Man Enough For Me Read Free Page B

said.
    Maxine was a registered nurse at the same hospital where Jules worked. She had been planning to be at the SoundLounge with the rest of them, but just as they were getting ready to leave, she got a page that she had to go in to work.
    “I know, but I hate to think of all those heifers all up on Truuth.”
    “Girl, please, Truuth is fine, but he ain’t that fine,” Tanya said rolling her eyes. Maxine sometimes forgot that not everyone saw Truuth through the same rose-colored glasses that she did.
    “You know you just jealous, girl.”
    “Whatever. You should have seen his cousin though. Now he’s something else.”
    “Who, Germaine? Yeah, the Sound Lounge is his place. That’s how Truuth got the hook up to perform tonight,” Maxine said. “Did you get to meet him?”
    “Just for a minute. Our friend Jules spent all night chatting him up though,” Tanya said teasingly.
    “Is that true?” Maxine said, turning to look at Jules in the backseat. “How come you never said anything about that? Come to think of it, you’ve been mighty quiet back there. What’s up with you?”
    “Nothing,” Jules said, glaring at Tanya through the rearview mirror.
    “So how come you never told me you had a little thing for Truuth’s cousin?”
    “Because I don’t have a thing for Truuth’s cousin,” Jules said.
    “Oh really,” Tanya said grinning. “Is that why you’re back there all sulky ‘cause he didn’t ask for your number?”
    Maxine burst out in laughter. “Oh, so
that’s
why she’s so quiet!”
    “Whatever, Tanya,” Jules said. “For your information I am not sulking. Can’t a girl just be quiet sometimes?”
    “Come on, Jules. You’re gonna tell me that you’re not even a little cheesed that he didn’t ask for the digits?”
    “No, I’m not. All we did was hang out. Can’t a grown manand a grown woman hang out without people making something out of it?”
    “Aww, sweetie, don’t worry. I’ll get Truuth to put in a good word for you,” Maxine said, turning back to the front.
    “No, thank you, Maxine. I’m good,” Jules said.
    “I can’t believe it,” Tanya said, chuckling. “Jules, who is too cool for every guy she meets, finally met a guy who beat her at her own game.”
    “It’s not about being cool; it’s about being cautious,” Jules said dryly. “You’ve seen the crazies that I’ve had to deal with. Cheaters …”
    “Baby daddies,” Maxine added.
    “Stalkers,” Tanya chimed in.
    “Baby daddies who were stalkers …”
    “Okay, okay, I think we all get the point,” Jules said, cutting them off before they started bringing up stories like they usually did when they talked about Jules’s sitcom-worthy dating life.
    “Well, Germaine’s not like that, I can promise you,” Maxine said. “I met him a couple times. He’s good people.”
    “Yeah, Jules, give him a chance,” Tanya said. “You might as well trust Maxine’s guy-radar since yours seems to be on the fritz.”
    “You know, Tanya, you got a lot of talk for a girl who can’t even tell her business partner she has a crush on him,” Jules said, leaning toward Tanya in the driver’s seat.
    Tanya’s pale skin immediately began to turn a deep shade of pink.
    “‘Dre knows that I care about him,” Tanya said quietly.
    “I think you do a little more than just
care
about him,” Jules said.
    “She does have a point there,” Maxine said.
    “Whose side are you on?” Tanya asked, glaring at Maxine.
    “Well, it’s true,” Maxine said. “You sing the guy’s praises all day long. You bend over backward to please him. You drive two and a half hours in snow to pick him up from the airport—”
    “Okay …”
    “Not to mention all those times she came to my apartment depressed because ‘Dre was on a date with some girl,” Jules added.
    “Oh, she does that to you, too!”
    “Max, I have a pint of Rocky Road in my freezer just for her—”
    “Okay! Okay!” Tanya exclaimed. “So I have a thing