Chapter 6 #3
There’s a taco spot, two burger joints, and a chicken tender spot.
After his fuck up with the burger the other night and her reaction, he unilaterally chooses the chicken tenders restaurant.
At the speaker, while she kills the rest of the tequila in her cup, he orders two tender dinners with fries and salads.
As soon as the delicious smelling food is handed to him, he passes it to her and encourages her to eat as he drives.
She gives in and tries one of the well-seasoned tenders.
It’s so tasty she ends up eating two of the four tenders and the fries before they reach the hotel.
Their suites are on the same floor, two doors apart.
They reach hers first and say goodnight with two completely different ideas and agendas for the remainder of the night.
When Akeem enters his suite, he removes his gun from his shoe, takes his Timbs off, and washes his hands.
While eating his dinner, he reviews the items from Tanjaya’s apartment again, hoping something else stands out.
He studies the postcard the most. Tomorrow, he will definitely ask Honey if she knows about Tanjaya’s unknown aunt.
If she does, they’ll head there next. Marcelin mentioned she had no one, no family, so chances are high that she could be hiding with the aunt, unknown to him.
He also checks the camera he planted on the outside of her apartment building. Still no signs of her. She hasn’t returned, reaffirming his belief that she’s not returning to Crescent Falls.
In her suite, the liquor is doing its job and Sunjiya is fucked up.
Her mind fills with so much shit she doesn’t want to think about, not tonight.
She’s had enough and is overstimulated but not in a good way.
Anger, sadness, and regret consume her and she wants to feel something, something different, something good—a man, him.
Motivated by lust and her selfish needs, she pours herself another double shot over ice and downs the much-needed liquor quick as hell. Then she ambles into the bathroom, sheds tonight’s clothes and drama, and steps into the shower, praying she emerges refreshed in every way.
To her disappointment, her body was clean and refreshed but not her soul or spirit, which fuels her initial thought to go to him.
After moisturizing every inch of her body with her favorite strawberry butter, she improvises.
With just one suitcase, her sexy options are limited.
She slides on her black lace bra and panties then wraps herself in the complimentary terrycloth robe so she can enter the halls of the hotel decently.
Once she’s covered and her feet are in slides, she places the bottle back into the bag from the liquor store.
When they entered the hotel, she took the bag and all the contents with her into her suite.
His cup with half-melted ice and the cans of juice are still inside.
It isn’t until she’s out of her suite that she feels the effects of the tequila.
She has an unusual high tolerance for alcohol and doesn’t get as intoxicated as most. She normally teeters on the side of tipsy, coherent and cognizant of her choices, just a little lax with inhibitions.
Even though her legs may feel a tiny bit gelatinous, she’s sober and knows exactly what she’s doing.
“Yeah,” Akeem calls out, surprised, after she lightly taps his suite door.
Sunjiya’s silence in the car and standoffish behavior once they got into the hotel had him thinking she was good alone.
In fact, he had showered and changed and was just about to head back to the club.
So if the source of the knocking is her, he’s really perplexed.
“It’s me,” Sunjiya says.
Curious as to why she’s really at his door, he opens it. Her sweet scent infiltrates his nose before he notices her dress. She’s wearing a robe, looking and smelling good as fuck.
“What’s up?” is all he manages to say.
Holding up the bag, she replies with a smirk, “Your drink. I took the whole bottle.”
Although he bought two cups from the liquor store, because his plan was to return to Lazy’s, he had no intention of drinking. The bottle and chasers are all her, but she’s here, dressed in a robe, looking too sexy to turn away. So he widens the door, grabs the bag, steps back, and invites her in.
Sunjiya saunters to the sofa in the living room area.
His suite is an exact replica of hers. They both have a small dining area and this sitting area with 46-inch HDTV.
The door to his private bedroom with the king-size pillowtop bed covered with Egyptian cotton linen and a down duvet and the private bathroom with a deep soaking bathtub and separate shower is closed.
Although it’s after one o’clock in the morning, the city skies are illuminated from the streetlights and building lights.
Thanks to the blackout drapes and curtains in the suite, they are shielded from any outside light.
The only brightness in his room comes from the muted but powered on television.
After placing the bag on the ottoman-style table in front of the sofa, Akeem steps to the wall to turn on the light but Sunjiya stops him.
“We don’t need that,” she says softly while taking him in. He’s fully dressed, in something different, looking good. But why? “Are you going somewhere?” she asks, puzzled and feeling some kind of way. Is he going to see somebody?
“Not anymore,” he offers before abandoning the light switch and stepping over to her.
“Good,” she says but her curiosity about his obvious and previous plans haunts her. “But where were you going? You know somebody here?” she asks. Although amused at her question, he hides it as he sits next to her.
“Nah. I was just going back to the club to see if I could find out more info on Tanjaya,” he admits.
“Seems like she and Honey were really close. I think we’ll get a lot from her tomorrow.
You saw how she kept hugging me. At one point she was about to cry.
