Love UnExpected (Love's Improbable Possibility) (47 page)

“Oh, okay because I was hoping you were
n’t a
close
friend of his and he didn’t properly inform you that his party would be in a VIP area.” His chin was tilted making it clear he was flirting.

Oh! That’s where they are?
I wondered if Azmir had even arrived yet or was he up in the suite preparing to come down.

“Oh, no! We’re not that type of friends.” I shook my head again. I immediately realized that the more I shook my head and the less I used my words the
more
he thought he had a chance with me.

“That’s good to know.” He winked his eye and I laughed at his persistence.

“Ah! She laughs! Now, I’ll walk you up to the party if you promise that I won’t find out that you are a
good
friend of his and break my heart.”

“Pinky swear.” I wiggled my pinky finger at him.

He winked again. I pivoted to grab my clutch and suddenly smelled the most familiar and erotic scent. I turned my head completely to the left and found Azmir leaning on his side, into the bar flickering Aaron’s business card in between his fingers and wearing a cunning smirk. I gasped. He was dressed in a dark suit and I automatically wondered if he had even been up to the suite to change out of his business attire.

“Azmir! How long have you been standing here? I’ve been looking for you guys.” My heart rate had accelerated from his startling presence. He didn’t
say anything or remove his smirk. He slowly tilted his head to get a sight of Aaron on the other side of me. I jumped, figuring I should do the honors. I scooted back enough to allow a clear view for them to see each other. “Aaron, this is—”

“Mr. Jacobs!” Aaron seemed to have been more shocked t
han I was to see him. “Is this…?” He couldn’t even complete his sentence. Wearing the same entertained expression, Azmir nodded in accession of Aaron’s summary of the situation. “Oh, man! I am sorry. I had no idea,” he tried to sound convincing.

Finally
, Azmir rose from the bar and proffered his hand to Aaron, “Shit happens, Aaron. She’s a beauty. I can’t knock your ambitions—I have my own.” Azmir then took my right hand, kissed my fingers, and helped me to my feet. Aaron watched, still in shell shock.

“Errrr…I trust everything is to your expectations up there?” Aaron asked referring to the VIP section.

With his eyes surveying me from head to toe he replied, “It is now, Aaron. I had to find where she had lost her way.”

My face split a dorky smile and a giggle slipped. He
could be so impassioned when he wanted to.

I turned to say, “Thanks, Aaron. Have a good evening.”

He nodded; I’m sure finding it best not to put his foot in his mouth any more than it seemed he just had. Azmir and I walked off with his hand gripping my waist, pulling my body into his. He whispered, “You look absolutely stunning, Ms. Brimm,” reaching down to kiss me behind my ear, causing me to shiver.

“Funny. That’s what Aaron said. See what the exuberate amount of money you had deposited into my account bought ya?” I teased.

He smiled as we took for the stairs leading to the VIP area and spoke even closer into my ear, “The only thing that I would spend more money on is peeling you out of this ensemble.” I puffed, shocked by his sensual wit in public. Then I heard bellowing and roars from Kid’s birthday guests. It was Petey, Kid, Chanell, and the crew, apparently relieved that I’d been located.

“There she go!” Kid yelled out clasping a bottle of champagne in his hand. He stood at our entering his arena. I could tell he was wasted already. Who could blame him, it was after all his day.

“Yo, Rayna!” Petey greeted. His short chunky frame and fluffy persona always warmed my heart. I saw Kim seated next to him waving excitedly and wearing a broad smile.

“Where was she?” Chanell howled over the loud music.

She was with a gang of slightly familiar faces that I’d seen over the past few months at local events. Some were friendly and others were down right rude and ghetto as all get out. They gawked and mumbled to each other, clearly talking about me. It never seemed to faze Azmir so I turned a blind eye to it as well. I greeted them all with hugs, one by one.

