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  Sliding into her car and then turning over the engine, she rubbed her shoulder where Lucas had bit her right when he came inside her. He was a weird one, and yet, if he asked, she just might give herself to him again. And that scared her more than anything. She might not be doe-eyed right now, but she could be—with him.

  Right as Nita turned into the parking lot at her university, her cell phone rang. She kept her eyes on the road while she fished inside her purse to retrieve it. Punching her horn at a driver backing out in front of her without looking, she flipped the phone open and pushed the connection button. “Hello?”

  Only after she heard his voice did she realize she should have checked the caller ID. “Hey baby, what happened last night?”

  Nita’s throat closed. What was she going to say? “Hi, Deandre. Um, I am so sorry about running out on you. I had a family emergency and was so distracted that I forgot to let you know I was leaving. A friend took me home.”

  A long pause. “A friend. Hm. Because it looked to me like you were stepping out on me with some other guy.”

  Nita’s eyebrows shot low. She didn’t like being caught in a lie, and she rarely did it. Irritation rose inside her at both being caught and at what she had done to Deandre. It was low, not the kind of thing she did. “He is a family friend. His brother is engaged to my best friend.” That was somewhat true.

  A buzz sounded in her ear. She lowered the phone to glance at the caller ID this time. She didn’t recognize the number, but suspected it was Lucas. The phone seemed to yell at her to choose whether to swap over for the other call. She swallowed hard. “Could you hold on a sec, Deandre? I have another call, and it could be important.”

  “Same as last night, huh?”

  “Yeah,” she snapped and switched over. “Hello?”

  “You ran out on me,” Lucas announced without preamble.

  “Lucas.” Damn, how did she get herself into this bind? She cleared her throat and tried to take on the female player attitude that she so was not. “Come on, it was just sex. It was good, granted, but that’s all. We didn’t need to wake up holding each other. And I had an early class to get to. Rather than disturb you, I called a cab. No big deal.”

  Holding her breath, she waited for his response.

  “You’re right. I like a woman who understands it’s just physical. No emotions need get involved at all. So, I’ll call you maybe next week. If you’re available great, if not, well you did please me last night.”

  Nita rolled her eyes. All about him. “Well I’m not sure. You pleased me as well, but I’m not into casual sex.” And she had just blown her whole player persona. “I think we can put it down to an experience.” Before he could say anything else, she blew him a kiss and shut her phone and then threw it into the passenger seat beside her.

  As she pulled into a parking space, her phone rang again. Deandre! She had forgotten she had left him on the other line, and come to think of it, how did Lucas get her cell number? She didn’t remember giving it to him. Men! Zandrea was right. She could not handle two men at once.

  She answered the phone.

  “Wow, you hung up on me. My feelings are hurt. I’m beginning to think you don’t like me,” Deandre whined, although he didn’t sound hurt in the least.

  “I’m sorry. I think I forgot to charge it. It might go out again.” She thought fast while she stepped out of the car. “Listen, why don’t I treat you to dinner tonight? We can go wherever you’d like. Just name the restaurant.”

  Deandre chuckled. “Okay, I’m going to hold you to it. You can’t run out on me, and you’ve got to give me a kiss to make up for everything.”

  Nita yanked the door open to her classroom. “I won’t run out,” she told him firmly. “Got a class. Leave me a voicemail or text message with the name of the restaurant so I can call ahead if I need to. Talk to you later.” She snapped the phone closed and then turned it off.

  * * * *

  Deandre slammed his fist into the wall of his room and then winced in pain. Nita was playing harder to get than he had anticipated, and it was all because of that other guy she had walked out with. He wasn’t a fool. Anyone with half a brain could smell the lust rolling off of those two when they left. He had not been so distracted by the guy’s friends that he didn’t see what was going on. But if he had pushed he would have revealed what he was. And that was not an option right now.

