Adrianne Byrd - Tender to His Touch

Beverly tensed, but then to her surprise, Lucius wrapped a supporting arm around her waist. She looked up into his smoldering hazel eyes while he smiled down at her.

“David’s loss is my gain,” he told the women without breaking eye contact with Beverly.

She smiled. Talk about a knight in shining armor.

Kitty, Natalie and Keri sighed while Beverly swore her body was slowly melting in Lucius’s arms. This was the closest they had been tonight; it was almost like being wrapped in a cocoon where she detected the faint scent of his aftershave mixed with his sinfully sexy cologne.

“Aren’t you Lucius Gray?” Darcy asked, stepping closer.

“Guilty,” he said, finally turning to look at Darcy. “And you are?”

“Darcy Woods—well, it used to be Knight.” Her smile was suddenly bright enough to rival the sun. “We met once at a, um…frat party.” She twirled a few strands of her hair around her fingers.

Beverly tensed as jealousy pricked her skin. Had Lucius and Darcy had a fling back in the day? One look and she could tell he was wondering the same thing.

“Well, I did attend my fair share of those,” he admitted.

“Mmm-hmm.” Darcy smiled like a sly cat with a secret. “At this particular party you had quite a bit to drink and I seem to remember you losing a bet to Terrence Franklin and you and Thomas Barrett had to shave your heads and streak through the center of campus.”

“Hey,” Beverly said, turning. “I remember that!” Her eyes widened, mainly because that night one of the boys shocked the crowd by being extremely well-endowed.

Lucius’s face darkened to a deep cranberry. “Ah. That night. Not exactly one of my most sober decisions.”

“Well,” Darcy said, swinging her gaze back to Beverly with contempt clearly written on every inch of her face, “looks like your lucky streak continues.”

Lucky? Beverly almost laughed in the woman’s face. There were plenty of ways to describe her, especially since she’d left college, and lucky wasn’t one of them. “I’d thank you not to presume you know anything about my life.”

“Hmmph. Well,” Darcy said as if she was suddenly bored, “it was good seeing you again. I’m sure that we’ll have time to play catch-up later.” She blew Beverly a quick air kiss and then ushered her three-ring circus away.

Beverly shook her head, stunned by how the more things changed, the more they stayed the same.

“That was…interesting,” Lucius said, glancing back down at her. “How come I get the feeling that you two weren’t really friends?”

“Picked up on that, did you?”

He chuckled. “How about I get us a drink? You look as if you could use one.”

She could, actually. “Thanks.”

“Be right back.” He winked.

The moment his arm fell from her waist, Beverly’s body ached for its return. Again, a strange response to a man she hardly knew.

“There you are!” Kyra threaded her way through a throng of people and then popped up in front of Beverly and wrapped her in a brief hug. “You came.”

“As promised,” Beverly said, smiling.

“Good.” Krya looped her arm through Beverly’s. “Please tell me you’re having a good time.”

“So far so good.” She bobbed her head. “Except when I ran into Darcy Knight.”

“Oh!” Krya rolled her eyes. “I was hoping her invitation got lost in the mail.”

“It’s all right. We kept the claws in…kind of.”

Kyra’s smile exploded. “See. I knew that you could handle yourself. By the way, I love the new haircut and color.”

Beverly beamed. “Thanks, I had Clarence hook me up. I swear the man has magic hands when it comes to my hair.”

“Well, I think you look beautiful. In fact, you look like you’re positively glowing.”

Beverly’s gaze skittered across the room to the bar, where Lucius scanned a wine menu. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“Do you remember a Lucius Gray?” The minute she asked the question she noted a visible change in her friend’s face.

“I, uh, yeah…used to play on the football team, I believe. Why?”

Beverly took another cursory glance toward the bar, but noticed Lucius was gone.

“And here we go,” Lucius said, suddenly appearing at her side and handing her a glass of red wine. “I hope you like pinot noir,” he added, chuckling and circling his arm back around her waist.

Kyra’s eyes widened. “You…two…know…each…other?”

Lucius turned and hit Kyra with one of his sexy deep-dimple grins. “Well, I don’t believe it. Kyra. Kyra Dixon.” He eased from Beverly’s side to sweep a startled Kyra into a brief hug. “Don’t you look lovely as ever?” He glanced around. “Is Terrence here, too? I can’t wait to see him and play catch-up.”

Kyra stiffened. “I don’t know how you could miss him. He’s over there with his big adoring fan club.”

Lucius’s brows lifted at her tone.

Kyra smiled weakly. “Um, can you two excuse me? I need to go check on something.”

Before Beverly or Lucius could respond, she jetted away from their small circle and disappeared into the crowd.

“Was it something I said?” Lucius asked.

Beverly shook her head. “No. It’s…a long story.”

He clearly picked up the hint and let the subject drop. Minutes later, Beverly and Lucius maneuvered through the crowd like a seasoned couple saying their hellos and reconnecting with old friends. Whenever anyone questioned how long she and Lucius had been dating, no one believed that they had only known each other a few hours. In some respects, even Beverly couldn’t believe it. There was definitely a connection between them. The only question was: what were they going to do about it?

“Good evening, everyone. Welcome to Hollington’s annual homecoming weekend, and the tenth anniversary of class of ninety-nine,” greeted a voice over the microphone. “I’m Kevin Stayton…”

That was as far as he got before the room erupted into shouts and applause. Even Kevin seemed caught off guard by the response. He quickly put up his hand to quiet the group down and regain control.

“Thanks for that, but the reason why I commandeered the mike from President Morrow is to make sure that everyone is made aware of who is responsible for the important and complex job of organizing this weekend. As it turned out, the best person possible was selected. And she’s one of ours, class of ’99, y’all!”

There was enthusiastic applause until Kevin again signaled for quiet.

“Typical of her, and some of you will remember this from our undergraduate years, she doesn’t like drawing attention to herself. She works quietly behind the scenes but she gets the job done, as all of you will experience during the course of this weekend. Ladies and gentlemen, Chloe Jackson!”

Chloe didn’t move, and then someone took her hand and pulled her forward to be recognized. It was Kyra, using her small hands to encourage the audience to keep up the applause.

Chloe half raised her hand in a shy salute and quickly stepped back behind the president.

Lucius leaned close and whispered, “I wonder what that was all about.”

Beverly just shrugged. She remembered Kevin Stayton, but for the life of her she couldn’t remember ever meeting a Chloe Jackson, but she looked great up there and there was no denying that she’d done a fabulous job with tonight’s party.

For the most part, Beverly enjoyed the evening. After several glasses of wine, she grew more lethargic and hid more and more yawns behind her hand. Still, she wasn’t quite ready to leave just yet.

“Someone is getting sleepy,” Lucius whispered as they rocked to Brandy’s old jam “Have You Ever?”

“No, no,” she lied and then immediately had to stifle another yawn. “Okay. Maybe just a little.” She blushed.