Page 24 of Love Me Carefully
“But you’re surprised that I have one?”
More like agitated, but he didn’t offer that tidbit of information. “Yeah. I mean, no…I mean, I can see why you would have a date, I was just a little thrown at the admission.” He took a deep breath. “I suppose this guy is your type,” he mumbled.
“It sure doesn’t take much to throw you, does it, Terrell?” She didn’t wait for his answer. “Anyway, yes, he’s my type and yes, I do have a date and I’d like to get going, if you don’t mind.” Why had she even talked to him for this long? She should’ve hung up as soon as he identified himself.
He did mind, dammit. Just yesterday he’d asked her out. Then he’d been thinking of her so much today that, against his better judgment, he’d called and asked her out again, only to be reminded that he wasn’t her type. Well, what the hell was her type? What did thisdateof hers have that he didn’t?
The moment he’d heard her voice, the tension in his shoulders had been released. All the things that had been on his mind today—Tanya, his mother, Donald—all of them had ceased to exist as he totally focused on her. Then she’d announced she was going on a date, and he’d gone totally haywire.
His brow furrowed. “Nah, I don’t mind. You go on your date. I hope you have a good time.” But even as he said the words, he knew he was lying. He was definitely pissed off at the idea of her going out with another man, but for the life of him, he didn’t want to accept the reason why.
That curt and cold voice had returned and Leah could just imagine his lips setting in that grim, non-compliant way. She rolled her eyes skyward and mentally cursed her own foolishness for bothering with him at all. “Thank you and good bye, Terrell.” Without waiting for his response, she hung up.
That man definitely had problems. The nerve of him being surprised that she would have a date. There was nothing wrong with her. He was the uptight one, the moody one. It was no wonder he and his girlfriend had broken up. He’d probably driven her crazy with that split personality of his.
That probably wasn’t fair. She didn’t have any idea why he and his girlfriend had broken up. And it didn’t matter. Terrell Pierce didn’t matter.
Besides that, she was an attractive woman, shecouldget a date. So what if she didn’t want to do anything beyond dating? That was her business. There was no reason to change a system that had worked so well for her for the last couple of years. No reason at all.
* * *
Leon was at her door promptly at seven. Dressed in dark blue jeans and a navy-blue ribbed turtleneck sweater, he looked casual and well kept. His broad shoulders and tight biceps strained beneath the material of the sweater. Timberland boots rounded off the casual ensemble. It wasn’t what she’d imagined he’d wear but she was cool with it.
“Lookin’ good in your casual attire,” she said when he walked in.
“Thank you, ma’am.”
She closed the door and turned to survey him again. “I mean really, this is a good look for you.” Now here was the type of man who attracted her, the confident, suave, astonishingly good-looking type. This was the man who should be putting those butterflies in her stomach.
“You think so? Better than business suits or dress slacks and casual polo?” With one hand in his pocket and the other poised beneath his chin, he turned from side to side, striking different poses for her.
Chuckling, she went to the closet for her coat. “I like the slacks and polo better but this is good too. It gives you a definite thug-like flavor.” She also had opted for jeans tonight, but unlike his looser fitting ones, hers fit her long slender legs perfectly. The hunter green shirt she wore was tucked in snugly and stretched tightly over her breasts. Her hair, having long since lost the curls that Ms. Rosie had painstakingly put in last week, was pulled back into a neat ponytail secured with a green scrunchie.
Leon’s familiar cologne invaded the air as he stepped behind her to help her with her coat. When his hands came to rest on her shoulders and he turned her to face him, she thought she felt a little stirring in her stomach. Concentrating, she waited to see if it were real. Nope. Nothing.
When he lowered his head, she knew he’d kiss her. She waited for the breathlessness that should occur—the way it had Saturday night in Ms. Rosie’s kitchen. She was ready; she closed her eyes, determined to give it her all. Tonight would tell which way their relationship would go from here. If Leon stirred something in her tonight, she’d go all the way. That would prove that not only could she have a date, she could also have a relationship.
The actual thought of a relationship made her queasy, but the mocking tone Terrell had taken with her earlier about having a date at all calmed her nerves, making her all the more determined to prove him wrong.
Leon was the epitome of tall, dark and too damned handsome. Even his bald head was sexy as hell. A neatly trimmed mustache touched her lips with his first tentative efforts. Concentrating again, she lowered her eyes and puckered her lips for the assault.
Leon had kissed her before, and it had been pleasant. Not overly stimulating or knee-knocking satisfying, but it had been good.
Tonight it needed to be better.
His lips were warm against hers when they finally fully connected. A peck. Then a slightly open-mouthed connection. She accepted the silky smoothness of his tongue. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him closer, concentrating on what she wanted her body to feel.
He pulled her close, his semi-erection pressed against her stomach. She wondered if that was supposed to be arousing. His hands rubbed her back and slowly inched their way to her ass, where he squeezed. She knewthatwas supposed to arouse her, but it didn’t. Instead, she felt a tad irritated and wanted to ease out of his grasp.
Concentrating still, she moved her head against the rhythm he created, her tongue abidingly dueling with his. Where was that flutter she’d thought she felt a few minutes ago? His low moan told her that he was definitely feeling this kiss. Her clear mind and wandering thoughts told her she wasn’t. Oh, well, the night had just begun. She still had time to warm up to him.
The night progressed with no quivers or romantic stirrings for Leah, even though Leon was giving her his very best efforts. She just didn’t feel anything. When they got back to her apartment, Leon sat on the couch waiting for her while she went into the bathroom to examine the situation again. This was getting old.
How many times was she gonna go around and around about this guy? She was a thirty-year-old-woman running her own business, she had experience making tough decisions and normally did so with ease. Leon was everything she should want and yet each time she was with him it became more apparent that she didn’t.
Returning to the couch to sit beside Leon, Leah noted once again that she felt nothing. No butterflies in her stomach—something many of her brides had said when talking about their partners. No eagerness to snuggle up with him on the cold winter’s night and talk about nothing. That was it, she just felt nothing. And her heart certainly hadn’t fluttered—that was something else she’d heard her brides’ say. Leah’s heart had never fluttered, not until…the chilling memory of bumping into the slim stranger at Rosie’s engagement party burst into her mind.
“Leah?” Leon’s voice interrupted her thoughts.
