Page 71 of Brown Sugar
TYSON
I light candles on the mantel before I move on to others around the room. The house is still and quiet except for the gentle stream from the shower upstairs.
Being the grumpy, grizzly loner type, I’ve always been in my element on quiet nights at home. Especially if I’ve come off a challenging mission where my life, or the life of others, was at stake.
But coming off this latest job, it’s different.
Tonight’s more than a simple quiet night at home where I’d watch ESPN for hours and then eventually drift off on the couch.
Before Jax passed away, sometimes he’d come downstairs and shake his head, laughing about how we were opposites. He’d invite me out to the bar he and his friends were heading off to. I almost always declined.
Thinking back now, I wish I’d accepted. I wish I’d done a lot of things with my baby brother, like those fishing trips we had planned.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from loss, it’s that sometimes it’s alright to open yourself up to the right people. Sometimes, it’s alright to take a chance with a person you can trust.
Most people see me, standing tall and broadly at six-foot-four, and they write me off as some moody, muscly asshole.
And maybe those people were correct in a way. Iama moody, muscly asshole.
But the handful of people who I trust, they know better.
In a couple short weeks, Kiana Baduza has become one of those select few. We come from two different worlds and had preconceived notions about the other when we first met. We’ve discovered how wrong we were to judge and how right we are together.
The woman is truly special. You strip away the celebrity and the fame, and she’s one of the most caring, interesting, and remarkable people I’ve ever met. She’s beautiful inside and out, and I’ve realized protecting her is more than just a job I was hired for.
It’s the duty I’m meant for as the man in her life.
When I’ve lit every candle in the living room, I move into the kitchen, thinking about the future I want with this one-of-a-kind woman who I can’t get enough of. I check on the steaks I’m making us and the veggies roasting in the oven.
Kiana appears as I’ve already set the table and poured the wine. She stops only a couple footsteps inside the kitchen.
A slow smirk starts up at the corner of her mouth. Her lips are distractingly kissable and the rest of her face is naked and as beautiful as ever. She’s fresh off her shower, swallowed up by another one of my T-shirts that’s a damn dress on her.
I crook a finger at her. “C’mere, princess.”
“You did all this for dinner? I would’ve been fine ordering in.”
She slow walks into my arms. I enclose them around her as soon as I get the chance. I kiss the top of her curly head and then guide her toward her chair, tucking her in once she’s seated.
“Thought you could use some home cooking.” I wink at her taking my own seat.
Her dark, alluring eyes glitter. “I haven’t even tasted anything yet and it’s already amazing. And wine? Candles? You’ve outdone yourself, Goliath.”
“Anything for you, princess.”
“How did you know? How did you figure out what Hal was going to do? I know you said you pieced together who it was, but how did you pull off saving me last minute?”
I shrug, reaching for my glass of red wine. “Simple. Hal was escalating. I knew he’d be there at the performance and that he was growing desperate. All his schemes so far had been averted. But this one would be broadcast live on TV.”
“You saved my life… and everybody else’s on that stage. In the audience.”
“It’s what I do. Protecting assets. Bringing down the bad guys.”
Her smirk returns, wider the second go around. “This was beyond just protecting an asset.”
She’s got me dead to rights. It’s true that it was much more than doing my usual job. My usual grizzly pokerface doesn’t stand a chance in her presence, the warmth in my chest undeniable.
“Of course it was, princess,” I answer. “This was about ensuring the woman I’ve fallen for is taken care of. Physically, mentally, emotionally…”