Page 34 of Brown Sugar
But princess has only one thing on her mind—the bottle of Cristal that she snatches up and wrestles with ’til it’s popping open and fizzing all over the damn place.
I rush over to contain the mess, grabbing towels and stealing the bottle away from her.
“This is why you let the grown up in the room handle it,” I taunt. “Are you even old enough to drink?”
She scoffs, snatching the bottle right back, drinking straight from it. “You’re kidding, right, Goliath? I’ve been famous since I was seventeen. I was partying at all the hottest clubs by eighteen.”
“That’s not something to be proud of. It’s a predatory industry.”
“I’ve made it out okay… or as okay as I could,” she says, shrugging. She pads over toward the bed clutching the champagne bottle. “I was sick of the party lifestyle by the timeI was twenty. Maybe that’s why I was so into Shawn. He was stability… at least he was supposed to be.”
“You’ve outgrown him.”
She plops down on the bed and takes another swig of the bottle. “I know you’re just trying to make me feel better. But… thanks.”
“Fuck making you feel better. I don’t lie to spare feelings. It’s the truth. You’re better than him,” I say bluntly. I grab the second bottle of champagne and pop it open for myself. “Everybody can see it but you. You were out of his league.”
She leans back slightly, her arms holding her up behind her, legs dangling off the bed.
To be honest, she looks gorgeous like she is, the plush robe slipping slightly open, hinting at little to nothing underneath. Her curls are wild and free, unbraided from the wig cap they’d been trapped under all day. She bites down on her bottom lip as she aims a grateful smile at me and those damn dark, almond-shaped eyes of hers glitter more than ever before.
I take a long swig from my champagne bottle. More so out of distraction.
Because this asset—this woman—is about to get me in a hell of a lot of trouble.
I can already sense it.
“Tyson, tell me about yourself,” she says after pausing. “You’re always so… about business. What do you do for fun?”
The question stumps me. I’m forced to think on it as I search for the last time I hadfun.
Fun doesn’t exist in my world.
Rarely has it ever.
Not since Jax passed away. Before that I was usually burdened by work. If it wasn’t my time in the Marines, it was all the contract work I took over the years. I always claimed I’d make time for stuff like hobbies and vacations later.
I said one day me and Jax would go camping like we used to when we were kids.
That day never came because he died before it ever could…
I swallow down another large amount of champagne, then shrug. “I don’t believe in it. Work has always been in the way.”
Kiana laughs. “You know, we have a lot in common when you think about it. Both workaholics who have dedicated ourselves to what we do. Both intimidating to most people.”
“You, intimidating?”
“Kiana the R&B diva superstar who sells out stadiums and whose albums go double platinum? Yes, Goliath, people find me intimidating. Shawn was the only guy who’d date me,” she says with a wry laugh. “Every other guy was starstruck. But Shawn was hardly impressed.”
…because he was jealous of you.
“That’s true,” I admit. “We do have that in common. Most people cower in fear when I growl at them. You stand your ground.”
“You look scarier than you are, Goliath.”
We lock eyes as we both go for another long drink of our respective champagne bottles.
Kiana blinks, looking away first. She pops up to her feet and wanders over to the TV.