“I want a tattoo!” Willa announced. “A huge one. All across my back. Massive pink wings.”
He opened his mouth to advise that she should try a teeny, tiny one to start, when her father interrupted with a stern, golden stare. “Not in this lifetime,” he said.
“Awww!” She gave Dustin a pleading look, but if she thought she’d get backup from him, she was wrong.
“Five or seven more years, kid,” he told her. “Then you’re golden.”
“I’ll remember that!” she groaned.
William gave Dustin the thumbs-up.
Chapter 20
“The nerve of those men,” Naisha huffed in exaggerated outrage as she, Chantelle and Jacyn plopped themselves down in the plush seats of the music room. They were replete with a lovely dinner and an even more delectable dessert, and it was only a matter of time before the post-dinner torpor set in.
The men had excused themselves to an anteroom just off the dining room, saying that they ‘had business to discuss’. As they left, Wiliam teased, “Why don’t you ladies spend a little time getting to know each other better?”
“It’s a wonder they don’t twirl their mustaches, break out the brandy snifters and cigars, and talk about that shipment of silk and spices due into harbor any moment,” Jacyn added, rolling her eyes.
Chantelle didn’t even try to hide her laugh. She knew damn well the other two women were only puffing up for the hell of it. It was clear that they adored their husbands, and that the feeling was mutual.
Throughout the meal, she’d found herself drawn to both Naisha and Jacyn, enchanted by their easy manner, and the way they drew her into the conversation over and over, not wanting her to feel left out. There was real chemistry here, she thought, and the idea made her happy.
She had the niggling sense that she’d seen Naisha somewhere before, and when she mentioned it, learned that she’d been a model whose face had graced many a magazine cover and countless print advertisements. She also learned to her amazement that Jacyn was the creator of Napturally Beautyfull, a line of natural hair products for women of color. “Get out!” she’d exclaimed. “I have half your range on my bathroom counter right now!”
It was even more incredible when she discovered that her assistant, Sienna and Jacyn, were longtime friends. As her grandmother would have said, small world.
She hadn’t had many friends in high school, mainly because she spent so much of her time studying, constantly aware of the pressure upon her to excel in everything. To be prepared to take up a role in the family businesses when the time came. So being in the company of women who weren’t angling for something, aiming for your throat or preparing to shiv you in the back was unfamiliar, but pleasant.
She replayed the simple kindnesses those men showed to their wives; holding out their chairs, offering to serve their meals, topping up their drinks, even offering a bite from their own plates.
How did you find love like that, she wondered. And where?
“Let them go their way,” Jacyn dismissed. “We don’t need them to have fun! Pffftt!” She reached for a remote and aimed it at the entertainment center, and the room filled with the sounds of classic old-school funk.
Willa had taken the children away to help get them ready for bed, so it was good to be just among women for a while. Chantelle felt her entire body relax.
“That’s a real babe you got there,” Naisha informed her.
Chantelle’s mind went blank. “Who?”
Jacyn screamed with laughter. “Who? What, does that beautiful man have you so dizzy with love that your brain cells are dying?”
“Your husband! Dustin!” Naisha reminded her. “That’s who!”
Oh. She felt herself go hot. They weren’t lying: throughout the meal she had the opportunity to observe how Dustin had slid comfortably into the conversation with the other men, especially when it turned from business to sports. He was charming and relaxed, and Liam and Alex appeared to like him.
She chided herself silently for being mildly surprised by the way in which he’d held his own in such unfamiliar surroundings. Especially in a place as lavish as this.What, did you think he was raised in a barn?she remonstrated to herself.You keep expecting him to underperform, and he keeps surprising you. Maybe it’s time you check your privilege and admit that class is class.
She murmured, “Yes… I guess he really is… something.”
“Dish,” Naisha leaned forward and propped her chin in her hands, a look of mischief on her face. “Where did you two meet?”
“Oh,” Chantelle thought. “It was sort of by accident… one of those things….”
Jacyn got up, went to the cabinet, and removed a bottle of liqueur and some small glasses. “Sounds like a story we need to share over a sip of Cointreau.”
Chantelle held up her hand politely. “None for me, thanks.”