Page 21 of Saved By A Small Town Country Boy

“Do you think that Remedi can come to dinner tonight?” His eyes cut to me, slicing through my heart.

I did sort of make plans with Reese, but who was I to turn Khali down if she wanted to spend time with me?

Khali? Who am I kidding? I’m really worried about seeing Khalif and knowing if he felt the strong ass connection between us like I did.

“If you really want her to come,” was his response.

Khali turned back to face me and asked, “Can you come to dinner with us?”

Snickering, I replied, “Sure.”

“Okay!” Khalif opened the back passenger door for Khali, and she climbed up in the truck.

As he shut it, he looked over at me, and my heart banged against my ribcage.

He rounded the truck, climbed into the driver’s seat, and sat there.

I’m not sure what he was waiting for, but I stepped off the curb and made my way across the parking lot to my truck.

Soon as I got inside and shut the door, he pulled off. Maybe he was waiting for me to leave.

I followed him to his house, not knowing how the evening was going to turn out. Stopping behind his truck in the driveway, I grabbed my phone and sent Reese a quick text.

Khali asked me to come over for dinner. Rain check?

It’s as if she was waiting for me to text her or something because she responded immediately. Khali or Khalif? I think you were missing the F.

I didn’t even bother to text her anything back. Hitting the power button, I grabbed my purse and got out the truck. Khali was waiting for me on the step of the porch while Khalif unlocked the door. He pushed the door in and waited for us to enter first before coming in behind us.

I placed my purse on the counter and stood there, not knowing what to do.

“Why you standing there like you ain’t been here before?

” he asked before going over to the sink.

From where I stood, I couldn’t quite see what was in it, but the moment I walked over next to him and saw what it was, I wished that I’d stayed my ass where I was at.

A whole dang chicken was in the sink. The only thing missing was the head.

Khalif glanced over at me, and the corner of his mouth quirked. This is really the first time since I’ve been here that I’ve seen somewhat of a smile from him.

“What’s wrong? You’ve never seen a dead chicken before?”

“I’m just going to let you handle that and go in there with Khali.” I pointed my thumb over my shoulder and backed away. Though I wasn’t a vegetarian or anything, I did hate seeing cruelty to animals, with my profession and all.

“I’ll let y’all know when dinner is ready.”

“Okay.” I disappeared out of that kitchen so fast.

Khali was in her bedroom, sitting on the floor with her Barbie dolls. It’s been so long since I’ve played with one. “Hey,” I spoke, letting her know that I was about to enter her bedroom.

“Hey.” She glanced up at me and went back to playing with her dolls.

Stepping into her bedroom, I took a seat on the floor directly in front of her Indian style. “I told your daddy that I’d come keep you company while he cooks dinner.”

“The chicken scared you, huh?” She erupted in laughter.

It’s almost as if she set me up. “I didn’t like it at first ’til he explained it to me.

It’s some chickens out there that he raises for us to eat, and then there are others that he raises to lay eggs for us.

I try not to think about it. He showed me how to do it just in case I needed to, to survive. ”

“I’m sure you know how to do a lot of things that I don’t know how.”

“Uh huh.”

It was a good thing that he was teaching her basic survival skills.

She’d be able to live in this world and not need anyone for anything.

I’m not saying that there’s something wrong with needing someone.

I felt like everyone needs someone every once in a while, but Khali would be able to live off the grid if she needed to.

“Wanna play?” She handed me one of the dolls. For the next hour or so, I sat there, playing and talking with Khali.

She got up from the floor and turned on her television. That’s when I decided that I was about to go into the kitchen and see what Khalif had going on. By now, I’m sure whatever he planned on doing to that chicken, he’d done it already.

I tread down the hallway and made my way into the kitchen.

Khalif was no longer in there, and from where I stood, I didn’t see him in the living room either, but there was a bottle of Meadow & Mill wine sitting on the island along with two glasses.

I needed to make my way back to the farmers’ market to stock up on some because they had some of the best wine I’ve ever tasted in my life, and I’ve lived in two of the most popular cities in the world and traveled to several different places.

When I turned around, I bumped right into him.

I knew it was Khalif because the smell of fresh rain and deep wood crept up my nostrils.

His arms wrapped around my frame as I melted into his damp skin.

Something hit my feet. I looked down, and that’s when I realized it was his towel.

My eyes bulged from my head. Pushing him back away from me, I quickly covered my eyes, not wanting to violate him.

“It’s okay,” he said. No, it’s not. If he knew the things that play in my head when he’s not around, he wouldn’t have said that. Not at all. “You can look now.”

I peeked from my right eye and saw that he’d wrapped the towel back around his waist. That still didn’t stop the water from turning on in the water park just from looking at him standing there. I swear it’s like Khalif should’ve been on the cover of a magazine or the front of a calendar somewhere.

