Even though he left the Arkansas P.D. with no intention of ever returning to the force, he was still grateful that he’d had an opportunity to be a police officer. The P.D. forced him to change his ways and focus more on helping people make better choices. He’d run into a number of lost young men with no male role models around to help show them the difference between right and wrong.
His phone rang, breaking his thoughts. “Hey, Shawn,” he said as he stopped by a nearby tree and continued to jog in place.
“Hey, man, I was hoping I caught up to you. Cyd just got off the phone with Lex. She told her that she wouldn’t be going to Imani and Daman’s Friends-giving tonight.”
Micah scrunched his face. “Did she say why?”
“She said she needed some time to herself, but Cyd told me she thought it had something to do with you being there tonight, as well.”
Micah knew that was the case, especially since Lex had yet to let him know if she would be attending the winter festival. “Cyd’s right,” Micah replied. “I know what it is. I’ll call Lex and tell her it’s safe for her to come to the party.”
“Okay, good luck, man.”
“Thanks.” Micah hung up the phone and promptly dialed Lex’s number. It went straight to voice mail. He tried twice more just in case it was a bad connection, but both times the call went to her voice mail again.
Micah called Shawn back. “She’s not answering,” he said when Shawn picked up. “It’s going straight to voice mail, so I assume she turned off her phone.”
Shawn laughed before telling Cyd that Lex had turned off her phone, and then informed Micah that he was putting him on speaker.
“Micah, what number are you calling?” Cyd asked. He rattled off the number to her.
“That’s her work cell number. I’ll give you her personal number so you can save it in your phone.” Micah entered Lex’s personal cell number in the notes section of his phone before thanking Cyd. He dialed the new number, and she answered on the third ring.
“Hello,” she asked.
“Hey, Lex, it’s Micah.” The other line was silent for a few seconds.
“Oh, what’s up?”
He laughed into the phone. “I was just trying to figure out why you cancelled on Imani and Daman tonight. If it was because you promised me an answer about the winter festival, then I’d like to take the pressure off you.”
“What do you mean?” she asked softly.
“You don’t have to give me an answer tonight.”
“Then when would I need to give you an answer?”
“How about next week?” She was quiet for a moment, and Micah wondered if she was finished with their conversation.
“You must think very highly of yourself to assume that you’re the reason I cancelled my plans tonight,” she finally said.
“Well, isn’t it?” Micah questioned.
“No,” she answered. “I realized I had double-booked tonight and I’ve been super busy lately. So instead of choosing which party to go to, I decided to take a free night to myself. And for your information, I already know my answer to your request.”
Micah smiled, hoping her answer was the only answer he wanted to hear. “And that is?”
She sighed into the phone. “Wipe that smile off your face, I can feel it through the phone.” She let out a slight laugh. “I’ll stay in Cranberry Heights for the duration of the festival.”
Micah did a celebratory fist pump before responding. “I knew you’d make the right decision.”
“Yeah, well you didn’t give me much of a choice.”
“Then I’ll see you tonight? Everyone wants you there.”
There was another pause before she responded. “See you tonight, Micah.”
After he hung up the phone, he sent Shawn a quick text telling him that Lex would be attending the party tonight after all. A gust of wind made him shiver and he decided to cut his run short and head back to his car. Lex said that he wasn’t the reason she had cancelled on the party, but he didn’t believe her. It didn’t matter either way because not only was she going to the party now, but she was also accompanying him to his hometown. And he planned on taking advantage of every moment he spent with her.
* * *
Lex lightly shook her wrist and watched the red wine swirl around inside her glass. She couldn’t stare at her wine all night, but she could definitely plan to stare at it long enough to avoid Micah, who had invaded her space in Imani and Daman’s kitchen. Their large estate with a gorgeous view of Lake Michigan had an enormous basement that Daman deemed the man cave and the entire six bedroom, five bathroom home had more than enough space to host their bimonthly get-togethers and holiday gatherings. But somehow, Micah had managed to pop up in the same room she was in three times tonight.
She didn’t care that Cyd, Imani and Mya were in the kitchen, as well. Not only was the wine helping her hide her discomfort to his presence, but they were too consumed with talking about their newest clients at Elite Events to notice her lack of interest. She could feel her body heating in desire as he bent over in the fridge to grab a beer bottle.
Lord have mercy, she thought as she stole a couple glances in his direction. His loose-fitting blue jeans did nothing to hide the imprint of his butt, and his black-and-gray button-up seemed to only accentuate his muscular arms. And Lord knew she was infatuated with muscular arms. She’d never had the pleasure of dating a man who was as fit as Micah. Guaranteed, her ex, Evan, was in shape, but he definitely didn’t have a body that looked that good.
He turned from the fridge quicker than Lex had anticipated and caught her staring. He shot her a half smile before popping off his beer cap and taking a quick swig. She took a sip of her wine as a distraction and was glad when a few people entered the kitchen to say their goodbyes. She was relieved when Micah took that time to leave the kitchen, as well.
“I have a great idea,” Cyd exclaimed, clasping her hands together. “Since most of the guests are leaving, how about we play a group game or something.”
“Well the guys are downstairs playing cards,” Imani said. “What type of group game did you have in mind?”
“A drinking game!” Cyd exclaimed.
“What are we, in college?” Mya chimed in.
Cyd cut her eyes at Mya. “What’s wrong with a drinking game?”
“I agree with Mya,” Lex added. “We’re too old for drinking games.”
“Well, I’m with Cyd,” Imani said, getting up from the stool she’d been sitting on. “Let’s play.”
“Of course you both want to play a drinking game,” Mya responded crossing her arms over chest. “With Daman and Shawn here, you can both get drunk and make love to them afterward. What are Lex and I suppose to do when we get all drunk and horny.”
“Oh, come on,” Cyd said as she shook Mya’s arms loose. “Daman still has a couple single friends here and flirting never hurt anyone. Besides,” she continued as she glanced over at Lex. “Don’t you want to see Lex try to ignore her attraction to Micah?”
They cannot be serious. “Um, I’m not playing,” Lex said.
“It won’t be fun without you,” Imani said as she leaned in to hug Lex.
“You mean, it won’t be fun if you don’t have me to laugh at.”
“What