Saving Her: BWWM Interracial Romance (8 page)

“Like I said, I could help you with marketing in exchange for helping me get back in better shape.”

“Sounds like a plan to me. I'm glad you don't think I'm … too different.”

“What, 'cause you're white?” I rolled my eyes. “Please. Did you see my son? His father is white.”

“I see.”

“Now, before you go getting any ideas, you need to know that it's not some craziness I got going on. I'm just attracted to who I'm attracted to, you know?”

“Ah, so you
are
attracted to me.”

“Um, yeah. I wouldn't be here if I weren't.”

His eyes opened wide for a split second as if he was just realizing that we'd been flirting with each other since earlier in the evening. The rest of our meal went wonderfully. I wanted to stay and have a few glasses of wine while talking to him, but I knew I had to get back to Raquel and Edward. He said he understood completely, which attracted me to him a little bit more.

When he pulled in front of my building and parked, he turned off the car.

“I'm going to walk you to your door,” he said.

“Okay.”

We got out of his fine ride and walked toward the entrance to my building. Before we made it, Ron stumbled up. He was drunk as fuck.

“Hey, bitch,” he slurred, pointing an accusing finger at me. “I thought you had no money for me.”

Mike stepped forward and put himself between Ron and myself. “I take it you're Ron?”

“And you her new pimp with that pimped out ride?”

“Watch that mouth.” This time, Mike was pointing a finger.

“Stop it, you two. I have to get in to my baby. If you don't leave, Ron, I'm calling the cops. I'm done.”

He started to wander away.

“Are you okay?” Mike asked.

“Yeah. I need to go, but I had a great time.”

“Me too. We're gonna have to burn those calories off you next week.”

I smiled again. My cheeks were getting tired. I couldn't remember the last time I had smiled so much in a single evening. Before he started to walk away, I walked forward and hugged his hard body. When his arms wrapped around me and squeezed, I felt safe. We broke apart, but before I slipped too far away, I leaned up and gave him a peck on the cheek.

“Goodnight, Mike,” I said then turned to go inside.

Raquel stayed for a little while to hear about my big date. I wanted to keep her around as a witness in case Ron came back, but after fifteen minutes, I figured he was gone and sent Raquel home a few buildings down. I peeked my head in Edward's room and saw him sleeping. He was so peaceful. After a moment of staring at my son, I crept back into the living room and quickly fell asleep on the couch.

Four

The next day, when Edward woke me up to turn his cartoons on and make him breakfast, I swore to myself that I was going to get back on track. While the time with Mike was a nice break, Ron showing up in my life was not a good thing. I had to buckle down and work even harder. I couldn't take the teasing from friends and family making fun of me for even being interested in another white man.

As a made some oatmeal and raisins, my phone blew up with messages from Ron and Mike. Instead of answering, I ignored them both and resolved to get back in gear. My priorities were Edward and graduating and becoming an RN. Anything else had to take a back seat. The life of a single mom trying to make it wasn't easy, and I needed everything I had to succeed.

Raquel showed up soon after breakfast, and I got ready to leave for work. I couldn't wait to be stop working as a CNA. I didn't have anything against the elderly and others who needed care in their home, but I wanted to take the next step toward my goal of becoming a Family Nurse Practitioner. When I stepped out of my apartment and walked outside, Ron was waiting in ambush for me again.

“What the fuck?” I asked then glared at him. He didn't appear to care at all.

“You got that money, yo?”

“Quit talking like that,” I hissed.

I wanted to yell, but I didn't want to cause a scene. He followed behind me as I made my way to the bus stop. Surprisingly, he had change for the fare. I made sure to sit next to someone so he couldn't park himself next to me then glared at him as the bus lurched forward. He just smiled. At my stop, I got out and he followed me. I whirled around after getting off the bus and said, “Go away.”

“What about some money? You doing good. You owe me support.”

“No, I don't. You're supposed to be helping me with money because I'm raising Edward.”

“How my son doing?”

I shook my head from side to side slowly. “You need to leave.”

He continued to follow me as I made my way to my patient's house. I hoped he didn't have enough nerve to come up to the door with me, but I was quickly disappointed. Inside was my most difficult patient. I'd been reprimanded twice already for other things that had been out of my control – like missing a bus and arriving late. Mr. Hotchkins was not a nice old man.

After I rang the doorbell, I closed my eyes and wished that Ron would just go away. Judith, Mr. Hotchkins' daughter, answered the door with a look of disgust on her face.

“You can't bring your boyfriend to work.”

“Can I come in and explain? I might need to call the police, please.”

At the word police, Ron stormed off, cursing loudly with each and every step. I turned back to Judith, but she had closed the door on me. I knocked again, hoping I could explain to her what was going on, but she yelled through the thick wood, “You're fired. Go away please.”

I thought about walking back to the bus stop to go back home to think about my next step, but I dreaded running into Ron. Mike's phone number was stored in my phone, so I called him up. He answered, out of breath, on the third ring.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it's me.”

“Kim. Good to hear from you.”

I noted that he had moved from Kimberly to Kim. “I'm in a jam. Any way you can pick me up? I hate to ask, but...”

“Don't worry about it. Where you at?” he interrupted.

After I rattled off the street and cross street, he said he would be right over. I headed in the opposite direction that Ron had gone in. The air was getting colder. Graduation and the holidays were quickly approaching, but I didn't feel festive at all.

Mike's sweet ride pulled up about ten minutes later. I got in the passenger side, closed the door, then buckled up. He looked over at me as the car idled, the engine sounding powerful. How would he handle what had happened? I wondered.

