7. Solomon
After clearing my schedule and making sure my team lead understood his assignment, I left my penthouse and headed to pick up Temple for our date. I had to spend a little extra time in my war room this morning because I realized what I was potentially getting myself into with Temple.
The woman was gorgeous, had a body for days, and could make the strongest man weak with those feline eyes. That mouth that released those sexual innuendos scared the hell out of me, but I'd never been a coward.
Just the thought of her whispering sexual sh—things in the ears of the niggas she danced for made me want to get that whole club shut down.
This impromptu trip would be the ultimate test and prayerfully one that would get her to see that being with me wouldn't be what she thought. I wasn't looking for her to be a prude, dress like a nun, or act like she couldn't be herself.
The only thing I wanted from her was to tone down the curse words, stop dancing at that club, and marry me.
I'd handle the rest.
It only took me thirty minutes to get to her townhouse out in Sterling Heights.
The community she lived in was nice and seemed like her vibe. Very classy and upscale.
I parked alongside the curb, stepped out, then leaned against the passenger side of my Genesis GV80 before pulling out my phone and calling Temple.
“House of beauty, I'm the only cutie. How can I help you?” she answered.
I chuckled. “Does the only cutie need me to come to the door?”
“It’s not necessary. I'll be right out.”
We hung up, and a few moments later, Temple stepped out rocking a soft pink baby doll dress, silver strappy heels, and a small silver purse. Her hair was in twists but pulled up into a ponytail with two pieces hanging in the front.
How she could make a simple dress and hairstyle look so sexy was beyond me. When she turned to lock her door, I caught a glimpse of her exposed back and visualized tracing my tongue along her spine, down to her soft-looking, round a—
You gotta chill, Solo. I scolded myself. This was hard, but I was built for this.
I stood upright when she approached me with a smile on her pretty face.
“Damn. You look good as fuck.” I inwardly cringed at her vulgar words, but I knew in due time, I'd be able to remedy that.
I chuckled. “Your lips are way too beautiful to have such ugly words on them.”
She laughed. “My bad, my holy friend. I'll try to keep a lid on it. I’m just speaking what's on my mind.”
“It’s fine. I was thinking the same about you, but you said it.”
We laughed as I pulled her to me and hugged her around her waist, planting a kiss on her cheek.
“You look beautiful, baby.”
“Thank you. Am I dressed for the occasion?”
“You are. You're wearing exactly what I envisioned. The Big Homie knows what He's doing.”
“Well, shall we?”
“Absolutely.” I opened her door and helped her inside. Once I entered, I reached in the back seat and handed her a bouquet of assorted-colored roses.
“Aww. These are beautiful. Thank you.”
“You're welcome.”
“I love this car too. I always wanted one of these.”
“You want me to get you one?” I asked, pulling from the curb.
She looked over at me as if I'd slapped her. “Don't play with me, Mr. Solomon. I'll turn your bank account into dust, messing with me.” She giggled.
“I have an account set up with play money. There’s five hundred thousand in it. I will add your name to it once we're solidified.”
Again, she stared at me with that same expression. I was sure she waited for me to say I was kidding, but my face stayed stoic while I hit the navigation to get to our destination.
“Solomon?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“You can say it's a joke now.”
I frowned lightly. “Why would I do that?”
“Because no man would ever give a woman access to that much money. They're too dominant and want to control everything. Even if it is with good intentions.”
I thought for a moment, then replied, “Hmph.”
“Hmph. What does that mean?”
“It means I heard you, but I don't agree. Not all men are the same, sweetheart. I don't typically comment on things that don't apply to me. I want you to know that if I say I'm going to do something, that's exactly what I'm going to do. No clauses or prenups.”
“So you’d marry me and give me access to your money and assets without a prenup?”
“I would.”
“Wow. You really do believe in God.”
I chuckled. “Although I do believe in Him, my decision to make my wife feel equal is solely because I love and trust her. When I marry you, I promise you won't even think about leaving me or taking anything from me.
“Life with me will guarantee you love, happiness, and peace.”
I could see her face return to its original relaxed state before a soft smile painted her lips.
“We’ll see one day.”
“So, you see yourself marrying me?” I asked.
She tittered. “We just met, sir. Slow down. After a couple of more dates, we’ll see if you're husband material.”
“I know I am, but I'll let you do your analysis on me.”
“You check off on the looks for sure, but until I see how big you are and test ride that dick—”
“Temp,” I said, cutting her off with a salacious smirk on my face.
“You gotta chill, mamas. I’m still a work in progress, and I need you to sacrifice talking to me like that for the betterment of my faith.
We're going to get there real soon, and I'm gon’ make you eat all that sexy sh—stuff you keep saying to me. Trust me. Just have a little patience with me. Cool?”
“How do you expect me to chill when you keep calling me mamas? It's not even the word that turns me on; it's how you say it. Then the way you look at me . . . mm. You must be trying to take me to the courthouse right now.” She laughed but I didn't.
“Don't play with me. I ain't above doing a trial run.”
She giggled and waved me off. I was serious as hell, but I knew she wasn't ready for that yet. We both had some work to do before that happened, but I was sure it was going to happen real soon.
