Shattered Trust Read Free Page B

of sweat that rolled down between her breasts. He watched the perspiration, his eyes following the path of it until she’d blotted it dry, his mouth also going dry in the process. Lord, his woman was fine.
    â€œGood morning to you, too,” she said with a soft chuckle and then kissed the bridge of his nose. “Want another cup of coffee?”
    â€œMaybe in an hour,” he said, smiling, and dropped his head to her shoulder, beat. “Coffee like this every morning might kill me, woman.”

Chapter 2
    S teve rolled over with a groan and rubbed his palms down his face. His shoulders still stung from the slight sunburn that had reddened and had begun peeling the tender skin. The floorboards in the house were strumming with bass line from the stereo, which meant Jamal was up, and the sound connected to the mild hangover throb in his temples. It was time to get back into some sort of routine. Never in a million years would he have dreamed that he’d be trying to escape from an extended vacation.
    Slowly swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he attempted to gain his bearings. Najira’s quiet appearance in the doorway of the bathroom helped considerably. She was wearing only a towel, and he watched the dampness soak into her pretty brown skin. Was he outta his mind? This was the life .
    â€œGood morning,” she said with a bright smile that lit up her face. “I figured since my brother was cranking the music, it was time to get up.”
    Steve shook his head and chuckled. “Yeah,” he added with a sigh. “But can the man give it a rest—just once?”
    She came to him and leaned in closely, whispering in his ear. “You know why he cranks the music, so don’t even play.”
    A sheepish grin slid across Steve’s face. “What can I say?”
    â€œNothing,” she giggled, and kissed the top of his head. “Go get a shower, man.”
    â€œThought you might hang out in there with me?”
    She rolled her eyes and walked away with a smile, giving him feigned attitude as she sashayed across the room. “I already got mine.”
    â€œSo you’d just leave a man hanging like that after you already got yours? You’re wrong, ’Jira.”
    They both laughed hard.
    â€œThat’s why Jamal’s got Missy Elliott rockin’ the house first thing in the morning—he ain’t tryin’ to hear you get yours, okaaay?”
    â€œHe didn’t hear all that,” Steve said laughing as he walked into the bathroom. He peered around the doorframe. “Did he?”
    She held up her hand and sucked her teeth, trying to appear annoyed.
    â€œThat was real early, though,” Steve protested. “After smokin’ blunts and wearing out the blender with rum drinks, you know Jamal wasn’t hardly awake.”
    One hand went to Najira’s hip. “He probably wasn’t when you started, but after hollering and—”
    â€œAll right, all right,” Steve said, holding up both hands and backing into the bathroom with a belly laugh. “Let’s go get some breakfast.”
    Najira shook her head as she listened to the shower go on at the same time the toilet lid slammed up. “Bathroom door all open ...” she grumbled as she slipped on a thong and began searching in the dresser for a tank top and shorts. How in the world had she found herself hooked up with a cool white boy from Philly, living with her half-gangsta brother, no less, down in paradise with her outrageous cousin around the corner in a villa? No job, more money than she’d dared to dream of, all because they’d pulled a smooth heist that was so sweet it still tasted like cotton candy.
    She couldn’t make the smile leave her face. Pure contentment settled into her bones as she yanked her dreadlocks up into a ponytail held by a scrunchie, dressed, and left Steve washing up in the shower. What were she and Laura doing messing