Chapter 11
Livia
In the morning, I walk to the kitchen to find Khenji standing at the stove shirtless. He has on a pair of gym shorts, but that’s it – gym shorts – and they cling to his taut backside like nobody’s business. While I watch him cook whatever he’s cooking, I take note of the welts on his back. They’re old scars, but they’re plentiful. There’s no use in asking him where they came from. I already know I won’t get that answer. That leaves me having to assume things about him – something I don’t like to do. I shouldn’t have to, but with his limited communication skills, what choice do I have?
“Good morning,” I say.
He jumps and turns toward my voice like I startled him – almost like he forgot I was here and when he does, I see he also has scars on his chest.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll be right back.”
He goes to a room right around the corner.
I walk to the island and smell the scent of the candle he’s burning. It’s blood orange and amber and smells like a delightful scent that matches the elegance of his place.
Moments later, he comes back with a white T-shirt on. Why he ran to get a shirt is beyond me. It’s not like he needs to hide from me. His body is impeccable. The muscle definition – flawless. Even with the scars, he’s built like a world-class athlete. When he turned around, I saw a few scars on his chest. His pectorals are something to write home about and those abs can’t get any harder, can they? Jeez. I almost feel like telling him to take the shirt off, but I don’t.
“Good morning, Livia.”
“Good morning,” I say again. “What are you doing in here?”
“I’m cooking breakfast for you. You cooked for me, so I have to cook for you.”
“You cooked for me last night. We’re even.”
“Everything I did yesterday didn’t require cooking.”
“Right.” I look around at the kitchen again, noticing how high-end all the appliances are. His house is amazing. Even the guest bedroom I woke up in this morning looked like it was fit for a queen.
“Um…can I help you do anything?”
“No.”
“I can make the pancakes, Khenji.”
“No.”
I yawn and defiantly go to get the Hungry Jack box, anyway. He already had placed a mixing bowl on the table.”
“Livia, I got it.”
“I want to help you,” I say, picking up the box and opening the package.
He steps up behind me and takes the box from my grasp. “No.”
I purposely push his buttons to see how he’ll react, so I grab it back and when I do, pancake mix flies everywhere – on him, on my face and all over the floor.
He bites back a grin. “See what you did, Casper.”
“Oh, you got jokes, and I was trying to help you,” I say, brushing off the powder from my shirt.
“It’s not that bad.” He tackles the little that landed on my face with both hands. I didn’t think it was that much, but I let him handle it the way he wants. Shoot, if I knew that’s all it took for him to touch me, I’d doused myself with a bag of flour a long time ago.
After it seems that he’s finished the task, he stops but his hands are still on my face. He’s frozen in place, staring at me. At my lips. I look up into his eyes, wondering what’s going through his mind. This man is full of so much love – I can feel that much – but he constrains himself from me. How he’s so good at it is what has me baffled.
“Khenji?”
He blinks and then snatches his hand away from my face. He clears his throat and says, “Change of plans. Go get dressed. I’m taking you out to breakfast.”
He blows out the candle and leaves the kitchen in a hurry.
And once again, I’m reeling, burning up inside wondering when he’s going to release all that pent-up passion and grab me. The wall is here, the floor, the counter – shoot I’d take a mid-air stroke at this point. I just want to know that it’s there. And it’s only for me.
We end up at the same café we went to when we first met. He insisted on driving, so I left my car at his place and rode here with him. It’s a beautiful day. We opted for an outside table where we soak up some vitamin D and eat French toast, sausage, eggs and grits. He ordered a lot. He eats a lot. Those muscles must require a lot of protein and he burns it off so efficiently because his body is ripped. I saw that with my own eyes.
I say, “Sorry I ruined breakfast.”
“You didn’t ruin anything. It was supposed to happen.”
“What?”
He says, “I believe everything happens for a reason. There are no coincidences in life.”
“No?”
“No.”
“You have an interesting way of thinking because I think coincidences are real.”
He shakes his head. “Prime example—the night I met you at the mixer. I wasn’t supposed to be there. So, do you think that was a coincidence that we met?”
“Um…I don’t know. Coincidence or not, I’m glad we met.”
“You have no idea.”
“And look where we are—the same little café.”
“I did owe you a do-over and now look at us. We’ve come full circle.”
