Chapter 4
Last night after I finished dinner in the restaurant, I went to my room and immediately pulled out my journal.
The food was good, but I had a hard time eating because of the sadness that filled me.
I knew I needed to finish it, so I did. Knowing that the chicken fried steak was Miles’s favorite meal, I shouldn’t have gotten it.
The meal wasn’t the reason why I had to write in my journal, though.
Nope. It was Koda. I knew who he was because of an article I read about him, but I’d never met him in person.
The article wasn’t anything personal, either; it was just about the hotel.
He had only shared that it was his family’s, but that was all.
I only asked his name because I didn’t want him to think I’d been following his career, or like I was trying to be funny or something.
I was sure women had come to the hotel in hopes of hooking up with him.
Something happened in my chest when I looked up at him.
Through the sadness, I could feel my blood rush as my body heated up.
Any picture I had ever seen of him did him absolutely no justice.
In person, that man was fine as fuck. Multiple tattoos covered his thick ass toffee arms. He even had a tattoo on the side of his face.
A diamond earring glistened from one of his ears, along with a small silver hoop in one nostril.
Don’t get me started on the brown glasses he wore over his chestnut-brown eyes.
His bow-shaped lips were covered by a mustache that connected to his full beard.
When he opened his mouth and his throaty voice hit my ears, my nipples pressed against my shirt.
I hadn’t felt that attracted to a man since the day I met Miles.
Of course, I crossed paths with some nice-looking men, but Koda was in a league of his own.
His presence commanded the attention of everyone in the room.
The mustard-colored T-shirt he wore fit over his bulging chest perfectly.
His fitted black jeans looked good as hell on him.
Everything about him looked good. I might have been sad, but a bitch wasn’t blind.
I hated that I felt so sad yesterday that I couldn’t fully hold a conversation with him. Since I’d be at the hotel for a few days, I was sure I would run into him again.
The morning had gone well, so I was on the right track. I woke up in a much better mood, wrote in my journal, then got myself together for the day. I didn’t have plans, but I wasn’t trying to lie around all day in my pajamas. More than likely, I would end up relaxing on the beach with a book.
I picked up the remote to turn on the television, but it didn’t work. I waited a few minutes, then tried again. I even unplugged it and plugged it back in, and that didn’t work.
Exhausting all my efforts, I grabbed my phone and room key and headed to the lobby. Besides the TV, the room was great, so hopefully, it was a quick fix. The television was only going to be on for background noise, but I didn’t want to wait all day to have it fixed.
It only took a minute to ride the elevator to the lobby. Luckily, there was no one checking in, so I went straight to the counter.
“Hi! Can I help you?” The girl at the counter was chipper as hell for it still to be before noon.
“Hi, yes. I’m staying in room 1031, and the television isn’t working.”
She pressed a few buttons on her computer as she said, “Oh, no. We’re sorry about the incon—” Her words were cut off when Koda stepped next to her. I didn’t even notice the small office that was behind the counter until he walked out of there.
“Good morning, Ms. Avalon. I heard you are having a problem with your TV?”
Koda walked closer to the counter. My throat dried up when his cologne hit me. It reminded me of sage, ginger, and something else I couldn’t put my finger on. Like there was a magnet attached to my shirt, I leaned forward on the desk. I wasn’t right in his face, but I was close enough.
“Ye-yes. I tried multiple times to turn it on, and I even unplugged it. Nothing worked.”
“I’m sorry for the inconvenience. I can get you into a new room, and I’ll make sure the television works first.” He winked at me and blessed me with a crooked smile that made my knees shake.
“No, that’s not necessary.”
“I insist. I want to make sure your stay is perfect.” Without taking his eyes off me, I spoke to the girl next to him. I was so caught up in his presence that I forgot homegirl stood next to him. “Dana, is the executive suite still available?”
I paid for a regular ass room, so for him to ask about the executive suite threw me off.
“I’m sure there is a regular room I can take.”
“Avalon, I insist.”
Butterflies took flight in my stomach when he said my name in that voice of his. It was like he seduced me without even trying. How did these women work around him and not be affected by him. Homegirl barely paid him any attention. Meanwhile, I looked at that man like I had hearts in my eyes.
