“When are you going to say something to him?” Chance inquired, prodding me with her elbow. “You’re always staring at him.”
It was hard, but I forced myself to return my gaze to the papers on my desk.
“I’m not about to make a fool out of myself, Chance. That man is surely married, shacking up or, at the very least, dating seriously.”
“Maybe he is, maybe he isn’t. There’s only one way to find out.”
I glanced over at the teller booths one more time. There was only one customer left in front of him. I dreaded the moment he’d walk out the door. He was so damn appealing to look at, if only from afar.
“You want me to go over there and get him for you? I can tell him you need to have a moment of his time?”
“Chance, you do that and I’ll never forgive you,” I stated vehemently. “I refuse to throw myself at the customers of this bank.”
“Whatever, Rayne.” Chance returned to her own desk. “You know you’re interested. Life is short. You never know when it’ll be the last time he walks in here. He could change jobs, move, anything, and you’ll never know what could’ve been.”
He finished up his banking a few minutes later. When he walked past me, even though he was a good ten feet away, I could smell his cologne. My heart almost jumped clear out of my chest. How could a man I knew absolutely nothing about have such an effect on me? Yes, a man like that was definitely taken!
Six
Yardley, Age 29, Chiropractor
I hadn’t taken three steps out of the bank when my cell phone started chiming.
“This is Yardley Brown.”
“Sup, man? It’s Felix.”
Why was I not surprised? Felix was alwa
ys calling me while I was walking down the street somewhere or in the car.
“Sup, Felix? I’m coming out of the bank.”
“Still stacking cash, I see.”
I stood there by the picture window of the bank, pretending to be spellbound by the telephone conversation when I was really spellbound by her. Rayne Waters. I’d asked one of the tellers her name a couple of weeks before. I wanted to put a name to my fantasy but didn’t dare venture close enough to her desk to read her name plate.
Rayne had on a black double-breasted suit and was sitting there talking to the Puerto Rican honie that occupied the desk next to her. I was dying to ask her out, but I was afraid I might not be able to show my face in the bank again if she turned me down.
In all actuality, I never needed to step foot in the bank. It was really my secretary’s job to make the deposits every morning from the previous day’s receipts. I’d made the deposit one day when Lisa was out sick, spotted Rayne, and then started making up excuses to make the deposits myself.
Rayne had the most beautiful gray eyes, a healthy physique, and legs for days. I loved all types of women but I was fond of having someone with enough meat on them to keep me warm in the winter. Rayne was ideal and tall, which I also appreciated. She had to be at least five-foot-nine. I’d never been one to pamper a woman, but I could envision myself running her baths, rubbing her feet, whatever and whenever.
I kept telling myself that one day I’d go for it. As far as I could tell, she wasn’t sporting a wedding ring. On the other hand, I know a lot of sisters who don’t wear their rings. Some of them lose their rings. Some of them gain too much weight and can’t fit them. Some of them want to play around on their husbands. I’d lost count of the number of married female patients that came into my office offering me some midday sex. I’d always refused. I wasn’t that type of man.
Nor was I the type of man to make a woman feel uncomfortable. I definitely didn’t want to appear desperate. Those are the two reasons I’d never approached Rayne. Besides, as fine as she was, she had to have a man; married to him or not.
“Yardley, you still there?” Felix yelled into my ear.
“Yeah, what were you saying?” I started to walk away from the bank, embedding Rayne’s image into my mind to help me through the rest of the day.
“I said, you’re still stacking that money in the bank.”
“Well, you know there’s nothing wrong with a brother looking out for his future.”
“True that.” I knew that Felix was feeling me on that point. He’d gone all the way in his education, obtained his doctorate in philosophy, and was on a tenure track as a professor at Howard University. “I was calling to see what’s up for tonight. I refuse to let you spend another Friday up in your crib listening to love song collections on your stereo.”
“I’m not that bad. I’m not home every Friday.”