“Ok. Rub your belly for me.” Kalilah laughed when the call dropped. Dex had a knack for disappearing from a phone conversation.
Kalilah narrowed her eyes at a beet red Cayla. “Well, well, well. I cannot believe you are holding out. Spill. Now.”
Cayla rolled her eyes. “What if I don’t want to?”
“As I recall, when my car broke down, a certain little sister refused to drive until I told her everything about Nick. Then, she grilled me every chance she got to see if we had sex yet. You don’t have an option. Every. Detail. Now.”
“He sent me a vibrator.” Cayla covered her mouth as if the information flew out at its own volition. Kalilah smirked. Dex frazzled her sister. It was good to know he had the ability to get under her skin. Cayla needed a little excitement and Dex had “excitement” written all over his body. He also possessed a seriousness that her sister probably didn’t notice yet. Kalilah knew it will be interesting to see how their story played out.
Kalilah pointed at her. “We’ll get back to that. Beginning.” Cayla gave her every juicy detail from the midnight kiss to Dex’s happy ending phone conversation. “Wait, and you turned down Valentine’s Day? Why? I’d have him handcuffed to something on Valentine’s Day.” Kalilah shook her head. “Scratch that, I have a passport for starters, but if I didn’t, he’d be tied up to something tomorrow night! We’d screw our way into Valentine’s Day. Especially if his “package” is as attractive as he is.” Cayla nodded and had a faraway dreamy look on her face as she recalled the memory. “He lands at ten-thirty tomorrow night; you should go get him then get off. I’m just saying...”
“I already have a date for Valentine’s.” Kalilah shook her head at her sister’s words.
“You have a date hotter than your potential date?” Kalilah asked not bothering to hide the intense skepticism in her voice. She wasn’t trying to push Dex on her sister just because she liked her brother-in-law; they needed each other. He needed a calm to hi
s crazy and vice versa. If she was in Cayla’s position, she would have looked to see if it was possible to get an expedited passport.
“I won’t know until Valentine’s Day. He is attractive and works in the finance department. Seems like a nice guy.”
“‘Nice’ is boring. Girl, if I were you, I’d pick Dex up tomorrow night and call in the next day…”
“Nick is nice,” Cayla argued.
“And kinky as hell. Plus, I felt something just seeing him. I’m not getting that vibe from you. If I had a first date with Nick coming up like yours. I would have been excited.”
Kalilah sighed and looked at her sister while the top coat was being applied to their nails.
“I want you to find love and be happy. I also want you to make sure you’re not entertaining or dismissing guys for trivial reasons.”
“What do you mean?” The nail technicians helped them gather their belongings and sat them at the nail dryer. Kalilah used that time to formulate a proper response. If she didn’t choose her words wisely, her sister would get defensive.
“I know you have your heart set on being with a black, man and there is nothing wrong with that at all – but I do not want to writing men off because they aren’t black or dating a man only because he is. You know I’m on your side, but I agree with Dex, do some soul searching and decide what you really want.”
Cayla’s silky ponytail bounced as she nodded her head; her face was frozen in a neutral expression, and Kalilah knew she was trying not to roll her eyes. She knew her sister liked Dex more than she wanted to admit and hoped they would figure it all out without killing each other. Either way, she planned on having plenty of popcorn in stock.
Chapter 6
Dex watched his harried staff fly around the kitchen chopping produce, calling out orders, and plating meals; the Valentine’s Day dinner rush was in full swing. He felt the familiar surge of excitement that made him itch to join his crew in the madness that he loved. His role as owner and leader prevented him from rolling up his sleeves and jumping in; He had to trust his executive chef to handle the madness. Today, he was the number one schmoozer of the clientele; he’d given his general manager, Tony, the night off so he could spend time with his very pregnant wife. Having a pregnant sister-in-law that he adored made him more tuned into the fact that the couple had very few moments left before their child dominated their life. Plus, he thought giving him some of the busiest days off was good penance for throwing him in the fire for six weeks while he was on his annual food excursion.
He’d answered his phone and emails while he was in Spain, but it wasn’t the same as physically being there. He’d missed his kitchen, and he’d also missed the woman who was currently scrunched up in one of the corner booths of his restaurant. She had the audacity to hope that the intimate lighting, along with her silky hair covering the part of her face not concealed by the menu, would somehow make her invisible. How did she plan to talk to her date? She couldn’t hold the damn menu up all night.
Annoyance kept him from being amused; she did look silly after all. Dex dipped into his office before she could realize she was already caught. Maybe her weird behavior would run off her date. She perplexed him. One minute she’s sending flirty pictures, and the next, she’s on a date with another guy. Dex didn’t get a good look at the guy when they’d walked in because his eyes were affixed to Cayla’s ass; her skinny jeans made him understand Nick’s obsession with casual Fridays. He couldn’t see her shirt because of the angle and her jacket, but he would bet a thousand dollars that her shirt was pink. The dark washed denim stopped at her ankles, and he watched them as the rest of her moved on stiletto pumps towards the table.
Some random guy was about to eat his food, on his date with his woman. Dex didn’t know how, but he was sure that he didn’t want anyone who wasn’t Cayla, and he needed to get her on the same level. He hadn’t heard from her since their last conversation and now he knew why. He scratched his head in frustration. If she wanted to play games – he would – but better. He performed a quick inspection of himself: hair still looked good, pink shirt still clean, face and teeth clean, and his black slacks were good.
Confident with his kempt appearance, he navigated through incoming patrons, piloting hosts and hostesses, and speed walking servers to his target. He was a few feet out when their eyes met, hers grew three sizes bigger and his purposely schooled in neutrality. He pasted on his most welcoming smile.
“Hey, sis.”
Her eyes narrowed to slits. “Don’t call me that, Dex.”
Dex shrugged casually and focused his attention on her date. He was a black guy. Shocking, he thought sarcastically. He was decent looking: deep brown eyes, smooth skin, he wore his hair cut low, had a trimmed goatee, and was impeccably dressed. Very corporate. Boring. There wasn’t anything boring about being corporate – it was just him – he was boring. He kind of favored Idris Elba, if Idris was boring and had “ASSHOLE” written on his forehead with neon lights and a damn red hotel vacancy sign pointing down to the sign on his forehead. Well, at least it was obvious to Dex; he wasn’t sure if Cayla or any woman saw past his façade.
He stuck his hand out to the jackass. “Hello, I’m Dex. Welcome to The Food Lab.” The guy looked between him and Cayla before giving a weak ass hand shake. He was confused by the “sis” for sure. Good. “Appetizers on me since you’re here with my sister.”
“Dex…” Cayla started but was interrupted by her date.
“I’m Darrin. How is she your sister exactly?” His too perfect brows furrowed in confusion.