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“You go ahead and give me your daughter’s hand in marriage.”

Daddy clutched his chest as if Rasheed’s words physically struck him, making us both laugh. “I just gave away my baby girl. Now you wanna take my princess too?”

“He’s just playing, Daddy,” I assured him, taking his hand and pulling him away from where Rasheed and I were dancing.

“I don’t think he is, princess.”

I looked back at Rasheed as we walked away, and his eyes were still on me. When he winked and patted his heart, I couldn’t help but smile.

Daddy and I headed toward Mama for the toasts we were supposed to do. Rasheed and Tyler joined Jason’s family to toast as well. Everything was going great until Grandma said we weren’t going to leave her out of the toasts. To my surprise, she was on her best behavior and gave an emotional toast abouthow proud she was to still be here to give another one of her granddaughters away.

We continued to enjoy each other’s company until the elders left, and as I suspected, the music changed, blunts and hard liquor started to rotate, and the real party began.

The Next Morning

“I want you to have fun and be safe. And when you get home, call me and tell me all about your trip,” I demanded, holding my sister close.

“I’ll try, but for what we have planned, I don’t think there will be much I can tell you outside of how our suite will look.” We laughed as we ended our embrace. “Bye, big sis. I love you.”

“I love you too, and I’m so happy for you, Mrs. Ingram.”

She gushed as we hugged again before Jason reminded her they had a flight to catch. We all waved and sang goodbye as they headed to the Expedition that had been rented to take them to the airport. The moment was bittersweet. I was really happy for my sister, but I was going to miss her like crazy. There was no better reason for us to be apart, though, than for her to start the next phase of her life with her husband.

As the day drew on, more guests began to trickle out. When it was time for Tyler and Rasheed to take their flight back to LA, I was too chicken to say goodbye. I made my way to the sunroom, surprised to find Rasheed already there. He had two cups of coffee—one for him, and one for me.

“What are you doing out here?” I wondered quietly.

“I knew you’d hide from me, so I wanted to meet you here. We have unfinished business.”

With a smile, I went and sat next to him. After wrapping my arm around his, I rested my head on his shoulder.

“This could get really messy, baby. You live so far away, and—”

“I’m wealthy. As fuck. Distance is nothing for a man like me. I can fly you to me or come to you with no hesitation. I’d offer to come back to Memphis more often, but there was a reason I left. I’d prefer you come to me.”

“Okay, well what about the fact that my sister is now married to your best friend,” I justified, though the excuse still didn’t feel good enough to not give this my all. Hell, I’d given my all to men who didn’t return my energy or deserve it. I imagined it would feel like second nature loving a man who did. “You have to promise me that if we don’t work and we break up that things won’t be weird between us for Paisley and Jason’s sake.”

He untangled our bodies so he could look at me. “I’m not going to say I won’t make any promises or not apply pressure. We have such a beautiful possibility. I can’t consider things not working because I’m confident they will. I’m making promises and I’m applying pressure. How things play out will be solely up to you.”

I thought about my life back home. My job. My clients. My loneliness. My memories of failed relationships. The lack of my sister—my best friend. How happy and fulfilled she’d been since she opened her heart to love.

And then I considered the fact that… “I could be a librarian and do research anywhere.”

“True. Plus, you got a very rich nigga who won’t have no problem giving it up for you. I’ll take care of you, Presly. You’ll never have to work another day in your life.”

“Maybe some time on the beach would do me some good,” I reasoned, surrendering fully, finally, to what had been brewing between us.

“I’ll make the arrangements. We can fly to LA today and be on the ocean tomorrow.”

“I um, I need to go back home and take care of things with my job. I can maybe take my full two weeks off and we can take it from there.”

Rasheed chuckled as he nodded and pulled me onto his lap. “If you come to LA with me, I’m never letting you go. You’re going to love your new life with me so much that you’ll only want to go back to visit your parents.”

“Hell, if I moved out there, there’s no doubt in my mind they’d come too since Paisley will already be there.”

“Say the word, and I’ll get them set up with whatever they need.”

Resting my forehead on his, I pulled in a shaky breath. “Are you real, Rasheed? Is this really happening?”

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