Chapter 10
The early morning sun beamed down on Russ, almost spotlighting his good looks as he started his car.
I eyed his profile and then let my gaze sweep over his body.
From his black T-shirt that stretched over his broad chest to his dark gray joggers that fit him just right, he made comfortable look sexy.
But when I noticed he was also wearing the black-and-white two-tone sneakers, I felt a warm flush roll over my skin.
I glanced down at the matching pair on my feet before I realized our outfits looked purposely coordinated.
“You tired?” Russ asked, pulling me from my thoughts.
“A little. But I’ll make it. How are you?” I wondered.
“I’m better now.” He programmed the music to his Bluetooth speaker and then looked at me. “Seeing you makes everything better.”
My stomach flipped. “I feel the same way. You think I’d be up so early on the weekend for just anybody?”
He smirked. “You ready for this?”
“I’m ready for whatever you have planned.”
He hooked his finger under my chin and leaned over the middle console. “Good.”
His mouth covered mine, kissing me softly.
I wasn’t sure if it was the fact that it was seven o’clock in the morning or if the sandalwood-and-leather scent had seduced me, but the kiss made me heady.
Breaking the kiss, he stared at me for a moment, and I felt something.
Again, my stomach flipped.
I must be tired.
“What are you thinking about?”
“You were wearing that suit last night,” I complimented him.
“Thank you,” he said as he pulled off the lot and merged into traffic. “I know I told you several times, but you were absolutely beautiful last night. It caught me off guard.”
I feigned offense. “That I was beautiful?”
“That you were there,” he quickly clarified.
He looked over at me. “You are always beautiful. But I’ve never seen you in something like that.
I’m going to have to find somewhere to take you to so I can get you dressed up like that again.
” He paused for a second. “Somewhere that’s not for business. Somewhere that can be all pleasure.”
“Speaking of business and pleasure…” I shifted my body in his direction. “I know that we don’t talk about work. But our bathroom break didn’t mess up the networking you were doing last night, did it?”
He shook his head. “Nah.” Reaching over, he grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips. “But thanks for asking.”
“Of course! I definitely wouldn’t want to be the reason why you lost any money.”
“I don’t want you to ever worry about that. But now that you bring up business and pleasure, what were you doing there last night?”
I quirked an eyebrow and twisted my lips into a smile.
He didn’t know I was a model or an influencer. He definitely didn’t know about my new contract with RL Fashions. He only knew about my work with Charlotte, and I left it at that.
“Mixing and mingling,” I answered in a noncommittal way. “I’m a fashion girly. You know I like to be on the scene.”
He laughed. “This is true. You said you had to link with some people. Were you late?”
I shook my head. “Nope. Right on time, and then we spent two hours coming up with a really cool idea.”
“What kind of idea?”
I bit down on my bottom lip and considered the question for a second. “It’s for a work project. I’ll tell you if it works out,” I told him.
“What—oh!”
“Okay!”
We reacted at the same time as a song we hadn’t heard in a long time blasted through the speakers.
“I forgot all about this song,” I cried before I started rapping along with it.
Russ also knew all of the lyrics and joined me.
By the time the song ended, we were both out of breath.
“I did not think you were going to know all the lyrics,” he said with a laugh. “What do you even know about them?”
“I know every song on that album,” I retorted. “Before streaming, I got the CD when it first came out and played that thing on repeat. I might’ve been a little young to know the lyrics, but they were rapping so fast, my parents didn’t know what they were saying anyway.”
“My older brother had the CD. He’s eight years older so I heard and saw a lot of shit I was too young for.”
“You have three siblings, right?”
“Yeah. I’m the second of four.”
“Ah.” I nodded knowingly. “So, you’re the middle child.”
“I mean… I’m in the middle.”
Pulling out my phone, I typed something in the search engine. “As the second born, it says that you demand respect.”
“Yeah.” He chuckled under his breath. “That’s true.”
Nodding, a memory hit me. “I remember you saying that disrespect makes you mad.”
“Disrespect me or anyone I love, and I have to shut that shit down.”
“Noted.” I looked down at the list. “And that kind of ties in with the next one because it says that you’re the peacemaker. Is that true?”
“My family has big personalities, so I was always keeping the peace.”
“It says you have a large social circle, and you thrive on friendships.”
“Yes and no. I know a lot of people. I am in a lot of social situations. But my circle is small.”
“So, you’re around a lot of people socially, but you don’t spend a lot of time with a lot of people personally.”
