Bro-mance 101 (4 page)

At last, the elevator arrived.
When the steel doors opened
,
a
drop of golden caramel with a chiseled jaw and
dark eyes stared back at her.  Her b
reath caught
as she soaked in his image
.  In her line of work,
she
didn’t run across many fine black m
en. 
The view of a living Adonis up-
close put her off-balance. 
In the silence, the only sound she heard was her heart rushing in her ears. 
Seconds ticked by as
she and the stranger
quietly appraised
each other. 
His intense
eyes qu
ickly f
litted the length o
f her body. 
Zhané
felt self-consci
ous wondering if she looked as good in her skimpy
(a
l
b
eit
damp
)
black dress as he looked in those khak
i pants and snug
fitted white t-
shirt. 
She couldn’t help
but
be drawn to
hi
s
bronzed skin
and rippling muscles–lots of them. 

A neatly-groomed
goatee
framed
his
decide
d
ly sexy, full lips.  Shoulder-length d
readlocks
were pulled back from his face, exposing
a gold hoop in one ear
.  Goodness! 
Easter
had c
ome and gone, but she
knew plenty of grown women who
wouldn’t have minded having
this
bit of honey
in
their Easter
basket
s
. 
For a few surreal moments, she just stood there basking in his visual appraisal.  Then, s
he
rememb
ered her manners and spoke up
.  “Well,
” she asked, “
are you coming in or do I have to extend a personal invitation?”

Devlin watched
as
eyes
the color of
amber
surveyed his body from head to toe
. 
They were wide-set in a perfectly oval face
of
a
flawless café au lait complexion. 
Most women
appreciate
d
his
physi
que
, and this one appeared to be no exception
. 
He
watched, amused as she openly inspected
him like he was a prime stud at auction. 
His gaze dropped to her luscious
red
-
lipsticked mouth
, which bore
the
faint traces of a smi
rk
. 
His groin tightened as he imagined all the
wicked
things that mouth could do
to
him.  He cautioned men about getting ensnared in the traps of wily women, but he could
acknowledge
a pretty face just as much as the next hot-blooded male. 

He stepped inside
the elevator cab
.
“
Forgive me
,” he teased.  “
I was mesme
rized
by the view.”

“
Y
eah, you and every other man within a five mile radius
,
”
she replied.

He chuckled.  She was
confident
.  And with good reason.  The woman was a knock out. 
From
the black
platform heels
that supported her
shapely legs
to the curves that hugged the stretchy black dress
she wore. 
This w
oman with the Halle Berry
hair
cut put the actress to shame. 
Devlin
stood beside her, staring at her silhouette
from
the corner of his eye
.
After his disast
rous break-up
five years ago, he was still wary of women.  B
ut this one might
be wo
r
th the risk.

Stop it. You’re being just like those guys that get caught up
in the physical attributes of a woman. 
She could have a disease. 

Or
she could
be a serial killer. 

Or a serial dater. 

“Looks like we’re the only two in the building
,”
he said.

“
I noticed.
I was hoping to
talk with
the sta
t
ion manager for KL
UV, but I guess
I missed him.”

“You were looking for
Ramon
?”

“I–”

Before she
could finish, the elevator lights
flashe
d
,
and
the
elevator abruptly jolted
to a stop. 
Devlin’s
heart beat double time when the lights in the elevator flickered, then
dimmed
completely. 

“
Uh…
w
hat just happened?” the woman asked. 

“I’m not sure
.
”
Devlin
reach
ed
f
or the
elevator’s emergency phone.  “Hello?
” he
barked
into the phone.  “Hello?
  Anybody there?”
All he heard was dead air on the other end.
  He tested
the receiver
a few more times,
and
then
pressed the alarm button, but nothing lit up when he touched it.  “
M
ust be a power outage,” he guessed. 

The
woman
shifted nervously from foot to foot.  “How can that be?”

D
e
vlin
paused
in
his ministrations to glance at her.  “In case you haven’t noticed, lady, there’s a helluva storm brewing out there.” 

