One Night: A BWWM Interracial Romance (9 page)

“Yeah, me neither,” Natalie admitted. “I’ll have to look him up or ask my dad when I get home.
 
He reads that stuff.”

“Enough with his job, what did he look like?” Mia urged.
 

“Well…he’s white,” she said.
 

Natalie knew it wasn’t a big deal with her friends. Denise’s fiancé, Ross, was white.
 
In fact, she was planing on converting to Judaism before the wedding.

“Wow,” said Mia, who was less into dating outside her race, “when you rebound you rebound hard.”
 

“There’s nothing wrong with it, Mia,” Denise said, finally coming to Natalie’s defense on an issue they could agree on.
 

“You know I don’t care who you guys date. I’m not racist…I just prefer my cocks to be black, the blacker the better!”
 

“Ugh,” Denise said. “Why do you always have to put things in the most vulgar terms?”
 

Mia just laughed. This was how they spurred with one another.
 
Natalie watched it with amusement, and a bit of relief that the focus wasn’t entirely on her escapades from last night.
 

“If you all are expecting me to complete the circle of swirl you seem to have started, you guys are sorely mistaken,” Mia said. “I’m not going to be dating any white dudes anytime soon.”
 

“Whoa, who said anything
 
about dating?” Natalie chimed in. “Like you said, it was a rebound, that’s it. I don’t even know where he lives.”

“Or if he’s clean, or if he’s a stalker, or if he’s even single,” Denise went on. “Please tell me you at least used a condom.”
 

“Yes, mother,” Natalie said rolling her eyes.
 

“Well you know I have to ask these things,” Denise said with school marmish tinge to her voice. “
One
of us has to be responsible here.” She looked up meaningfully in the rear view mirror at Mia, who kicked the back of her seat lightly in response. “It’s all well and good to get your kicks, but the way you looked this morning….” She let the sentence trail off.

“Means that you must’ve had a
hella
good time!” Mia finished, laughing.
 

Natalie joined in, and eventually so did Denise.
 

“So come on,” Mia urged. “Details!”

Natalie bit her lip, bits and pieces coming back to her.
 

Mia saw the look on her face. “Ohhh, girl,” she sassed. “That good, huh?”

Natalie rolled her eyes. “He was fun,” she admitted. “He had this thousand dollar bottle of whiskey—“

“
What?
” the both exclaimed at the same time.

“Who pays that much for whiskey?!”
 

“So you
did
let him get you drunk?!”
 

“Are you going to let me finish?” Natalie asked, ignoring their questions.
 
They both shut up.
 

“Anyway,” she continued, “I was drinking my milk with Bailey’s, you know the one I like to make.” They both nodded, Mia rolling her eyes in disapproval.
 
Natalie shot her a nasty look before continuing.
 

“He apparently disapproved and offered some of his instead.”

“Well at least we know he has better taste than you,” Mia interrupted, earning another nasty look from Natalie.
 

“Well, one drink led to another.”

Denise sucked her teeth, earning her own look from Natalie.
 
She raised her eyebrows and nodded her head in apology, letting Natalie finish.
 

“Then we ended up in his room. He was in one of the suites on the top floor,”
 

“The man has
dinero
. I like it,” Mia threw in.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Mia.” Natalie said.

“I’m just saying, if you’re gonna have a one-night stand, he might as well have money.”
 

“Emphasis on one-night stand,” Natalie said. “And no, before you start Denise, he didn’t leave money on the night stand for me the next morning.”
 

“I haven’t said one word,” Denise protested. “Save your criticism for Ms. Gung-ho back there.
 
But it is nice he let you stay the night.”
 
She smiled at Natalie.
 

Natalie blushed, thinking about how Jake had pulled her back into bed with him. She remembered the smell of him as she nestled in the crook of his arm, the feel of his fingers lightly brushing her back. Both of her friends were looking at her now, reading every thought.
 

“Somebody’s got it bad,” said Mia, smiling at her.
 

