“Hello, beautiful.”
She locked eyes with Jamal, who met her at the door dressed in a pair of cargo shorts and a white tank top. He looked so delicious and youthful as well as sexy. “Hey, you.” He enveloped her in his arms and she inhaled sharply. He smelled good, woodsy and clean.
“Ready to be surprised?”
She rolled her eyes. “I guess I have to be.”
“You’re going to love it,” he said. Kissing her on the cheek, he led her into the backyard. Michael was all smiles when she saw the fire pit glowing and the food on the table. But it was the telescope that caught her eye.
“What’s this?”
“Some people call it dinner.” Jamal’s arms went around her waist. “Shrimp, grilled peppers and hush puppies. Because I know you love them.”
“Really? I can’t lie—they are pretty awesome. And I have dessert. Shoot, I left it in the car.”
“We can have it for breakfast.”
“Breakfast? You assume I’m spending the night.”
“Not assuming, just stating a fact. I plan to keep you up all night.”
Michael blinked and her mouth fell open. Images of her body pressed against Jamal’s naked one flashed in her head. “I didn’t come here to sleep with you, and if...”
“Whoa, little red Corvette, slow down. While I would never kick you out of bed, tonight isn’t the night.” Jamal pointed to the telescope. “Tonight, I’m going to give you the universe.”
“The universe, huh?”
“First, we eat.” Jamal led her to the table and pulled the chair out for her like a perfect gentleman. “And you can tell me what you have against surprises.”
“What do you know about astronomy?” Michael asked as she dug into her shrimp. “And I don’t like surprises because most of the time, it turns out to be something bad.”
“That’s because you haven’t had the right kind of surprises. Stick with me, baby girl, and every day will be a happy surprise.”
“I hear you talking. You’re going to have to show and prove. I’m curious, though. How did you get into all of this?”
“I’m what you’d call a nerd—a sexy nerd, but a nerd nonetheless. When I was a kid, I’d always escape into the stars.”
“Did you ever find anything up there?”
“Sometimes I did. But my big dream was to fly to the moon.”
“Yet you joined the Marines and went to war?”
Jamal shrugged as he stabbed at his shrimp. “What can I say? I wanted to serve my country and I don’t regret a minute of it. But when they get that space shuttle ready for commercial flights, I’m going to be the first one on it. Play your cards right and I might take you with me.”
Michael almost choked on her juicy shrimp. “I’ll watch you from down here while you shoot for the moon.”
Jamal handed her a glass of wine. “Where’s your sense of adventure?”
“Planted right here on the ground.”
“Chicken.”
Nodding, Michael took a sip of wine then set her glass on the table. “I’ll be that. But I don’t want to leave the Earth’s atmosphere.”
* * *
Jamal watched MJ eat her shrimp and his loins ached as he imagined her lips wrapped around him like that. Her tongue gliding across his hardness the way she licked the garlic sauce from the jumbo shrimp. He shifted in his seat, growing harder than a brick while watching her eat. He couldn’t remember the last time the simple act of a woman eating had aroused him so much.
“This is so good.”
“I bet you are.”
“What?”
“Thank you.”
“Who taught you how to cook?”
“My gran. She doesn’t believe any Carver, male or female, should be unable to feed themselves. So, when she went in the kitchen, she grabbed one of us to be her assistant. Then there was a quiz.”
“Your gran seems like she doesn’t play.”
“She doesn’t. You guys would probably get along famously.”
“You think so?”
Jamal nodded. “We do a low-country boil at the end of the summer, when the whole clan goes down to Savannah. We all have a part of the meal we’re responsible for. I’m the crawfish king.”
“Sounds like fun. My family does catering and indoor reunions, once every five years.”
Jamal popped a shrimp in his mouth. “You and your family aren’t close?”
She shrugged. “We’re busy and a small group, so... I guess we’re not close. Mimi and I decided to make our own family.”
“Y’all are very close.”
“That’s my crazy sister.”
“She’s mine, too, but always remember you and I are not related.” He poured them both more wine. “Come on—let me take you to the moon.” They walked over to the telescope and Jamal pointed to the pillows underneath the stand. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but get on your knees.”
Michael sucked her teeth. “You know...”
“I’m not the one with the dirty mind, baby. That’s you.”
She laughed and followed his directions. Then he wrapped his arms around her waist as he knelt behind her. “Now, if you turn your head to the left, you will see Orion.”
Michael looked to the left with the telescope. “Wow. Now, is this the same as Orion’s Belt?”
“That’s the top of the constellation. But look at the whole thing. That’s the thing about stars. When you look beyond the surface you see so much more.”
She turned around and looked at him. “Why can’t people be that easy?”
“People are that easy, if you take a deeper look.” He brought his face closer to hers, his lips inches away from hers. The heat of her breath teased him and made him want her with a force so strong that he could barely think. His body was on fire with need for her. He’d never felt this way about a woman before in his life. He didn’t know when she’d gotten under his skin like this.
“Jamal...”
Capturing her lips, he devoured her mouth, savoring the softness of her lips and the taste of her tongue. Jamal pulled her closer as if he was trying to melt with her. She didn’t fight the heat. Her spicy response made him harder than concrete. But just like the end of a summer rain shower, she pushed him away.
“We can’t do this.” Her voice was a husky whisper. Could she get any sexier?
“Why not?”
“Because we’re friends and this is just going to complicate everything.” Rising to her feet, Michael smoothed her hands down her thighs. “I have to go.”
“Don’t go,” he said as he closed the dark space between them. “My intentions were to show you the stars. I don’t want you to do anything that you’re not ready for.”
“I saw stars all right. Jamal, it’s getting late and