  Above all else, he needed to secure Nita. He had chosen her, and when he set his mind on something, nothing could change it. He would have her one way or another, even if it meant taking out the competition. He grinned. He knew just how to do that too. Of course with that cold son of a bitch, it wouldn’t take much. Nita would no doubt already suspect he had no heart. Deandre would seal that belief in so that she wouldn’t look twice at that fool. Then the door would be wide open for Deandre, the wronged lover. He laughed at the possibilities. This would be fun, and he needed some fun after laying low for so long at the university. Things were about to heat up big time.

  Deandre punched in a speed dial code on his phone and waited for his friend to pick up. When the groggy voice came on the line, he said, “Hey, got that info I wanted?”

  “Damn, D, you just asked for it like two hours ago.” A yawn distorted his next words.

  “That was last night, Kevin. I need to know where he hangs out. I need to know where he is right now. If you’d get your ass out of the bed for five minutes, you could get me what I need.”

  Kevin yawned again, and Deandre picked up the sound of aluminum cans being kicked aside as his friend shuffled to wherever he had the information waiting. “I had a long day yesterday, and I’m trying to catch up on my sleep. Besides, I’ve got girl troubles of my own.”

  Deandre sighed. “Tell it to someone who gives a shit.”

  Kevin grumbled. “Would it kill you to be nicer to me? I know I owe you a lot, but still. Damn! A person can only take so much before they lash out.”

  “Is that a threat?”

  No response for a full minute. “No, it’s not. Just...lay off. Okay, he and his boys hang at this club—”

  “I know about the club! There’s got to be somewhere else, maybe during the day. I want to touch him before tonight.”

  “You’re disgusting,” Kevin spat. “How did I get mixed up with you?”

  Deandre laughed. “Shall I go over it? Recite just how much I did for you that night?”

  “No, that won’t be necessary. You saved my ass. I owe you. I get it. You have the nerve to call us friends sometimes, but we both know I’m now your lifetime lackey.”

  “See, we understand each other, don’t we? What do you have, Kevin? I’m losing my patience. If you fuck it up with Nita and I, I swear I’ll—”

  “A country club,” Kevin blurted. “For the rich and snooty. On the north side. Let me give you the address. There’s a good chance he’ll be there right now, drinking with his buddies and celebrating how lucky he got last night.”

  Deandre slammed down the phone. When this was over, he was going to kick Kevin’s sorry ass and maybe get himself a piece of the woman he was obsessed with. He laughed. Maybe. That depended on how devoted Nita would be to him after he got what he wanted from her.

  Chapter Eight

  Nita knew something bad was coming the minute a cold breeze blew past her in the restaurant with her friends Zandrea and Stacy. The day was warm, and not a wind was stirring. Besides that, they were nowhere near the door when she felt it. She shivered and drew her jacket up around her, which she had discarded upon sliding into the booth.

  “Whew, did you two feel that?” she asked her friends. “Felt like someone walked over my grave.”

  Stacy snorted. “Since you’re not dead, that’s hardly likely. And what are you eighty-five talking like that?” Stacy bumped Zandrea’s arm. “Maybe we need to keep a sharper eye on Nita. I think she’s losing it.”

  Nita rolled her eyes, and Zandrea shook her head. Their friend hadn’t spoken much sinc
e they had arrived. She seemed preoccupied with something on her mind. “I’m sure she’s fine,” Zandrea muttered.

  “Come on, Z. Give me a break,” Stacy complained. “We finally get to duck out for lunch all together, and you can’t get your mind off your boyfriend. Have some pity on your manless friends.”

  Nita didn’t want to correct Stacy. She did have a date with Deandre tonight, and Lucas hadn’t said he wouldn’t be looking her way anymore. Not that she was going to let herself get mixed up with him too much.

  Zandrea sighed. “It’s not Brant I’m thinking about. Not exactly. There’s been some unrest among his...uh...people. Not sure, just something doesn’t feel right to them, like something bad’s coming.”

  Stacy frowned. “What are they psychic?”

  Zandrea glared. “Never mind.”

  “I know what you mean, I think,” Nita put in. “That feeling I just got was like that, but it was like it was about me, not Brant’s people. Maybe I am losing it. I don’t know. I had a date after forever, and you’d think I’d never been out with a man. I feel so off in my head. I can’t explain it.”

