Chapter Two
The Meeting
Xolani
“I swear to you I won’t stop until your legs are shaking and the neighbors know my name.”
– Horace Cope
Xolani settled down at the cafe table with her laptop and the caramel macchiato she’d ordered then she looked casually around the place.
Rain fell against the rooftop in steady droplets that could be heard in the small place.
There were tables outside along the front of the building and several inside.
Of course, the tables outside were not being used.
The place seemed to be packed, not a real surprise as the coffee shop The Better Grind was always full.
A wonderful place to relax, drink her coffee and get a few reports done.
But what surprised her was the man sitting alone in the back corner of the cafe without a drink. He seemed to be people-watching.
Fuck, he is easy on the eyes. But girl you know he’s probably a player and up to no good.
The first thought that hit her was he seemed out of place.
Dressed like a businessman. An extraordinarily rich businessman in a dark gray suit, white crisp shirt, and a blue t-shirt, with the perfect looking black wingtips.
The next thing she thought about was getting him naked.
Rubbing her hands along his muscular body.
From where she sat, she could see his eyes were a beautiful green color.
He had nice full lips. Lips made to be licked and sucked on.
If she had to guess he was a tall man, though she couldn’t be for certain with him sitting.
A tall glass of water as her grandmother would say. And damn, did it make her thirsty.
What the fuck? She was indeed thirsty.
Sitting in a cafe, undressing a man with her eyes and thinking of all the raunchy things they could do together. What had possessed her normally sane self to think this way about a total stranger? How did she get to this point? Unconsciously, she licked her bottom lip.
Just then, his gaze caught hers and he flashed her the most sinful smile she’d ever seen.
He openly fucked her with his eyes. His gaze and hers collided as they ogled one another.
“Dima,” the barista called, breaking the spell.
Xolani couldn’t deny the disappointment she felt.
He stood, headed to the counter, grabbed his cup and made his way towards her. Holy fuck, he was tall. He looked to be about 6’5 to her 5’4. And well-muscled to her voluptuous body.
All she could picture was them naked and pressed together. This kind of thinking wasn’t her usual. Her life was built around work. She didn’t have time for trifling men who knew they looked good and were up to no good.
Oh yes, he looked like he was certainly up to no good.
Squirming in her chair, she knew she wasn’t prepared for whatever the man had to say.
It felt like her body was immersed in sexual need.
His gaze caught hers, so she’d look crazy if she grabbed her stuff and ran as quickly as she could.
No, she couldn’t do that, she’d look like a maniac.
The smart girl in her knew she needed to run. And yet, she didn’t.
Brushing one of her coils that escaped from the ponytail she had them in, she nervously stared at him as he stopped next to her chair.
A salacious grin on his full lips. He was fucking beautiful.
A body made to take sin and give sin in her return.
She’d already been caught staring, so why not take an eyeful?
Her eager gaze traveled slowly up along his suit-clad body and then stopped when her eyes caught his.
“This seat taken?” The guy nodded to the empty chair in front of her.
She had to chuckle to herself at the cliche way he’d approached her. “The seat is for some lucky person.” Damn girl, you’re bold suddenly.
“Well then, I guess we’re both lucky, cuz I’m going to sit there.” He settled into the seat, put his drink down and adjusted his tie as he got comfortable.
Xolani eyed him as sat in the empty seat. She really didn’t know what to make of him coming over. Yeah, she had been looking him over, but he had to know he was appealing. So it didn’t mean he’d have to come over.
“I’m Dima Valdez and you can call me D.” He smirked as he picked his cup up again with nimble fingers and took a drink.
“Hello Mr. Valdez. I’m Dr. Xolani Coleman but you can call me Doctor.” She smirked back at him.
“With the way you were sizing me up, I think we will get well past me calling you doctor.
She chuckled. He was a quick wit. Now why did she find that attractive? “You’re right about that, I was sizing you up. I come here a lot and I’ve never seen you. In fact, most people who come here are a bit more casually dressed.”
“I pride myself in looking good. My work requires it.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Mmm. What kind of work do you do that requires you to dress so sharply?”
“I’m a businessman. I do a few things as I own a few different establishments such as The Red Dragon bar. Ever heard of it?”
“Should I have?”
To her surprise, he chuckled and said, “Touché. I guess you don’t run in the same circles as I do, doctor.”
“More than likely you’re correct.” She closed her laptop and picked up her iced coffee. “So why would I have heard of your bar?”
“It’s the place to be.” He winked at her.
“Well, I don’t do bars. Haven’t done that kind of thing in a long while.”
“Do you do well-dressed businessmen?” A twinkle sparkled in his eyes.
She couldn’t tell if he was serious or teasing. “I don’t know you, Mr. Valdez.”
“Would you like to, Dr. Coleman? That can easily be remedied.”
