They were looking at something on one of their phones. Frankie’s laughter popped out bright and colorful against the background. Her head full of fluffy curls bounced up. She was the first to notice me. Her stare was wide and curious as she nudged Miss Lucas and pointed at me.
“Oh, hey.” Xari stood up and walked over to me. “Can we talk in the kitchen? I can show you what I made for dinner.”
“You made dinner?” I laughed, following her into the kitchen. My eyes took an involuntary trip to her perfect ass. I jerked my gaze up. I refused to be hypnotized by a twenty-year-old’s ass. Fuck that.
“I did. I told you I knew how to cook.” She’d told me that she could cook this morning but I didn’t believe her. Xari struck me as the type of person that wasn’t above lying to get her way. Maybe I had her pegged wrong.
“What did you make, Miss Lucas?” I sat my briefcase down in an empty chair at the kitchen island and stood at the stove.
“Well, you guys had shrimp in the freezer, so I made shrimp and grits. The real kind with the sauce, peppers, and Andouille sausage.” My stomach started growling the minute she said shrimp. Judging by the smell of the food, she knew her way around the kitchen.
“You’re not off the hook for that little stunt you pulled earlier.” I took the top off the silver pot and leaned over to smell the grits inside. They were perfect.
“Okay, but you have to admit, it smells fucking amazing.” She hopped up on the counter and crossed her legs. I kept my eyes on hers and folded my arms across my chest.
“Language, Miss Lucas.”
“You don’t watch yours all the time, Mr. Freeman.” She cocked her head to the side and smirked at me.
“I watch it all the time. Sometimes, when people get on my nerves and force me out of character, my language might slip.” I pulled down a bottle of Jameson whiskey then went for a glass. “Can you pass me the artisanal ice from the Subzero?” I watched quietly to see if she knew what I was talking about. She seemed to have the same knack as Navy for knowing things but she didn’t mask it with humility. Xari was proud of her knowledge.
She hopped off the counter and swayed over to the freezer near the wine chiller. Did she have to walk like that? Every time she swayed her hips, I heard A Tribe Called Quest’s Bonita Applebum playing in my head.
I was so wrapped up in her walk, I almost missed her grabbing the correct ice. “Oh, you keep yours in an ice chest. That’s cool. Do you have it delivered?”
“I do. Weekly. You know about artisanal ice, Miss Lucas?” I couldn’t help smiling a little as she set the ice chest on the counter in front of me.
“Can’t drink good whiskey or bourbon without it in my humble opinion. It gets your drink to the perfect temperature without diluting it because god knows I hate chasers.”
“Is that right?” My smile broadened.
“Yeah, they’re for bitches. Give it to me hard and straight.” My cock jumped at her words and the silky way they slipped out of her mouth. I cleared my throat and plucked a spherical piece of ice from the chest with my tongs.
“Wait, wait, wait,” I said frowning at her. “You’re not twenty-one.”
“Ooh. Are you going to call the cops on me? You can’t tell me you didn’t drink liquor until you were twenty-one, Senator.”
“I…didn’t.” I tried my best to hold an impassive expression but I couldn’t help giving in to the smile cracking my exterior.
“Bullshit, you were probably drunk as fuck when you hit eighteen.”
“You’ll never know. Now, watch your mouth.” I aimed a finger at her and watched the corners of her mouth quirk up.
“Yes, sir.”
“Look, I know you were trying to have fun with Frankie earlier but can you refrain from making jokes about her safety? That’s my baby. She means the world to me and panicking like that for even a second feels like an eternity. We’ve gotten death threats before and shit like that puts me on edge.”
For once, a somber look crossed Xari’s face. She pursed her lips together then nodded. “I’m sorry, Mr. Freeman. I wasn’t trying to scare you or anything. I thought I’d poke fun at you for thinking I was irresponsible.” She sucked in a quick breath then