Thalia Lake - Choosey Lovers Read online

  Satra didn’t see a wedding band on his finger or any indication that he used to wear one. He’s probably a playboy. He knows how good he looks and can have his pick of any woman in this city, Satra thought cynically to herself. Yeah, that’s it. Make him out to be a low-life man-whore. That’ll help you not be so attracted to him, Satra… NOT!’ She groaned to herself. This war of feelings that was raging inside of her was driving her insane. Where was this coming from, and why now? Why am I even thinking about this man in that way? I’m sure he looks at all women all intense and brooding, and they just fall at his feet. Well, not me, and not today!

  Talk about being in denial!

  Mr. Di Amato called for the check, paid for dinner and left a sizeable tip. The busboy cleared their table and brought Satra her to-go container with her leftovers inside.

  “I must say, this was the most enjoyable business dinner I’ve had in quite some time, Ms. Sinclair. We must do it again soon,” Mr. Di Amato said after finishing the last swallow of his wine.

  “Thank you for dinner. I had a nice time as well, Mr. Di Amato. And thank you for your business. We’ll be in contact with you very soon. If you or Mr. Evans has any questions, please feel free to contact Mr. Lucas or me. We’d be glad to help you.”

  She scooted back in her chair to get up, but Shane quickly rose to his feet to help her. The gentleman in him compelled him to help her, but the indescribable need to smell her neck pushed him over the edge of reason. Everything in Shane was telling him, “Don’t do it! Don’t do it! You’re playing with fire,” but his body acted on its own.

  “Let me help you,” he said close to her ear. Then he inhaled. She smelled like heaven, if there were ever such a smell.

  Satra also got a whiff of his cologne, and she wanted to wrap herself in him. It was fresh but very masculine. For a brief moment, she felt light headed.

  “Thank you.” She barely got the words out she was so nervous. Mr. Di Amato stood up as well. After Satra grabbed her suitcase, purse and to-go bag, she shook both of their hands again and bid them good night. She felt that electric zing again when her hand touched Shane’s, and it scared her.

  “After you,” Shane said as he stepped aside to let Satra lead the way.

  Oh great. Now I have to walk in front of them, Satra thought to herself. Just walk normal girl.

  She smiled graciously at Shane and began what seemed like a two-mile walk to the front of the restaurant. Both men got their first full view of her 5’7”, curvy body and shapely long legs in her favorite patent leather high heels. They each stopped in their tracks as they looked at her from her shoes on up to her sexy, perfectly shaped legs, perfectly round behind and small waist. She had the classic hourglass figure that most women would kill for. Her walk was graceful yet confident. She held her head high like she was the Queen of Sheba, but she didn’t carry that air of arrogance with her. Her hips swayed hypnotically yet naturally with each stride she took, and it had Shane and Mr. Di Amato completely mesmerized.

  “Great Joseph and Mary,” Mr. Di Amato said under his breath in Italian.

  Shane snapped out of the trance and chuckled as he heard his business partner’s words spoken in Italian.

  “Now that’s what I call a woman,” Mr. Di Amato continued in Italian as he began to follow behind her.

  Mr. Di Amato knew without a doubt that Shane was smitten with Satra Sinclair. Not many women caught Shane’s attention. Sure, New York was full of beautiful women of every color, shape and size, but if they didn’t have a brain, morals, or the ability to hold an intelligent conversation that didn’t center on themselves, Shane had no use for them. People assumed he was a playboy because of his classic good looks, but nothing could be further from the truth. He’d only been in two serious relationships his entire adult life, and the last one ended so badly that he was in no rush to get into another one. His career was his main focus. His parents had been pressuring him for years to settle down, get married and make some grandkids for them. It was something he wanted too, but the right person to settle down with had yet to come along. He hadn’t been exactly looking for Mrs. Shane Evans either. “When it happens it happens was always,” his motto.

