by Candace Shaw
Trying to tune the music out, she read over the email, deleted it for the fifth time, and began to type out another one.
“Dear Cannon … no wait … that’s too formal.” She deleted it. “Hey, Cannon. No wait. Hey is for a horse, at least that’s what my mother says. Let’s see. Hi, Cannon. Yep. That’s better.”
Hi, Cannon!
Thank you so much for reading to my class today. My students enjoyed it very much. To show their appreciation, they made you thank you cards, and I would like to mail them to you. If you could send me your address when you have a chance that would be great, or call me at 555-0819.
Sincerely,
Yasmine Dubose
“Perfect. That sounds better.”
She read it ten times, deleted it, walked away from the computer, typed it again, deleted it, took a shower, retyped it without her phone number, and then added it back in.
Okay, this is ridiculous. You aren’t the shy little girl you were in high school. It shouldn’t take two hours to send an email. You’re a strong, independent woman who simply needs a handsome man’s address to honor the request of her students.
Yasmine pressed send and closed her laptop before she changed her mind.
*****
Chime.
Cannon glanced at his laptop when his email account notified him he had a new message. He was reading over a ten page paper he received back that afternoon and wasn’t interested in anything outside of it.
Sheesh.
He received a B+ because he had a few typos. He hated anything less than an A, unless it was a hard B, but he was too intelligent and too much of a perfectionist to even accept that. The professor had written a note in red on the cover page:
Excellent A paper, but you need to get a proofreader for the next one because I may not be so lenient next time.
Cannon read through the paper, taking note of all of his careless mistakes. He was surprised at his errors, but Raven blamed it on his lack of sleep and taking on too many outside projects. She was the more focused twin who concentrated only on her classes and elected not to have any extracurricular activities outside of medical school.
Chime.
Cannon tossed the paper on his desk and proceeded to his bed, where the laptop sat. He had two emails waiting. One was from his sister, Bria, and one from Yasmine Dubose. Baby sister could wait. He clicked on Yasmine’s name and read the short message, imagining her bubbly voice in his head.
He read it again and smiled. He’d been thinking about her off and on during the day and kicking himself for not getting her phone number, but he thought it would be inappropriate to ask for it in her classroom. Instead, he’d planned on asking Doug to set something up with Sherika and Yasmine to see her again, but now he didn’t have to. Her number was staring back at him on the screen.
He quickly checked his sister’s email. At seventeen, Bria was into boys, shopping, and sports. Captain of her soccer team, she wanted him to know that they’d won the game thanks to her winning kick and that their youngest sibling, Shelbi, had been elected to sophomore class president. He emailed Bria back with congratulations to both sisters.
His stomach grumbled, reminding him of something he’d meant to do since two o’clock. Eat. He glanced at his watch. It was nine at night.
He proceeded to the kitchen as he dialed Yasmine’s number and opened the refrigerator. The left over pizza was gone. Thanks, Raven. Everything else was breakfast food. He grabbed the eggs, cheese, an onion, a bell pepper, and ham to make an omelet.
“Hello?”
His heart smiled at the sound of her beautiful voice in his ear.
“Hi, Yasmine. This is Cannon Arrington. Are you busy?”
“Nope. Just grading papers.”
“Working on a Friday night? I’m surprised a woman as adorable as you isn’t out on a date.”
“Thanks for the compliment, but I needed a break. The last few dates I’ve been on were horrible. One guy just rambled on about himself the entire time.”
“He was probably nervous being around you. Some men become big blabbermouths when in the presence of a lovely woman.”
She giggled. “Thank you.”
“Just speaking the truth.”
Silence.
He cleared his throat. “So how’s your mother?”
“She’s fine. Still teaching AP biology and chemistry. She only has a few more years before retirement, but I have a feeling she’ll work beyond that.”
“Your mother is a wonderful teacher. I learned so much from her.”
“Thank you. I’ll let her know you asked about her. I wanted to get your address so I can send you the thank you cards.”
“Of course.” He whisked the eggs into a bowl. “Let me know when you’re ready to jot it down.”
After he gave her his address, they caught up on their lives since high school, her funny stories about teaching so far, and her noisy neighbors. He let her do most of the talking because he wanted to know everything about her; plus, he enjoyed listening to her bubbly, sweet voice. She wasn’t the nerdy, shy teenager he remembered. She was full of life and had blossomed into a delightful, intelligent woman.
Before he realized it, it was after two o’clock in the morning. He’d retreated to his bedroom after eating his omelet and had stretched out on top of the comforter.
“Yasmine, I didn’t realize what time it was…” His sentence trailed off into a yawn. “It’s 2:15 in the morning.”
She yawned. “Yeah … it sure is,” she replied in a sleepy tone and yawned again. “Cannon, stop yawning. You’re making me yawn. I have to be up at six in the morning for a breast cancer walk.”
“I’ll let you go to bed.”
“I’m already in bed,” she moaned. “Nice and snug.”
Her moan wasn’t supposed to be sexual, but the thought of her nice and snug in bed had his mind in the gutter. It was definitely time to let her go, even though he didn’t want to. Instead, he’d rather listen to her sleepy moans in his ear until the sun came up.
