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  Smitten

  Nicole Falls

  Copyright © 2017 Nicole Falls

  Cover art by Voldemort. Cover image via unsplash.com

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to real locations, people, or events is coincidental, and unintentional.

  For Pat (RIP)—you woulda loved Celena

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  This girl was out of her damned mind. It was the only explanation for how she thought I was going to be okay with the bomb she’d just dropped on me. We’d been in the car for a few minutes, riding in silence before I finally spoke up.

  “This isn't a good idea,” I said

  “The best adventures never are,” Cadence replied with a sly grin.

  “So what is the set up, exactly?”

  “The name is self explanatory, my G. Speed dating. Undetermined number of eligible bachelors. Limited amount of time. Endless amounts of shiggles.”

  I sighed.

  “You promised…”

  “Did I? Was I high?”

  She reached up to the visor, pulling down a sheet of paper. “Read this.”

  “What is?”

  “Unfold and read it.”

  “I, Celena Marie Payne, do solemnly swear that as of the drafting of this contract I am of sober mind.”

  “See. Not high. Of sober mind. Keep reading.”

  “You sure you didn't forge my signature?”

  She rolled her eyes, turning off of the road into a parking structure in the center of town.

  “Keep reading.”

  “I vow to allow either Cadence Melody McPherson or Devorah Nicole Lee choose an adventure on which I have to embark, no questions asked. I had to have been high when I agreed to this. Or I thought you heffas meant a legit adventure and not whatever the hell this speed dating malarkey would turn out to be.”

  Cadence rolled her eyes again and said, “What's the worst that can happen, Cel? Unclench and try to enjoy yourself. Jeez.”

  “I’m am not cle—“

  “Let's not even continue that lie, sis.”

  I wasn’t clenched. I didn’t clench. Or at least I didn’t used to clench. I was always known as the easygoing, friendly, trust a stranger to use my cell phone and not run off with it member of our gang. Until everything I knew to be true came crashing down around me and I was left to make sense of the wreckage. Ok, so...I might have been leaning a bit into my hyperbolic side right now, just slightly, because I was heartbroken. Or at least I should be heartbroken? I'm not quite certain. I just knew that the man I had been dating for the past nineteen months up and decided that not only would he fuck me over personally, but that he'd let it bleed over into our professional relationship as well.

  Everyone told me not to shit where I ate and I resisted for as long as I could until Jacob Parker finally wore me down. Handsome, intelligent, from money, but most of all ridiculously funny with a razor sharp tongue—my kryptonite. Lord knows I cannot resist a man with a slick mouth. That's what drew me to Jacob initially. We met due to our companies doing business together. I became the lead account executive for Parker and Associates, so that meant a lot of one on one time spent in meetings strategizing, developing plans of attack and so on and so forth. One of those strategy sessions led to us grabbing dinner. Then dinner became a regular occurrence. Next thing I knew I was becoming increasingly charmed by Jacob. I had no designs on actually making a move, but one night he made it for me. We were finishing up a meeting and I was getting ready to leave. He held my coat for me, as was our usual custom. He claimed his mama – God rest her soul – had raised a gentleman. One minute he was helping me into my trench coat and the next we were wrapped in a passionate embrace sharing one of the hottest kisses I'd ever been a part of in my life.

  Jacob excelled at kissing. Where most men I'd been involved with treated it like something to prime the pump, he took his time, savoring me as if I were a rare wine or expensive chocolate. His lips against mine were firm and insistent, nibbling softly as he cradled my chin in his hand. I opened my mouth to ask what exactly he thought he was doing and he took that as an opportunity to slide his tongue between my lips, daring mine to come out and play. His hands moved from cupping my face; down to my hips where he pulled me flush against his body. Resistance was futile as I gave myself over to the swirling sensation that'd begun in my belly and traveled south with each nibble, swipe and suck of the kiss.

  That night...that kiss...everything changed then. The demands of being the CEO’s kid combined with the nature of their business led him to working long hours, so our time was limited, but we managed to build a solid relationship. Or at least I thought we had. We were on a good path, as far as I could see on our way to something permanent when I was blindsided with a breakup. It came shortly after I’d learned that his company was thinking of parting ways with mine for their business needs. I had been calling and texting with no returned calls or messages, so I decided to go over to Parker and Associates to see what was up. I was barely in the lobby before being approached by security.

  “I’m gonna have to ask you to leave, Cel,” Pete said, just as I made it through the revolving door.

  “Quit playin’, P,” I responded, trying to push past him.

  He refused to let me by, moving offensively as I tried ducking and dodging to get around him.

  “Sorry, boss’ orders. You’re on the do not fly list.”

  A list we’d – Pete and I – joked about several times before as I waited on Jacob while sitting in the lobby of his family’s business. It was typically a list chock full of women wronged by his older brother, Rob, that he was trying to avoid.

  “Pete. Quit playin. I need to speak to Jacob, it’s important.”

  “Celena.”

  Pete’s usage of my full first name caught my attention. I looked up to see the slight shame in his eyes as he faintly shook his head. He wasn’t joking. I’d been put on the “do not fly” list for real. I reached in my bag to pull out my cell phone and called Jacob to see what in the hell was going on.

