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It took a few seconds for me to catch on.
No!
My face opened in terror. I shook my head, attempting to signal Tobias.
“What’s going on over there?” Trent asked from directly across from us.
“What do you do for a living, Lennox?” Wynter wore a puzzling expression.
Tobias leaned into me, planting a kiss beneath my ear. “Wrong question, Winnie—”
“Easy!” Raj warned.
LeRoy chuckled. “Good one, Tobias.” He winked.
That earned Tobias a giggle from Wynter, too. “Well?” she prompted with impatience. “Does our Bishop still have a perfect score?”
The pastor’s wife craned her neck to peer down the table.
Tobias inclined again and whispered in my ear, “Ezra’s more than a preacher. He’s a prophet. I had to learn that the nigga really knows shit. Just like he knows you’re the person who’s on the other side of Jade’s business needs, he probably knows how bad I wanna eat your pussy right now. It don’t help that me and the nigga got a lot of freaky shit in common.”
My eyes burst wide, and I swallowed hard. Between his warm, soft lips directly on my ear, and these strangers staring me down in anticipation, plus learning a pastor havinganythingin common with Tobias Elliott, I was spooked.
“Lennox’s been in training and management for a major hospital system in North Carolina. Her passion—her dream—for years has been to train Black women on how to service their community in the nail industry with the utmost, professional standards.”
Damn. He made me sound like a cover letter.
There was a resounding echo of utter shock in the room.
ChapterFourteen
Well after dinner, the guests were congregated in the formal living room of Ragee and Wynter’s home. Of course, there was a live band in the corner. Nothing overwhelming, but certainly beyond just a piano and drums. There were two guitar players and a percussionist. There was also a guy who went between the mic and sharing the drums with another. They performed a sexy tune I loved within minutes. As I danced in his arms, I asked Tobias the name. It was “Choosy Lover” by The Isley Brothers. I’d never heard of them, he shared, because they were an older group from our grandparents’ day.
Lots of people sang on the mic, including Ragee. He was now belting out Mint Condition’s “What Kind of Man Would I Be” with a tumbler of goldenMauvein one hand. Him being a natural tenor, I was pleasantly surprised at how well he sounded in a high range. He shared the microphone with guests, too, as some simply watched him. He even asked Tobias to sing a few times. Of course, Tobias turned him down. He didn’t like to be the singer, preferring the role of the composer.
Tori’s husband, whose name I finally knew was Ashton, was a little loose. Hell, we all were. The wine, champagne, and other spirits were flowing freely. Like Tobias and me, Ashton danced with his wife. This song, in particular, apparently had him in his feelings. As Tori swayed in his arms, beaming seductively, Ashton sang the song alongside Raj with passion. It was almost as if the record held sentimental value to them.
When they made it to the part of the song where the harmony broke up, and Ragee sang, “Makes me wanna say, ohhhhh…” Tobias leapt in place.
“Whoa!” He turned toward the band. “Somebody’s fuckin’ up that F minor six!”
“Big time,” I managed to hear the pastor rasp.
The pastor.See!Everyone was musically inclined.
Raj peered over to one of the guys singing and gestured for him to bring it down. Tobias turned back to me, big hands on the small of my back, and we danced until the song concluded.
Raj laughed. “Jim, man. You fucked up the split key on the bridge. Tobe was about to throw your ass out.”
“Pastor, too,” Trent chuckled. “I ‘on’t even know music, but when I saw his head whip around, I knew somebody was off!”
As they laughed, the Jim guy held his face in his hand.
“Why were you so cold to Raj?”
Tobias used his nose to graze the side of my face. “You noticed that?”
I stifled a moan, still unused to being so close to a man; caressed by one, too. “I think the whole room did. I can tell he thinks highly of you.”