Kim was adamant that I sat next to her. I could see that she wasn’t close to Chanell and the other girls this particular night, which was a bit unusual. It also seemed clear that Azmir sat near Petey and Kim before taking off to find me. I adored Kim and didn’t mind at all being by her side. We started our girl chat right away.

Minutes later, Syn came into the section with about a half dozen girls. When she laid eyes on me she visibly grimaced. I had no idea why she didn’t like me. I thought we would have been past it by now. Kid didn’t seem to pay her much mind. He was soaking up the energy from the electrifying atmosphere. There were so many people in that place. I couldn’t count on one hand the amount of celebrities that walked through our VIP section or passed by us.

The performances were great. Azmir was in his element
, leading the conversations in his urban vernacular. It always struck me how he can go from boardroom to hood corner with his lingo. He would whisper things in my ear from time to time, being sure to give me attention. He said he liked my lipstick and how it matched my nails and toes. I appreciated the observation and it made the agony of selecting my colors well worth it. I guess he felt it was dutiful considering these were his friends, but truth be told, a handful of them were mine, too. Azmir ordered me a cocktail and did a playful toast with me. I could tell he’d really missed me and liked my look. I was so relieved.

I sat there for a while enjoying the energy and catching up with Kim, trying to adjust to all the camera flashes going on by people in the VIP section
—candid and professional, and by those outside trying to see who was in. I noticed Syn’s girls that she sat and snickered with while pointing at me had taken a few shots of me, too. I thought that was rude but would never cause a scene at Kid’s party with his girl and her friends.

Eventually, Chanell motioned for me to come over to talk with her and I did. She caught me up on the latest gossip and inadvertently reminded me of Kim’s recent discovery of Petey’s co-ed lover, which answered why she played him so close that night.
She had seemed to clock his every move all night. Apparently, Kim was salty with Chanell and some of the other girls there because they knew and didn’t inform her. I was just happy to see her out with Petey because that meant that she was still with him. I guess I overstayed my time with Chanell at some point because Azmir motioned for me to return to him. It appeared a little possessive but I didn’t care. I was in Vegas to be with him.

A performer was being announced and Azmir pushed me into his pelvic area as he stood against the railing that overlooked the stage and the crowd. Seconds later, Kid generously and forcefully invited us to sit closer to the front of the VIP section where we’d have a clear view of the stage. It was a white leather sofa chair, but it seated just one. Azmir sat and gestured for me to sit on his lap. I didn’t know how that would far
e considering I had on such a short dress, but Azmir’s legs were so long that the stoop wasn’t very low. My position didn’t allow for snuggling but that was fine considering Azmir and I weren’t in the habit of PDA anyway. Or so I thought. We sat and watched the performance.

When the songs were over the crowd went bananas. I clapped with approval along with nearly everyone els
e. Kid got a few birthday shout-outs from the performers, making him smile and slowly nod in his drunken state. The patrons below settled back onto the dance floor while the D.J. spun the latest tunes. Azmir pulled out his pocket watch for the time, which I found odd. Why does the time matter at club in Vegas? I looked up for Chanell, but didn’t see her. I figured she’d made a potty run.

I
then turned to Azmir and chatted about the latest performer and he agreed that it was awesome and told me a story of the first time he’d met her and the work he did with her people. He didn’t fail to continue sharing his salacious thoughts when he said, “I can’t wait to smear that lipstick off your lips. You should refresh it first. The heavier, the more on me when I wake in the morning.” My panties began to become drenched from my liquefied libido. I smiled at him with slanted eyes approving of his sensual talk.

Abrupt
ly, I saw dark nails gripping his round shoulder, trying to get his attention. My eyes slowly trailed the arm up to find a tall, beautiful woman with dark chocolate skin, wearing an azure blue fitted, one shoulder, mini dress with silver sandals and matching silver and diamond accessories. Her hair was full with bouncy curls that stopped just above her shoulders. I could quickly tell she was about her diva. Her eyes beamed in excitement at the sight of Azmir. Initially, she didn’t even look at me, she was so caught up in him.

