Rituals for Love (9781476761893) (28 page)

I pulled my hand back. “Omar—”

“You know I'm not the type of man that believes in cheating and I don't take relationships lightly. But I'm also the type of man
that knows what he wants. I believe in going after what I want, in all things. We're friends because that's what you want. I want more.”

“I can't give you that.”

“Have you even considered it?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but he kept talking.

“If you took a moment to honestly think about whether we could be more than friends, you have to admit there's a possibility it could work.”

“It's not about whether it could work or not. Sure, we'd probably get along great, have lots of chemistry and everything. But I'm not in a space to explore that with you.”

“You don't feel like we've been exploring it with all of the time we've been spending together recently? I do. And don't get me wrong. I don't expect that your feelings for Cain have diminished. I just hoped that maybe you could acknowledge that your feelings for me have grown. If they have, don't you owe it to yourself to explore it further?”

“Omar, I—”

“You think about it. I don't even want you to respond without giving what I said some thought.” He signaled to the waiter to let him know were ready to order.

•  •  •

O
MAR PULLED UP IN FRONT
of Genesis to drop me off. “Thanks for joining me for lunch.”

“Thanks for the invite.”

“Maybe we can do it again tomorrow?”

“Actually, I need to be at Rituals in the morning. I'm not sure what time I'll make it into the city.”

“I hope I didn't come on too strong with my honesty.”

I shook my head. “I can appreciate honesty because it doesn't leave any room for misunderstandings.”

“Do you need me to wait while you go inside?”

“I'm not going back inside. I'm going to head back to Long Island. I'm parked right around the corner.”

“I'll drop you at your car.”

I stepped out of Omar's car with an awkward over the shoulder glance and a rushed goodbye. He may have still been talking when I closed the door on him.

M
y flight landed at eight-fifteen in the morning. I picked up my car from the long-term parking lot and jumped on the Grand Central Parkway to the city. I figured Jade was already at Genesis, and I'd meet her there. I needed to see her face. We could both be as tough as we wanted over the phone, but face-to-face our tension melted. It always did.

Hal saw me as soon as I walked in. He greeted me with a handshake and a pat on the back. “Long time, no see,” he said.

“I've been busy managing a few other business endeavors. How's everything going?”

We walked from room to room and talked about the progress. They had done a dynamic job transforming the space. He assured me his crews would have everything wrapped up in two weeks. “Jade has been on top of us since day one. We're not letting anything fall through the cracks,” he said.

“Is she in the office?”

“I haven't seen her this morning.”

“She's not here yet?”

“Unless she came in when I was upstairs in the spa. She may be back in the office.”

“Let me check.” I started off in that direction. “I'll be back in a minute to talk about these invoices and how we're looking on the budget.”

It was quiet in the back and the office was empty. A vase of roses was sitting in the middle of the desk. I walked over and opened the small envelope next to it.
Your Welcome Distraction.
What was that supposed to mean? I put the card back and something else caught my eye. I reached for the check. Omar Anderson? Fifty thousand dollars made payable to Genesis? What the hell was going on? I slipped the check in my jacket pocket and left the office.

The entire time I was reviewing the finances with Hal, the check was burning a hole in my pocket. I needed to talk to Jade. I wrapped up our meeting and left for Long Island. I called Jade from the car to let her know I was back in New York. She was at Rituals taking care of some business. I asked her to meet me at my house when she finished over there. I had planned to go to my offices to check on my own business dealings, but I thought it was better to see Jade first.

I got home and went out on the patio in the backyard. It was where I did some of my best thinking. I took out my tablet and went over the numbers that Hal and I discussed. His assistant emailed an updated status report along with the invoices. I went through everything line by line. I reworked the figures. I leaned back in the chair with my hands behind my head. I knew what I needed. I was in the kitchen pouring a Black on the rocks when I heard the front door opening. “I'm in the kitchen.”

Jade entered carrying her purse and laptop bag. I went around the counter and took the laptop from her, placing it on the table. I slowly drew her into a hug. “Hey, babe.”

“Hi,” she replied, clinging to me.

“Do you want a drink?”

She pulled back from the hug. “No, I'm okay.”

“It's good to see you.”

“It's good to be seen.”

“Oh, okay.” I regarded her for a moment. She wasn't quite frowning, but it was right beneath the surface. “Come on out back.”

We both went into the yard. I set my drink down on the table and we sat across from one another.

“I'm glad you made your flight.”

“Humph.” I shook my head. “You know what's funny?”

“No, I don't,” she said dryly.

“I don't know where to start.” I didn't know if I should address what was going on with our relationship or our business first. It was a precarious situation that we never had to deal with in the past.

“If you don't, then I do.”

I took a taste of my drink. “I'm listening.”

“You made a comment last week that really got under my skin.”

“That I need to live a little? Why would that bother you?”

“Because you insinuated that it was due to me that you weren't living.”

“I mentioned to you that I wanted to continue with an annual tradition, and the feedback I received was that I shouldn't because of work obligations.”

“What's wrong with me saying that?”

“Do you realize just how much I'm working on any given day, week, or month for that matter? I don't engage in a lot of diversions. You and I spend our time together and there's not much else that I do on a large scale. The annual barbecue was pretty much it.”

“I didn't ask you not to host this year.”

“I never said that you did.”

“What you did say was that your lifestyle was different. You were traveling and hanging with your friends. Oh, and that you don't need my opinion to do what you want to do.”

“That's not how I meant it.”