  “I’m with you on that one,” Shane said in return in Italian as he began to envy the lucky man that had the pleasure of having Satra Sinclair in his bed every night, if there was a man in her life at all.

  There has to be someone in her life. There’s no way someone that beautiful, sexy, and smart could be single, Shane thought to himself.

  Satra knew they were watching her as they followed her out of the restaurant. She could feel their eyes on her back as she waited for the valet to return with her car. No, she could feel their eyes on her butt. The look on their faces made her feel even more self-conscious and nervous. Mr. Di Amato’s facial expression was one of appreciation. The look in Shane Evan’s eyes was that of a man who boldly liked what he saw and didn’t care who saw him appreciating the view, including Satra. He wanted her to see that he liked everything about her.

  She was used to men pretending like they weren’t checking her out, not men who boldly did so the way Shane did. As she waved goodbye to the gentlemen and climbed into her car, she shook her head in an attempt to make thoughts of Shane and his sexy, lustful eyes go away and decided to call Grayson. She was on a high from sealing this deal and couldn’t wait to tell Grayson the good news. She knew this would make him over-the-moon happy. She waited until she reached her condo before she called him. She quickly unlocked the door to her home and went inside, kicking off her heels and tossing her keys on the coffee table in her living room. As she walked further into her living room, she finally heard Grayson answer.

  “Hello, Satra.”

  “He signed the papers, Grayson! It’s a done deal!” Satra squealed excitedly.

  “YES!” Grayson shouted. “I knew you could do it. Didn’t I tell you could do it, Satra? When I get back, I’m taking you out. We’re going to celebrate, okay? You’ve made me so proud.”

  Satra was touched, and she almost got a little choked up. Hearing his words of approval meant the world to her. Hearing the happiness in his voice was indescribable. She didn’t know why she viewed Grayson as a father figure, but she did. Perhaps it’s because she and her own father didn’t have the best relationship at the time. The moment she landed in New York, Grayson hired her as an intern, took her under his wing, and taught her many things. He invited her to his home often for dinner and family gatherings because she had no family in New York. For that, she would be eternally grateful to Grayson and his family.

  “Thank you, Grayson. That means the world to me,” Satra finally said.

  “Are you still on the plane? The connection isn’t that great,” Satra asked a little louder.

  “Yes, we’re still on the plane. We should be landing soon. Maggie says hello and great job! I’ll call you back first thing in the morning. I want all the details,” Grayson said smiling.

  “Ok. I’ll talk to you in the morning, and tell Maggie I said hello and thank you,” Satra said.

  “Will do. Talk to you soon. Bye.”

  “Bye.”

  Satra plopped down on her dark brown plush leather couch smiling. She was mentally drained but in a good way. Mr. Di Amato was definitely a character and interesting to work with. Shane scared her. There was something in the way that he looked at her that had her feeling very unsettled. Working with him was going to be a challenge, to say the least.

  “Well, I guess I can treat myself to that long hot bath now.” With a satisfied sigh, Satra stood up and headed for her bedroom. She lit the candles around her deep claw foot bathtub and turned out the lights in the bathroom. She had Sade playing softly while she lay back on her bath pillow with her eyes closed.

  Even with her eyes closed she could see Shane’s intense eyes staring at her. UGH! Get out of my head!

  Chapter Two

  Grayson called Satra first thing in the morning as promised, and she fil
led him in on every detail about the business dinner….except about Shane and how he made her pulse race.

  Grayson couldn’t believe it. “How did you know about Donaldson Corp and Tellecheck & Meyers? I didn’t even know about those deals!”

  “Oh, let’s just say I have my connections. And I knew this would be a battle of wits with Mr. Di Amato. He wants to test your knowledge and play mind games with you first. When he brushed you off the third time, that’s when I started doing my own research about him. He likes having his accomplishments talked about and commended. I knew those two deals were very near and dear to him. He’s proud of those deals more than anything else. I knew it would be a good idea to mention them so he’d know that we’ve done our research on him just like he’s done his on us.”

