Page 4 of An Alpha's Romance

CHAPTER 3

KEISHA

The next day, Keisha was in a much better mood, and at least the cookies were done. But she couldn’t get the gorgeous caveman out of her mind. Her quick trip to the grocery store had turned into a nightmare. However, she was determined to let all of the mishaps from yesterday go, and make today into a better day.

She plastered a smile on her face and walked into her already opened bakery. Keisha greeted her customers, and her part-time employees, Tracy and Sabrina. Both ladies were busy taking and filling orders.

The bakery was already packed, and they had only been opened for an hour. Hot Stuff was a popular breakfast spot because of their fresh pastries, herbal tea, and some of the best gourmet coffee in Dallas.

Keisha took in her business and all of her customers. Suddenly, the fake smile she’d plastered on her face became a sincere and grateful smile. She was blessed to have accomplished so much after her nasty divorce.

“Hey, ladies,” Keisha waved at the hard working women, “I’ll be out in just a minute to help.” Both ladies smiled and waved back as Keisha made her way to the office to put down her bag.

April was in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on their large specialty order, and Keisha’s sister, Bell was mixing up one of her concoctions.

“Hola, mamacitas,” Keisha greeted her sister and friend.

“Hey, chica,” Bell smiled brightly at her sister. “I hope the extra few hours of sleep helped you have a better start to your day.”

Bell was Keisha’s older sister, but people often thought they were twins. Bell was slightly taller and thinner, but they had the same smooth ebony complexion. They also shared the same natural thick coily black hair.

“Yeah, no tickets or spilled coffee. I’m off to a glorious start already.” Keisha chuckled. “Thanks for coming in and covering for me. I appreciate you.”

“No worries. A speeding ticket and a car accident all in one day is a pretty good excuse,” Bell stated with a sympathetic smile.

“We should all be so lucky,” April snorted. “Let me run over a fine man at the grocery store.”

Keisha rolled her eyes. “First of all, nobody said he was fine. And second, he ran me over.”

April waved her hand dismissively. “I could tell by the way you were acting he was fine. You were all flustered and outraged about how he was acting like a ‘caveman,’ and how he was staring and grunting at you. I mean, you described his eyes and hair. Hell, you almost forgot that you ran him over with your car.”

“Again, he hit me.” Keisha crossed her arms over her chest. “And I never said he was fine,” she added as a second thought.

“Uh huh.” Bell and April giggled.

“Whatever heffa’s.”

“Soooo, did you exchange information? I mean for insurance purposes, of course.” Bell grinned mischievously.

Keisha rolled her eyes again. “No. There wasn’t any damage, so there was no need to do any of that.”

“Come on, Keish. You literally run into a fine ass man, you have an excuse to get his info, and you just leave without it?” April threw up her hands in irritation.

Ever since her divorce, Keisha’s friends were always trying to set her up. However, she had been on several horrifying dates, and she wasn’t so eager to jump back into dating again head first.

Keisha shrugged off their disapproving groans. “The man had to literally hit me with his car before he would do more than grunt at me. I don’t think he would’ve been interested in a date.”

“What about our annual V-day soiree? You’re coming this year, right?” Bell asked with a hopeful tone.

“Uh. Probably not.” Keisha grimaced.

Every year, her friends all got together to celebrate the lover’s holiday. They all brought dates, went to dinner and dancing. And every year she made up an excuse not to go.

“Listen, Keisha, you have got to get out more. You have plenty of time to find a date, or I will find one for you. Either way, you’re coming to the soiree this year.”

“Bell, I just don’t wa—”

Her sister cut her off before she could finish. “No. No more excuses. When you were married, it was your husband that didn’t want to come. Right after your divorce, it was too soon. It’s been nearly two years. You’re coming… even if I have to drag you there kicking and screaming,” Bell replied with finality.