I could feel their bond; tomorrow’s going to be a lot but helpful,” she says confidently.
Her emotions have been all over the place since her interaction with Honey.
“It was a lot, a hell of a lot, and I need to drink.” Sunjiya pulls out the Patrón and a cup with partially melted ice. “We need another cup though,” she adds.
Akeem goes to the small coffee bar and grabs a disposable cup, unwrapping the plastic.
“Do we need more ice?” he asks.
After checking the ice in the cup on the table, she shakes her head.
“There’s enough,” she replies. “We good.” When he rejoins her on the sofa, she prepares both drinks, mixing tequila and a splash of pineapple juice.
She hands him his cup then taps hers against his.
“To getting closer to Tanjaya,” she says before downing half of her drink.
Operation get fucked up and fuck him in full effect.
While taking a sip from his cup, he watches her, studying her facial expressions and eyes.
Tonight has been a lot and it’s clearly affecting her but how so?
She’s basically been mute since they left the club.
He barely knows her and what he thought he knew is wrong.
She’s not Tanjaya. She’s Sunjiya and here smelling delicious as shit, drinking and dressed in a robe that has started to fall off her shoulder, exposing her beautiful brown skin.
She isn’t his target. She’s his partner and sexy as hell. The man in him can’t deny that shit.
“You up for this tomorrow?” he finally asks.
“Yeah. I am because I need to find her and just make sure she’s good.
I’m worried that she ain’t though, really worried.
Those medical records were horrible and hearing Honey just added to it,” she says, then sighs.
“Growing up in the system like we did was bad enough. Going through shit like that after making it out of the group home is unfair. I swear some people are just born into bad luck. The good life ain’t for everybody,” she says before killing the rest of her drink.
“You seem to be good now,” he says, not really knowing what to say. He grew up in a loving, two-parent home. While he’s heard of the horrors in the foster care system, he can’t relate but is sympathetic. “Strong, smart, and beautiful,” he says and she smiles.
He’s feeling me, she thinks as she smiles. This night has to end on a good note, and for her, that’s under him. His handsome face, sexy body, and compliment solidifies that her plan is doable.
“Thanks,” she says with a smile. Her next words surprise her though.
Because of the liquor, they slip from a place of vulnerability.
“But honestly, I wish I didn’t have to be so damn strong.
I’m a womanist and can take care of myself, but damn, sometimes I just want a man to handle shit, let me be soft, and allow me to rely on his strength.
I just want to be treated soft,” she admits.
“Yo’ man don’t treat you right in Atlanta?” he asks.
“If I had one, don’t you think he would be looking for me?
My phone hasn’t rang once since you’ve given it back to me.
Besides, I always pick the wrong ones. Always a wolf and fuck boy in sheep’s clothing.
” She turns to face him, tucking one leg under her butt.
The robe parts, exposing her thighs. His eyes are shamelessly glued to her brown thighs and she feels the heat of his stare.
It tickles her skin in the best way. “Which one are you?” she asks coyly.
“Neither. I’m just a man,” he answers with assured arrogance.
“So, there’s a lucky lady back home who gets to enjoy all this man?” she asks with a smirk he doesn’t miss.
“Nah. There isn’t right now.”
“And I’m supposed to believe that?”
“You believe what you want but I only speak the truth,” he says matter of factly. Akeem doesn’t have a woman back in Texas. He’s single and has been for the past sixteen months. His last two jobs were back-to-back ,and Kierra, his last relationship, had zero understanding.
After pursing her lips, she leans forward and grabs her liquor-free cups. She pops a cube of ice into her mouth then chews before responding.
“A nigga will say anything when a woman’s in a hotel suite with him this damn late, and half naked.”
“Maybe but I already said I’m a man, not yo’ average nigga,” he states sternly.
Shit! The seriousness and bass in his tone sends a chill down her spine and travels straight to her clit. His energy is like nothing she’s ever experienced before, causing her desire to be under him to ignite. After untying the sash to the terrycloth robe, she pulls it open.
“In case you were wondering what I had on underneath,” she says with an inviting smile.
Akeem passed wondering when her thighs were first exposed; he’s curious as fuck.
Although every ounce of him knows this is a bad ass idea, he wants her.
He wants to feel her flawless cocoa skin.
Her lips look soft as hell and he craves kissing them.
Sunjiya is beautiful and he wants her, all of her.
The way her breasts heave has his dick rock hard.
Unable to resist, he grabs the robe sash.
While rubbing it, he stares deeply into her hopeful and lustful eyes.
“If we do this, there’s no coming back,” he says.
“I know,” she utters.
“Nah. I don’t think you really do. I’m possessive about what’s mine, and if this is as good as I think it’s gonna be, I’m not coming off you, beautiful,” he declares. “At all.”
“I’m good with all of that,” she says. An arrogant, sexy, fine ass man is exactly what’s on the menu tonight. She wants him, and in her mind, she’s the one in control. It was her who came to his suite. She initiated this encounter ,and based on the lust in his eyes, she made the right damn choice.