selfish. But I’m sure this food is going to be amazing. If not, I have good company.”
“Flattery is not going to get you a spoonful of my grits,” she joked. Michael liked being with him—laughing was so easy. But she couldn’t and didn’t want to risk her heart again or get hurt. Jamal was everything that she knew wasn’t good for her. A playboy. Would he even want to settle down with one woman? Could he?
“MJ?” Jamal said, breaking into her thoughts.
“Yes?”
“Where did your mind go?”
“Work. A client who came in today wants to do a citywide jazz fest.”
“Mmm, that could be a logistics nightmare, depending on how many venues you plan to use.”
“Not when I know a dream team that can help.” Michael smiled. “First Line of Defense, perhaps.”
“I’d be happy to help, but I have to be honest with you. We had an incident over the weekend.”
“What happened?”
He told her about the shooting at the concert and how his team hadn’t been able to prevent it. “Ten years in business and nothing like this had ever happened.”
“People make mistakes, Jamal.”
“But this is bigger than a mistake. Someone died.”
“And that’s not your fault.”
“Wish I felt that way,” he said as the waitress made her way to the table with their food.
* * *
Jamal was silent until he and MJ took their first bite of food. Then they were singing the praises of the dishes and Jamal wasn’t thinking of last night’s tragedy. “These are the best grits I’ve ever had!”
Jamal nodded in agreement. “And the corn bread is tender and sweet. Reminds me of something else.”
She rolled her eyes. “And what would that be?”
“You.”
“Jamal, you probably say that to all of the girls.” Michael wiped her mouth with her napkin.
“Being that you’re the first girl I’ve eaten with here, you’re the only one who gets treated to this.”
“For now.”
“This is officially going to be our spot. It’s going to be MJ and Jamal’s, not the Sunshine Café. Should I carve our names in the table right now?”
She hid her grin as she shook her head. “You’re a mess.”
“And? If I was Joe Regular, you wouldn’t be here with me, now would you?”
She smiled and nodded. “You’re right. And that pie looks delicious.”
“It is.” Jamal held a fork full of his savory meal out to her. When Michael closed her lips around the fork, he was jealous. That fork had what he wanted. Michael’s lips and tongue. Then Michael moaned. He could make her moan like that. She just needed to give him the chance.
“So good.”
Jamal nodded. “Like I said, this is our spot. And for the record, I want points for sharing my food.”
She nodded. “Ten points for sharing your food. Only if the dessert is as good as the entrées.”
Jamal slowly allowed his eyes to roam over Michael’s lithe body. “Where does it all go?”
“What?”
“The food.”
“Burns off in the gym. You should join me for one of my morning workouts.”
Jamal laughed. “You’re not ready. Have you forgotten that I’m a marine?”
“Sounds like you’re challenging me and I’m always up for a challenge. You haven’t learned from that spades game at Brent’s place?”
“Yeah, but you won’t have your partner in crime Mimi this time. Name the time and the place.”
“Six a.m., Anytime Fitness in midtown.”
“Hope you like burpees.”
Michael rolled her eyes. “I’m the burpee queen. Hope you like losing.”
“Want to know a secret? Brent and I let you ladies win that day because he wanted to get in Mimi’s pants.”
“That’s bull and you know it. Brent was going to get into her pants win or lose. When you guys want a rematch, we’re not hard to find.”
Why did she have to say “hard”? Thinking about her in a pair of spandex shorts and a sports bra made him harder than a brick. “I hear you talking, beautiful. But this time we will show no mercy. Brent already has his woman.” And soon enough, I’m going to get mine.
“And just like Mimi, I don’t like to lose.” Michael winked at him then waved for the waitress.
“Yes, ma’am?” she asked as she approached the table.
“Do you have a dessert menu?”
“Of course. I’ll bring it right over to you.”
Michael looked at Jamal with a smile on her lips. “I hope they have chocolate cake.”
“With lots of icing.” He winked at her, and then his cell phone rang. When he saw Brent’s name, he started to ignore it, but he excused himself from the table and took the call.
* * *
Michael watched as Jamal walked away, talking on the phone. Part of her wondered if it was one of his women. This is stupid. If I can’t trust him, why am I here?
The waitress returned to the table and handed her a menu. “Is that your man? Because, girl, you are lucky.”
“Oh, we’re just friends.”
The waitress’s mouth dropped open. “Does he know that?”
“Well aware. Question—do you guys have a chocolate cake?”
She nodded excitedly. “And it is very good. Moist, and the icing is homemade.”
“I need two big slices.”
The waitress nodded and smiled as Jamal walked back toward the table. “He has the hots for you,” she whispered to Michael. “You better take advantage of it before I do.”
Michael offered her a mock salute. “I’ll take that under advisement.”
Jamal sat down and placed his
