Twenty minutes later, they were having a wonderful time. The calamari came out so beautifully displayed, it was a work of art, and they were delicious. The champagne was magical. Temi realized she had never had actual champagne before, only sparkling wine, and wondered if all champagne was as otherworldly on the senses as this one. After the first glass, she felt she were happily floating on air. Their conversation was easy, warm, and romantic. They held hands, traded loving glances, and when the waiter returned with their meal; the look on his face was that of an interloper stumbling into a private moment. So, he quickly placed her filet with blue cheese butter, spinach and scalloped potatoes before her, the rock fish with root vegetables before Facundo, and made his escape. Their meals didn’t stop the touching across the table or the light teasing, in fact, in a way, it increased as they fed one another bites of food.

Once they finished their entrées, Facundo insisted they get a dessert. Temi wasn’t sure where she was going to put it; she was stuffed. However, with his firm insistence and despite her moaning about an extra workout at the gym, she relented. As a compromise, or so he said, he ordered one flourless chocolate torte with raspberry coulis. When it arrived, he moved his chair beside hers and with his left hand on her thigh, he fed her with his right. They didn’t notice the other people in the room, their stares, their embarrassment over the blatant PDA, or their whispers. They were too wrapped up in one another to notice anything else, even the bill. When it arrived, it barely received a nod; Facundo paying without even checking it over.

On the way home, Temi made a point to keep his right-hand PG as it tried to run up her dress; she clasped it in both of hers and kissed it. He smiled. Their evening out was far from the “slow down” for which she had been hoping, and she wasn’t sure how long she would be able to hold out. How can anyone resist such intensely focused desire?

“Would you like to see my place?”

Oh, would she ever! However, in the state she was in, she wouldn’t notice a thing, which was exactly what he was anticipating. “I would, but not tonight. I have an early day tomorrow.” She hated how breathy her voice was… so obviously affected by him.

He didn’t bother to say anything else; he merely drove back to her apartment. She supposed there was nothing left to say; she wanted to go home, and that was it.

Fifteen minutes later they were pulling into her parking lot. As soon as the car was in park, Facundo jumped out to open her door, but when she emerged, she found herself pressed bodily against the back door, his mouth in full possession of hers. She reached up and ran her fingers through the back of his hair. The kiss deepened, and she released a sigh of satisfaction. Temi wasn’t sure how long the kiss lasted, nor did she care. In fact, when he finally broke away, she almost cried out and had a hard time opening her eyes.

He held her tight, burying his face in the gentle slope of her neck. “I know you’re not going to invite me inside,” he pulled away to look her in the eye. “You’re such a lady. I like that… drives me crazy.” He kissed her lightly. “Mmm… I should go before I take you here in the parking lot.” The image of them having sex in the parking lot, widened her eyes with shock. Facundo laughed seductively. “I don’t think you’d be able to stop me. Do you?”

She shook her head and pressed a feather-light kiss to his lips, making it his turn to sigh. Then, he abruptly stepped away, took her by the hand and walked her to her door. “Open it.” Temi’s hands shook as she tried to put the key in the lock; her mind racing with questions, “What was he planning to do? She wouldn’t let him in, would she? What should she do?” After three attempts the key finally made it inside and she was able to open the door. Suddenly he whirled her around, held her to him with his left hand and brought her mouth to his with his right at the back of her head. His kiss was seductive, hungry, intense, but just as quickly as it started, he was done. “Go, before I change my mind.”

Accepting his offer of escape, she disappeared inside and collapsed on the floor once the door was closed behind her.

Temi sat on the cold landing for several minutes trying to compose herself. She had never had a man affect her the way Facundo could. She ached for him now that he was gone. Berating herself for being such a prude; if there was any time to pull forth her inner Samantha, that was it! She should have embraced sexual freedom, harnessed its power. Man, how stupid was she? She’d been in a drought for more than two months; she and Jordan hadn’t slept together in a while, which should have been her first clue that he was sleeping with someone else. Then, the only guy who had slept in her bed, actually slept, and would rather be sleeping with Trevor Noah. “Ahhh,” she yelled her frustration. The time had passed, she may as well go to bed.

Temi picked herself off the floor and climbed the stairs up to the living room, with her heels dangling from her right hand. She then sat on the sofa. Emotionally exhausted and very frustrated, she didn’t feel like calling Thom. No… she would go to bed and reacquaint herself with her second best friend… the Womanizer.

Temi moaned when her alarm sounded the next morning. Despite having taken care of herself twice the night before, she was plagued with intense dreams of Facundo; his mouth, his touch, and what might have been. Slamming the alarm off, she stared blankly at the ceiling before looking at her nightstand where her friendly little toy lay in wait. “Well, maybe third times the charm.” Sighing deeply, she reached over, took the Womanizer in hand and burrowed into the covers.

