Honey Brown

Chapter 14

KENDRA

I'd pushed her too far, and now I had to face the consequences. If she needed time to think, I would give it to her. I just hoped that she didn't decide that time and space was what she preferred. I was still okay by the end of the first week. I could handle a week without her, no problem.

By the middle of the second week, I was slightly concerned. At the beginning of the third week, I started second guessing myself. Did I imagine the connection we had?

I became moody and began to isolate myself. When Friday rolled around, I was mentally kicking myself.

I can't believe I let myself get caught up like that. Never again, I made the promise.

Around 5:00 p.m., Mike was at my office door. "Hey," he carefully approached me, "Some of us are heading over to White Ice for drinks, you up to tag along?"

"I'm good," I answered without looking at him.

"You been okay lately? You seem distant," he asked.

I turned to him, faking a half smile, "Yeah, I'm good. Just been a little busy. I'm going to stay behind and finish up some things."

"Alright. Well, we'll probably close it out if you change your mind," he offered.

"Cool, I'll see how I feel when I'm done here," I answered.

Pretty soon, I was alone. I was blankly staring at my computer screen, when there was a knock at my door. I turned to see who it was, and froze as my stomach dropped.

There was Liv, looking just as scared as I felt. "Hi," she said quietly, "Is this a bad time?"

It took a few seconds for me to find my voice, "No, it's fine. Come in," I answered.

She sat across from me, and smirked as she looked around my office. "The last time I was here, my life had taken a drastic turn," she paused to look at me, "I hope this time is no different." I wasn't sure how to respond to that statement, so I kept quiet.

She cleared her throat, and lowered her eyes to my desk. "Thank you for allowing me the time to think and sort things out," she began. "If the offer still stands, I would love to go to dinner with you." I sat silently for a moment.

She brought her eyes to mine. "Are you sure?" I asked her.

"Yes," she smiled brightly.

"Where we go is still up to you," I told her.

She thought for a moment before asking, "Do you like tapas?"

"I'll go anywhere, just as long as you go with me," I responded. She blushed. Damn, I've missed that. "You're still ridiculously adorable when you blush," I said to her. Of course, the blush deepened. I smiled at her, "So tapas then?" I asked her.

"Yes. The Rooftop has an amazing menu. Would tomorrow be too soon?" she asked.

"Nope, I'll pick you up at 8:00?"

"Great, I'll see you tomorrow," she stood to leave.

"See you," I said as she left.

Minutes later, I realized I was still staring at the door. My entire body was buzzing, and I smiled genuinely for the first time since our blow up.

It's crazy how she has that effect on me, I thought as I prepared to go home. I was glad that I didn't have to work the next day, because sleep was going to be impossible.

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Saturday seemed to drag. Knowing that I would spend time with her that evening didn't help the time pass either. At last, it was 5:00 p.m. I'm not waiting any longer, I thought as I began to get ready.

I showered and stood in my closet, trying to think of what to wear. I wanted to look like I was on a date, but I didn't want to be too formal. I decided to wear dark wash jeans, a white, collared button up shirt, an oxblood blazer with black lapels, and finished it off with black Steve Madden's.

I pulled half of my locs up, splashed on Polo Black and checked the time: 7:30 p.m. Perfect, I thought as I grabbed my keys, and walked out of the door.

I pulled up to her house at about 7:55 p.m., took a deep breath, and got out of the car.

Why are you so nervous? You've taken women to dinner before? I questioned myself as I rang her doorbell. A moment later, she opened the door, and I was once again blinded by her smile. The world could have ended at that moment, and I wouldn't have even noticed. I had never seen a woman look so sexy.

I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She was wearing a royal blue halter dress, that ended just above her knees, and hugged her curves in all the right places. On her feet were black, strappy, high heeled sandals that tied around her delicate ankles. Her hair was drawn up into a topknot, with the occasional curly flyaways, drawing the eye to her flawless, bare back. She smelled of lavender and honey. My mouth watered.

"Hi," she greeted me.

"Hey," I managed to breathe. It occurred to me that we were just standing there after a few minutes, and I focused my attention on her face. She was practically devouring me with her eyes. For the first time in my life, I felt exposed and vulnerable. "You ready?" I asked, hoping to take the attention off of me.

She finally looked me in the eye, "Yes, sorry," she said, closing and locking her door.

The car ride to The Rooftop was intensely quiet. I could feel her eyes on me. "I'm trying to be as respectful as possible. But if you keep staring at me like that, we won't make it to dinner," I warned her. She giggled as she refocused her attention, looking out of the window.

The Rooftop is a tapas restaurant that only offers seating on the roof, providing a breathtaking view of the city at night. We were lucky enough to be seated in an area with a view and enough privacy for us to enjoy each other's company.

When the waiter appeared, we ordered a few tapas, and a bottle of wine. When the wine arrived, I poured us both a glass. Raising mine I announced, "I would like to propose a toast, to possibilities." The twinkle in her eye caused my temperature to rise.

"May they be endless in the future," she finished the toast. We kept eye contact as we sipped the wine.

"Thank you for agreeing to dinner," she said after placing her glass on the table.

"I couldn't say no to you if I tried," I told her.

She smiled again, "Seriously. I know it may have seemed as though I was going to walk away from this, and I'm sorry I made you wait so long," she paused while looking out over the city.

"I've only ever been attracted to and dated men. Even now, I can't say that I am attracted to women, aside from you. The intensity that we share unnerved me, especially since it developed so quickly. I don't do so well with change, and you caused so much of it in such a short period of time. I had to be honest with myself, and admit that I liked it. That I liked you. And that I wanted to try to make this work.

"Out of all of the men that I have dated, I have never really been able to see a future with them. I may be ruining the moment, but I have to say that I can see a future with you, Kenny. With us. And if you want to see where this can go too, all I ask is that you work with me. I'm still new to this, and I might fuck up at times, but I am going to sincerely put forth the effort," she looked at me intently.

I smiled at her, "I told you, I'm not going anywhere." I leaned in to kiss her.