Chapter 23 Sloane #3
“Child, I can promise you she wasn’t thinking at all!” Mal snorts, sending us into another fit of giggles that’s just as severe as the first one.
And that’s how Dom finds us, bent over and gasping for air with stupid smiles on our faces that only get bigger when we notice him walking toward us.
He folds himself into the interior of the booth beside Mal, across from me, and his legs brush mine as he gets settled.
He looks between us, and amusement shimmers in his eyes as they linger on me for a second longer than they should.
“Do I even want to know why you two are howling like a couple of hyenas?”
Mal bumps him with her shoulder. “Leave us alone! I was just telling her about this mess with our new assistant. She’s behind on all the happenings in the office since you and James have been keeping her locked away in that damn hotel. She has other people that need her attention, you know.”
Dom gives her a bored look. “Why are you saying it like I have any say in who Sloane gives her attention to?”
“I didn’t mean it like that, jerk! I was just saying this hotel project has been keeping her so busy, I barely see her anymore. Thank God it’ll be done in a few weeks.”
I feel the weight of his gaze on my face as I study my menu. Mal’s joy over the looming deadline lingers in the air between us. If she notices the awkward tension left in the wake of her statement, she doesn’t say a thing about it.
“Yeah,” Dom says casually. “Only a few more weeks to go. Then you’ll have your best friend back.”
Mal turns to face him, her lips tipped up in a happy smile. “Both of my best friends. I’ve missed you too, Nic.”
“How nice of you to tack me in on the end there. What are you getting, Sloane?”
I lay my menu down, finally meeting his gaze. “Probably a stir-fry. I need some vegetables in my life.”
“She’s still getting a dragon roll though, don’t let her vegetable talk fool you.”
I roll my eyes at Mal, but when the waitress comes and takes our order, I do get a dragon roll.
Conversation flows easily between the three of us.
Dom and I fill Mal in on the day-to-day of the hotel renovation while she regales us with more gossip.
This time it’s about Aunt Mary’s son, Julian, who is supposedly sneaking around with the pastor’s son.
“Personally, I think it’s sweet J has finally found someone,” Mal says, taking another bite of her fried rice. “I just think it sucks that Aunt Mary is going to try to disown him because of it.”
“Does she know?” Dom asks. He’s been quiet through most of the conversation, letting me and Mal talk while he frowns at his phone every now and again. I can’t help but wonder if Kristen is the one texting him but asking him in front of Mal isn’t an option.
Asking isn’t an option at all.
“If she does, she hasn’t said anything to anyone about it. Not even Mama.”
Dom slides his phone into his pocket. “Well, hopefully, she doesn’t lose it on him.”
“Right.” I dip part of my sushi roll into soy sauce. “The only thing she should care about is if her kid is happy.”
But even I know that parents are more complicated than that.
They spend their whole lives envisioning a certain kind of life for their kids, never stopping to think about whether they want it or not.
Then they lash out when things don’t turn out how they planned, which is why my mom felt so comfortable admonishing me for marrying Eric.
Pick someone in your league.
You need a man who can take care of you, Sloane.
Please don’t embarrass your father and me this way.
“That’s what I’m saying!” Mal exclaims, hands flying in the air. “But we both know how these older Black folks are though, they don’t care if a man cheats on his wife or beats her, but as soon as two men show up holding hands, it’s an issue.”
“Maybe Mama can talk to her, help her not ruin her relationship with her son.”
I smile at Dom’s suggestion. He’s always trying to solve problems, even if they don’t involve him. Mal looks thoughtful for a moment.
“Yeah, I think I’ll bring it up to her. If Aunt Mary will listen to anyone it’ll be… You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
My head snaps up at the strange ending to Mal’s sentence and the sudden change in her tone. Both her and Dom are looking at a spot above my head. He’s looking shocked and a little annoyed while Mal looks…well, she looks pissed.
Oh, shit. I turn around to see what’s caught their attention and nearly fall out of my seat at the sight of the man moving toward us. Six feet tall, short curly hair and light brown skin that sets off his chestnut eyes.
Chris Johnson.
He’s at the table, sliding into the empty seat beside me, before I can pick my jaw up off of the floor and force myself to stop staring.
He’s still handsome, but the happy, smiling guy I always saw Mal obsessing over is gone.
