“I think I heard that already,” Rico said leaning forward, "and that means nothing to me. Now what’s your address?”
“Sixteen Beaver Street.” The words fell from her mouth then she turned startled eyes to his and bit her bottom lip.
Rico didn’t bother to hide his smile. He had that effect on woman. Show them who was boss and they gave in sooner or later. For him it was more often sooner rather than later and, he was pleased to know, he’d found the key to Asia Miller. Dominate her before she could even try to dominate you.
“Good. Be ready by seven. And wear slacks.”
Now she looked really confused. To her credit, though, she made no objections. Instead, she nodded and looked away and just for that moment she looked like a little lost lamb. A lamb he was looking forward to having for dinner.
Right then he couldn’t wait till the work week had passed and Friday evening came around.
******
“How is it going with the love of your life?”
“Shelley, you never stop, do you?” Asia chuckled into the phone.
“Well, I have to check up on you, don’t I? So, did you ask him out?”
“No.”
“Chicken.”
“But he did.”
“He did what?” Shelley asked.
“He asked me out.”
“He did?” She squealed.
“That’s wonderful. So when's the big date?”
“On Friday,” Asia said with a sigh.
“For someone who’s got a date lined up for Friday night you don’t sound too happy.”
“I’m not.”
“Now listen to this girl.” Shelley’s tone was heavy with exasperation. “What’s not to be happy about?”
“I didn’t want to go out with him. I can’t even explain how I ended up accepting.” She inhaled then released her breath slowly. “Let’s just say the man is a pro at getting what he wants.”
“And he wants you,” Shelley chortled. “Sweet.”
“Anyway, I know that wasn’t what you called about.” Asia deliberately changed the subject. The conversation was moving into dangerous territory, too dangerous for her liking. “What’s up?”
“You know what I always call you about. The center.”
“Something wrong?”
“Yes and no,” Shelley said mysteriously. “No, because it’s not a threat to the survival of the center but yes because it’s affecting the kids, especially the boys.”
“So what’s going on?”
“With schools reopening in September we’re going to lose three of our best volunteers. Grad students heading back to university.”
“Don’t worry, Shelley,” Asia said, trying to reassure her, "we’ll find new ones.”
“Yeah, but I’ll bet they’ll be women.”
“So? What’s wrong with women?"
“Nothing, except that with Frank, Carlos and Trevor leaving we’ve only got one male volunteer left. And even more than the girls it’s the boys who need role models.”
Asia drew in a breath. “You're right.”
“So I’m roping you in.” Shelley’s voice was suddenly bright and cheerful. “I’m on a mission to find two good men before these guys leave and I’m giving you the same assignment. Two good men, that’s all I ask.”
“They say a good man is hard to find,” Asia said with a sniff.
Shelley only laughed. “I’m not worried. You’ll find me one. I just know it.”
After Shelley hung up Asia left the living room and went into her bedroom. She’d be going on her date in two days. She might as well glance through her wardrobe and see what she was going to wear.
Slacks, he’d said. Strange request for a dinner date. She was more of a ‘little black dress’ kind of girl. But slacks it would be. That was what the master demanded. She smiled and shook her head. Talk about bossy.
She already knew which one she’d wear. Basic black as always. Okay, so she was boring. But it made life easier. Now all she had to do was find a nice top.
That didn’t take long. She wasn’t a fussy dresser. In fact, some had called her ‘practical’ - which was just a kinder way of saying her clothes were boring. But none of that bothered her. Particularly in this case, she was not dressing to impress. In fact, quite the opposite. Although she had accepted his dinner invitation she wanted to make it clear to Rico that dinner was all he was going to get. If he didn’t know it already he would soon realize that Asia Miller was no idiot.
But when Friday evening came around Asia did not feel quite so confident. She didn’t know if it was butterflies but there was definitely something flitting around in her stomach.
She was ready at seven o’clock as instructed and when she heard a car pull up in front of the house her heart gave a flutter. When she picked up her purse from the table in the hallway there was a slight tremble to her fingers. She paused to draw in a breath, desperately trying to steady her nerves. The last thing she wanted was for Rico to see her sweat.
She put her hand on the knob and opened the front door to a sight that took her breath away. There, in front of her house, stood an all-white Hummer limousine and standing by the door of this magnificent vehicle was a uniformed chauffeur. She whispered a soundless ‘wow’ then stepped outside. She hadn’t expected this. Sure, the man was rich but she’d thought he’d pick her up in a nice car, not a limousine. What would the neighbors think? She almost gave a chuckle as she thought of Mrs. Peabody peeping through the curtains to see what was going on. Mrs. Busybody would have been a more appropriate name for that neighborhood watchdog. She’d have a lot to talk about tonight.
So Rico had ‘sent’ for her, had he? No problem. She was glad he’d not come himself. Now she would have a few more minutes to gather her wits about her to prepare for battle.
And a battle it would be - not with Rico, but with herself. She was too darned attracted to the man for her own good. This is business, she kept telling herself, this is business. She’d said it so many times that her mind was finally convinced. Her heart, rebellious as it was, would need more convincing.