Her mask of confidence showed tiny cracks of
alarm.  He hoped she wasn’t going to cry.  He didn’t do well
with tears.
Instead, she jumped into action, pulling her cell phone from her purse. 
He watched as she tried to dial out. 
After a few futile attempts, she gave up. 
“No signal,”
she told him, before shoving her phone
back into her bag. 

“Yep.  I coulda told you that.”

One of her finely tweezed eyebrows shot up
.  “Well, why didn’t you?”

He shrugged.  “
I get the feeling you wouldn’t have listened
.” 

“You’re right,” she conceded.
“Maybe there’s a backup generator
in this building
.”

“Maybe,” he agreed.  “When these doors open, we can search for it.  But
by
then, we won’t need it.”

“
Jesus.”
She dropped her purse on
to
the floor and
let out a long breath
.  “I
knew this was a mistake
.  I should
never
have come here, and now I’m being punished.”

If being
stranded in an elevator with a fine ass woman
was punishment, he’d take his like a man
. 
“
You mentioned you were here to see
Ramon
,” he prompted
. 
“
Are you a friend of his?
”
Devlin made a note to contact
Ramon
later and find out how
the hell
t
he
man
knew this vision of
loveliness
. 

“No, he’s not a friend,” the woman
answered
.  “He was just the means to an end.  I was trying to get access to Devlin Hart.”

Devlin’s heart raced at the mention of his name.  What could this beauty want with him? 
“
Are you a fan of
Bro-mance
101?” he asked.

“Hah!”
She threw her head back in disbelief.  “Me, a fan of that windbag, Devlin Hart?  I don’t think so!”

He tried to hide his scowl. 
She was trashing his name and he wanted to know why. 
“What did
he
ever do to you?”
Devlin
demanded.

The fury in her eyes was evident.  “He brainwashed my man.  Thanks to Devlin Hart, I got unceremoniously dumped–tonight of all nights
–
on
our six month anniversary.  I
thought my
boyfriend
was going to propose
, but instead,
all he can do is quote Devlin H
art
, who is
obviously
a
manipulative, loud-mouthed, misogynist. 
That man
destroys relationships.”

Heat crept up
the back of
Devlin’s neck. 
Thi
s
woman needed to be put in her place, and he was just the man to do it. 
“Nah, lady.  I think you got it all wrong.”  He shook his head.  “Devlin Hart helps guys avoid the pitfalls of dangerous relationships.  He does not destroy them.  Instead of blaming him, perhaps you should look at yourself for what
you
did to contribute to the break up.”
 

Her
friendly amber eyes had now narrowed to slits of molten lava.  She put her hands on her hips and
challenged
, “What would you know about it?  Don’t tell me, you listen to
Bro-mance 101
.”

“No
t only do I listen
,” he gave her
a
smug grin.  “
I’m also the
host
,
Devlin Hart.”

FOUR

Zhané
’s mouth dropped open
, and
then
snapped shut
. 
So
,
this was the man
who had
Malik
hanging onto his every word.
 
She hadn’t expected Devlin Hart
to be so handsome.  Maybe that was
why he never showed his photo.  If women knew the face behind
Bro-mance
101,
they’d be swarming the station
like bees hunting for honey
.
Still, his good looks didn’t excuse his female-bashing behavior.
“I would say it’s a plea
sure to make your acquaintance,” she said, “
but I’d be lying.”

He took it in stride, barely blinking at her rudeness. 
“You know my name.  I think it’s only fair I get yours.”

“
Zhané
Williams.
”  She didn’t
extend her hand to shake his. 

“
Y
ou wanted to meet me
, Ms. Williams
.  What did you want to do
–
curse me out?
”

“
Damn straight,
”
she answered.

He held his hands out, palms up as if sacrificing himself.  “Well, here’s your chance.”

Zhané
paused.  Now that she was here, she didn’t know where to start.  She hadn’t even rehearsed the conversation.  She’d just jumped in her Infinity and barreled down the rain-slicked highway with no regard
for
her personal safety.  If Devlin Hart thought he could intimidate her, he was sadly mistaken.  She’d faced bigger bullies in the boardrooms of powerful companies acros
s the city.  A talking disc-jocke
y wasn’t going to make her put her tail between her legs.

“
Why a
re you staring at me like that?” he asked. 

“I’m imagin
ing
your head on a platter.”