Bro-mance 101 (11 page)

Her breath caught as
Devlin
held her gaze. 
When h
e licked his lips
,
f
lashes of their last encou
nter flickered through her mind, sending
t
iny pin pricks of pleasure through her
body
. 

Damn, I want him.  Right here.  Right now. 

A
shrill
ring
pierced
the air
,
halt
ing
any hedonistic plans she had. 
She watched as Devlin
pulled
his cell phone
from his back pocket and glanced at the caller ID.  “
It’s
Ramon
,” he said simply.

She nodded
, thankful
for
Ramon
’s intrusion this time.  She
’d been about to
hop on top of her desk and start humping
with Devlin
any second.
What was she thinking?  Lust had clouded her better judgment. 

Devlin shoved the phone back into his pocket without answering
it
.  “He prob
ably wants to know your answer
.
”
 

Zhané
t
ook a deep breath and expelled it slowly.
 
“My answer
is
still no.”

“Are you sure I can’t change your mind?”

That’s the problem, I’m sure you can. 

She walked to the door and opened it.  “Thanks for stopping b
y, Dev.  Take care of yourself
.
  And watch out for any stray platters.  Not all women are as understanding as me.
”

Devlin
flashed
a lopsided grin
before walking past her toward the door.  Before he stepped over the threshold, he turned and c
aressed her cheek
,
and
then
he
brushed a
soft, lingering
kiss on her lips. 
Zhané
reveled in the feel of his warm flesh against hers.  She wanted more. 
She wanted him to delve deep into
the eager wetness that awaited him. 
She wanted to bathe her tongue in the silky interior of his mouth. 
This sample only left
her hungry for his touch, but h
e pulled away
,
cruel
l
y
leaving her with
his
brief teaser. 

“See you around
,
”
he said. 
And just like that, Devlin Hart was gone.

Zhané
returned to her desk and dropped
wearily
into her chair. 
Devlin’s musk-scented cologne
clung to the
air, confirming that his appearance had not been a dream. 
She closed her eyes trying to erase the image of the smooth-talking
radio
show host.  When she opened them, Katina was standing in
his place
.

“I think you should do
the show
,
”
Katina said. 
A hint of m
ischievous
ness danced in her dark
irise
s
.

Zhané
’s mouth dropped open.  “You were listenin
g
to our conversation
?”

“I said I had a few things to do.  Eavesdropping was one of them.  Wiping the drool off my lip
s was the other.”  She shook her head.  “
Girl, you didn’
t tell me
Devlin
was that fine!
”

“
You didn’t give me a chance.  You kept telling me it was rebound sex.”

“
That was before I knew how
hot
he was.
”

“
Looks have
nothing to do with it. 
Malik
was
fine
,
and look where
that got
me.
”
 

Katina smacked her lips in disagreement.  “
Malik
wasn’t
that
good-looking
, a
nd he didn’t make you laugh lik
e Devlin Hart makes you laugh.”

“And
Malik
certainly didn’t set my body on fire like Devlin does.
”
 

“
The way
Devlin’s
face lit up when he saw you almost made me cry.  You two are so into e
ach other, it’s not even funny.”

Zhané
sighed
.  “Y
eah, that’s the problem.  I don’t want to get caugh
t up and make another mistake.”

Kat
ina sat on the edge of
Zhané
’s desk. 
“
You don’t have to make a lifetime commitment,
Zhané
. 
This is merely
a
guest spot on a radio show
.  Do you realize how fortu
nate
you are?  You took your destiny in
to
your own hands. 
You didn’t sit around moping about losing your boyfriend. 
You went to the station determined to confront a man you didn’t know
, a
nd
in the process,
you experienced an epiphany.
”

“And an orgasm.”

Katina smiled.  “True.  My point is
that
the moment you two met, you
b
oth had a profound and immediate impact
on each other
’s lives
. 
Imagine what effect you could have on the lives of other listeners. 
I’m telling you, t
his was meant to be.”

“I don’t know
about all that
.
  I was just voicing my opinion.  Devlin had no choice but to lis
ten. 
I had a captive audience when the elevator broke down.
”

“
Your opinion is just as valuable as his. 
You need to go on
Bro-mance
101 and represent all the females out there.  I can’t think of anyone better
than you
to do it
.”

