Only One for Me (3 page)

Silence.

“
Yasmine?”

“
Huh … mmmm …
Cannon?”

I see a cold shower in my
future if she keeps moaning and saying my name like
that.

“
I’m going to let you go
to sleep now,” he said reluctantly. “Have fun at the
walk.”

“
Mmmm … okay. You
too.”

He chuckled. She was definitely
drifting off to sleep. “Go ahead and hang up.”

“
Good night, Cannon.” Her
voice was barely above a whisper, and he loved the way she said his
name as if she’d been saying it for years. As if she was the only
woman meant to say it like that. It stirred in him a fervor that he
couldn’t explain.

“
Sweet dreams,
Yasmine.”

Chapter Three

The ringing of her phone interrupted
Yasmine’s peaceful moment in a warm bubble bath to relax her
muscles. Even though she worked out all of the time, her body was
sore from walking and jogging five miles that morning at the breast
cancer walk. She reached for the phone on the side of the tub and
glanced at the name on the screen. “C. Arrington.”

“
Oh my goodness it’s him!”
In her excitement, the cordless phone slipped from her fingers and
into the tub of bubbles. She fished around for it, but the phone
had drowned, even though she could hear the other cordless ringing
from her adjoining bedroom. She stepped out of the tub, grabbed the
towel from the bar, and ran soaking wet to the still ringing phone.
She knew it would stop soon. She’d set it to ring twelve times
before going to voicemail.

“
Hello?” she said in
cheery, breathless voice.

“
Hey. It’s
Cannon.”

She knew he’d spoken, but because she
was in such shock that he’d called her, she wasn’t sure what he’d
said, and it took her a moment to process it. Yasmine never thought
she was the type of woman to be flustered over a man and not able
to control herself, but Cannon Arrington was causing her
imagination to run rampant.

“
Hi. How are you?” she
finally managed to say.

“
I’m doing great. How was
the breast cancer walk?”

“
It went really well. I
was sleepy most of the day because somebody kept me up all night.”
She finished drying off and laid across the bed.

“
I’ve been known to do
that before and no one has ever complained,” he said in a sexy,
cocky tone.

Heated sensations flowed through her
body from his unexpected flirtatious answer. She cleared her
throat. “How was your day?”

“
Busy, as usual. Frat
meeting this morning, study group this afternoon, and now I’m
taking a break from writing a paper that’s due in a few weeks.
Plus, I need to fill out a grant application for a medical study I
hope to do the summer after I graduate.”

“
You’re a busy guy. Do you
ever relax? Take a break?” She turned over on her back and stared
up at the ceiling fan. She thought about her father, who had been a
workaholic. He never stopped to smell the roses and died from his
second heart attack when Yasmine was ten.

“
My head isn’t always in a
book. I go out to clubs or listen to live music when I have a
chance. So … when can I see you again? Maybe you can help me
relax.”

Her heart stopped, and there was a
quiver in the pit of her stomach. Was he asking her out on a date?
“Well … I don’t know. When will you have some free
time?”

“
Tonight, if you’re
available.”

“
Tonight?” She sat all the
way up and looked at her clock. It was six on the dot.

“
Yes. While I do enjoy
hearing your voice in my ear, I’d much rather see your adorable
face.”

Her heart thumped so loud in her
chest, she was sure he could hear it through the phone. “Okay, and
I can bring the thank you cards since I haven’t mailed them
yet.”

“
Bring them along with
your sweet smile and cute little giggle.”

She giggled.

“
Yep, that’s the
one.”

His voice was deep and seductive, and
it was making her hot.

“
Are you flirting with
me?” Not that she minded.

“
Yes, and it must be
working since you’ve agreed to go on a date with me.”

“
Date? I just need to give
you the cards my students made for you,” she teased.

“
It’s a date because I
said it’s a date.”

“
Okay, then I guess it
is.” It took everything she had not to jump up and down on her bed,
but she remained calm.
I’ll call Sherika
and squeal in her ear.
“Have you eaten
dinner yet? There’s this new hot spot not far from downtown that
has the best barbeque and live music on Saturday nights. Reminds me
of Beale Street in Memphis.”

“
Sounds good to
me.”

“
Cool. I can meet you
there.” She rushed to the closet to see what on earth she was going
to wear. It was the beginning of October, therefore it was cooler
at night, but she wanted to wear something flirty and sexy that
showed off her toned legs.

“
I don’t mind picking you
up,” he said casually.

She stopped tossing dresses onto her
bed. She’d established dating rules when she moved off campus and
into her apartment. One of the rules was: Don’t let a man know
where you live until after the third date.

But this was Cannon Arrington. It
wasn’t as if she didn’t know him. He was a nice guy, he was in
medical school, and her mother liked him.

“
All right,” she said
walking toward the bathroom. “Is eight okay?

“
Absolutely.”

*****

At exactly eight ‘o’ clock, Cannon
rang Yasmine’s doorbell. A few seconds later, he was graced with
her breathtaking presence and a face so beautiful it could launch a
thousand ships.

“
Hi,” she said with a
smile.

“
Wow,” he sighed. “You
look simply amazing.” He perused her short, colorful sundress
stopping just above her knees. The dress showed off her feminine
curves and enhanced her caramel-coated smooth skin---especially her
toned legs. He tried to shake off the image of her legs being
wrapped around his waist, as he continued his journey down to hot
pink, wedged sandals where her dainty toes with coral-colored
toenails peeked out. His eyes settled back on her face, which was
flushed after the exploration he gave her body. He couldn’t help
it; the woman was beautiful inside and out.