“We have.” I take a sip of juice.
He asks, “Did you sleep well last night? I know it’s difficult sometimes for people to sleep when they’re in a new environment.”
“Really, ‘cause I slept like a baby. The environment didn’t feel all that new. I don’t know what it is about you, Khenji Halifax, but I feel like I’ve known you all my life.”
“I feel the same way about you, Livia Halifax.”
I smile. “You know you said Livia Halifax, right?”
“I’m fully aware of what I said,” he tells me and does that half smirk thing he does.
When we leave the restaurant, we return to his house so I can get my car. It’s Sunday so I have errands to run as I prepare for the upcoming work week. He pulls up in the garage. I get out of the car and we go inside.
I gather my things and once my bag is, together I take my purse and head to the door. It’s a little after one.
He takes my bag and follows me to the car. Opening the back driver-side door, he puts the bag inside and says, “I guess this is it, huh?”
“Khenji, I’m just going home. That’s all.”
He frowns.
I say, “I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Can I…um…hug you, or—?”
He doesn’t respond, so I make my own decision. I close my arms around him and squeeze him as hard as I can though he never closes his arms around me. They remain at his side.
I say, “Thank you for showing me a good time. I’ll see you later.”
“When is later?”
I release him and look up at him. “Whenever later is.”
“When? I want to know when I’ll see you again. You have a busy work week. I have a busy work week, and I will not go five days without seeing you again. So, when?”
I don’t want to go a whole week without seeing him either, so I say, “Let’s make it a point to see each other every day.”
The biggest smile grows on his face.
“Ooh. A smile! You must really like that idea.”
“I do.”
“Okay. I’ll see you…”
He opens the door for me and I get into the car. As I’m pulling around, he just stands there in the yard watching as I drive away. Excitement fills me as I leave but I also feel a little sadness. I don’t want to leave. I love the way I feel when I’m with him. He’s—
He’s something special.
And he’s mine.
“Don’t be making pop-ups on me. It’s seven o’clock on a Sunday night.”
Hayes walks past me and goes straight to the pantry. He grabs a box of Cheez-Its and sits on my sofa, tearing up my snacks. He likes to come over here and be nosy, trying to find out what I’ve been doing. Judging by the way he looks, you’d never guess he was a doctor. He’s wearing a basic white T-shirt, blue jeans and white Nikes. His complexion is a tad darker than mine and Hope’s. He has black curly hair that, in my opinion, makes him look younger than thirty-five. He practices family medicine. It definitely comes in handy to have a family doctor around – except for the times when he raids your pantry like a crazed person.
With narrowed eyes, I ask, “Dad put you up to this, didn’t he? You’re a spy for the enemy.”
He chuckles. “Dad is not the enemy, girl. And no, he didn’t put me up to this. I came by to see what you’ve been up to for myself.”
“I haven’t been up to anything.” Well, except for falling in love, but he doesn’t need to know all that, does he?
“How have you been doing? How’s Josie?”
“I’m good. Josie’s good. She went with Ma and Hope to try that new place since you didn’t want to go.”
“Good.”
“Why didn’t you go?” he questions.
“I wasn’t feeling it. Mom is always pressuring me to eat that mess she likes.”
“She doesn’t mean any harm. She’s just trying to spend time with her kids.”
“Then you go eat with her…”
“Nah. She be eating some weird stuff.”
I step into the kitchen with a laundry basket, take clothes out of the dryer and return to the living room, folding them on the coffee table.
Hayes has my box of Cheez-Its turned up to his mouth.
“Um…did Josie not cook, or—?”
“She cooked. These are my favorites.”
“They’re my favorites…hence the reason they were in my pantry!”
“Pipe down, girl. I’ll buy you some more.”
The doorbell sounds.
Hayes looks at me and asks, “Are you expecting anyone?”
My heart sinks. No, I wasn’t expecting anyone, but I have an idea who it is.
I get up, walk to the door and glance through the peephole.
My heart races. I’m in awe. It’s him.
Mmm, mmm, mmm…
Opening the door, I say, “Hey.”
“Hi.” He looks past me and sees Hayes. He frowns a little and asks, “Who’s he?”
“Come inside and I’ll introduce you.”
He steps inside, and I say, “Hayes, this is—”
“You’re Khenji Halifax!” Hayes blurts out.
