Читать книгу Feel The Heat - Cheris Hodges - Страница 12
ОглавлениеMimi’s walk had changed to a shuffle as they left the Waffle House.
“Come here,” Brent said as they stopped in front of a bench near a MARTA stop.
“Why?” She sighed as she tried to ignore the throbbing in her toes. Her shoes had officially reached their time limit. Brent tugged at her arm until she joined him on the bench.
“We’ve already decided that we don’t have to impress each other. Give me the shoes,” he said.
“Umm, why?”
“Girl, you know your feet hurt. Give me the shoes.”
Mimi took her heels off and handed them over. Then Brent took her left foot into his hands, slowly kneading and massaging her insole. Mimi struggled not to moan in delight. So, he was good—no, amazing—with his hands. By the time he switched to her right foot, Mimi was ready to buy him a lifetime supply of bacon and bourbon.
“Oh my goodness,” she exclaimed. “I believe that was all the proof I needed about you and your hands. I think I could run a marathon in those shoes now.”
“How did you get to the lounge tonight?” he asked.
“I rode with MJ.” Mimi reached into her handbag to retrieve her phone. She wasn’t surprised that she didn’t have a single text or missed call from her friend. Mimi knew that she was in Nic-land and nothing else really mattered right now.
“It’s not that far of a walk back to our place. Jamal just sent me a message. He’s going to be otherwise occupied for the rest of the night.”
“You know, our friends are kind of selfish,” Mimi quipped, then she held her hand out. “My shoes, please.”
“Why would you want to put those skyscrapers on again?”
“Because I’m not walking on this dirty ground in my bare feet,” she said matter-of-factly.
“Then there’s only one solution,” he said, then scooped her up in his arms. Mimi would’ve protested, called him sexist or an ogre, if the heat from his body didn’t feel so good.
“You’re sure you can carry all of this home?” Then she pointed to her shoes beside the MARTA bench. “And you can not leave my shoes!”
Sitting her on the bench, he picked up the shoes and handed them to her. And as if he could read her mind, he picked her up again before she could put them on. “Oh, you don’t trust me?” she asked with a laugh.
“Your eyes tell everything. I saw you looking at those killer heels and I knew your next move.”
Mimi leaned her head against his chest as they walked. “What are you into? CrossFit, power lifting?”
“Actually, yoga,” he said. “Nothing helps me unwind after a stressful case like the sun salutation. And then there’s boxing.”
“Aww, I get it, peace and violence. That’s interesting,” she said, then took a deep breath. There was that scent again. Definitely sandalwood. Definitely driving her crazy.
“Sometimes it takes more than the downward facing dog to get you to sleep.”
Mimi raised her right eyebrow at him. “I’m just going to keep my mouth shut,” she said, then shook her head.
“What? You said you spend a lot of time at the gym. You know a sweaty workout can be better than sex with the wrong person.”
“Well... You do have a point. But let’s be real, you have a lot of women to choose from, you just don’t. Makes you seem as if you’re the good guy.”
“How do you figure that? Just because I’m the finest man you’ve come across in a while, it doesn’t mean that I use all this sexy for evil.”
“Jamal is sexier,” she quipped.
“I’d drop you if I knew you weren’t telling the biggest lie in Atlanta,” he said as they turned onto the block where their complex was.
“I know Jamal has more interaction with the ladies. I saw his work tonight. I can’t believe sisters still fall for that mess.”
“What mess is that? Maybe I need to add it to my repertoire.”
She rolled her eyes. “How about, I’ll tell you after you hang my TV, Mr. Good Hands?”
“If you don’t tell me, I’m not hanging the TV,” he said with a wink.
“That’s just dirty.”
“All right, here’s a compromise: you tell me while I hang it.”
“Okay, that works. And you can put me down now.”
Brent pressed the code to enter the building, but didn’t put Mimi down. “This isn’t much cleaner than the sidewalk near the MARTA station,” he said. “When we get inside, I’ll let you go.”
Mimi sighed. Something about him letting her go made her feel some kind of way. But she told herself that they were just going to be friends and she shouldn’t get comfortable in his arms. But she knew it was too late for that.
When he lowered her to the floor, they headed for the elevator. “What made you move into this area?” she asked.
“Closer to the office, no more fighting two-eight-five traffic every morning.”
“Maybe you can show me your office one day.”
“It would probably bore you.”
She nodded. “You might be right. I bore easily. That’s why I don’t work in an office.”
“Have you ever?”
“Worst two years of my life. I was a stringer for a paper and they offered me a position to create their blog. I thought I was going to be out creating content and making it pop. It was all about monitoring the page views and watching other people have fun. I told them that I wanted to have a more creative role on my blog. They said no. I started my own blog and they didn’t like it, so I was fired.”
“Damn.”
