Sherelle Green - Red Velvet Kisses

Her natural beauty had captured him from the moment he first saw her. And her clumsiness and failure to form a complete sentence around him had only intrigued him more. He couldn’t explain why he was so fascinated by a woman who’d made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with him. Gone was the unsure, wide-eyed woman he’d met in the lingerie shop. She’d been replaced by a woman who avoided his advances every chance she got and she wasn’t afraid to tell him no.

Micah turned up his radio and instantly, Jay-Z’s latest hit filled the car’s speakers. Pulling up to a stop sign, he delayed at the sign to let three women cross the street. They took their sweet time walking, too busy flirtatiously looking at him through the front glass of the car. The one with the tight jeans, boot heels and slim winter coat caught his eye. When she turned around, Micah noticed that she was the same woman who had approached him several times at a bar near his office. Micah flashed her a smile and she waved just before stopping at the corner of the sidewalk and crooking her finger to indicate that she wanted him to pull over. Flirting with other women will definitely get my mind off Lex.

He pulled over as directed and watched the woman seductively walk in his direction. Lex would look better in those jeans, he thought. Micah shook his head, annoyed that even a woman as attractive as the one walking toward his car could not take his mind off Lex.

“Where are you headed to?” the woman voiced as she leaned over his car window, licking her lips in a way he assumed was supposed to be attractive.

“I’m headed to work,” he replied with a smile.

“I live right around the corner. Do you have some time to spare?”

The smile began to fade from Micah’s face. This is what you pulled over for...right? “In fact, I’m already late so I should go,” he continued, brushing her off. She took the hint and stood up from his car window.

“Why did you even pull over?” she huffed with an irritated frown.

“My mistake,” he said as he gave her a slight wave and took off. Crap. It wasn’t like him to be so into a woman who wouldn’t even give him the time of day. He knew Lex was attracted to him, but he didn’t understand why she spent so much time ignoring his advances when she could clearly feel the chemistry. On several occasions when they were out with their friends, Micah would catch Lex staring at him with wistful eyes full of lust. He wasn’t extremely cocky, but he knew he was a damn good catch, and women—like the one he just left—had been throwing themselves at him since he’d arrived in Chicago. All except for the one woman who he craved more than he had ever desired any woman.

When he arrived at M&M Security he greeted the receptionist before making his way to Shawn’s office and knocking on the door.

“Come in,” Shawn announced. Micah walked in and sat down in a nearby chair.

“What’s wrong?” Shawn asked, reading the tense look on his face.

“Man, I’m only gonna tell you this because I know you’ve been there,” Micah said as he let out a frustrated huff of air. Shawn laughed as if he already knew where the conversation was headed.

“Does this have to do with Lex?”

“Of course it has to do with her,” Micah exclaimed. “I had a meeting with all the ladies this morning and within minutes, Lex was informed that she would be the event planner for my parents’ anniversary party.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“It is, but it’s what happened after I left the office that caught me off guard.”

“What happened?”

Micah dragged his long fingers across his face. “Remember that woman from the bar the other night? The one who wore those blue stilettos and tight jeans? We danced a few times before you and I left.”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“Well, I ran into her on my way to the office and she invited me back to her place.”

“In the middle of the day? Man, some women are bold nowadays,” Shawn said shaking his head. “But from the annoyed look on your face, I’m assuming you declined her offer.”

“Sure did,” Micah said as he dropped his head to the floor.

“So I guess the self-imposed streak of celibacy continues,” Shawn said with a laugh.

“You know when I turned thirty this year I promised myself that I would stop sleeping around.”

“Sleeping around with so many women, yes. Not sleeping with any women period, no.”

“I’ve been too busy trying to get settled in Chicago to think about having sex with random women. Besides—” Micah glanced out the side window in Shawn’s office “—there’s only one woman I have my eye on, and until Lex accepts the inevitable, I don’t think I’ll be satisfied with any other woman. That sounds crazy, right?”

“Well, considering I know the type of man you used to be, hell, yeah. But I understand,” Shawn responded leaning back in his desk chair. “I felt the same way about Cyd, but luckily, Cyd didn’t make me wait that long. Plus, I heard that Lex was in a serious relationship for years, one that went terribly wrong. According to Cyd, she’s sworn off dating real men.”

“So that means what? She dates fake men?”

“I don’t know. Cyd and I got distracted so we never finished the conversation.”

Micah didn’t even bother asking what had distracted Shawn and Cyd since he already knew. Nor did he bother to ask about Lex’s old relationships because he’d asked Shawn before and he said he needed to ask Lex. So he would just have to find out from her. There was way more to Lex than met the eye, and he was determined to figure it out. He’d spent the past few months observing her and patiently waiting for her to stop fighting the desire she was trying to hide. Now he was done waiting. Micah never had to persistently pursue a woman, but Lex was making him work for it. But if he left it to her they would never get together, so it was time for him to stop letting Lex control the course of their nonexistent relationship.

“Then I guess I will just have to show Lex that I don’t plan on going anywhere.”

“And I assume your sudden desire to throw your parents an anniversary party plays a part in your plans?”

“That and the fact that they deserve a celebration,” Micah said, rubbing his hands together. “Up until now, I’ve been giving Lex time to realize that she can’t fight the attraction forever. But I think it’s time to lay out all the stops the only way a Madden man knows how to.”

“I’m afraid to ask,” Shawn said with a laugh as he pulled out a folder that contained notes on the investor they were meeting with in an hour. “Well, Romeo, I can’t wait to see how this plan of yours plays out. In the meantime, let’s get ready for our meeting.”

Micah was barely listening to Shawn as he went over the notes in the file. His mind was already racing with different seduction tactics. Time for you to see things my way, Lex.

Chapter 3

“Ya’ll couldn’t possibly expect me to agree to this,” Lex shouted as she slammed a piece of paper on Imani’s desk. It had only been three days since she’d seen Micah and he was already working her last nerve.

“Let’s be reasonable, Lex,” Imani said as she stood from her chair and walked around her desk. “If a client needs us to travel we almost always accommodate their needs.”

“She’s right,” Mya said, entering Imani’s office with Cyd by her side. “Our main goal at Elite Events Incorporated is to make every event we plan a memorable experience. We achieve this by putting our all into every event we plan.”

“Please save the speech for someone who didn’t help cofound this company or create part of the mission statement,” Lex said as she turned slightly to Mya and raised a hand to cut her off.