Page 54 of 1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Forty-Two

“And he’s never glad to see anyone,” Lotus adds, eyeing me.“I feel like there’s a story there. Come on. You can tell us.”

“There really isn’t,” I rush to correct them. “I literallymet Naz once. He only transferred to my brother’s prep school senior year, sothey didn’t have much time together before graduation. I’m surprised he evenremembered me.”

Now that’s a lie. Even though we only met once, I have nodoubt I left an impression on him, as he left one on me. Kindness andintelligence and curiosity. Hell, he was the first man to ever make me come.The way he made me feel, it lingered long after he had left Houston to followhis dreams.

“He’s here somewhere,” Iris says, craning her neck to lookout over the crowd.

“Last I saw him,” Lotus says, “he was playing pool withKenan and August. They’ll be over soon, I’m sure. Kenan can only be separatedfrom this baby for like an hour at a time.”

We laugh, but an urgency to leave assails me. I can’t denythe attraction when I saw Naz today, but somehow I know, if I actually do see him again, I’ll get drawn into an impossiblesituation. One that could become a tug of war between my loyalty to Cliff andthe attraction that’s still there between Naz and me.

“Where’s your restroom?” I ask, standing abruptly. “I gotta go.”

“Oh, sure.” Lotus gestures toward the house with one wholeside comprised of wide windows open and overlooking the pool and backyard.“Down that hall off the foyer, first door on the right.”

“Thanks.” I split a smile between the three of them. “I’llbe right back.”

I probably won’t be. I do have to use the restroom, but I’llfind a way to slip out after that and call Catalina tomorrow using a headacheas an excuse for my disappearance. Lotus mentioned possibly working together.We exchanged numbers, and hopefully something will come of it, but I need toget out of here. I pick my way around the pool with careful steps, feelingslightly lightheaded after a few drinks from the bar. I do my business and washmy hands, fully prepared to tiptoe my ass right outtahere. Naz makes me do something none of the Groundhog dates ever have.

Feel.

I feel…confused, unsure. Exhilarated. Turned on.

All I’ve wanted the last few years was to feel, and now thatI do, it’s with the wrong guy. A guy who has, through no fault of his own, hurtmy brother so badly. Cliff is finally clean. Finally getting better. I can’trisk a connection with the very man he blames for his misfortune, even if thatblame is completely misplaced.

I dry my hands and head back into the hall, determined toget out of here, only to run, for the second time today, into a wall of muscleand man. I glance up and up until my eyes collide with Naz’s. He stares down atme, his hands coming to my elbows, gripping there to steady me. That mere touchsends my heartbeat into an erratic pattern and quickens my breath. He runs histhumbs along the backs of my arms in a gentle caress.

“There you are,” he says, his eyes intent, his mouthunsmiling as if he knows exactly what I was about to do. That I was leaving toescape this very moment and this very man. “I’ve been looking for you.”

Chapter Five

Naz

Damn.

I didn’t get to see Takira blossom from the girl I met inhigh school into the gorgeous, confident woman standing in front of me. Thanksto social media and my nagging curiosity, I got to see some things from adistance. I kept loose tabs on Cliff. None of what happened was my fault, buthe clearly laid blame at my feet. I sometimes looked for ways I might help,might be able to intervene with some opportunity that would get him back ontrack, but he snorted and shot up all his chances. You can’t save an addictfrom himself. Ultimately, he has to do that, but everytime Cliff occurred to me, so did his sister.

“Naz,” Takira says, blinking up at me in surprise. “Hey.”

“I was looking for you earlier. Thought you might be hidingfrom me.”

“Hiding?” She twists her lips into a grimace. “Not unlesschilling by the pool is considered hiding.”

“So you weren’t about to leave without saying goodbye?”

She glances down, her smile chagrined. “Well, maybe I wasabout to do that.”

Mascaraed lashes paint shadows on her cheeks. Her makeup isflawless—vibrant blue and green and purple eye shadow, fuchsia-colored lips,dark, dramatic brows winging over her bright eyes. A strapless body suitlovingly molds every breakneck curve and bold line. Her shoulders, a rich shadeof mahogany, gleam under the warm overhead light in the hall. Her arms lookstrong, but soft and rounded. A small diamond “T” dangles from a gold chainlinked around the slim column of her neck and rests in the shallow well at thebase of her throat.

My assessment of her is leisurely and thorough. I’m takingmy time and taking in every detail down to herbackless high heels and the nude color painted on her toes. I’ve never been afoot man, but she could convert me to any part of her body with just a crook ofher finger. She’s obviously a woman who invests in herself, who takes care ofherself. As a man who makes a living taking care of my body, I appreciate this.Any man who wins a woman like Takira would be blessed.

“Damn, Naz,” Takira huffs out a laugh. “Youalways this bold with it? You don’t be trying to hide your interest, do you?”

“I’m rarely this interested.”

Her dark eyes snap up to mine, searching for the truth Iknow is there.

“I gotta go,” she says, notaddressing my last comment.