Читать книгу What Lies Between Lovers - Sophia Shaw - Страница 12

The group of friends was finished painting Gary’s place earlier than expected. They ordered a couple of pizzas for dinner, and Monique was back home before six-thirty that evening. She immediately went into the shower to get ready for her date. She was still not excited about meeting Colin Grant, but it was too late to back out. While in the shower, she created a plan to spend about an hour with him, then make up an excuse about having a headache, or something, then head home early. If he turned out to be pleasant company, then she might stay a little longer, but the possibility seemed very unlikely to Monique. There had been very few men in her life that she found both intellectually interesting and physically attractive.

The timing worked out well, and Monique pulled her car into the parking lot of the restaurant with a couple of minutes to spare. Colin was to be waiting for her at the front entrance, but none of the few men around met his description. She decided to take a quick look inside in case she had misunderstood the arrangements.

Despite her reluctance at meeting someone new, Monique still chose to put some effort into her appearance. She knew she looked good, but it still felt nice to see the men look at her with appreciation and interest as she made her way through the crowded bar. She wore a sleeveless black cotton tunic with a simple boat neckline in the front and a plunging, scalloped back that left her skin bare right down to the base of her spine. She had paired it with long white shorts that ended around her knees and accentuated the long length of her legs. Her feet were clad in silver stiletto heels, about three inches high, bringing her to almost five feet, ten inches tall.

She was headed back to the front entrance when a guy stepped through the door and looked around as though searching for someone. Monique indentified Colin right away from the picture that Cara had e-mailed her, and she walked toward him. He smiled widely when he recognized her.

“Hi, Colin,” she said graciously while extending her hand. “I’m Monique.”

“Hey, Monique,” he replied warmly, shaking her hand with a surprisingly strong and confident grip. “I hope you haven’t been waiting long?”

“Not at all. Just a few minutes.”

“Good. So, should we get a table or just sit at the bar?” he asked while looking around at the Saturday evening crowd that was steadily growing.

“There were a couple of free tables near the back of the bar,” she suggested.

“Okay,” Colin replied easily, then indicated for her to go first.

As soon as they took their seats in a small booth, a waitress approached them and took their orders for red wine.

“So, Cara tells me that you guys have known each other since public school. Back in Detroit, right? That’s pretty interesting,” commented Colin.

“Yeah, we’ve been best friends since we were seven years old. Her family moved to San Diego right after our sophomore year in high school. I moved out here to finish my degree.”

“What did you take?”

“My undergrad was in Economics at the University of Michigan, then I got my MBA at San Diego State.”

“And you’re in sales, right?” he asked.

“That’s right.”

There was a small pause as they looked at each other while sipping at the wine. Monique used that time to look at him more closely. She had to admit that Colin was much better looking in real life. He had an average sort of face with pleasant features, a clean shaven and neat appearance, with his hair cut low. There wasn’t really anything remarkable about him, except his personality was much more vibrant than she had anticipated. Her interest was piqued a little bit.

“So, how long have you known Cara?” she finally asked.

Colin laughed a little.

“Only a few weeks, actually. I started working at the real estate firm at the end of September.”

“Really?” replied Monique with obvious surprise. Cara had been bugging her to meet Colin for almost that long!

“Yeah. We just hit it off right away. She’s a really great person,” Colin stated, still grinning. “I think she mentioned setting us up on my second day at work.”

“No way!” Monique exclaimed. “She did not!”

Colin laughed again while nodding. “Yup! Apparently, I’m perfect for you, and exactly the type of guy you should be going out with. You should listen to her. She is pretty perceptive.”

Monique could only bury her face in her hands, completely embarrassed and appalled by her friend’s portrayal of her as desperate. Cara had made it seem as though she knew Colin well and had worked with him for a long time. Monique silently vowed to kill her.

“What else did Cara tell you about me?” she finally asked once she’d regained her composure.

“Not much. She definitely did not tell me how gorgeous you are.”

His once charming smile now seemed a little sly and cocky. Monique’s interest started a quick decline toward nonexistent. She was about to say something sharply sarcastic, to bring him down a notch, but their waitress chose that moment to stop by to check on them.

“So, tell me everything there is to know about Monique Evans,” Colin continued.

Monique had to try really hard not to roll her eyes. Did he really think his lines were original? Or did Cara’s aggressive matchmaking portray Monique as naïve as well as pathetic?

“Well, there’s not much to tell,” she finally replied. “What about you? How long have you been working in real estate?”

As she suspected, Colin had no problem talking about himself, and he did not need much prompting to get rolling.

“But that’s just my day job,” he told her with a dismissive shrug, after spending a good twenty minutes telling her all about being a high-end real estate broker in San Diego. “My real passion is my poetry.”

“Really?” she replied on cue, barely able to suppress a yawn.

“Maybe you’ve heard some of my stuff. I go by the name Soulistic?” He didn’t wait for her response before busting into a rhyme. “Sister girl…baby girl…. Where were you when I tongued my first kiss? When I stole my first feel? When I bust my first nut? (dramatic pause) Sister girl, the first and last was all about you…baby girl, it was all about you. Your scent, your feel was always in my mind, heart, and senses. Waiting for your essence to appear in my world. Sister girl, where were you until today?”

It took Monique a good ten seconds to process his words. She wasn’t a big fan of poetry or spoken word, but she recognized the style of his rhyming, with dramatic enunciations and word emphasis. It didn’t sound too bad.

“That was “Baby Girl,” one of my more well-known verses.”

She nodded in response, then he went right into another poem, then two more after that. Monique didn’t know if she should laugh at his act of intense sensitivity and passion, or just work on getting her hand out from the grasp of his fingers.

“Wow,” she replied. “That was…great!”

She finally pulled her hand away to pick up her wine glass.

