There was a lot of happy chatter with that announcement.
“Emmanuel, every year, my husband and I put on an annual New Year’s Eve celebration. We started it about ten years ago when I complained that I was never invited to anyone’s ball. Nick suggested that we host a ball, and we did. It started withjust family and close friends, but it has grown to two hundred guests over the years.”
“Speaking of which. There’s this great guy at Chris’s job that I met a few months ago. He’s a pretty good guy, and he usually comes over for our game nights once a month. He’s cute, sweet, and thoughtful. I mentioned you to him a couple of times, Kandi, and I promised that I would hook the two of you up. I think that New Year’s Eve ball would be the perfect time to do it. What do you think?” Holly asked, clapping her hands gleefully together.
Nicolette, Nicky’s girlfriend, also nodded eagerly. “That’s a great idea, Kandi. You didn’t have a date last year, and you were miserable. Why not let Holl set you up this year?”
My head quickly turned to look at Kandi to see her reaction. My gut churned. There was no way in hell I would sit back and let her go out with another nigga. I’d be a damn fool to let that happen, and though I’d been called many names through the years, a fool had never been one of them.
“I don’t know. Let me think about it,” Kandi replied.
Good girl, I thought. Although, there wasn’t shit to think about. I would let her know that as soon as I got her alone.
“Or ifMr. Kayndoesn’t already have New Year’s Eve plans, he can come as Kandi’s plus-one,” Mrs. Jolly stated slyly.
I finished sipping my wine and then looked at Kandi, who bit back a shy smile.
“I would love to go. I’ll just need my assistant to clear my calendar,” I replied, never taking my eyes off Kandi.
I thought that I heard her sister release a triumphant “Hmph,” along with her mother’s sweet giggle, but I wasn’t sure. My attention was locked in on the woman beside me who had stolen my heart.
27
HOLIDAY MAGIC
Kandi
Although I had been willing to spend the night at my parents’ home because I didn’t have my car, I was thankful when Kayn offered me a ride home. My car was still parked at my house after leaving it there when we went on the trip. I’d been brought to my parents’ house by his car service after the trip ended.
The ride back to my apartment was silent, with intermittent yawning from me every few minutes. We didn’t leave my parents’ house until a little after two in the morning. We played games, talked, had desserts and drinks, and talked some more.
I could tell that my mama and daddy adored Kayn. Holly would have to be handled later. She thought that she was slick, offering to set me up with some random ass man at Chris’s job. She knew better than that. I think she only did it to get a rise out of Kayn or me, or both. I could tell that he was definitely in his feelings about it because I could feel the energy emanating from him.
When he pulled up to my apartment, he shut the car off. “I’ll walk you up to make sure that you get in there safely.”
“You’re not staying?” I asked.
“No.”
“I need to talk to you about something,” we both said at the same time.
“Let’s go upstairs to my apartment, and we can discuss it there before you leave.”
He nodded and climbed out of the car before he walked around to my side and opened the door. I could feel Kayn’s gaze on my ass and all over me as I made my way into my building. We remained quiet until after we were inside and were sitting on the couch. I grabbed a couple of water bottles for us both because I didn’t need any more alcohol in my system, and he had declined more than one drink at my parents’ house since he was driving.
“You first,” he stated.
I inhaled deeply and then slowly exhaled. “Kayn, I know that we’ve been down this road before, but you’re going to have to hire someone new at the start of the year. I will fill my role until you can find them, and I will even stay on to train them. But if you don’t mind, I would like to be transferred to another department. I don’t want to leave the company. I have excellent benefits, and the company’s mission and value are things that I can stand on.”
“Then why are you leaving? Because of me?”
I could hear the hurt and dejection in his tone.
I nodded slowly. “Not that you’ve done anything wrong. So I don’t want you to feel that way. But I know me. I get in deep, and my feelings for you have developed far faster than they ever have for anyone else. Whenever I’m not with you, all I can think about is you. I want to talk to you, see you, touch you, smell you, and kiss you.”
“And that’s a problem because?” he asked, reaching out and tugging on a strand of my hair that had fallen from the ponytail I fashioned.
“Because my feelings for you have been growing in intensity each day, especially when I’m around you. I’m scared of being jobless again, and I don’t want to have to work for another company, but I can’t hide my feelings. I cannot even stop them.”
