Chapter 3
Chapter Three
L’Antra Lounge
Nearly three hours later, the party was just getting started with the night owls finally emerging from their nests, and DJ Sammy––the main event––setting up in the booth.
Zuri and her friends had gotten more than their money’s worth from their tickets; they’d toasted their way through the cocktail menu, danced with abandon to Daniel Brodick & the Sixes, and devoured every decadent bite their waitress, Aleena––a senior at Tufts who was home for the holidays––had set before them.
Now, after a full day on the slopes and partying till midnight, they were all more than ready for bed.
With Thao off hunting down Aleena to give her a cash tip, and Avery snapping photos of Soleil in front of L’Antra’s yellow neon signage by the main entrance, showing off the custom Hakim Lee dress she’d been paid five figures to post about three times before the end of the year, Zuri stayed at the table, guarding their gift bags full of luxury party favors: an etched commemorative rocks glass, artisanal whiskey-cream-filled chocolate balls, four mini glittering snow-white baubles, and a Hotel Andreas gold velvet jewelry bag filled with individually wrapped mini candy canes.
Her and Thao’s long discarded candy-cane crowns lay tangled beside the bags.
Reclined on the sofa, her legs outstretched and ankles crossed beneath the marble table, Zuri texted with Jonathan Murray, a family friend and owner of Murry’s Smokehouse, a Texas-style barbecue restaurant in New Haven that had the best ribs on the east coast. She was just placing an order to take back to New York after Christmas, when a peel of laughter echoed above the noise.
Curious, she sat up and looked toward the bar where the commotion originated.
A group of men, all wearing identical Christmas sweaters, were doubled over, while their dates laughed triumphantly and high-fived each other next to them.
Giggling, Zuri wondered how long the women had been planning their prank, as her gaze traveled down the packed bar.
But her laughter died in her throat when her eyes landed on the most gorgeous man she had ever seen in her life.
With a chiseled jawline, neatly trimmed beard, and full lips, he stood tall and confident holding his drink, and scanning the crowded lounge.
Her heart lurched, and a powerful, magnetic tug toward him shot through her like electricity as she took in his broad shoulders filling a charcoal sweater, and dark jeans hugging narrow hips.
Even from across the room, Zuri could sense the power in his frame, the hint of solid muscles beneath his sweater.
Heat spread through her body––daring, delicious, and intoxicating.
She’d never been so physically jolted, so completely mesmerized by the mere sight of a man. Heck, she hadn’t thought they made men like this anymore––if they ever really had. “Damn,” she whispered.
As if her voice had ferried to his ears above the din of L’Antra, his gaze found hers with startling precision.
Their eyes locked for a heart-stopping second, then his mouth curved into a slow, sensuous smile.
As though suddenly on a mission, he pushed off the bar and squeezed his way through the crowd.
Her body grew hotter with each step that brought him closer, but before she could count to ten, he was at her table, towing over her.
“Hi, how are you?”
How am I? The question felt absurdly intimate, as if they already knew each other, but his voice––seductively smooth and deep––sent a shiver zipping down her spine.
Determined not to let him know the effect he was having on her, she straightened her back, flipped her braids over her shoulder, and boldly met his gaze. “I’m fine… How about you?”
“Oh, I’m fine now. Very fine.”
You sure are. She allowed her eyes to trail slowly down his hard body.
“I’m Kyree,” he said quickly, as if anxious to introduce himself.
She shook his hand. “And I’m Zuri.” Every nerve ending in her body was firing at his touch, and after three strong cocktails, the overall effect he had on her senses was downright dangerous. Pull it together, girl!
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Zuri.” He brushed his thumb over hers before releasing her hand. “You know, I actually saw you earlier this evening––out in the lobby.”
“Oh really? Should I be worried that I have a stalker?”
“Not at all. Although, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping I’d see you again.” His hand moved to his jaw, long fingers grazing the edge of his beard in a slow, almost unconscious caress.
“Are you sure you didn’t watch me walk in here and wait until I was alone to come over?”
“I’m very sure. I wouldn’t have waited even one minute to approach you. Besides, I–– May I?” Kyree gestured to the empty space beside her, and without waiting for a response, he lowered himself onto the sofa. “Like I was saying, I didn’t know all this was going on tonight.”
His scent––dark and woody with bright citrus notes––made her lightheaded, and his bourbon-laced breath fanned her face like a sun-kissed breeze.
She might have to ask them to crank up the air conditioner before she melted like a scoop of ice-cream.
Zuri felt a sharp contraction between her thighs as she imagined Kyree greedily lapping up the puddle of ice-cream that used to be her. Damn girl, what is wrong with you?
“The hostess told me I’d be lucky to find a stool at the bar.” His voice broke into her racy thoughts.
She gave him a challenging look. “I see… You’re just tryin’ to get our table.”
“Our table?” He chuckled, and gestured to the empty seats.
“Yes, our table. Don’t you see four gift bags? I could be here with a date for all you know.”
