5. JUSTINA
The moment Dane left my suite, I rushed to my phone to call my cousin, Nooki, then thought better of it.
If I told her anything concerning Dane, she’d want to fly out here and get an exclusive interview with him.
Nooki was the cousin I called for everything.
We didn’t talk every single day, but we rarely let a week go by without catching up.
She was in California producing a new television show, but she would drop everything if I called with something as juicy as going on a date with Dane Richards.
Plus, I couldn’t risk my mama finding out about this date.
She didn’t care for Shy T, she surely wasn’t going to care for Dane, a much larger and more influential rapper.
Before coming here, I told her I would stay away from rappers.
Here I was, going on a date with the rapper of all rappers.
A freaking billionaire for goodness’ sake.
I could say that Dane was out of my league.
However, the fact that he admitted to watching me turned off that part of my common sense.
So, as much as I wanted to share this news with someone, I didn’t. I was getting sidetracked from the reason I was on vacation in the first place. I set my phone on do-not-disturb and promised myself I’d stay off it for the rest of the trip.
Sighing, I grabbed my clothes off the couch and went back to the bedroom to moisturize my skin before putting the clothes on.
I’d settle in until it was time to share dinner with Dane.
Hopefully, dinner would be out on a terrace or something because the weather here was too perfect not to enjoy it.
As long as no one spotted me keeping company with Dane, I was fine.
You might as well stay inside, I thought to myself.
Probably. However, I’d already given him a yes.
I’d be stronger the next time around. One date wasn’t going to harm anything.
And I definitely wasn’t about to fall in bed with Dane.
That would be a huge fucking disaster. One that I wanted no parts of.
But it’s been so long.
Yep. It had been a long time for me. Shy T was on tour, and when he wasn’t on tour, he was in the studio.
He never had time for me, and I used to give him a pass because my schedule was crazy too.
Being in this life wasn’t easy. It was inside a jet, a hotel room, and different venues multiple times a week.
In this business, strength was the least of the qualities anyone needed.
What was truly needed was patience and grace.
Those were the things I’d learned over the years.
I had to be patient with myself when things became hectic.
Giving myself grace was the hardest to adopt.
There were times when I was so tough on myself that even my mama grew concerned.
Trying to be perfect in a world of imperfect people nearly drove me crazy.
The last time I took a break from making music, I stayed away for so long that people started speculating that I’d gotten pregnant and was hiding the baby.
That was something I’d never do. The way I wanted to have a family and live happily ever after needed to be studied.
However, since my love life was in the trash, it didn’t look like I was going to have any of that shit any time soon.
Dashing away thoughts of ever after, I finished unpacking my things and made this suite feel a little more like home. At least for the time being.
My palms began sweating the closer time arrived for dinner.
As I paced the floor, I thought about backing out of my date with Dane.
This idea that we could simply sit across from each other and enjoy dinner without me feeling tempted to jump on him was foolish.
All afternoon, I stewed over whether sharing dinner with him was a smart idea.
In the end, I determined that I would be wrong to back out.
Plus, Dane was harmless. He’d share a date with me and realize I was boring, then move on with his life.
He wouldn’t be the first man to request a date with me expecting to get Majesty, the sensual, flirty diva I portrayed when gracing a music video, a red carpet, an interview, or a stage.
Once they discovered that I was plain ol’ Justina, they quickly left me for other territory.
Shy T stuck to me, though. Our history drove me to give him more grace than I should have.
Shaking off the nerves dominating my senses, I lathered my skin with body butter, dressed in an orange floor-length maxi skirt, a green half shirt with an orange graphic, socks, and my favorite sneakers.
I looked in the mirror, thought about changing, then settled on my look.
My vibe was looser clothing, bare stomach, gold bangles, gold hoops, diamond studs, and a stunning layered bob that swept my neck just right.
Brushing my bangs off my forehead to give it a feathered look, I thought I looked cute for a chill first… well, first and only date.
A knock on the door sent my nerves back into overdrive.
I grabbed my purse and hurried to the door.
Upon opening the door, I caught myself from drooling.
Dane… Goodness. He wasn’t playing fair. Neutral colors against his skin made him mouthwateringly irresistible, and he smelled like my next horse ride.
Although dressed casually, he managed to look like he was on his way to a business meeting.
He smiled, and I had to look away to avoid falling headfirst onto his dick.
What the hell is wrong, girl? I acted as if I’d never seen an overly fine man before. I’d seen plenty. And not a single one produced the sudden urge to lose all sanity, dignity, and morals just to jump one man.
“Mm…” Dane’s moisturized lips stretched into a smile.
