Red Velvet Kisses

“What reason will you give your parents as to why I’m visiting.”

I was hoping she’d ask that question. “I’ll tell them we’re dating and I wanted to show you the town.”

“Absolutely not,” Lex said raising her voice again. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“Do you have a better idea?” Micah asked.

“Yes,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “You could go to the winter festival by yourself and avoid having to lie to your parents altogether.”

Micah glanced at her chest before meeting her eyes again. “No can do. And quite frankly, it’s in the contract and you asked me not to go to your partners about this so I was assuming that meant you’d be accommodating.”

“Is Arkansas country living or city living?” she asked.

“Both,” he said with a laugh. “You have something against farm animals?”

Instead of responding, she stood up and began putting on her coat. I guess we’re leaving, Micah thought, taking his cue from her and putting on his coat, as well.

“You don’t have to walk me back to the office,” Lex said when they reached the outside.

“Okay.” They stood there in silence for a few moments before Micah spoke again. “So, will you come with me to Cranberry Heights for the entire stay?”

She dodged a couple of groups of people walking by. “I’ll have to think about it.” She continued looking at him straight on.

“I understand,” Micah replied. “Let me know your decision at Imani and Daman’s party this weekend,” he continued before turning to walk in the direction opposite of her.

“Wait,” Lex said, gently grabbing his arm. “You were invited to Imani and Daman’s Friends-giving?”

“Is that what they are calling the party?”

“Yes. Since we all spend Thanksgiving with our families, Imani and Daman plan a Thanksgiving with their close friends.”

“Well, yeah, that’s the party. Daman invited me last week.”

“Great,” Lex huffed.

“Tell me how you really feel.”

“Sorry,” Lex responded quickly. “I’ll let you know my answer then. See you later.” With that, she put on her hat and began walking back to her office building.

“Have a good day,” Micah yelled after her. She turned slightly and gave him a half smile.

She’s gonna say yes. She really had no choice. Micah knew exactly what he was doing when he put that clause in his contract. He was sure visiting his hometown was the perfect way to take her out of her element and, hopefully, get her to see another side of him. She was used to these pretty boys, and Micah definitely wasn’t that. He was rough around the edges and damn proud of it. He intrigued Lex. He could tell. But she wasn’t all the way convinced yet.

“Watch out, Lex,” he said aloud to himself. She was a challenge and if there was anything Micah loved as much as he loved women, it was a challenge.

Chapter 4 (#ulink_aabc10dd-208e-5144-a132-92a06651eb96)

Micah stepped out of his car and jumped in place three times before making his way to the parking meter. Although he had on two layers of pants, a turtleneck, a hoodie and a scull cap, he was still cold. He loved running by the lake and refused to let the chilly Chicago weather stop the workout regimen he’d developed over the summer.

Apparently, he wasn’t the only one refusing to let the thirty-five degree weather halt their workout routine. The parking lot was half full and even the threat of snow didn’t stop a few people from bringing out their bikes.

Micah put in his headphones and scrolled to his workout playlist and then stuffed his phone in his armband. Stretching at a nearby bench, he glanced at the white frozen lake and started his five-mile run.

When Micah and his five brothers were growing up in Arkansas they used to watch reruns of Good Times and imagine how it would be to live in Chicago. Early last year when he quit his job of seven years and announced he was starting a business with Shawn, his brothers and mom had been supportive, but his dad not so much.

Micah didn’t know what he had to do to get his father’s approval. At family events, he pretended as if it didn’t matter that all of his brothers had a good relationship with their dad. But, deep down, it hurt to know that his dad viewed him as the black sheep of the family. Micah visited his parents more than any of his brothers, but no matter what, his relationship with his dad remained nonexistent. He hoped that planning the anniversary party would finally change the way his dad viewed him.

Micah nodded to a few runners passing by and moved out of the way of a couple bikers. His adrenaline was finally pumping and warming up his body. He cupped his hands together and blew into them before taking out his gloves that he’d forgotten were stuffed in the pocket of his hoodie. The view of the skyline was beautiful even in frigid temperatures.

Even though he left the Arkansas P.D. with no intention of ever returning to the force, he was still grateful that he’d had an opportunity to be a police officer. The P.D. forced him to change his ways and focus more on helping people make better choices. He’d run into a number of lost young men with no male role models around to help show them the difference between right and wrong.

His phone rang, breaking his thoughts. “Hey, Shawn,” he said as he stopped by a nearby tree and continued to jog in place.

“Hey, man, I was hoping I caught up to you. Cyd just got off the phone with Lex. She told her that she wouldn’t be going to Imani and Daman’s Friends-giving tonight.”

Micah scrunched his face. “Did she say why?”

“She said she needed some time to herself, but Cyd told me she thought it had something to do with you being there tonight, as well.”

Micah knew that was the case, especially since Lex had yet to let him know if she would be attending the winter festival. “Cyd’s right,” Micah replied. “I know what it is. I’ll call Lex and tell her it’s safe for her to come to the party.”

“Okay, good luck, man.”

“Thanks.” Micah hung up the phone and promptly dialed Lex’s number. It went straight to voice mail. He tried twice more just in case it was a bad connection, but both times the call went to her voice mail again.

Micah called Shawn back. “She’s not answering,” he said when Shawn picked up. “It’s going straight to voice mail, so I assume she turned off her phone.”

Shawn laughed before telling Cyd that Lex had turned off her phone, and then informed Micah that he was putting him on speaker.

“Micah, what number are you calling?” Cyd asked. He rattled off the number to her.

“That’s her work cell number. I’ll give you her personal number so you can save it in your phone.” Micah entered Lex’s personal cell number in the notes section of his phone before thanking Cyd. He dialed the new number, and she answered on the third ring.

“Hello,” she asked.

“Hey, Lex, it’s Micah.” The other line was silent for a few seconds.

“Oh, what’s up?”

He laughed into the phone. “I was just trying to figure out why you cancelled on Imani and Daman tonight. If it was because you promised me an answer about the winter festival, then I’d like to take the pressure off you.”

“What do you mean?” she asked softly.

“You don’t have to give me an answer tonight.”

“Then when would I need to give you an answer?”

“How about next week?” She was quiet for a moment, and Micah wondered if she was finished with their conversation.