“Maybe, but it doesn’t really matter, does it?”
She arched one brow, challenging him to explain.
Kyree took a slow sip of his drink. “The way you were looking at me before I walked over here,” he continued, “well, I’ll just say, whoever he is, he can’t be that important.”
Zuri was dumbstruck by his boldness, even though it thrilled her to the core. Her fingers found and toyed with the end of a braid, betraying her efforts to hide the flutter that had spread from her heart to her stomach.
“So, are you from the area?” he asked casually, as if he hadn’t just stunned her with his audacious assumption. He stretched his arm behind her along the back of the sofa, the proximity causing her skin to flush in anticipation of his touch.
Tease. She crossed her legs and angled her body toward him and cleared her throat. “Connecticut originally, but I live in Bushwick now.”
“New York, huh?” He let out a low whistle. “That’s not an easy city.”
“No, not as easy as Greenwich, but at least it’s never boring.”
His gaze held hers, deep and unwavering, as if they were the only two people in the room. “I can’t imagine anything being boring for even one minute with you, Zuri.”
Kyree’s words brushed over her skin, and suddenly the air between them felt charged with something she couldn’t name.
It was as if he could see her, truly see her––and she him, like peering into each other’s souls and feeling the weight of every unspoken thought between them.
It scared her. Yet, she couldn’t look away, couldn’t break free…
Her chest tightened and her heart trembled as the moment stretched––profound and unsettling.
Just then, Kyree broke eye contact and set his glass on the table. He reached into his back pocket, and pulled out his phone––the screen glowing with an incoming call. “Sorry, do you mind if I take this?”
“Your girlfriend?” She was half hoping he’d say yes…
He chuckled. “My cousin. Trust me, Zuri, I wouldn’t dream of wasting your time.”
Trust you? Boy, I just met you three minutes ago. Yet, the way he said her name, the certainty in his tone, somehow made it impossible for her not to believe him.
“I’ll be back,” he said, before standing and making his way through the crowd, his phone already pressed to his ear.
Zuri let her breath out slowly through her mouth, and willed her heart to calm down.
What was that overwhelming urge to fall into his arms, to press her lips to his, to feel his beard against her cheek?
God, even now with him out of sight, every cell in her body ached for him.
Another minute of that intense gaze and she would have been completely lost—swept away by his eyes, his voice, the dangerous pull of his presence.
He was exactly her type. But the last thing she needed was a man so hot he threatened to hijack the freedom she was experiencing after years of what had felt like emotional bondage.
She uncrossed her legs and pressed back into the sofa cushions.
She’d wanted to get back in the saddle, take a quick ride, not buy the damn horse.
But the way this man looked at her, the way he made her feel, stirred a dormant desire inside Zuri, and set fire to a part of her that had never burned before.
It’s too much… And it was time to get out of here before she fell headfirst into another relationship, just when she was ready to embrace being single.
“Hey,” Soleil said, coming up from behind her with Avery in tow, both still wearing their reindeer antlers. “Who was that guy?”
“What guy?” Zuri gathered her purse, phone, and gift bag from the table, and stood.
“Don’t play dumb. That Kofi Siriboe look-alike you were just talking to.”
“Kofi who?” Avery chirped.
“Girl, the actor from Queen Sugar.”
As Avery unlocked her phone, Soleil stood on her tiptoes and craned her neck in the direction Kyree had gone. “Is he coming back?”
“I don’t know. He was just looking for a table, but I told him he needed to ask the hostess.”
“But he left his drink,” Soleil replied, her eyes perusing their table which had been cleared of all glassware by Aleena when she and Avery had left for her photo shoot.
“Maybe he’s done with it.”
“Are you sure, because––”
“Oh my god, that does look like him!” Avery had finally found the gorgeous actor on her phone. “Mm, I think we should stay a little longer, no?” she asked coyly, bumping her butt playfully into Zuri’s.
Absolutely not. His phone call had saved her once, and she wasn’t tempting fate to save her a second time when the intensity in his eyes threatened to unravel her again.
“You guys ready?” Thao joined them, breathless, as though she had hiked up Mount Washington and back to find their waitress.
“Yeah, let’s get out of here.”
“You sure? What about Tall-Dark-and-Sexy?” Thao asked, watching Zuri quizzically.
“You caught that, too?” Soleil seemed ready to take a poll of the entire lounge.
“Yep. I saw him the moment he walked up to the bar. Is he coming back to finish what he started?”
“Oh my god, nothing was started!” Zuri insisted, a little too defensively.
“But––” Avery began.
“But nothing.” Zuri picked up Avery’s gift bag and pressed it into her hands. “Come on, I’m exhausted.”
“Okay, if you’re sure…” Soleil collected her things, with Thao following suit.
Zuri wasn’t sure about anything that had transpired in the last few minutes, but she wasn’t waiting around to find out. One more minute of those sexy dark eyes on her, one more of his devastating smiles, and she’d be inviting herself to his room.