Page 12 of The Dating Prohibition

Over the next couple of days, Kendra avoided being alone with BJ for longer than a few minutes. Embarrassed by their text

exchange, she couldn’t get it out of her head that she probably looked desperate sending that sexy photo. For the time being,

her best defense was the ostrich approach—head in the sand until it fades from memory. God, what if he told Logan I did that?

The problem with attempted avoidance was that he was everywhere, and anytime they were in the same room, they kept catching

each other stealing glances. Sometimes she didn’t even have to look—she could feel his gaze on her. Flustered embarrassment showed on her cheeks anytime he was near, and she was relieved to finally reach

the end of the weekend and a much-needed day off, which she planned to spend with her family. The restaurant was closed on

Mondays, so they moved their traditional Sunday dinners to Monday nights when schedules permitted so that they could all be

together, and it was Kendra’s turn to cook.

Everyone had started to notice the tension between the two, and they couldn’t just keep their observations to themselves. No, they just had to let her know she was making big ole googly eyes at her brother’s best friend. But never in front of Logan, of course,

though he’d been watching his sister carefully and checking in even more frequently than normal.

To avoid being called out, Kendra had busied herself running errands for Shonda, attempting some new specialty cocktails to

have something fresh for any returning customers, and expediting the food in the kitchen so that Shonda could have more face

time with the guests.

Shonda had always been against workplace entanglements, but since neither of them worked there in an official capacity, Kendra

wondered what her sister-in-law would make of the situation. She made a mental note to plan some time with the girls, because

she had no answers to the question that imprinted itself in the forefront of her mind. Should we?

The cooks had teased Kendra for watching BJ carry a case of wine to the cellar. She hadn’t meant to stare, but the strength

of his arms and back deserved an audience in the same way that women swooned over Winston Duke’s delectable thigh meat. She’d

played off the teasing saying she was just nervous about him carrying such a heavy box down the steep cement stairs. They

probably didn’t believe her excuse, but they left her alone.

Of course, that didn’t stop Lani from calling her out regularly right in front of him. She’d watch with amusement as Kendra

sputtered. “You know, you’re supposed to be on my side, heffa,” she warned through gritted teeth.

Lani danced around Kendra playfully. “You’ve got a lot of tension built up, cousin... I wonder what you can do to release

some of that—” Lani yelped as Kendra lunged at her.

She was lucky I didn’t put hands on her .

Kendra smoothed her hands over her hair before wrapping a kitchen towel around the handles of her lacquered Dutch oven pot, which was still piping hot from the oven.

She and Shonda agreed to make the family dinner a potluck, and Kendra decided to make a beer-braised pork roast with root vegetables for the main protein.

Shonda planned to roast some veggies and make a dessert.

Momma was bringing her famous mac ’n’ cheese.

Daddy baked ube pandesal stuffed with cheese––the thought alone made Kendra’s mouth water.

Lani was probably picking up a bag of ice or some napkins.

The best thing that heffa knew how to make was a reservation.

Kendra carried the hefty pot up the stairs and tapped her foot against the basement door so that someone would come open it

for her. “Hey, y’all, it’s me!”

Logan appeared and took the food from her. “Jesus, how much food did you cook? This roast must be thick as fuck, Ke.”

“You know I don’t know how to make small dishes.”

“But we’re not a small army.”

Kendra shrugged. “Pack some of it up and bring it for the staff. You act like we’ve never sent people home with care packages

before. You and I both know Lani doesn’t have home-cooked meals if we don’t make them. Give some to Stanley and BJ too.”

Logan glared at her, and she turned away. He always got funny about his friends, not because he didn’t trust Kendra, but because

he refused to ever set her up with any of them. What is that about? Why do guys never think they have friends good enough for the women in their lives?

“So... where’s my sister-in-law anyway? And I figured Momma and Daddy would already be here. Now, Lani, I expect her ass

to be late.”

Logan laughed. “She really is on an entirely different clock than the rest of us. Shonda will be right down––she spilled something on herself and wanted to change real quick.” He lifted the lid to peek at the roast. “Damn, Keke, this smells amazing. What kind of beer did you use?”

“Guinness. I figured it would bring out the richness of the meat. And it’s roasted with turnips and carrots, onions and leeks,

a little celery...” The doorbell rang, and they both headed to the door to greet their parents.

