9. Noree Marcell
Back inside my room, I sighed the second the door closed behind me.
"What a night."
I peeled the ruined dress off carefully, making a face.
I was now in my bra and panties, looking at myself in the mirror.
I laughed a little to myself because there was a little bit of mashed potatoes on my cheek; Char was dead wrong for that.
I grabbed a piece of tissue and removed it before flushing it and then realized my makeup was still intact, so I was good to go on that. My face was still beat.
I decided there was no point in putting another fancy outfit on.
Instead, I slipped into a wrap dress with swirls of cream and soft purple. It was comfortable and that's how I wanted to feel for the rest of the night.
I yawned, then grabbed a brush. I let my curls fall from the clip I’d pinned them up with earlier, shaking them loose until they framed my face. Then I brushed my hair back into a cute, sleek bun.
Much better.
I swapped my heels for a pair of gold rhinestone sandals before giving myself one last look in the full-length mirror. I was glad I was in and out just that fast.
"Ooo, let me spray on my YSL Libre and I'm back out the—."
Knock, knock, knock
I frowned toward the door.
"One second!" I shouted, sprayed myself down, and hurried over to the door, smoothing my dress before opening it.
Standing outside was Ky. Ozy's assistant.
"Oh…" I blinked. "Uh…hey, Ky. Everything okay?"
She smiled warmly.
"Oh yes, absolutely. Dinner started off great, and we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. Those guests have been removed from the remainder of the weekend."
Wait. He noticed food had gotten all over me and that I’d left the table? Why was that little detail making me feel some type of way?
"Oh…I'm okay," I said with a small laugh.
"They just got food all over me and ruined my dress but…" I sighed. "I had a backup."
"Oh, don't even worry about that," she interrupted kindly. "We'll have your outfit professionally cleaned so it doesn't stain. May I see it?"
"Really?" I was shocked.
She nodded.
"Sure. One second."
I walked over to the chair where I'd tossed the dress before bringing it back.
She accepted it carefully.
"Perfect. We'll have this returned looking brand new."
"Thank you."
I figured that was the end of the conversation, but then she stood there awkwardly. I laughed. "Is there mashed potatoes still on my face or something? In my hair?"
"No, but…Mr. Love would like to see you."
I frowned. "What do you mean? I was just about to head back to dinner."
"After the commotion he settled in his room, and he requested that you come up to the presidential suite."
My stomach instantly flipped. “Me?”
"Yes, ma'am."
“As in Noree Marcell? Uh…you sure he meant me?”
“Yes.”
Every scenario imaginable started running through my head.
Ky must've noticed the panic written all over my face because she laughed softly.
"Relax. He just wants to chat, and a fresh plate of food will be waiting for you in his suite." She held my dress up. "I'm going to take care of this. You can head up whenever you're ready."
"Okay, thank you."
I closed the door behind her and mouthed, "What the fuck."
Shirtless.
The last thing I expected was for him to come to the door with his shirt in his hand, sweatpants and Nike slides on, and his chiseled chest all out and about on display.
He gave me a small smile as he pulled it over his head and stepped to the side, but I didn't walk in. Instead, I just stood in the doorway.
"What's good, love? You coming in?"
I peeked inside, and from what I could see, his room looked like a damn resort, that's how big it was. But I needed to know his reasoning for inviting me over before I even put a pinky toe in his room.
"Well… your assistant said you wanted to chat, but I gotta be honest," I replied. "I know you can have any woman you want because of who you are, but—"
He cut me off.
"Oh, nah." He chuckled. "This ain't that."
My brows shot up to the damn roof because what did he mean? It wasn't like that? Was he trying to be funny or saying that he wasn't on that type of time with me because of how I looked? Like, I needed him to explain, and fast.
Yeah, I was spiraling, but so what?
"What do you mean by that?"
"Look, Noree, I won't front. I like your vibe and shit, so I wanted to pick your brain a little about this new song I've been working on but can't seem to get right.
I figured you'd have an ear for it, and honestly…
" He leaned against the doorframe, looking me up and down with that same look from earlier. "I want to know more about you too."
"More about me?" I repeated like a fool. Here was that damn self-doubt again. "So, no sex, right?"
He chuckled. "Damn, that's all you think I want?"
"No, it's not like that. I just… I mean, you're Ozy Love."
He lazily licked his lips. "If I wanted to fuck you, love, you'd have to be a hundred percent on board with it.
That's the only way I roll. Ain't nobody finna be in here jumping on your back or no shit like that.
" He kidded, and I couldn't help but burst out laughing because that had actually happened to me before.
"Okay, well, in that case, I will come in." I walked past him, our arms brushing, and I took in all that I was seeing.
His room was chef’s kiss, ten out of ten, with a pool on the balcony, a nice seating and dining area in the living room that was separate from the bedroom, and the biggest TV I’d ever seen up close, probably a hundred inches.
