“Man, you will not have me bare foot and pregnant in here. Stop sexing me so good. Leave me, man!”
I laughed and stopped stroking myself with the hope of it dying down. “Fine, I’ll go take a cold shower.”
“Wait, what was the favor you wanted? I hoped it wasn’t that.”
I scoffed, “Absolutely not. I wanted to know if Dylan could plan a night for us at Velvet. Drew’s coming back to town next weekend and I want to do something nice for him.”
“Aw, that’s sweet, Colt. I love how you do things for the people you care about, but remember, you don’t have to do anything. We all love you even if you don’t do nice things.”
“I’m working on it,” I huffed. It was the truth. However, there was something else at the top of my list of things to do. I didn't want to wait, but I didn’t want to rush into anything. “I just like my brother to have a good time whenever he comes home, because when it’s all said and done, when he comes back here, I want him to want to stay.”
She moved toward me, fully dressed by now, to my disappointment, and kissed me so softly on my lips. “Mr. Warner, you’re the sweetest thing on earth.”
She did that a lot. Kiss me senseless, say something poetic, and then walk away like she wasn’t the reason behind a lot of my happiest days as of late. Her footsteps up the stairs were slow and deliberate as I heard her cut the shower on. I called out to her. “Seriously, Nina! Make that night happen, please. Tell Dylan I have an open budget, too.”
I had to remind her because if I didn’t, she would forget. An accountant with horrible memory retention made me laugh to myself.
She poked her head over the balcony from upstairs. “You want Dylan Hall to have access to your wallet, baby? Give me a number because she will bleed you dry if you give her permission.”
“Fine, keep it under a hundred,” I shrugged. The amount didn’t matter to me because the night was going to serve a different purpose.
“Should I have her call your cell or your office?” she asked me.
“My office please,” I told her. So, she did.
Dylan Hall called my office once before she showed up to see it in person the next day to discuss everything I wanted to talk about. Short and impactful were the words that came to mind when I saw her step inside. Kyle blushed as he rose from his chair and shook her hand. My brother, Drew, and Heath also showed up to this meeting.
“What the hell is going on here?” Dylan smiled as she took the seat Kyle just vacated, leaving him to stand and watch. She made him nervous. I liked seeing him on edge. He went after gold diggers mostly, so a woman of power that rendered him speechless was a gift.
“I don’t want Nina to leave,” I blurted out.
Dylan burst into laughter, “Well duh! She is an angel and will make a turtle shell feel like a home. She’s amazing and she’s already sold her condo.”
“Yeah, I know,” I huffed, running my fingers through my hair, “That’s why I needed you here.”
“I thought I was coming here to discuss football’s tall and hung over there,” she gestured toward my brother, who blushed a deep shade of red. Dylan laughed, “I’ve seen the videos Mr. Broad City. Not bad, but not my type. I don’t do athletes.”
She turned and dragged her gaze over Kyle’s entire body, forcing him to fidget in place and adjust his tie. “What do you do, slim?”
“Tech,” he told her, clearing his throat.
“Nice, I like ‘em smart. I’ll get back to you,” she told him before shifting her attention to me. “You don’t want Nina to go, got it. What’s that got to do with this party you’re supposed to have me throw?”
“Actually, I think I want to ask her to marry me,” I told her.
“Yes! That’s a brilliant idea! I love it. I love it. What do you need from me?” she asked.
“Honestly? I just need you to get her to the place I need her to be at.”
“So wait,” Dylan sulked, “You’re not proposing to her at Velvet Black?”
“No, but I still need the party to happen after I propose.”
Dylan nodded with approval. “Okay good, I’m all yours. How can I help?”
For the next few hours, the four of us conspired on how to get my girlfriend to a place where I could ask her to marry me and which ring would suit her best. Dylan wasn’t any help at all as she told me that Nina and I should just get matching tattoos and call it a day. I shook my head and decided to have her tell her other friend, Morgan, to call me. Surely, one of them knew what kind of ring Nina would like.
Chapter 23
