Jade placed one hand on her hip. “Is that fine, Mr. Patel?”
“Perfect. But you should let me help.”
“Nope.” She went back to the fridge. Her ass jiggled under the red cotton.
She can’t wear this anymore.
I walked over to the counter and leaned on it, enjoying the curvy show.
What are you doing? This is Little Jade. The girl next door. My sister’s bestie. The one that’s hands-off, when your cock is concerned.
She turned around and appeared surprised I’d come so close. “You have a devilish look on your face.”
“I’m surprisingly in a good mood.”
“Why?”
“Must be my magic blanket.”
She laughed.
Stop flirting with her. Go put on some clothes. Check your email. See how the managers are coping. But it’s Saturday. Fuck all of that. Stare at Jade.
Groaning, I rose and ran my fingers through my hair.
After washing her hands, Jade opened a cabinet and took out a bowl. “What’s on your mind?”
“A lot.”
“Like what?”
“I’m wondering what I should do this morning.”
And how can I get you to pull that flap down that’s covering your ass.
She cracked a few eggs into the bowl. “What do you usually do on Saturday?”
“I usually go into the office and get some work done.”
“No way. You’re the boss. You have to work on Saturdays?”
“No. I more was finding shit to do so I wasn’t home.”
“Wow. Avoiding Amber.” She went to the fridge and pulled out more items. “Are you cool with cheddar cheese for your omelet?”
“Yes.”
She bent over some more. “What about spinach?”
If she doesn’t stop showing me that wonderful ass, I’m going to unsnap those long johns.
She rose and brought a bag of spinach over. “Yes or no?”
I raised my eyebrows. “What?”
“Are you cool with spinach too?”
I grinned. “Yeah.”
She quirked her brows. “You’re being super silly this morning.”
“I don’t know what’s gotten into me.”
It’s probably how sexy you’re looking and how warm you felt when I woke up this morning.
Somehow I’d shifted from Zora’s brooding big brother to flirtatious and willing for a little quarantine action today.
She took out a wooden board, grabbed a knife, and began chopping spinach.
“Can I help?”
“Yep. Put on some clothes.”
I smirked. “Can I help you make food too?”
“Nope. You’ll just get in the way with your big self.”
I widened my smile.
“And you’re looking like a devil over there. Don’t even think about coming into the kitchen.”
“Meany.”
“Hey.” She shrugged. “I have boundaries when I’m cooking. I don’t play.”
“So, you can throw down like your mother?”
“I like to think so, but she believes she is the queen of pots and pans and no one will be taking her crown anytime soon.”
“Mrs. Byrd is an excellent cook. I hate to say it, but she beats my mom when it comes to most meals.”
“Oooo,” Jade said in a sing-song voice, “I’m telling.”
“You are better not.”
“I’m so telling Mrs. Patel.”
“And she’ll believe you over me too. Apparently, she doesn’t understand that you’re not her daughter by blood.”
“That’s Mommy all day.”
I laughed. “And you’re the only one she let’s call her mommy. Zora and I have to say mom or mother.”
“She gets me. We were sisters in another life.” Jade shifted to dicing peppers. “When’s the last time you called her?”
“I haven’t. I just saw her at the wedding last week.”
She sucked her teeth. “Horrible.”
“What? When’s the last time you talked to my mother?”
“Yesterday morning.”
I let out a long breath. “You’re such a suck-up.”
She grinned. “I wanted to make sure she was doing okay.”
“You’re making me look bad.”
“I was going to check on her today too.”
“Absolutely not.” I left the counter and walked over to my phone.
“Are you calling her?”
“Yes, Mrs. Suck Up. You know you don’t get special points or anything.”
“I actually do. That’s why you’re losing the game.”
I laughed and turned on my phone.
“Are you going to tell her about Amber?”
“No.” I frowned. “If I told her, my mother might throw a huge celebration. At this time she should be social distancing.”
“That’s cold.”
“She wasn’t an Amber fan.” My screen glowed, showing seven voice messages. I pressed on the file. Six came from Amber. My sister left the last one. I pushed delete for all of them and headed to the balcony. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to call Zora and then my mother.”
“Tell them both I said hi.”
“Nope.”
“Hater.”
Still in my towel and not caring about the show to Brooklyn, I opened the balcony door, stepped outside, closed it behind me, and dialed my sister.
Zora picked up on the first ring. “Mom’s sick!”
“What?” My body froze.
“Delores, her cleaning lady, called me. She thought she was calling your number and didn’t want to bother me on my honeymoon, but anyway that doesn’t matter. Mom had a fever, was coughing, and had lost her appetite. Delores took her to the hospital. They kept her. She tested positive for the coronavirus.”
My stomach caved in.
I walked over to the closest chair and sat down. My heart raced.