“I’m surprised you remember anything, after the wine, and the Bailey’s, and how many drinks?” Denise said, switching topics. “You don’t even drink hard liquor.”
 

“Yeah, the hangover was pretty bad,” Natalie confessed. “What is ‘hair of the dog?’”

“Booze the next morning.
 
Works like a charm,” Mia said.
 

“Well, yeah, that, and then he ordered breakfast—”
 

“Jesus, Natalie,” Denise spoke up, surprising them both. “Maybe you
should
have at least got his number.” She saw the looks on their faces and shrugged. “I’m just saying.”

They all laughed. Natalie thought about it.
 
He had been a pretty decent guy.
 
And that kiss….

“But was the sex good?” probed Mia.
 

Natalie broke out of her revery, and smiled.
 

“Yeah, it was pretty damn good. And dude knows how to go down.
 
He did this thing with the whiskey down my thigh.” Natalie blew her lips out and shook her head in disbelief. “It was amazing. That’s all I can say. Almost worth breaking up with Malcolm.”
 

They both stared at her in awe. Denise turned back to the road with a smile and Mia fell back into her seat.
 

“Well I’d say that was a successful girls’ weekend,” said Mia.
 

Natalie couldn’t have agreed more.
 

JAKE

“Martha,” Jake said into the phone. “I’ve got some good news for you.”

After proofing the revised novel for plot holes and editing mistakes, Jake was satisfied with his new masterpiece.
 
He christened it with the last of the whiskey before calling to break the news to his agent.
 
Martha Shapiro was a feisty woman pushing 70, with no intention of ever retiring. She had gone to bat for Jake since day one. Anyone who could take on the CIA and the publishing industry was a lot tougher than Jake had ever been. Of course, after the first successful book her job was a lot easier.
 

These days she tended to play the role of busy-body aunt. Much like his dear sister, she had a tendency to prod him about his intentions on settling down some time soon. He was fully prepared for a barrage of questions along those lines as he revealed the new plot twist to his Nick Zane series.
 

“You know how you’ve always thought I should add a recurring love interest, well I finally took your advice.”

“Ok, who is she, this girl you’ve met?” Martha prodded. “Should I start saving date?”

Jake should have known she’d see straight through him. How was she so wicked sharp?
 

“No one, I just decided to take your advice is all. The series was getting kind of repetitive.”

“Well that’s true,” Martha confessed.
 

Jake winced.
 
Along with being sharp, she was incredibly blunt.
 
However, her advice had never ceased to work in his favor so he put up with it.
 

“Just out of curiosity,” he continued. “Why do you assume there’s someone I’ve met.”

“Jake, honey,” she said in that matter-of-fact tone of hers. “I’ve known you for two years now. You push and you push when I say add a love interest. No, no, no, you say. I say, ‘okay, okay.’ Then you go on your little writing hiatus to some place in the mountains, telling me it’s going to be same old, same old. Then just before the draft is due you call me up to tell me you changed your mind?
 

“What do you take me for? There’s no girl, my ass,”
 
she finished.
 

Jake laughed into the phone. “Okay, you got me,” he confessed, leaning back into his chair and looking out at the lake. “But honestly, it was nothing special. I mean it wasn’t
not
nothing special, it was nice. It’s just, I don’t know her.
 
She was just visiting here and now she’s gone and—”

“And she’s got you all tongue tied,” Martha said, knowingly. “I just hope this book isn’t as scrambled as she’s got your head.”
 

“No,” he said, “the book is perfect.”
 

“Mmm, that confident, huh?” she said. He could hear the smile in her voice. “So what’s she like, this girl?”
 

Jake paused, thinking about last night. “Nice.”
 

“Nice?” she asked. “Nice? That’s all I get? Nice?”

“Well, it was short lived,” he responded.

“Short lived enough to change an entire series,” she replied. “I’d say that’s something more than nice.”

“Well, read the draft,” he said, changing the subject. “The character is all her.”