We continued to converse, with her telling me more about herself, her favorite color, and places to eat.
She told me about her grandma, aunt, cousins/sisters, and their relationship.
I loved that she was close to her family.
Although she was pretty much guarded when it came to being in a relationship, seeing her face light up when she talked about her family let me know she was capable of giving love.
Her reason for choosing to dance at the club was to pay for her grandmother's surgery that she explained Ma Lula was now refusing. I understood her reasoning for doing what she did, but if she refused to get surgery, there was no need for her to continue working at the club.
I didn't speak on it, though.
I would let her rock until she accepted my proposal. Until then, I'd try to keep my focus on getting her to fall in love with me.
We arrived in Ohio three hours later and pulled up to the bible museum.
During the drive, she became fidgety. I knew why, though. She didn't know me, and I'd taken her to another state without protection and the comfort of her family.
I allowed her to take pictures of my license and license plate and gave her the address of my parents' home to give to her family for safety and security. I didn't mind. I'd do anything to make her comfortable.
“Biblewalk?” she questioned once I pulled into the parking lot of the huge museum.
I smirked. “I'd never been and always wanted to check it out. I hear it's pretty cool. It's about a two-hour tour; after that, we’ll get something to eat, then get back on the road.”
“Yeah, I can tell you're a little rusty with this dating thing.” She giggled.
“Why you say that?”
“Your idea of a first date is bringing me to a Bible museum?” She laughed. “I get it, though, so I won't ruin the moment. But the Charles H. Wright Museum would have sufficed.”
I smiled. “Noted. Can I ask you something? I probably should have asked sooner.”
“Sure.”
“Do you believe in God?”
She was silent for a moment, seemingly thinking about my question. I prayed she didn't say no, but if she did, that was cool. I didn't expect everyone to believe in something they couldn't see. I felt that way for a minute as well, until death came for me, and I got a full glimpse of how He works.
“I wouldn't say that I do, but I do believe there is a higher source. I don't believe God is a person. I believe He or She is an energy. It's where we get the gift of discernment from, from reading people’s energy. He or She is just a vibe in my opinion.”
I nodded. “I can see why you’d say that. Everything we say, do, or touch could give something life or can bring death. Not death in a physical sense, but the things we say and do can be manifested through words. Are you familiar with the Bible?”
She laughed. “I never got past Leviticus and skipped to Revelation.”
I chuckled. “Then you should know the very first verse. In the beginning was the Word, and God was the Word. I’m going to stop right there because we have to get inside, but just know that words are powerful, baby.”
She raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at me. “And if God is just a Word, then what does that tell you?”
I let her last question linger. We could go on and on about the Bible all day, so it was best to leave this conversation for later.
“I get it, ma—baby,” I said, smiling at her because I almost slipped. “Let's get inside.” I opened the door and stepped out, went around to her side, and opened the door for her. I helped her out, and we headed inside the building.
After giving our tickets to the woman at the front desk, I took Temple’s hand and led her over to where the tour guide stood with the rest of the people attending.
He explained what the tour would consist of, then walked us through the first part of the tour.
After thirty minutes, I could tell Temple was bored. She kept checking her phone and texting, probably talking about me and how she was ready to leave.
I smirked because I low-key felt the same way. It wasn't that I wasn't interested in learning about the Big Homie; it was the white images of who we called our King of Kings that gave me pause.
The person described in the Good Book looked nothing like what was detailed in there.
I wrapped my arm around Temple’s waist, leaned close to her ear, and whispered, “Let’s get out of here. I think I can find us something a little more entertaining to do.”
I could feel her body relax and knew I made the right decision.
“I thought you'd never ask.”
I chuckled, then led her out of the building. Once we made it to my car, I helped her inside, then got in and pulled away from the building.
“I know why I wanted to leave, but why didn't you want to stay?” she asked.
“The images. I appreciate the story, but the images don't describe who I believe looks out for me. Who I worship.”
She tittered. “That's literally the same thing I thought.”
I smiled. “Plus, you were texting your sisters in the group chat about how lame I was.”
She laughed aloud. “I was not!”
I chuckled. “I know how to have fun, but I try to keep everything I do clean.
I'm not trying to convert you, Temple. I like you just the way you are, but just hoping to help you clean up your words a little.
That's it. I'm not perfect, and I may slip occasionally, but I try to catch myself before I do.
“You’ll be my biggest challenge, but I'm confident that at the end of this race, we’ll both come out the victors.”
I could feel her eyes on me as I drove away from the museum. She took my hand and interlocked our fingers. I glanced at her and smiled.
“I don't know why you're choosing me, but I like you too.”
“Maybe I like a good challenge.”
“I'm sure you do.” She smirked. “I just have one request.”
“What's that?”
“That you let me choose the next date.” That mischievous grin on her face made me nervous.
Yeah, she's going to make me lose my damn religion messing with her.
“Ah shoot. I’m nervous.”
She laughed. “I promise it'll be nothing crazy.”
“Okay. It's a bet.”
“Good. Now, take me somewhere with some good food because I'm starving.”
I chuckled. “I got you, baby. Always.”