. Their chemistry was undeniable and it seemed the more she saw him the harder it was to ignore how badly her body wanted him. Her mind was saying, Heck no, you better stay away. But her body was screaming, Girl, what in the world is wrong with you? Sleep with him already!

  Lex cleared her throat and briefly looked at the paper again. When she looked back up to Micah, he glanced from the paper she was holding to her eyes and flashed one of his infamous half smiles. He had to know she was daydreaming about him. He was a smart man and probably felt the heat emanating from their bodies just as strongly as she could.

  “Well, I guess I’ll be going then,” Micah stated as he turned to leave her office. Lex followed, heading to the door so that she could lock it behind him. She didn’t need any more interruptions until the afternoon. When he reached the door, he quickly turned to face her, completely catching Lex off guard and causing her to run directly into his chest.

  “Why do you always do that,” Lex squealed as she tried to back away from him. But she couldn’t. Her feet wouldn’t move the second she gazed into his piercing eyes. He began taking deep breaths, his eyes slowly dragging over her entire body. Lex couldn’t breathe. She feared that he would make a move if she so much as batted an eyelash. She wasn’t sure how long they stood there before he finally said something.

  “You can’t fight it for much longer.”

  Just watch me. “I don’t know what you mean,” Lex said, deciding to play stupid. Micah stepped a little closer to her, further invading her personal space.

  “Sooner or later, I will have you positioned spread-eagle style on my bed.”

  “I should smack you for saying that,” she quickly replied, surprised by his blunt comment.

  “But you won’t,” he responded, getting even closer to her. “You wouldn’t hurt me.”

  “You don’t know what I’d do,” Lex replied, trying to sound as sassy as she could under the circumstances.

  “Yes, I do,” Micah said. “But that’s not all I want to do to you.”

  Lex squinted her eyes. She shouldn’t ask him to go on, but she was way too curious to end the conversation there. “What else do you want to do to me?”

  Micah glanced at her lips before looking back into her eyes. “You’ll see soon enough.”

  Concluding that he wasn’t saying anything more, she finally exhaled. Her eyes dropped to his lips before she could stop them. She positioned her foot so that she could take a step back from him, but he moved toward her again, stalling her in her place.

  “Be careful LG,” he said as he took one finger and dragged it over her lips. “I’m usually not a patient man so your time avoiding me is almost up.” She gasped out of surprise, but didn’t move away from his touch. Her gasp gave him the opportunity to slightly dip his finger into her mouth. He then took his lipstick-smeared finger into his mouth and gently sucked the tip.

  “I can only imagine how good you really taste,” he said before taking another long look at her lips.

  “Ew, I don’t know where your hands have been,” she stated as she took a step back from him. She huffed aloud, irritated at herself for not initially smacking his hand away, and aggravated at her mouth for wanting to suck his finger longer.

  “Maybe not,” he said as he moved closer again, this time bringing his face close to her ear. “But I can tell you where my hands want to go.”

  Once again, she gasped. Lex tried to think of a comeback, but her mind was blank, replaced by a feeling that was becoming all too familiar when she was around Micah Madden.

  “See you soon,” he said as he walked out her door. Once he was gone, she leaned against her closed door and chastised herself for not being stronger.

  “How in the world am I going to plan this anniversary party?” she asked herself. She had too much baggage and she needed a safe guy...a predictable guy. Not the type who represented every wet fantasy rolled into one hot male specimen.

  Walking away from the closed door, she went back to her desk in hopes that Micah wouldn’t invade her dreams later.

  * * *

  Micah twirled his keys around his finger as he made his way to his parked Mercedes-Benz. Micah and Shawn had finally decided to name their security firm M&M Security and headquarter the company in Chicago. After leaving the police force, Micah had wanted a new start so he didn’t mind where the company was located. And after he had met Lex, he’d been even more satisfied with the location. He wanted Lex in the worst way possible and his needs went way beyond the bedroom.

  Sliding into his leather seat, he pulled out of the circular parking garage and into Chicago’s morning traffic. He hadn’t lied about his meeting. He had to meet with a potential investor in the security firm in two hours. But first, he had to meet with Shawn to discuss a few details.

  Although he’d only been in Chicago for six months, he had grown quite fond of the city. Leaving his job as a police officer in Arkansas had been the best decision he could have made. He enjoyed being in business for himself and he knew he had to leave the police force after realizing that it was way more corrupt than he could have ever imagined.

  He turned off of Michigan Ave. onto a side street, minutes away from the M&M Security office. His thoughts instantly returned to Lex. When he’d arrived in Chicago over the summer, he was glad he could check on his cousin and see how her new lingerie boutique was doing. He had hoped that a woman would catch his eye, but he definitely wasn’t prepared to meet Lexus Turner. He hated to sound shallow, but Lex was not the type of woman he was usually attracted to. Lex was the type of woman you wife and he was more accustomed to dating the type of woman you simply bed.