  Zandrea made a noise of understanding. “Like being with him and talking to him has disordered your emotions to the point that you don’t know if you’re coming or going. And you find yourself clumsy for no reason or absent-minded when you’re not even bogged down with a lot to do.”

  “Yes!” Nita stared in surprise that Zandrea had hit it on the head. She had been just like that since that first kiss from Lucas. She was pretty positive it was not a result of meeting Deandre, which was a shame. Her emotions had been roiling out of control, and had gone even further out of whack after she had slept with Lucas. That was the reason she had taken the initiative to wake up and leave his house before he could do anything. It was the reason she had led the conversation they had had on the phone. Yet, even with those measures, her insides churned with both nerves and longing to be with him again. If he didn’t call again, or if she didn’t see him, then what?

  Zandrea’s expression froze in place along with her fork halfway to her mouth. She was looking past Nita’s shoulder. “What the hell is he—?” she whispered.

  That same foreboding rippled over Nita’s body, giving her goose bumps. She turned slowly in her chair and was shocked to see Lucas bearing down on them. No, not now. Please, not now.

  His brows were low over his eyes, and his jaw was set. Her gaze dropped to his hands clenched at his sides, and she would have fallen if she wasn’t sitting. This was more than irritation. This was all out anger. Could she really have set him off that much with how she had dismissed him?

  Stacy surged to her feet, but not before Lucas took hold of Nita’s arms and dragged her to her feet. He shook her a little so that her head rocked back and forth.

  “Tell me I am wrong in thinking you’re seeing another man!” he shouted.

  She stared at him.

  “Take your fucking hands off my friend,” Stacy roared.

  Lucas ignored her. “Answer me, Nita.”

  “Y-You’re hurting me,” she managed to utter. “Let me go, Lucas. Who I see is none of your business. Our night together was—” She broke off her next words before she could alert the others about them being intimate.

  Lucas’ eyes had gone wide as if her hinting at them having sex was a surprise to him. She glared up at him wondering what had come over him. His dazed look disappeared, and he shook her again, harder.

  “You can spend tonight in my bed as well, but if you deny me and go out with someone else, you will be sorry.” He released her and raised a hand above her head. Nita screamed and put her arms up.

  Stacy charged him, knocking him off balance until he landed on his ass on the floor. He glanced up blinking, and before Zandrea could grab her, she kicked him between the legs. Lucas howled and rolled to the side holding his nuts.

  Zandrea yanked money from her wallet, tossed it on the table, and herded both Nita and Stacy out the door. They were in Zandrea’s SUV, speeding down the highway in seconds with Stacy in the back seat cussing up a storm and Nita shaking from head to toe in the passenger seat.

  Nita couldn’t get her mind to settle, to assess what had just happened, but one thing she knew without a doubt—there was something very off about that scene just now.

  “Z, we left my car back there,” Nita croaked with a dry throat.

  “You’re in no condition to drive,” she snapped. Her attention turned back to the road and she fished her phone out of her pocket, pressed a button and held it to her ear. After a few minutes, she growled, “Your no good piece of shit brother just attacked my friend, and if you don’t get his ass in check, I’m going back there and put him out of her misery!”

  She explained briefly what happened and then fell silent, and so did Stacy, leaning forward to try to catch what Brant was saying in response.

  Finally, Zandrea blew out a breath. “Okay. Yes, all right, Brant. I’ll meet you there. But we’re settling this, baby. I mean it.” Zandrea disconnected and put her phone away. She reached across the seat and patted Nita’s hand. “Don’t worry, sweetie. Brant’s just as pissed as I am. He wants me to meet him and go over what happened. Then we’re going to go find Lucas. Brant has a way of tracking him down.”

  “What GPS or something?” Stacy asked.

