Alluring - Suzanne Steele Page 0,3
Calix’s affection.
Rum turned the key in the lock and stepped inside to turn off the alarm. Calix had insisted on only the best as far as security. Come to think of it, Calix had insisted on a lot.
Rum walked over to the office and put her purse in the filing cabinet. She took a minute to look around at the house Calix had provided for the girls. It was in a great neighborhood, and the neighbors were far enough away from each other, not to be concerned with the women going in and out of the house. Perhaps they knew to be too nosey when it came to a property Calix owned wasn’t a wise thing to do. Curiosity could get a person in trouble when dealing with a man who had his temperament. The neighborhood was better because Calix was part of it, and that was all that mattered to the senior citizens who wanted peace and quiet. Calix offered a measure of safety only danger could bring. Rum knew sometimes it took a monster to keep the other monsters at bay. Fuck fighting with fire. Fire wasn’t the enemy the Maury’s of the world were.
Candy sat in a chair on the opposite side of the desk and watched Rum booting up the computer for the start of a day’s work.
She fingered her gum, twirling it around a finger as she debated how to ask the question on her mind. “So… when are you going to get out of the friend zone with Calix. It’s evident the man is in love with you. Saint absolutely adores the man. Even his mother is crazy about you. You have a woman who actually wants to be your mother-in-law.”
“Listen to you, you’ve already got me married off—to a gangster no less.”
“Girls like us don’t find love. You’ve got a man who doesn’t care about your past. Get out of your head and into your heart, girl. You only live once.” Candie’s head bobbed up and down in excitement of the prospect of Calix and Rum as a couple. She was a woman full of energy, so some part of her body was always moving. A shaking leg, a bobbing head, or hands moved in new gestures when telling a story.
A wave of nausea rushed over Rum, and it had nothing to do with her love interest. Well, actually… it had everything to do with him.
“She’s right, you’ve only got one life.” A smooth sexy voice agreed.
Rum looked up to see Cashmere in the doorway and smiled. “You are one beautiful woman.” She took a moment to admire the African American—Latino mixed woman with golden eyes. Her hair laid in blondish brown waves past her shoulders today. She never ceased to amaze the women with the different looks she could come up with. Even more amazing was the fact she could carry them off. Cashmere didn’t just pull off the various styles; she flat out owned them. Without fail, every head turned when she entered a room. The most beautiful thing about her was her grace. She never let it go to her head. She was the walking definition of class.
“I didn’t realize you swung both ways,” Cashmere teased.
“I don’t, but if I did, I’d be all over your sexy ass.” Rum winked at her.
“Never gonna happen,” a deep voice reverberated from the doorway behind Cashmere.
Rum could feel her heart begin to speed up. It was always the same emotion when Calix was in the room: a mixture of fear and anticipation with a shot of lust that went straight to her core.
Calix’s eyes never left Rum even though he was addressing the other women, “While we’re on the subject of how Rum should stop letting her head get in the way of her heart, I want you, Ladies, in robes when you’re half-dressed. I don’t care about seeing anybody butt ass naked but Rum. I damn sure don’t want my kid seeing it when I bring him here.”
They all knew he was referring to Rum’s son Saint.
“Stop looking at me and get your asses to work…” Calix barked. The girls skittered away but could still hear his voice, which caused snickers. “I want Rum to myself.”
Rum squirmed in her seat as she watched him saunter over. He bent down beside her and eased his hand up her inner thigh. His voice was husky as he whispered in her ear.
“Did you miss me?” He eased his lithe fingers down the front of her