He nodded. “Exactly. I value my time, so when I get some free time, I only want to be around a select few people. That’s always been the case. Everyone I spend time with is someone who adds value to my life in some way, shape, or form.”
“Sounds like I should feel special,” I teased.
He glanced over at me. “You are special.”
The smoothness of his delivery caused a flutter in my belly. Eyeing his profile, I smiled. “And don’t you forget it.”
“Never that.”
Shifting my attention back to my phone, I continued to read. “It says you’re somewhat rebellious.” I looked back over at him with a smirk. “I already know that’s true.”
He snickered. “Yeah, that’s gotta be a trait you have, too…”
“We’re not talking about me right now,” I laughed, deflecting. “And lastly, the list says you’re a people pleaser.”
“Now that one isn’t true.”
“Really?”
Licking his lips, he switched lanes. “The only person I’m trying to please is you.”
The heat crept up my neck and inflamed my face. “Oh, really?”
“Honesty is too important to me for me to be a people pleaser. That’s why my circle is small. It’s why I run my business the way that I do. It’s why my mom has been mad at me for the last few weeks.”
“Wait.” I put my phone in my lap. “Why is she mad at you?”
He let out a short, dry laugh. “They were on my ass about settling down. I told them they need to worry about what my siblings got going on and leave me out of the nonsense. The whole table went off.” He smirked.
“Apparently my brother is going through it with his wife again. One of my sisters is pregnant and the other one has been married for five years and will tell them they are being antifeminist by asking her about her womb.” He glanced over at me.
“That’s a direct quote from the weekend. ”
“If everybody has something going on, why are they mad at you for not settling down?”
“Oh no, they stay mad about that. But currently, my mom said she’s mad that I ruined a nice pleasant dinner.”
My jaw dropped. “No! You ruined dinner?”
“I didn’t ruin it. Everybody was just hype for the rest of it and loudly defending what they had going on. I didn’t even mean it the way everyone took it. All I meant was that they have three other kids to focus their attention on.”
I snickered. “So, everybody took what you said the wrong way and got in their feelings?”
“Everybody! I was the one trying to make peace, but it was too late.”
“And you ruined dinner.” I shook my head. “Damn shame.”
“That’s the same shit my mom said.” He snickered. “It isn’t often all four of us are home, so she felt a way.”
“How are you going to make it up to her?”
“I’m going to head to Michigan next month for Sunday dinner. The oldest and the youngest are already there. Once I get my other sister to confirm this week, I’ll smooth things over with my mom.”
“Have you talked to her since then?”
“Yeah, I talk to her every week. If I can either bring home my future wife or get all four of us home for dinner, she’ll be satisfied.”
I don’t know why the statement surprised me, but my eyebrows shot up. “Really? You’re ready to settle down?”
“For the right woman, absolutely.” He glimpsed at me. “Why does that shock you?”
“I don’t know.” Shifting in my seat, I racked my brain for understanding. “You are always jetting off. It just felt like you had a certain lifestyle.”
“You trying to call me a fuckboy?”
“I was going to say a rolling stone, but I mean…” I gestured at him with my hands. “If the shoe fits. I don’t know what you do in these other cities!”
He let out a chuckle. “Wow, Nina! Why the hell would you think that?”
“You like to go out and have a good time—”
“So do you!”
Exactly.
“We have fun together. That has always been our thing,” I explained. “We enjoy life. We like to be out and about. And you’re always on the move, so I assume you keep the fun going when I’m not around.”
“Nina,” he started, picking up speed to go around a truck. “It’s not even like that.”
“Okay, my bad, Bubba Wallace,” I joked as I tugged at my seatbelt.
His amusement burst out of him as a deep rumble. The way his laugh filled the car simultaneously filled me. Warmth spread through my veins as the sound ricocheted around the car.
“I had to get around them,” he explained. “You know I got you. There’s nothing for you to worry about.”
“I didn’t say I was worried. I was just acknowledging that the speed limit isn’t ninety-five.”
“Yeah, aight. What does your little article say about you being an only child?”
“Don’t try to change the subject, Speed Racer.” I picked up my phone and scrolled down. “It says lonely, spoiled, high sense of independence, poor social skills, high achievers, and highly sensitive to criticism,” I read. Looking over at him, I shrugged. “Three out of six are true.”
“I can probably guess the three.” He counted them off with his hand. “High achiever, sense of independence, and spoiled.”