Then Came You ; Written with Love Read online

  He should have walked away, but walking away wasn’t in his nature and hadn’t been since he was five and his kindergarten teacher told him to let Stevie have the last toy in the basket, even though Stevie had pushed him out of the way. At five he couldn’t put into words the dynamics of what was happening, or give voice to the twist that knotted in the pit of his stomach. He remembered looking at Stevie’s pink cheeks and blue eyes, eyes that matched Ms. Holly’s. He said no, snatched the toy, held it to his chest and marched back to his place on the brown-and-orange rug. Ms. Holly actually tried to pry the toy from his hand. He remembered biting her hand. She yelled and called him a dirty little nigger. He didn’t know what nigger meant, but in his child’s mind, it was connected to being small and dirty, and the look of red fury on Ms. Holly’s face only confirmed that it was something awful, that he was something awful. After his father and mother paid Ms. Holly a visit the following day, the thought of walking away from anything or anyone never entered his mind.

  Alonzo pulled the door open and walked inside. Cheri had her back to him and was practically lip to lip with Dominic. He casually strolled over.

  “Cheri, hey!” He placed his hand on the back of her chair.

  Her head snapped up. Her hazel eyes widened. “Zo! Hi, uh...”

  He waved a hand dismissively. “Just wanted to say hello. You’re Dominic Logan, right?” He turned on his smile.

  “Yes.” Dominic stuck out his hand.

  “Alonzo Grant.” He shook Dominic’s hand. “Nice to meet you in person.”

  “How do you know Cheri?”

  “Oh, Cheri and I go way back. Right?” He grinned down into her stricken face. He stealthily stroked the back of her neck with the pad of his thumb. All those acting lessons weren’t doing her much good.

  “Yes, we do,” she said softly.

  “Hey, I just stopped in to grab a bite. Don’t let me hold you two up. Nice seeing you, Cheri—and meeting you,” he said to Dominic.

  Without another word he turned away, half amused, half annoyed, his order for tortelli forgotten. He didn’t even bother to find out if Warren was working. The upside of this made-for-TV moment was that at least he and Cheri would never have to engage in the “it wasn’t me” conversation. He pushed open the door, stepped out into the mist-filled night and returned to his car.

  * * *

  Once in his hotel room he poured himself a shot of bourbon and began to peel out of his clothes. On the ride to his hotel he replayed the scene at the restaurant. It was almost funny, complete with clichés. He tossed his white shirt across the chair. Cheri was sexy, great company and probably as noncommittal as he was. They got together whenever they were in the same city, had plenty of laughs and fabulous sex. There had been times when they’d awkwardly danced around the idea of going exclusive. Those conversations generally devolved into a romp in bed.

  Knowing all that, there was still that male-ego part of him that was totally pissed off. Clearly, Dominic had no clue that anything was going on with him and Cheri, but she knew and that’s what stung—a little.

  He tossed back his drink. If he was honest, although he’d never committed, he cared about Cheri. He’d cleared the decks for her—sort of, or at least he gave their relationship more attention than any of the others he engaged in from time to time. That meant something.

  In the morning, he’d have to call the airline. They’d flown from LAX together and had first-class tickets to return. That would be awkward. He chuckled. In the meantime he’d chalk this one up to a learning experience. The lesson—hmm, he was still learning.

  Copyright © 2019 by Donna Hill

  ISBN-13: 9781488034442

  Then Came You & Written with Love

  Copyright © 2019 by Harlequin Books S.A.

  The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:

  Then Came You

  Copyright © 2019 by Eboni Manning

  Written with Love

  Copyright © 2019 by Joy Avery

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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