“Ron show up again,” I said.

“Shit. I can talk to him if you want.”

“No, it's best to just ignore him. I may need to get a new restraining order.”

“Where am I taking you now?”

“Back home, I guess. I still have the babysitter for a few hours...” I let my voice trail off.

“You can come over my place and chill for a while if you want.”

“Over the gym?”

“Yeah. You got a problem with that?”

“Nope. Let's go.”

Mike put the car in gear and we floated away. We were soon parked behind his building. A set of metal stairs outside the building led to a second floor entrance. He held the door open for me as I walked into his kitchen, which was a lot nicer than I would have expected seeing the outside of the building.

“Now I know why you got so little equipment downstairs,” I joked.

“What?”

“Translation, damn your pad looks nice.”

I smiled at him then continued to let my eyes wander over the professional kitchen. He closed the door and walked into the living room as I followed.

“You want the whole tour?”

“Not yet,” I said.

Did he understand what I really meant?

“Cool. Have a seat. You want anything to drink?”

“I'm fine, thanks.”

We both headed to the couch and sat down right next to each other. As our legs brushed against each other, I felt everything that had just happened with Ron float away. The only thing that mattered in my world was sitting next to Mike, his body touching mine. Then he got up and walked over to a stereo. To my surprise, smooth Jazz began to flow out of hidden speakers.

“Got any R&B?” I asked, once again wondering if he got my hidden meaning by suggesting romantic music.

“Yeah. Hold on.”

He fiddled with a remote control for a moment. Then a Jeremih tune began playing. Before he came back to the couch, I slipped my shoes off and laid down on my side facing him. When he turned around, he had a look of surprise on his face. I smiled.

“You can join me if you want. No funny stuff, but I need to cuddle some.”

A moment later, he had crawled on the couch. Pressed firmly against the back cushion and with one arm draped over him, I felt content. The music flowed. One song. Another. Our breath began to synchronize. I drifted to that special place somewhere between sleep and being awake.

We didn't talk. Words between us would have ruined the mood in the room. The music and our bodies moving as we breathed was all we needed. I knew I had to get back home and that I would have to deal with losing a patient because of Ron, but for a few brief moments I wanted to enjoy being alive and close to another living soul.

I was so tired and exhausted, I actually fell asleep. When I woke, Mike was getting up off the couch. He looked down at me as I opened my eyes. Our gazes met, and it wasn't at all awkward. In some ways, I felt as if I'd fallen asleep on his couch a thousand times before. We clicked.

“You want a blanket?”

“I'd love one, but what time is it? I have to get back to the babysitter and email my boss to explain what happened today. Not to mention homework and finals coming up...”

“Settle down,” he interrupted. “Take a breath. Relax. You're a strong woman.”

When he reached out with his hand, I took it in mine. He helped me up. I felt like giving him a hug, but I knew it was too soon. Instead, I looked around nervously as if I'd misplaced something. Was he as attracted to me as I was to him? I wondered.

“I can give you a ride to your place.”

“That would be great. But thank you. This was nice.”

“I agree.”

He turned off the music, and we headed outside and down the metal stairs to his car. Neither of us talked much on the ride back. The little micro-nap had energized me a little, but mainly it reminded me of my tiredness. The car stopped in the parking lot in my building.

“You want me to walk you up?”

“No, I think Ron got the message. If not, I'm going to just call the cops.”

“Okay. If you need anything, just call. I'm not too far away.”

“Thanks again.”

I hurried out of the car because I wasn't sure how long I'd be able to last without leaning over and giving him a kiss. Before I closed the car door, I leaned back in.

“You want to do dinner sometime?”

His eyes lit up. “Tomorrow night?”

“I'll send you a text. I have to check with the babysitter and my schedule, but I think I'm free.”

“Have a good night.”

“You too.”

I shut the door and headed inside and up to my apartment. My life was changing, but I still wasn't one hundred percent convinced that it was for the better.

Five

The next day was stressful, and I didn't have time to go to dinner with Mike, but I managed to find time to workout with him a few more times over the next few weeks. Most of my effort and attention went to Edward and school. Finals came and went with no problems. Then came graduation. I invited Mike, but he wasn't able to make it for some reason.

I was on cloud nine, which had a gold and silver lining. Then, on Christmas Eve, my world fell apart again when I got papers saying Ron was suing me for custody. From what I heard from friends, he had won ten grand in the lottery and thought that made him a more fit parent than me. When I first read the paper, I was furious. Finding a new job was a priority, but I felt I could treat myself to a little time off.

After checking to make sure Raquel could babysit that evening, I called Mike.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Mike. It's me.”

Would he recognize my voice? We had somehow drifted apart a little after having gotten so close the one time at his apartment.

“Hey, Kim. How you doing? Coming to work out tomorrow?”

“Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to do that dinner tonight. I just got some bad news today, and I could use a night out. I know it's Christmas Eve, but...”

“Give me about an hour?”

“Yeah. Just call and I'll meet you downstairs.”

“What? I can't come up and see Edward?”

At first I thought it was a bit odd, then I saw it as sweet. “Yeah, you can come up if you want.”

“I'll see you in about an hour. Bye.”

“Bye.”

As soon as I set the phone down, I rushed to find something to wear. Edward somehow sensed my excitement and was running around the house himself as I tried to get dressed and put makeup on. I wanted another hour or two to do my hair just right, but I knew I didn't have that much time so I pulled it back.