One thing was for sure. Tempest definitely wanted to see Geren again. She planned to tell him that the moment he woke up. She inhaled deeply, taking in some of the fresh air, and then went inside to get some clean towels and a new toothbrush out of her linen closet for him. It had been a long
time since she had to do that, and just the thought of the simple task made her grin.
As she tiptoed past him, she wondered what she had in her kitchen so she could throw together a halfway decent breakfast. She froze when she heard him whisper her name. She turned, expecting to find him awake and looking at her, but he was still fast asleep. Damn, he’d said her name in his sleep. Could he really be the one?
CHAPTER 8
the morning after
“how’s it going, Fred?” Tempest inquired, though she couldn’t have cared less.
“Tempest!” Fred exclaimed, licking his lips. “Long time, no see, gurl!”
Tempest sucked in a deep breath and rolled her eyes waiting for Fred to get finished with his regular routine. Every time she came over there, he would eye her from head to toe.
Tempest lost her patience after a few seconds. “Fred, are you going to move out of my way and let me in sometime today, or what?”
“Dang, my bad!” Fred said, moving to the side of the doorway so she could come in. “Where are my manners?”
“Good question,” Tempest replied. “Is Janessa here?”
“Yeah, she’s upstairs sleeping.” He followed Tempest into the living room. “She must have pulled an all nighter with one of her mack daddies. She came falling up in here after seven, and Momma almost went upside her head.”
Tempest shook her head in disbelief. Janessa was a grown woman, and Mrs. Carter still treated her like a teenage virgin. “Is that right?”
“Yup! It was mad funny, too. I love to see Janessa and Momma go at it. They’re like two peas in a pod. Both determined as hell to get their way.”
“Hmph, I heard that!” Tempest looked around the room. It had been a while since she’d been inside. She always picked Janessa up curbside because they were in a hurry to go this place or that place. Janessa hated being in the house, so she would always be waiting anxiously on the front porch for Tempest to come get her. Tempest could smell bacon grease and freshly baked bread coming from the kitchen. “Where are your parents? In the kitchen?”
“Nope, they went to church as usual.”
“Nothing wrong with that. I need to start back going myself. I’ve been lax since my parents moved to Florida.”
“How are they anyway?”
“Just fine,” Tempest answered, wondering if there were any actual leftovers from breakfast or just the scent circulating in the air. “They love the weather. My mother always hated snow anyway. She’s originally from the Dirty South.”
“Oh, yeah? What part?”
“Hotlanta!”
“Cool, I never knew that. I always thought both of your folks were from D.C.”
“My dad was born here. My mother didn’t move up this way until the ninth grade.”
Tempest caught Fred staring at her breasts again and decided it was time to cut the small talk. “Well, I’m about to go up and holla at Janessa. Nice seeing you, Fred.”
He pounced and quickly threw himself between Tempest and the flight of stairs. “Hold up a second!”
Tempest rolled her eyes. “What is it?”
“I was just wondering when you and I are gonna hook up and slap some skins? You’ve been frontin’ on giving up that punanny for years now!”
“You seriously need to leave that crack alone,” Tempest lashed out at him.
“Gurl, I don’t do that shit! I’m just trying to see what’s up with you.”
“You really want to know?”