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Ashanti’s rubber boots splashed the water as she trudged toward him. “Wait. I’ve got it. How about you take me home and introduce me as your girlfriend.”
“What?”
“I’ll be the pioneer, going into the dangerous jungle to carve a path for the other beautiful black women who will follow. Your family can throw what they want at me. I’ll take it all and convince them black women aren’t the ghetto, ratchet, promiscuous characters they see on television.”
He put a hand on her crown. “Did that faucet hit you in the forehead?”
She swatted him away. “I don’t have a concussion, Luke. What I have is a good idea. And it works too because I have an advantage. Your family already knows me.”
“No.”
“No?” She gawked at him. “You’re just gonna shoot me down?”
Luke formed a gun with his fingers and pulled the ‘trigger’. “Bang.”
Ashanti bucked theatrically. “I got hit!”
Luke laughed. “Thanks for your willingness to brave the ‘dangerous jungle’ that is my family, but I’m good. You don’t have to repay me for today or meddle with me and Michelle.”
She pushed out her bottom lip.
Luke clipped her mouth. “I mean it, Ash.”
“Fine.” She shook her head to get him off. “But don’t come running to me when you start falling for Michelle and realize I might be on to something.”
“Let’s just get this place cleaned up. Okay?”
Ashanti grabbed her mop and focused on the floor.
Chapter Three
The bell above the door jangled. Luke glanced up, expecting to find Ashanti bouncing into the café. It was her habit to stop by after work and try to hustle a free cup of coffee out of him.
Instead, his gaze landed on a group of women—all dressed in colorful polos and khakis. He figured they were from a book club or something and was about to look away when his gaze caught on a familiar face.
She stood out from the rest, her smile a brilliant half-moon that sparkled white. She had long brown hair, incredibly creamy brown skin and soft, arresting eyes.
Michelle.
He’d noticed her the very first time she stepped into his store. Something about her made him unable to look away. When she’d called him over to order, he barely hid his fascination.
Luke had a habit of falling fast and deep, but this was the first time he’d felt this way about a black woman. It was cause for concern. Enough so that, for a brief second, he’d considered Ashanti’s proposal to give his parents a lesson in tolerance.
But doing so would be putting the cart way before the horse. All he and Michelle had shared was a brief conversation when he accidentally gave her the wrong change.
He doubted she even liked Asians.
Did she like Asians?
Guess he’d just never know.
Luke went over to take their order and was careful not to look directly at Michelle as he did so. Instead, he focused on the checkered table grout and the laminated menus in his customer’s brown, black, and tan hands.
It was a method that would have worked. If Michelle didn’t demand his attention by talking to him.
“Hey, Luke,” she said.
Those simple words were enough to make his heart hammer in his chest. “Hey… Michelle, was it?”
