All I Want for Christmas (7 page)

After the concert ended,
she walked with Carlos a few blocks away to a steak restaurant.
Don’s Steak and Seafood took up the fourth floor of a restored
nineteen-thirties building. They had a view of the Mississippi
River and the long bridge connecting Baton Rouge to the small town
of Port Allen. Lights along the bridge and other buildings,
including two riverboat casinos, twinkled against the deep blue
night sky.

Nedra sighed as she gazed
out through the floor-to-ceiling windows. “This is beautiful,” she
said, “and the food here is really good. Nice choice.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed your
steak,” replied Carlos, taking a sip of his red wine.

“Oh yes. This sweet potato
bread pudding should be against the law. I’m taking the rest of it
home. I can’t eat that huge serving. Why did you talk me into
getting my own instead of us sharing?” Nedra shook a finger at
him.

“Because this way we’ll have some to enjoy
with coffee later,” Carlos said smoothly and smiled at her.

“Well, I sure can’t fit any
more food in here,” Nedra answered, patting her
mid-section.

“I have a suggestion. The evening isn’t too
cold. In fact the weather is quite pleasant. Let’s work off dinner
with a stroll.”

“You know I work down here,
yet I rarely do anything but go to the office and go home. I
haven’t even seen the parks and walking paths on top of the levee.”
Nedra glanced out of the window.

“Then let’s go.” Carlos signaled to their
waiter.

A few minutes later they
were outside. After a quick detour to put their doggie bags of food
in his car, Nedra and Carlos headed towards the riverside
pedestrian park. Arms linked, they enjoyed the crisp night air and
the riverfront for another thirty minutes. They talked about a
range of subjects, including the upcoming college football season.
Carlos took great delight in learning that Nedra also enjoyed
basketball. Soon they were making plans for a trip to New Orleans
to see a game. Forty-five minutes later, they were back at the
parking garage.

They got into the Acura,
but Carlos paused after putting his key in the ignition. “Now we
can enjoy that rich bread pudding without feeling guilty,” he
said.

“Here, right now?” Nedra
laughed. “That walk definitely stirred up your
appetite.”

“No, girl, back at my place
where it’s warmer and there’s cable.” Carlos started the car and
backed out of the parking space.

“Oh.” Nedra started running
through different ways to avoid going to his place.

“I can finally break in
that fancy coffee maker that my mother gave me when I bought my
townhouse. I’ve had that thing for two years, but used it once when
she came over.” Carlos laughed. “Good thing she hasn’t thought to
ask about it again.”

Nedra stared out the
windshield straight ahead. “Listen, about going to your
house...”

“If you’re not comfortable
with going to my townhouse, we can go to your place. I’ll stop and
get you some pepper spray. You can zap me if I get out of hand.”
Carlos stopped the car and put it in park again. “I don’t have an
agenda, Nedra. Honest.”

“Oh, I wasn’t thinking you
did. Well, maybe a little. I just don’t want us to get our wires
crossed, and you think that... I don’t want to mislead you to
think…”

“No, I don’t think you’re
willing to jump into sex quickly with any guy that buys you a steak
dinner.” Carlos placed a hand over one of hers. “This might come
off like a line, but it’s true. I feel something special for you,
Nedra. We’ll take whatever time is needed to get to the next level
and when we’re
both
comfortable. Okay?”

Nedra gazed into his eyes
and saw sincerity. Carlos brushed a thumb against her cheek. Then
he leaned over and gently kissed her lips. No
tongue-down-her-throat kind of kiss, but a caress that lasted a few
moments before he sat back.

“Okay,” Nedra replied softly.

“Great. Now we’ll call it a
night so you can rest up and we can come back to the downtown
square to listen to the band tomorrow afternoon.” He shifted to
drive again.

“But I have a fancy coffee
maker, too,” she said quietly. “No need in us being wasteful and
making coffee in two places.”

Carlos grinned at her. “I’m big on being
green.”