  “That was very smart of you, Satra. Don’t hate me for saying this, but I also think he was also a sucker for a beautiful yet smart woman pitching to him. Most men are,” Grayson said with a smile.

  Satra blushed. “I’m not offended by that at all because I know it’s true. Mr. Di Amato didn’t fool me at all. I could look at him and tell that he was or still is a ladies' man.”

  “And what about Shane Evans? How did he act towards you?” Grayson asked.

  “He was nice. He let Mr. Di Amato do most of the talking. Once the papers were signed, he asked me what my interests were, where I grew up, where I went to school.”

  There was a long silence before Grayson said anything. “Mmmhmm.”

  “What does ‘Mmmhmm’ mean?” Satra asked as she started to get worried.

  “Nothing, I just find that to be interesting.”

  “Spill it, Grayson. You know something I don’t. What is it?”

  “It’s nothing. I’ve had enough interactions with Shane Evans to know that he’s not one to sit quietly in a business meeting. That is not like him at all.”

  Satra didn’t even want to go down the road that she knew Grayson was going with this.

  “Well, maybe he didn’t say much because you’ve already pitched this deal to him and Mr. Di Amato several times already so he didn’t have much to say this time.”

  “That could be it,” Grayson agreed, but deep down he knew that wasn’t the reason.

  “Well, in any case, the deal is sealed, and now we can go on to the next phase of our plans. That’s the important part… So are you going to put together a team for the Vandalay account? And if so, how deeply will my involvement be? I have several projects going on at the moment that really need my attention.” If she could avoid any interaction with Shane Evans, she was going to do it.

  “Well, I definitely want you to finish up your projects, but there will be times when I’ll have to pull you in to help on the Vandalay account too. There is definitely some travel that will be involved in the next two weeks that I want you to do,” Grayson said.

  “Already?” Satra asked surprised.

  “I’m sorry, kiddo, but yes. We have to start moving right away with this. I need you to go to South Carolina to Vandalay’s headquarters and meet with the VP’s there. The sooner we can get things transitioned the better. I’ll need you to stay for at least a week.”

  “A week in South Carolina?” Then she moaned. “Whatever you say, boss.”

  She could feel a stress headache coming on as she began to rub her left temple with her fingertips.

  To smooth things over Grayson added, “I promise I’ll make this up to you. Whether it’s extra weeks of vacation, and me footing the bill to wherever you want to go, I’ll do it. You name the place, and it’s a done deal. I’ll even throw in spending money. That will be my ‘Thank you’ to you, but I really need you in South Carolina and available to help Evans and Di Amato with this transition.”

  “Wow. There’s no way I can turn that down,” Satra said in a stunned voice.

  Grayson laughed. He knew she’d like that, and she deserved it.

  Satra already knew where she wanted to go - Italy. She’s never been, and it’s the one place she’s always wanted to go.

  She and Grayson wrapped up their phone call, and she got ready for work. The day flew by so fast because she was floating on cloud nine from all the great things that were going on in her life. She called her mom while she was at lunch and shared the great news with her. She was very happy for her daughter. Surprisingly, so was her dad.

  Next she called her best friend, Alinna, and they arranged to have dinner and drinks after work to celebrate at Eddie’s, a popular upscale restaurant named after one of Alinna’s college buddies.

  When she initially moved to New York, Satra got a job at a small coffee shop in the lower east side. Alinna got hired after her. They hit it off immediately and became best friends. Both were fresh out of college and trying to make it in their respective careers. After college, Eddie went to study abroad to further his knowledge and education in becoming a chef. When he returned to New York, Alinna introduced him to Satra, and the three of them became the best of friends. Alinna is now the senior editor for Black Wealth magazine. She worked her butt off to get that title, starting out as an intern and working her way up. Satra couldn’t be prouder of her friend. Eddie is the owner of his own five-star restaurant that has movie stars and singers as regular patrons. He’s won all kinds of awards and was constantly getting rave reviews by food critics.