She turned her head to the side and just stared at him, wondering if he were for real.
“That’s a yes or no question, doctor.”
“I’m not easy, Mr. Valdez.”
He chuckled. “What happened to Dima? So very formal.” He then leaned close and stared directly into her eyes. “Say yes.”
Xolani felt a warmth take over her body and move between her thighs, making her clench her legs together. “Yes,” she whispered even as her good sense told her should be saying no.
Dima smirked, putting his arm over his chair, he leaned back with a Cheshire grin. “See now that wasn’t so hard, was it?”
The way he emphasized the word hard made heat suffuse her cheeks as her imagination went wild. Pausing, she thought of him as hard and naked. She quickly sipped her drink to hide her lust and her embarrassment.
Naughty, girl.
Those two words whispered through her mind so smoothly and quickly she thought she was hearing things.
She blinked and looked at Dima, but his lips hadn’t moved.
She looked to the left and then the right.
Everyone around them seemed to be in their own conversations.
Lack of sleep sure made her anxious and she might just be losing it.
She heard a slight tapping noise and her eyes zoomed in on his fingers tapping lightly against the desk.
That was when she noticed the tops of his hands were tatted.
It made her wonder how much of his skin might be covered in ink.
Her eyes shot to his and she found herself drawn in by his gaze.
He leaned in as if they were intimate. The orbs of his eyes changed from the beautiful green she’d noticed across the room a deep ebony. “Has anyone told you that you’re a beautiful woman, Dr. Coleman.”
She licked her lips and tried to speak. Usually not a person at a loss for words, she found herself in that predicament. Over something as superfluous as him flirting.
“Cat got your tongue?”
Once again, her eyes shifted to his fingers tapping on the table in a short staccato. She felt a little lightheaded.
“I know you’re imagining me naked. Which I don’t mind.”
“Did you say something?” she asked with a slow blink.
“Not at all.”
She noted the small smirk on his lips which made her eye him suspiciously.
“I didn’t open my mouth at all, Dr. Coleman,” he added.
“Okay, I am more tired than I thought,” she huffed.
“You must be a workaholic,” Dima said, cutting through her thoughts.
“And why would you say that?” She raised her gaze to his.
He nodded toward her laptop.
She chuckled. “Got me there.”
“You seem like you haven’t had any fun in a long time.”
“Says the three-piece business suit.”
“Got me there,” he deadpanned. “But the difference between us, even from this short meeting, is I do tend to have fun.”
“Hmph. You came all the way over here to tell me that?” She rolled her eyes, picked up her coffee and took a sip.
“No, I came all the way over here because I saw you undressing me with your eyes and I wanted to meet the woman bold enough to do that.”
Xolani’s eyes widened as she pulled the mug back and coughed on the little bit of her coffee.
He quickly stood and moved over to pat her back. “Are you okay?”
The warmth of his hand seeped through her clothing and she shivered. “I’m fine. Just wasn’t expecting to choke on coffee because of what you said.”
Dima settled back in his chair. “Was I wrong? Did my eyes deceive me into thinking you were looking at me like a tasty snack?”
“You’re a gorgeous man, Dima. I’m sure you’ve had plenty of women look at you like I did.”
She didn’t deny looking at him in the way she had. Why would she? She’d been caught and if anything, she had always been known to be honest to a fault. She could have lied, but what purpose would that have served?
“They aren’t you.”
She rolled her eyes again, but she could see that he seriously meant what he said. “You’ve only known me for a hot minute. How can you even say that?”
“Just sitting here with you this brief amount of time I can tell that you are not like the other women I’ve known. And I do have to say that I am unlike any other male you’ve known.”
Xolani cocked her head to the side and pondered his words. She’d met plenty of men in her life to be sure. And this male had more swagger than all of them put together. But she wasn’t going to tell him that. “Is that so?”
“It is. You know it and I know it.”
There wasn’t an ounce of shyness in this man.
Though it should have put her off, it intrigued her.
Proof of this was the fact that she continued to sit with him and talk to him.
Admittedly, it had been a long time since she’d talked with a man, felt comfortable with a man, let alone talked with one about sex and flirting.
“If you didn’t think so, would you still be here?” he asked.
Xolani stared at him. It felt like he’d just read her mind.
“Maybe you’d like to come by the bar sometime?”
“As I said before, that isn’t usually the kind of circle I move in.
So how about this? We can meet here. I come here often, sometimes after work and most likely on the weekends.
” She wondered why she told him that? Cause you want to see him again, maybe?
She highly doubted she’d see him here again.
He would soon lose interest in her if he hadn’t already.
“Deal.” He raised his chin up at her.
Xolani peered at him from beneath her long lashes, waiting for the shoe to fall off. They continued to talk and learn about one another, her work long forgotten. She had to admit he was different and exciting, but those traits scared her as well.