Read Online Hooked!: A Contemporary, Multicultural Romance by Yuwanda Black - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Yuwanda Black
Ads: Link
Kammille protested.
“Exactly.
So we need to start somewhere. I’m ready to settle down with one woman Kammille
– and I want that woman to be you. And right now, all I’m proposing is that we
date exclusively. I want it to go further, obviously. I love you – in case you
didn’t hear that part. But in spite of that, I realize we need time to get to
know each other; to build up to the ultimate commitment. And I want that
opportunity. I want to court you, take you out to dinner, go on vacations
together, plan out a future. When I commit, I commit with my whole being and I
know we have one -- if only you’ll give me a chance.”
“I
don’t even know where you live Landon,” she continued protesting.
Was
he serious?! Was this actually happening?
“I’m
based in Chicago, but I’m on the road 26 to 30 weeks out of the year, so I can
live anywhere. And I’m perfectly ready, willing and able to relocate here to
Atlanta. I’m here all the time anyway. All you need to do is say the word. Say
you’ll give us a chance Kammille.”
“You’d
do that? … Just uproot like that?” she said, incredulous. Kammille’s head was
spinning. If someone had told her this morning that the day would end with the
man she’d fallen in love with coming back into her life and asking her to be in
a committed relationship, she wouldn’t have believed it. It was the proverbial
fairy tale; only fairy tales didn’t happen to women like her. It was for
southern belles like Liza, not New York City born-and-bred, career-focused
women her.
“They
say home is where the heart is … and my heart is with you Kammille. I love you.
I want to start building a life with you; to see where ‘we’ can take ‘us.’ Are
you game?”
Kammille
laughed out loud. “‘Are you game?’ Are you kidding me? So unoriginal Mr. Shaw?
So very unoriginal,” she said, laughing harder as she fell into him. “But yes.
I love you too and I’m definitely game. I’d be honored to see where ‘we’ could
take ‘us.’”
“Game
on sweetheart, game on,” he said.
Landon
enveloped Kammille in his enormous embrace, raising her face to his to ply her with
kisses. He didn’t realize until the second she accepted his profession of love
just how empty his life would be if she’d refused him. In his arms he held
everything he wanted, and he vowed never to jeopardize it so foolishly again.
This commitment felt liberating, not constraining. And that’s because it was
right.
Because
he’d become hooked on love … with this woman.
Chapter
12
Kammille
was exhausted. She hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before – thanks to Landon
-- who’d departed for Chicago this morning. She’d dropped him off at the
airport.
A
large cup of coffee in one hand, she immediately asked their office manager,
Cheryl, if Liza was in yet. They always had a meeting after a major event, just
to compare notes and discuss how to be better next time.
“Yes,
she’s in Ms. Howard. She’s in her office.”
“Great.
Thanks Cheryl,” she said, removing the sunshine-yellow, silk scarf from around
her neck on the way to her office.
“Ms.
Howard,” Cheryl said, “she’s … she seems upset about something. She looked like
she’d been crying. … She went in her office and …”
“Go
on Cheryl,” Kammille said, sensing the young woman’s hesitation in continuing.
“I
went to check on her and I heard her crying through the door. I decided to
leave her in privacy. … I just thought you should know.”
“Thanks
Cheryl. I’ll go check on her.”
Instead
of going to her office, Kammille went straight to Liza’s. She knocked gently on
the door. “Liza, it’s me. Can I come in?”
There
was no response.
“Cheryl
told me you were in, so I know you’re in there,” Kammille said gently. At
further silence, Kammille slowly opened the door.
Liza
was sitting at her desk, a
“Exactly.
So we need to start somewhere. I’m ready to settle down with one woman Kammille
– and I want that woman to be you. And right now, all I’m proposing is that we
date exclusively. I want it to go further, obviously. I love you – in case you
didn’t hear that part. But in spite of that, I realize we need time to get to
know each other; to build up to the ultimate commitment. And I want that
opportunity. I want to court you, take you out to dinner, go on vacations
together, plan out a future. When I commit, I commit with my whole being and I
know we have one -- if only you’ll give me a chance.”
“I
don’t even know where you live Landon,” she continued protesting.
Was
he serious?! Was this actually happening?
“I’m
based in Chicago, but I’m on the road 26 to 30 weeks out of the year, so I can
live anywhere. And I’m perfectly ready, willing and able to relocate here to
Atlanta. I’m here all the time anyway. All you need to do is say the word. Say
you’ll give us a chance Kammille.”
“You’d
do that? … Just uproot like that?” she said, incredulous. Kammille’s head was
spinning. If someone had told her this morning that the day would end with the
man she’d fallen in love with coming back into her life and asking her to be in
a committed relationship, she wouldn’t have believed it. It was the proverbial
fairy tale; only fairy tales didn’t happen to women like her. It was for
southern belles like Liza, not New York City born-and-bred, career-focused
women her.
“They
say home is where the heart is … and my heart is with you Kammille. I love you.
I want to start building a life with you; to see where ‘we’ can take ‘us.’ Are
you game?”
Kammille
laughed out loud. “‘Are you game?’ Are you kidding me? So unoriginal Mr. Shaw?
So very unoriginal,” she said, laughing harder as she fell into him. “But yes.
I love you too and I’m definitely game. I’d be honored to see where ‘we’ could
take ‘us.’”
“Game
on sweetheart, game on,” he said.
Landon
enveloped Kammille in his enormous embrace, raising her face to his to ply her with
kisses. He didn’t realize until the second she accepted his profession of love
just how empty his life would be if she’d refused him. In his arms he held
everything he wanted, and he vowed never to jeopardize it so foolishly again.
This commitment felt liberating, not constraining. And that’s because it was
right.
Because
he’d become hooked on love … with this woman.
Chapter
12
Kammille
was exhausted. She hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before – thanks to Landon
-- who’d departed for Chicago this morning. She’d dropped him off at the
airport.
A
large cup of coffee in one hand, she immediately asked their office manager,
Cheryl, if Liza was in yet. They always had a meeting after a major event, just
to compare notes and discuss how to be better next time.
“Yes,
she’s in Ms. Howard. She’s in her office.”
“Great.
Thanks Cheryl,” she said, removing the sunshine-yellow, silk scarf from around
her neck on the way to her office.
“Ms.
Howard,” Cheryl said, “she’s … she seems upset about something. She looked like
she’d been crying. … She went in her office and …”
“Go
on Cheryl,” Kammille said, sensing the young woman’s hesitation in continuing.
“I
went to check on her and I heard her crying through the door. I decided to
leave her in privacy. … I just thought you should know.”
“Thanks
Cheryl. I’ll go check on her.”
Instead
of going to her office, Kammille went straight to Liza’s. She knocked gently on
the door. “Liza, it’s me. Can I come in?”
There
was no response.
“Cheryl
told me you were in, so I know you’re in there,” Kammille said gently. At
further silence, Kammille slowly opened the door.
Liza
was sitting at her desk, a
Similar Books