“Thank you. Maybe you can come out to hear me perform sometime. I do events all over the city and on the radio. But next year will be bigger and better. I already have a couple of gigs booked in LA for January. Soulistic is on the rise.”

Oh, no! He did not just refer to himself in the third person, Monique thought. It was time to cut this off and put the guy out of his misery.

“Sorry, Colin, I have to run to the bathroom.” She stood up, then reached into her purse and pulled out fifteen dollars. “This is for my drink in case the waitress comes by.”

She walked away before he could respond or react.

Monique didn’t actually need to use the facilities, she just wanted an excuse to end Colin’s self-absorbed chatting, especially before he started rhyming again. But, while there, she used the opportunity to wash her hands and freshen up her makeup. As she walked back to their table, she braced herself for the inevitable gentle but firm letdown. She stopped beside his chair but did not sit back down.

“Hey there,” he said, grinning up at her with charm and confidence.

“Colin, it was nice meeting you,” she replied with a polite but distant smile. She stuck out her hand to silently say good-bye.

He was clearly confused for a few seconds, looking back and forth from her face to her still-extended hand.

“Oh. Oh, all right,” he eventually replied as he stood up also. “You have to get going.”

“No, I’m going to finish my wine. But, again it was good to meet you.”

Monique then sat in her chair and occupied herself by looking through her purse. It was a clear message that the date was over. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a few different expressions pass over his face, including insulted and finally a little anger. It took him a few minutes, but eventually Colin nodded a bit and walked away.

Monique almost felt guilty about blowing him off, but it was his own fault for being so cocky and egotistical. They had spent only about an hour together, and it was very obvious that his favorite topic was Colin…or Soulistic. She couldn’t begin to waste her time on someone like that. Clearly, Cara was very wrong about the type of men that Monique should be dating!

As she had planned, Monique finished her wine while sitting alone and looking around at all the people socializing on a Saturday night. There was a pretty even mix of men and women. Some were clearly on dates, but most looked like they were in groups just having a good time. She spent a few minutes trying to remember the last time she felt like part of that single and carefree crowd, dressed up in funky, sexy clothes and flirting easily.

Monique had never been that girl. She had always been too focused on a goal or objective, like finishing school or advancing in her career, to be frivolous with her time. Donald had often commented that her seriousness and maturity was one of the things that attracted him to her, despite her age. At the time, flushed with pleasure from his praise, she considered it a positive thing. Now, sitting alone and surrounded by youthful cheerfulness, she felt only ancient and depleted of joy.

Monique ended up staying for about an extra fifteen minutes before finally leaving the bar. She had just exited from the front doors when a taxi pulled into the driveway of the restaurant, and she stepped out of its path to continue on to her car. A few steps later, she heard her name yelled out by a deep, male voice, so she stopped in her tracks to turn around.

“Monique!”

There was Tao Samuels as he closed the door of the cab, surrounded by two women and another guy. He stepped away from his companions to approach her.

“Hey, Samuels,” she said, a little breathless with surprise.

“Hey, are you leaving?” he asked.

“Uh…yeah. I had just met someone for drinks, so I’m heading home.”

“So early? What’s the rush? Why don’t you stay and hang out for a bit?” he suggested easily.

Monique looked past his shoulder to the trio of friends waiting patiently for him under the lights of the restaurant entrance.

“Thanks for the invite, but five might mean a crowd if you’re here on a double date, don’t you think?” she asked with a teasing smile.

Tao smiled back.

“Nah, it’s not like that. Come. At least stay for a drink or two,” he coaxed.

Monique could not think of a reason to turn down his offer. It wasn’t like there was anything waiting for her at home except laundry.

“Okay,” she finally assented.

“All right. Hey guys, this is Monique Evans,” he announced to his friends. “She plays on my basketball team. Monique, this is Anthony and his wife, Darlene. And this is Anthony’s sister, Vanessa. Anthony and I were in the service together.”

Monique smiled at each of them while shaking each of their hands. “Nice to meet you all,” she added.

Once inside, the group decided to wait for a table in the main dining room rather than take their chances over by the bar. They were seated about five minutes later and spent the time exchanging some information between Monique and the other three. She discovered that Anthony was still in the military but had recently been promoted to a domestic role within the Ministry of Defense. This night out was to celebrate his new position away from combat.

“So, you two play basketball together?” asked Darlene.

They had been seated in a booth. Anthony sat between his wife and sister on one side, while Tao and Monique were on the other. They had received their drink orders and were waiting for a few appetizers to arrive.

“Yeah,” Tao confirmed. “Monique is our star player.”

The others smiled and looked at her.

“Hardly,” she piped in. “You guys are just surprised that a girl can play as well as any of you men.”

“Honestly, that’s what I thought at first,” Tao replied, turning slightly so that he was looking right at her. “Gary mentioned recruiting you, but didn’t exactly tell us how good you were.”

Monique looked down at the table, unable to find any words to respond with. She wasn’t shy about her ball skills. It was the heat of Tao’s eyes focused intently on hers that made her flushed and befuddled.

“Monique played NCAA ball in college,” he continued, turning back to face his friends across the table. “Won two national championships, right?”

Their eyes met again briefly. Monique took a drink of her rum and Coke before shrugging nonchalantly.

“It was a long time ago,” she added.

“Wow, that’s pretty impressive!” commented Anthony. “I’ve played with Tao a few times over the years, and he’s pretty good. If he’s impressed with your skills, you must pretty amazing.”

“She is.”

Maybe it was the mix of rum with the red wine she had earlier, but Monique was starting to feel a little-lightheaded and susceptible to the heat of Tao’s gaze on her again. It stirred up a tingle at the base of her stomach. She took another long sip of her drink, resisting the urge to meet his eyes again.