I took a seat at a table near the dance floor, once my dance partner eloped me. I didn’t want to embarrass myself by standing there looking in the direction she ran away to, so I sat there scheming of a new way to approach her to see what was troubling her. This was too lovely of an affair, and she was too pretty of a woman to be as stressed out as she was a few minutes earlier. I didn’t like seeing the worry lines on her face. If I could do something to replace them with a smile, I would. I chuckled at the thought of Tameka and me falling into my bed while being latched onto each other. Sex was the best stress reliever, but there was no way she would be open to that.
Dale, a mutual friend of mine and Channing, chuckled along with me. “What’s so funny, Jeb?” he asked, and I shrugged.
“Thinking about something, man. That’s all,” I said, stopping short of revealing that I was sitting there pining about Tameka. “It’s really good to see you here. What are you up to these days, Dale?”
Dale shrugged. “Not much, Jeb. About to head out of here. I have people to see and do if you know what I mean.” He winked at me and smirked.
I snickered because I knew exactly what he meant, and my thoughts seemed to go there about a particular woman too.
“Why did the wedding dance between you and that gorgeous fox out there end so quickly? If that had been me, she’d still be getting rocked,” he said while wiggling his eyebrows.
“You mean Tameka?” I responded gruffly.
Dale nodded. “Yeah, the bride’s sexy sister. Man, she’s hotter than a box of firecrackers. I would have her climbing the walls all night.” A light shined in his eyes as he talked about Tameka.
Heat rose into my chest, and I wanted to yell that she was mine, but that wasn’t true. So my reply was a dry, “Oh, she went to check on her kids.”
“Wow, she has kids?” I nodded, and he continued. “Well, she’s still a fine piece of ass. You better make your move, or some other guy will.” Dale wiggled his eyebrows again, and I glared at him as an overwhelming urge to punch something grew inside of me.
The way I felt was beyond reasoning. I wasn’t known for defending the honor of women I didn’t know very well. Yet I firmly stated, “She’s a woman, Dale. Treat her with respect.”
His eyebrow arched as he stared at me. “Hmmm…interesting,” he mumbled. Then, he laughed at me.
I opened my mouth to ask what was so funny, but he waved me off and walked away mumbling about me acting uptight tonight.
Was I overprotective of Tameka? Of course, I was. But why was I doing that when she wasn’t mine and didn’t seem interested in ever being mine?
I looked at the doorway as Tameka walked in and headed towards the table where her kids were sitting. I hesitated only for a split second before I decided to make my move. I got up and walked over to her. She turned and met my gaze then looked like she wanted to bolt out the door once again.
“Hey, wanna continue the dance where we left off?” I asked, holding out my hand.
She looked down at my hand, and her beautifully arched eyebrows furrowed before she looked back up at me. She crossed her arms over her chest defiantly.
“No,” she replied.
Tameka was wearing a dress that only she could pull off. It was different than the other bridesmaids’ dresses in that it hugged onto every curve of her body for dear life. Her lips curved downward into a sexy pout, speckles of hazel could be seen in her pretty brown eyes, and her body looked as soft as it had felt. She wasn’t just beautiful, she gave off a fiery, passionate look that made me want her more by the second.
“No?” I questioned unbelievably. “As best man and maid of honor, and the two people that caught the bouquet and undergarment, we must complete a full dance together, maybe two if you consider both things. We would hate to shirk that responsibility, right?”
“Jeb, we danced long enough. You’re just thinking too much,” she said with widened eyes.
“If you want to avoid what we were supposed to do, then do it, but you shouldn’t pull me along,” I said with my signature flirtatious smirk on my face. “Let’s do the right thing, baby.”
“First of all, Kemara and Channing aren’t even here, so they won’t know we didn’t finish our dance? Secondly, I’m not one of those women you can charm all the way to the bed so you can just stop it, right now.”
I knew that reply would get a rise out of her. She had sass, and I was attracted to that in so many ways. I loved a badass woman who could be as soft as a flower when she needed to be, and that was Tameka.
“If you think this is charming, perhaps I’m getting through to you after all,” I said with a smirk.
“You’re certainly not getting through to me. Perhaps your arrogance works on others, but it does nothing for me,” she countered as a heated blaze radiated from her stare, and it wasn’t adoration.
I probably should’ve stopped there, for fear that one step further would push her away completely, but I wasn’t a quitter. I continued in pursuit of the beautiful woman that had my attention. “So, my arrogance d
oesn’t work on you, huh? What about my dance moves? I was putting my best dance moves forward out there, and I thought we were vibing together.”
“You were alright,” she said, allowing a small smile to crack on her lips.
“We should complete a full dance for the reception video, if nothing else,” I pressed.