Mimi shrugged. “I could’ve begged for my job back, but I was like, why not work for someone you really like? I took it as a sign that I needed to work for myself.”
“Interesting,” he said. “Were you at all nervous that it wouldn’t work out?”
She nodded. “But if it didn’t at least I could say that I tried. Thank goodness it did work.” They walked to Mimi’s door in silence. Then she turned to him. “You seem as if you pretty much follow the rules all the time,” she said when she unlocked the front door.
“Well, that’s normally what good lawyers do.”
“All that time in law school to be a part of the status quo.” Mimi shook her head as she tossed her shoes inside, then turned the light on.
Mimi watched Brent as he gazed around the living room, taking in the eclectic art and vibrant colors.
“What’s with the one red wall?” he asked.
“That’s where I do my vlogs. Red is also the background color of my logo,” she said.
“So this is the home office?”
“I guess. I’d like to not think of it as an office, though. Anyway, you can have a tour after you hang my TV.”
“And you can tell me about your observations tonight.”
“If you must know, the average woman wants her ego stroked just like a man. It’s just when y’all do it, you have to seem sincere or it comes off creepy. Jamal was brilliant at it. I’m sure when the sister he wakes up with in the morning decides to cook him breakfast, she isn’t going to realize that she’ll never see him again.”
“And what crystal ball do you see all of this in?”
Mimi crossed the room and booted up her desktop computer. Then she pulled up her blog site and pointed to Brent. “Please get familiar with my crystal ball,” she said.
Brent crossed over to her computer and glanced at the website. “This is funny,” he said. “But why would you go to an event like this if you weren’t looking for Mr. Right?”
“Well, I was invited and it turned out to be false advertising. Remember, I’m also doing a public service. It’s a shame how companies prey on the fact that so many women are looking for love and marriage. I wrote a book about how hard it is to date in Atlanta and then here comes this company that’s promising true love to women, but cheap sex to men. I wouldn’t have been doing my job if I’d allowed this to go without reporting on it.”
“And you’re not one of those women who’s looking for Mr. Right?”
“No. That’s overrated. If marriage is the ultimate goal, you’re only setting yourself up for failure.”
“Cynical much?” he asked.
“Not cynical, just realistic. Anyway, it’s time for you to put your hands to use,” she said as she smiled at him.
“Lead the way,” he said. Mimi started for the stairs.
“Just keep in mind that the TV is all you’re touching tonight,” she said as she looked over her shoulder at him.
“There’s always tomorrow,” he said with a smirk.
Mimi turned her head and closed her eyes. If only he knew.
* * *
When Brent followed Mimi into her bedroom, she had to silently remind herself that they weren’t going to fall into bed. But her eyes fell to her rose-colored blanket and green duvet. She wouldn’t mind him laying her down on the soft covers and making love to her.
Stop it, she thought as she crossed over to her walk-in closet and pulled out the TV box.
“Let me get that,” Brent said from behind her. The deep timbre of his voice sent shivers up her spine. Mimi stepped aside and watched Brent lift the TV as if it weighed three ounces. Underneath his tailored shirt, she could see his bulging muscles.
“Where do you want it?” he asked as he glanced around the room.
Mimi pointed to the wall facing her bed. “I had Manny check and make sure I could drill the bracket in place.”
“Who’s Manny?”
“Oh, you haven’t met Manny yet? He’s the building super. And if you want something done right, you don’t call him.”
“Then how do you know he was right about the wall?”
Mimi shrugged. “I guess if you don’t get electrocuted we’ll know.”
“That’s cold,” he said. “You lured me up here to risk my life so that you can play Xbox.”
“PlayStation,” she corrected. “And if I remember correctly, you came willingly.”
Brent walked over to the wall and drummed on it. “Doesn’t seem as if there’s anything back here that will kill me. Mimi, where are your tools?”
“Under the bed,” she said, then dropped to her knees.
* * *
Brent couldn’t take his eyes off Mimi’s shapely behind as she crawled underneath her bed. She moved with the grace of a panther and when she stretched forward, he got hard. His body reacted in a way that he hadn’t expected. When was the last time that a woman gave him this feeling? Not since he was a teenager. As a grown man, he was supposed to be able to control his emotions and body, not act like a youngster looking at his first copy of Playboy. But damn! As she inched deeper underneath the bed and wiggled her ass, it took every ounce of self-control in him to stop from mounting Mimi from behind.
“All right,” she said as she slammed the tools on the edge of the bed. “Here’s my toolbox.”
Mimi was a goddess, Brent decided as he drank in the image of her tousled hair and full lips. When she flicked her tongue across her bottom lip, he nearly lost it.
“Would you like something to drink?” she asked.
“Sounds good,” he said, then unbuttoned his shirt.
“Cranberry juice works for you?” she asked as she turned away from his shirtless frame.
“Yes.”
She released a sigh as she took a quick look at him and then headed out the door.
