Page 37 of Love's Most Wanted

“I’m not trying to do nothing but go eat with a friend. I also want to apologize for kissing you. I swear on my fucking life I didn’t intend to do that shit, and it won’t happen again. I’m already in the neighborhood, and I just wanna eat. After, I’ll take you home.”

I nibbled on my lip, wanting to say no but feeling bad because of all he’d done for me. Had he not rented me this studio at a record-breaking low price and paid for my abortion pill, I would be fucked. The least I could do was go eat with the man. And it wasn’t like Unique was a creep, so I wasn’t afraid of him pinning me down somewhere and forcing a kiss or anything more on me. Honestly, he kept my mind off a lot of things with his humor, even if it was sometimes quite dark or ignorant.

“Okay. I will go. But at the first sign of flirting you do, I will leave.”

“Aight, I can abide by that rule so long as you abide by mine.”

“Which is?” I hiked a brow.

“No annulment talk of any kind.”

“Ugh.” I grunted, knowing I’d planned to ask for updates since it’d been a minute since Mack had given up anything. “Okay, just this once.”

“Aight. I’m outside.”

“I need time to put on some clothes.”

“I can wait.”

“Alright. I will be as quick as I can.” I hung up and went to the closet off to the side of my studio.

He didn’t say where we were going, but he mentioned it was a friendly outing, so I doubted we were going somewhere fancy or romantic. It was already late in the evening, though, so I knew LA would be freezing soon, making me opt for a pair of jeans and long-sleeved white crop top.

I brushed my hair into a low ponytail, then dusted a little bit of highlighter onto my natural complexion before slipping my earrings in. Spraying a little of Le Labo’s Another 13 on my pressure points, I grabbed my purse and phone, then left out, keys already in the bag.

When I got down to the lobby, I was surprised to see Unique there waiting for me. I expected him to be in the car.

“There she is.” His eyes sort of sparkled as he rose to his feet, seemingly dwarfing everyone in the area.

“Yep. Did I take that long?” I adjusted my purse on my shoulder, suddenly hit with a nervous pang.

Though Unique was only in a Nike hoodie with the matching sweats, socks, and Nike shoes, he looked good—he always did. He smelled amazing, too, and I, for some reason, found it hard to keep my eyes on him without feeling a bit skittish. Did I like Unique? No fucking way.

I’d always found him cute as fuck and just as funny, but this was something else. He was so attentive, ignorant but sweet, and the way he showed up for me during my abortion had been on my mind constantly. No man had ever taken care of me in that way. In fact, no one had taken care of me in that way.

I felt a pit form in my stomach as he placed a hand on the small of my back to guide me through the glass doors of the building.

“Nah, you didn’t, but I wanted to walk you to the car since the sun is setting.”

“Right.” I nodded, not even remembering the question I’d asked him as we neared his Range Rover.

He helped me inside, and I took a deep breath while saying a quick three-word prayer while he rounded the back before climbing in with me.

I needed to calm the fuck down. I wasn’t my mother; therefore, I wasn’t about to be crushing on a taken man, no matter how many nice things he said or did. As long as Unique was taken, he would never be attractive enough for me to fall all the way.

He pulled off, and I stayed silent, unintentionally, because I was in my head about a lot of shit like my career, Zosia calling me, the abortion that I didn’t think would be bothering me as much, my sham marriage, and Unique.

We ended up at some Peruvian place around the corner from me that looked more like a hole in the wall until you walked in. The scent of spices and meat filled my nose as Unique requested a table for two. I hadn’t realized that other than the toast and an iced coffee this morning, I hadn’t eaten a damn thing.

“You aight?” he asked once we were seated, greeted, and told about the specials in the dimly lit establishment.

“As much as I can be,” I admitted truthfully, scanning the menu a bit. “It smells amazing in here.” I changed the subject, feeling Unique’s gaze on me.

“Yeah, it’s pretty good, but I always just get the chicken. I ain’t freaky enough for all the other shit.”

I giggled, shaking my head at him.

“As much as you travel, please don’t tell me you go out of the country and still order burgers or pizza.”