Chapter 6 #2
I looked around, wondering if I had by chance missed his presence, knowing it would have been impossible to do so. That man’s presence was too large to miss.
Kove: I’m in the business suite. I can hear the music outside my room that is playing in the background of the story you posted.
Kove: Your boyfriend must be boring as fuck.
I frowned.
Me: What makes you say that?
Kove: You’re on a date and answering texts. That nigga ain’t serving his purpose.
I smiled incredibly wide.
Me: I’m not on a date.
Kove: Then come have a drink with me.
Me: No, I’m with someone.
Kove: Fuck that nigga. He can’t hold your attention. Tell him it’s a business emergency.
Me: I don’t have a boyfriend.
More like a rogue husband…
Kove: I didn’t ask you that and I wouldn’t give a fuck if you did.
Me: You didn’t ask but you’ve insinuated enough, wanting me to provide clarity.
Kove: Only so I know if I need to have my head on right when I’m with you. Not because I care. Come have a drink with me.
Me: I told you I’m with someone.
Kove: Bring them and I’ll find them something to do while we chill. I need your help with something.
Me: What?
Kove: It requires a conversation. Meet me at the bar in ten minutes.
Me: I’m…
I started typing, but before I could finish, he sent a follow up.
Kove: You said you go above and beyond for your clients. I’m testing that theory. Ten minutes or that negative review is coming.
I smiled and rolled my eyes. He wouldn’t leave a negative review but I was curious so I crossed the rooftop, stopped a few feet from Koa, and waved her over. She flashed a smile to the man she was in conversation with and made her way to me.
“You ready? We can go…”
“No, you’re not ready to leave.”
“Xi, you know how we do. If you’re ready, I’m ready.” I noticed she cut her eyes back to him and I shook my head.
“Nope, go do your thing. I’m going to the lobby. A client is here and asked if I’d come have a drink.”
“Absolutely not. You’re not working. This was supposed to be fun.”
“It’s not necessarily work. We’re kinda friends. I’m fine, go.” I gently nudged her and she turned to me.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, very sure. Go.”
“Okay but don’t leave.”
“I won’t, you don’t either.”
“Girl, I’m not. This is just the initial interview process.”
“Mhm, that’s what your mouth says.” She winked at me over her shoulder and I walked to the elevator and stepped inside.
I was both anxious and excited about what I was doing.
When I made it to the lobby level, I strongly considered swiping the invitation pass card I had in my purse to head back to the rooftop.
I got off but it took some effort. When I made it to the bar, my stomach did some crazy things as I located the man waiting on me.
He was smiling at the bartender who seemed very engaged with the conversation between them.
Kove was in a different fit than what he had on earlier.
A white tee covered his upper body and nylon athletic pants covered his legs.
He looked like a giant sitting on the stool he occupied with his feet planted on the floor, back curved so he was leaning toward the bar and his massive hand wrapped around the normal sized glass that could have easily been a shot based on the way his long fingers dwarfed the expensive crystal tumbler.
When I approached, the bartender turned his eyes on me, which in turn caused Kove to do the same.
The way he narrowed his gaze seconds before it consumed me sent a blaze of heat over every inch of my body.
For a brief moment his eyes moved past me and the second they were on me again, a frown eased onto my face.
His tongue pushed between his lips and glided over the bottom one before he smiled sexily.
“Yeah I’mma need more of this.”
“More of what?” Based on the heat in his gaze I knew exactly what this was, but Kove only smiled before his incredibly large hand reached for the stool next to him. He dragged it away from the bar but closer to the one he was seated on before he motioned toward it. “Sit down.”
I filled the spot next to him and my knees brushed the inside of his thigh because we faced each other and his legs were spread wide while his feet rested on the floor.
Mine were positioned on the lowest bar across the bottom of the stool, which I was grateful for because it allowed me to keep my thighs pressed together.
My dress was incredibly short and not exactly made for sitting.
“What you drinking?”
“Nothing. I’ve already had a glass of wine.”
“Who you with?”
When I frowned he added, “You said you were with someone. I’m trying to see if they’re capable of getting you home safely so you can drink with me.”
“Oh…” I smiled. “My best friend Koa. She’s still at the event though. I told her I was having a drink with a friend.”
He smiled sexily. “We’re friends?”
“I mean technically, no, but our deal is final so you’re no longer my client and we’re not exactly just associates…”
“Friends is cool. I fuck with that. But she’s still here though, so you have somebody to look out for you when you leave?”
“Yes.”
“Aight, have a drink with me. You can get wine ’cause I don’t think you can handle mixing liquor.”
“I mix liquor.”
He issued a cocky grin and lifted his hand, motioning for the bartender. When he arrived, he turned to me. I had every intention of ordering wine but when I opened my mouth, “whatever he’s drinking” came out.
“Nah, give her wine.”
“I’m pretty sure I know what I want. I’ll take that.
” I pointed to his glass and the bartender’s eyes not so discreetly shifted to Kove, who nodded, giving the guy authority to give me what I requested.
He poured a glass of Black Ops Specialty, and when Kove motioned for him to leave the bottle, he did and walked away.
“That was very chauvinistic.”
He chuckled. “My decision isn’t about you being a woman.”
“You don’t know me, so what else could it be?”
“You’re an easy read, Xi. That shit is about to knock you on your ass.”
I lifted the glass and smelled how strong it was but I refused to back down. I took a sip and fought the tough fight of preventing my expression from twisting before I cleared my throat. “What did you need help with?”
“I need shit for my house. My agent wants to hire a decorator and I’m not really feeling that. I also know that me being me, there’s a lot of stuff I won’t think about. I want help from someone who will consider what I won’t.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you. You just said we’re friends and that’s what friends do.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. That’s a better role for your girlfriend.”
