Page 7 of Sun Kissed Moments

“You want the truth?” I questioned. “If so, you can’t blame me for what I gotta say.”

Her eyes flashed with something erotically dangerous, but I kept my heart from beating out of my chest.

“Gimme the truth, Mr. Richards,” she answered.

Staring into her eyes, I said, “I’ve been sitting back, watchin’ you, thinkin’ about you, and doin’ my fuckin’ best to stay patient and wait for the chance to approach you. Sliding in ya DMs was high on my mind, but I knew that wasn’t the way I wanted to come at you. I counted on that nigga to fuck up, and he did. So, here I am. I hope he knows he’s never getting you back.” Not ever.

She blinked at me, processing my words with a subtle smile on her face. After a minute, she chuckled lightly.

“No wonder you’re in conversation as one of the greatest rappers of all time,” she said. “You have a way with words.”

Amused, I said, “Pause. You don’t think I’m the greatest rapper of all time?”

Her smile broadened, and she shrugged. “Personally, there’s a Louisiana-born rapper with locs giving you a run for your money, Big Dane.”

I smiled too. “I can’t even argue with that. Now, back to me having a way with words. I’m not bullshittin’ you. Let me take you to dinner, and we can discuss how you really think that nigga can keep up with me.”

She stifled a laugh and said, “You must think I’m crazy. If I go anywhere outside of this resort with you, we’ll be splattered all over the blogs, and I have enough shit going on. That is not how I intend to spend my time here. If you must know, I’m here to enjoy some quiet time and celebrate—”

“Ya birthday,” I interjected. “Yeah, I know.”

Her lips snapped together, and she peered at me pensively.

“What?” I asked.

“How did you know my birthday’s coming?”

“Besides the fact that I’ve been watchin’ you? You share the same birthday with my mama.”

Her eyes softened, and I could see she wanted to dive into my head. I would allow her that chance once we passed the stage of her saying yes to dinner.

“So, dinner?” I quizzed.

“Where are we going?”

“It’ll be lowkey. I promise.”

She thought for a few more seconds, then replied, “Okay, dinner. Now, get outta my suite Mr. Richards.”

Chuckling, I refrained from releasing the deep breath I was holding until I was on the other side of the door. I breathed out and beat my chest in celebration as I headed back to my suite.

The moment Dane left my suite, I rushed to my phone to call my cousin, Nooki, then thought better of it. If I told her anything concerning Dane, she’d want to fly out here and get an exclusive interview with him. Nooki was the cousin I called for everything. We didn’t talk every single day, but we rarely let a week go by without catching up. She was in California producing a new television show, but she would drop everything if I called with something as juicy as going on a date with Dane Richards.

Plus, I couldn’t risk my mama finding out about this date. She didn’t care for Shy T, she surely wasn’t going to care for Dane, a much larger and more influential rapper. Before coming here, I told her I would stay away from rappers. Here I was, going on a date with the rapper of all rappers. A freaking billionaire for goodness’ sake. I could say that Dane was out of my league. However, the fact that he admitted to watching me turned off that part of my common sense.

So, as much as I wanted to share this news with someone, I didn’t. I was getting sidetracked from the reason I was on vacation in the first place. I set my phone on do-not-disturb and promised myself I’d stay off it for the rest of the trip.

Sighing, I grabbed my clothes off the couch and went back to the bedroom to moisturize my skin before putting the clothes on. I’d settle in until it was time to share dinner with Dane. Hopefully, dinner would be out on a terrace or something because the weather here was too perfect not to enjoy it. As long as no one spotted me keeping company with Dane, I was fine.

You might as well stay inside, I thought to myself. Probably. However, I’d already given him a yes. I’d be stronger the next time around. One date wasn’t going to harm anything. And I definitely wasn’t about to fall in bed with Dane. That would be a huge fucking disaster. One that I wanted no parts of.

But it’s been so long.

Yep. It had been a long time for me. Shy T was on tour, and when he wasn’t on tour, he was in the studio. He never had time for me, and I used to give him a pass because my schedule was crazy too. Being in this life wasn’t easy. It was inside a jet, a hotel room, and different venues multiple times a week.

In this business, strength was the least of the qualities anyone needed. What was truly needed was patience and grace. Those were the things I’d learned over the years. I had to be patient with myself when things became hectic. Giving myself grace was the hardest to adopt. There were times when I was so tough on myself that even my mama grew concerned.

Trying to be perfect in a world of imperfect people nearly drove me crazy. The last time I took a break from making music, I stayed away for so long that people started speculating that I’d gotten pregnant and was hiding the baby. That was something I’d never do. The way I wanted to have a family and live happily ever after needed to be studied. However, since my love life was in the trash, it didn’t look like I was going to have any of that shit any time soon.