〰 Take a redhead that uses her assets to get her way in business, a curly nanny who believes in true love, a dark-haired, drop-dead gorgeous stripper and you've got a curved t(h)reat.
Then add a nerdy personal trainer, a tall, dark and handsome bo...
I arrive at the house early, eager to see the people I love. The people I wish were my parents. I open the door and walk straight into the kitchen. I'm grabbed and hugged before I can even say hi. I laugh and relax in the arms of the most loving woman in the world.
"My girl! Finally! I've missed seeing your pretty face. How are you doing?" She takes a step back and looks into my eyes, analyzing the emotions she sees in there. She then takes time to check out my outfit and smiles wide. "I love that dress on you and the attitude that comes with it."
I laugh, because she totally gets it, as always. I am wearing a figure-hugging marine dress with spaghetti straps and white horizontal stripes. It's long enough to cover my knees and I'm wearing comfy sandals under it. I wear horizontal stripes on purpose. Ever since my mom told me I shouldn't because it made me look even fatter than I was. Yeah, mother of the year that one.
But this woman, right here. Doing ten things at the same time to get everything ready for this barbecue is the real mother of the year. I love her. She hands me a bowl of fruit salad and asks me to bring it outside to her husband.
I walk out onto the patio and find mister Sun setting everything up around the huge barbecue. Well, the outdoor kitchen. It's bigger than the kitchen inside the house. I try to sneak up on him but I hear his amused voice: "I know my favorite redhead is here. I smell bananas."He turns around with a huge smile on his face and pulls me in for a hug that makes me emotional every single time.
He cups my cheek and says: "Never forget that I love you." He wipes a tear from my cheek and whispers: "You look beautiful. All eyes will be on you tonight." He takes the fruit salad from me and puts it on ice on the huge counter. That man can make me feel amazing with just a hug and a few words.
I want to walk back inside to help Mrs. Sun, but he grabs a hold of my wrist. "Ama, there will be a lot of law enforcement people here tonight. The DA will be here too. Just a heads up. Try and stay away from him, okay?"
I shiver and nod before going back inside. Fuck! I feel like running back home. But I am not going to. He can't scare me anymore! I don't believe it myself, but I am trying to prepare myself for facing him.
He cornered me in the kitchen of this house when I was fourteen. He told me I looked beautiful and tried to kiss me. Mister Sun walked in and pinched him in the neck and the DA collapsed onto the floor. And Mister Sun acted like it was the most normal thing in the world.
He walked out to get some men to carry the DA outside and they laid him on a deckchair. They all went with the story that he drank too much and fell asleep. He sent Mrs. Sun in to hug me for as long as I needed her arms around me. And she did, like only she can.
That was the day I realized my looks could work in my favor. It made men look at me a certain way. And I used it with all I had. I still do. It gives me so much power over them and they all think I'm dumb. Which makes them easy targets. I always come out on top with my business deals, because they all end up thinking with their other head.
I chuckle to myself as a plan starts to form in my head. He's going to be sorry forever coming onto me. Fucking asshole. Men in powerful positions shouldn't be like that. I'm glad I get to see him again all these years later. Let's see how he does this time.
I walk into the kitchen to carry more food out onto the patio. I almost drop the bowl of coleslaw when I walk out because Mister Sun is doing the chicken dance with a flowerpot on his head. I join in on the dance and hear a chuckle behind me. X joins us too and we laugh together. Mister Sun suddenly looks at X and pinches his nose.
I can hear X wince and Mister Sun says: "I hope it hurts like hell." He turns around and starts prepping the meat, without saying anything else. I turn around to face X and gasp when I see his bruised nose and cheeks. I lift my hand to his face and he avoids my gaze. I just stand there staring at him, wondering what happened and why Mister Sun was saying he hopes it hurts.
"X? What happened?" He sighs and shakes his head. "You know I am not going to let this go, so tell me." His eyes drop down to my feet and slowly move up, taking in all of my curves and I start to feel a bit uncomfortable. He meets my eyes and swallows. I take a step back and he sighs again.
He whispers: "Noah."
I frown at first and then I get it. I try to hide my amusement by biting my lip. Noah punched him in the face. He told him. And Noah punched him hard. A soft chuckle escapes my lips and Mister Sun turns around to me. He winks and starts laughing too.
X moans, "It's not funny. It hurts."
I hold my belly while I laugh even harder. He looks so pathetic and I can only imagine what went down between him and Noah. X chuckles a little and says: "He even quoted Bridget Jones. We're okay I think. But he was furious at first and then he started laughing at me." I stop laughing and look X in the eye.
Fuck he told Noah everything. Well, that ruins my chances with Noah, not that I really thought I had one. But I'm sure I seem like an even bigger slut to him now. And he already saw me use my ladies to get a good deal from the Tex Oil guys. I sigh and walk over to the bar, wondering if I should drink my sorrows away.
Not going to though. The last thing I want to do is embarrass myself and these wonderful people I get to call family. I step behind the bar to set everything up. I look it all over and smile at the polished glasses and the bottles of alcohol. X joins me behind the bar and asks: "Are we on bar duty tonight?"
I smile at him and say: "Yes! I'm not going to let Mona do it. She deserves to have fun with Montell." X nods and grabs the metal bucket to get ice from the kitchen. I draft a beer to test the pressure and smile at the result. I take a sip and see the first people come up to Mister Sun to greet him. X comes back out with a bucket of ice while talking to a handsome man.
I check him out and wonder who he is. He looks like a detective from where I am standing. He has the movements of one too. He moves confidently and seems relaxed. But you can tell he's scanning the yard with his eyes and his ears are listening in on the various conversations. I hear X say: "Follow me. I'll introduce you to Ama. She can hook you up with a glass of whisky."
The guy's eyebrows shoot up when he hears my name and then his eyes move to the bar to look at me. He looks me over thoroughly, but he doesn't make me feel uncomfortable. It's like he's getting to know me by taking in everything that is me. He walks over to the bar and makes eye contact with me as a tiny smile appears on his lips. His eyes show amusement and I wonder why...
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