Page 39 of Curvy Girl Summer

“Donte?” I said cautiously, relieved he looked like his photos.

“Hi.” He extended his arm, shaking my hand before bringing it to his lips. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you as well.”

He took a seat next to me and smiled. “You look beautiful. Yellow is your color.”

“Thank you. You also look nice.”

“Thank you.” He looked around. “I’ve never heard of this place before. How did you find it?”

“I’m in the area a lot,” I replied, not wanting to tell him that I lived across the street.

“What’s good here?” He pointed at my drink. “What are you drinking?”

“Malibu sunrise. It’s delicious.”

“It looks good, but I can’t be seen drinking that.”

I blinked rapidly. “Oh?”

“Yeah, I think I’ll order a rum and Coke. I’m not trying to give you a reason to think I’m less manly than I am. I already let you catch me slipping when I told you I watched that reality TV dating showInstaLove.”

I smiled. “I liked that you told me that. I’ve told you some of my TV guilty pleasures, too.”

“Hey, can I get you anything?” Ahmad asked, catching me by surprise.

“Yeah, I’ll take a rum and Coke,” Donte ordered before pointing at my glass. “And another one of those for the lady.”

Ahmad glanced at me, so I gave him a brief nod. “Okay,” he responded with a grin. “Coming right up.”

When he walked away, Donte turned toward me. “How was your day?”

“It was good! I’ve been excited about meeting you, so I’m sure that had something to do with the day flying by.”

“Did you finish your project?”

“Yeah, I did. I didn’t think I was going to, and I refused to work on it at home. So it all worked out, and I get to roll into my weekend without it hanging over my head.” I pursed my lips. “Didyouget all of your stuff finished?”

“Hell no.” Shaking his head, he chuckled. “I’ll be working a little tomorrow to finish. But it was crazy for them to think I was going to be able to get it all done in two weeks.”

“I agree. I hope you talk to your supervisor on Monday. They get back on Monday, right?”

“Yes, thank God. I’m tired of doing his work and not getting paid his salary.”

“Amen to that.” I grinned. “How was your day overall, though?”

“My day was cool. I didn’t push myself to finish the work. I ended up putting everything I needed together and left early since I’m planning on coming in tomorrow, too.”

“Oh? That’s automatically a good day when you leave work early.”

“Yeah. I went to drop off some stuff to my older kids.”

The record in my head scratched.What?

“Kids?” I questioned, confusion crumpling my face. “Y-you have kids?”

“Yeah, four.”

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