He lifted his glass and those maple hued eyes blazed over my face while the corner of his lip curled sexily. “If I had one, then possibly, but I don’t. So I’m asking you.”
“Then let your agent hire someone, that’s not really my lane.”
“I just need the basics. I’m not asking you to decorate or design shit. Just make sure I can function and have a bed to sleep in.”
“You don’t need me for that,” I argued.
“I disagree. I can pay you for your time…”
I frowned at the thought. “Would you pay your other friends?”
“I don’t really have friends. My circle is very selective.
” He extended his arm and turned it so I could see the tattoo.
Two letters, DP. They were also on his neck.
“This is my family, the people who have this are my family. I don’t do the friend shit because that’s always situational but family is reliable. ”
“See, problem solved. You have your family.”
“Why you being so difficult?”
Because I’m married, and as trash as my husband is, I’m no different than him if I do the same thing he’s doing...
I went with, “Can I think about it?”
“That’s better than a no, so yeah, I’ll take that.”
We drank, we talked, we laughed. Kove was nothing like I expected.
He had absolutely no filter with me or anyone else but that made for an interesting time.
After an hour absorbing his looks, smiles, and conversation, I realized how starved I was for a man’s time and attention.
Kove gave me both in a way that felt comfortable but still made me feel deserving.
So when the text came through from Koa asking if I was ready to head out, I stared at it for a little too long, debating how to respond.
“You cool?”
“Huh?”
“You been staring at your phone chewing on your lip like you’re trying to solve the Riemann hypothesis.”
I smiled smugly. “Do you know what that is?”
“Yeah man, I know what the fuck that is, and if I cared enough to try, I could probably solve that shit.”
“So you’re one of those?”
“The fuck that mean, Xi?”
“Undercover brainiac.”
The way this man’s face twisted in disgust made me laugh hard. “What’s wrong?”
“Word selection. I’m not undercover about a damn thing in my life.”
I grinned and rolled my eyes. “Okay, you’re smart then.”
“Yeah, I know a lil something. That surprise you?”
“No. When I was going over the contract, you didn’t ask questions, you just let me explain things because you already knew what they meant and the whole thing about the market and your coming in low suggestion about the offer gave it away. I just assumed.”
“But you weren’t gonna say shit?”
“Nope, you used the contract as the reason for wanting to see me. That just means you wanted my time.”
He leaned in closer and his cologne met me before his presence did. “You said yes which means you were cool with me wanting your time.”
“Maybe.”
My phone vibrated and I glanced at the screen. I took too long to answer so Koa was calling me.
“Hey, I was—”
“You okay? Where the fuck are you, Xiah?”
“Still at the bar, and yes, I’m fine.”
I kept my eyes down while I talked but felt Kove’s on me. “I’ll come down there…”
“No, don’t.”
“Xi, who are you with?”
“Can I text you?” I lifted my eyes and glanced at Kove. Those maple hued orbs were intently on me.
“No the fuck you cannot. Send me proof of life.”
I laughed. “You hear my voice, hoe. I don’t have to do that.”
“Send me a picture of you with your friend or I’m marching my ass right on down there and dragging you right up out of there.”
“Koa…”
“Xiah, you know I’m not playing. Do you want me to show the fuck out?”
My phone left my hands and Kove tapped the screen. A few seconds later he was speaking. “She’s cool, Koa.”
“Oh, so you’re the reason my friend is breaking safety protocol and acting like she doesn’t know how I come behind her.”
He smiled lazily. “You can put that on me. We’re chilling though. You still here?”
“What do you mean am I still here?”
“She told me y’all was at that lil hookup shit on the roof. If you’re still here, you can come down.”
“Give the phone to my friend, please.”
Kove handed over the phone, showing me that he changed from call to video. When her eyes were on me, she narrowed them. “Walk away from the bar. I need two minutes.”
I did what she asked. When I distanced myself, I let her have it. “Okay, go.”
“First of all, that man is fine as fuck. I see why you’re in stupidville right now.”
“I am not in…”
She narrowed her eyes and I smiled, trying incredibly hard to hide that I was tipsy. “Okay, maybe just a little.” I pinched my fingers.
“Do you want me to come down there?”
I shook my head. “No, I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
“Okay, so here’s what we’re doing. I’m going to chill with Kameron around here for a while to make sure you’re good. If you need me, text me.”
“Kameron?” I arched a brow and she smiled.
“Yeah, he’s cool for some temporary fun, and since that’s what you’re on right now, I guess I am too.”
“Wait, I’m not on…”
“You are and I love that for you, friend. Enjoy that fine ass man. Every single inch of him ,and from what I saw on his page, he has a lot of them to enjoy.”
“I’m not enjoying his inches, Koa.”
She shrugged. “That’s on you. All I’m saying is if you do, it’s completely justified, and before you get in your head, fuck Kaden. He crawled in the cheating department so you could run. Sprint your ass right on over to that man, friend. You have my full support.”
I smiled. “Thank you and you don’t have to hang around here if you don’t want to. Same applies, are you good? I can leave if…”
“Nope, I’m good. He’s harmless to anything other than my pussy and I think I want him to be a threat to her ,so enjoy your night, Xi. Seriously, enjoy. Don’t be in your head. You’re allowed to do you.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Think long, think wrong. Love you and keep your location on.”
“You too and love you more.”
I ended the video call and walked back to the bar. “You cool?”
I stopped beside the spot where I had been sitting all night but remained standing. When I didn’t say anything, he nodded. “I’ll walk you out.”
My mind moved through a million and one responses before I shook my head and eased back onto the seat next to him.
“You don’t have to; I’m staying.”