Twenty minutes later, they
arrived at Nedra’s condo, off Bluebonnet Avenue. She didn’t feel
any apprehension as they entered her second floor, two-bedroom
flat. They took off their jackets and Nedra placed the bags of
leftover steak and extra bread, which the waiter had given them, in
her fridge. Then she gave Carlos a short tour. Returning to the
kitchen, she put the coffee on to brew. With the R&B music
channel playing on the television, they sat in the living room,
where they talked and traded jokes. The smell of coffee floated in
from the kitchen.

“I think it’s ready,” Nedra
said, standing.

“That bread pudding is
calling to me,” he said. “Carlos, we’re meant for each other. Come
for me, my love.”

Nedra giggled. “Yeah,
right. Just admit you’re greedy when it comes to sugar. I wonder
how you keep so fit.”

“Hmm, so you like my look.
Good to know.” Carlos struck a pose and then pretended to walk like
a male model. “I’m going to keep working out, so I can hold on to
my good thing.”

“You’re so crazy,” Nedra
replied and giggled even harder. “You know, I thought you’d be all
serious and… I don’t know.”

“Stuck up? Arrogant?”
Carlos stopped clowning around and followed her into the
kitchen.

Nedra faced him. “Well,
maybe. I’m glad you’re not.”

“Speaking of looking good…”
Carlos took both of her hands in his. “I’m happy I ended up at the
Holiday Hospitality dinner. Meeting you is something I’m definitely
thankful for.”

“I glad we met, too,” she
said. Her heart melted at the look in his beautiful, brown
eyes.

“I’ve been dating for the
past eight months, since I broke up with someone. We have a
five-year-old daughter. Chanté wanted a baby, but I didn’t. We
tried to make it work, but we just weren’t good together. We argue
sometimes because Chanté moved to Houston. She doesn’t always make
it easy for me to see my daughter.” Carlos frowned.

“What’s your little girl’s
name?” Nedra asked, feeling a pang.

“Carly. We stuck with the
‘C’ theme,” Carlos quipped.

“That’s a pretty name, ”
she replied. “I’m guessing she’s a daddy’s girl.”

“All the way,” he said.
“She’ll be here for Christmas since she spent Thanksgiving with her
mother’s family this year. That’s it. No serious drama.” Carlos
gazed at Nedra as though looking for a sign.

“Thanks for telling
me.”

Every moment they spent
together brought them closer; connected in a real way. This time
Nedra kissed him. She pulled Carlos against her body and wrapped
both of her arms around him. Their second kiss lasted longer, much
longer. When they broke apart, he let out a slow breath.

“We better have dessert and coffee before you
have to slap my face.” He let go of Nedra and put a hand on his
chest. “Whew.”

“I could be making a
mistake about you, but I’m going to break my first date rule.”
Nedra pulled him to her again. Guiding his hands to her hips, she
gave him another passionate kiss. When she stopped, both of them
were breathing hard.

“This isn’t our first
date,” Carlos said, resting his forehead against hers.

“Technically, it’s our
first full date.” Nedra rubbed her lips against his neck, savoring
the sensation. She gasped when he grew harder.

“Are you sure you should
break that rule? I’m willing to wait, even if it means spending a
night of torture, home alone in my bed.” Carlos let out a soft moan
as Nedra’s fingers lightly brushed his erection beneath the fabric
of his slacks.

“You want me to break that
rule. Say it,” she whispered and nibbled on his right ear
lobe.

“Yes! Oh hell, yes.” Carlos
rested his forehead against hers and sighed.

Without speaking, Nedra
took his hand and led him into her bedroom. They undressed in front
of each other and savored the process as each item of clothing fell
onto the carpet. Nedra’s practical side tried to gain her
attention, but the vow she’d taken with her friends fell on deaf
ears.

When Carlos wrapped her in
a loving embrace, skin against skin, Nedra felt cherished, not
cheap. Each kiss and caress reinforced her first instinct after
looking into his eyes on Thanksgiving Day. The charged heat between
them was more than a quick sexual itch. When he touched her
intimately and whispered with tenderness, all of her doubts and
reservations went up in smoke. The hours of love, joy and happiness
left them both breathless, speechless and exhausted.

