Silken Embrace. Zuri Day

there with you.”

      “You’re such a playboy,” she said with a chuckle, rolling over and getting out of bed. She left the room in search of tea.

      “Is that what I am?”

      “Absolutely.”

      “What makes you say that?”

      “Where do I start? It could be that woman-magnet sports car you drive. Or the daggers shot at me by every woman who saw us together in the Cove Café. Or better yet, what about the woman who invited herself to our table?”

      “Hey...”

      “No, wait, I’m not done. Let’s not leave out the lover’s lair you own in San Francisco and perhaps in other major cities as well. Lastly, add a handsome face, a killer bod and skills in the bedroom and you have all the attributes of the perfect player.”

      A pause and then, “Are you done now?”

      “Yes, I believe so.”

      “Good. Because your reasoning is skewed.”

      “How so?”

      “Just because a man takes care of himself and has nice things doesn’t mean he’s a playboy. As for what happened in the café, that’s just small-town nosiness and Cindy being Cindy.

      “Yours was a new, unrecognized face in a town where everyone knows everybody, and everyone wants to know my business. Your being with me made you my business. I’m sure the grapevine is still buzzing with questions about who you are.”

      “Hmm.”

      “And for the record, the house in San Francisco is not my lair. It is a family property. We all stay there when in town, as do some of our friends and colleagues. However, I do not apologize for being particularly fond of the opposite sex, and especially interested in the one I’m talking to right now, the one who didn’t return my call from yesterday.”

      “Terrell, it’s early in the morning. You hardly gave me a chance.”

      “Whenever you see my number on the screen, you are to call me back immediately.”

      “Oh, is that so?”

      “Yes, it is.”

      “Or what?”

      “Or I’m going to come over and spank you just right, and love you ’til you holler and throw up both your hands.”

      She laughed. “Don’t you have to be at work or something?”

      “I’m already here. What about you? Are your hours as erratic as I hear they can be for medical doctors?”

      “Right now, even more so. Tuesday through Thursday I’m in residency at UC Davis Medical Center, then I intern at a local hospital, Living Medical, on Monday and Friday. And there’s still studying to do on top of all that. Which is why this past weekend was so appreciated.”

      “Wow. No wonder you’re not interested in a relationship. You don’t have time for one.”

      “Exactly.”

      “Well, guess what?”

      “What?”

      “You need to make some time for yours truly. I need to finish what I started in San Francisco.”

      “Which was?”

      “Satisfying you.”

      “Oh, trust me, you did that.”

      “Baby, that was just the appetizer. I want the whole meal.”

      “Well, unless you’re up for a midnight rendezvous in a hotel near the hospital, your dining will to have to wait.”

      “Until when?”

      “Um...next Sunday?”

      “All right.”

      “All right, fine. I’ve got to run and wake the kid but I’ll call you toward the end of the week, make sure we’re still on.”

      “See you soon.”

      Aliyah got Kyle dressed and took him out for his favorite pancake breakfast. While they ate, however, it was Terrell’s appetite that was on her mind. He was successful, an expert lover and could charm the panties off most women. She’d love to pursue something with him. But the timing was all wrong. She was at the beginning of at least two and a half years of intense residency training. At the most, she’d have time for a little tune-up every once and again, but real dates? Like the one they’d just had? Unlikely. Something told her Terrell wouldn’t be happy with that. To her, he seemed like a man who wanted lots of attention. And lots of sex.

      At least they had one thing in common.