started.â
He shook his head and frowned. âIt would probably be in my best interest to move to the other side of the bar and wish you a good evening.â
I shrugged. âProbably would be.â
He sat there for a few more seconds, still staring.
âProbably would be,â I repeated.
âYes, probably.â He chuckled. âBut instead, Iâd like to pay for your drinks and ask if youâd like to head someplace quieter so we can continue this fascinating discussion.â He reached out his hand. âIâm Tevin Harris.â
I shook his hand. âJemistry Daniels. Iâm not so convinced this is a fascinating discussion, though.â
âIâm fascinated!â
I smirked and continued drinking. Another brother had taken the stage but I was really drowning him out. He was talking about some kind of impending ârace war.â That always amused me when people said things like that, as if we were still in the 1800s. I had always wanted to ask at least one person spouting that foolishness whom they planned to start a race war with, considering that most families were mixed with several different ones.
âSo, Jemistry, would you like to take me up on my offer?â
He is not giving up!
I hesitated to respond. He seemed harmless enough, but so do most serial killers. Most are also charming as all get-out.
âUm, tell you what. Iâm not trying to hurt your feelings or anything, but Iâm not the most trusting person, as you might suspect.â
He chuckled. âYeah, thatâs kind of evident.â
âI prefer to close out my own tab. I ordered the drinks, so Iâllpay for them. It is kind of noisy in here to talk so I can meet you somewhere else.â I held my index finger up in his face. â But Iâm not getting in a car with you. Nor are you getting into mine.â
I already had it in my head that the only thing that talking could possibly lead to was fucking. I would make âarrangementsâ with him as I had with two other men at the time to come over and have some âdrive-by sexâ when the urge hit me. I was attracted to him. He was tall and had big feet, so I was guessing that he had a big dick.
What the hell!
âFair enough.â He threw a twenty on the bar for his beers. âDo you have a place in mind?â
âHow about Oya over on Ninth and H?â
âNever heard of it, but Iâll meet you there in a few.â
He stood up. Yeah, he was a giant, but a fine one. I could not help but drop my eyes to see his dick imprint in his slacks. I suppressed a smile.
âWould you allow me to walk you to your car, Jemistry?â
âNo, no thank you. Iâll be fine. Iâm going to pay for my drinks and then head that way.â
He walked off as he said, âI hope you show.â
I watched him leave out and wondered to myself if I would show up. The key to the entire thing would be to make sure I didnât catch any feelings. That was always the hard part: having a big heart, desiring to be loved, and trying to avoid falling too hard for a man, especially a man like him. People always said that you have to judge each person by their own character, but it was not easy to keep tossing my heart on the line all the time. Most men I could brush off without a second thought, but there was something different about this one.
Heaven help me!
Chapter Two
âOne day youâll meet someone who doesnât care about your past because they want to be with you in your future.â
âAnonymous
A s I valeted at Oya, I was on my cell with Winsome. She was freaking out because I was actually taking a chance.
âI canât believe you didnât tell him to beat it,â she said through my headset. âNormally, when dudes approach you, you act a fool and dismiss them before they can get two words out.â
I laughed. âIâm not that bad.â
âJemistry,