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“Sounds like you should be. You at least admitted you want to hook up with him again. What are you afraid of?”
“Losing myself,” Desiree answered honestly. “Montez is the kind of man I could easily see losing myself to, and…” Even the way he called her “gorgeous” made her melt with happiness inside. She shook off her concern. “Forget it. I will not jinx myself with negative talk. Montez is very confident—borderline arrogant. My new normal is soft men, the kind who ask about your day and call because they’re thinking about you. If I were dating again, that’s what I would want. I don’t want a man who makes me lose my head. Montez spells trouble and has me all discombobulated.”
“Hmm… maybe you should give in,” Nina suggested.
Desiree hopped off the bike and dabbed her damp face with a towel. “No way. He will be a distraction of the worst kind and keep me from my goal.”
“Or not.”
“You’re no help.”
“I don’t want you to miss out on a good man because you’re overthinking the situation. He’s not Royce.”
Desiree’s shoulders slumped, and she sat on a bench near the weights. “I know, and to be honest I regret leaving him in that hotel room. But I have to be realistic and concentrate on my career. That’s the promise I made to myself, and I intend to keep it. After he and I go to dinner, there’s no more Montez in my future.”
“If you say so,” Nina said, sounding one hundred percent like she didn’t believe a word that left Desiree’s mouth.
* * *
Montez walkedinto the lakefront building that contained the clubhouse and restaurant of the Stone Mountain Golf Club, home to two championship-level courses.
He was meeting his cousin Drevon Ross and their buddy, Jet, before their tee time. He walked through the doors and immediately saw Drevon seated in an armchair. He was his cousin on his father’s side and a multi-hyphenate—model-actor-producer—currently searching for investors for his next film project. He looked like the rapper Drake but without the braids.
Montez walked over and gave him some dap. “Hey man, how’s it going? You’re here early.”
“I had extra time on my hands, so I thought I’d come early and chill for a bit.”
“Did you talk to Jet?”
“He’s on his way.”
Montez sat in the armchair beside him. He and Drevon played golf regularly, though Drevon’s membership was at the Atlanta AthleticClubin Johns Creek. Jet was more of a baller than a golfer, so they always got him a guest pass whenever he played with them.
“How are things going with your new film project?”
His eyes lit up. “Everything is coming together nicely. The screenplay is done, and I have investors lined up. I’ll be meeting with them while I’m in New York in a couple of weeks. Then I’ll head to Cali to talk to Ryan Coogler. I’m hoping to get him to direct the film. If everything comes together the way I’m planning, I know this film will be a blockbuster.”
“Of course it will be. Go big or go home, right?”
“That’s right. What about you—how’s work?”
“Just finished wrapping up a social media campaign with Monica Connor. You know who she is?”
“Yeah, I know who she is. She’s a local influencer, right?”
“That’s the one. Anyway, the campaign brought in a ton of new female clients, and we were so busy that when we received a request for an escort to a business function, I ended up stepping in.”
Drevon’s eyebrows shot toward the ceiling. “That’s never happened before, has it?”
“No. Here’s the interesting part—I know the woman I went on the date with. Do you remember the woman I told you guys about a while back? Desiree?”
“Hell no! The one-night stand who disappeared the next morning?”
Montez winced. “That’s the one.”
“What kind of coincidence is that?”
“The craziest kind. We went to dinner at her boss’s house. It was supposed to be a one-time thing, but the guy loves golf and invited me to play with him. So, I’m playing golf with her, her boss, and her competition for the promotion on Saturday.”
