Chapter One
Samiyah stared into the light colored mixed drink; her index finger sliding around the rim of the glass in slow rotation. Samiyah thoughts went back to the earlier conversation with her husband.
“Please, Samiyah sign the papers.”
She hesitated, “David if I’m willing to give our marriage another chance shouldn’t you be?”
David sighed, “I don’t want to fight anymore. I love her, and it wouldn’t be fair to you if I stayed and pretended we could fix things. Please Samiyah, don’t make this harder than it already is. Just sign the papers.”
David slid the papers across the desk and handed Samiyah the very ink pen they’d used to sign the deed on their house, with their mortgage company’s name written across it. Her eyes watered, and fresh tears stained her face. She swallowed back a lump in her throat and quickly wipe the tears away.
“Fine,” she said through gritted teeth. Samiyah didn’t want to cry in front of him; he didn’t deserve any more of her tears. After all, he was the one who cheated. David should be the one crying, but Samiyah couldn’t help but feel like she was at a funeral. With a heavy heart, Samiyah scribbled her name and tossed the pen and papers at him.
“Now get out!” She needed him gone and fast. Her breakdown was imminent, and there would be no holding back. It was something he couldn’t bear witness to. “Get out!” she screamed.
David left without so much as a backward glance. Now she was sitting in Terrance’s Sports Bar and Grill nursing her third Mimosa.
“Excuse me,” Samiyah lifted her finger to get the bartender’s attention.
“Yes ma’am,” he tossed a hand towel over his shoulder.
“Please don’t call me ma’am, it makes me feel old. My name is Sa-mi-yah. Let me have another Mimosa, please.”
The bartender scrutinized her face, taking note of the glazed look in her eyes.
“Are you sure? I can’t serve you if you’re drunk, and you’d have to sit here another hour before I could let you leave.”
A giggle bubbled up from her throat, but her expression remained strained.
“Are you serious?”
He folded his arms and straightened his posture. “It’s house rules, ma’am.” At the mention of him calling her ma’am, Samiyah rolled her eyes and let out an abysmal breath.
“Samiyah, my name is Sa-mi-yah, and if you don’t mind mister…” she waited for him to tell his name. When he didn’t she said, “bartender, I’m not drunk, just a little tipsy. And, I don’t plan on going away anytime soon, so if you don’t mind, how about that drink.” The bartender peered at her once more before turning to make her drink. A fresh glass appeared in front of her, he removed the empty glass and produced a napkin.
“Merci,” she said.
“Hey beautiful, would you like some company?” The man held his hand out. “I’m Lamar.”
Samiyah didn’t even bother to look at him. She knew it was the guy from the pool table who’d been giving her a goofy grin the entire night. Instead, she stood, took another sip of her drink emptying the contents, and placed the glass down heavier than she should’ve, receiving a stern look from the bartender. Her hands rose in surrender, “Won’t happen again.” She turned to walk off, without offering Lamar acknowledgment.
Lamar reached, snatching her arm. “You’re very rude for such a beautiful lady. You know I’ve paid for your tab tonight, or didn’t you notice you weren’t being charged?”
Samiyah snatched her arm away from him. “You should get your money back then. I can pay for the drinks myself.”
Lamar blocked her exit, grabbing her arm again; this time with a little force. “Listen you undeserving— Aaaah man what the—!” Lamar screamed when a hand landed on his shoulder practically dislocating it.
“Didn’t your mother teach you never to put your hands on a lady, or did she dump you on the side of the road before she had a chance to?”
Samiyah’s head whipped toward the dark menacing voice, riding the sculpted edges of a handsome specimen. Sure, she’d had enough drinks to blur her vision slightly, but Samiyah refused to believe the image before her was fictitious. A baseball cap rested on his head, but she had a full view of his masculine features; piercing hazel brown eyes, a thick nose, and tempting lips. His broad shoulders sat strong enough to withstand the force of an offensive line. Samiyah didn’t notice when the other guy ran off. Her only focus was on the gorgeous brother standing mere inches in front of her.
“Are you okay?” His baritone voice played with her ear drums.
“I am now,” she responded.
“I’m Jonas.”
“Samiyah Manhattan.”
Jonas held out a hand. “It’s a shame we have to meet on such hostile terms, Samiyah Manhattan.”
She accepted his pro-offered hand, and a jolt of electricity caused her to pull back, surprised and unnerved.
“Interesting,” he said.
“I’m sorry, I just…”
“No explanation needed. That guy has been eyeing you all night.”
“And how would you know?”
“You’re not easy to miss.”
Neither are you, she thought.
“Are you here alone?”
“Yes.”
“In that case, I’m holding myself personally liable for your well-being, that is, for the remainder of the night.”
A tinge of heat rippled through Samiyah, warming her body from head to toe.
“I mean we don’t want anyone else getting any ideas.”
This time Samiyah grinned. “Now who’s explaining?”
“Touché.”
