Grip Trilogy Box Set

Is this guy for real? I glance into the eyes behind his square glasses. Everything about him screams metrosexual, pretty much the polar opposite of Grip. I guess I’m self-absorbed enough to assume everyone knows Grip and I are together. We were outed in the worst possible way just after he and Qwest broke up—via a surveillance video leak and Black Twitter feud—but we’ve managed to keep a pretty low profile ever since. Apparently, Kevin missed that bit of juicy gossip.

“I think we should stick to business,” I offer with a wry smile.

“But what about pleasure?” He reaches across the table to rub the back of my hand.

“Pleasure?” I snatch my hand back. “Kevin, you wouldn’t know where to start pleasing me.”

He looks nonplussed, but it’s the truth. Some women have trouble admitting they love sex; I’m not one of them. I love it, but I’m a woman of discriminating tastes and hard-to-please nethers. Fortunately, my voracious appetite extends to exactly one man who’s figured it all out, and he’s probably . . . oh, less than ten minutes out.

Maybe I should have sent that tit pic after all.

“I just meant I’m only in LA for another day, and haven’t seen much of the city,” Kevin says. “I know you and Charisma are friends, so I thought maybe you could show me around before I go back to New York.”

Maybe I misjudged him.

Except his eyes are x-raying through my blouse again. “Kevin, eyes up.”

“Sorry.” The lust in his eyes practically fogs up his glasses. “What?”

This is so not the way to get Grip on board with the book deal Charisma and I have been brainstorming. I’m killing Charm next time I see her—not that I’ll see her any time soon. Barrow has her anchored to the East Coast, and Prodigy has me anchored to the West.

“Kevin, there’s something you should know. Grip and I—”

“Sorry I’m late.” The voice rolls over me like syrup, thick and sweet and sticking to my skin.

I glance over my shoulder, meeting the eyes I wake up to every morning, the color of chocolate flecked with caramel. Grip’s slow smile is that extravagant curve of full lips that has stuttered my breath since the day I met him. Even if he weren’t handsome, he would draw attention, reaching beyond sexuality, though sexual energy seeps from this man’s pores. It’s something more fundamental than sex appeal. Whatever it is, it’s raw and compelling and in his very bones. I’ve never been able to completely put my finger on it, but wouldn’t mind spending the next fifty years or so figuring it out.

“Grip, right?” Kevin stands and reaches past me to shake Grip’s hand. “Kevin.”

“Hey.” Grip glances from me to Kevin, accepting his outstretched hand. “Like I said, sorry I’m late.”

“Oh, no. It’s fine.” Kevin offers what is probably supposed to be a

roguish grin, but comes off slightly creepy. “Gave me a little alone time with your manager here.”

Oh, please spare me this.

Grip cocks his head and narrows his eyes a centimeter. “Alone time?”

“Grip, I was just about to tell Kevin that—”

“Ah ah ah.” Grip silences me with a gesture, his eyes still locked on Kevin. “Let the man talk, Bris. And what did you use all this time alone for, Kevin?”

“I was persuading this beautiful lady to have dinner with me.” Kevin seats himself, dipping his head toward the empty seat awaiting Grip at the table.

“Oh.” Grip sits, nodding and setting his motorcycle helmet on the floor. “And how was that working out for you?”

“Between you and me”—Kevin slants me a knowing grin—“I think I was getting somewhere.”

“Uh, Kevin, you really should—” I try again.

“Was he, Bris?” Grip cuts in over me, crossing his arms—vibrantly inked and roped with muscle—over his chest. His white shirt reads HABITUAL LINE STEPPER; no telling what that means. “Getting somewhere, I mean?”

Though well disguised, humor percolates behind his polite inquiry. Grip is possessive, but he knows this guy would never be anything but a joke.

“No, I told him we should keep things strictly business.” I turn my attention from Grip to Kevin. “And I was just about to say I have a boyfriend.”

“I’m sure he’d understand.” Kevin flashes a conspiratorial wink Grip’s way.