LITMIR.BIZ

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had good reason.”

      “And what reason would that be?”

      She tried to ignore how close he was to her ear when he whispered. His scent was already filling her nostrils to a less than comfortable level. “It’s a reason I’d rather not share right now.”

      “Fine. Have it your way.”

      They arrived at the table and greeted their friends. She was well aware that Summer’s, Nicole’s and Aaliyah’s eyes were all on her as she sat, with Jaleen sitting right across from her.

      “Are you okay?” Nicole whispered. Instead of responding right away, Danni took a large sip of water, hoping to cool off from the hot stares Jaleen was already shooting her way.

      Danni, originally born in Miami, had attended two years of high school with Nicole before Danni’s family had moved to Tampa. The two had kept in contact and, when Summer had moved to Miami, Danni had reached out to Nicole to meet up with Summer. The two had hit it off immediately and later met Aaliyah, who was one of the lead photographers at a beauty trade show a couple weeks after.

      When Danni had arrived in Miami to help Summer open Bare Sophistication, the four women had immediately bonded and later agreed to go into business together. They were still building the Bare Sophistication Miami empire, but with Nicole as the lead makeup artist and hairstylist for their boudoir studio, Aaliyah as the boudoir beauty photographer and Summer and Danni running the lingerie boutique, things were looking promising for the group of friends.

      “I’m not sure,” Danni finally whispered back. “Why do I get a feeling that I’ve just stepped into a bad horror movie?”

      “That’s a bit extreme,” Nicole said with a laugh. “Jaleen is hardly a villain. You’ve known him for years.”

      “Why is he here in Miami? I have a few theories... One, he wanted to catch me off guard with his presence. Mission accomplished. Two, he manipulated his way into my celebration dinner by contacting one of you to get the details. Once again, well done on his part. And three, he is being very cocky and suspicious. Do you see how he’s looking at me over his glass every time he takes a sip of water? All of those are characteristics of a villain.”

      “I think you’re being a bit dramatic. Yes, he is all of those things, but I’m not sure that Jaleen’s sole purpose is to make you uncomfortable. I agree that he probably wants to spend some time with you, but you both have gotten pretty close these past few months. Even if it was long-distance.”

      Danni stole another glance at him before turning back to Nicole. “I’m telling you, something is off about him tonight. He’s definitely up to no good.”

      “Maybe you need to experience his type of no good,” Nicole said as she raised both her eyebrows. “Could be good for you.”

      Danni was about to respond when Aiden began talking.

      “Jaleen, I meant to ask. How long are you staying in Miami? You’re here for a business meeting, right?”

      So he’s here for work. How hard would it have been for him to tell me that? “At least he’s only here for a meeting,” Danni whispered to Nicole.

      “Actually, I just had my first of several meetings here in Miami this morning.”

      Danni felt like she was holding her breath as she waited for him to continue. After another minute, she couldn’t wait any longer.

      “So how long will you be in Miami?” she asked.

      He glanced around at everyone sitting at the table before his eyes landed on Danni. “I’ll be in Miami for at least the next three months...possibly longer.”

      She studied his eyes for any sign that he was joking and realized he wasn’t. “You’re serious?” she asked because she had to for her own sanity.

      “Dead serious,” he said, not even breaking into a smirk as he held her gaze.

      “I take back what I said,” Nicole whispered in her ear. “Maybe you did just step into your own horror movie because if he’s the villain, you’re definitely his main target.”

      Danni shivered at the thought.

      Not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.

      When he winked, she looked away and focused on the others in the group. Hard to do since her mind was on the man sitting across from her.

      I’m screwed.

       Chapter 2

      Jaleen would be lying to himself if he said he didn’t get a kick out of watching Danni squirm. In his defense, he’d tried to tell her about the contract he’d won in South Beach for weeks, but she hadn’t returned his phone calls. Once he’d realized that she was ignoring him, he’d reached out to Aiden and Summer to try to figure out why she was avoiding him.

      Twenty minutes into dinner and she still hadn’t made eye contact with him again. Not that he could blame her. It was impossible not to feel the chemistry between them, despite how many months had passed since they’d last seen each other.

      “I want to make a toast,” Summer said, raising her wineglass in the air. “To Danni, who has almost completed her master’s.” Everyone clinked glasses and offered their congrats.

      “And a second toast that may be a bit premature but long overdue,” Summer continued. “Although my sisters couldn’t be here tonight, on behalf of myself, Winter and Autumn, we’d like to express our gratitude and excitement to Danni, who will soon be the newest partner of the Bare Sophistication enterprise.”

      This time, even more congrats and cheers were offered, but Jaleen noticed that Danni’s smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. That’s strange. As hard as Danni worked, he’d expected her to look a little more excited about the offer. He’d noticed her initial excitement over a year ago when the Dupree sisters had made her the partnership offer after the grand opening of their Miami store. It may have made sense to the others that she said she wanted to wait until she finished her master’s—especially considering Summer, Winter and Autumn each had several degrees in the fashion industry—but it hadn’t made much sense to Jaleen.

      “Thanks so much, guys,” Danni said as she took a sip of her wine. “I’m really excited to begin this new journey with the enterprise.”

      “We couldn’t think of a more deserving person than you to be our partner,” Summer said, briefly standing from the table to give Danni a hug.

      Jaleen watched the embrace, thinking for the first time tonight Danni’s response seemed genuine. Which further begged him to wonder why Danni was so tense regarding tonight’s dinner topics.

      Man, who are you kidding? You’re probably the reason she’s so tense tonight.

      After dinner ended and they were making their way to their cars, Jaleen took a moment to pull Danni aside.

      “Can we talk for a minute?”

      She looked at their friends, who had just made it to the parking lot. “Sure. What do you want to talk about?”

      Jaleen glanced down the block in the opposite direction. “Come walk with me.”

      She crossed her arms over her chest. “Is that your way of asking me to take a walk with you? Because it sounded more like a demand.”

      He smiled at her defensive stance. This was the Danni he knew. The Danni who’d spent the past few years arguing with everything he’d said. Although he liked making her nervous, he liked her even more when she was fired up.

      Tonight she had on a simple white tee tucked into a pair of high-waisted jeans. He may have loved to see her in dresses, but the woman could wear a pair of jeans unlike any other woman he knew. His eyes traveled farther down her body until they landed on her French-tipped

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