“Um, I guess. I never stayed in the suites here, so thank you.”
“No problem. Let me ride up with you to make sure the television works, and to help you with your bags.”
“It works, sir,” she informed him. “I checked the suites this morning.”
“Thank you. I guess I just have to help you move your stuff.”
My eyes were on Koda as he came from around the counter. He wore another T-shirt, but this one was money green, with dark blue jeans and Air Max sneakers that matched his shirt. I noticed the night before that he wore Air Max that matched his shirt too.
“I don’t have that much stuff, so you don’t have to help me.”
“I have to make sure everything works in the room for you.”
“Okay.” There was no point in trying to tell him I didn’t need help, because he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. I really didn’t want to tell him no anyway.
He told Dana to get the key for him, then we walked toward the elevator bank.
When we got there, Koda pressed the button, and the doors opened.
He stood to the side to give me space to enter, then he got on behind me.
Before the door closed, he asked me what floor I was on.
I told him, then moved to the back of the elevator.
“I stink or something?” The side of his mouth turned upward.
“Far from it. You smell good actually.” I was supposed to keep the second part of that sentence to myself.
Koda smiled and stuck his hands in his pockets. It looked like his cheeks reddened a little, but I didn’t call him out on it.
“Thank you. You smell good as hell too. I only asked because you moved away from me like I have cooties or something.”
He didn’t know that being so close to him made my heart race and my head spin. He didn’t know that my hands felt clammy because I was so nervous. It was one thing being around him in the restaurant, or at the front desk, but in a closed space like the elevator was a different story.
“No. I just didn’t want to invade your space.”
My heart sped up even more when he moved closer to me.
“What if I said I don’t mind you being in my space?”
I didn’t know what to do when he got even closer and pushed my hair behind my ear. Koda licked his lips, and I panicked. I didn’t show it, though, because I wanted to see what he would do next.
“My bad for touching you without your permission.”
“It’s cool.” If it were anyone else, I would have slapped him, but with Koda, it didn’t bother me.
He smiled, then said, “I hate to be so straightforward, but I haven’t stopped thinking about you since I saw you last night.
The sadness in your eyes fucked with me, and I wanted to do something nice for you.
Consider me upgrading the room for you as my way of trying to bring the light back into your eyes. ”
Bitch!
My insides did somersaults. What did he mean he hadn’t stopped thinking about me? He wanted to bring the light back to my eyes? His words did something to me and made me even more nervous.
“Tha-thank you,” I stuttered.
The elevator dinged, then the doors opened. Koda moved to stand in the doorway, so it didn’t close as I exited. He stepped off right behind me.
“You’re welcome. Was your dinner to your liking last night?” he asked as we walked toward my room.
“Yes. It was perfect. I know I probably didn’t look like I enjoyed it, but I really did.”
We reached my room, and I opened the door. Koda walked in behind me and closed the door so it didn’t slam.
“It won’t take me long to pack my stuff,” I told him as I walked over to the drawer to take my clothes out.
“Are our sheets not good enough for you?” Koda asked with a smirk on his face as he leaned against the wall.
His voice in the quiet space gave me chills. I could listen to him read the phone book and still be entranced.
“It’s not that. I just like a certain kind of sheets, so I always have my own.”
He licked his lips and nodded. “Do you have OCD or something?”
“My family seems to think so, but I never got diagnosed. Nothing about what I do bothers me, and I never had any issues. I’d rather not know, to be honest. Once you find out, things change, and people become judgy.”
“I think we all have our quirks.” He winked. “Are you going to be okay with putting them on the bed in the new room, or do you need another pair?”
I was certain that the hotel didn’t have the sheets I used, so I was confused about where he would have gotten some if I said I needed new ones.
I didn’t need new ones, though. I had just put them on the night before.
More than likely, they would last my stay here, but I had a backup set just in case.
“No. These will be fine,” I informed him as I started to take the sheets off the bed.
Koda pushed off the wall and came near the bed. He reached down and helped take the rest of the sheet off, then helped remove the two pillowcases. The bed had multiple pillows, but I only needed my own cases on two of them.