Page 24 of Kove and Xiah
“Girl, I’m not. This is just the initial interview process.”
“Mhm, that’s what your mouth says.” She winked at me over her shoulder and I walked to the elevator and stepped inside. I was both anxious and excited about what I was doing. When I made it to the lobby level, I strongly considered swiping the invitation pass card I had in my purse to head back to the rooftop.
I got off but it took some effort. When I made it to the bar, my stomach did some crazy things as I located the man waiting on me. He was smiling at the bartender who seemed very engaged with the conversation between them. Kove was in a different fit than what he had on earlier. A white tee covered his upper body and nylon athletic pants covered his legs.
He looked like a giant sitting on the stool he occupied with his feet planted on the floor, back curved so he was leaning toward the bar and his massive hand wrapped around the normal sized glass that could have easily been a shot based on the way his long fingers dwarfed the expensive crystal tumbler.
When I approached, the bartender turned his eyes on me, which in turn caused Kove to do the same. The way he narrowed his gaze seconds before it consumed me sent a blaze of heat overevery inch of my body. For a brief moment his eyes moved past me and the second they were on me again, a frown eased onto my face. His tongue pushed between his lips and glided over the bottom one before he smiled sexily.
“Yeah I’mma need more of this.”
“More of what?” Based on the heat in his gaze I knew exactly what this was, but Kove only smiled before his incredibly large hand reached for the stool next to him. He dragged it away from the bar but closer to the one he was seated on before he motioned toward it. “Sit down.”
I filled the spot next to him and my knees brushed the inside of his thigh because we faced each other and his legs were spread wide while his feet rested on the floor. Mine were positioned on the lowest bar across the bottom of the stool, which I was grateful for because it allowed me to keep my thighs pressed together. My dress was incredibly short and not exactly made for sitting.
“What you drinking?”
“Nothing. I’ve already had a glass of wine.”
“Who you with?”
When I frowned he added, “You said you were with someone. I’m trying to see if they’re capable of getting you home safely so you can drink with me.”
“Oh…” I smiled. “My best friend Koa. She’s still at the event though. I told her I was having a drink with a friend.”
He smiled sexily. “We’re friends?”
“I mean technically, no, but our deal is final so you’re no longer my client and we’re not exactlyjustassociates…”
“Friends is cool. I fuck with that. But she’s still here though, so you have somebody to look out for you when you leave?”
“Yes.”
“Aight, have a drink with me. You can get wine ’cause I don’t think you can handle mixing liquor.”
“I mix liquor.”
He issued a cocky grin and lifted his hand, motioning for the bartender. When he arrived, he turned to me. I had every intention of ordering wine but when I opened my mouth, “whatever he’s drinking” came out.
“Nah, give her wine.”
“I’m pretty sure I know what I want. I’ll take that.” I pointed to his glass and the bartender’s eyes not so discreetly shifted to Kove, who nodded, giving the guy authority to give me what I requested. He poured a glass of Black Ops Specialty, and when Kove motioned for him to leave the bottle, he did and walked away.
“That was very chauvinistic.”
He chuckled. “My decision isn’t about you being a woman.”
“You don’t know me, so what else could it be?”
“You’re an easy read, Xi. That shit is about to knock you on your ass.”
I lifted the glass and smelled how strong it was but I refused to back down. I took a sip and fought the tough fight of preventing my expression from twisting before I cleared my throat. “What did you need help with?”
“I need shit for my house. My agent wants to hire a decorator and I’m not really feeling that. I also know that me being me, there’s a lot of stuff I won’t think about. I want help from someone who will consider what I won’t.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you. You just said we’re friends and that’s what friends do.”
