Chapter 8
She sat there, her pen tapping rhythmically on her notepad, her chin on her hand. She couldn't stop thinking about last night, about...him. She shouldn't be, she knew she shouldn't be. His eyes, his cologne, the warmth from his body when he stood close to her, any woman would have to be crazy to not notice him. Keyana leaned forward on her desk, her eyes starting to close, her mind wandering. Those hands, how would they feel? Would they be rough or gentle? And those lips, oh god he had lips that just wouldn't quit. What they taste like? Slowly her eyes drifted shut. She wanted to know, she needed to know how he tasted, how he...felt...she jumped as the phone rang. Fumbling to pick it up, her heart pounding, she forced herself to sound normal.
"Keyana Johnson."
"Keyana...it's Nick."
She closed her eyes, bringing her head down on the desk.
"Keyana?"
"S-sorry Nick. What can I do for you?"
"I have a time. Would three be alright?"
She brought her head up and looked down at her planner. "Oh umm...yeah, three is fine."
"Ok good. Now we were gonna meet at a furniture store right."
"Right, where would you like to go?"
"How 'bout Rhodes?"
"Sure...so I'll meet you there at three...I'm free for the rest of the day so there's no rush. My four and five o'clock canceled so we'll be able to take our time."
"Take our time?"
"Take your time I mean...in...choosing."
"Choosing?"
"Choosing...your...furniture." God what was wrong with her! All she was doing was talking to him.
"Oh...I see."
She could tell he was smiling. She had to end this conversation quickly. "Ok so I'll see you in a little while then Nick."
"Alright, see you soon. Bye Keyana."
"Bye Nick." She hung up the phone and buried her face in her hands. *********************************************************************
Nick slowly placed the phone down. That was an interesting call. She seemed so nervous, like she'd been caught doing something she wasn't supposed to. He stood and went to his drawer to grab some clothes before heading into the bathroom.
*********************************************************************
She pulled into the parking lot with two minutes to spare and turned the car off. She opened her briefcase and pulled her notepad and pen out before closing it and throwing it in the backseat. She turned back around and stared out the window.
She would not screw this up. She would not get that funny feeling when he looked at her and she would not, above all, think of him. Shane, she'd think of Shane. Smiling proudly she unlocked the door turned to open it when she saw a green truck pull up and park next to her. All thoughts of Shane fled as Nick stepped out the truck. She felt that funny feeling come up as Nick came around her car and opened her door. Taking a deep breath she stepped out of the car.
"Hey Keyana." Nick smiled at her.
"Good afternoon Nick."
"Did you need your notepad?" Nick asked, gesturing to her pad and pen in her car.
She turned. "Oh! Yes, yes I do. Thanks, I would've walked right in and forgot. I guess I got a lot on my mind." She lied. Damn him!
"Yeah, I know how that is."
"Ok all set. Ready to go in?"
"Yeah."
They started into the store, Nick held the door open and they walked in.
"May I help you?" One of the salespeople asked.
"We're just looking for now...Darlene." Keyana announced, looking at the woman's nametag. "I'll let you know if we have any questions." She smiled.
Darlene smiled and nodded before turning and walking off. Nick watched as Keyana walked over to a set of chairs and stared looking around. He liked the way she handled that woman just then. He made his way over to her, coming up close behind her.
"I was just looking at this right here." She pointed to a chair. "Now is this something that you'd want to...oh excuse me." She murmured as she bumped into him.
"Sorry, I didn't know you were...umm...behind me."
"S'ok, I shouldn't have been that close."
"No problem."
"Ok, what were you saying?"
"Hmm...oh right. This chair here, is this something you'd be interested in?"
"It's ok...I was thinking of something more along the lines of that right there actually."
"Ok...let me just note this." She wrote quickly in her pad, walking around the chair. "Ok let's move over to the couches." They headed over to the various couches and recliners. "See anything you like?"
Nick walked around, looking at some couches, sitting and bouncing up and down on them. "Spring is important." He grinned and winked.
Keyana laughed, shaking her head. She walked over to a couch and started taking down some information.
"This is nice."
She closed her eyes, again she could smell his cologne.
"It's exactly what I'm looking for." He whispered in her ear. "What do you think?"
"It's...very nice..." She breathed, trying to focus on the couch. He was so close...too close. She took a step to the side.
"Ok, how about we look at the beds." He walked over to the bed display.
Keyana blinked and slowly made her way over. "Thinking about getting a whole new set?"
"Yeah I was actually. My other one is kinda old, ya know."
Keyana cleared her throat. "Yes, why not start over completely."
"Exactly. This one's cool." He walked over and sat down on the bed before leaning back, his feet dangling off the edge. "What do ya think? Is it me?" He looked over at her from the bed.
She covered her mouth with her hand and nodded.
"What's wrong?" Nick sat up.
"Nothing, just...thinking."
Nick tilted his head. "Come here."
"Why?"
"Just come over here. I don't bite." He grinned.
She made her way over to the bed. Nick reached out and took her hand, pulling her closer. He turned her so her back was to him and she felt herself falling back, she let out a gasp.
"Shhh...shh." He whispered in her ear and he held her against him on the bed. "What do you think? Is it comfortable?" He murmured, leaning in close to the side of her face, his breath fanning her cheek.
"Y-yeah...comfortable...very..."She whispered.
"Good, that's important to me...I want it to be comfortable."
She nodded, the next thing she knew, his arms were gone. She sat up quickly to see Nick standing up and coming around the bed. She stood and quickly and joined him. He smiled.
"Ok, anything else you wanna...umm...look at?" She was still trying to calm her heart down.
"Umm nah...don't think so."
"Ok, well I've got the information on the other things, so if we need to come back we know what to look for ok."
"Alrighty."
"So I guess we can leave."
"Oh wait...I wanted to stop by some accessory stores. Ya know to look for towels and stuff."
"Oh right. Ok that sounds good."
They headed out. Two hours later they walked out of the last store and over to their vehicles.
"All in all a productive day Nick. Got a lot done and you gave me a lot of ideas to go on. I'm gonna set you up for an appointment to go over everything...how about...the day after tomorrow, say...two thirty. Is that ok?"
"It's fine."
"Ok, I'll just let Lumien know and she'll put you in the main schedule. Any problems or whatnot, please call. See you then." She announced as she wrote him into her planner.
"Alright, take care." He smiled before getting into his truck and taking off.
Keyana slid into her seat, her heart still pounding as it had been for the last two hours. He kept brushing by her, and holding open the door for her. She slammed her fist down on the steering wheel. She had to stop it, this was stupid and she had a boyfriend. Well no one ever said looking was bad. Rolling her eyes she started the car and headed off.