  I’m sorry. The number you are trying to reach is currently not in service.

  “Sorry, Cel. I’m going to have to ask you to make your phone call outside.”

  “You’re putting me out, Pete. C’mon, man. I thought we were better than that.”

  “It’s not pers…”

  “It is personal. I’m a person, so that makes it personal.”

  “Don’t make a scene, Cel. You’re better than…”

  I looked around to see a nearly empty lobby and wondered who in the hell Pete was talking about making a scene for until it hit me. Security footage. They knew I was on my way. I’d called Jacob on my drive, with no answer, but chalked that up to a fluke. His receptionist’s line sometimes didn’t receive all of his calls, leaving them to languish in a ringing purgatory.

  In the aftermath of everything imploding with Jacob, I took inventory of my life. Here I was thirty-one with a past of incompatible boyfriends behind me, still on the search to find Mr. VSOP. Yep, I’m referencing a K. Michelle song and you will deal. I liked to refer to myself as bougavian. Slightly bougie, but I was not one to easily forget my bird roots. I gre
w up in the burbs, but spent summers with my sister and cousins at our grandmother’s in the hood. Those summers taught me a world of lessons, with the most important being never let ‘em catch you slipping. That’s exactly what happened with Jacob. I slipped and fell.

  I got so used to he and I being a thing and everything being all good, that I got comfortable. And being comfortable led to getting got. I low-key felt all of the pain Mary J. Blige was singing about on the My Life album on a regular basis for those first few weeks. I was mostly over the betrayal, hurt, lies and bruised ego, but those feelings of foolishness and regret were constant friends of mine—lurking about, rearing their ugly ass heads at the most inconvenient of times.

  Like right now. I thought I was going to be heading to the bar with my friends Cadence and Geoff to watch my boys whoop up on this town’s rinky dinky, alleged NBA team, but when I got in the car, there was no Geoff and I was informed that there had been a change in plans. Instead we were heading to speed dating at a local wine bar slash lounge called Imbibe.

  “Ok, so you didn’t find it prudent to tell me to change my clothes before we headed to this thing though? You do want me to meet someone, right? Cut offs, chucks, and a homemade tee aren’t exactly…”

  “Oh, but this speed dating event is themed. Tonight’s is ‘Rep Yo Set’ and everyone is supposed to wear something from their favorite sports teams.”

  “Wait...you have on a jersey...are you...” I started; giggling so hard I couldn’t finish my question.

  “Yep. I’m not gonna leave you hanging. I, too, will be dating tonight.”

  My low giggles turned to shrieking laughter.

  “With that belly? The twins gon hear their mama outchea thottin’? Don’t let me be an accessory to you cheating on G.”

  “For the last motherf–...for the last time, I told you. There is one baby in here,” Cadence gritted out.

  Cadence was six months pregnant, but looked closer to nine. It had been a running joke within our friend group that she was pregnant with multiples. Cadence, obviously, didn’t find much humor in the joke.

  “So let me get this straight. You’ve signed me up for speed dating, but let me come out here lookin' like who shot John? How am I supposed to flourish like this?”

  “Oh, so now you tryna flourish?”

  “I mean...might as well take advantage of the situation.”

  “Mmmhmmm. Well, luck is on your side. Freddie and Marni are running this event, so we have early access. And if you’ll take a look in the back seat, you’ll see a bag with a much more appropriate sports themed outfit for you to...as you say...flourish tonight. Though it hurt my heart to buy something in those dreadful ass colors.”

  “You planned this set up down to the T, eh?”

  “You say set up, I say...gentle nudge in the right direction. It’s time, Celly. You’ve been mourning over that JP shit for more than three months. I gave you your space, but now you gotta dust yourself off and try again. RIP Babygirl,” Cadence said, motioning the sign of the cross, ending with her head bowed and hand over her heart.

  “Really, Cade?”

  “You know I loved Aaliyah. Get off my back.”

  I rolled my eyes, while laughing at her antics.

  “So did I waste my money or are you going to give this a fair shake?”

  I twisted around in the back seat to grab the bag Cadence indicated earlier. In it I found a pair of dark rinse, cuffed boyfriend jeans and a bright yellow tee with some writing on the front that didn’t look like a team logo for any of the squads I supported.

  “What the fuck is this?” I asked, holding the tee between two fingers. “This doesn’t look like wine and gold to me.”

  “Read the shirt,” Cadence replied.

  There, on the goldenrod colored shirt, were the words A 3-1 LEAD in royal blue. I immediately broke into high pitched giggles as I realized my friend had managed to pull off the biggest troll on apparel that I’d yet seen. I could hardly breathe for how hard I was laughing.

  “You can thank your homeboy Geoff for the shirt idea. I told you it hurt my heart to buy something in those dreadful colors, but I couldn’t resist my husband’s brilliance,” Cade laughed.

  “You spent a lot of money on this, friend. What if it’s a bust?”

  “I got a hook up, I didn’t spent a dime. And what if you meet the love of your life? You never know. But what I do know is that we’re here and your ambivalence gotta hit the bricks, my G.”

