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The slow song came on as the DJ finished up his sentence. Tony Braxton’s “Breathe Again” made me smile as I casted my eyes towards the door. Tasha should’ve been there any minute. In fact, I was surprised she hadn’t arrived yet. It had only been a few hours since I last saw her, but I longed for the moment when I could lay my eyes on her again. I was looking forward to showing her off as my woman. When I got the invitation, stating plus one, I knew she would take that spot next to me. Showing her off to the world had quickly become my obsession and couldn’t wait for our debut as a couple. My days of attending these galas alone, or with a random pick from my address book, were officially over.
It was after nine and I looked around the room. There was still no sign of Tasha, but plenty of celebrities, men and women, that would gladly give their money for the kids mixed and mingled and seemingly enjoyed themselves. This gala was all about pulling people together to make a difference. It also just happened to be my favorite charity.
The slow love ballad played on and it could have easily become our song, but since Tasha wasn’t there, I wasn’t so sure we would get the chance to claim the dance floor. When my eyes made their way back to the door, I saw her. It wasn’t Tasha. Instead, it was someone Tasha wasn’t fond of. Melinda Lory came walking through the door. Her eyes scanned the room, and it was like a magnet drew her to me, as she glanced in my direction. She beamed with a smile that crossed her face and, before I could make my getaway, she headed my way.
“Hey, Matt,” she said, having stalked right over to me. Her heavy makeup made her look almost clownish, and given the way she treated my lady she looked twice as bad to me.
I nodded my head and looked at her. “Hey, Melinda.” Then, I turned away from her to watch the door, checking to see if Tasha would come in. The last thing I wanted was for her to find me in the vicinity of the one person she despised most.
“Beautiful night to save babies’ lives, don’t ya’ think?” Melinda asked.
I shot her a sharp look and arched an eyebrow. “Well, I would say every night is beautiful if you could save a child’s life.”
My tone was not inviting for further conversation, but she didn’t pick up on that. She laughed and nodded. “Well…you have me there, Matt.” She then started to laugh while holding her hand to her chest like I was hilarious. I noted how she was being overly friendly. The fact that she had no idea that Tasha and I were dating was no doubt the reason. She reached out and touched my shoulder, stopped laughing, and caught my stare. “I never knew how strong your biceps were, Matt. Wow, you are built,” she said, giggling. Her eyes traveled down the cut of my tailored suit from my chest to my shoes, then back up.
“Ha.” I looked away from her. It wasn’t very subtle the way she was flirting, but I found it funny, since I had no mutual interest in her. “Thanks, Melinda,” I said. I snickered and continued to look off in the direction of where Tasha should be entering any moment, when I heard Melinda’s voice again.
“I just love this song,” she said. I turned to look at her and she had a dreamy look in her eyes. “It’s a great song to dance to, don’t ya’ think?” she asked, wriggling her brows.
“Yeah,” I said, and I shouldn’t have given in to her obvious plea for attention, but the fact remained that I was looking out of sorts just standing there anyway. She started swaying to the music in front of me, so against my better judgement, I just moved slightly from side to side.
Her eyes widened with a child-like glee, and I immediately regretted the obvious expression of excitement on her face. “I’d would love to dance with you,” she said, as if I had asked her to dance with me.
She held out her hand, and took a few steps toward the dance floor. I didn’t take her hand, but I did follow her over to the dance floor. Melinda started to dance, while I maintained the perfect viewing area of the main entrance, waiting for Tasha. Melinda was talking away, and my eyes never left that location. “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge reverberated through the room, and I swayed to the beat a little bit. I kept telling myself to bring up the situation that happened with Tasha’s at her magazine company, but I wrestled with whether Tasha would want me to take a stand for her or not. I didn’t want to upset Tasha. I also didn’t want to stand by knowing that I could eat Colorful Times for dinner and spit the
bones out to snack on later, but did nothing.
“Are you even listening to me?” Melinda asked me at one point, a sound of irritation thick in her voice. She just didn’t know how close I was to owning her, and not in the way she wanted me to.
“What?” I looked back at her and pretended to be surprised she would ask such a question. “Of course, I’m listening.”
“Well…you looked like you were ignoring me,” she said, smiling and looking content again.
A glowing smile brightened my face because alas I spotted her. My whole mood shifted as she stepped into the ballroom. I stopped my robotic movements, leaving Melinda swaying to the beat alone. Tasha was breathtakingly beautiful in her black cocktail dress and matching shawl that hung over her brown shoulders that looked almost bronze in the party’s dim lighting. She was even more beautiful in that dress than when I she tried it on in Colorado. I ignored the way Melinda stared at me, mouth gaping, as I gawked at the only woman who deserved my attention.
Without a word, I moved on. Tasha’s eyes went to mine and she grinned. I met her in the middle of the room. I wrapped my arm around Tasha’s waist and pulled her close to me. “You look gorgeous tonight,” I said, trying to maintain my composure in the fight to keep all of my blood from running south.
She smiled with pride. “You aren’t looking so bad yourself, Mr. Wilde,” said teasingly. She winked, and my lips dipped down to hers. All eyes were on us, because she was the most beautiful woman in the room. When we parted from the kiss, she licked her lips. Seeing her tongue glide across her cherry colored lips caused a reaction in me. One that I would help me lose the battle I was already fighting over just the sight of her.
“You’re going to make me punish you.”
“What did I do?” she asked with a raised brow. “Oh, if it’s because I’m so late. I’m sorry. Traffic was not on my side, but I appreciate the invitation.”
I shrugged. It didn’t matter in the least that she was late. However, I was thoroughly bothered that she had arrived looking sexier than I ever imagined. I was anxious to get the party started, so I could take her home and punish her for a few reasons. Being so beautiful was only one of them.
“You’re the only one I would want by my side right now, and it doesn’t matter about the time because you’re here now, and I don’t want to miss a beat. I was talking about you calling me Mr. Wilde.”
“Oh,” she giggled. “Sorry Matt.”
“Care to dance?”
She smiled. “It would be my pleasure.” She grabbed onto my hand and I walked her out to the middle of the dance floor. From the corner of my eye, I spotted Melinda frowning at us. Tasha seemed to notice her too, because she stepped in closer to me. I wrapped my arms around her as we fell into a gentle beat of swaying to “Smash Into You” by Beyoncé. Our eyes never turned from one another’s as we continued to dance.
“We have an audience,” she whispered a few songs later.
I, too, had noticed Melinda watching us and making ugly faces, which wasn’t hard for her to do with her unpleasant attitude. I didn’t like Melinda in the way that she clearly liked me. It was Tasha that had my heart and no amount of staring was going to change that.
“Yes, she’s been on me since she got here. I don’t care if she dies a slow death due to envy; the woman who has my heart is in my arms and that’s all that matters,” I said and grazed my lips across Tasha’s. “But since she’s watching…we could give her something to stare at,” I said, wrapping my hand around Tasha’s neck and pulling her into a deep kiss. When our kiss collided and danced to the beat of the current ballad, I swore I heard a collective sigh coming from Melinda’s direction. I wasn’t about to let her ruin our night, especially when I had plans that would only make Tasha and I grow stronger.
