Page 25 of The Dating Prohibition
He sipped his coffee thoughtfully. “Okay, so what do you want to do about it?”
“There’s nothing to be done,” she said, spearing a couple of blueberries with her fork. “It’s not like me being interestedmeans anything in this scenario. He doesn’t want to try.”
“I don’t really think he’s ready for anything serious right now.”
“He talked to you about it?”
“Not directly, but I know my best friend, Keke,” he chided gently.
“Kendra,” she enunciated, bouncing her hand in the air from one syllable to the next.
“I’m your big brother, I will call you whatever I want,” he retorted, a hint of a smile playing on his cheek.
“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes in annoyance.Brothers. “What do you think I should do?”
He shrugged. “I’m not really sure there’s much you can do. Move on. If timing is off, it’s not like you can force it. Thatnever works out well.”
She nodded. “You’re right.” What he said made perfect sense, but there was no denying how drawn she was to BJ—his presencepulled at her the way the moon pulled the tides, enticing her toward his orbit only to push her away like the wrong side ofa magnet. “I should move on,” she whispered.Easier said than done.
Her brother’s mouth twitched. “You can do this, you know. It’s not like y’all had anything going on yet.”
Kendra’s eyes sparkled as she grinned mischievously. “Got any other friends who might be ready for something?”
Logan blew out a breath and ran a hand over his face. “Here we go,” he groaned before taking a bite of his cake, then pushingit to his cheek to finish his thought. “With you? Nah... You have to know I’d never hook you up with any of my friends.I can’t possibly think that any of them are good enough for my baby sister.” He regarded her while chewing quietly.
“Even BJ?” she asked teasingly.
“Even BJ,” he agreed. “Big brother’s prerogative.”
She kissed her teeth and turned her attention back to her laptop with a huff, tapping away at the keyboard, but she couldn’tregain her focus. She sipped her latte and watched one of the baristas pour a large bag of coffee beans into the machine forroasting. It rumbled to life, the motor humming as it churned circles slowly. She darted a glance toward the sound beforeturning to see her brother still looking at her as if he were waiting.
“Want to tell me about the business loan? Did you follow through on connecting with Duke?”
“I did! I sent him everything I put together and applied for a business loan so that I can work on securing a property. Igave him spec sheets on a bunch of locations that fell within my proposed budget and financial trajectory. I went and visitedthat one place with BJ, which you know, and that place was way too expensive based on what I budgeted, so now I need to findsome other locations that could be viable for the business.”
Logan nodded. “That’s good. You got more location visits scheduled?”
“I’m working on that now.” Her cell chimed four times in rapid succession. “What in the—” Notifications of messagesfrom BJ illuminated her screen as she muttered, “Speak of the devil.”
Logan said nothing and patiently eyeballed his sister.
Kendra willed her cheeks not to flush as she unlocked her phone and saw GPS pins for three different locations in DC alongwith a text.
BJ:Hey, Kenny. Let me know your schedule. I found some more locations we can scope out together.
It was the “together” that sent a delicious yet unwelcome ripple down her spine. Images and sensations swirled in her mindof BJ’s eyes on her, the softness of his beard grazing her cheek, the desire to put her fingers into his hair to pull himback to her. Her mouth went dry, and she looked up to see her brother watching her with an amused look as she wet her lips.
“Careful there, Keke. You’re drooling.”
She scoffed and took a big gulp of her coffee, willing herself not to blush. She pressed her fingertips against her throat,trying to clear it as she avoided meeting his gaze. “Just a little parched.”
“Keke, I need you to focus. I’m trying to embrace my inner matchmaker here...”
“Huh?” Kendra blinked, having zoned out halfway through Shonda’s strategizing how to bring Lani and Stanley together. They were sitting in Shonda’s back office of the restaurant. They were about an hour out from the restaurant opening, and Lani had just been given the news that she was officially going to be on the management track. Both the manager and assistant manager positions needed to be filled, but Lani wasworking hard to be considered. As a result, she’d been sacrificing her romantic life, and almost everyone in the building was well aware that her dry spell rivaled the Sahara. Everyone except Stanley, and Cuzzo was looking at this man like he was the oasis of her dreams.
Lani leaned forward, caught up in the possibility of one-on-one time with Stanley. They’d been making eyes at each other sinceKendra returned home, and everyone hedged their bets on who would make the first move. Shonda couldn’t bear to continue waitingfor one of them to gain the courage to broach the subject, so she wanted to take matters into her own hands and manufacturea reason for the pair to be alone together.
“What if they accidentally get locked in the cellar?” Shonda fluttered her steepled fingers with excited anticipation.
