I’m participating in Wednesday Writing Prompt with some author friends. What is Wednesday Writing Prompt? On Wednesdays in May, we’ll write a short story from a writing prompt, and you can hop from blog to blog to read each one and see the different ideas that come from each prompt. Follow my blog to make sure you don’t miss any of the prompts!
Writing Prompt: His best friend sets him up on a blind date, but
he’s surprised when he shows up for the date and his best friend is sitting
there.
Bradleigh
got out of his car wearing a navy shirt, matching slacks, and a wry grin. He’d been a fool in the last five years
and needed nobody to tell him so. Aside from messing up his relationship with
the woman he’d loved but didn’t know at the time, he was also best friend to another female
who should have been his wife. Now, Sereta had set him up with a date he didn’t
want.
According to his mother, he needed an attitude adjustment and sense knocked into his
head. He walked into the bar, a hot-spot that opened recently in Kingston. At
first glance, all he saw was a manufactured haze that wasn’t cigarette smoke.
He supposed the owners thought that the effect was trendy. He thought otherwise. As a
police officer, his inclination was to reach for the gun strapped to his ankle
just in case anything popped off.
He walked farther
into the open space divided by a half-wall made of opaque glass. Damian Marley’s
latest song blasted from the hidden speakers. Surely Sereta didn’t expect him
to find whoever she set him up with in the smoky darkness. She knew he had no
time for games.
He was about
to do an about-face and leave when someone waved at him. She had a red flower—a
hibiscus he’d guess per Sereta’s instructions—attached to her wrist. As he got
closer, he thought she seemed familiar. Slender. Elegant. But she’d shrouded
her face in a scarf, the same color as the flower.
He’d kill
Sereta if she wasted his time with any of her kooky friends.
From the opposite
side of the booth, Bradleigh slid into the seat. He realized then that Sereta had
gone into full Secret Squirrel mode and hadn’t told him his date’s name. And he’d
been too distracted by last week’s drug bust to ask.
He squinted
at the person facing him. “Our date would get off to a better start if you
removed your scarf and told me your name.”
In one movement,
she pulled the fabric away and dropped it in her lap.
“Sereta?”
His brows rode high on his forehead. “Where’s the date you promised me?”
“I thought
you didn’t want it.” She gestured to her torso, sheathed in a black, leather
dress. “I’m your date.”
“Didn’t you
say—”
Sereta’s
smile was slow and sensuous. “I know what I said, but a lady is entitled to
change her mind, right?”
While she slid
a glass of soda water with a slice of lemon to him, she held his gaze.
Her body
language and this setup confirmed that she’d finally pulled the plug on the best-buddy
relationship they’d settled into over the past six months.
“So, let me
get this straight. You get me a blind date I didn’t want in the first place, to
blindside me with a reconciliation bid?”
Her face fell,
but only for a few seconds. “It’s not exactly what you’ve termed it.”
“Then what
is it, sweetness?” He sipped the soda water appreciatively. Sereta always knew what
would hit the spot.
“I’ve missed
you,” she said.
He cocked
his head. “Say that again?”
“You heard
me.” She cut her eyes at him. “Don’t go getting a big head.”
Bradleigh
spun the glass on the tabletop and scanned the room, which was filling up with
even more
people. “The thought never crossed my mind. I seriously don’t understand
what you want.”
But he did.
They had an intense relationship. He met her coming off his split up with his
previous partner. Sereta wanted all of him, but at the time he didn’t have that
to give. He’d been in healing mode. Through an investigation into items stolen
from Sereta’s family business, they kept in touch. Eventually, he asked her
out. But her jealousy of his ex ensured their connection was brief and fiery.
Fact was, Corra wanted nothing to do with him but Sereta had never been
convinced.
“Although we’re
supposed to be just friends, I … ”
When she
didn’t continue, he said, “I’m listening.”
“Don’t make
me beg,” she snapped. “You’ve been feeling me as much as I’ve been feeling you,
so cut the crap.”
“Now, who’s
getting a big head?” he asked, looking into her sparkling eyes.
“Whatever.” She
sipped from her wine glass, then licked her lips and scooted closer to him. “I
like you better as my man than my friend.”
“And why is
that?”
As if by its
own accord his arm settled around Sereta, who turned her face into his neck.
Her shoulders rose as she inhaled against his skin. The rush of warm air as she
exhaled caused an immediate reaction at his groin. She’d always had that effect
on him and she knew it. A wicked smile lifted her lips as he dipped his head toward
hers. “You’re a wicked woman, but I suspect you know that.”
“Oh yeah?”
She breathed against his mouth, then touched her lips to his.
“So, you fooled
me into a date to take advantage of me?” he teased.
Sereta
slipped her hand to the back of his head and eased his lips open with her
tongue. She laved his mouth, taking her time and leaving him near breathless. The
port lent a sweet flavor to their kiss. When she pulled back, he cupped her
cheek and went in for seconds. She raised a hand to his chest and when her
fingers met his shirt button, he gave her a chaste peck and whispered. “Down
girl. How would it look for a police officer to be arrested for lewdness in a
public place?”
Her grin
took a second to emerge, then she shoved him in the chest. “You’re such a d—”
Squeezing
her close, he said, “Really, Sereta?”
She swallowed
deeply from the remaining port.
Hiding his
smile, he spanned her nape and gently turned her head toward him. “We can’t go
back
after this, you know that, right?”
“Doesn’t setting
up this date tell you that I know exactly what I want?”
He raised
both hands in a gesture of surrender. “I want to be sure where I stand with
you.”
She stared
at the bar, then looked at him. “So, I can be a bit demanding, but … ”
“Tell me
about it,” he quipped.
“Can you
stop being nasty.”
“When we met,
you said you appreciated my honesty.”
“Not to the point of you telling me I told
you so.”
“Fine.” He
folded both arms across his chest. “So you’re finally admitting I’m the man you
want even though I told you ages ago that I loved you and you’re the woman I
want in my future?”
“Something like
that.”
He tipped
her chin toward him. “Sereta, just to be clear. At thirty-eight, I’m too old to
pretend I don’t love you the way I love you. Truth is, I only agreed to stay
friendly with you because I wanted to know what the heck you had going on when
you weren’t with me.”
“You sneaky
bas—”
He poked her side. “Don’t act like you weren’t keeping your eyes on me, too.”
Sereta let out
a peal of laughter. “You’re never going to let me forget it, but yes, our friendship
was definitely about keeping tabs on you.”
“So, why
have us go around the mulberry bush when you know you want me?”
She shrugged.
“I guess it was hard to believe a guy like you, who could have anyone, would
want an ordinary woman like me.”
He pulled
her into a hug. “Never let me hear you talk about yourself like that again. What
you consider ordinary, I consider more than worth my time. Extra-ordinary, in
fact.”
“For real?”
As their
breaths mingled, he said, “Let me show you.”
Would you have taken the risk Sereta did? Would you have given Bradleigh another chance since he was prepared to go on a date with someone else?
Don’t forget to visit the blogs of my writing friends below to see their stories:
Delaney Diamond delaneydiamond.com
Tiye Love tiyelovebooks.com
Nyora René nyorarene.com
S.Taylor staylorromance.com
