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“Oh yeah, you did say Dru wanted you to be his wingman.”
“Yeah, I was trying, but she was getting a little too handsy for me.”
The comfortable smile that was on her face was replaced with a frown as she looked toward the direction Jasmine had gone in. If I was crazy, I’d say she was feeling a little possessive of me. As quickly as the frown had covered her face, Cheyanne pulled in a deep breath and wiped it away.
“Well, I’m glad I was still here to help. I know you’re too much of a gentleman to send her on her way, but I will, with no hesitation.”
Her comment seemed like the perfect opening for me to say, “That’s the second woman that has gotten a rise out of you today because of me. Don’t let me find out you’re starting to like me as much as I like you.”
Cheyanne gave me a playful roll of her eyes as she smirked. “Unfortunately, I can’t give you the satisfaction of a response to that.”
That caused me to release a bark of laughter. “You didn’t say you didn’t like me, so that’s all I need to know.”
“This is so juvenile,” she muttered, lowering her head as she blushed.
“I can agree, but that’s what you do to me.” I lifted her chin, forcing her to look in my eyes. “You make me all heart and emotions that I can barely contain. You make me feel like I’m not in control of myself or the way you make me feel. I haven’t felt like this since I was a kid, and I’m okay with that.”
My hand went from her chin to her cheek, and she kissed it. Tugging my bottom lip between my teeth, I bit back a moan. Her body shifted slightly as she looked inside of the bar.
“It looks like your girl is onto someone new already.”
I turned to look and saw Jasmine in a booth, cuddled up with a man I didn’t recognize, and that gave me relief. At least she was being entertained by someone.
“Well, thank you for the assist. If you need to get back to Selena, I’m cool out here by myself.”
“She’s all right.” Cheyanne replied quietly as she relaxed further in her seat.
We got a new round of drinks and ended up staying out there, talking for hours. Dru had come back, leaving Andrea at the hotel. Jasmine had left with the man she’d met and gone back to the hotel. Somehow, Dru and Selena sparked a conversation that led to them walking the boardwalk… and I got to spend a Saturday with my favorite girl.
8
Cheyanne
I think both Chandler and I were protective of each other, but because I wasn’t as vocal about my feelings for him, I showed them with how I covered him. It was always difficult for me to sit in on meetings where Chandler was undervalued, unappreciated, or sometimes disrespected. That didn’t happen often. He had a reputation of making it clear that beyond the money and expensive suits that he was nothing to be fucked with. Still, there were some instances where he’d choose to be professional when I wanted him to be off with someone’s head. Today’s meeting was an example of that.
We were meeting with the board for one of the newest businesses he’d acquired, and all the men were older than fifty. Most often, older men found it difficult to submit to Chandler’s lead. I guessed it was their egos. Whatever the case, they could sometimes try and give him a hard time, but Chandler almost often shut them down respectfully and professionally. Only once had he taken it there with a man, and what surprised me most was his father coming to the next meeting to ensure none of the old bastards thought they would get away with disrespecting his son again.
I thought it was cute… the way his father showed up for him.
It made me wish I had that kind of bond with mine.
At least I had Papa, and for what it was worth, I had Chandler too.
“I don’t think there’s a simpler way for me to break this down,” Chandler said. “How much more do you need me to dumb it down?” A hush fell over the room as the man he was speaking to, Harold, sat up in his seat. “I don’t think the problem is that you don’t understand my plan of action; you don’t respect it. I can accept that. What I can’t accept is you playing with my time. Now, if you have true ignorance on this subject, I’m more concerned about your place on this board than anything else. So I’ll ask again… What about this plan and what I’ve said does not make sense to you?”
Harold chuckled but remained silent, and that was the kind of shit that pissed me off. With a roll of my eyes, I crossed my legs and scribbled onto my legal pad to do more research into him, in case he decided to be a problem. When Harold didn’t respond, Chandler concluded the meeting.
I thought I’d done a good job hiding my frustration until we were alone and Chandler asked, “Are you okay?”
With a nod, I picked up the balled up paper and empty cups and plates on the conference table to throw away. “I’m fine,” I muttered.
“You’re lying.” Chandler gripped my wrist and my chin, forcing me to look at him. “Talk to me.”
I huffed and gritted my teeth. “I hate how these old bastards try and talk to you like you’re a child. They act like you being younger than them means they don’t have to respect you, trust your leadership, or accept the fact that you know what the hell you’re doing. They should be thanking you for saving their jobs. Instead, they give you a hard time because they can’t submit to the leadership of a man that’s younger than them.”
He released me and stood there with a goofy grin as he stared down at me. There was about four inches between us when I had on my four-inch heels, but I still loved how it felt to have to look up at him. Something about a tall, muscular, chocolate man—it always did something to me. And don’t let that man be dressed in white or burgundy. Hell, don’t let that man be Chandler.
“What?” I asked, getting flustered for a completely different reason the longer he stood so close to me.
