Page 3 of The Heart of a Capricorn (BLP Signs of Love #19)

I shouldn’t have told Ciara I would come to the bar, but I was hungry, so it worked out.

I didn’t feel like being bothered by people, so once I spoke to the ladies, I found a table in the corner and ordered my food.

While I waited, I looked over the plans for the next couple of days, then did a crossword puzzle on my phone.

It was one of the only ways I could calm my mind down from the million things that ran through it.

Deadlines, making sure things got done correctly, and everything we had to do on this project ran through my mind on a constant loop.

Doing crossword puzzles forced me to think about something other than work.

My grandmother was the first person I knew who did them, and one day when I was at her house, she sat me down to do one, and I loved them ever since.

Grandma Laura was my favorite person, and I missed her so much.

She was two years shy of a hundred when she went peacefully in her sleep.

She loved crossword puzzles so much that my mother buried her with her favorite puzzle book.

I usually had a book of my own, but I thought it would be weird to have a puzzle book in a bar, so I utilized my phone instead.

When my chicken fingers and fries came, I put my phone on the table, sanitized my hands, and dressed my food the way I wanted it: BBQ sauce for the chicken, ketchup, salt, and pepper for the fries.

My meal wouldn’t be complete without a root beer.

I did order a drink, but I needed the soda too.

Some meals required an ice-cold root beer.

I’d just put a fry in my mouth when the room suddenly got warm. The chair across from me scraped against the floor, but I was too afraid to look up. I knew who it was by the way my body came alive. His earthy scent wrapped around me and made my heart race.

He didn’t say anything right away, but I could feel him staring. When I finally built up the courage to look up, the look in his eyes made heat rush to my cheeks and forced me to look down.

Chauncey looked at me like there was no one else in the room but him and me.

“I see you’re still eating like a toddler.”

“And I see you are still a fry thief.” I popped Chauncey’s hand when he stole a fry from my plate.

His deep rumble of laughter made my stomach flip. He stared at me intensely as he dipped his fry into the ketchup, then put it in his mouth.

When he licked the drop of ketchup off his lip, my middle leaked. Chauncey had always been so damn fine to me, and time had done him well. Especially the thickness in his arms and the tattoos that covered them. From just the little I could see, I knew his body was a work of art.

“How have you been, L?”

“I’ve been good, Tank.” I smirked. “I never knew you were Ciara’s godbrother. Small world, isn’t it?”

“Not small enough.” His lip curled into a half cocky smile. “If it were smaller, I would have found you sooner.”

I dipped a chicken finger in the sauce before taking a bite.

I needed to get my thoughts together because being in Chauncey’s presence had me discombobulated.

I glanced at his ring finger and didn’t see a ring or a tan line, so that was a good sign.

At least I hoped it was. I’d met men who were married but never wore their rings.

Once I swallowed my food, I took a sip of water. I had to make sure I didn’t have any leftover chicken in my mouth.

“You were looking for me?”

Chauncey leaned forward, putting his arms on the table. The light behind him gave his brown skin a soft glow.

“I did for a minute, but obviously, I didn’t look hard enough, because you’ve been right under my nose this whole time.”

I shifted under his gaze. His dark eyes always made me feel nervous. I could never read what was on his mind.

He kept his outfit simple with jeans and a graphic tee, but he still looked better than any other man in the bar.

Laughter from my coworkers echoed through the bar, as well as music playing through the speakers, but the look in Chauncey’s eyes had me tuning out all the noise.

“That’s interesting. How have you been? Did you ever go into Homeland Security?” I needed to change the subject.

My heart beat out of sync when he smiled at me again.

“It’s nice to see that you remembered. I’m an air marshal. And I see you followed your dreams. That’s good for you.” His eyes glanced at my ring finger, then back to my face. “No husband?”

I wasn’t surprised by his career choice, but it gave me pause. Before I let my thoughts overtake me, I answered his question.

“No. No wife?”

“Not yet. I have a feeling she’s close, though.” He smirked.

I grabbed a handful of fries and popped them in my mouth without even putting ketchup on them. Something in his tone made my belly flip.

Chauncey chuckled like he knew I tried to steer us away from that conversation.

“Good luck,” I encouraged once I swallowed.

“Thanks. Do you want a drink? The waitress is headed this way.”

I told Chauncey what I wanted, and when the waitress came over, he ordered for both of us and told her to put my stuff on his tab.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I told him once the waitress walked away.

“I know, but I’m looking out for a friend. Do you mind if we catch up?”

I wasn’t sure if it was me or not, but it felt like every word that came out of Chauncey’s mouth was sexual.

He asked to catch up, and in my mind, I heard can we fuck. I had to be tripping.

I cleared the lump in my throat. “I don’t mind at all.”

“I wasn’t surprised to see you sitting alone instead of being with your coworkers. I know how much you valued your alone time, and I’m sure that hasn’t changed.”

“It didn’t. In fact, I value it even more because of how much I work. And if I recall, you were the same way.”

The waitress had returned with my strawberry daiquiri and Chauncey’s bourbon neat.

I had a busy day the next day, so I wasn’t trying to drink anything too strong.

A daiquiri was strong enough to relax me but not make me drunk.

Since I had finished my food, she took my plate and told us to let her know if we needed anything.

“I was, and still am, but all work and no play ain’t fun.” He winked and smirked.

“I play sometimes.”

He didn’t need to know that the only playing I did was crossword puzzles and tai chi.

I hadn’t been in a relationship in over a year, and it had been months since the last time I had sex.

My goals were too important to me to mess around with a person who couldn’t respect that.

