Three Years Ago
He was in town for a gallery featuring some of his work. I dragged Kayla to the show with me, hoping to get my hands on an Amadi Silver original for our apartment. By the time we got there, all of his pieces were sold, but I got the best surprise when he walked into the room. Time had been good to him. Twenty-nine-year-old, tall, lean but fit Amadi was a sexy ass upgrade to the cute eighteen-year-old version I last saw him as. The plump baby face cheeks that always me him look younger than his age were replaced by sculpted cheekbones and a chiseled jawline Michelangelo wish he take responsibility for. Confidence and certainty, two qualities he struggled with in high school, oozed from his pores.
I was curious, happy to see him, and turned on by his presence all in one, but those were thoughts I planned to keep to myself. I wasn’t in the market for any romantic connections, and I definitely didn’t want to mix and mingle like that with someone from back home. I just wanted to stare and enjoy the visuals.
When I lamented about missing out on a chance to get one of his prints, he offered to makeup for it if I had dinner with him that night. He treated me and Kayla to a good meal and endless laughter as he talked about some of his experiences from traveling around the world. At the end of the night, I thought he would give me something from his collection. Instead, he suggested taking some editorial-style shots of me and Kayla. Kayla declined; she had booked studio time she couldn’t miss. So I met Amadi solo at the condo he was renting for his short stay in New York.
Amadi’s editorial work was featured everywhere, and it was a rare, coveted experience to be shot by him. I knew that but didn’t understand what that actually meant until I was sitting in front of his camera, completely unnerved by his slow perusal of my face. I knew this was just work for him, but as he scanned his serene cognac orbs over me, it felt like something deeper than that. He studied my eyes like they were his favorite, well-read book, and when he switched his gaze to my mouth, I couldn’t mistake the darkening of his pupils.
The obvious hunger in his eyes was primal, but familiar, because I felt it rising in me as I watched him watch me. Before I could make sense of the sensation, he stepped back a few feet and the camera started flashing. He stopped and lowered the camera, holding my gaze for a few seconds.
“Your beauty is unrivaled,” he said easily before the camera covered his face and flashed some more.
“Unrivaled?” I laughed nervously. The butterflies dancing in my stomach had me in a tizzy. “That can’t be true when you’ve traveled to the places where the most beautiful women in the world live.”
I grimaced internally, realizing how insecure that sounded.
“I me—“
“The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen is from a small town in North Carlina. No other woman has even come close to comparing,” he said matter-of-factly, pulling his face away from the camera to look at the photo.
I kept my eyes focused on him while he snapped more pictures, but my mind raced to all of the possibilities behind his words. Was he talking about me? I was far from ugly and could hold my own on a list of who’s hot and who’s not, but his comments extended past a generic analysis on normal, everyday beauty.
“Don’t overthink it, Marie. It’s you.” Again, he spoke in a casual tone, like we were discussing the weather or a TV show. Not me being his ideal beauty standard.
He snapped one last photo before he nodded and turned to pack his camera equipment.
“Thank you,” I said quietly, stepping down from the high stool I perched on for the photos.
“You’re welcome.” He peered over his shoulder and curved his full, sexy mouth into a deep smile that connected to his soulful brown eyes. “I’ll print these when I get back home and send them to you.”
“Where is home these days?” I didn’t pay attention to much of his personal business during dinner, but now I was greedy for any information about him that would supply context around his cryptic words.
“I’m in Cairo for a few more months.”
“Is there anyone in Cairo waiting for you?”
Why the hell did I ask that?
Because if he says no you’re going to climb him like a tree.
My private thoughts spoke a truth I wasn’t ready for.
He turned to face me with a raised brow and crossed his arms over his chest. My eyes followed the movement and I noted the thick veins mapping his golden arms. Why was he cut like that? How heavy was paint and canvas?
“You think I’d be here alone with you, talking about how your beauty can’t be found anywhere else on this earth, if I was with someone?”
“Oh.”
Oh.
“The real question is, are you seeing someone, and is he gonna have a problem if I make love to you tonight?”
With just a few words and a fiery look, Amadi had turned my world upside down. I was aroused by his straightforward expression. Body set ablaze by the fire dancing in his eyes. For the first time in almost a year, my center was awake and searching for a reminder of how good a man could make a woman feel. Crossing this line with Amadi felt like a dangerous path to that reminder, but my curiosity and desire combined to silence any misgivings. I wanted to know how Amadi made love to the most beautiful woman in the world.
“No, there’s no one that’s going to have a problem with that.”