  “Something like that,” Zandrea answered. “Okay, Nita, I’m going to drop you at Stacy’s. You just get some rest. We won’t discuss right now the fact that you went and slept with him after I warned you about him. But trust me, I never suspected he would act like this. I would have told you flat out if I thought he was abusive. Brant has some explaining to do as well behind this shit.”

  Nita took a shuddering sigh. It was all she could do not to burst out crying. She found herself wanting to defend Lucas, but that was ridiculous. She was not the type of woman, she thought, to get caught up in a domestic violence relationship. Cutting all ties with Lucas was the best course of action. She should have listened to the warnings in the first place.

  Absently rubbing the spot on her arms where Lucas had gripped hurting her, she said, “I’d like to go back to my place, please. My dorm room. I just want to be alone and sleep.”

  Stacy made a soothing sound and hugged her, reaching between the seats. “Of course you do, sweetie. I’ll talk to you a little later on. And I promise, I’m not going to judge you. You are grown, and you can make decisions for yourself. I just want you to know I’m here.”

  Tears filled Nita’s eyes, and she scrubbed them. Uttering a quick thanks when Zandrea pulled up to her building, she jumped out of the car and ran up to the door. Her hand shook so much she couldn’t get the key in the lock, but another student came to assist her. Nita took the stairs two at a time and barely made it into her room before she was sobbing uncontrollably.

  Nita had been crying for a half hour when the tears lessened. She lay flat on her bed staring at the ceiling and replaying the whole scene at the restaurant in her head. Something was off about Lucas that was for sure. He had been surprised when she mentioned them sleeping together. Yet, he was out of his mind thinking she was with someone else. But he had already known that the night he dragged her away from Deandre, and she hadn’t been on another date with the man.

  The whole episode didn’t make any sense. Still, whatever his issues were, she could not see him anymore. He could deal with his family and see a therapist if that’s what he needed. Maybe his psychotic break was what his people had sensed coming.

  She rolled to her side and sighed with her hands tucked beneath her chin. The bite he had placed on her shoulder ached. She rubbed it remembering his touch, how he filled her and made her come countless times. What a horrible waste.

  Soon, her eyes drooped, and she fell asleep thinking it was a good thing she had Deandre.

  Chapter Nine

  Deandre’s shaft hardened in his pants at the first sight of Nita stepping out of her door. Her long caramel brown legs were exposed be
neath a short dress that was cut in a style that hugged her small breasts. Yum! He groaned knowing she couldn’t hear him as he hadn’t yet stepped out of his vehicle. Soon he would be lying between those luscious legs, and he would enjoy hearing her cry out his name while he pounded deep into her.

  Before he could spill in his new faded jeans, he pushed thoughts of Nita’s naked body from his mind and climbed out of the car. “Hey, sweet thing. You ready to go?”

  He held out his arms, but when he touched hers, she flinched and lowered her head.

  “What’s up? You feeling okay?” he asked her.

  She nodded. “I’m fine. Can we go? I don’t like standing out here.” She glanced around her like someone would jump out of the bushes. The night was warm and breezy, and no one was about. He expected that all the eggheads that lived over here had their heads buried in a book. Deandre shivered. His purpose had been focused for a long time now, and attending college was a means to an end. When he got what he wanted, he would leave this stuck up facility for good. Whether he would take Nita with him he hadn’t decided.

  “Shall we go?” Deandre opened the passenger side door, prepared to play the role of understanding and sensitive lover. In no time at all, his sweet, innocent Nita would fall into his arms and his bed.

  * * * *

  Nita squirmed in the passenger seat of Deandre’s car. She wanted to ask him where they were going, but couldn’t find the energy to speak up. Her nap earlier hadn’t helped matters at all. She was still depressed as hell, and her choice of dress wasn’t making her feel anymore comfortable. The moment she had sat down the material rose, showing off too much of her thighs. And while the inverted pleats looked great standing, sitting they had flared only enough to hug her hips. She must have gained a little since the last time she had worn the Maggy London Ikat print dress. That meant more shopping, which she didn’t like to do, but only because her trust fund was limited. Whoever heard of a person coming into their inheritance only when they turned thirty?