Once a person showed me who they were, I left them alone and acted as if they never existed.

People often thought I was mean, but I wasn’t.

I just didn’t tolerate bullshit from anyone. I didn’t care who they were.

Chauncey put his cup to his mouth and took a slow swig.

His eyes were on me the whole time. The air sizzled around us like static.

Under the table, I squeezed my legs together.

The leather leggings I had on felt like they had gotten tighter.

It was a good thing I had taken my jacket off, because it felt like someone had turned up the heat.

“Remember how we used to study together? We didn’t need to talk, just being around each other was enough.”

“I do remember.”

There were multiple occasions when Chauncey and I would be in one of our dorm rooms or at the library, studying together. We weren’t big talkers, but we enjoyed each other’s company. It was comforting to me just to have him around.

“I really am glad to see you in the tech world doing your thing. I always knew you would be in the position you are in now, if not owning the company yourself.”

I smiled because Chauncey was one of the few men who encouraged and supported my decision to go into tech. A lot of men felt like women didn’t belong there, and women like Ciara, the women on our team, and I proved them wrong.

“I thought about starting my own company at one point because I had to fight tooth and nail at my previous company with the men. Everything changed when I met Ciara. She was a godsend, and I could never thank her enough for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to work for her.”

“I don’t have to know the ins and outs to know you deserve it all. That was one of the things I admired about you. Your ambition to go after what you wanted.”

“Thank you.” Heat crept up my neck to my cheeks.

Not much had changed about Chauncey over the years.

He was still the same charmer that he was in college.

He still seemed to be a hard worker and goal oriented.

The only thing that I noticed so far was his confidence.

Chauncey had always been confident in a sense, but it seemed like he walked and sat with his chest poked out.

Like he knew he was the shit, but not in a way that he thought he was better than others.

Some of the people we went to school with ended up doing something different with their lives, so it was refreshing knowing that Chauncey was living his dream.

The waitress had stopped by our table and asked if we wanted another drink. Three drinks were my limit, so I told her yes, and Chauncey got himself another one as well.

We talked some more about our college years as we waited.

Chauncey’s eyes shot to my breasts when I put my hand over my chest and laughed at something he said, and I felt butterflies in my stomach.

All night, he only took his eyes off me to speak to the waitress. Other than that, he didn’t look around the room, not one time. It was like he only had eyes for me.

I wasn’t sure when my coworkers left, but they were long gone. Before I knew it, it was one in the morning, and I needed to go to bed.

“I can’t believe we talked this long.” I looked at my watch.

“Me either. I’m sorry for keeping you out so late. I know you have work to do.”

I pushed a few strands of hair behind my ear and blushed. I had been doing a lot of that during the night. Chauncey made me feel giddy inside. I couldn’t wait to get back to my room, because my panties were ruined.

“It’s okay. I enjoyed catching up with you.”

“Same. Let me walk you to your room.” Chauncey stood, then held his hand out for me.

I placed my hand into his large one, then grabbed my jacket and purse off the chair. I didn’t know what possessed me to wear heels, because after those drinks and the exhaustion that caught up to me, I wasn’t sure I would make it to my room.

Chauncey held my hand as we walked to the elevator.

“How long are you going to be in Vegas?” he asked just as the elevator door opened.

“The assignment is for three months, but we may get it done sooner.”

We entered the elevator at the same time. I pushed the button for my floor, then he told me what floor he was on, so I pressed it for his. I found it interesting that we were staying in the same hotel.

“That’s good to know.”

The elevator door opened, and my room was only two steps away.

“Well, this is me.” I covered my mouth when I yawned. “I really had a good time.”

I had my back to the door, and Chauncey stepped forward, closing me in. He still smelled as good as he did hours ago.

He gently cuffed my chin and stared into my eyes. I licked my lips because they suddenly felt dry.

“Good night, Lyric.”

“Good night, Chauncey.”

We stood there staring at each other for long seconds while he kept my chin between his forefinger and thumb. I thought he would kiss me, but he didn’t.

“I can’t leave until you go inside.” His voice was low, and the urge to invite him in was strong, but I couldn’t.

It wasn’t until I had my room key in my hand did Chauncey let go of my chin. Instantly, I missed his warm touch.

I put the key card up to the door and heard the beep. I hesitated to go in, until Chauncey nodded. He backed away from the door but stood there until I was fully inside.

The door automatically locked, but I put the other lock on and slid to the floor. I wanted Chauncey so bad, but work was first.

After a few seconds, I got up and headed to the bedroom. As I shed my clothes, I thought about the night Chauncey and I shared.

“I thought you came to talk, Lyric.” Chauncey pumped in and out of me as I lay face down on his bed.

“I-I did.” I moaned.

“Well, talk then.”

There was no way I could talk with the things he did to my body.

I climbed into my bed, and with the visual of our sweaty bodies entangled in his sheets.

My hand traveled to my right breast. I pinched my nipple, then did the same to the other. I let my hand go further until I reached my middle. I was so wet just from being around Chauncey. I stuck my hand inside to make myself even wetter.

With my eyes closed, I heard Chauncey’s voice from that night.

“ That’s it, L. Play with that pussy for me. I knew you didn’t come over to talk, you wanted me to fuck your pretty ass.”

I used my thumb to toy with my clit. A bead of sweat trickled down my chest. I was so horny I couldn’t think straight.

“Get that shit.”

With the phantom coaching of Chauncey, I increased the speed until I came on my fingers, panting.

I didn’t even have the strength to get out of bed. I wiped my hand off with a tissue, covered myself up, and let sleep take over me.