“Now you’ve got me really curious.
 
About the girl, not the book.”
 

“As usual, you get first dibs,” he said, changing the subject. “I’ll send it to you as soon as we hang up.
 
You can deal with Wright.”
 

“Yeah, yeah,” she conceded. “Any chance you’ll see this girl again?”

“You don’t give up, do you?” he smiled into the phone. “Sorry, Martha.
 
All I’ve got is a name and occupation. Librarian, if you can believe that.”

“Cute,” she said “Did you tell her who you are, or did you keep up the whole anonymous schtick?”

“I gave her my real name.
 
She has no clue who I am,” he said.

“So she says,” she respond. “One day we’re going to get that gorgeous face of yours on the cover.
 
Sales will go through the roof, mostly to lonely housewives.”

“Never happening, Martha,” Jake said.
 

“That’s my commission your playing with there, sonny,” she said teasingly.
 

“Based on the last book, I don’t see what you’re complaining about,” he replied. “I think this one is going to be the best yet….even if she did break my ritual.”

“No!” Martha said with surprise. “Now you’ve got me worried. If this book tanks, I’m blaming that meddling cock of yours.”
 

“If this book takes off, I’ve got a far more enjoyable ritual to practice,” he said in response.

That actually got a laugh out of her. “I guess then we’d have to find her.”
 

“I guess we would,” he said, looking out at the lake. “I guess we would.”
 

TWO MONTHS LATER

NATALIE

Natalie looked at the menu in front of her, debating what to order.
 

She was on yet another first date on a Saturday night. Her preference would have been Netflix with chips and homemade salsa. Thanks to Malcolm, she was “out there” again. At 28 years old she couldn’t afford to veg out in front of her laptop and stuff her face.
 

It didn’t help that she had spent the morning with Denise and Mia helping the former pick out a wedding dress. Sitting there for hours while Denise walked out in dress after dress of white lace and satin. The strapless or the long-sleeved? The sweetheart neckline or the Queen Ann? It was exciting…and overwhelmingly depressing at the same time. Obviously she was thrilled to participate in her friend’s Big Day, but it only served to point out the complete and utter mess that was her own love life.
 

She thought of Malcolm. She promised herself she wouldn’t while she was on a date, worried that her bitterness might come across to the man sitting across from her. Just this morning she had found a pen with the logo of the company he worked at. It was a small thing, but it stung. She had immediately thrown it in the trash, then fell in a heap on the kitchen floor crying. Pathetic.

She shook her head.
All
men weren’t bad. She had to remind herself of that. Especially while on a date. Good men. She instantly thought of Jake Cavanaugh. She involuntarily squeezed her legs together remembering him and that night in Lake Tahoe. She could feel herself breathing heavier and getting wet just thinking about it. It had been so…
wrong
. On the other hand, it was just what she had needed at the time. Still, he crept into her consciousness more often than she would like to admit.
 

Jake was a good guy. Sure, it had been a one time fling, but for what it was, he had certainly gone above and beyond. She wondered what he was up to. Probably neck deep in a group of hot women at some club or something. Or maybe already getting serious with someone who didn’t order kiddie drinks. She smiled at that, then sighed. Guys like Jake got snapped up pretty quickly.
 

All negative thoughts erased, she turned back to the man across the table from her. Tonight it was Derek, a high school teacher. His stats on
OkCupid
had earned him a date: 33 years old (acceptable); divorced (minor red flag); likes dogs (bonus point); enjoys golf (negative point); 6 feet (sorry, but bonus point); not into playing games (so cliché that she had almost given him a pass). He had been an 82% match on the dating site. She was giving anyone over 75% a fair shot.
 

In person he seemed decent enough. He was definitely not 6 feet tall, more like 5’9, if her own 5’7 was any judge. She was willing to over look that. After all, Denise was a good two inches taller than Ross and they were perfect together. Besides, beggars can’t be choosy, and in the City of Angels, Natalie was a definite beggar.