Page 17 of Love Me Carefully
Chapter Four
“So what did you have in mind, Ms. Rosie?” Leah asked, sitting at the kitchen table while Rosie refilled the punch bowl.
“Oh I don’t know, something small and personal. I want everyone to have a good time, though. But we can talk about this later. Relax, enjoy yourself, baby.” Rosie chuckled. Leah was just as serious and career driven as Terrell.
“I don’t think your son’s having a good time.” Leah thought about the man with the heart-stopping smile and clapped her lips tightly together, hoping she hadn’t offended Ms. Rosie.
At Leah’s remark Rosie’s hand momentarily lost its hold on the punch bowl and red liquid sloshed over its rim. “Oh, lawdy!” She reached for the dishrag, her mind instantly registering the connection. She’d just been comparing Leah and Terrell in her mind and here Leah was verbally mentioning him. Wasn’t that something?
“I’m sorry.” Leah stood, grabbing paper towels from the overhead rack to mop the counter.
“You met Terrell?” Rosie looked at Leah. She’d always been a pretty girl, quiet and very serious. And she never talked about the men in her life as most of Rosie’s clients did. Rosie often wondered how she could be such good friends with the feisty and flirtatious Nikki, since they seemed to be polar opposites.
“Yeah, we sort of bumped into each other a few minutes ago. Maybe he’s sad because his girlfriend’s not here with him.”
“They broke up, but I don’t think that’s all that’s bothering him. My wedding announcement was quite a shock.” Rosie finished cleaning the mess. “Sit down, I’ve got this under control.” She motioned to Leah.
“Oh?” Just broke up with his girlfriend? That was interesting. Leah took a seat. “So anyway, about fifty or an even hundred guests, you think?” Her heart skipped several beats at the realization that Terrell was single, and she quickly blamed it on her growing hunger.Talk about business. That would keep her mind from wandering into the other room where he was.
“I’d say one twenty-five. That’s a safe number. But Donald wants to sit down with us and talk too. Why don’t you get your ideas together and we can meet tomorrow to plan things out?” Rosie lifted the heavy punch bowl, preparing to go back into the dining room.
“I have to go to church in the morning, but I guess I could come around about four, if that’s okay with you?”Will Terrell be there?Thank goodness she caught herself before verbalizing that question. Whether he was there or not didn’t concern her.
“That’s just fine. Now get out there and get yourself something to eat.” Rosie was through the swinging door leading into the dining room before Leah could decline her offer. Besides, the low growl in her stomach agreed with Ms. Rosie.
“I might as well,” she muttered to herself, and had just leaned against the door to open it when it suddenly swung open in her direction. Quick reflexes saved her from a broken nose as the person on the other side tried to gain admission.
“What the hell?” Terrell grumbled and leaned against the door again.
Stepping back quickly, Leah caught the swinging door on its next rotation. Holding the door back, she waited for the person on the other side to enter. Hazel eyes clashed with simmering dark brown ones and the air crackled around them.
“Damn, didn’t you know…” His words were cut short when he realized who he was about to yell at. “Sorry,” he muttered. It seemed he would spend the duration of the night apologizing to this woman.
“Yeah, sorry.” Leah rolled her eyes. She was destined to end up embarrassed and lying flat on her back with this guy around. “Are you coming in?” Her gaze fell to his lips and she quickly looked away.
“Yes, I’m coming…in.” He was staring at her again. He didn’t know why, though. She didn’t have the breath-stopping allure of a model but there was definitely something about her—something about her eyes. He couldn’t quite place it, and it didn’t really matter. He was here to figure out this new situation with his mother, not to fantasize about this woman. Yet he found himself examining her from head to toe again. She was kind of tall for a woman, probably around five-nine or ten. He couldn’t tell through the dark pants she wore, but he would bet the entire money clip tucked into his left pocket that she had legs that stretched to forever.
A perky little nose was perfectly centered between high cheekbones, just above thin lips that were now upturned slightly. But it was her eyes that kept him captivated. Her hazel eyes were fixated on him with such unbridled intensity, he was momentarily speechless.Shake it off, man, you just got out of a bad relationship. “So you’re planning my mother’s wedding?” he asked, trying to calm the heat heading towards his groin.
Business. She breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness he’d brought up business. “Yes, if they like my ideas, I will.”
“You’ve known them for a long time?”
Focusing on his words, and not his understated good looks, she shrugged. “I’ve known Ms. Rosie for a few years. I met Mr. Donald about a year ago. After he moved back to town.”
Her words successfully drew his eyes away from her mouth, about which he was entertaining detailed thoughts. “He’s not from Baltimore?”
“I think he is, but after that big investigation he left for a while—waited until things died down, I suppose.”
Terrell raised a brow and took a step closer to her. They were standing too far apart, and he didn’t like it. “What investigation?”
Leah took a step backwards and bumped into the counter. He was too close. “I don’t know the specifics, just tidbits that Nikki told me. But everything’s…”
His eyes darkened considerably as he moved even closer to her.
She licked her lips. “Everything’s okay now,” she whispered.
“Oh really?” he asked, lightly tracing a finger over her chin. This wasn’t what he was here for. He wasn’t supposed to be feeling the things he was feeling at this very moment. He’d just broken up with Tanya. The plan was to deal with his mother and her fiancé first, then focus on finding himself a wife. Yet he couldn’t resist.
