I rummaged through my closet trying to find the perfect fit that also didn’t look like I’d tried too hard. I found a vibrant pink flowy strapless dress and chose a faded jean jacket to wear over it, looking the perfect picture of spring. I’d been on a natural high all day and wanted my attire to match my buoyant mood. Royalty would kill me if she knew I chose my pink sparkly Chucks to wear on my feet instead of heels to meet up with Tre.
I literally let my hair down and turned my head upside down to brush it and I flung it back, giving my shoulder-length wavy hair a tousled, wild, sexy look. I applied gloss to make my lips appear plumper and mascara and eyeliner to bring out my light brown eyes that I always thought were my best feature. I could’ve walked to the coffee house it was so near my apartment, except I wanted to smell fresh and clean and not like outdoors, so I drove.
As I parked on the street I could see Tre through the window, sitting alone, talking on his cell. Even furrowed brows and glasses that he pushed up on his nose couldn’t detract from his handsome features. I didn’t know he wore glasses, and the way he absent-mindedly adjusted them again while I headed into the coffeehouse made him even sexier.
I sauntered to him and grasped the back of the chair across from him. “Hello.”
Tre looked up and a smile slowly spread across his face. “You’re here.”
“I’m here,” I said, trying to calm my suddenly nervous stomach.
Before I could pull out the chair, he jumped up and held the chair for me and said close to my ear, causing a shiver to travel through my body, “You want something? You can have whatever you want.”
I turned to look at him, his face inches from mine, and his gaze dropped to my lips. “What if what I want isn’t on the menu?”
He tilted his head with a curious smile and repeated in a deeper voice, “You can have whatever you want.”
I played a potentially dangerous game, but something about him made me feel free, open, like I could play with him. I leaned in as if I would kiss him and he moved his head closer. I then eased down in my chair and looked up at a confused Tre. “I’m a vegan. And there’s usually nothing on the menu I can have except black coffee, and I don’t like the taste of it.”
“How do you work in a coffeehouse and not drink it?”
“It’s why I’m the best employee they have. Are you going to sit or make my neck hurt from looking up at you?”
He grinned and sat back down across from me. “I like you already.”
I said flirtatiously, “Of course, you do, or you wouldn’t have approached me.”
He looked away and then back at me. “Point. Then you know that I more than like you…I want you.”
My body caught fire at his boldness, and I hoped that this sexy banter never stopped. “You also told me that at the bookstore.”
He frowned slightly. “Did I?”
“You did. You said that you must be ‘slipping because usually a woman knows when I want her.’”
“That sounds like me.” He took off his glasses and picked up my hand. “What took you so long?”
I sat back and looked around the shop and caught the curious stares of others, reminding me that he was the mayor and not just a man with whom I flirted. I removed my hand from his. “Maybe I wasn’t ready for this.” I gestured with my head.
He surveyed the room and moved his laptop to the side. “As I also said to you before, I’m a man first. If I was concerned about being seen with you, or worried about what others thought, I would have suggested we meet at my place or yours.”
“Really? My place or yours? Isn’t that presumptuous of you?”
Tre shrugged. “Sometimes I like to skip over the pleasantries and get straight to the point.”
“Which is?”
His chuckle deep and sexy, he said, “Woman, you’re playing a dangerous game right now.”
I turned over his hand and ran my finger lightly over his palm. I studied the patterns of his hand. “Funny, I had the same thought when I walked in here and whether I’m up for the challenge. How the thought of you makes me nervous and shy, though the reality of you emboldens me, takes away all fears and doubts. I’m never this daring with a man, and yet I want to say and do all kinds of things to you.”
Tre murmured, “Rain, are you scratching my palm?”
Still tracing his palm, I looked up to meet his sexy gaze. “Maybe.”
Tre’s jaw tightened and he inhaled deeply. “What do you want to do to me?”
“I have a better question.”
“And that is?”
This time I dragged my fingernail across his slightly calloused skin. “What do you want to do to me?”
He closed his large hand around mine and tugged me toward him. “My place or yours?”
Surprising myself, I responded, “I’m right around the corner. I’ll meet you there.”
Tre shook his head. “You’ll ride with me. I’ll handle your car.” He then turned around and signaled to a man I hadn’t noticed. The large man, probably his security, rose from his seat and came to our table. “Taz, this is Raini.”
Taz said, “Hello.”
His voice was so deep I felt vibrations. I held my hand out for him to shake. “Hi…let me guess, Taz, like the devil because you tear up shit?”
He and Tre looked at each other and grinned. Taz responded with a throaty chuckle, “Exactly. I like you already.”