“You think so?”

“
I know so.” 
Katina
plucked the receiver from
Zhané
’s office phone and thrust it toward her.  “Call KLUV and tell them it’s on.”

NINE

“Caller you’re on the air with Devlin and
Zhané
. 
Tonight’s topic is
How Soon is Too Soon to Move in Together
?
What do you think
about shackin’ up
?”

“
Hey
,
Devlin.  My name is Cynthia.
I think
‘
shacking up
’
as you refer to it is
a
horrible
idea.
The man gets all the benefits.  My mama used to say, why buy the milk when you can have the cow for free?”

“R
eally?” Devlin questioned.  “Wel
l, let me ask you this, Cynthia:
  Would you buy a pair of shoes without trying them on first?  I’ll answer
for you
.  N
o, you would not!  It’s the same with us guys.  We don’t want to marry anybody we haven’t lived with first. 
There’s
no telling what we might find out about a woman. 
For instance, s
he might keep a nasty house.”

“Oh, please
!
  Like you
’
re really worried about
a woman’s
house.  I want to know what
Zhané
thinks.”

Devlin looked to his left where
Zhané
was sitting
in a leather chair in the radio station’s soundproof studio
. 
A pair of headphones, partially hidden by the curly upsweep of her hair, hugged each ear. 
Her long legs were crossed at the knees, the fishnet pantyhose encasing her shapely calves.  His mouth went dry just thinking about how those legs would feel wrapped around him. 
He tried to focus on the caller instead of
his co-host
wearing a
body-hugging green dress.  He spoke into his microphone.  “
Okay,
Zhané
.  L
et’s hear your two cents.”

Zhané
tossed
him
a smug smile
before replying
. 
“I’m with Cynthia
on this
.  Let’s face it.  Most bachelors keep a pigsty for a house anyway.  Any living accom
m
odations with a female would be a step up for the majority of men out there.  However,
I don’t advocate
shacking
up
either,
unless you have an engagement ring and a wedding date set.  That shows you both have a vested commitment to the relationship
,
and you’re not just playing house.”

“Now, you’re being greedy,” Devlin argued.  “What if
things don’t
work out?  Then, the man has to
fight to get his
ring back.”

“Who’s being greedy?  You want all the perks with none of the responsibility.
”

“And you want to make all of the rules.”

“
That’s the difference between men and women
,”
Zhané
quipped.  “
You go into it with a
negative attitude.  We’re
hopeful about the
future.”

“Amen!” Cynthia
jumped in
. 
“I’m
so happy to hear the ladies
’
point of view.
This is my favo
rite show.  Me and my boyfriend
, Brent
listen
all the time
.
He’s right here and he agrees with me, don’t you
,
Brent?”

Devlin and
Zhané
both
laughe
d when they
heard a deep voice in the background call out, “I sure do, babe!”

Zhané
whispered
, “I guess we know who wears the pants in that house.”

Devlin snickered. 
“
All right
folks
,”
he
prompted
,
“
w
e’ve got to take a commercial break. 
You’ve been listening to
Bro-mance
101 with a twist of s
pice.
  We’ll be back in five minutes.  Don’t go anywhere or we
will
hunt you down!
”

Devlin muted both studio mics as the commer
c
i
als played
. 
He glanced at
Zhané
, who was
beaming from head to toe.  “Great show,” he told her.

“I c
an’t believe p
eople actually want my advice,” she enthused. 

“
You’re brave, smart, and beautiful.  Who wouldn’t wan
t to hear what you have to say?”

Her c
afé au lait
skin flushed
with
a glow
, and her pink glossed lips stretched into
a smile that would melt the
pathway of a blizzard.
“
You’re just saying that so I’ll keep doing the show
.
”

He returned her smile. 
He st
ill couldn’t believe she
was here with him.  When he
’d
walked out of
her office
six
weeks
ago,
he
thought he’d never see her again. 
Fast forward to today.  They’d
been doing the show together every night for the past month. 
He wasn’t sure why she changed her mind; he was just glad she had. 
She had the perfect radio voice, a light banter that complimented his deep
bari
tone.  Plus, she added an element of opposition to his viewpoint.  Listeners loved hearing their nightly
battle of words
.