Page 27 of The Dating Prohibition
“How does itnotmake sense to you?” Lani retorted. “Just think about it—if you like them more, then you’re doing the most, making all theeffort, ignoring the red flags, and allowing yourself to be a doormat, because they have you in a place of vulnerability.”
Kendra’s brow furrowed. “Aren’t we sort of conflating a bunch of different factors here? I mean, this is with the assumptionthat this fictional man is looking to extort, rather than genuinely making effort to be in a relationship, that they’re exhibitingred flags, that they’re making less of an effort, and that their level of like can actually be quantified. Sorry, Cuzzo, butthe math ain’t mathin’ for me.”
Lani’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll send you the TikTok. I’m probably just not explaining it right, but the woman made sense. I knowmy worth, and I deserve to be pursued.”
“I mean, if that’s what you want, go off, sis.” Shonda shrugged. “I just thought maybe we could cut down on some of the lag time, since it seems like both of you are just tiptoeing around each other until one of you folds and makes a move.”
“Well, when he’s ready to put it down, he can fold me like origami. Until then, the ball’s in his court.” Lani smiled sweetly,stirring her cocktail with a metal pick speared through two lychees.
“Something is wrong with you.” Kendra squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.
“Truly,” Shonda agreed, turning back to Kendra. Her eyes shone brightly as she laced her fingers together in front of herchest. “So what about you? Want us to try and set you up with someone else? Get your mind off BJ for a while? Honestly, it’snot a bad idea to try and play the field a bit so you don’t fixate.” She bounced a little to emphasize her desire to help.
“Nah, I’m good.” Even Logan was against Shonda continuing to play matchmaker. The last time Kendra had allowed Shonda to sether up, she got stranded for hours with her date who refused to admit that his car was not equipped to handle snow. Loganhad to come bail them out when her date finally relented, but only because his car ran out of gas—he didn’t believe in fillinghis tank before the light came on. It didn’t help that the dude lived thirty minutes away and the siblings had to listen tohim gripe bitterly about cars with four-wheel drive.
“You sure? What if BJ has chosen permanent bachelorhood? You know how these dudes are in DC. Now we got all these fine silverfoxes still refusing to settle down.” She wasn’t wrong. There was an entire movement going on—there’d been literal conventionsof salt-and-pepper fineness that had her longing to be in a room full of somebody’s sexy-ass uncles, but she’d been out ofthe country when Lani shared some of the videos on social media.
Kendra shook her head. “I’ve got too much that I’m trying to work on right now for the business. I’m not in the right frame of mind to try to start something with someone brand-new,” she sighed. “Dating is a massive energy drain, and honestly, I’d just like to wake up and find myself already knee-deep in a situationship.”
Lani snorted. “Not the entanglement angle!”
Shonda’s shoulders drooped. “Fine. Well, let’s put our heads together so we can nudge Stanley in the right direction sinceour good sis is being a punk.”
“I am not!”
“How hard is it to say ‘hey, wanna get a drink sometime’ or ‘do you have any plans for your day off—let’s hang out’? Peakpunk behavior, Cuzzo,” Kendra added. “You want one of us to ask for you?”
“No!” Lani’s hands shot out. “Please don’t. You two would only humiliate me, and I can’t go out like that.” She pinched thebridge of her nose. “I’ll ask him, okay?”
Shonda leaned against the counter. “But when?” she pressed.
Lani shrugged, glaring at Kendra and Shonda with a resigned look on her face. “I guess today,” she droned.
“Better,” Shonda replied and nodded.
“Let that be the end of the conversation—I don’t need to game-plan how I’m gonna do it, just trust me, I got it.” She rolledher shoulders back and set her gaze with a determined glare.
“Shift’s going to start in a few. Let’s head upstairs,” Kendra suggested, fully amused with the level of peer pressure they’dapplied to get Lani out of her head.
Chapter 7
“So, what do you think?”
“It’s perfect,” Kendra gushed.
The room felt regal and airy. She could picture herself serving drinks behind a long bar with a glossy sheen. She imaginedthe high-top tables and booths with wooden partitions. Toward the back of the space, there was a massive sliding door behindwhich a ten-seater table could fit for the supper club. Slightly smaller than her original plan, but this space was worththe compromise. Everything about the location and the price point was perfect, and now all that was left to secure was thefunding.
“So you really like it?” BJ watched her marvel at the surroundings. A few days had passed since their last encounter, andKendra had continued her plan of pretending that nothing happened, so BJ hadn’t tried to broach the subject again. Instead,he’d pivoted to forwarding her every viable location he found.
The tall ceilings and exposed beams and completely gutted interior gave the perfect backdrop she was envisioning for herbusiness. “It’s exactly what I was hoping for—I couldn’t have imagined anything better.” She shook her head in wonder, completely enamored with the location. “Wow, you really outdid yourself with this one, BJ.”
He chuckled. “Well, you know I’m doing this for me too. This building has a lot of historical value and I’m trying to makesure that it’s properly recognized for its place in history.” While this property hadn’t formerly been a speakeasy duringProhibition, it had been owned by one of the most popular bootleggers in town. Dean had shared with them a series of old photosshowing barrels of manufactured alcohol and old inventories of orders that went all the way up to New York City.
“I wouldn’t have thought all of this was happening here in DC. I don’t know why, but I figured people would avoid doing itright under the noses of the administration.”
“Politicians were some of the biggest clientele. Did you know there was a bootlegger that was so popular he had his own officein the old congressional building?”
Kendra’s eyes lit up as she turned to him. “Seriously? You know, I really would love to hear more about your research at somepoint. What you do has always been so fascinating to me, but I don’t completely understand historic preservation and whatit takes to be a landmark—what the requirements are. For instance, is it possible to own historic buildings? And when canthese buildings be used for commercial use versus being more of a preserved piece of history or museum that can’t be usedfor any other purpose?”