  Her natural beauty had captured him from the moment he first saw her. And her clumsiness and failure to form a complete sentence around him had only intrigued him more. He couldn’t explain why he was so fascinated by a woman who’d made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with him. Gone was the unsure, wide-eyed woman he’d met in the lingerie shop. She’d been replaced by a woman who avoided his advances every chance she got and she wasn’t afraid to tell him no.

  Micah turned up his radio and instantly, Jay-Z’s latest hit filled the car’s speakers. Pulling up to a stop sign, he delayed at the sign to let three women cross the street. They took their sweet time walking, too busy flirtatiously looking at him through the front glass of the car. The one with the tight jeans, boot heels and slim winter coat caught his eye. When she turned around, Micah noticed that she was the same woman who had approached him several times at a bar near his office. Micah flashed her a smile and she waved just before stopping at the corner of the sidewalk and crooking her finger to indicate that she wanted him to pull over. Flirting with other women will definitely get my mind off Lex.

  He pulled over as directed and watched the woman seductively walk in his direction. Lex would look better in those jeans, he thought. Micah shook his head, annoyed that even a woman as attractive as the one walking toward his car could not take his mind off Lex.

  “Where are you headed to?” the woman voiced as she leaned over his car window, licking her lips in a way he assumed was supposed to be attractive.

  “I’m headed to work,” he replied with a smile.

  “I live right around the corner. Do you have some time to spare?”

  The smile began to fade fr
om Micah’s face. This is what you pulled over for...right? “In fact, I’m already late so I should go,” he continued, brushing her off. She took the hint and stood up from his car window.

  “Why did you even pull over?” she huffed with an irritated frown.

  “My mistake,” he said as he gave her a slight wave and took off. Crap. It wasn’t like him to be so into a woman who wouldn’t even give him the time of day. He knew Lex was attracted to him, but he didn’t understand why she spent so much time ignoring his advances when she could clearly feel the chemistry. On several occasions when they were out with their friends, Micah would catch Lex staring at him with wistful eyes full of lust. He wasn’t extremely cocky, but he knew he was a damn good catch, and women—like the one he just left—had been throwing themselves at him since he’d arrived in Chicago. All except for the one woman who he craved more than he had ever desired any woman.

  When he arrived at M&M Security he greeted the receptionist before making his way to Shawn’s office and knocking on the door.

  “Come in,” Shawn announced. Micah walked in and sat down in a nearby chair.

  “What’s wrong?” Shawn asked, reading the tense look on his face.

  “Man, I’m only gonna tell you this because I know you’ve been there,” Micah said as he let out a frustrated huff of air. Shawn laughed as if he already knew where the conversation was headed.

  “Does this have to do with Lex?”

  “Of course it has to do with her,” Micah exclaimed. “I had a meeting with all the ladies this morning and within minutes, Lex was informed that she would be the event planner for my parents’ anniversary party.”

  “Isn’t that a good thing?”

  “It is, but it’s what happened after I left the office that caught me off guard.”

  “What happened?”

  Micah dragged his long fingers across his face. “Remember that woman from the bar the other night? The one who wore those blue stilettos and tight jeans? We danced a few times before you and I left.”

  “Yeah, I remember.”

  “Well, I ran into her on my way to the office and she invited me back to her place.”

  “In the middle of the day? Man, some women are bold nowadays,” Shawn said shaking his head. “But from the annoyed look on your face, I’m assuming you declined her offer.”

  “Sure did,” Micah said as he dropped his head to the floor.

  “So I guess the self-imposed streak of celibacy continues,” Shawn said with a laugh.

  “You know when I turned thirty this year I promised myself that I would stop sleeping around.”

  “Sleeping around with so many women, yes. Not sleeping with any women period, no.”

  “I’ve been too busy trying to get settled in Chicago to think about having sex with random women. Besides—” Micah glanced out the side window in Shawn’s office “—there’s only one woman I have my eye on, and until Lex accepts the inevitable, I don’t think I’ll be satisfied with any other woman. That sounds crazy, right?”

  “Well, considering I know the type of man you used to be, hell, yeah. But I understand,” Shawn responded leaning back in his desk chair. “I felt the same way about Cyd, but luckily, Cyd didn’t make me wait that long. Plus, I heard that Lex was in a serious relationship for years, one that went terribly wrong. According to Cyd, she’s sworn off dating real men.”

  “So that means what? She dates fake men?”

  “I don’t know. Cyd and I got distracted so we never finished the conversation.”

  Micah didn’t even bother asking what had distracted Shawn and Cyd since he already knew. Nor did he bother to ask about Lex’s old relationships because he’d asked Shawn before and he said he needed to ask Lex. So he would just have to find out from her. There was way more to Lex than met the eye, and he was determined to figure it out. He’d spent the past few months observing her and patiently waiting for her to stop fighting the desire she was trying to hide. Now he was done waiting. Micah never had to persistently pursue a woman, but Lex was making him work for it. But if he left it to her they would never get together, so it was time for him to stop letting Lex control the course of their nonexistent relationship.