I could only imagine what the bedroom looked like, but I wouldn’t be stepping foot inside there, so I guess imagining was all I had.
I turned around and looked at him, and before I could say anything, he laughed. "I know. I've been here a few times, and every time, even I'm like, damn, ain't no other hotel's presidential hittin' like this."
He pointed over to the table. "You can have a seat over there. I got you a fresh plate of food to eat after that bullshit downstairs."
"Thank you, and that was a straight-up shit show. What happened?" I took a seat, got comfortable, and removed the lid to find a fresh stuffed salmon, garlic mash, and asparagus. I could still feel the heat coming off of it.
He shrugged and chuckled before sitting down on the couch with his sexy ass. "Man, I don't even know who sat her weird ass next to me to begin with, but she kept making eyes at me, then leaned over and rubbed my dick."
My mouth dropped open. "Wait, what?"
"Yeah, then she tried to get up and sit on my lap, but I wasn't tryna cause a scene. Security handled that and politely told her not to touch me, but I guess that shit made her mad, and since my mood was ruined, I said, fuck it, I'ma just come up and relax."
He said it like it was nothing.
I took a few bites and shook my head. "I'm sorry that happened to you."
The look he gave me was priceless, and I almost choked from laughing. "What?"
"That's a first. Muthafuckas think 'cause I am who I am that I should be used to it by now or that I like the attention."
"Uh, no. Regardless of anything, you're still a human, and just because you're a man does not mean women get to touch your private parts when they want to. Next time, make sure you tell an adult immediately."
He smiled. It was cute. "You a teacher or something?"
"Wow, is it that obvious? Did I do the thing again?"
"If the thing is what you just did, then yeah, love, you did. Make sure I tell an adult next time?" He was cracking up, and meanwhile, I was embarrassed. I wasn't sure how I let that slip.
"My bad."
"It's okay. I like that. I'm pretty sure you're a damn good teacher."
"Thank you." I looked away from his gaze, taking a few more bites of my food before opening the bottle of water he had sitting next to my tray and taking a few sips.
I decided to test what Veronica told me. "Will Ginger mind that I'm in your room?"
He didn't even hesitate before responding. "Nah, she ain't."
"You sure? She seemed upset with me earlier when we were in the booth singing."
He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and said, "The last person I'm worried about is Ginger."
I blushed and looked away. Yeah, he was flirting with me.
I changed the subject, getting the attention off me.
"Do you want kids?" As a big fan of his, I knew he didn't have any, but he never really talked much about it whenever the blogs asked him about family and settling down.
"I do, but my life and schedule are hectic right now. I'd want to make sure I'm around 24/7 and wouldn't wanna be a part-time daddy, so it's some shit I think about often, but I know the time isn't now."
I nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense."
"You got kids?"
I shook my head fast and waved my arms. "Heavens, no!" I kidded, and we both shared a laugh. "My life isn't nearly as hectic as yours, but a child isn't on my bingo card. I need to get myself together first."
"Heavens, no?" he repeated and chuckled. "You know, you funny as hell, love… I like that."
I smiled, trying not to say the wrong thing because I really wanted to say, "Yeah, I bet you do," but I decided not to.
Shifting the conversation, I said, "So, I heard a rumor about you."
He smirked and stood up, walking over to the bar. "It's probably a rumor that I've already heard." He looked back at me. "You want something to sip on?"
I nodded. "Yeah, a little tequila on the rocks."
"I got you." He turned back around and proceeded to fix me and him a drink. "What did you hear, though?"
"That you and Ginger aren't actually together, and that she got really drunk one night and was crying to someone about how she wished the relationship was real."
He walked over to me, another sexy smirk on his face. He handed me my drink just as I covered the remainder of the food up. I didn't wanna appear all greedy in front of this man, so I ate enough.
He peered down at me and said, "Believe 'em."
That wasn't what I expected him to say. "What do you mean?"
"Maybe it's some truth to that, but that ain't everybody's business, you feel me?"
He pointed to the couch. "Join me. You ain't gotta sit on that hard-ass chair all night."
I stood and fixed my dress. "Who said I'm gonna be here all night?" I teased, walking over to the couch. I was sure he was watching my ass. Then I plopped down, titties bouncing and all, which I was also sure he saw.
"I wasn't saying it like that, love." He laughed and sat next to me… real close. "But I see you hear what you wanna hear."
I sipped from my drink, a smirk on my face. "No, that's what you said, but maybe you had too much to drink."
I looked over at him, and our eyes held for a long time. "A nigga like me can hold his liquor. Actually… I can hold a lot of things."
Pussy! Girl, calm down!
The remote was lying on the arm of the chair on my side of the couch. He leaned over me, his face close as hell to mine, his eyes boring into me. I could smell his breath, that's how close he was. He was teasing me for sure.
“You wanna watch something?”
I shook my head, looking away from his intense stare. “No, it’s cool. We can just… talk.”