Color Blind (BWWM Interracial Billionaire Single Mom Steamy Romance Novel) (5 page)

“
OH! Right!” Rachel recalled the man. Her face lit up, “Kimberly, he’s
so
cute! I’m so happy for you! Where is he taking you?” She quizzed, eager to learn about our date.
 

“
Here, come with me while I get clocked in and I’ll tell you all about
it,
” I promised, making my way over to punch my time card.
 

“
So, I was reading Nevaeh a bedtime story last night when she asked me, “Momma, when are you going to meet your prince charming?” which made me feel
sorry
.” She nodded her head, waiting for me to continue. “Well, after I put her to bed, he called me! We only talked for a bit because I had to get some sleep. We’re going to that one Mexican restaurant that’s across the street from South County Mall.”
 

“
That’s awesome!” Rachel said.
 

“
Oh, I’ll be right back. Sherry just seated someone in my section.”
 

As my shift came to an end, I couldn’t wait to tell Lorraine and Tyrone about my date that Sunday. I rushed to Lorraine’s house, jumped out of the car and ran to my little ray of
sunshine
, who was already coming out the front door to greet me.
 

“
Nevaeh!” I exclaimed as I picked her up and gave her a big hug. “How was your day, are you feeling any better?”
 

“
Almost, but my back is sore and my knees are still a little swollen, but I’m much better than I was yesterday. How did work go?” she inquired.

“
It was fine. Where’s Lorraine?” I asked as we made our way back inside the house.
 

“
She’s in the kitchen making dinner. It smells good. Is it okay if we have dinner here?”

“
Yes, you can stay,” Lorraine answered, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel at the doorway of the kitchen.
 

I looked up and smiled at my best friend. “If Nevaeh
really
really
wants to.”
 

“
I do! I do!” She shouted.

“
All right,” I agreed, hugging her.
It was nice to see her happy and healthy for a change.
 

“
Oh boy! I’ll go let Tyrone know that you said we’re eating dinner here tonight!” she yelled, heading out of the house.
 

I watched her walk into the garage before I turned to my friend and smiled. “I didn’t want to say this in front of her, but I can’t wait to tell you something!”
 

“
Follow me into the kitchen. I’ve got to stir up the meat so it doesn’t burn.
We’re having
tacos for dinner.” Lorraine said as she led the way.
 

I followed her, “Okay, so I need to ask you a big favor. I realize that you don’t watch Nevaeh on my days off, but I was wondering if you could keep an eye on her Sunday afternoon for a few hours.”
 

“
Sure I can. Why?” She asked as she diced up tomatoes.

“
I’m going on a date!” I squealed.
 

My best friend turned around with her mouth hanging open, “With who? It’s not that loser dishwasher from your work, is it? What’s his name? Jessie, who’s always hitting on you?”
 

I laughed, “Oh my God, no! I wouldn’t go out with him in a million years! Remember that good looking customer I told you about a few days ago? It’s him.” My smile beamed across my face.
 

“
The dude that tried to give you a big tip?” Lorraine asked.
 

“
That’s him!” She set the table, “He came back
into
work and refused to leave without my number, so now we’re going on a date this weekend.”
 

“
Sounds crazy if you ask me,” Lorraine said as she finished setting the table.

“
I know. But there’s something else I need to tell you,” I hesitated. I didn’t want to
tell
her that he was white.
 

“
What?” Lorraine asked.

“
If I tell you this, you gotta promise me that you won’t say anything to anyone. I don’t even want Nevaeh to hear it,” I stared at her.
 

“
What?!” she could hardly contain herself.

“
Dale is…white. There, I said it, he’s white.”

“
Oh, girl, your momma’s gonna kill you if she finds out!”

“
I know. And I don’t want my brothers finding out either. If Tony, Jason or Terrance find out, they’d kick my ass and Dale’s.”

“
Why are you going out with him? He sounds like an ass and he’s a white man.”

“
There’s something about him. He’s sarcastically funny and the way he’s built. Girl, you should see him! He’s tall, nicely built and dresses to kill! He’s also the owner of the gas company.”

“
Damn! So what are you going to do? You can’t hide him forever,” Lorraine said.

“
I know. I was kind of hoping to see how things go. I promised him one date. He would’ve kept coming up to my work if I hadn’t agreed. I figured that we could go out and if we hit things off, then take it from there. But I don’t have my hopes up,” I said helping her carry the food to the table.

“
Why?”

“
Because he’s too good-looking, he’s got money and I’m just…me. I can’t figure out why he wants to date me.”

“
Are you crazy? You look
fabulous
! You have a cute smile, a great
ass,
and the perkiest boobs I’ve seen. And you spend way too much money on your weave,” she laughed.
 

“
No, you’re the crazy one. I could stand to lose a few pounds,” I said grabbing a handful of fat from my belly. “And these tatas have seen better days,” I grabbed my bra strap, pulling the girls up, defying gravity.

“
Whatever. I’ll cover for you, but you gotta fill me in on all the juicy details. You’re like my little sister. Tyrone will kick his ass if I tell him to!”

