Page 6 of Love's Instant Replay
“Oh, shoot. I don’t have it. But I will order it and a few others I’m sure Ms. Mica would love. If you can give me your phonenumber, I’ll send you a message once they’re here, and you can come back to pick them up. Or send someone if you?—”
“No worries. I’ll pick them up personally. Grab your phone and I’ll give you my number,” Kaeden says.
My heart rate and pulse increases upon hearing Kaeden’s request, because I hadn’t meant to imply that we exchange personal numbers. I was gonna send the message from the bookstore’s business line.
“Here’s your phone, Ms. Kyelle,” Tracy says in a syrupy tone, extending my phone toward me, catching me off guard because I hadn’t been aware of her moving.
“Perfect. Let me know when you’re ready for the number,” Kaeden says, smiling, which causes warmth to stretch across my chest.
With shaky fingers, I unlock my phone and bring up a new contact before my gaze returns to Kaeden’s awaiting eyes. “Re-ready.”
“Alright, it’s 380-203-8282,” Kaeden recites without hesitation as my fingers shakily glide over the keys to store his number. “Send me a quick message so I won’t ignore the unsaved number later.”
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I type a quick message and hit send.
Me:
This is Kyelle. The owner of Echoes of Kyelle.
“I got you, Ms. Kyelle. We’re gonna head out, but you have my number. I’ll be looking forward to hearing from you.” With that, Kaeden slowly backs away from the counter before his eyes disconnect from mine to look at his daughter. “Alright, Cupcake. Now that we have that taken care of, I think we’re ready to head to the crib.”
“Me too. I need a nap, Daddy.” Mica co-signs before waving at me and Tracy as she places her hand inside Kaeden’s while heading toward the exit.
As my eyes follow the two people walking toward the front door this time, my chest tightens and releases with every step Kaeden takes away from me. My bottom lip is between my teeth, and my body begins to chill, causing me to run my hands up and down my arms. Just before walking through the door, Kaeden turns to look over his shoulder, increasing my heart rate again.
“Nice meeting you, Ms. Kyelle. See you soon.” With that, he leads his daughter out of the bookstore as I release my arms, and my body helplessly falls forward on the counter.
“Damn. That was the sexiest fucking exchange I’ve witnessed in a long time. Are you cool, bestie?” Tracy asks, rubbing my back.
All I have the strength to do is shake my head as my entire exchange with Kaeden plays on repeat. My body is hypersensitive, and the urge to run to my office to release the buildup in my lower region begins to take shape in my mind.
“I have never seen you so tongue-tied, girl. I was a little starstruck, but oddly, I didn’t have to be because that man only had eyes for you. It was like me and his daughter weren’t standing here like two fools while y’all eye fucked each other. You got me wanting to go home and jump on Curtis.”
A bubble of laughter escapes my mouth at hearing Tracy’s last statement, which gives me enough energy to push up from the counter to look at her. “Girl, if you don’t get you a real man and stop humping the half-man, half dick, I’m gonna report you.”
Like me, Tracy is single, but I’m a vibrator girlie where my bestie goes hard for the sex toys she purchases. Two months ago, she dragged me to the sex store so she could buy the lower half of the male anatomy. She tried to get me to buy one, too,but something about riding that fake thing had me dry heaving. I ain’t that desperate for an orgasm. But after encountering Kaeden Evans, I’m pretty sure I’ll be getting off with my vibrator within an hour of arriving home this evening. Just remembering Kaeden’s voice can have me detonating on the ride home. My God, that was a sexy man.
Never in all mytwenty-eight years of living have I been attracted to a woman to the point that everything and everyone fades into the background around me. What’s crazy is that my body began tingling with excitement before I even entered the bookstore, which has never happened to me. Upon entering, it only took me a minute to lay eyes on the two women standing behind the counter. One of them had eyes the size of balloons, letting me know that she immediately recognized me. The second woman’s captivating gaze instantly put me in a headlock, preventing me from breaking eye contact with her. Beautiful is an underrated descriptor for the woman who seemed to silently beckon me toward her.
Kyelle has the same mahogany skin as mine, but hers has a bright glow that had my blood pressure rising simply by staring at her. Her long black curls hung over her shoulders like a blanket. Her high cheekbones against her oval-shaped dark brown eyes made me anticipate her smile. I’ll be damned if my heart didn’t skip several beats once Kyelle blessed me with the opportunity to see all thirty-two of her pearly white teeth. While I’m not a novice to great smiles, Kyelle’s felt like it was meant solely for me.
For the first time, I was drawn to a woman whose smile sent chills through my body and had goosebumps forming. Witnessing Kyelle’s earth-shattering smile had me feeling like I do after tackling an offender on game day. My chest beat rapidly, and my adrenaline was soaring, preventing me from taking in the area around me. It took me several minutes to gather my bearings to shift my mind to form, let alone speak, upon hearing her melodic voice.
“Are you listening to me, Daddy?” Mica cuts into my thoughts, forcing me to return to the conversation.
“What did you say, Cupcake?”
My thoughts have been on Ms. Kyelle, so I haven’t a clue what Mica is talking about. I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve been holding my breath whenever my phone rings or vibrates from a text notification. Like an expectant Mica on Christmas morning, I’m on pins and needles awaiting Kyelle’s message. The urge to send her ahey, big headtext is becoming stronger by the minute. The sad part is that it’s only been a day since Mica dragged me into the bookstore, so I’m sure the books haven’t even arrived yet. What’s worse is that today is a Daddy/Mica day, and my focus is supposed to be on creating more memories between us.
“Do you think my mom misses me?” The question tightens my chest as I try not to let my initial thought offuck your ho ass mamaslip from my lips.
It’s only God’s strength that I have composed myself whenever Mica asks random questions about her mother. While I work hard to keep Mica busy, entertained, well-fed, and everything else, I can’t erase her trauma over Meshay walking out on her. It makes me resent Meshay more because I wish she would have left before Mica was old enough to feel her absence.
“I’m sure she does,” I say after several beats of silence. Although I’m sure Mica is the last thing on Meshay’s mind.
“Hm. Ms. Kyelle was pretty. She could be my new mommy.”
Record scratch . . . Wait, what?
