“I came here today to tell you what happened between us was a mistake. I don’t know why I can’t control my attraction to you, but I promise going forward I will. In fact, I think you and I should steer clear of one another for a while. We are supposed to be friends and the lines keep blurring.” I took a deep breath. “Good luck with the club.”
“Nikki, wait.” He said rising to his feet. He reached for me, but I took another step backward, putting distance between us.
“No, Mikey.” I said. My throat started to feel as if it was closing. I turned around quickly and hurried out of the coffee shop. I left Mikey standing there I could feel his gaze bore into my back as he watched me walk away from him. It would take every bit of strength I had to keep my distance from him. My legs may have been strong enough to carry me away, but I wasn’t so sure about the rest of my parts and I feared I had already left one of them with Mikey in that coffee shop.
Chapter Thirteen
When I was a kid, my dad would be home most of the day. He’d pick me up from school and we would throw the ball around. Most nights we sat down as a family to eat dinner together. After dinner, I’d sit on my parent’s bed and watch my dad get dressed to go to “work”. He’d stand in front of the mirror working the knot on his tie until it was perfect. He’d style his hair never leaving one strand out of place. Once he was satisfied with his appearance, he would bring me into my room and tuck me in for the night. I remember watching him shrug his suit jacket on as he reached my bedroom door. He’d flick the light switch looking over his shoulder at me one last time before he went on his way.
I stared at my image reflected in the mirror tucking my crisp white shirt into my meticulously black tailored pants zipping them up and buttoning the fly. I slid the soft leather belt through the loopholes and tightened the buckle. I glanced down at the tie that lay across my dresser and reached for the comb that was beside it. I lifted my head and worked the comb through my hair fixing it just so. I sprayed cologne next before I reached for my father’s diamond bracelet. I held the gold in my hand, studying it as if it was a foreign object. It was gaudy as all hell, but it was all I had left of my old man. The thick gold plate sat on my wrist. Val splayed across the gold with diamonds. I fastened the bracelet taking a deep breath I gave myself one final glance in the mirror. The reflection staring back at me held an uncanny resemblance to my father. I wondered why I hadn’t noticed before how much I looked like him.
I looked at the tie once more deciding I wasn’t really a tie type of guy I left it on the dresser and reached for my phone. I draped the suit jacket over my arm and went to slide the phone into my pocket when I noticed that I had an unread text message. I entered the passcode and opened the message. It was from Nikki. I debated for a moment on whether or not I should even open it.
I hadn’t spoken to her since the day she ran out on me in the coffee shop. I tried to call her once, but then I thought about it. Maybe she was right. Maybe we did need to stay the hell away from one another. I respected her wishes and didn’t reach out to her. Not speaking to her everyday forced me to focus on work I suppose that was a good thing right? Still, I missed her. I missed talking to her. I missed her smile. I missed her smart-ass remarks. Hell, I missed her ass period.
She was still with Rico this much I know because the prick didn’t stop talking about her whenever he was at Temptations. He had stopped in a bunch of times throughout the week claiming he wanted to check this or that for tonight’s opening. I still didn’t trust him, but I didn’t have anything on him either. Digging for information on him was pointless. Apparently, no one in Victor’s organization cared much about Rico and just labeled him some guy Nikki was passing time with. I was desperate to figure him out even reaching out to Jimmy Gold hoping he could provide some insight into the man in Nikki’s life, but he was just as clueless as he was about everything else. Everything I tried only lead me to another dead end. Everyone thought I was just jealous because I wanted Nikki for myself. The only person I hadn’t tried to pick apart for information was the one person who probably would be able to give it to me Victor.
I stared at the screen of my phone sliding open the text message with my thumb. Guilt consumed me as I realized that I should’ve been the one to text her. It was her twenty-first birthday and I should’ve at least sent a text to wish her a good one but I was too proud.
Nikki: Hey, I just wanted to wish you good luck tonight.