“
I know,” I smiled.
She was right.
Tyrone was also very protective of me.
 

“
Where are you guys going to go?”

“
That Mexican restaurant, right across the street from South County Mall. I explained my days off work are spent with my adorable baby girl, so he promised that he wouldn’t occupy my whole afternoon.”

“
What time?”

“
Around one o’clock. I won’t be long,” I promised.
 

“
Sure, just make sure you’re careful.” My friend warned. Tyrone and Nevaeh were coming into the kitchen.
 

“
What are you talking about?” Tyrone questioned.
 

“
Nothing, I’ll tell you about it later,” Lorraine said.
 

We busied ourselves with making plates while Tyrone and Nevaeh took a seat at the table.
 

“
These are good Lorraine!” My daughter complimented,
as she took
a heaping bite out of her taco.
 

Lorraine laughed, “Well
thanks,
Nevaeh. They’re your favorite, huh?”
 

“
Oh, I meant to ask you
earlier
when was the last time she had her ibuprofen?” I asked as I sipped my glass of water.
 

“
She had some about an hour after lunch. She should be good until bedtime.”

After dinner, we headed home to begin our nightly ritual of getting scrubbed up and off to bed. Once Nevaeh was asleep, I went to my bedroom to put together clothes for our luncheon. I was nervous about picking out the wrong outfit so I prepared several of them and invited Lorraine over to help me decide on the perfect date wear.
 

When Sunday came, Lorraine arrived at my house two hours before my rendezvous. I blew my friend away as I ran around the house like a chicken with its head cut off. I scampered throughout the house, trying to find my favorite pair of heels as Nevaeh played with her kitchen set. Lorraine’s eyes whipped back and forth, following my sporadic movements as I tracked down my pumps.
 

“
Boy, you sure are in a frenzy, aren’t you?” Lorraine asked, searching for the lost heel.
 

“
It’s just that he’s a
great
guy and I want to impress him. I don’t understand where this other shoe could be!” Shoes continued to fly out of the closet I was searching through.
 

Lorraine laughed as she watched me cast the matching pump to the side with all the others. “Is this the one you’re looking for?” Lorraine asked, dangling it off of her finger.
 

“
Yes!” I replied, snatching it from her while rolling my eyes as I hurried to get ready for my date. “You were going to let me keep searching for that thing, weren’t you?” I laughed.
 

“
I can text you in the middle of your lunch to check in and see how things are going. If they’re not well, you could use it as your excuse to say you need to leave. If you’re having a great time, just tell me you’ll be home later.”

“
That’s
an excellent
idea. Thanks,” I said as I hugged my best friend. “I’m so glad you think this stuff up for me. Okay, now help me with my hair.”
 

As we fussed over my hair, I looked at my watch. “Oh, we need to hurry up! I’m supposed to be there in less than a
half-hour
,” I said,
taming
down a few loose strands.
 

“
You’ll be there in time, and if you’re late, so what. He’ll wait for you.”
 

“
That, or he’ll start calling me the minute I’m not there on time. He doesn’t like to be told no or stood up. He’s made that very clear. Actually, he was worried about me not coming to the restaurant when we made the date. He wanted to
come
here to pick me up, but I insisted that I meet him.”
 

Lorraine walked me to the front door. “Be careful,” she waved to me.
 

“
I will! Text me in a little while,” I said as I drove away.

Just as I was pulling up to the restaurant, I saw Dale standing in the parking lot next to his car. My cell phone began to ring as I pulled into a parking space a few cars down from him. I declined the call as I got out of the car and said, “I’m right here!”

“
I thought you were going to stand me up,” he laughed. “You look stunning!” he said as he eyed me up and down.

I suddenly felt self-conscious about myself. No man had ever
drank
in my appearance as he was. I
nervously replied, “Thank you,” before we headed
into
the restaurant.
 

Chapter Three

As we took our seats at a cozy table in the rear of the restaurant, Dale continued to compliment me on how great I looked.

“
Can I get you anything to drink?” the waitress asked as she handed us our menus.
 

“
Can we see your wine list?” Dale asked.
 

“
Yes, let me go get that for you, sir,” the waitress said as she left the table.

“
Sorry,
I took so long,” I apologized.
 

“
I didn’t think you were coming. You know, I usually pick my dates up instead of meeting them somewhere,” he looked at me sternly.

“
I told you, I’m very protective of my daughter. And there’s the fact that I don’t like giving my address to strangers.”

“
Kimberly, how many times do I have to tell you? I’m not a stranger. From now on, I’ll pick you up for future dates. I let you off the hook for this first one, but that’s not how I operate.”

“
How you operate? Do you think you’re my boss or something? I’m my own woman and I do what I want. Besides, who said there’s going to be future dates?
You’re being
a bit presumptuous, aren’t you?”
 

He laughed and shook his head as he leaned in close to me before he lowered his voice. “I call the shots. Always. You didn’t come here today to fight with me or insult me. It’s obvious why you’re here,” he said with a cold look on his face.