“It was really nice talking with you.”
Silence.
“Yasmine?”
“Huh … mmmm … Cannon?”
I see a cold shower in my future if she keeps moaning and saying my name like that.
“I’m going to let you go to sleep now,” he said reluctantly. “Have fun at the walk.”
“Mmmm … okay. You too.”
He chuckled. She was definitely drifting off to sleep. “Go ahead and hang up.”
“Good night, Cannon.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, and he loved the way she said his name as if she’d been saying it for years. As if she was the only woman meant to say it like that. It stirred in him a fervor that he couldn’t explain.
“Sweet dreams, Yasmine.”
Chapter Three
The ringing of her phone interrupted Yasmine’s peaceful moment in a warm bubble bath to relax her muscles. Even though she worked out all of the time, her body was sore from walking and jogging five miles that morning at the breast cancer walk. She reached for the phone on the side of the tub and glanced at the name on the screen. “C. Arrington.”
“Oh my goodness it’s him!” In her excitement, the cordless phone slipped from her fingers and into the tub of bubbles. She fished around for it, but the phone had drowned, even though she could hear the other cordless ringing from her adjoining bedroom. She stepped out of the tub, grabbed the towel from the bar, and ran soaking wet to the still ringing phone. She knew it would stop soon. She’d set it to ring twelve times before going to voicemail.
“Hello?” she said in cheery, breathless voice.
“Hey. It’s Cannon.”
She knew he’d spoken, but because she was in such shock that he’d called her, she wasn’t sure what he’d said, and it took her a moment to process it. Yasmine never thought she was the type of woman to be flustered over a man and not able to control herself, but Cannon Arrington was causing her imagination to run ra
mpant.
“Hi. How are you?” she finally managed to say.
“I’m doing great. How was the breast cancer walk?”
“It went really well. I was sleepy most of the day because somebody kept me up all night.” She finished drying off and laid across the bed.
“I’ve been known to do that before and no one has ever complained,” he said in a sexy, cocky tone.
Heated sensations flowed through her body from his unexpected flirtatious answer. She cleared her throat. “How was your day?”
“Busy, as usual. Frat meeting this morning, study group this afternoon, and now I’m taking a break from writing a paper that’s due in a few weeks. Plus, I need to fill out a grant application for a medical study I hope to do the summer after I graduate.”
“You’re a busy guy. Do you ever relax? Take a break?” She turned over on her back and stared up at the ceiling fan. She thought about her father, who had been a workaholic. He never stopped to smell the roses and died from his second heart attack when Yasmine was ten.
“My head isn’t always in a book. I go out to clubs or listen to live music when I have a chance. So … when can I see you again? Maybe you can help me relax.”
Her heart stopped, and there was a quiver in the pit of her stomach. Was he asking her out on a date? “Well … I don’t know. When will you have some free time?”
“Tonight, if you’re available.”
“Tonight?” She sat all the way up and looked at her clock. It was six on the dot.
“Yes. While I do enjoy hearing your voice in my ear, I’d much rather see your adorable face.”
Her heart thumped so loud in her chest, she was sure he could hear it through the phone. “Okay, and I can bring the thank you cards since I haven’t mailed them yet.”
“Bring them along with your sweet smile and cute little giggle.”
She giggled.
“Yep, that’s the one.”
His voice was deep and seductive, and it was making her hot.
“Are you flirting with me?” Not that she minded.
“Yes, and it must be working since you’ve agreed to go on a date with me.”
“Date? I just need to give you the cards my students made for you,” she teased.
“It’s a date because I said it’s a date.”
“Okay, then I guess it is.” It took everything she had not to jump up and down on her bed, but she remained calm. I’ll call Sherika and squeal in her ear. “Have you eaten dinner yet? There’s this new hot spot not far from downtown that has the best barbeque and live music on Saturday nights. Reminds me of Beale Street in Memphis.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Cool. I can meet you there.” She rushed to the closet to see what on earth she was going to wear. It was the beginning of October, therefore it was cooler at night, but she wanted to wear something flirty and sexy that showed off her toned legs.
“I don’t mind picking you up,” he said casually.
She stopped tossing dresses onto her bed. She’d established dating rules when she moved off campus and into her apartment. One of the rules was: Don’t let a man know where you live until after the third date.
But this was Cannon Arrington. It wasn’t as if she didn’t know him. He was a nice guy, he was in medical school, and her mother liked him.
“All right,” she said walking toward the bathroom. “Is eight okay?
“Absolutely.”
*****
At exactly eight ‘o’ clock, Cannon rang Yasmine’s doorbell. A few seconds later, he was graced with her breathtaking presence and a face so beautiful it could launch a thousand ships.
“Hi,” she said with a smile.
“Wow,” he sighed. “You look simply amazing.” He perused her short, colorful sundress stopping just above her knees. The dress showed off her feminine curves and enhanced her caramel-coated smooth skin---especially her toned legs. He tried to shake off the image of her legs being wrapped around his waist, as he continued his journey down to hot pink, wedged sandals where her dainty toes with coral-colored toenails peeked out. His eyes settled back on her face, which was flushed after the exploration he gave her body. He couldn’t help it; the woman was beautiful inside and out.
