Tao smiled back.
“Nah, it’s not like that. Come. At least stay for a drink or two,” he coaxed.
Monique could not think of a reason to turn down his offer. It wasn’t like there was anything waiting for her at home except laundry.
“Okay,” she finally assented.
“All right. Hey guys, this is Monique Evans,” he announced to his friends. “She plays on my basketball team. Monique, this is Anthony and his wife, Darlene. And this is Anthony’s sister, Vanessa. Anthony and I were in the service together.”
Monique smiled at each of them while shaking each of their hands. “Nice to meet you all,” she added.
Once inside, the group decided to wait for a table in the main dining room rather than take their chances over by the bar. They were seated about five minutes later and spent the time exchanging some information between Monique and the other three. She discovered that Anthony was still in the military but had recently been promoted to a domestic role within the Ministry of Defense. This night out was to celebrate his new position away from combat.
“So, you two play basketball together?” asked Darlene.
They had been seated in a booth. Anthony sat between his wife and sister on one side, while Tao and Monique were on the other. They had received their drink orders and were waiting for a few appetizers to arrive.
“Yeah,” Tao confirmed. “Monique is our star player.”
The others smiled and looked at her.
“Hardly,” she piped in. “You guys are just surprised that a girl can play as well as any of you men.”
“Honestly, that’s what I thought at first,” Tao replied, turning slightly so that he was looking right at her. “Gary mentioned recruiting you, but didn’t exactly tell us how good you were.”
Monique looked down at the table, unable to find any words to respond with. She wasn’t shy about her ball skills. It was the heat of Tao’s eyes focused intently on hers that made her flushed and befuddled.
“Monique played NCAA ball in college,” he continued, turning back to face his friends across the table. “Won two national championships, right?”
Their eyes met again briefly. Monique took a drink of her rum and Coke before shrugging nonchalantly.
“It was a long time ago,” she added.
“Wow, that’s pretty impressive!” commented Anthony. “I’ve played with Tao a few times over the years, and he’s pretty good. If he’s impressed with your skills, you must pretty amazing.”
“She is.”
Maybe it was the mix of rum with the red wine she had earlier, but Monique was starting to feel a little-lightheaded and susceptible to the heat of Tao’s gaze on her again. It stirred up a tingle at the base of her stomach. She took another long sip of her drink, resisting the urge to meet his eyes again.
Chapter 5
The five of them stayed at the restaurant for another couple of hours, nibbling on their appetizers and enjoying a second round of drinks. They laughed and talked about a variety of subjects, including tales about both the guys during their years in the military. Anthony was a great storyteller, and he did most of the talking while Tao occasionally added a few comments here and there.
Monique was the most silent of them, seemingly happy to listen to the others bantering back and forth. At first, her quietness had Tao wondering if she was uncomfortable being thrown into an evening with his friends, but she eventually relaxed and seemed to be having a good time just observing the rest of them.
It was a few minutes after midnight when the two men took care of the check and the group made its way out of the restaurant, now almost empty of people. Tao was behind Monique and noticed that she seemed a little unsteady on her feet. Not drunk, but maybe a little tipsy. He instinctively put a guiding hand on her lower back, his fingers brushing the naked skin exposed by her provocative top. She paused for a moment and looked back at him, appearing confused by his touch.
“Are you okay?” he asked her.
Monique blinked with a lazy smile on her face. Tao smiled back, amused by the fact that she was definitely a little inebriated.
“Hmm…I think that last drink went right to my head,” she whispered, now looking sheepish and slightly embarrassed.
“Did you drive? I’ll drive you home,” he offered after she nodded yes.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Yeah, I barely touched my second beer.”
“Okay,” Monique accepted with another smile, clearly relieved and grateful. “But how will you get home?”
He shrugged, unconcerned.
“I’ll take a cab from your place.”
“Okay,” she said again. “Thanks, Tao.”
They continued walking out the exit, and it struck Tao that it was the first time he had heard her use his first name. He liked the way it sounded.
When they caught up to Anthony and the girls, there was already a cab ready for them. Tao explained that he would be driving Monique home.
“You’re in Mission Bay, right?” Tao asked once they were driving out of the parking lot.
“Hmm hmm,” she confirmed. “You can take the I-5 to I-8, and I’ll direct you from there.”
“That’s a great neighborhood. How long have you lived there?”
“Not long, just since spring. It was always my dream to live near the beach, but things didn’t turn out the way I had planned.” Tao gave her a questioning glance, silently asking her to explain more. “I bought the house expecting that my fiancé at the time would move in soon after. Well, I guess he wasn’t really my fiancé. I don’t think you can actually be engaged to someone who is still married and living with his wife. Yeah, I know. Stupid, huh? I was in a relationship with a married man and actually believed he was leaving her.”
Tao was a little taken aback and not sure how to respond. Monique just did not seem like the type of woman who would end up in that kind of a situation. As far as he could see, she was very smart and very successful, completely lacking the insecurities and gullibility that he would expect of a woman who would fall into such a trap.
“We were together for more than three years, if you can believe it,” she added, almost as though she sensed the questions he wanted to ask. “And, yes, I knew he was married when we met. But he claimed that they were technically separated but stayed in the house because they could not agree on whether it should be sold. Or, that was one of the excuses anyway.”
He glanced over at her to make sure she was okay. Surprisingly, Monique seemed more amused than upset.
“Anyway,” she continued, dragging out the word dramatically. “The house is much bigger than I need for just myself, and it was a little lonely at first. But now, I just can’t bring myself to seriously consider selling it.”
“That makes sense,” Tao said. “Properties in that area are hard to come by.”
“Exactly. And everything happens for a reason, right?”
“Right,” he concurred.
“Right. Everything happens for a reason,” she repeated like a mantra.
They were silent for a few minutes. Monique was looking out the window while Tao focused on his driving.
“You’re moving into your new place soon, right?” she finally asked.
“Yeah, in a couple weeks.”
“So,