Good, Lord she was running behind! Though the third time took a little of the edge off, she was still aching for more which made her a bit peevish. As she quickly showered, she also washed her toy; resisting a time four. With no time to iron, she threw on something ready-to-go; palazzo pants, a rayon boat necked blouse, a pair of flats, and a long necklace which she wrapped around her neck twice. Skipping her coffee ritual due to the time crunch, she placed a mug of water with a satchel of green tea in the microwave and returned to the bathroom where she threw on a bit of blush, lip gloss, and mascara. Returning to the kitchen, she poured the tea into her insulated travel thermos, then grabbed a banana, an apple, two single-serve bags of trail mix, and tossed the snacks into a bag. Finally, she snatched up her breakfast/lunch combo, and made her way to the door, thinking she might just make it on time. However, she hadn’t been expecting… Jordan.

“Aaaa,” she shouted as she nearly ran into him.

“Hey Temi,” he licked his lips. “How ya doin’?”

She rolled her eyes. “Late,” she tried to move around him. But instead of moving out of the way, he pressed her against the wall just inside her door; one of his hands sliding into the back of her pants. No matter how horny she was, this was not what she wanted. She shoved him back and slapped him as hard as she could.

“Oh, so that’s how it is, now. You willin’ to give it to all the others before givin’ it to a brutha!?!” His eyes were glazed and wild looking.

Temi had never seen him like this before, and it angered her. “Get the fuck up out of my house!”

“You forget, ho, dis my place too,” he was coming at her pointing his index finger down on her head. He was taller than Facundo, and though muscular he was thinner.

Temi couldn’t believe she could notice something like that at such a time. She was running late, and this fool was doing nothing but pissing her off. She moved to her right and positioned herself in such a way as to shove him out the door. Then as hard as she could, whole bodily, she pushed him. “First of all, your name is nowhere on this lease, and second, you forfeited yo’ rights to all dis when you dipped your little pecker in the ho up the block,” her finger was now pointed in his face. “Now, anything that happens with me in or outside dis crib, ain’t none of yo’ business, so run along after yo twenty percent; this eighty isn’t yours anymore.” She slammed the door behind her and stomped to her car.

“So, you just gonna bounce between yo’ pretty white boy and yo’ wetback? Turn your back on your own people?”

She shook her head as she opened the car door. “Fool, the only person I’m turning my back on is you; a cheatin,’ no class, busta, who couldn’t see what he had until it was gone. Now, some of us have jobs to get to. Bye bitch… bah-bye!” When Temi was safely inside her car, she realized she’d been holding her lunch so tightly that the top of her banana was smushed and slightly oozing from the peel. She rolled her eyes and pulled out of the parking lot.

Three hours into her shift, Thom motioned to her with a tilt of his head and then to the door for lunch. She sighed. Temi really didn’t want to talk about anything today. She was still frustrated over Facundo and angry with Jordan but knew Thom would want the details of her date. Then again, if anyone could make her feel better, it was Thom.

It didn’t take long for him to hit her with a barrage of questions once they arrived at the picnic table. “So, what was he wearing? Where did he take you? Was it nice? What does he drive? Ooo, did you guys do it,” his dark eyes sparkled with excitement making Temi feel a little guilty. With everything he had done for her, he should be allowed to take part in the victories.

She sighed. “Before I go into the date, let me tell you what happened this morning.” Temi went into the confrontation with Jordan. She was able to finally articulate her surprise, anger, and oddly enough how hurt she was by his words. She had always been a proud, black, woman, and to think, by dating Facundo, she would be giving that up was abhorrent to her. She would never.

“So, let me get this straight. He called me a pretty white boy?” Temi crossed her arms and gave Thom an exasperated look. “Okay… not the right time for comic relief,” he said more to himself than to her. “Listen, he’s just upset that you moved on without a pause. When he left, he had the upper hand. He had a new place to stay, a younger woman, and what he thought would be a better time. Then, you show up with me; stylish, sexy, and considerate. You start going to the gym, eating right, stepping up your game. You went from working long hours to being out every night and on some of those nights having this rather extraordinary younger stallion sleep over.” Temi rolled her eyes over Thom’s description of himself. He ignored her. “Now, not only have you lost weight, you’ve added a Latin lover; whom we will get to in a moment, to the mix. He’s noticing that other men are finding you desirable, and he’s beginning to wonder if there’s something about you that he missed. Why are all these men, falling over themselves to get to you?”

“Facundo’s the only one falling over himself,” she opened a bag of trail mix.

“That’s not true,” he took her hand. “I was. Not in the same way as Facundo, but I wasn’t going to let him treat you that way. Not that I had much going on, but if I did, Artie, you know I would move heaven and earth to be there for you.” Temi looked up at him and realized he was tearing up. “You’re totally like the sister I never had, and we girls need to stick together.”

Temi squeezed his hand and then leaned over the table to give him a kiss on the cheek. Thom, not wanting to turn into a fountain of emotions, waved her away. “Okay, enough of that. Let’s forget that loser and move on to your Salsa King.”

“Salsa King?”

“I know. It’s a bad nickname but I’m having a hard time coming up with something more inspiring,” he shrugged. “Maybe your story will help.” When Temi shyly ducked her head down, Thom smiled. “You dirty little minx, did you do the horizontal mambo?”

Temi rolled her eyes yet again. “No, we didn’t. And when I tell you what happened, you’re going to be so mad. So, before I tell you about the date, and before you tell me how completely stupid I am, just know I plan to fix it.” When he nodded, she delved into the story he wished to hear.

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