Page 27 of Stay with Me
“Oh, yeah…” I opened my door and glanced at him. “You got any coffee over there? I’m out.”
He smiled. “Yeah. I can hook you up.”
“Okay, go make some coffee, bring me a cup, and we can talk.”
“All right.”
I took a sip of the coffee and my eyes widened. “This is delicious!”
“Thanks. It’s a special blend my mom used to like. She called it spiced coffee—coffee plus cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper, and a few more spices. She taught me how to make it when I was little.”
“Damn, I need that recipe.”
“You play your cards right, you might get it.”
“Hmm.” I set my mug on the kitchen table and fixed weary eyes on Ryan sitting across from me. “What did you want to talk about?” I hope this man isn’t going to ask for a refund or something. I can’t deal with any foolishness right now.
“I want to know why you won’t go out with me.”
“I told you.”
“Yeah, but that’s bullshit.”
I straightened my posture. “Excuse me?”
“It’s bullshit. I’ve paid all my rent already. I’m a good tenant other than that thing with the loud music, but that hasn’t happened again and it won’t happen again. What do you think I’m going to do if we start going out? I can’t ask for a discount on rent I’ve already paid. You think I’ll ask for a refund or something?”
Damn.
“What is it? What are you really afraid of?”
I lifted my chin. “I’m not afraid of anything.”
“Then what’s the deal? You know I like you, and I can tell you like me. Maybe I took things too far the other night, but shit, you said you enjoyed it.”
I dropped my eyes. “I did…but—”
“But what? I only want to get to know you, Angela. I’m not asking for your hand in marriage.”
I’m not sure if it was the exhaustion or the fact that he was actually making sense. Either way, I liked the man, was very attracted to him, and did want to get to know him, so I said, “Okay.”
“You’ll go out with me?”
I nodded. “I’ll go out with you.”
He hopped up from my table with a grin. “Good. Be back over to pick you up at six this evening.”
He left, and I rested my head on the table. Before I knew it, I had drifted off to sleep.
15
I woke up hours later to find that Ryan had texted me during my slumber. His message simply read: Wear something nice.
So I did. After showering and downing a glass of juice, I applied lotion, pulled on a matching black bra and panty set, did my make-up, and slipped into a cream-colored halter dress that plunged in the back and stopped just above my knees, a little something I’d purchased a couple of years earlier when I pretended to myself that I was going to fly to LA for some vlogger awards ceremony. I was fastening the ankle strap on my open-toe cream heels when he rang my doorbell. Grabbing my clutch and my cell phone, I opened the door and swallowed hard. He looked outrageously gorgeous in a pair of navy blue slacks and a white dress shirt open at the neck and upper chest. His navy sport coat fit like it had been tailor made.
He smiled as he offered me his arm. “You look gorgeous. You ready?”
I nodded, found my voice, and said, “Yes.”