  We walked from the parking structure to Imbibe. Our friend Marni owned the place with her husband Freddie. We had become quite friendly with her due to our frequent trips there on girls night out with the third side of our friendship Dorito, Devorah. To be honest, I was a bit nervous about this whole speed-dating thing. I wasn’t expecting to find the love of my life, but I also didn’t want to be the dud who got no play at the end of the night. Cadence ushered me through the employee entrance of Imbibe and into Marni’s office with an attached private bathroom. I quickly changed into the new outfit and took my hair out of the haphazard bun it’d been confined to. As I stood in front of the mirror, trying to tousle my hair into shape, Jacob crossed my mind.

  I hadn’t thought about him in a while. Because fuck him. Except not really because every now and again I found myself checking out his Facebook page to see what he was up to. Apparently, the whole time we were dating, I was the sidepiece. Here I was thinking that he was just busy with work, but he’d had an actual girlfriend with whom he was spending his time when he wasn’t with me. They had been dating for quite some time, set up by their parents who were longtime friends. As I scrolled Jacob’s page I saw photo after smiling photo of him and Rebekah with their parents, at the country club, at fraternity and sorority events, having date nights around the town...just looking as happy as a pig in shit. Meanwhile, I scrolled through rivulets of tears streaming down my face, lamenting where I’d missed the signs that I was the sideline ho.

  I shook off all thoughts of Jacob, Becky with the sparse edges, how I’d gotten played and continued getting ready. Cade really thought of everything, as I saw my makeup bag stuffed in there along with a sample size of my signature fragrance. I did a quick application of makeup, and then walked back out to the main office where Cadence and Marni were huddled, speaking in hushed tones.

  “What are y’all heffas whispering about?”

  “You look cute,” Marni said, reading my shirt. “I don’t get the shirt though.”

  “Doesn’t she? Those jeans look good, friend!”

  “So y’all gonna just ignore my question?”

  They shared a quick look and said, “yep!” in unison.

  Imbibe typically had very limited seating, so I was surprised to walk into the main area and see about twenty two seater tables scattered around the large space. The lights were normally dimmed, creating a relaxed vibe and ambiance, but tonight everything seemed to be turned up to the highest capacity. None of other participants had even shown up yet and I began to have second thoughts about this whole thing. Maybe it wouldn’t be an easy breezy way to work my way back into the dating scene. The obvious set up of tables of two made me feel as if the interactions would have an air of forced coupling instead of the easy flow of meeting someone on a night out. I had just opened my mouth to express my misgivings when Cade cut me off by holding up a hand.

  “Nope.”

  “I didn’t even–”

  “You’ve got that squinty Renee Zellweger look in your eye that you get when you’re overthinking a thing and I’m not about to let you think yourself out of this. This will be fun. And if it isn’t fun, at least Bee and I will have something to laugh about the next time we get together and you tell us the stories from tonight. You aren’t backing out though. You’re doing this.”

  “But–”

  “No. Nup. Nein. Nyet. Nawl. We’re here. Doors open in,” she looked down at her Fit Bit for the time, “sixteen minutes. I spent my hard earned doubloons and took food out the mout
h of my child for you to do this. So you’re doing it.”

  “But you said you didn’t–”

  “Never mind what I said. My back is killing me, let’s sit.”

  I followed her over to a table and we sat there quietly. Cadence stared at me expectantly, and I opened my mouth to speak, but quickly closed it. I felt silly verbalizing my insecurities about an event that was not even to be taken seriously. Who in the hell finds The One at a speed-dating event? I’m sure probably no one, ever.

  “Aight, so what’s the real deal?”

  “I just...I don’t know if I’m ready yet.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “I mean it’s only been like three months and Jacob and I were…”I trailed off.

  “Bullshit. You and JP were bullshit. Truth is, he laid the pipe really well and kept a smile on your face, but let’s keep it a buck...you guys weren’t compatible. He was the uptight, spoiled little rich boy, Jack and Jill, Alpha man...bougie black people who brunch prototype. And you’re…”

  “The poor hoodrat who bootstrapped her way through college and landed a good job? Damn, Cade.”

  “Ok, so first of all, don’t assume you know how I was going to finish that. I was going to say that you’re laid back, free spirited, carefree black girl personified...and you know I hate that carefree shit...but it’s just your aura. Y’alls vibes never matched to me. The levels were off. Besides Geoff never liked the nigga and he likes everybody.”

  “He liked Jacob!”

  “No, he tolerated him. We all did. Because you liked him. Honestly, I think you liked his dick and the idea of being coupled up, but you two were never a good match. And I hated to see you hurt the way you were, but I was so relieved that we wouldn’t have to sit through him telling us about how J. Cole went platinum with no features any damn more.”

  “Cade. Now you know he never said that.”

  “Semantics. The point is, you were just too dickmatized to see through his bullshit. But now you’re free. And we’re here to have a good time, talk some shit, and maybe...at the very least...leave with the number of a cutie in your contacts. Nothing ventured nothing gained, sis. So let’s get it.”