The way God chiseled this man’s body was insane.

Every turn and curve looks as though he’d taken his time creating him and broke the mold afterward.

I’m certain he did because I had yet to find another man who’s made like him.

He may look like him from the outside, but that interior… this man is one of a kind.

“I was in the shower and wanted to come in here and check on the food. I set some wine out in case you wanted some,” he said and moved around me toward the stove. After seeing him, I was going to need something to help calm my nerves.

As he checked the food, I popped the wine open and poured us a glass. “The food is almost done. I’m going to go put on some clothes.”

Yeah, you do that.

He left me in the kitchen. I took a sip from the wine and sat down at the island. Not long after, Khalif found his way back into the kitchen, and this time he was fully dressed in a pair of sweats and a white beater.

“Tell me about your wife.” His eyes cut in my direction. I know I might be overstepping it, but I wanted to see what I was up against.

“Don’t really talk about her.”

“I know you don’t, but I want to hear about her. From the way Khali talks about her, I just know that she was the best.”

“She was.” He picked up the other wine glass and took a gulp from it. “She was the love of my life.”

“Do you ever think that you’d love like that again?”

“I don’t ever want to love like that again.” That response crushed my little heart. I understand where he’s coming from, but if he doesn’t have an open mind, I wouldn’t stand a chance.

“It must have been hard to fall for someone so hard and then have them taken away. I’ve never had that before.

I’ve never been in love.” I can only go off the stories that I’ve heard.

Mine was never written for me because I’m so guarded.

From watching what other men did to people that I love, I placed up so many walls around my heart that I don’t think anyone would ever get in.

“Don’t get me wrong, being in love is a beautiful thing. I just don’t want to ever experience the hurt that comes along with it ever again.”

“Where did you two meet?”

“High school.”

“Aww, the high school sweethearts story. You don’t hear about those much anymore these days.” Maybe it’s the fact that Magnolia Falls was in a timeframe of its own.

“Yeah,” was all he offered before turning back to the stove and removing the pan from it.

“It smells good. What did you decide to cook with the chicken?” Getting up from the stool, I stepped behind the counter and stopped at the stove to take a look at the chicken. Shutting my eyes, I took a huge whiff of the chicken. It wasn’t even uncovered yet, but I can still smell it.

“Baked macaroni, cabbage, and cornbread.”

“Sounds like a Sunday meal to me. You can really throw down like that?”

When I turned, his face was mere inches away from mine.

I studied his lips that played peekaboo from inside his facial hair.

Mine drew to them. My eyes deeply searched his.

Briefly, his eyes derailed, but when they returned, he came with a spoonful of macaroni.

His mouth didn’t have to move to tell me that he wanted me to try it.

My lips parted, and he placed the spoon inside my mouth.

The cheese melted onto my tongue and all the flavor oozed out.

“My mama’s recipe.”

The way this man eyed me, I wanted to give him a taste of my mama’s recipe.

Gripping him by the shirt, I pulled his lips to mine and smothered them.

Glass shattered the air just before I was lifted onto the counter.

Spreading my legs with his knee, he stepped in between them.

Grasping the lower half of his shirt, I tugged it over his head, temporarily breaking our kiss.

I panted, lips sore as hell, but that wasn’t about to stop me from meshing our lips again.

“Daddy, is the food done?” Khali’s voice was what really broke our kiss. Khalif snatched his shirt from the floor and pulled it back down over his head. I jumped down off the counter and rounded the island just before she entered the kitchen.

“Yeah, baby girl. I was just about to come in there and get you.” He grabbed a broom and swept up the broken glass off the floor.

“I’ll set the table,” I offered. Hopefully, that would calm my warming, soaking-wet center. Taking the plates out the cabinet, I went over to the table.

“I’ll help you,” Khali offered.

We set the table, and Khalif brought the food over. We sat down, had a moment of silence, and then everyone dug into the food.

The entire time, I kept stealing peeks of Khalif. The way that man kissed me in that kitchen and was prepared to rip my clothes off, I just knew the chemistry between us was undeniable.

Once we were done eating, I offered to clean the kitchen while he tucked Khali into bed. It wasn’t much to clean up. I was done in no time. Soon as I put the last dish up, Khalif came back into the kitchen.

“Thanks for tonight. I needed this more than you know.”

Scratching his beard, he stared me in the eyes and said, “Remedi, I’m gonna be honest with you. I don’t think I’m ready for anything serious right now.”

“With the way my life is set up right now, I don’t think I want anything serious either. But we can have fun.” Stepping to him, I said, “We can agree to just keep it fun.”

“Goodnight, Remedi.”

“Goodnight.” He walked me out onto the porch and stayed there ’til I got in my truck and backed out the driveway.