Chapter 6
Chapter
Six
Carson
Ever since I got the gift card from The Beauty Bar, Venus kept popping up in my mind. Though Asia and I weren’t in a committed relationship, I still considered her my woman, so I was faithful. Plus, I’d never been the kind of man to have sex with multiple women at one time.
Back in college, one of my friends got BV after having sex with two people in one week, and another got syphilis from a long term partner that had been habitually cheating on them.
After that, I decided to only fuck my wife raw and to only have sex with one woman at a time.
Plus, I was a greedy nigga when it came to sex.
I liked having sex every day, sometimes two and three times a day.
I didn’t have time to be trying to find a new woman who could handle and satisfy my appetite.
But there was something about Venus. Something that made me curious about her.
Something that had me reminding myself that I was single, as if that was an excuse to get to know her better.
Never mind the fact that she was married or engaged and I had a baby on the way.
When I told the crew about Venus’s event, it was with the intention for me and Asia to go together.
Unfortunately, it seemed like finding out she was pregnant caused a flood of symptoms to overtake her, so she opted to stay home tonight.
Her not being able to join me didn’t stop me from going.
All of my brothers were going on the strength of me, and I’d meant it when I told Venus I wanted to come through and show her some support.
After Asia created her client profile, we looked over the virtual invitation, and I was impressed.
Venus wasn’t just throwing a party to celebrate herself, but she was giving back to so many women in our city as well.
Me and the guys ended up buying tickets and doing the add-on for college and high school girls as well.
Seeing that there was an actual purpose attached to the party made me respect her more.
“Oh, she went all out with this shit,” Zander said next to me, and that she did.
I didn’t think anyone could top our New Year’s Eve galas, but Venus had outdone herself. She had a crystal, silver, and gold theme. Her wait staff moved with pristine professionalism. The woman didn’t have a live band—she had a mini orchestra.
“Now this is my kind of carrying on,” Kaos said, making us all laugh.
He and Serenity wasted no time heading over to the food area while Tristan and Taj headed to the dance floor.
Zander and I went to grab a couple of drinks, and my eyes steadily scanned the crowd in search of the woman of the hour.
Of course, it didn’t take Zander long to find a woman to fixate on, so when I did see Venus, I made my way in her direction.
As much as I loved to talk, I couldn’t think of any adequate words to describe how good she looked this evening.
Venus was a true stallion: tall, slim-thick, and curvy.
Her caramel brown skin was covered with a shimmery green dress that accentuated every curve on her stacked frame.
My dick instantly hardened, and I knew there was nothing I could do to stop it.
Her left arm was covered with tattoos, but other than that, she had a polished, classy look.
Venus’s face was round, and her lazy, dark eyes shifted around the room as if she felt eyes on her.
Hell, all eyes should have been on her. She looked that fucking good.
That pointy nose… her round, pouty lips.
Her hair was pulled up into a thick bun, giving me an unobstructed view of her pretty ass face.
The makeup she wore added to her already glowing skin, giving it a more bronzed appearance, like it was the middle of summer instead of winter.
I could honestly say I’d never seen a more beautiful woman in my entire life.
When her eyes finally landed on me, her mouth parted before she smiled. The sight of her smile made my heart skip a beat. My feet stopped moving momentarily.
What the hell is this woman doing to me?
It wasn’t until she started moving in my direction that I started walking again. We met each other halfway, and I couldn’t stop myself from saying, “You look absolutely beautiful, Venus. And you smell good as fuck too.”
She giggled bashfully. “Thank you, Carson. Since my fiancé isn’t here, I can respectfully say you are the most handsome man in the room.”
“Oh… So you aren’t married yet? Good to know.”
Her smile widened. “Why’s that?”
“Until you sign that license, you’re still available.” With a shrug, I took a step in her direction and closed the space between us. “Depending on how I feel, you might be available to me even after.”
“Where’s the woman you purchased the gift card for?”
“At home. Where’s your fiancé?”
“Work trip.”
“On such a big night for you?” She shrugged, and though the smile remained on her face, I saw the sadness in her eyes. “We gotta make sure you have the time of your life tonight.”
“Carson, I—”
When I took her hand into mine and gently led her toward the table reserved for us, her rebuttal stopped.
I introduced her to everyone before asking Taj to give me the gift I’d gotten for Venus out of her purse.
While the ladies raved about the event, Kaos tapped my arm, signaling he wanted to speak with me privately.
We stepped a few feet away from the table as he asked, “Why you ain’t tell me that woman looked like that? ”
I tried to conceal the unexpected bark of laughter I released, but it didn’t really help. “Nigga, what the fuck?”
