Chapter 2
“That nigga is so damn fine!” Tiana said as soon as the elevator doors closed.
I slightly rolled my eyes at her dramatics, but I was inclined to agree. “He really is. I’ve never been this close to him. The closer the damn better.”
Mulan giggled. “I know that’s right, sis. He really seems interested in you.”
“Well, shit, were we looking at the same man? There was no ‘seems’ about it. That man had done stared the clothes off her beautiful ass,” Tiana added.
We all laughed as we got off on the sixth floor. I had to admit that I was hoping he was interested, simply because I was a woman who liked compliments from sexy men. However, I wasn’t desperate, nor did I need validation from a man. I knew I was a beautiful woman. Although I was flattered that he thought so, he didn’t tell me anything I wasn’t already aware of.
One thing I wasn’t was na?ve or gullible. I supposed that was two things. Just because a man said I was beautiful and expressed an interest in me didn’t mean my legs would automatically spread. My parents raised me to be responsible in all aspects of life, and I took heed. I’d been in the industry for seven years now, with a squeaky-clean image. Industry men literally made my skin crawl at times.
They were so rude and forward but pretended to be someone else when the cameras were rolling. They were creeps, rapists, male chauvinists, and so many other things. I refused to be a victim. Plus, my daddy didn’t play that shit. Until I turned twenty-one, one of my parents was with me at all times. My mama still traveled with me since she was my hairstylist, but she chose to do her own thing now instead of “crowding” me. That was her choice of words.
My parents and I got along well. They were strict but allowed me freedom at the same time. They said they taught me well and would trust me until I proved to them they couldn’t. I didn’t lose my virginity until I was twenty-one years old on my twenty-first birthday. That was the man that caused me to experience my first heartbreak. I thought I could date a regular ass man still, and I was so wrong about that.
Although he was young, cheating was cheating. He claimed I was on the road too much and couldn’t spend enough time with his self-absorbed ass. After that, I knew I would have to date a man that understood the nature of the business and that was mature enough to handle it. Cody was a cheater by nature. It wouldn’t have mattered if I was right there in Lafayette all the time. He still would have fucked someone else.
I hadn’t seriously entertained anyone else… meaning I’d been celibate for two years. Cody was the only man I had been with, despite the temptation out there. No one was offering a thing I couldn’t provide for myself, besides dick. Rubber dick wasn’t the same as the real thing, but it sufficed for now.
Most guys thought they could impress me with their money. That wasn’t the case. I’d been a millionaire since I was eighteen years old. My parents knew I would be a star and had started grooming me at the age of ten. I took a liking to country music simply because it was what my daddy listened to. He also liked blues, but I didn’t think my voice had the grit to properly sing it.
I loved the blues. I loved quite a few genres of music. Country music just called me. I enjoyed the storytelling, and I felt like I could execute it well. A lot of my friends in school were white, so I could imitate their twang pretty well. People were thoroughly confused when they would hear me talk outside of the records. On my albums, if I had a speaking part in a song, I maintained the country twang. So, when I did interviews and talked in my normal voice, they were caught way off guard.
When I got to the studio, the engineer smiled as Tiana and Mulan sat on the couch. “I didn’t think you were going to make it,” he said.
“Yeah. Sorry I’m late. Traffic is horrible out here. I wasn’t expecting it to be this bad on the weekend though.”
He frowned slightly, and I couldn’t help but chuckle. It was my first time speaking to him in person. We corresponded by email to set up times for the sessions. I chuckled at his facial expression, causing him to laugh as well. One would think he’d heard my normal speaking voice by now.
“I’m sorry, Miss Kamari. I hear the voice on your albums a lot more than I hear your normal voice. It catches me off guard every time I hear it.”
“It’s okay. Are we ready?”
“Yes, ma’am. You can head on into the booth whenever you want.”
I nodded and went to the booth, hoping to complete this session within an hour or so. We needed to get back to our hotel to get ready for tonight. Before I could turn my phone off, it rang. When I saw my mama’s number, I answered. “Hello?”
“Oh, thank God.”
“What’s wrong?”
“There was a major accident on Interstate 405. Since you didn’t text to say you had made it, I got nervous.”
“I’m sorry I forgot to text. This R and B superstar distracted me.”
“Girl, who?” she asked in a lower pitched voice, causing me to chuckle.
