said with a laugh. “I like that.”
They reached the end of the hallway. He led her to a set of double doors, and followed her into the general office area, where registrants were enrolled and files were kept. This area also housed three offices, including the one Terrell used when he was at the center.
“Hello, handsome!”
“Good afternoon, Miss Marva.” Terrell walked around the counter and embraced the slight, older woman with graying hair tucked into a neat bun. The powder blue pantsuit she wore was topped off with pearl earrings and a matching necklace. Very classy. “Thank you for the compliment.”
Marva laughed, entwining her arm with Terrell’s as she looked into his eyes. “I’d say you’re welcome if the compliment was meant for you. It wasn’t.” She looked at Kyle. “It was for this handsome young man standing by the pretty lady.”
This statement won smiles from both Aliyah and her son.
“Whoa!” Terrell grabbed his heart. “You wound me!”
“You know what they say about assumptions. You brought that on yourself.”
“I guess I did.” He looked at Kyle. “She was talking to you, handsome young man.”
Aliyah encouraged her son. “Say hello to Miss Marva, Kyle.”
“Hello,” he said shyly, before hiding his face behind his mother’s skirt.
“Aliyah is here to enroll her son in Progeny, and to learn more about what our center offers.”
“Wonderful! We’ll get this young man signed right up.”
“I will leave the two of you in Miss Marva’s capable hands.” He pulled out a card and presented it to Aliyah. “If you have any other questions about the center or our programs, anything at all, please feel free to contact me.”
She nodded curtly, then smiled as she returned her attention to Miss Marva.
Terrell reached the door and turned. “One more thing.”
He watched her shoulders rise and fall before turning sideways to face him. “Yes?”
Their eyes met. The air sizzled, all but crackled between them. An unspoken, as yet unacknowledged attraction existed in each gaze.
“Never mind. Have a nice afternoon.”
A little over an hour later, Terrell returned to the office. He walked behind Miss Marva, grabbed her by the shoulders and smushed her hair with his chin. “Get on away from me with that foolishness,” she playfully chided, swatting blindly behind her while Terrell dodged and laughed. With a final squeeze, he let her go and walked to a set of file cabinets. Opening one, he began browsing through folders.
“May I help you, Mr. Drake? I know you think you own the world, but this office is my domain.”
He retrieved a file, set it on top of the others and opened it. “You’re absolutely right about that, Miss Marva. I’ll soon be out of your way.” Finding the desired document, he pulled out his phone. “I had to run earlier and just want to follow up on our latest registrant, Mr. Kyle—” a glance at the paperwork “—Robinson.”
Miss Marva folded her arms, her mouth now as twisted as her lovely chignon. “And just what kind of follow-up do you think is needed?”
“The general kind, you know, answering any questions his mother may have regarding our program.”
“Mmm-hmm. I’ve known you since you were crawling, Terrell Drake. And I am sure that the questions you want to ask that pretty lady have nothing to do with this center.”
He tapped a button on his phone, placed the paper in the folder and placed the folder back in the file cabinet. “They absolutely do.” He struck a professional pose—chin up, back straight. “And if those questions get asked over, say, a glass of wine or two, well—” he shrugged “—all the better, wouldn’t you say?”
Marva’s mouth untwisted into a lovely smile. “I’d say you’re full of it and then I’d tell you to take her out and have a nice time. She seems like a sweet girl.”
“Thank you, Miss Marva.” After a quick look around, he lowered his voice. “And...let’s keep this between us, okay?”
“I appreciate your stating the obvious, but this old trap has never sprung a leak.”
Terrell went into his office, closed the door and tapped the number he’d entered into his phone.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Aliyah. It’s Terrell, from the community center.”
There was a pause. “Yes?”
“I had to rush out earlier and wanted to call and make sure everything regarding your son’s enrollment went smoothly.”
“Oh.” Another pause. “Yes. The administrator, Miss Marva, handled everything just fine. Gave us a little tour and explained the program. We’re all set.”
“Good, that’s real good.”
A second ticked by. And then another.
“Is there...anything else?”
“Actually, Aliyah, there is. I’d like you to help me do something. Though it isn’t very difficult, it doesn’t happen often.”
Suspicion coated the words she delivered. “Like what?”
“I’d like you to give me a second chance to make a first impression.”
“That’s really not necessary.”
“I know. But I’d like to do it anyway—prove I’m not the cad my comment may have led you to believe. Something simple, say, dinner tonight. Casual. Jeans.”
“I guess I can do that.”
Terrell sat back with a satisfied smile.
“As long as regarding one thing we’re perfectly clear. The part of my anatomy you found so intriguing will not be on the menu.”
Later that night Terrell was still thinking about Aliyah, surprised and a bit annoyed that she’d stayed on his mind. Sure, she was fine, but so were all the other women he’d dated. She was intriguing, but it was something more. An indefinable trait Terrell couldn’t quite identify. He shrugged, focusing back on the computer screen and the news website he’d pulled up. It was just dinner. No big deal. That’s why he’d suggested they meet at the Cove Café, the town’s family-friendly diner, instead of the more upscale Acquired Taste or the always remarkable Paradise Cove country club. He didn’t want to come off as trying to impress or anything. Why would he? Good looks aside, she was the parent of a student at the community center, with attitude to boot. Not mixing business with pleasure was Playboy Rulebook 101. With all of the women constantly trying to hook up with him, was a get-to-know-you