Thirty minutes later they
were seated at the restaurant and looking over their menus. Well,
she was looking at hers. Cannon was focused on her, as were the
other males in the restaurant; from the waiters, customers,
busboys, and even the musicians in the band setting up their
equipment. They were all stealing glances just like him. Who could
blame them? Yasmine had the type of natural beauty that didn’t
require long hours in the mirror. Cannon felt his male ego get
bigger. She was
his
date for the evening.

“
This is a really nice
restaurant,” he said, closing his menu after deciding what he would
order. “I’d heard about it, but haven’t had a chance to check it
out. I’m always on the go.”

“
You need to get out and
relax sometimes. Enjoy life.”

“
I know, but a brother’s
got things to do,” he jokingly replied.

She laughed, sharing her smile again
with him.

“
So, are you ready for
Christmas vacation?” he asked after the waiter took their
order.

“
I’m definitely looking
forward to those two weeks off.”

“
I bet. Are you going home
to Memphis to visit your mother?”

“
No, my mom and her two
best friends from Atlanta are going on a girl’s cruise during that
time.”

“
What are you going to do
for Christmas?” he questioned, his voice filled with
concern.

“
My mother and I stopped
celebrating it after my father died on Christmas Eve when I was
ten. Christmas hasn’t felt the same since.” She shrugged her
shoulders. A wistful expression loomed over her face, and Cannon
reached over to caress her hand. She gave a weak smile.

“
I had no idea.” He
squeezed her hand.

“
He had a heart attack. It
was his second one. My father didn’t know how to slow down and just
relax. He loved his career as a financial analyst. He was always
busy, never home … when he was home, he was locked in his office on
the phone discussing business.”

They were interrupted by the waiter
bringing their appetizer of spinach dip with pita bread.

“
You don’t want to go with
your mother on the cruise?” he asked after they began to
eat.

“
No. It’s for people her
age. You know, the grown and sexy crowd. Some of her teacher
friends who are divorced or widowed as well are going. I’ll be
fine. I’m thinking about finding a holiday job, like wrapping gifts
at a department store. I’m saving for a house.”

“
Have you started looking
at houses?”

“
No, but I want to begin
saving so I can have a down payment and money left over to decorate
it. I’m paying rent for an apartment when I could pay slightly more
for a mortgage and actually own my own home.”

“
I’m impressed. That’s a
very good investment. My sister and I live in the house my parents
bought when they got married and began their residencies after
graduating from Meharry. They decided to keep it as rental property
when they moved back to Memphis, and I’m grateful that they
did.”

The DJ turned off the music and
announced the blues band. Yasmine and Cannon halted their
conversation as they ate dinner and listened to the band play,
while glancing and smiling at each other the entire
time.

Cannon’s eyes couldn’t stray from her.
Stealing glances at her side profile, since she turned to see the
band, he felt his breathing waver before starting again. His gaze
inched down to where he could see her small, yet perky, breasts
outlined on her dress. He wasn’t a man concerned with the size of a
woman’s breasts. They were all kissable, lickable, nibbleable and
delicious. His manhood tightened at the thought of tasting hers and
anywhere else she wanted him to. He straightened in his chair as
she placed her eyes on him and smiled with her succulent lips
before turning her attention back on the band.

Those damn mouthwatering lips of hers
were downright sexy. They were painted with a light shade of pink
which shimmered on her tempting pouty mouth, forcing his gaze to
linger there. There was something about her lips encasing her smile
which sent ripples of need shooting through to his groin. He
cleared his throat and tried to focus on the blues band, but it
took all of his strength not to reach out and pull her on his lap
and shower her with kisses.

*****

“
Well, I had a really nice
time,” Yasmine said as Cannon pulled into her apartment complex and
parked. She was contemplating whether or not to invite him in to
watch a movie. She didn’t want the night to end.

“
Me, too.” He turned off
the ignition but didn’t move. Instead, he drew in a long breath and
exhaled slowly. His stare was intense, and the knot in her stomach
tightened.

She could feel her pulse race through
her veins as she stared straight ahead to avoid his hot gaze, which
she could feel more than she could see. She reached for the door
handle, but felt a warm hand on her left one. She turned to look at
Cannon as he raised her hand to his lips and kissed it softly. Her
body quivered at his touch, and the urge to kiss him burned on her
lips. His free hand caressed her cheek and he pulled her chin
closer to him as he leaned in and kissed her lips, as a breathless
moan erupted from her throat.

The tender touch of his lips on hers
stimulated a pool of heat to elicit from her center. His kiss
deepened with every second that passed, sinking her more into an
oblivion of desire and passion she’d never felt before. She held on
tighter to him, as if he was rescuing her from the drowning abyss
she was in. Yasmine met his fervent kisses with strokes of her
tongue intertwined with his in a seductive dance that was in
perfect sync.

Cannon pulled away from her lips and
trailed kisses down her neck to her collarbone, breaking such an
intense sigh from her that she didn’t recognize her own
voice.

His mouth possessed hers once more,
except this time his kisses were a sweet caress across her
lips.

“
Cannon … ” she
whispered.

“
I love to hear you say my
name. I don’t think anyone has ever said it quite the way you
do.”

She giggled, and he placed a tender
kiss to her forehead before pulling away from her. She looked
around the parking lot and realized two of the cars that had been
there when they arrived had left.

“
Maybe we should go
inside,” she said, grabbing her purse.

“
Good idea. I think we
just gave some of your neighbors a show.”