Sugar (Gimme 1)

“Great. Thank you.” I tap the desk and walk to the bank of elevators, clicking my floor as I get in. A woman rushes to the elevator, so I hold it open.

“Thank you, sir.” She pushes two and gives me an apologetic smile. I nod because I’m already late. Besides, it looks like she’s one of our clients. I get off on my floor and catch shit as I walk past our glass doors.

“Hey, bro. No driver today, and you can’t get your ass to work on time?”

“I make my own schedule. Besides, I decided to stop and get coffee.” I smile like a fool, then step around him and head to my father’s office. We’re half-brothers, and he can be a real ass sometimes. My mom died a year after I was born and my dad married his mom a year later then fathead came along. He’s the exact opposite of me. He laughs all the time which is surprising for a lawyer, but he’s also only in his first two years.

I rap on my father’s door, and he calls out, “enter.” I come in, and he comes around from his desk, smiling. “There you are. We were beginning to worry.”

“I’m barely half an hour late,” I remind him.

“Yes, but you didn’t call. That’s not like you at all,” my dad explains. I have my reasons why I didn’t call, and it’s all because of Lexi.

“What’s with the grin?”

I smirk, then come clean. “Nothing, but I’m going to be calling it a day early. I’ve got a date tonight.”

His jaw drops and his eyes bulge out as he asks, “A date? Are you serious?”

“I am about her.”

He crosses his arms and pinches his lips closed. “How come I’ve never heard of her?”

“I just mentioned her. Now I need to figure out where I can take her.”

“This is the worst night to make last minute arrangements. Hell, even White Castles holds Valentine’s Day reservations. Why don’t you invite her to your condo and make dinner?”

I give him a side eye and scowl. “I can’t cook anything fancy. Besides, she’s going to think I want to get in her panties.”

“Don’t you?” he challenges.

I shrug because of course, I want to be with her, but not everything is about fucking. Something about her makes me want things I didn’t know I wanted. “Of course, but she’s more than that.”

“I’ll call your mother. She can fix up something that will need to go in the oven and then you can just toss it in there before your date.”

“I’ll think about it. First I’m going to check out some places.”

He smirks as I walk out the door. “I’ll tell Diana.” Since I lost my mother so young, Diana has been my mother, and she would do anything to make me happy, but today’s special for her too.

Three hours later, no luck on the restaurants, but I filed a couple of briefs and worked on a big contract while my personal life falls apart. I face the fact that I don’t have a choice. I make the call to my mother. “I wondered when you would call. It’s almost all prepared. I’ll leave it in your fridge with the instructions.”

“Thank you, mom.”

“I love you. And congratulations,” she squeals. I don’t know what dad told her, but she’s happy either way.

“Don’t congratulate me so soon. This is our first date, and I might be forced to commit a crime to get her to fall for me.”

“Do what you have to. I want grandbabies, damn it,” she says with a giggle. That might be the first time I heard her curse since we were teens. “I can’t believe you have a date.”

“Me either, but when it’s right, it’s right.”

“I couldn’t be happier for you. Let me know if you need anything else.” I can picture her smiling with her big blue eyes.

“Thanks, Mom.”

The second I hang up with her, I send Lexi a message.

Me: Address, Sugar?

I use Google Maps for the address she sends me, then I text her back.

Me: Okay, I’ll be there. Be ready.

Me: Are you in class?

Lexi: No on my way back home. I’m done for the day.

I call her because not hearing her voice is killing me. “Hey, Sugar. Sorry, I had to call.”

“No, that’s nice. Are you busy right now doing lawyerly things?” I can hear the amusement in her voice

“I am, but I’m going to play hooky to make sure I pick up your pretty ass on time.”

“Where are we going?”

“If I tell you, you’ll probably change your mind.”

“What? Don’t tell me your place.”

“Um…yes. No place has space available. My mom is preparing the meal for me right now.”

“For real?”

“And before you get on me, it’s their idea. I just want to spend time with you, and well, my mother is getting all mushy about it.”