“Deontray.”
“Oh wow. He’s a cutie. I love his locs.”
I slightly rolled my eyes as she continued. “You’ll have to tell me about him when you get back. Have a good session.”
“Okay, Mama. You know God is protecting me, right?”
“I do, baby. I just don’t want to be tested in that manner. He may choose to allow something to happen that I’m not ready for. Let me know when you’re on your way.”
I chuckled. “Okay, Mama. Love you.”
“Love you too, baby.”
We always said ‘love you’ before hanging up. We never knew when it would be our last time talking, so we always made sure those were our last words before ending the call. I stared at the phone for a moment, thinking about what I would tell her about Deontray, before snapping out of it and starting my session.
God truly liked making things happen that we called coincidences. Deontray and I were arriving at the red carpet at the same damn time. When I glanced over at him, his eyes were already on me. He had a slight smile on his face as he headed to the carpet. I was hoping he didn’t wait for me. The media could misconstrue anything.
He kept going, thankfully, and I approached the carpet after him with my mother. “Ooooh. There’s Deontray.”
“Mm hmm,” I said as I stared at him, watching him pose for the cameras.
The man was fine as hell. I could watch him all day. After my mama and I posed for the first set of cameras, we proceeded to the next. My mama leaned in closer to me and said, “He keeps looking at you.”
“I know. I told you what he said. Unfortunately, I’m somewhat aware of his reputation.”
“Yeah, you told me back at the hotel. But could it be he’s that way because he hadn’t found who he’s looking for yet?”
“That’s possible.”
I smiled brightly as my mama took a step back so the media could get pictures of me alone, then she rejoined me for more pictures. We continued doing that until we were about to get to the last one. When I saw Deontray standing there looking at me, I got nervous as hell. My mama squeezed my hand as we walked toward him.
“Hello, Miss Kamari! I asked Deontray to wait for you to join us. When I saw him, I asked him if he was familiar with you. He smiled big and started singing one of your songs. I thought it would be great to get a picture of the two of you.”
I smiled big. “Well, what song did you sing, Mister Deontray?”
He licked his lips then smiled. “I sang ‘Love Me First.’ It’s one of my favorites of yours.”
“Well, thank you!”
“Miss Kamari, are you familiar with Deontray’s music?”
“How could I not be?” I thought for a moment then sang, “ Your body is a work of art. The Monalisa ain’t got shit on you, girl. Your presence moves my soul. I need you to be a part of my world .”
Deontray’s eyes widened because I lost my normal twang when I sang. I sounded like an R&B artist, if I had to say so myself. “That was one of my favorites of his. ‘Work of Art’ is the cleanest anyway. One of my other favorites isn’t appropriate to sing on TV.”
The reporter laughed. “Can you at least tell us the title of it?”
“Mm hmm. ‘Fire’ is that song. It’s… whew, chile!” I said while fanning myself with my hand.
Deontray chuckled as he unashamedly stared at me. “Thank you two for being cool with this. Can we get a picture now?”
I smiled up at Deontray as he glanced at my mama. She was standing there looking all googly eyed. I almost rolled my eyes. He put his arm around my waist, and I turned to the side to show off my split. It literally came to my waist. When I shifted my weight so the dress would fall open, he glanced down at my leg and said, “Damn.”
We smiled and took the picture then waited for my mama to join us. “Deontray, this is my mother, Katrina. Mama, you obviously know Deontray.”
“Hello, it’s so nice to meet you,” she said.
He grabbed her hand and gave it a slight squeeze. “It’s nice to meet you as well. I see where Kamari gets her beauty.”
My mama had the audacity to blush. “Well, if I must toot my horn.”
I side-eyed her. “Don’t make me call Caleb.”
She gently nudged me. “Hush, girl. I can fangirl.”
I slowly shook my head as Deontray held out his arm for my mother to loop hers around. She stuck her tongue out at me and allowed him to escort her inside while I laughed. I was happy Deontray didn’t make that moment awkward. I wished I could have heard him sing my song like he’d heard me sing his. I could only wonder if the man was as gifted as he sang about. Some of the lyrics in “Fire” had me sitting in front of the fan with my legs spread.
My mama released his arm and made her way to Tiana and Mulan. My agent was able to pull some strings and get seats for them since I was nominated for five awards, one of them being artist of the year. I was elated to know that I had been nominated in that category, as well as best country album.
