Hook Shot (Hoops 3)

“Yeah, I did.” I slant a look, part lust, part laughter, over to her in the passenger seat. “Heard you loud and clear. When we fuck. Got it.”

“I’m sorry if I said the wrong thing.”

“Uh, no.” I tap my fingers restlessly on the steering wheel. “I think it was . . . fine. What you said.”

“I couldn’t let her—”

“Of course not.”

“I let her think we’re already . . . you know. Active.”

“You make it sound like a check-up at the health clinic,” I say with a grin. “So, tell me, Ms. DuPree, are you and Mr. Ross active?”

“Well I didn’t tell her we won’t have sex for a long, long, long—”

“Really?” I squeeze the bridge of my nose. “That many longs, huh?”

She tosses her head back and cackles.

“You’re evil.” I laugh, shaking my head and pulling into my building’s parking garage.

“Funny. Your note today sounded like you like me a lot.”

Her small hand curves around mine on the console between us. “Thank you for the flowers and the note. It made my day.”

“You mean after my ex-wife destroyed it.”

“Oh, no.” Lotus shakes her head. “She doesn’t have that much power over me.”

We’re pretty quiet once inside the building, and keep our distance until we board the private elevator that leads to my apartment. When the doors close, I pull her into me.

“Hi again.” I lean down and tease her lips open, then slip in to taste her. God, so sweet. She goes up on her toes, and I grab her ass and lift her.

“Kenan,” she laughs into the kiss. “Put me down.”

“Why? I bench press more than you every day.”

“Show off,” she says, her mouth curled into a happy smile.

“I have to find some way to impress you.”

She rests her elbows on my shoulders and caresses the back of my neck. She’s suspended in the air. “You’ve impressed me from the beginning,” she says.

“Oh yeah?” I set her on her feet when the doors open for my floor, take her hand, and walk to my apartment. “Is that why you were always so eager to kick it when we saw each other the last couple of years?”

Her smile slips and then disappears. “I suspected this could happen.” She waves a hand between us. “And didn’t think it was a good idea.”

“Why?” I let us into my place and immediately bring her close. She snuggles into my shoulder like she missed me as much as I irrationally missed her. All out of proportion to how long we’ve known each other. Beyond the few kisses we’ve shared.

“Why didn’t you think it was a good idea?” I ask again.

She wraps her arms around my waist and lays her head to my chest.

“The women of my family make fools of themselves over men,” she says, her voice a confession. “They let men influence them. Ruin them. I don’t want that.”

I kiss the top of her head and draw her a few inches closer. “I don’t want to ruin you or make a fool of you. I know how that feels.”

“I know you do.” She glances up at me, her eyes as guarded as they are vulnerable. “That’s why I decided to kiss you in Brooklyn.”