Ten Months Before…
When Levi walked around to open the passenger door of his maroon Mustang, the first thing Sasha noticed about him were his thighs. Two bulging pieces of flesh covered in a hairy layer of chocolate skin. The soft material of his shorts gripped his buttocks in all the right places, too sensual for a man six-foot-four, two hundred and forty pounds to wear in public. In all the years Sasha had known Levi, she’d never really been this close to his scantily clad body and for a moment she found herself indulging in a chain of inappropriate thoughts.
“Thanks for picking me up on such short notice,” she said. “My car is down and I had no one else to call at this hour.”
“The pleasure is all mine, pretty woman,” Levi teased. A nickname he’d created to align with Sasha’s poised disposition. The short brown hairstyle she wore suited her heart-shaped face and her button nose, which was positioned perfectly above her slightly full lips. “Your man is two thousand miles away in some Jim Jones institution, getting high on religion. Someone has got to take care of you in the interim.”
“Behave yourself, mister. Drake would not appreciate you making fun of his spiritual calling and neither do I. Succeeding Rev. Henderson as the next pastor of El Shaddai Ministries is very important to him.”
Levi cracked a lopsided grin. “I’m ‘bout six inches taller and thirty pounds heavier than that yellow-skinned dude. Unless he has a black belt in karate, I ain’t scared of him. I’ll take him down in under a minute. As for you, well, what can I say? I have no choice but to handle you with care.”
Sasha lifted her lips into a coquettish smile. Her fiancé, Drake Beckford, was an exceptional catch with great potential, but if compared to Levi, he was not as blasé nor as humorous in his expression. Drake was a disciplined man who took his spiritual assignments seriously. It amazed Sasha that the two had been best friends for as long as she could remember. Yet, with such differences in their personalities, they somehow exemplified the true meaning of friendship.
“Excuse my appearance,” Levi said to Sasha’s silence. “I was shooting hoops with some of the boys from Xavier High School. When you called, I had just left the basketball court.”
Levi’s words drew Sasha’s attention back to that forbidden place she’d been trying to ignore since getting into the Mustang. Those muscular hairy thighs would haunt her for weeks if she didn’t keep her subtle gazes away from them. And how ironic that she was on her way to mid-week Bible study where Rev. Henderson was teaching a three-part series on living holy before God. Why then was she allowing her flesh to get the best of her?
“It’s fine with me,” she said. “I’m the one invading your space.”
Levi frowned. “You’re not invading anything. But seriously, it doesn’t bother you that you’re sitting next to a sweaty, well-cut, sexy male? And did I mention that Hersey’s chocolate got its name from my complexion?”
Sasha covered her smile with her hand. “You are so vain. Drake says it all the time about you and I am starting to believe him.”
Levi smirked, as he stole a glance at Sasha’s profile. He was really digging the way her short brown hair was cropped against her face, accentuated by her flawless, pecan-colored skin. Indeed, an extremely tempting package that made Levi question within himself if Drake had been man enough to at least taste Sasha’s sweet lips. But considering how sanctified Drake acted when it came to sex, Levi seriously doubted that Drake had made any such move. The dude was probably still a virgin.
“So,” Levi said, changing the subject a bit, “you are determined to marry that straitlaced man?”
Sasha frowned. “Determined? I wouldn’t use that word. And I certainly wouldn’t call Drake, straitlaced.”
“Why? When you know that he is.”
“One, because you make it seem as if I’m desperate, which I am not. And two, I love Drake, even if he is a little disciplined, which I admire in a man, by the way.”
“Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I would have never imagined you two together…” Levi paused when he heard Sasha gasp at his statement. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. Opposites attract, right? However, I’d always thought that Drake’s personality was too uptight for you; he doesn’t know how to relax, you know what I mean? But what do I know about relationships? You guys seem to be making it work.”
“Yes, we are making it work,” Sasha said firmly. “Why would you even say something like that?”
“Because frankly, Sasha, Drake doesn’t really know what he has in a woman like you.”
Sasha swallowed her response when Levi subconsciously rubbed his thigh, dangerously pushing his jersey shorts back another inch – as if he wasn’t already revealing too much. She’d been with Drake since they were in junior high and she’d never seen him show as much skin as Levi. She breathed a sigh of relief when Levi cut across the intersection and swung into the parking lot of El Shaddai Ministries. She really didn’t know how to respond to Levi’s twisted observation anyway.
“Where’s your car?” Levi asked before Sasha could get away from him. “I didn’t see it parked at your apartment.”
“Huh?”
“You said that your car was down. I figured while you’re here at Bible Study, I could go and take a look at it.”
Sasha brushed off Levi’s generosity. “Oh, you don’t have to do that. My mechanic is coming in the morning.”
“And he is going to charge you an arm and a leg,” Levi countered. “I know I’ve said some things that may have made you uncomfortable, but allow me to make up for it.”
“I’ll be fine…” Sasha shrugged. “And what can I say? You simply spoke your mind.”
“Not according to Drake.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, he always tells me that I have a mouth problem. I say the wrong things, at the wrong time, to the wrong –”
“People,” Sasha finished for him. She then relaxed into a smile. “I’ve heard Drake say it dozens of times too. This is so unbelievable.”
“What?”
“You two are always talking about each other.”
“I admit that dude gets on my last nerve sometimes and makes me wanna knock the heck out of him. But anyone else tries to touch him and they will be history! I love that church-going boy.”
Sasha laughed. “I’d better be going. I’m already late for Bible Study.”
“The car, Sasha,” Levi insisted, “where is it?”
Sasha rolled her eyes. “I’ve told you, I will be fine. Thanks for the offer.”
“Don’t make me follow you on the inside wearing these shorts,” Levi threatened. “I promise you that I will get many inappropriate looks and I’m sure your pastor wouldn’t be too happy about that.”
Sasha shook her head, suppressing a smile. “You are determined, aren’t you?”
“There goes that word again…” Levi spread his hands in an innocent manner. “C’mon, pretty woman. What do you say? Or at least let me pick you up after you’re done with your Bible Study.”
There was something in Levi’s voice that should have made Sasha run in the opposite direction, but Levi’s appeal was so on point that Sasha found it difficult to resist him.
She sighed away that little voice in her head and said, “Okay…I should be out in two hours. If you’re a minute late, I will find another ride.”
Levi grinned. “You must remember, as long as your man is away, I’m responsible to take care of you. I’m actually disappointed that you don’t call on me more often.”
“Somehow, I don’t like how you said that.”
“What was wrong with what I said?”
“Nothing, Levi,” Sasha answered dismissively. “I will see you in two hours. My car is parked at Xavier High School, by the way.”
Levi slapped his forehead. “Now why didn’t I think of that? You’re a teacher there, which would be the only other logical place your car would be.”
Sasha smirked. “Two hours, Levi, or else…”
“Yes, ma’am! I will be here waiting for you.”
Clutching her bag beneath her arm, Sasha pushed open the passenger door and stepped onto the pavement. She had a pronounced sway when she walked in heels, which immediately arrested Levi’s licentious gaze. How shameful it was for him to be eyeing his best friend’s woman in such a manner. But he would be lying if he said he felt completely guilty about it.