“I am,” Khenji says. “Who are you?”
“Hayes Augustus, Livia’s brother.” Hayes gets up and shakes his hand. “I meant to talk to you at the mixer, but I got sidetracked.”
“I’m not good at those things. Anyway, it was nice to meet you. Livia, may I see you outside for a moment, please?”
“Sure.”
We walk back to the door, step out and stand in the breezeway.
“Is something wrong, Khenji?”
“No.”
“Sooo…what are you doing here?”
“I wanted to tell you that I miss you. And I—” He frowns and takes a deep breath. “I wanted to give you something.”
I look down at his hands. He has them clenched so tightly, I can’t tell if something is inside them.
“What is it?”
He licks his lips and takes a step closer to me. Then he lowers his mouth to mine and leaves a small peck on my lips. It’s innocent, yet it’s potent enough to make my legs unstable for a moment. I catch my balance by grabbing the doorknob.
After the deed is done, he turns and walks away.
Amused, I ask, “Where are you going?” but he keeps right on walking. He doesn’t say goodbye, goodnight or anything. He gave me a lil’ kiss and dipped.
My poor baby…
I can hardly wipe the grin off of my face. He actually kissed me.
I take a deep breath to slow my heart rate and then step back inside my apartment feeling woozy like I just got a shot of something. I guess them drive-by kisses hit different, especially when they’re from a man you adore.
Hayes asks, “Are you seeing him? Do you know who that is? That’s Khenji Halifax—the billionaire hedge fund manager. They did a feature on him on the news a few years ago.”
I barely heard anything Hayes said. I’m still floating in another universe.
“Liv...”
“Yes?”
“Did you hear anything I said?” he asks.
“I heard you, and yes, I know who he is.”
“The way your cheeks are flushed tells me you know him well.”
“I’m getting to know him. We’re dating.”
“Are you—?” He stands up and holds his temples as he paces the floor in front of my entertainment center. “Are you kidding me? You’re dating the Khenji Halifax?”
“Yes, and keep this between us for now, please.”
“How long has this been going on?”
“None of your business.”
“It is my business. You’re my sister.”
“And you’re my brother, but I wasn’t harassing you when you were dating Josie.”
“That’s different.”
“How’s it different, Hayes?”
“Don’t worry about all that. And since you’re comparing him to Josie, does that mean this is serious?”
“Hayes!” I say and I feel myself blushing. I’m helpless to stop it.
“Oh, wow! It is serious.”
“It is. Okay. There. Are you happy now?”
“I’ll be even happier when I get to know him on a personal level.”
“Sounds like to me you already know him.”
“I know of him. I know his track record for managing money. He’s the best in the business.”
“How do you know that?”
“I know people who know him.”
“What else do you know about him?”
Hayes shrugs. “Not much, besides the fact that he’s filthy rich. How’d you cross paths with him?”
“We met at the mixer and stayed in touch.”
“That’s wild.” He goes to the refrigerator and gets a bottle of water, taking a long swig before saying, “My sister is dating Khenji Halifax…”
“Hayes, I mean it. Play this close. I don’t want mom and dad in my business.”
“You may not want them in your business but I’m going to be. I at least need to have a conversation with him.”
“Hayes—”
“Not to judge—you know that ain’t my style. I just want to let him know that you’re loved, and we’re not going to tolerate no dude with bad intentions.”
“He doesn’t have bad intentions. He’s a pure soul.”
“If his first name ain’t Jesus, last name Christ, he doesn’t have a pure soul. Besides them men that got Oprah money ain’t pure. They be into all kinds of things.”
“Well, I have a good feeling about him. Now why don’t you get on out of here and stop eating up all my snacks?”
He releases a loud exaggerated sigh and says, “Yeah, let me get out of here. I got another long week coming.”
“Me, too.”
“Alright baby girl. I’ll see you. And FYI, I will be contacting your boyfriend.”
“Ugh! I hate you.”
“Love you too, sis. Be good.”
“You, too. Bye, Hayes.”
When he leaves, I lock the door and then touch my lips like a girl who just got kissed by her crush. I still can’t believe Khenji kissed me. He kissed me! I feel like a new woman, A new being. I’m floating. My lips don’t even feel the same. And it’s all because of him.