Chapter 5

Sunday went by much too
fast, thought Nedra on Monday morning. She sat at her desk,
enjoying a rich, chocolate mocha latte in her favorite mug. The
waiting stack of papers did not speak to her at all. Fortunately,
the administrative assistant she supervised was doing the heavy
lifting of answering the phones and her boss would not be in until
after lunch, so Nedra had the luxury of replaying her wonderful
weekend over and over again. Finally, she shook off her dream state
and began working, though not at her usual pace.

When her friend, Imani,
came into the office, Nedra grinned at her. “Happy Monday morning,”
she said. “I’m loving this cold weather we’re having. It’s just
right for the holiday season.”

“Morning,” Imani replied,
sitting down in the chair facing Nedra’s desk. She frowned.
“Mondays suck like sewer water.”

“So you didn’t have a good
weekend?” Nedra laughed when her friend screwed up her face into a
macabre expression. “Errol had to work again?”

“He’s working overtime
because he’ll have Christmas off. At least that’s what he says,”
Imani muttered. Her brows pulled together. “I can’t even get him on
his cell phone sometimes.”

Nedra shook her head. “The
man is at work, Imani. He can’t be chatting with you. You’re
complaining because the man has a great job and is hard working?
He’s making money, which means a nice Christmas present for, guess
who?”

Imani’s expression
brightened. “I like your logic, so what about you?”

“Me?” Nedra cleared her
throat and moved some papers around on her desk.

“Hello, hello, hello. How’s
everybody?” Maida asked as she slid into the other chair in Nedra’s
office. “Thank God for Mondays.”

“What?” Imani blinked at her.

“You obviously don’t have
kids, girl. Saturday, Chalice had a soccer game. Jon had a football
game. His daddy took him, but then decided I’d have to pick him up.
Thankfully, Mama agreed to help me out and the kids stayed with
her, so I could keep my hair appointment. And I managed to talk her
into babysitting, so I could go to the play with Imani,” Maida
said.

“It wasn’t bad at all,” Imani put in.

“How would you know? You kept checking your
phone for text messages,” Maida retorted.

“Oh, shut up,” Imani
mumbled.

“Uh-huh,” Maida replied,
giving her a side eye, and then resumed her narrative. “Sunday, I
took them to their grandmother’s church across town. Jonathan
insisted because his mother wanted to see them, so I hauled them
across the river to New Roads. Did their daddy bring them back? No,
that would have been considerate, so I had to drive back and pick
the kids up. Sunday night we got ready for the week.” Maida eyed
Nedra’s mug.

“Yes, I have a pot of mocha
chocolate coffee because I figured you guys might want some.” Nedra
nodded in the direction of the office kitchenette. They typically
met up for a Monday morning coffee break.

“Bless you,” said Maida and
left.

“Me, too,” said Imani and
followed her out.

The two women soon
returned, carrying large paper cups with steam rising. Both got
settled again. They commiserated about the agony of work and the
unreasonableness of bosses. Then talk turned back to the
weekend.

“So, make me feel better.
At least I can live vicariously by listening to you two describe
fun weekend activities.” Maida blew on her coffee and took a
sip.

“Sorry, I can’t help,”
Imani retorted. Then she eyed Nedra over her fashionable
eyeglasses. “But Nedra was just about to tell me about
her
weekend with the new
man.”

“Oo-wee. Tell it, girl. Tell it all.” Maida
wiggled her eyebrows and nodded.

“Yes, Nedra, you had a date
Saturday night, as I recall.” Imani sat back and crossed her long
legs. “We’re listening.”

“We had a nice time,” Nedra
replied mildly, and stopped when the young woman she supervised
entered. She took several pieces of sorted mail. When the assistant
was gone, Nedra shrugged. “So, did Jon and Chalice win their
games?”

“His team lost, Chalice’s
team won. Now back to your night with Carlos Jacobs,” Maida
instructed.

“Yeah, you’re the one
playing games,” Imani said. “Tell us about the jazz
concert.”