“Yes.” She rolls her eyes. “Can’t tell Kenan nothing. He has a girl, my stepdaughter, Simone, from his first marriage. He would have been happy no matter what, but getting a boy? Yeah, he’s over the moon.”
“August was the same way,” Iris says, kicking off her shoes and sitting on the edge of the pool.
“How many kids do you have?” I ask her.
“Two.” She lowers her feet into the water. “But some days it feels like twelve. August is amazing when he’s home, but he’s gone so much during the season. We have onsite daycare at my job for David. He starts kindergarten next year and Sarai’s already in elementary school, but it’s still a lot solo.”
“Can’t say I miss Kenan being on the road half the year,” Lotus says.
“I thought August would sink into a depression when Kenan left,” Iris says. “Thank God they brought Naz in.”
“That reminds me.” Lotus turns inquisitive eyes my way. “How did you say you and Nazareth know each other, Takira?”
The sudden silence encompasses our lounging circle, swelling with the three women’s collective curiosity.
“Oh, yeah, well.” I stall, staring into my now-empty glass. “He and my brother played ball together in high school. We haven’t seen each other in years.”
“He seemed mighty glad to ‘see’ you.” Catalina snickers.
I shoot her a sharp look but don’t say anything.
“And he’s never glad to see anyone,” Lotus adds, eyeing me. “I feel like there’s a story there. Come on. You can tell us.”
“There really isn’t,” I rush to correct them. “I literally met Naz once. He only transferred to my brother’s prep school senior year, so they didn’t have much time together before graduation. I’m surprised he even remembered me.”
Now that’s a lie. Even though we only met once, I have no doubt I left an impression on him, as he left one on me. Kindness and intelligence and curiosity. Hell, he was the first man to ever make me come. The way he made me feel, it lingered long after he had left Houston to follow his dreams.
“He’s here somewhere,” Iris says, craning her neck to look out over the crowd.
“Last I saw him,” Lotus says, “he was playing pool with Kenan and August. They’ll be over soon, I’m sure. Kenan can only be separated from this baby for like an hour at a time.”
We laugh, but an urgency to leave assails me. I can’t deny the attraction when I saw Naz today, but somehow I know, if I actually do see him again, I’ll get drawn into an impossible situation. One that could become a tug of war between my loyalty to Cliff and the attraction that’s still there between Naz and me.
“Where’s your restroom?” I ask, standing abruptly. “I gotta go.”
“Oh, sure.” Lotus gestures toward the house with one whole side comprised of wide windows open and overlooking the pool and backyard. “Down that hall off the foyer, first door on the right.”
“Thanks.” I split a smile between the three of them. “I’ll be right back.”
I probably won’t be. I do have to use the restroom, but I’ll find a way to slip out after that and call Catalina tomorrow using a headache as an excuse for my disappearance. Lotus mentioned possibly working together. We exchanged numbers, and hopefully something will come of it, but I need to get out of here. I pick my way around the pool with careful steps, feeling slightly lightheaded after a few drinks from the bar. I do my business and wash my hands, fully prepared to tiptoe my ass right outta here. Naz makes me do something none of the Groundhog dates ever have.
Feel.
I feel…confused, unsure. Exhilarated. Turned on.
All I’ve wanted the last few years was to feel, and now that I do, it’s with the wrong guy. A guy who has, through no fault of his own, hurt my brother so badly. Cliff is finally clean. Finally getting better. I can’t risk a connection with the very man he blames for his misfortune, even if that blame is completely misplaced.
I dry my hands and head back into the hall, determined to get out of here, only to run, for the second time today, into a wall of muscle and man. I glance up and up until my eyes collide with Naz’s. He stares down at me, his hands coming to my elbows, gripping there to steady me. That mere touch sends my heartbeat into an erratic pattern and quickens my breath. He runs his thumbs along the backs of my arms in a gentle caress.
“There you are,” he says, his eyes intent, his mouth unsmiling as if he knows exactly what I was about to do. That I was leaving to escape this very moment and this very man. “I’ve been looking for you.”