“Had I known she looked like that, I would’ve told you to stay at home with your baby mama.”
Squeezing the back of my neck, I allowed my eyes to find their way to Venus again. “She looks absolutely stunning, but I’ll be on my best behavior. Well, I done already flirted with her and told her she’s available until she gets married, but that’s all I’ma say.”
“She’s engaged?”
“Apparently.” The back of my hand patted his chest as Zander made his way over to us. “Check this out though. He ain’t here. She said he had a business trip.”
“Who had a business trip?” Zander asked, joining our conversation.
“Venus’s fiancé.”
“How he ain’t gon’ be here for his fiancée’s anniversary party? That’s some bullshit,” Zander said, and I shook my head.
“Hey, I won’t complain. I intend to make the most of my night and make sure she does too.”
“Aight but remember he’s the one that fucks with women that are off limits,” Kaos said, pointing toward Zander as I walked back to the table, and I laughed.
I usually wasn’t the kind of man who went after another man’s woman, but there was just…
something about Venus. I felt like if I talked to her a little more maybe I’d be able to get her out of my system.
“Here you go, bro,” Taj said, handing me the box.
“Thank you, sis.”
I gave her a quick hug and kiss to the temple just to get under Tristan’s skin. He absolutely hated anyone touching Taj, and since that was the only way to make him unravel, I thoroughly enjoyed pushing his buttons.
“This is for you,” I said, extending the box in Venus’s direction.
“What’s this?” she asked, just above a whisper.
“I know I said congratulations the day we met, but I couldn’t come to your party empty handed.”
“You didn’t.” Her eyes looked around at my people. “You bought a full table with add-ons, not knowing anything about me.”
“I know enough. I know your passion and purpose, and I wanted to invest in both. Us showing up was light work, Venus. You deserve support and so much more.”
Her eyes watered as she stared at me. Shaking her head softly, she briefly looked away. “Thank you, Carson. You being here and bringing your friends… that means more to me than you’ll ever know. I really don’t need anything extra.”
“You will change your mind after you see what’s inside,” Taj said with a warm smile, helping a nigga out. “I was with him when he picked it out.”
“Open it, sis,” Tristan urged, and him calling her sis made me chuckle.
“She’s engaged,” was what I said, but that didn’t lessen my desire for her.
“So?” he replied, causing Taj to send her elbow into his stomach. “Ow! Pointy ass elbow. What you do that for?”
“What do you mean, what I do that for? That was rude!”
“How was that rude?” he asked as she tugged him away from the table toward Kaos and Zander.
“That woman is in a whole relationship. Don’t encourage Carson to go after her. That’s cheating.”
“You know I don’t condone that shit, but clearly her man ain’t even here. Carson is better for her anyway.”
“How do you know that? You don’t even know them…”
Their voices trailed off as they headed toward the buffet where Serenity was stuffing her face, and me and Venus shared an awkward laugh.
“Sorry about that,” I said.
“It’s fine. I think my sisters are worse. She does have me curious about what’s in this box though.”
“Then open it,” I coaxed, bobbing my head in the direction of the box.
Venus inhaled a deep breath before opening the box. Her eyes widened and she gasped at the sight of the diamond choker with a crown pendant.
“I wasn’t exactly sure, but I think your crown earrings are tsavorite correct?
” Her eyes blinked rapidly as she nodded.
“Good.” Relief washed over me. The only person I knew who worked with tsavorite gemstones was Elite in Memphis.
It was expensive as hell, but he was able to do a rush job on the 5 carat diamond choker with a dangling tsavorite crown pendant.
When I saw them on her the day we met, they stuck out to me because that was my mom’s favorite gemstone.
“Here…” I gently took the choker from the box and stepped behind her to wrap it around her neck.
The sight of chill bumps forming on it had me tugging my bottom lip between my teeth.
The pads of my fingers lightly grazed her neck until she shivered.
I stepped back in front of her and stared at the choker resting beautifully against her neck. “Perfect.”
Her fingers trembled as they lifted and caressed the choker. “Carson, I—I can’t take this.”
“You can, and you will. I know you have other guests to check in with, but save some time for me, aight?” She nodded as her eyes watered. I took her hands into mine and kissed her cheek before saying, “I’m proud of you, Venus. You’re doing something amazing here tonight.”
She brushed a tear away and licked the corner of her mouth before blurting, “Thank you. I have to… go.”
“Okay,” I said with a chuckle as she quickly scurried away.
I hadn’t even noticed anyone was behind me until Zander said, “Who’s Mr. Steal Your Girl now?”