NO SECRETS NO LIES (SIN CITY HEAT SERIES Book 3) (3 page)

     Suddenly, the door swung open and Sharon
stood there glaring at him. She was so tiny, he almost smiled at the picture
she made, but he didn’t dare. Instead he gave her his most innocent look before
leaning down to kiss her cheek.

     “You’re late,” she snapped.
     “I know and I’m sorry. I was, uh, held up at the last
minute.” The excuse sounded lame even to him. Amir sent Sharon an angelic
smile, but when she continued to glare at him, the smile fell from his face. He
was frantically searching his mind to come up with a way to get back into her
good graces when the corners of her mouth lifted reluctantly.
     “What's her name…if you even can remember.” Sharon
grabbed his arm and pulled him inside. “Amir, don’t you get tired of being with
a new girl every other week? That gets old after a while.”
     “Sharon…”
     “You need to find a nice girl to spend time with.”
     “And I suppose you have just the one for me - again -
right?”

     This time it was Sharon’s turn to look
innocent. “I don’t know what you mean.”
     Amir laughed and shook his head at her. Moments later,
Soul walked up behind Sharon and slipped his arms around her waist. “Babe, at
least let him get in the door good before you start in on him.”

     Sharon looked at both of them and pushed
her nose up in the air before walking off, no doubt in search of the friend
she’d invited who just happened to be single. Amir knew the drill well.
Laughing, he and Soul watched her go.

     Amir turned to his friend. “You really
have your hands full with that woman, don’t you?”
     “Hell yeah, man, she keeps me on my toes. Between her
and Destiny, I feel like I’m just a pawn in their world doing whatever they
command me to do.”
     Destiny was their five year old daughter, and was
definitely a daddy’s girl. She had Soul wrapped around her little finger, but
Amir was no better. He loved his little goddaughter. All she had to do was look
at him with those big, brown eyes and say ‘Uncle Amir’, and he was putty in her
hands.

     “You had me worried there for a minute. I
thought you weren’t gonna make it.”
     “Yeah, right. As if I dared. Actually, Vanessa showed up
on my doorstep a couple of hours before it was time for me to go and, well….you
can imagine the rest.”
     “Damn, boy, you got that woman sprung already. You’d
better leave her alone unless you’re prepared to take over her sugar daddy’s
role and keep her in the style he’s made her accustomed to.”
     Amir let out a hard laugh. “Like I told her before, it
ain't even that type of party, but I guess you’re right. She’s getting a little
bit too involved. I don’t need the drama in my life.”
     Amir looked around at the number of guests that
overflowed from the living room, out to the back yard, and around the pool.
“Wow, I see you have a full house.”

     Amir stopped to speak to several people
as they made their way to the bar to get a drink, trying to avoid more than a
few of the women he’d slept with in the past.
     “Yeah. You plan for a little get together, and before
you know it, it’s standing room only.”
     “You guys always throw a good party.”
     They continued to make small talk as they walked
outside. Amir caught up with friends he hadn’t seen in a while and began to
enjoy himself. He had actually forgotten all about Sharon and her matchmaking
until Soul nudged him in the ribs with his elbow.  “Uh oh. Don’t look now,
but it looks like my wife is makin' her move.”
     Amir saw Sharon glancing around as if searching for
someone until her eyes found him and Soul. She excitedly turned back to the
person she was talking to. The woman had her back to Amir so he couldn’t tell
what she looked like from the front, but the back view wasn’t bad - at all.
     She seemed to be around average height, 5’5” or so.
Her dark hair fell in soft waves just below her shoulders. As Amir’s eyes
traveled down her body, he took in the sleeveless black fitted top which showed
off a small waist. As his eyes wandered further down, he admired the way her
snug, short skirt hugged the round curve of her backside. Amir lifted a brow.
Looked as if Sharon may have outdone herself this time. 

     “Give me the quick lowdown on this
one." He leaned his head towards Soul but kept his attention on the woman.
“Who is she?”
     Soul watched as Sharon grabbed the woman’s hand, who
seemed even less enthused than Amir about being set up. “She moved here several
months ago. She and Sharon hit it off right away at work. I’ve met her a couple
of times.” He looked at Amir. “But, Mir, look. She’s not like the other women
you usually fuck around with, man.”

