Page 41 of One Good Reason

Peering at me over the rim of her glass, Talitha furrowed her brows. “You keep saying shit like that but won’t say what you mean.”

“Because you don’t want to know Talitha.”

“Clearly I do because I keep asking.”

“It means I’m keeping it in my arsenal for a later day.”

“Meaning…” she drawled.

“Meaning you will find out when the time is right.”

“Law,” she groaned.

“Change the subject, Talitha. You don’t wanna get into that with me. I promise, you don’t.”

“Fine.” Folding her arms across her chest, she pouted like a child.

The minute I let it slip that I was taking notes due to her piquing my interest and I now wanted to get to know her better, she would retreat fast and hard.

Talitha had a mystery to her and the more we talked, the more I wanted to know. On the outside, she appeared to be this confident woman who was sure of herself, but her eyes told a different story. Certain topics she purposely shied away from. Something in her life had traumatized her to the point where shewas reserved and closed off. That was the part I wanted to know more about.

Like now, she was sitting across from me swirling the wine around her glass, looking like a lost child. Her hair was hanging down with big curls framing her slender face. Under the black sweatshirt, she wore a simple white t-shirt, denim jeans, and a pair of black and white Chanel sneakers. She frowned her face up anytime the topic of money came up where it concerned me but from where I was looking, it didn’t look like she was hurting for anything.

The black flap Chanel bag resting in the chair beside her cost at least ten grand. I knew because I’d purchased a few for Dahlia. There was definitely more to her than what she showed and if she kept pushing for an answer, I wouldn’t hesitate to give it to her.

“You like this one?” Talitha asked as she stepped out of the fitting room.

Leaning up from my slouched position in the chair, I placed my hand over the receiver and instructed her to do a full spin. Roaming my eyes up and down her body, I nodded in appreciation. The black sleevelessTom Forddress was backless with crisscross straps and had a plunging V-neck. She looked damn good in that dress and I tried to keep from ogling her body the way I was, but I couldn’t help it. Without giving away how much seeing her in it affected me, I adjusted my body and gave her a final nod of approval.

“My bad about that Adele. What did you say?”

“I asked if you had a good flight.”

“In fact, I did.”

“That’s great darling. What are you doing now?”

“Out shopping. I needed a tux for tomorrow night and my date needed a dress.”

“Oh okay,” she sang. “Well, I’ll let you get back to what you were doing. I don’t want to impede.”

Chuckling, I said, “Have a good one Adele.” After disconnecting the call, I slipped my phone in my jacket pocket and waited for Talitha to redress.

“Dress secured. Now I need a pair of shoes.”

Standing from the chair, I took the dress out of her hands and tossed it over my arm. “I know the perfect ones.”

After Talitha dropped her line of questioning earlier on the jet, the two of us shared a light lunch and talked. Before I knew it, we were landing at the airstrip in New York. Instead of going to the hotel, I had the driver bring us to Madison Avenue so we could do some shopping. I had planned for the two of us to have dinner in our suite so I needed to get this out of the way. On top of shopping for my suit, I had to drop it off to my tailor, so it was a win-win.

Making our way back over to where our personal shopper stood, I instructed Talitha to have a seat while I searched for the shoes I wanted to see her in tomorrow night. When I located them, I had the shopper bring over her size so I could see if they fit.

With the box in tow, she kneeled and helped Talitha into them.

Standing back, I watched her twirl her feet side to side before standing and strutting around the chair. “You like them?”

“I love them. I’ve been planning on purchasing them for a while, I just never got around to doing so.”

“Well, now you have them.” Turning to the shopper I let her know she could bag everything up since I was done shopping.While Talitha gushed over the shoes, I pulled my card out of my wallet and handed it off.

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