Thirty minutes later they were seated at the restaurant and looking over their menus. Well, she was looking at hers. Cannon was focused on her, as were the other males in the restaurant; from the waiters, customers, busboys, and even the musicians in the band setting up their equipment. They were all stealing glances just like him. Who could blame them? Yasmine had the type of natural beauty that didn’t require long hours in the mirror. Cannon felt his male ego get bigger. She was his date for the evening.
“This is a really nice restaurant,” he said, closing his menu after deciding what he would order. “I’d heard about it, but haven’t had a chance to check it out. I’m always on the go.”
“You need to get out and relax sometimes. Enjoy life.”
“I know, but a brother’s got things to do,” he jokingly replied.
She laughed, sharing her smile again with him.
“So, are you ready for Christmas vacation?” he asked after the waiter took their order.
“I’m definitely looking forward to those two weeks off.”
“I bet. Are you going home to Memphis to visit your mother?”
“No, my mom and her two best friends from Atlanta are going on a girl’s cruise during that time.”
“What are you going to do for Christmas?” he questioned, his voice filled with concern.
“My mother and I stopped celebrating it after my father died on Christmas Eve when I was ten. Christmas hasn’t felt the same since.” She shrugged her shoulders. A wistful expression loomed over her face, and Cannon reached over to caress her hand. She gave a weak smile.
“I had no idea.” He squeezed her hand.
“He had a heart attack. It was his second one. My father didn’t know how to slow down and just relax. He loved his career as a financial analyst. He was always busy, never home … when he was home, he was locked in his office on the phone discussing business.”
They were interrupted by the waiter bringing their appetizer of spinach dip with pita bread.
“You don’t want to go with your mother on the cruise?” he asked after they began to eat.
“No. It’s for people her age. You know, the grown and sexy crowd. Some of her teacher friends who are divorced or widowed as well are going. I’ll be fine. I’m thinking about finding a holiday job, like wrapping gifts at a department store. I’m saving for a house.”
“Have you started looking at houses?”
“No, but I want to begin saving so I can have a down payment and money left over to decorate it. I’m paying rent for an apartment when I could pay slightly more for a mortgage and actually own my own home.”
“I’m impressed. That’s a very good investment. My sister and I live in the house my parents bought when they got married and began their residencies after graduating from Meharry. They decided to keep it as rental property when they moved back to Memphis, and I’m grateful that they did.”
The DJ turned off the music and announced the blues band. Yasmine and Cannon halted their conversation as they ate dinner and listened to the band play, while glancing and smiling at each other the entire time.
Cannon’s eyes couldn’t stray from her. Stealing glances at her side profile, since she turned to see the band, he felt his breathing waver before starting again. His gaze inched down to where he could see her small, yet perky, breasts outlined on her dress. He wasn’t a man concerned with the size of a woman’s breasts. They were all kissable, lickable, nibbleable and delicious. His manhood tightened at the thought of tasting hers and anywhere else she wanted him to. He straightened in his chair as she placed her eyes on him and smiled with her succulent lips before turning her attention back on the band.
Those damn mouthwatering lips of hers were downright sexy. They we
re painted with a light shade of pink which shimmered on her tempting pouty mouth, forcing his gaze to linger there. There was something about her lips encasing her smile which sent ripples of need shooting through to his groin. He cleared his throat and tried to focus on the blues band, but it took all of his strength not to reach out and pull her on his lap and shower her with kisses.
*****
“Well, I had a really nice time,” Yasmine said as Cannon pulled into her apartment complex and parked. She was contemplating whether or not to invite him in to watch a movie. She didn’t want the night to end.
“Me, too.” He turned off the ignition but didn’t move. Instead, he drew in a long breath and exhaled slowly. His stare was intense, and the knot in her stomach tightened.
She could feel her pulse race through her veins as she stared straight ahead to avoid his hot gaze, which she could feel more than she could see. She reached for the door handle, but felt a warm hand on her left one. She turned to look at Cannon as he raised her hand to his lips and kissed it softly. Her body quivered at his touch, and the urge to kiss him burned on her lips. His free hand caressed her cheek and he pulled her chin closer to him as he leaned in and kissed her lips, as a breathless moan erupted from her throat.
The tender touch of his lips on hers stimulated a pool of heat to elicit from her center. His kiss deepened with every second that passed, sinking her more into an oblivion of desire and passion she’d never felt before. She held on tighter to him, as if he was rescuing her from the drowning abyss she was in. Yasmine met his fervent kisses with strokes of her tongue intertwined with his in a seductive dance that was in perfect sync.
Cannon pulled away from her lips and trailed kisses down her neck to her collarbone, breaking such an intense sigh from her that she didn’t recognize her own voice.
His mouth possessed hers once more, except this time his kisses were a sweet caress across her lips.
“Cannon … ” she whispered.
“I love to hear you say my name. I don’t think anyone has ever said it quite the way you do.”