“Hey, Momma.” Kendra wrapped her arms around her mom as Logan took the pan of macaroni from their dad. The fresh pandesal

was wrapped in foil and sat on top of the covered dish.

“Hey, baby. Somethin’ sure smells good!” Regina Porter kissed her daughter’s cheek and followed her son into the kitchen to

greet him once he’d set the food on the island. “Hey, son. Gimme some sugar.”

“Hi, Daddy,” Kendra said, hugging her father as Shonda came down the stairs and made a beeline for the kitchen to check on

her dishes.

“Hey there, sunshine.” He kissed Kendra’s forehead. “How’s everything going?”

“Uh,” Kendra laughed awkwardly. “It’s goin’... I have a meeting with this loan specialist who came by the restaurant the

other day, so I’m planning to go over stuff with Logan later.”

“Good. You know your brother––he really knows his stuff. I’m sure he can give you some good advice so that you can get your

venture off the ground.” He patted her head affectionately before turning toward the back of the house to greet Shonda and

see how he could help out.

She nodded in agreement, words escaping her. While what he said was true, Kendra couldn’t help but wonder if her parents ever

said something like that about her. She knew they were proud of her, but it often seemed like they thought the sun shone directly

out of Logan’s ass. He was the pioneer paving the way in their family. Kendra was always following in his footsteps.

She stood at the front door in a daze, still holding it open against her back as Lani stepped onto the porch. “What are you, training to be the new Walmart greeter?”

“Shut up. What you bring besides yourself?”

Lani grinned and air-kissed her cousin as she stepped past her into the house. “Couple bottles of wine.”

Kendra’s eyebrows shot up.

“I know, it’s not my usual, but Stan put me on to this cute little wineshop in Riverdale Park, and I thought it might be nice

to bring something that can be consumed other than ice.”

“I’m impressed.” Kendra nodded her approval. “Did they help you pick out wines? You didn’t know what we were cooking, so how

did they suggest pairings?”

Lani shrugged. “I just picked ones that I thought sounded good.”

Something twisted in the pit of Kendra’s stomach. Something about her cousin selecting wine based on vibes made her nervous,

but she kept her face in check. “Great.” She nodded emphatically. “Come on, let’s see if everything’s ready.”

Once everyone had made a plate and made their way to the dining table, Logan blessed the food, and they all dug in. The table

was met with a chorus of grunts and exclamations, some doing little shimmies in their seats while others slapped their hand

to the table and closed their eyes to savor. Everyone’s glasses were full, and Kendra and her brother nodded to each other

as they observed the others.

“Keke, this pork is so tender and flavorful.” Shonda’s eyes rolled back as she took another bite. Lani danced in her seat

as she ate, her cheeks bouncing to the same beat.

Kendra watched her mom carefully take another bite, having gathered some of the pork and veggies on her fork together. She dragged the meat through the jus and ate slowly as if taking mental notes. Kendra’s eyes darted to her brother and then back to Momma. “What do you think?”

Mrs. Porter nodded, patting the corner of her mouth with her napkin as she chewed slowly. Here we go. “You know, this reminds me a bit of that braised lamb dish your brother makes... his sauce is richer, but I think it’s

because he uses wine instead of beer.”

Kendra looked down at her plate, pressing her lips together into a tight smile. “Right.”

“The turnips and leeks were an interesting touch. Was the store out of parsnips and garlic chives?”

She blinked slowly, taking a deep breath. “Nope, I made those selections intentionally, but I appreciate the feedback.”

“I wouldn’t have chosen them myself, but very creative, dear. Honey,” she said, turning to Logan, “I think that means next

time you owe us that delicious lamb. Something about this meal is just making me crave it!”

Logan opened his mouth to speak, but he made eye contact with his sister, who shook her head. “Thanks, Mom.” Kendra nodded,

raising her glass to her lips for a big sip. I’m glad Lani brought a couple of bottles. Maybe I can sneak one of those downstairs with me for later. “It’s definitely something I’ll keep in mind as I plan out the supper club menu.”

“You weren’t planning on having this on your menu, were you?”

Her dad jumped in, telegraphing a message to his wife through a wide-eyed stare. “That’s not to say this is bad , right, honey?”

Mrs. Porter caught on, though not quickly enough to go unnoticed. “Oh! Of course not, it’s not bad . It’s just different,” she offered.

Lani hid her smile behind a napkin as Shonda took a generous sip of wine.