     Amir took a sip of his drink as he
frowned at Soul, but before he could question him further, he heard Sharon’s
overly cheerful voice calling out to them.  “Hi you two. Honey you
remember my friend, Alexis don’t you?” she asked Soul. Without giving him a
chance to answer, she pulled Alexis forward and pushed her towards Amir with a
big smile. “Amir, I’d like you to meet my friend and co-worker -”
     “Oh my God. You…!” The woman stared at Amir in shock.
He was accustomed to being recognized all the time, but this woman didn’t
appear to be very happy to see him.
     Amir squinted and searched his mind to try and
remember if she was someone he’d slept with in the past. She did seem familiar,
but he couldn’t quite place her face. Sharon glanced at Soul with questioning
eyes, but Soul just shrugged, letting her know he was as lost as she.

     A slight smile crawled over Amir's mouth.
“I’m sorry, do we know…” Then he froze.
Aww fuck!
It couldn’t be! But as
he looked at her closer, he realized that it
was
her. Now his expression
somewhat mirrored hers.

      Alexis frantically tried to quell
her panic. Over the years, she'd successfully put him out of her mind. It
hadn’t been easy, especially once he got drafted by the Falcons. He was always
in the news being heralded as the next great football player ever. Every time
she’d turned on her television, she’d seen his smiling face in commercials
endorsing everything from cereal to popular sports drinks to luxury cars. He
even got his own line of shoes. Kids everywhere wanted to grow up to be the
next 'A-Man', as the media dubbed him.

     However, after he got hurt and was forced
to retire, the fickleness of the public eventually moved on to the next great
athlete. She’d finally gained some semblance of peace. But that peace was now
shattered into tiny shards of glass as he stood in front of her.
     Neither one of them seemed to be able to look away as
their minds traveled back to that weekend ten years ago: Freak Week in the ATL…

Chapter 4

Freak Week – Atlanta, Georgia

     “I don’t know why I let you guys talk me into
coming here,” Alexis told her friends as they checked into the hotel. “This is
wild!”
     “Girl, I can’t believe you’ve never been to Freak
Week,” her girlfriend Jocelyn exclaimed. “I’ve been coming every year for
spring break since I was a freshman.”
     “We almost had to threaten her ass this time to get
her here,” Mia, who was Alexis’ roommate, chimed in. “She’s so busy with her
head in those books that she fooled around and let the whole college experience
pass her by these last four years.”
     Alexis wrinkled her nose up as her Soros continued to
good naturedly needle her about her lack of a social life. “That’s not true.
You heffas act like I never do anything. I go to parties, I go on dates. Just
because I’m not in the clubs every weekend doesn’t mean I’m not enjoying
college life. Some of you might need to take a page outta my book and study a
little bit more instead of majoring in partying - Shalonda!”
     They all laughed and looked at Shalonda Lansford, or
Shay, as they called her. It was a well-known fact that she barely eked her way
through the last semester in order to graduate with them next month. “Whatever,
bitches. I don’t care. As long as I got that piece of paper in my hand when I
exit the stage, I'm good. Anyway, I’m gonna have a job when I graduate
regardless , so ya’ll can kiss my barely passing ass.”

     Again, they cracked up because she was
right. Her father owned one of the largest black magazines in circulation, and
if Shay never worked a day in her life, she would be well taken care of. 
“Well, not all of us have the luxury of being a trust fund baby. I have to keep
my grade point average up because of my scholarship,” Alexis said in her
defense.

     “Girl, you need to relax a little! This
is spring break!”
     “I am relaxed. Just because I don’t plan on sexing my
way through the weekend, I’m not relaxed?” Lexie rolled her eyes at all of them
as she punched the elevator button and waited for it to open.
     “Oh, we
know
you don’t plan on doing that, Ms.
Innocent and Pure. God forbid you actually decide to have sex. I swear, you
have to be the world’s only twenty-one year old virgin,” Shay laughed along
with the other girls. “But seriously, all I’m saying is you need to take
advantage of being here and find a guy or two - or three - and have some fun.
Get that cherry popped and then tell 'em to step. This place is the crème de la
crème of men. You can have your choice of fine, good looking stallions that
aren’t looking for a commitment any more than you are.”
     “Shay leave her alone,” Mia said. “She’ll do the nasty
when she’s good and ready.” She smiled at Lexie before changing the subject in
order to take the attention off of her roomie.
     Alexis didn’t care, though. What they didn’t know was
she planned on doing exactly what Shay suggested and find someone this weekend
to have sex with. She’d finally get the whole “virgin” thing done and over
with, and would never have to see the guy again. Perfect.