LITMIR.BIZ

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office of the restaurant she owned with her three best friends, Jade Christian-Goings, Serena Jacobs, and Alicia Michaels. Glancing at the clock on her computer, she saw that it was nearly six A.M. “Damn,” she muttered. “I did it again.”

      Kandace knew she had to get out of the restaurant before Jade came in, because she wasn’t in the mood for another lecture. She picked up her leather bag and was about to stand up…too late.

      “Kandace, you’d better not be in this office,” Jade said as the door swung open.

      “I just got here,” Kandace lied.

      “Umm-hmm, wearing yesterday’s clothes?” Jade shook her head as she looked at her friend.

      “I picked up these extra hours because you just had a baby. Why are you here?”

      “Because James and Maurice are doing the ‘daddy thing’ today,” she said referring to her husband, James and his brother. Kandace smiled remembering how Jade and James brought their son into the world just a few months after Maurice and his wife Kenya had welcomed their daughter into the family. Kandace was happy that despite the unconventional way Jade and James became husband and wife, hooking up in Las Vegas of all places, they seemed happy.

      “So,” Kandace asked, “since James and Maurice have the kids, what are you and Kenya going to do with yourselves?”

      Jade clasped her hands together. “Kenya and I can actually do something other than lactate for a few hours. I’ve never worked the breakfast shift and…wait, this isn’t about me. You need a break.” Jade perched on the edge of Kandace’s desk. “You’ve been in Charlotte for six months and I know you love Atlanta. I’ve leaned on you so much, it’s surprising that you haven’t broken in half. This place is up and running, you’ve gotten us publicity all over the place. So, the girls and I decided…”

      “Now you guys are making decisions about my life?” Kandace asked with a terse laugh.

      “Yeah, because you won’t,” Jade shot back. “We’re voting you off the island for two weeks. Go on vacation. You’ve got to relax. Everybody around here has noticed how tense you are. If you’re trying to prove to Devon Harris that you’re a capable businesswoman who no longer wants his cheating butt, mission accomplished.”

      Kandace stifled a yawn. “Since you chicks are making decisions, are y’all paying?”

      Jade folded her arms underneath her full breasts. “Now you’re just being ridiculous,” she said. “I don’t care where you go, but I don’t want to see you for two weeks!”

      Kandace knew Jade meant well and she rose to her feet and gave her friend a kiss on the cheek. “All right,” she said. “But you guys are going to miss me. I’m leaving my cell phone, laptop, and everything right here.”

      “Good,” Jade said. “Maybe while you’re on vacation you’ll have a little fun and get your feet wet.”

      “Whatever. All of us don’t find Mr. Right on vacation like you did,” Kandace said as she gathered her things.

      Jade smiled and glanced down at her wedding band. “Yes, I was lucky in vacation love. I just hope you get lucky.”

      “I think I’m going to go somewhere and be pampered for two weeks. Then you all can eat your hearts out while you’re here slaving away. And I don’t need to get lucky, thank you very much.”

      Jade waved to her friend, “Kick rocks, chick,” she joked.

      As Kandace headed to her car, she thought about what Jade had said. Over the last six months, she had poured herself into her work because she had nothing else. Her life was all work because at home, Kandace had a big empty bed waiting for her and she was tired of it. Kandace hadn’t been with a man in a year. Her last relationship ended when she decided that she’d wanted something serious. Robert Harrington was happy with the sex, the nice things that Kandace did for him, but he wasn’t willing to take their relationship to the next level. After watching Jade get married, Kandace wanted her own marriage but Robert wanted no part of it.

      “What’s wrong with the way we are?” he’d asked when she’d broached the subject of marriage before she moved to Charlotte.

      “I want to know that we’re moving toward a future,” she’d said. “Is that too much to ask?”

      “This is just like a woman. Your girl gets married and then you think it’s your turn to walk down the aisle. I don’t want to get married.”

      “All right,” Kandace had calmly replied. “If you don’t want to get married, then I don’t want to have sex with you. I don’t want to do your damned laundry and I don’t want to waste any more of my time.”

      Robert had promptly walked out of her penthouse. Kandace had packed for Charlotte and never looked back. If she’d been honest with herself, she would’ve admitted that Robert wasn’t the man she needed to marry. He was selfish, he tried to be controlling, and he lacked passion in bed and in life. Of course Robert hadn’t wanted things to change. He liked being in a rut, but Kandace had grown tired of it.

      She knew for a while that her relationship had been a dead end, had actually realized it over a year ago. But because she had been comfortable with him, she stuck around until she saw what a real and passionate relationship looked like. Jade and James had inspired her to seek something better and real in her relationships. Maybe pressing Robert about marriage had been her way of ending the relationship.

      Yeah, she needed a vacation. But more than anything else, she needed some sleep. Kandace drove to her uptown townhouse and for once, she was happy her bed was empty.

      CHAPTER 2

      Solomon woke up on Carmen’s sofa to the smell of bacon, cheese eggs, and grits. When he’d called her the night before and started telling her about the boring model, Carmen invited him over for breakfast.

      “Have you ever stayed with a woman and watched the sun rise?” she’d asked when he walked in the door before dawn.

      “Nope. It gives y’all romantic notions,” he said before plopping down on her plush sofa and kicking his feet up on the coffee table. “What are you doing up?”

      “About to go for a run,” she’d replied. “Got to keep the blood flowing. The renovations in Sugar Mountain are complete today and the Weather Channel is calling for three to four feet of snow this weekend.”

      “Maybe I should go to North Carolina and check on the latest resort,” he’d said as he yawned. “And you shouldn’t go jogging in Central Park while it’s still kind of dark out there.”

      Carmen, who’d been dressed in an NYU sweatshirt and a pair of skin-tight yoga pants that accented her ample curves, sauntered over to Solomon and tweaked his nose. “Be careful, you’re going to make me think you care,” she’d said.

      Solomon was already asleep by the time Carmen had pulled her sweatshirt off.

      “You sure know how to wake a brother up,” Solomon said as he walked to the doorway of Carmen’s kitchen. “What’s cooking?”

      “Since you’re going to go to North Carolina, I pulled out some southern breakfast food,” she said with a smile plastered on her comely face.

      Solomon nodded at her. “That’s what’s up,” he said. “I’m probably going to gain fifteen pounds down there. They say southern cooks are the best.”

      Carmen cocked her head to the side. “You know we have a state of the art workout facility at Carolina Serenity,” she said. “The last thing you want to do is ruin that body.”

      Solomon flexed his sculpted muscles. “You’re right. Can’t bag models with flab.”

      Carmen laughed. “I’ll fix your plate and you turn on the news. Maybe there’s some good news about the stock market this morning.”

      “Carmen,

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