The French term didn’t go over her head, and Samiyah’s interest was officially peaked. Unable to look away, she watched as Jonas’ eyes bore into her soul, his delicious lips lifting into a partial smile. What was going on? One minute she was sitting there thinking about her divorce and the next she was flirting with a handsome stranger.
“I don’t think I’ll be much company.”
Jonas stood to her side and opened his arm linking them together.
“I don’t believe that for a second,” he said, guiding them to his table that sat secluded in the rear of the bar. Within seconds of them taking their seats, a waitress appeared.
“Hi, I’m Sasha, I’ll be your server for tonight,” she kept her eyes on Jonas. “How can I help you?”
“I would like a strawberry mimosa,” Samiyah said, waving her hand in the air to get Sasha’s attention.”
Reluctantly, the waitress glanced towards her. “Of course.” Without missing a beat, Sasha’s focus went back to Jonas.
“A glass of water for now,” he said.
“Whatever you need, just let me know.” The waitress sashayed away.
Samiyah relaxed in her chair and crossed her legs. “You really have them eating out of the palm of your hands, don’t you?”
“Them?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I might as well be invisible.”
Jonas’ midnight eyes roamed across her. “Hardly,” he said.
“Looks like you’ve got an admirer,” she joked.
“I hadn’t noticed.”
“Sure you didn’t.”
Jonas traced the outline of her full lips and imagined how soft they would feel against his. Samiyah’s hair sat in a curly bun atop her head; her ears pierced with diamond studs, chestnut brown eyes, and ginger skin.
“Thanks for helping me back there.”
Jonas gaze followed her long sleek neck down to her breasts that sat perkily on her chest underneath the thin thigh high summer dress. “Anytime.” Samiyah squirmed under his grueling inspection and all of a sudden, she was thirsty. Whatever he was doing to her was causing her body to heat up by the second; making her mouth dry like the Sahara Desert.
Jonas had observed Samiyah sitting at the bar earlier. As soon as her sexy legs carried her through the door with eyes cast down and a pout on her gorgeous face, she’d caught every man’s attention in the place. It wasn’t until he’d come to her defense that he caught a real glimpse of the natural beauty. She was breathtakingly stunning. Jonas had seen his fair share of attractive women, but Samiyah was the epitome of exquisiteness, exotically so. When she reached to shake his hand the sting he felt rattled him, and Jonas knew she’d felt the same by the way she snatched back her hand.
There was an instant connection with her that was uncanny, and he was still trying to figure it out as he continued to read her. Sasha emerged with their drinks.
“If there is anything else you want, or need let me know, and I’ll be happy to get it for you.” She spoke once again only referring to Jonas.
“He has everything he needs, trust me,” Samiyah snapped. She’d already caught her husband cheating, she wasn’t in the mood to deal with a woman flirting right in her face as if she was chop liver, even if Jonas didn’t belong to her. Sasha turned and left just as fast as she’d come.
Jonas lips curved lazily. “I have everything that I need,” he questioned.
Samiyah felt flushed. Wrapping her hand around the glass, she took a sip out of the straw, taking the alcoholic drink down halfway.
“Maybe you should slow down a little,” Jonas injected.
Samiyah pursed her lips, and Jonas’ gaze dropped down to them. “Why would I do that?” Her voice was sultry and enchanting now.
“Do you always drink like this?”
She shrugged. “No.”
“Then maybe… you should slow down.”
“What are you going to do if I don’t, spank me?”
His eyebrow arched and Jonas’ next words were pronounced slow and methodical. “Your alcohol consumption is impairing your judgment.”
“Maybe I want my judgment to be impaired.”
Samiyah flirted shamelessly with him without a care in the world. The life as she knew it had just been turned upside down and sitting across from Jonas with the liquid courage pouring through her blood stream, ignited a flame in her that needed to be put out. Jonas drank his water in one gulp and returned the glass to the table. His tongue moistened his lips turning Samiyah’s flame into a running torch. She squeezed her thighs together in an attempt to keep her body’s libido under control.
“Where are your car keys,” he asked.
Samiyah removed the keys and slid them across the table. Jonas caught them before they fell off the edge. Although Jonas was a stranger, Samiyah trusted him, or maybe she’d had too much alcohol after all.
“I’m taking you home. I’ll bring you back to get your car tomorrow.”
“No,” she said plainly.
“I’m not letting you drive home; it’s out of the question.”
“I meant no, I’m not going home.”
“A friends, family members, your,” he hesitated, “spouse? Tell me where to take you, and that’s where you’re going.”
“Take me to your home, Jonas.”
His name had never sounded so tantalizing. If she hadn’t had so many drinks maybe he would have. But he never took a woman to his home. It was nothing for him to grab a hotel room. However, he felt a raw need to keep Samiyah close. He stood and reached for her hand helping her out of the seat. Opening his wallet, he dropped a few twenty-dollar bills on the table and escorted her out of Terrance’s Sports Bar and Grill.