If I wasn’t so focused on staring at his ass, I would’ve recognized his lips moving closer to my face. Before I caught what was happening, his lips landed on my forehead. Seriously, I could’ve fainted right there.
“You ready, baby?” he asked.
Since my throat was clogged, I nodded. His hand reached for my hand, so I let him take it. Tucking my fingers between his, I shuddered on the inside, wondering what the hell was happening to me. These feelings were foreign as hell. Yet, they felt so natural.
Stuck inside my head, I didn’t realize that Dane led me the opposite way from the elevators to a different elevator marked EMPLOYEES ONLY.
When we boarded, he pressed a button that took us down.
We ended up inside the parking garage where a black Ghost waited for us.
A man standing next to the ride ducked his head and opened the back door for me.
Seconds later, Dane and I were in the back seat and heading for our destination. I breathed a sigh of relief that our departure wasn’t met with flashing lights, shouts, and jeers. For once, going out with a man seemed normal. And Dane’s life was anything but normal.
“So, what’s this foolishness about Wayne being able to keep up with me?
” Dane asked. Just as he promised, we were in a secluded restaurant with gorgeous views of the beach.
Although we were inside, sunlight flooded the place.
I was on my first glass of wine, and the dreamy ambiance of the restaurant’s luxurious panoramic views lulled me into a relaxed state.
I chuckled at his question and replied honestly. “Not that I have to give you specifics, but that man practically owned the radio at one point. Not to mention, he stays on rotation on just about every millennial’s playlist.”
I owned every one of Wayne’s albums and often played them back-to-back.
“Aight, those are valid points,” Dane said.
Thankfully, he wasn’t the type to get up in arms over whether he was the greatest or not. “I’m glad you think so.”
“I do,” he replied. “Let’s talk about you, though. How you feelin’ about ya new album?”
Sighing, I felt goosebumps all over. Talking about my music always caused me to feel sweet nothings.
Almost like every lyric I wrote was a love letter to myself.
One thing I was good for was taking my time writing my songs.
I wanted listeners to feel every fucking thing I sang and wanted my lyrics to resonate with listeners long after I left this lifetime.
“I feel good about it,” I answered.
Dane chuckled. “That’s it? You just feel good about it?”
Smiling, I shrugged my shoulders. Not everyone wanted to hear me gush over my musical artistry or my process. While I could sit in silence for days at a time perfecting a song, others couldn’t understand how I could do such a thing.
“I mean, I feel better than good about it. It’s my most intimate album to date, so…”
“Most intimate, huh? Tell me ya favorite song off the album,” he requested.
“Or you can wait to listen like everyone else.”
Offended, his head leaned back on his shoulders. “I ain’t everybody else, baby.”
I burst out laughing. “Yeah, okay.” Inwardly, I conceded that this was how Dane was able to get his way.
He was easy to talk to, and he kept me smiling or laughing.
My guard should be up. It should be high, thick, and unscalable.
With that in mind, I still opened up to Dane.
“If you must know, Sun Kissed Moments is my favorite track.”
“Tell me about it.”
Reluctantly, I closed my eyes and drifted back to the day I wrote Sun Kissed Moments.
I was sitting on my balcony, reflecting on my life.
At the time, I was going through some shit with Shy T, too, so it made reflecting on life even heavier.
The weather was bad that day, with dark clouds slowly moving east. With all the heaviness piling onto me, there was a moment when the sun peeked through.
It was only a moment, but the power of the sun was too dramatic to skip the meaningfulness of the rays’ appearance.
“I was going through some heavy times in my life. There were decisions I had to make, roads I needed to avoid, and directions I refused to come subject to. A lot was on my mind. It was dark that day because a storm was rolling through. Despite the threat of bad weather, I still chose to sit on my balcony, even if it was just to smell the rain. Suddenly, the clouds shifted, and a streak of sunlight touched me.”
“It was a sign,” he surmised.
“I took it as one,” I confirmed.
“Explain.”
My eyebrows rose questioningly. “Excuse me?”
His grin was unapologetic. “Explain to me what happened after you got that sign.”
“Oh, you wanna know all my innermost thoughts, huh?” I teased him.
“This is deeper than wanting to know ya thoughts, Justina.”
His response commanded me to pause and take note of the way his eyes softened to reflect whatever lay on his mind.
“I wanna know what frequency ya heart beats on, so mine can fall,” he stated.
Breathlessly, I questioned, “Fall?”
“In line,” he replied lowly. “I want us to be so connected that I feel when you so much as think about runnin’ from me. By the time you make it to wherever you runnin’ to, I’ll already be there, waiting for you.”
It was tragic the way I blushed. Meanwhile, Dane stared into my eyes, his face unreadable, but his eyes were an open book.