She looked down at the table. “Well, that's how it came across.” Her phone vibrated and she ignored it.

“When I was in Atlanta, I realized that I never do anything in that city other than work. I own a house there, a business, a car, yet, I don't take time to
live
or enjoy myself while I'm there. And with my new real estate project, I'm going to be there even more. It made me think about being here in New York and how I canceled the one constant manifestation of taking time to enjoy the fruits of my labor.”

“What does that mean? That what you and I do isn't living?”

“I'm not saying that at all. You and I are something completely different. I'm talking about enjoying the fruits of
my
labor. All the hard work I do has to be represented somewhere. Yes, I have the houses and a couple of cars, but I don't do anything in excess. I only meant to say that before we became a couple, I used to do a bit more to reward my hard work.”

“I understand working hard and not having time to kick up your heels. I'm not globetrotting or throwing bashes either. I've been knee deep in trying to get Genesis off the ground.” The phone vibrated on the table again. “I haven't had much support.”

“Let's talk about Genesis for a minute. We're over budget.”

She graced me with a blank stare. “Not by much.”

“By enough. When we first started the project, I told you I was aiming to come in under budget. Right now we're hovering around twenty percent over.”

“It couldn't be prevented. I didn't make any unnecessary changes. I made sound business decisions that would benefit our bottom line in the long run.”

“I went through the invoices and there were charges and materials where we could have saved.”

“Hindsight is twenty-twenty. You were in Atlanta focused on Eden2 and Genesis wasn't a priority.”

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. “That's not even close to being true. Genesis is a priority just like all of my other businesses. In fact, when Riley and I were at the food festival last week, we tried a variety of vegetarian dishes. I was thinking about how we can incorporate some creative flavors into the menu at Genesis. Riley even experimented and made a few dishes with some of the spices that we tried.”

“Riley?” A look of disdain spread across her face. “What would make you think I'd want to use another chef's recipes in my restaurant?” She pushed her vibrating phone to the side.

“I didn't say you had to use her recipes. I was just sharing that she tried out the spices on a few dishes if you were interested.”

“No, I'm not.”

“That's fine, Jade. I know we're looking for something different for vegetarian options, and I thought these spices would be perfect. It was just a suggestion.”

“You never mentioned Riley went with you to the food festival.”

“She actually invited me.”

“So you two were just painting the town red? Food festivals, spending time in the restaurant together, parties… You were booed up all week. No wonder you were missing flights.”

I stared at her silently. If I kept quiet for a moment, maybe I could reel the discussion back in. “I was in Atlanta for business. That's it.”

“Riley. Please. She better be worried about the menu at Eden2, not what's going on at Genesis.” Jade got up from the table.

“Where are you going?”

“The bathroom,” she snapped, as she went inside.

I leaned forward with one elbow on the table, cradling my head.
I hated arguing with Jade. Her phone vibrated three times in succession. I reached across the table and picked it up. I read the text messages that were visible on the screen.

Hey gorgeous.

Are you in the city yet?

Let me know if you want to do lunch.

I'm starting to think our conversation yesterday scared you off.

Okay, I'm convinced it did.

I swiped right to unlock her phone and pulled up all of the messages from Omar. I read message after message and felt my blood pressure rising. I picked up my drink and my hand was shaking. I downed it in one gulp and slammed the glass down on the table.

His ideal…something naughty to seal the deal…together at Club Blaze…taking care of her panties

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Pictures of another man's dick on my lady's phone? A bra shot of my woman's breasts? It took everything in me not to smash her phone to bits. The only thing that stopped me was that I wanted to see her face when she saw me with it.

I
walked back into the yard determined not to argue with Cain about Riley. That was his new chef and she probably thought she was being helpful. As long as he understood that I didn't need any help with my menu from her.

Cain was glowering at me as I sat down. “I went to Genesis this morning.”

“You did?” I asked, my voice full of surprise.

“Yeah, I thought you would be there. As soon as I landed I went straight to Genesis.”

“Okay, why are you only just now mentioning it?”

“Who are the flowers from in the office?”

I stared wide-eyed at him. “The flowers?”

“Yes, Jade, the ones on the desk.”

“Oh, those were from Omar.”

“Why is Omar sending you flowers?”

“He—”

“What's up with the check for fifty-thousand dollars?”

“The check?”

He reached in his pocket and tossed the check across the table. “This check, Jade,” he shouted.

I picked it up and looked at it like I hadn't seen it before. “I was going to talk to you about this.”

“
Why
is he buying you flowers?” he demanded.

“Give me a chance to answer,” I barked back. My breath trembled as I exhaled. “He wrote this check,” I started shakily, “because he wants to invest as a silent partner in Genesis.”

“And he sent the flowers because you're his ideal, right?”

My brows furrowed as I tried to process what I'd just heard. “What?”

“The flowers. He sent you those because you're his ideal?”

I noticed my phone in front of him on the table. “Oh, so that's what we're doing? We're going through phones now?” I reached across the table and grabbed his. “What would I find in your phone?”

“You're worried about my phone when you have dick pics from the next man and you're sending pictures of your breasts?”

I scrolled through his text messages until I found Riley's name. “I had a great time last night. I owe you an apology. That kiss…It shouldn't have happened,” I read aloud. “What kiss would that be, Cain? Oh, wait a minute. According to your response, you thought it was a perfect evening and told her not to think twice about it.”

“You can't be serious. You're taking one text out of context. I just sat here and read text after text that my woman was sending with another man.”