  “Then I guess I will just have to show Lex that I don’t plan on going anywhere.”

  “And I assume your sudden desire to throw your parents an anniversary party plays a part in your plans?”

  “That and the fact that they deserve a celebration,” Micah said, rubbing his hands together. “Up until now, I’ve been giving Lex time to realize that she can’t fight the attraction forever. But I think it’s time to lay out all the stops the only way a Madden man knows how to.”

  “I’m afraid to ask,” Shawn said with a laugh as he pulled out a folder that contained notes on the investor they were meeting with in an hour. “Well, Romeo, I can’t wait to see how this plan of yours plays out. In the meantime, let’s get ready for our meeting.”

  Micah was barely listening to Shawn as he went over the notes in the file. His mind was already racing with different seduction tactics. Time for you to see things my way, Lex.

  Chapter 3

  “Ya’ll couldn’t possibly expect me to agree to this,” Lex shouted as she slammed a piece of paper on Imani’s desk. It had only been three days since she’d seen Micah and he was already working her last nerve.

  “Let’s be reasonable, Lex,” Imani said as she stood from her chair and walked around her desk. “If a client needs us to travel we almost always accommodate their needs.”

  “She’s right,” Mya said, entering Imani’s office with Cyd by her side. “Our main goal at Elite Events Incorporated is to make every event we plan a memorable experience. We achieve this by putting our all into every event we plan.”

  “Please save the speech for someone who didn’t help cofound this company or create part of the mission statement,” Lex said as she turned slightly to Mya and raised a hand to cut her off.

  “Someone’s bitchy this morning,” Cyd said as she plopped down in a nearby chair. Lex cut her eyes at Cyd before taking a step back so she could face all the women. She took a couple deep breaths before she continued her rant.

  “Look,” she stated firmly. “Micah’s request that I accompany him to his Arkansas hometown to get to know his parents better should not be a requirement.”

  “How is this any different than when you and I attended several family outings to get to know the families of Kaydence Walters and Justin Phillips before we planned their wedding and prewedding festivities earlier this year?” Mya asked.

  “Or when Cyd and I spent three days with the families of Brooklyn Hathaway and Wyatt Lexington for the exact same reason before we began planning their wedding?” Imani interjected.

  “All of that didn’t require us to leave Chicago. Did any of you actually read this piece of paper before agreeing to his contract?” Lex asked as she picked up the paper from Imani’s desk and waved it in the air. “Well let me inform you of Mr. Madden’s ridiculous requests.”

  She flipped some fallen hair out of her face before she gripped the paper with both hands. “Number one—the event planner must meet with me in person once a week to ensure we are on schedule with the plans. Number two—the event planner must agree to at least three dinner meetings as my daily schedule is too busy for morning or afternoon consultations. Number three—the event planner must attend the winter festival in my Arkansas hometown during the month of December.”

  She placed the piece of paper back on the desk before looking at her partners. The smirks on their faces were really starting to get under her skin. “I don’t think anything is funny about this situation!”

  “Well, if you were looking at the situation through our eyes, maybe you would,” Mya said with a laugh and shrug of her shoulders.

  “Oh
, lord,” Cyd said getting up from the chair. “Lex, we know you’re pissed off, but honestly, we’ve done more for clients before. You’re usually so accommodating and you rarely complain so we can only assume that you like Micah more than you have let on.”

  “Oh, please,” Lex said, waving off the comment. “I just value my time and with Christmas right around the corner, it irritates me that Micah is trying to occupy so much of it.”

  “Or,” Imani responded as she placed her pointer finger in the air. “Spending that much time with Micah irritates you because you can’t avoid him like you have been lately.”

  She sighed deeply. Lex was tired of arguing about the same subject and was even more tired of convincing herself they were wrong when she knew, deep down, that they were right. She dropped her head down to the floor before lifting it back up.

  “I give up,” Lex said taking a seat in the chair Cyd had just vacated. “You guys are right, but I just don’t get it. Why is he even into me when he can have his pick of women? I’ve constantly ignored his advances.”

  “Do you hear yourself?” Mya asked raising an eyebrow. “Why not you? He’d be lucky to have you.”

  Lex wasn’t so sure. The ladies didn’t know how embarrassing it was the first time she’d met him. And once she realized she would have to see him again, she’d decided that she could either be that pathetic woman he met in the lingerie boutique, or she could act indifferent to him, which somehow came off as dislike. That wasn’t her intention, but anything was better than being submissive to his charm.

  She covered her face with both hands. “I’m done talking about Micah. Like I said before, I have too much baggage to even consider dating a man like him. Besides,” she said getting up from the chair and smoothing out her dress slacks. “I’ve avoided his advances for this long so I’m sure another month or so will be a piece of cake.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  Lex jumped at the sound of Micah’s voice in the doorway. Oh, no...how much did he hear? From the sly smile on his smooth brown face she could only assume he’d heard way too much.