Deontray grabbed my hand, grabbing my attention as well. “You look so beautiful tonight.”
“Thank you. You look handsome.”
I scanned his body quickly, admiring how his black suit was tailored to fit him perfectly. He did the same to me, but his scan wasn’t as quick. It seemed everywhere his gaze touched heated up with desire. Geeze. The man was turning me on, and I knew as soon as I got home, I’d have to free my dildo from its confines to douse my fire… somewhat.
“The way you sang my song was perfect. You could sing R&B if you wanted to.”
I smiled slightly. “I wish I could have heard you sing mine.”
“ I need to be your only priority, loving me like I’m the only woman in the world, treating me to the finer things in life, treasuring me like the rarest pearls. I should be your first thought, your first kiss, your first sight, your first and only hiss. You need to love me first. ”
Lord, hearing him sing my song like it was an R&B song had me tingling all over. Before I could compliment him, he sang in a country twang, “ Love me first. ”
I chuckled. “That was amazing. You have a beautiful voice.”
“So do you, Kamari. I’m not gon’ lie, hearing you sing lyrics I wrote just made my decision even more clear.”
I frowned slightly. “What decision?”
“I scrapped the track I was working on. I would like you to play the acoustic guitar on it.”
My eyes widened. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah. Just say you’ll do it.”
“Wow… yeah. When?”
“Tomorrow. It’s pretty simple. I’m gonna keep the bass line, inserting it where it calls for it, but I need you to play the rest. I’ll let you hear the original.”
“Well, I’m leaving tomorrow.” I looked away for a second, knowing my people would kill me. “Umm… who are you here with? Maybe we can do this tonight.”
“My sister is over there, getting a drink. She hates the red carpet.”
I glanced over to where he nodded to see a beautiful, brown-skinned woman approaching us. “Wow, she’s gorgeous.”
“Don’t say that too loud. Her head is big enough. Tonight will be fine. Mi’Junae always does her own thing.”
“Even if you win?”
“We celebrate while we’re here. We usually attend afterpartie s, but only for an hour or so before she dips on me. She’s nineteen and thinks I’m too old to hang with her.”
I frowned slightly. “How old are you? I didn’t take you to be a day over twenty-five.”
“Girl, flattery will get you places you ain’t trying to go.” He chuckled, then said, “I’m just kidding. I’m only twenty-six. She’s crazy.”
I laughed. When she approached, her eyes widened. “Kamari! Hi! I never thought we would cross paths!”
“Hi, Mi’Junae!” I said just as excitedly as she did.
She looked even more excited that I knew her name, but when I reached for a hug, she looked starstruck, completely frozen in place for a second. She snapped out of it and hugged me tightly. When she released me, she said, “Your hair is so beautiful. I love it like this, but your coils are everything.”
My mama had flat ironed it for tonight. “Thank you so much! I appreciate that. You are so beautiful. Are you sure you aren’t the star?”
Deontray rolled his eyes and huffed as Mi’Junae stared at him. “You know, hating ain’t cute on you, bruh.”
I giggled as Deontray grabbed my hand, leading me toward my people. “Come on, Mi, before I leave your ass here.”
She slapped his arm. “You would do no such thing. I’ll pretend to be a minor and say you left me.”
“I don’t know how you would get away with that, being that you look like you’re thirty-five.”
“Deon!” she said loudly as he laughed.
When we reached my mama and my girls, Deontray introduced them to his sister. When he said Tiana and Mulan were the Disney Princesses, I about died. Mi’Junae was confused, just like he was at first, until he told her their names. When he did, Mi’Junae died laughing too. To make up for it, she hugged them and said how they represented her favorites.
It didn’t help that Mulan’s mom was Chinese. She really looked like a slightly darker version of Mulan. Of course, she was prettier. My girl was fly as fuck. She was proper most times, but she was fun to be around, just like loud ass Tiana.
By the time they were all acquainted, it was time for us to be led to our seats. Deontray grabbed my hand and said, “Call me.”
He quickly spit out his phone number, and I repeated it, hoping I could remember it to save it in my phone once I sat. I gave him a final glance as I was escorted to the front on the opposite side that he and Mi’Junae were being seated. Hopefully, one of my girls would be able to go to the studio with me tonight. Being alone with him would test every ounce of restraint I possessed.