Chapter 15 Farrah
At least he has three bedrooms, I thought as Mekhi opened the door to one of his guest rooms for me.
My eyes darted around the space, taking in the baby blue and white décor, the fluffy-looking, queen-sized bed, and the shining, hardwood floors.
Everything I’d seen about this house was beautiful and I was grudgingly impressed by his sense of style.
“This is nice,” I said.
He didn’t say anything, just nodded once as he walked in and set my suitcases next to the oak dresser. I followed behind him slowly, carrying the bag with my toiletries.
“I appreciate your hospitality, but as soon as Kera gets back, I can go stay with her.”
I didn’t want to wear out my welcome.
“Good,” he said.
My mouth fell open. I couldn’t believe him! On second thought, yes, I could. He said whatever he thought, and it was usually some offensive shit.
“Ugh! Why are you so damned rude, Mekhi?”
“I’m looking out for you, shorty. I don’t know how long I could put up with ya attitude before I kick ya ass out.”
“My attitude?” I asked, hand on my hip. “You the one with an attitude.”
“Nah, I’m cool and I wanna stay that way, so the sooner ya annoying ass can go—”
I scoffed. “I was perfectly okay with staying at home. You insisted I stay here. So, I must not be too annoying.”
Shaking his head, he chuckled. “Girl, please.”
“What is it, Mekhi? You’ve never liked me, from the first moment I met you. What did I ever do to you or to anybody else for you to walk around here calling me stuck-up and annoying?”
I shouldn’t care. I should be saying fuck him and his disrespectful mouth. But deep down, it bothered me. Mekhi had looked down on me since I’d known him. I wasn’t going to apologize for being who I was, not when I knew I didn’t treat people badly.
“Do you even remember the first time we met, Farrah?”
I nodded. How could I forget? Kera and I had been sixteen, hanging at the mall.
She called Seth to bring her some money, and he showed up with Mekhi.
I took one look at him and froze. He was the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen in person.
I didn’t snap out of it until Kera bumped me.
By then, he was already looking at me crazy.
I hurried off to the restroom without saying a word.
“Then you know why I say you stuck up,” he said with a shrug.
I frowned, confused. “No, I—”
“And you annoying because ya ass don’t listen. A nigga has to damn near threaten you—”
“You don’t have to. You just like to.”
“Anyway, the bathroom is over there.” He pointed to a door across the room. “Let me know if you need anything else.”
“I’m good, thank y—”
My stomach chose that moment to growl loudly.
I hadn’t eaten since lunch break on my internship.
Embarrassed, I felt heat spreading across my face.
Mekhi grinned. And it wasn’t his usual smirk.
This was an amused smile that actually lit up his handsome face.
For a moment, he looked so good that I had to bite down on my bottom lip and press a hand against my stomach to stop the sudden fluttering of butterflies.
“Bring ya greedy ass on,” he said.
“I—”
“Don’t even lie, Farrah. I’ll bet my neighbors heard that stomach growling.”
He led me to his kitchen, done in gleaming stainless steel with black stone counters. He pointed to the dining room table, and I walked over and sat down. The kitchen and dining room had an open floor plan, so I could easily see him as he opened the refrigerator and stared into it.
“You eat sandwiches?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“Ham or turkey?”
“Ham,” I said softly.
“That pork ain’t good for you, ma.”
“Then why did you buy it?”
“My sister orders groceries for me. She picks whatever the hell she wants.”
“Oh.” I thought for a minute. “I’ll still take ham.”
He shook his head, but he grabbed it.
“Provolone or Muenster?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
He pulled out a pack of the cheese, then lettuce and a tomato, mayo and mustard, and a bottle of water.
Juggling all the stuff, he walked to the center island and set it down.
He went to the counter to the old-fashioned, two-layer bread box.
He pulled out a loaf of wheat bread and took it to the island, then got a knife, plate, and cutting board.
I watched as he quickly made the sandwich and cut it in half, then disappeared into the pantry.
He came back with a small bag of chips, grabbed the sandwich and bottle of water, then walked over to bring it all to me.
“You… you not gon’ eat?” I asked hesitantly.
“Nah, I’m good.”
I stared at him for a few seconds before I picked up half of the sandwich. As I bit into it slowly, he opened the bag of chips and shook some onto my plate. I frowned.
“What is it now, your highness?” he asked.
“Why are you being so nice?”
The look of amusement on his face suddenly changed back into a cool mask. “I’m not nice, shorty. Don’t ever forget that. And hurry up.”
“Well, that didn’t take long,” I snapped, glaring at him.
I had had more than enough of him for one night.
I was ready to go back to the room. I ate quickly, avoiding looking at him as he put all the food away.
When I was finished, I stood up and grabbed my plate.
I took it to the sink and got busy washing it along with the cutting board and knife.
I wasn’t too busy to feel when he came to stand behind me, though. I didn’t say anything.
“You mad now, Little Thug?” he teased.
I ignored his words as I rinsed and dried the dishes, but I couldn’t ignore the feelings his warm breath on the back of my neck caused. My heartbeat sped up and I shifted, trying to move away from him. He grabbed the counter on each side of me, blocking my exit.
“I asked you a question.”
Sighing, I turned around to face him.
“Mekhi, I’m tired. I just want to get ready for bed.”
He looked down at me for a minute before slowly lifting one hand. I was about to slide past him when he surprised me by grabbing my arm. I looked down at his hand, then back up to his face.
“What?”
He just stared down at me, his thumb rubbing the pulse point in my wrist. His touch left my skin feeling sensitive, and I tried to pull my arm away.
“Stop,” he ordered.
“Why? Why are you touching me anyway?”
“Because I want to.”
His answer caught me off guard and I didn’t know how to respond. Instead, I swallowed hard and tried to look away. He brought his other hand up and grasped my chin, turning my head back to face him.
“This is silly,” I said softly.
“Is it?”
I sucked in a deep breath as he leaned closer to me.
He stopped when our faces were barely an inch apart.
I could smell the clean scent of his intoxicating cologne.
Part of me wanted to push him away, tell him to move.
The other part was so tempted to just stand on my tiptoes and kiss him.
And when his gaze dropped to my mouth, I found myself doing just that.
His lips were soft and smooth against mine and my eyes drifted closed as he kissed me back.
Mekhi tugged on my bottom lip with his teeth, and I opened for him, letting his tongue sweep into my mouth to mesh with mine.
His hands circled my waist, and I let my arms loop around his neck.
He was pulling me closer when his phone suddenly rang.
It was more effective than a bucket of cold water thrown in my face.
I jerked back from him, refusing to meet his eyes.
“Farrah—”
“You should answer your phone,” I mumbled before turning my back to him.
I walked toward the bedroom quickly, locking the door once I was safely behind it.
What the fuck were you thinking? I asked myself once I was in the shower.
I didn’t know. All I knew was that a month ago, I had disliked Mekhi Venzant and the feeling had been mutual.
And now, here I was staying in his house and kissing him.
“Get it together, Farrah,” I whispered.
Just because he was fine didn’t mean I had to go around lusting after him. Mekhi was going to provide me with protection and that was all. Anything else was way more than I was ready for.