Sherelle Green - Nights Of Fantasy

“Let me try a different approach. How long have we known each other?”

“Um, about three years, I think.” Actually, about three years, two months and twenty-seven days...not that I’m counting.

“And in that time, have you ever thought of me in a nonfriendship way?”

Her mind raced to the first conversation they’d ever had. She’d been living in Chicago at the time, managing the Bare Sophistication boutique. She’d been the first to arrive at a local nightclub to meet up with Winter and Autumn for a girls’ night out, when Jaleen had approached her at the bar.

She’d known who he was immediately since she’d seen him around Chicago with his best friend Taheim. At the time she was surprised when, instead of sitting next to her on a bar stool, he went behind the bar to make her a drink. Now that she knew Taheim’s brother Ajay owned the club, it didn’t seem too extreme, but at the time, she hadn’t known what to make of his behavior. So she’d done what she did best. Told him off and ignored their attraction. Had she known he’d become a constant person in her life over the years, she may have reacted differently.

“What happens if I admit that I’ve thought of you in nonfriendship ways before?”

His eyes flickered with something she couldn’t interpret. “Then I’d tell you that I propose that you allow me to take you on five dates.”

Five dates? Seems simple enough. “And what would happen on these five dates?”

He observed her once more before responding. “For years we’ve been tiptoeing around each other, so these five dates would give us a chance to act on our attraction.”

“And there’s the catch,” she said, shaking her head. “I assume you expect each date to end in sex.”

“No, not necessarily, although I’m not counting it out.” He winked at her. “These five dates would be more like fantasy dates. A chance for us to have a good time without worrying about the fact that we share a lot of mutual friends and the fact that we don’t want to ruin our friendship. It would give us a chance to experience what it would be like if you hadn’t turned me down the first night we met.”

She studied his eyes, noting the sincerity in them. How many times had she wondered what it would be like to be the object of Jaleen’s attention? How often had she wondered what it would be like to be intimate with him? True, this wasn’t exactly what she’d expected if, in the rare case, they did decide to date. But she couldn’t deny that the idea intrigued her.

“So if you win, we go on five fantasy dates. And if I win...?”

He scrunched his forehead in thought before snapping his fingers. “I got it. If you win, you pick five days in which I’ll cater to your every need.”

“Hmm, that sounds really similar to what you’d get if you won.”

His eyes darkened. “I was thinking more like I’d do chores around your house, pick up your clothes from the cleaner’s or do your grocery shopping. But whatever you want, I’ll give.”

Oh, come on! He knew how he meant it and so did she. She glanced at the cracked-open window, contemplating what she should do. If she agreed to the bet, it seemed that, no matter what, they would be spending five days together. If she declined the bet, she’d always wonder if she missed the chance to give in to her attraction to Jaleen because she had no doubt that if they were back in Chicago, she would have never even contemplated agreeing to this.

Be careful. You have a lot at stake by getting close to a man like him.

She wasn’t worried about getting attached to Jaleen. She could handle guarding her heart. What did worry her was the fact that even though they shared mutual friends, neither Jaleen nor those friends knew the truth about her past. True, her parents and brothers were amazing people and her family had accepted the mistakes she’d made. At least, the mistakes they knew about. However, her friends from Chicago and Miami didn’t know what poor decisions she’d made over the past few years that had placed her in her current predicament. In fact, she was pretty sure that if Jaleen did know her secrets, he wouldn’t be making this particular bet right now.

If she listened to that inner warning, she’d make the right decision and say no to what he was offering. Too bad that inner voice wasn’t loud enough to shout over the other part of her that was too enthralled with what Jaleen was offering to say no.

She smiled despite how nervous she felt. “Okay, Walker, you have a deal.” Her smile dropped the minute she shook his hand. His eyes were filled with promise, excitement and a fair warning that she be prepared for whatever he had in store.

Why do I feel like I just signed a deal with the devil?

Chapter 4

“I can’t believe I lost,” Danni said for the third time that morning. She could still see the look of accomplishment on Jaleen’s face last week when he’d won the game. Even worse, he’d had the nerve to do a happy dance around the dining room table, chanting that he’d won.

She would have thought his excitement was flattering had she not been a nervous wreck ever since that night. When he’d called to ask if she was free the entire Sunday, her initial thought had been to decline an all-day date. But the Jaleen she knew would never plan to spend all day with a woman, so she’d accepted out of curiosity. Four days after accepting, she was still nervous.

She glanced at her outfit in her bathroom mirror. Jaleen hadn’t given her a dress code, so she’d chosen to wear her favorite lavender romper and beige wedges. Instead of tying her hair up, she let her soft curls flow around her shoulders. Just as she lifted her eyeliner to apply some light makeup, a loud noise echoed through the wall.

“Oh, crap,” she said as she dropped her eyeliner in the sink. Orchestra music rebounded off her walls from the condo next door. When Summer had moved in with Aiden, Danni had accepted Summer’s offer to rent her condo. Danni had lived there with Summer for a short while when she’d initially moved to Miami, so she was familiar with most of the neighbors. Unfortunately the one she shared a wall with was the hardest to get along with.

“Mr. Higgins,” she said, banging on the wall. “Can you please turn down the music?” She’d thought they had an understanding after their last chat a couple weeks ago. Apparently there was no getting through to Mr. Higgins.

She reached into her drawer for the earplugs she’d purchased after one too many restless nights.

She’d just finished her makeup and taken out her earplugs when there was a knock at the door. “Hi, Jaleen,” she yelled. “Come on in.”

“Why is your neighbor’s music so loud?” he yelled back. “I was just about to call you because I’d been knocking for a while.”

“Sorry about that. I had in earplugs. My neighbor Mr. Higgins loves to play his music loudly three days a week. I thought I’d get used to it, but it still catches me off guard.”

“Oh, yeah,” Jaleen said with a laugh. “I think I remember Summer complaining about that guy one time.” He stopped laughing and looked her up and down.

“You look beautiful,” he yelled just as the music stopped. They both laughed.

“Thank you,” she said with a smile. “You look nice, as well.” He was wearing dark jeans and a blue shirt. “I’ve always liked you in blue.”

A smile spread across his face. “Then I’ll have to remember that for the future.” She was sure he meant future dates, but just mentioning the word made her feel warm and tingly in places she had no business feeling warm and tingly. The music started back up, breaking the moment.

“Let’s get out of here,” she said, grabbing her purse and sweater.