“Hey, man,” Jaleen said as he opened the door and stepped aside for Ajay to walk in. “I already texted the other guys. We may just move poker night here instead.”
“Works for me.”
“Cool. Have you talked to Autumn today?”
He looked at Jaleen questioningly, not understanding why he randomly brought up Autumn.
“No. Why?”
“No reason,” Jaleen replied with a smirk on his face. “I just need to make sure you don’t try to hit on my future woman.”
He’d known Jaleen long enough to know when he was up to something. Jaleen was always scheming and getting into other people’s business. “Yo’ woman? I thought I made myself clear the other day at the party.”
“But I thought you weren’t attracted to her?”
“I never said I wasn’t attracted to her. I just told you not to hit on her.”
“So you are attracted to her?”
“Why does it matter if I am or not?”
“Is that a yes?”
He laughed, trying to change the subject. “When did the other guys say they would get here?”
“I’ll tell you right after you answer my question. I know you’ve been out of the game for a while...”
It was true that Ajay hadn’t seriously dated anyone in a while, but in his line of work, women were constantly throwing themselves at him. Years ago, he was known for bedding one woman after the next, but he had always made it clear to them that he wasn’t a relationship type of guy. It had only taken him getting burned a couple times to change his perspective on the opposite sex. He still enjoyed a woman’s company every now and then, but at thirty-five, he needed more than a pretty face to make him stay around.
“It hasn’t been that long.” As the words left his mouth, he thought about the fact that he hadn’t had sex in over four months. For an insatiable man like him, that was forever ago. When Jaleen continued to ride him about his lack of dating women lately, he decided to give in and answer the question Jaleen really wanted to know.
“Well, yeah, Autumn is an attractive woman, so naturally I’m drawn to her. But the reason I told you to back off is for her own good, not mine. If I wanted to pursue Autumn, she’d know it and so would you and any other guy interested in her.”
Jaleen was smiling from ear to ear by the time they entered the entertainment room. Ajay stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of Autumn sitting on a bar stool sipping a cocktail. One look at her face and he’d known that she had overheard part of the conversation. He cut his eyes at Jaleen, who simply turned his shoulders in a shrug.
“Hello, Autumn,” he said as he approached her. “Surprised to see you here.”
She gave him a soft smile. “Winter asked me to pick her up so that she wouldn’t have to find a place to park her car when she came over. When I got here, she texted me that she needed another hour.”
He nodded his head in understanding, but wished he could wipe that smirk off Jaleen’s face. Jaleen was trying to work in casual conversation by asking Ajay about the nightclubs and bars that he owned in the Chicagoland area and asking Autumn about her lingerie boutique and the masquerade lingerie events that were quickly gaining more exposure. They both supplied simple two-or three-word answers, and a quick study of Autumn’s demeanor proved that his earlier assumption was right. She’d definitely heard part of their conversation. They’d been in the same room for over five minutes and she hadn’t even gotten mouthy with him yet. Even stranger, he actually missed her sassiness.
“Autumn, can I get you anything else?” Jaleen asked as he slid beside her on an adjacent stool.
“No, I’m fine.”
“Yes, you are.” The double meaning of Jaleen’s words didn’t go unnoticed by Ajay.
“Are you always this flirty?” she asked, taking a sip of her drink. The way her mouth curled around the glass was distracting. He’d been thinking about her lips way too much lately.
“Only around attractive women.” Ajay snorted at Jaleen’s lame attempt at flirting. Jaleen used every line in the book, and to this day, he never understood why it actually worked on most women. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be working on Autumn.
When a buzzer sounded indicating that someone wanted to be let up to Jaleen’s condo, Ajay was left alone with her. When seconds ticked into minutes and Jaleen still hadn’t returned, the awkwardness grew. Ajay racked his brain to try to think of something to talk about but came up short. This is a shame. Thirty-five years old and I’m acting as if I don’t have game. Not that he wanted to spit game at Autumn. Nor did he want to notice that the woman made jeans and a T-shirt look as sexy as if she were wearing a short, tight dress.
Even though they were both trying to focus on random things around the room, their eyes found each other. He couldn’t quite read the look in her eyes, but there was no mistaking the change of energy in the space.
“Interesting,” she said, her eyes still locked to his.
“What’s interesting?”
“I think I’d rather keep it to myself.”
Now he really wanted to know. “Whatever you tell me, I won’t say a word.”
“If I don’t tell you, it guarantees you won’t say a word because you won’t know anything. It’s common knowledge that people typically can’t hold secrets.”
“I’ve always been great at keeping secrets.” He didn’t even notice that he was walking closer to her until he was only a couple of feet away. Being this near to her, he was able to see things that he hadn’t from a distance. He wished he could free her hair of that neat ponytail. It fit her personality. Organized. Uptight at times. With the exception of a few stray hairs, nothing was out of place. But he had a feeling that deep down, there was a side of Autumn that she rarely released. A side that wasn’t tame or disciplined.
“What are you thinking about?”
His lips curled to the side in a smirk. “I’ll tell you exactly what I’m thinking if you tell me your secret.” When she remained quiet, he continued, “Or are you too scared of what I may think if you tell me your secret?”
She didn’t answer at first and he felt as if he was holding his breath for her answer. Squinting her eyes together, she leaned a little closer to him. “Your pupils are changing colors,” she said softly.
“That happens on occasion.”
“I know. And that’s part of the reason why I won’t tell you my secret.”
He scrunched his forehead in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
“When I don’t understand something, I study it to try to figure it out.”
“Am I to assume I’m your latest study?”
“That’s not what I’m saying.”
“Are you saying I should be studying you, then?”
“Certain things about you do pique my curiosity,” she responded. “So to answer your first question, I’m not too scared of what you may think.”
“Then, why can’t you tell me your secret?”
At the sound of footsteps, she lowered her voice. “I can’t tell you my secret because I’m worried of what you may do.”
As Jaleen entered followed by a couple of the guys, Ajay was still contemplating Autumn’s words. She may not have wanted to tell him the secret, but she’d revealed what type of secret it was without indulging the information completely. What she didn’t understand about him was that her statement wasn’t going to make