and I think of it kind of like Christmas. You know you’re getting gifts, but if you open them early—or peek—it takes away from the special surprise of opening your presents on Christmas morning.”
Claudia shrugs, but the expression on her face says she doesn’t buy my argument. I get that she’s dying to know. Lishelle too. But I’m glad that Dom and I are on the same page where the matter is concerned, because I’m not about to ruin the biggest surprise of my life.
“It is kind of funny,” I say. “Dom is certain we’re having a boy. I’m positive this baby inside me is a girl.”
“How’re you feeling?” Lishelle asks. “Still have that back pain?”
“Thank you for the referral to that chiropractor. I’m feeling much better. And the nausea has finally passed. Hopefully from here on in, it’ll be smooth sailing.”
I smile, and so does Claudia. But Lishelle’s face crumbles.
“What?” I ask.
“Rugged … he’s really getting married?” she asks, and it sounds to me as if her breathing is shallow.
“Apparently he proposed a couple of nights ago,” Claudia explains. “He was out at some club with Randi … it was a big to-do. And, I’ll shut up now.”
“Look,” I begin gently, “if you’re not okay—”
“I guess … I guess I just thought he’d call. Send an email or something. Before it made the news.”
“I’m sorry,” I say. Because pointing out that Lishelle has refused to take Rugged’s calls over the last two months is not going to be helpful.
Suddenly, Lishelle pastes a smile on her face and rises—as though nothing in the world is bothering her.
“I’m famished,” she announces. “Let’s get something to eat.”
Chapter two
Lishelle
FUCK. DAMMIT! SHIT. FUUUUUCK!
I have pulled my car into the parking lot of a strip mall where I can have some privacy to vent. I pound the steering wheel of my fiery-red Mercedes SLS AMG—the dream car I bought after Glenn’s betrayal to soothe my bruised ego. The sleek sports car is giving me no comfort now, however. I’m not sure anything can.
I did my best during brunch not to let my emotions show, and made sure to drive away from Liaisons before I had my profanity-filled breakdown. The last thing I wanted to do was react negatively to the news that Rugged is getting married in front of Claudia and Annelise. I’ve spent so much time telling my friends that Rugged and I weren’t meant to be that I couldn’t make a liar of myself.
But it is clear, as I clench the steering wheel now, that I am a liar.
The thing that’s baff ling me, however, is why I care.
I mean, I broke up with him. I saw no future in our relationship, and realized it was better to end it before we got too involved. Not so much for my sake, but for Rugged’s—because he was clearly into me.
Maybe that’s what’s making the news that he’s getting married so much harder to fathom. The guy was seriously into me, I’m talking commitment and all that. And months later, he’s engaged to someone else?
Suddenly I understand Maureen’s strange behavior at the station yesterday. I don’t work on Saturdays, but one of the senior newscasters is retiring, so there was a party for him last night. I’d talked about leaving early because the food had been lame, but she kept insisting I stick around. When her gorgeous friend showed up, I understood why, but didn’t think anything of it. She’d been trying to arrange for us to meet ever since he’d moved back to Atlanta a couple of months ago. But she was overly cheerful when he arrived and all but pushed him on me, rather than simply introducing us and letting nature take its course. And she’d been antsy—almost as if she was invested in me spending more time with him.
Given just how gorgeous Damon is, I had to ask Maureen if they’d ever been involved. Thankfully, they hadn’t. He was the brother of a guy she’d dated seriously in college.
Hindsight being twenty-twenty, I can see now that Maureen was anxious for me to meet Damon because she’d heard about Rugged’s engagement. She’d probably called Damon and begged him—heck, paid him—to show up at the station so that he could be a distraction for me.
Maybe that’s what he can be now …
I loosen my grip on the steering wheel and let my mind wander back to last night and just how hot I’d been for Damon. It’s not often I feel an instant attraction to someone, but with Damon, I did. He’s sexy, funny and easily the kind of guy I could have tried to seduce. But I wasn’t looking for a one-night stand. I was interested in pursuing something real.
Now I’m ready to fast-track our relationship and jump into bed with him. With those strong thighs, he must be good at fucking. I wonder if his tongue is equally as strong… .
Suddenly I’m remembering Rugged’s tongue all over my pussy. I draw in a sharp breath, my clit throbbing in response to the graphic image playing out in my mind. I may not think that Rugged and I had a chance at a future, but that doesn’t mean I don’t miss the amazing sex we had. And damn, talk about a guy who loved to eat pussy.
Does he eat Randi’s pussy with the same lust that he did mine?
“For fuck’s sake,” I say aloud. After cussing on the air last month, I am trying to tone down my potty mouth, but I have a feeling that today I’m going to have to give myself a pass.
I’m not even sure why I’m so surprised that Rugged’s engaged. I’d heard that he was dating that rail-thin model. More like a wannabe model. Randi’s the daughter of a local television producer, which, if you ask me, is how she ended up landing various modeling campaigns. I was shocked when the news broke that Rugged was dating her, because after dating me, well, she just didn’t seem like his type.
I glance at my car’s digital display. It is two thirty-six. A full ten minutes since I pulled into this strip mall.
Is this why Rugged called me? I saw his number on my phone three times last week, but he didn’t leave a message. Maybe he wanted to tell me about his plans to propose before he popped the question.
Honestly, so what if Rugged is getting married? It’s not like he broke my heart and ran off with someone else.
I start my car and drive out of the parking lot. I head right, in the direction of my brownstone in Buckhead. But then I think about Annelise’s words: Why don’t you call him? Take the initiative and suggest a second date.
I hit the Phone button on my steering wheel. Then, using the car’s Bluetooth controls, I find Damon’s number, which I programmed into my BlackBerry last night. That’s the one thing I love about this car, how I can sync up my mobile device to it and not use an earpiece because the car is the Bluetooth. Within seconds, Damon’s number is ringing.
I am aware that I’m calling Damon right now because I need a distraction, not because I’m thinking about
