Page 79

She rolls her eyes. “Sis. I’ll sell my left toe to hear something like that again. I mean seriously. It was a performance. I was rooting for you the whole time. I don’t blame you though. Aiden is fine as hell. You are too. Let me know when y’all need a third.”

I give her a pointed look at the mention of Aiden’s name.

She raises her hands. “My bad. I won't mention him again. As a matter of fact…” She points to a tall woman with a huge afro and a nose ring, wearing a red suit. “I’m going to flirt with that reaper. I need to get laid too. Maybe she will call me a good girl,” she says with a wink. I try to swat her, but she dodges my hands.

As I am about to ask Yirah to take me home, a tall reaper who I’ve seen, but not spoken to, walks up next to me at the bar and smiles. His smile is sexy and so is he with his dark straight hair that is tied back in a man bun on the top of his head. He also has dark brown eyes. His sleeves are rolled up, showing a sleeve tattoo. This man is a walking sex advertisement and I'm the target audience. This may be just what I need to forget about Aiden.

He leans in. “How are you doing today, baby?” I internally cringe at him calling me baby. It only sounds right coming out of Aiden’s mouth.

I lean forward, placing a hand on his arm. I give him a shy grin. “I’m doing better now that you’re here.”

He looks at my lips, then back to my eyes and says, “I’m Justin. You trying to get out of here?”

I nod, and grin invitingly as he places a hand on my thigh. “I’m Joyce. I’m ready when y—”

One second, he is in front of me, the next he is laying across the bar on his back. I don't have time to react before I am face to face with an angry Aiden. I didn’t even realize he was still here.

He turns the bar stool that I am sitting on to face him. Then, he places his hands on either side of me.

“I let it slide when you touched his arm. But you’ve lost your mind if you think you are going anywhere with him,” he says with a hard edge to his voice.

I tilt my head to look up at him. Anger taking over every cell in my body. I shove his chest to get some distance between us, but he does not budge.

Justin yells from across the bar, “What the fuck, man! Who do you think you—”

The bar disappears. Everything melts away and we are in my kitchen.

Oh, I’m going to kill this man.

24

LOCKED OUT OF HEAVEN

“What the hell do you think you were doing?” he demands. This must be a joke. I sober up immediately.

“First, if you ever grab me and teleport me away like that again,” I narrow my eyes at him, “We are going to have a serious fucking problem. Take me back now.”

“Why were you flirting with him?” Why do men think they can demand something, and it will be willingly given?

“What I do is none of your concern anymore. Especially since you’ve been hiding a huge secret from me since the day I met you!” I yell.

“To protect you, Joyce! Just like I am protecting you from that piece of shit reaper.”

I roll my eyes. “Seems like I have a habit of attracting piece of shit reapers.”

He narrows his eyes menacingly. “You’re acting unreasonable now.”

“Oh,” I reply sarcastically, “that’s golden, Aiden. I have every right to feel the way I feel. Yes, I get it. You were doing what Taevian said. But did you at any point stop to think about me? Was I ever going to find out? Or were you both just going to let me ascend to Heaven without ever knowing my own father. Probably not, because you don’t give a shit about me!”

He takes four large steps and ends up in front of me. I back away, and he follows me until my back hits the counter. He grabs my hips and lifts me up with ease, setting me on the counter. Stepping between my legs, he places his hands on either side of my thighs.

I shove against his chest repeatedly, “Aiden, I’m not doing this with you. Back up. Now!”

He grabs my hands and brings them behind my back, holding them in place.

“Alright I’m going to give you two seconds to move the fu—”

“I can’t get you out of my head,” he cuts me off. “The way you walk in those heels. The way your suits mold to your body. I can’t walk behind you because one look and I’d fall to my knees. Fuck, Joyce. You already have me on my knees. I can’t sleep. I can’t breathe. I can’t go through the day without thinking about you. Whether you ate. If you are sleeping well. Who you are talking to. You’ve taken over my every thought.”