“Ms. Taylor. Wow! It’s good to see you.” He seemed surprised by her presence.
He flashed her a coochie creaming smile that I’d become accustomed to sharing with other women. I still hadn’t decided if it was his charisma or just simple good looks that caused it to be so alluring.

“Hey! We thought we’d fly out and chill. Thanks for putting us on
. This place is popping!” she exclaimed, sounding like a valley girl.

She gave clear view of her nicely whitened teeth under her dark red lipstick and alluringly lined eyes.
And I could tell immediately she was completely taken by Azmir and all his glory. Could I blame her?

I could find reasons to!

“What a surprise. I thought you guys had had enough of me. Where’s Shayna?” Azmir asked quizzically.

I noticed that he referred to her as
Ms.
Taylor but her friend by her first name.
So this was the woman with the familiar “touch” that I’d picked up over the phone.
..
hmmmmmm
. I stood to get a better view and he rose from the chair and remained next to me. That’s when she finally acknowledged me and gave me a once over. I realized I was squinting my eyes in reaction to it.

Azmir must have taken notice to her gaping at me and said, “Ms. Brimm, this is Dawn Taylor. Dawn, this is Rayna Brimm.”

She offered up a snobbish half a smile and I gave a slight nod not knowing how much more I should have given providing she was not happy with having to share Azmir’s air with me.

In that instance a
nother woman joined sides with her with her. This one a lot shorter with straight hair horribly styled, wearing a figure-fitting red dress. She didn’t look as put together as Dawn at all, but she was more pleasant when we were introduced.

“Azmeeeeeeeeeeeeeer!” she sang in anticipation of him being surprised by her being there.

“Hey, Shayna. You two sure do get around the country, don’t you?”

“It’s our job and you better know it!”
She acknowledged me right away unlike her friend who still was mesmerized by the Adonis of Azmir.
Foolish girl!

“Shayna Bacote, this is Rayna Brimm.” She extended her arm and shook my hand graciously and I returned the favor.

“This place is nice! Do you come often?” Shayna asked. Dawn looked every which way but mine, she made frequent eye stops at Azmir, of course.

Before he could respond I heard, “Yo, Divine, who ‘dis?”
Wop and a few other guys came in to break up the reunion.

In the corner of my eyes
, I could see Petey standing off at a distance, sipping on his drink closely watching, almost as if he orchestrated the diversion. Wop and the others would never intrude on Azmir's conversation without permission. They respected him like a leader and Petey was his deputy sheriff. Something was fishy.

“These are friends of mine from Atlanta. Show them some Southern California hospitality. Ladies, we’ll be in touch
,” Azmir said excusing himself. It was clear that he was trying to end the conversation.

Out of nowhere
, Chanell appeared, “Divine, y’all wanna do a round of shots?”

In the midst of all the shouting over the music my senses were acute. I couldn’t help but observe how Dawn’s eyes were locked to Azmir
, though we were now a couple of feet away from her and Shayna who had become swarmed in by members of The Clan.         

“Oh, nah. Ms. Brimm here has seen enough for the night. I’m gonna take her upstairs now
,” Azmir responded to Chanell over the music, causing me to snap out of my eagle eyeing mode. I saw so much was going down at one time, even if I wasn’t exactly able to piece it all together right there on the spot.

“Okay! Im’ma see y’all tomorrow at brunch at the restaurant, right?” Chanell asked.

I looked up to Azmir, who now had his hand splayed across my belly cradling me against his hard thigh, causing my backside to be nearly buried in his pelvis had he not been so tall. I could swear was lifting me to make his target.

“Yeah,
twelve thirty, right?” he answered.

“Yup. Peace y’all
,” Chanell bode.

Azmir
released me just enough for me to hug her goodnight.
He’s in an unusually jolly mood.
He even playfully lifted me in the air gently swinging me like a rag doll over to Kim so that I could do the same.