“He and I go way back.” Tre closed his computer and placed it in the leather bag underneath the table and said to Taz, “I’m done here for the night. Settle my tab and meet me by the car.”
As Taz walked away, I asked, “Does he follow you everywhere?”
“Depends. At City Hall, no, or when I’m at home or with family. But when I’m in public places for extended amounts of time, he’s with me. I come here quite often to clear my head and work.”
Tre then stood, put his bag on his shoulder, and reached for my hand. “Come on.”
Chills went through my body because he’d said it the same way he did all those years ago. I hesitated before allowing him to pull me to his feet, familiar feelings of insecurity and anger replacing the sexual energy. “Tre…”
He smiled. “I like how my name sounds on your lips.” He then waved at a few patrons as he led, and I followed him out of the coffee house. As we walked to his black Land Rover only a few feet away, I couldn’t help but wonder if he even sensed déjà vu. Had he or I really changed that much that he didn’t recognize me at all? Although I’d changed my name from Lorraine Thibodeaux to Raini Blue, my hair had grown thicker and longer, and I had more womanly curves, I pretty much looked the same. I would understand if he couldn’t remember my name, but not even my face or this moment that we’d almost recreated again as we headed to his car?
As he opened the passenger door for me, I touched his hand still on the door. “Why me?”
Tre looked perplexed. “What do you mean?”
“Why did you come back for me? I’m sure you meet attractive women every day. So, why me?” I had to know if he remembered me.
He looked down an imperceptible second and met my eyes. “For some reason, I couldn’t get you out of my head. And that hasn’t happened to me in a long time.” Tre stepped back. “If you…” At that moment, a couple strolling by stopped when they recognized him.
I watched, still standing in the open door, as he greeted them with a warm smile and chatted with them. He even bent to pet their dog and soon the couple were on their way. Tre smiled at me apologetically. “Sorry. It kind of comes with the territory.”
Taz had walked out of the café and stood nearby.
“Look, if you’ve changed your mind. It’s cool. We can take it slow.” At my noticeable reticence, he continued, “At least let me take you home.”
I settled in his leather seats and he closed the door. He came around to the driver’s side and opened the door. “Let me get your keys. Taz can drive your car home. He needs to follow me anyway.”
I reached in my bag and tossed the keys, which he deftly caught. A few moments later we were on the way. He glanced at me once he pulled into the street. “You changed up on me. What’s up?”
“I told you, I’m not usually this bold. Maybe I bit off more than I can chew.” I turned my head to look at him, resting my cheek against the soft leather. “If we do this tonight, what happens tomorrow?”
He focused on the road. “I don’t know. I guess we can take it day by day.”
“Will I hear from you again?’ I asked quietly.
Tre cursed under his breath. “Where do you live?”
I gave him my address and waited for his answer.
He didn’t say another word and I closed my eyes. A short drive later, the car came to a stop, but the motor still ran. He said gently, “Raini?”
I opened my eyes and his face was within an inch of mine. Before I could speak, he captured my lips with his. Kissing me slowly at first, savoring my mouth and then more insistent, as his tongue slipped inside.
He pulled back the moment my reticence faded. “We can go inside right now, and I’ll do whatever you want me to do to your beautiful body. Or you can kiss me goodnight, go inside, and I’ll call you tomorrow to talk. Either way, tonight is not the last time we’ll see each other. I’m already craving you and can’t wait to see you again.”
“Craving?” I asked with a barely contained smile.
“Yes. Like as crazy as it sounds, I already need you and I don’t need anyone,” Tre admitted ruefully.
I pulled his chin back to me and ran my tongue across his lips before I grabbed the back of his head and hungrily kissed him. We both moaned loudly from the intense pleasure of our mating tongues. Tre pulled back again mid-kiss, and I tried to press him closer, but he tilted his head farther away from me.
“If we’re not going to make love tonight, then I suggest we stop now.”
I arched a brow. “Make love? Somehow I pictured you to be the type of guy to say you want to ‘smash’ or ‘fuck’ me.”
“Darling, I can say anything you want me to say. I’ve fucked or smashed plenty of women. But Ms. Raini Blue, I really do want to make love to you.”
I kissed the tip of his nose, opened my door, and hopped out.
“That’s it?” he asked disappointment in his tone.
I bent to look back at him, unsure I was ready for sex but not wanting him to leave. “Compromise? You come up for a little while and we just talk.”
“I would like that.” Tre smiled and turned off his motor and got out of the car. Taz magically appeared and replaced him in the front seat of his car. Though Tre’s windows were slightly tinted, I wondered how much Taz saw.