Chapter 4 #2
Before Kennedi could respond, Spirit pulled her onto the dance floor. They danced for an hour. She didn’t have to look to know he was aware of her.
“He’s watching you,” Spirit leaned in to say. “Has been since you walked in. Man hasn’t looked at any of those thirsty women since you showed up.”
“I don’t care. I’m going to my room alone tonight.”
“Sure you are, baby.”
Eventually, Kennedi’s feet started aching, and she couldn’t fight the yawns anymore. She hugged Spirit goodbye and headed for the elevator, her resolve firmly in place.
Then someone grabbed her elbow.
She was tired of being touched without her permission tonight.
“Excuse you,” she snapped, jerking her arm away.
David. Again.
This was the third time tonight this man had put his hands on her. The champagne table. The dance floor. And now here, in an empty hotel hallway at one in the morning.
She pressed the elevator button, deliberately hitting the lobby button. Her instincts as a woman who traveled alone kicked in.
“Kennedi! Didn’t expect to see you here.”
She didn’t respond. Just watched the elevator numbers.
“Listen, I know we got off on the wrong foot earlier, but I really do think we should talk. About your platform. The opportunities I mentioned.”
“At one in the morning?” Her tone stayed flat. “Email me. Like I said before.”
“Come on, you know how this business works. The real conversations happen off the clock.” His hand reached to caress her arm. “Let me walk you to your room. Just to talk.”
“I’m good, thanks.” She shifted away, but he moved with her.
The elevator dinged. Doors slid open.
Kennedi stepped inside quickly, but David’s hand shot out, stopping the doors from closing.
His smile had turned into an ugly sneer. “I’ve been nothing but nice to you all night.”
“And I’ve declined all night.” Her hand reached into her purse for the mace. “So I’m going to ask you nicely one time, let go of the elevator.”
“Or what?” He stepped halfway in, blocking the doors. “You gonna make a scene? Ruin your professional reputation over a misunderstanding? I know what y’all want. A man with money and access.”
“David, you may have the money for the cat, but I don’t have any cat for the money. Enjoy your night,” she said firmly, but he wasn’t taking the hint. She knew what talk in the room meant, and she was a lot of things, but she wasn’t desperate or stupid.
“Come on, beautiful. Don’t be shy.” His grip tightened on her waist, pulling her closer. “I could do a lot for your career. A lot. Make you my wife, give you some babies.”
“I said no, and who the hell do you think you are to assume I’d give you some babies?
Tuh.” Her voice was sharp now, loud enough that he stepped back, but the look on his face told her he wasn’t used to hearing that word.
This wasn’t like Rolani’s confident persistence; this was entitlement mixed with desperation, and it made her skin crawl and her hands grow clammy as fear crept up her neck.
This was the part of being single she hated, having to navigate men who couldn’t take no for an answer.
“Don’t play hard to get. I can change your life.” He reached for her face.
The elevator doors started to close, then opened again.
Rolani stepped in.
He hit the emergency stop.
In one fluid motion, he grabbed David by the collar and slammed him back against the wall. The elevator rattled from the force. The gun appeared so fast Kennedi almost missed it. One second, his hand was empty; the next, the barrel rested against David’s temple.
Rolani’s voice did not rise as he removed the safety.
“That’s three strikes, my nigga.”
David froze. Whatever confidence he’d been borrowing all night drained from his face.
The gun came across David’s nose with a sharp crack. Blood bloomed instantly.
“Rolani,” Kennedi called out, cupping his face with trembling hands. “Rolani. It’s okay. I’m okay.”
His eyes were cold when they found hers. Then they weren’t.
“You sure?” he asked, voice only soft for her.
She nodded. She knew she should have been shaken.
A gun had been inches from her face. Someone had bled right before her eyes.
Instead of panicking, a more complex feeling spread through her chest. She had been grabbed, cornered, and threatened, yet the thing making her heart race wasn’t any of those.
“Get the fuck out of here.”
David stumbled out when the doors opened again, one hand clamped over his face.
“Consider this a warning and your lucky night,” Rolani said calmly, safety clicking back on.
The doors shut as he tucked the gun into his waistband and turned to her. When he started backing her gently against the wall, she swallowed the nerves down.
“You sure you straight?”
“You didn’t have to do all that, Rolani,” she said, but her voice didn't have the conviction it needed to mean anything. She rolled her eyes and turned toward the door.
He stepped in front of her. Close. Too close. His eyes moved over her face the way they had all night, checking, settling.
“That wasn’t shit, Ken. It’s my pleasure to do the most for you.”
“Yep, crazy, and I don't do crazy. We are strangers.”
“You telling me you ain’t been thinking about me all day?” His voice dropped, sending a chill down her spine. “That you ain’t been wondering what it would feel like if I kissed you? Because I've been thinking about you since you stole that picture.”
She gripped the railing. “Move.”
“Keep these niggas out of your face for the rest of this trip. I ain’t in the mood to fuck nobody else up, but I will if I have to.”
He hit the button and the elevator descended to their floor. He let her exit first, and she could feel his eyes on her as she walked.
“You inviting me in?” he asked when they reached her door.
She turned to face him with an eye roll. “Absolutely not.”
“Nigga had to ask,” he said, stopping at the door directly across from hers.
The universe really wasn’t making this easy for her. They stood there for a moment, the space between their doors feeling both too far and not nearly far enough. She slid her key card, and the lock clicked open, but she didn’t move to go inside.
She watched him unlock his door, every movement purposeful and self-assured. He paused in the doorway, a knowing smile curling at his lips as if he could read her mind.
“Good night, Kennedi. You know where to find me if you change your mind.”
Without another word, she slipped inside her room and pressed her back against the door, heart racing. She could hear him moving around across the hall. This was going to be a problem. She could already feel him settling into her thoughts, and she did not appreciate how easily he fit there.