Replaced by a more serious man with small lines around his eyes, a hard set to his chiseled jaw, and a storm brewing behind his eyes.
“Sloane, Nic. It’s nice to see you again.” Chris offers me his hand, and my inner socialite won’t let me ignore him. I flash Mal an apologetic smile as I take it.
“Chris. It’s good to see you again too.”
A lie. A flat-out lie. I pulled out every weapon in my arsenal to make sure I wouldn’t see him tonight, so how did he end up here with us? I shoot Dom a questioning glare as I slide my hand out of Chris’s grasp. He gives a subtle shake of his head to let me know he isn’t the reason he’s here.
“Mallory.”
Chris says Mal’s name like his entire reason for being is contained in the word.
His tongue curls around each letter, caressing each syllable with soft, languid strokes that make me feel like I’m listening in on an incredibly intimate moment.
Shit. No wonder she hasn’t wanted to talk to him.
He’s only said one word to her, and I’m blushing.
I can’t imagine what it would be like to be on the receiving end of all of that intensity and have to pretend not to be affected.
I flick my gaze to Dom as he shakes Chris’s hand and heat creeps down my neck.
Okay, so maybe I can.
Mal sets her fork down on her plate and shoots daggers at Chris and Dom with her eyes. Her mouth is a flat line and there is a whirlwind of emotions playing across her face. Rarely do I see Mal like this: angry, hurt, eerily calm. Close to murder.
“Christopher, to what do I owe this displeasure?”
He sits back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other and smoothing a hand over the fabric of his very expensive suit. “You won’t take my calls. Nic mentioned coming out to dinner with you, and I thought maybe you would be more amenable if we were face-to-face.”
Dom coughs, his eyes flaring with panic when Chris mentions his name. And if it wasn’t so damn awkward, I would be laughing my ass off right now. Lucky for him, all of Mal’s attention is on the man sitting beside me.
“Well, you were wrong. Now you can leave.”
Chris sighs. “I can’t even have five minutes of your time?”
“You got that on the phone a few weeks ago, and just like now, that entire conversation was pointless.”
A few weeks ago? Mal never mentioned speaking to Chris.
I wasn’t even aware he was back in town until this afternoon when Dom told me, but if making things right with Mal is his goal, it makes sense that he would try to contact her first. I rack my brain, searching for any instance where Mal was around me and in a similar mood.
The only time that comes to mind is the day James hired Dom, and I came home to find her on my couch, her voice cold and sharp as she told the person on the other end of the line not to contact her again.
“That’s because you won’t listen to a word I have to say.”
Mal narrows her eyes, and I almost feel bad for Chris, because there’s nothing even remotely welcoming about her right now. I certainly wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of this energy.
“Because it’s too late, Chris! The damage is done. It’s been done, and there’s nothing you can say to undo it, so just leave me alone.”
Chris shakes his head. “I can’t do that, princess.”
Mal shoots out of her seat. The movement is so sudden, it shakes the table a little. She tosses her purse over her shoulder as she fights back the tears shining in her eyes.
“Don’t call me that. Don’t call me that ever again.”
Then she’s storming out of the restaurant with the three of us shocked and staring after her.
I throw my napkin on the table and start to get out of my seat, intent on going after her and making sure she’s okay, but Chris stops me with a gentle hand on my elbow.
I feel the weight of Dom’s stare as soon as it lands on Chris’s hand.
He’s not even trying to hide the possessiveness in his eyes.
Chris catches it immediately and smiles at me as he removes his hand.
“Let me go after her, please.”
Everything in me says letting him follow Mal will end badly, but there’s an earnest and genuine need in his eyes that tugs on the part of me that wishes I would have gone after Eric the day he stormed out of our house.
I don’t know if Chris loves Mal like I love Eric, but I can’t find it in my heart to get in the way of him trying to do the one thing I never got to do.
“Okay,” I say hesitantly, watching Chris shoot out of his seat.
Before he steps away, I grab his arm and pin him with a hard stare that I’m sure makes me look like my mother.
“Dom says you’re here to fix this, and I believe him right now, but if you’re not serious about making things right then just leave her alone.
Because if you hurt her again, you’ll be dealing with me. Got it?”
Chris looks between me and Dom and then back at me again. An amused smirk curves his lips before he says, “Yes, ma’am.”