  Satra ran home, changed into her favorite pair of jeans that hugged her in all the right places and a cream ruffled tank top with cream strappy high-heeled sandals and met Alinna at the restaurant.

  “How are my two favorite beauties?” Eddie beamed as he opened the back door for them.

  “We’re great. How are you, Eddie?” Satra greeted smiling as she leaned in to give Eddie a hug and kiss on the cheek.

  Eddie gave Satra his traditional bear hug. “I’m good, girl.”

  “Hey babes,” Alinna said as she hugged her old friend.

  “Hey yourself,” Eddie drawled as he gazed longingly at Alinna. “Your usual table?” he asked over his shoulder as they made their way through the kitchen.

  “Yup,” the ladies said in unison.

  It was packed as usual on a Friday night, and there was a line outside. Alinna had on skinny jeans, and a gray sparkly one shouldered top. Her naturally curly hair was wild, and she looked gorgeous as always. To Satra, Alinna was the total package: tall, beautiful, hair that every woman envied and a killer shape. Alinna didn’t always like her curly, wild mane. She said it was a beast to tame, and it often did whatever it wanted to do despite her best efforts to style or tame it. She had light brown sugar skin with hazel eyes and an infectious laugh that would make you laugh with her, even if you don’t know what’s funny.

  After sitting down, Alinna announced to Eddie, “We’re celebrating tonight, so we want the best of everything. My girl here is doing her thing in the advertising world, landing huge accounts, her boss is giving her a paid vacation anywhere in the world and giving her shopping money. How many sistas do you know that’s got it like that?”

  “Congrats! Whatever y’all want it’s on me. My treat. When I get a minute, I’m going to sit down and join y’all,” Eddie said before he ran off to the kitchen.

  Satra stared at Alinna, giving her the knowing look that she always does when they eat at Eddie’s.

  “Stop it, Satra. We are not having that conversation tonight,” Alinna warned while she looked at the menu.

  “Linna….I’m just saying. You both like each other and have for years. Why are you both still playing games? What is the holdup? The man is in love with you! You’d have to be blind not to see it.”

  “Satra, please! Tonight is about YOU. We’re celebrating YOU, remember? Besides, Eddie is seeing someone now.”

  Satra noted the sadness in her friend’s voice. Eddie was seeing someone but according to him it wasn’t serious.

  “Well, can you blame him, Linna? How long did you think this man was going to wait on you?” Satra said softly, touching her friend’s arm.

  �
��Satra, there are other factors that you don’t understand.”

  “No, I don’t understand. All I understand is before he found someone, you had the opportunity to date him and you didn’t. There was nothing stopping you two from being together, Alinna. Eddie is a good man. He’s a hard worker; he has the biggest, warmest, and most giving heart than anyone I know. And most importantly, he loves you. I’m going to drop it, but I had to say that.”

  “Yeah, you always feel compelled to say something,” Alinna said playfully hitting her friend on her arm.

  “So tell me more about this meeting you had and how you sealed the deal. That sounds so exciting, like something out of the movies,” Alinna said as she leaned on the table and rested her chin on the palm of her hand.

  Satra went into her story, and when she got to Shane, Alinna stopped her in her tracks.

  “Back up. Tell me more about this Shane. The name alone sounds sexy. How does he look?”

  Satra hated having to revisit the gorgeous Shane Evans, but she knew Alinna wouldn’t let it go.

  “He’s tall, like 6’4” or 6’5” tall, jet black wavy hair, gorgeous dark features, and you know how I’m a sucker for dark features on a man. Girl, his eyes… The way he looks at you is so intense. He has these beautiful brown eyes and long thick lashes. He has this way of looking at you that just… I don’t know. It’s hard to describe.”

  Satra suddenly became at a loss for words to describe Shane Evan’s eyes. She got a warm chill down her spine just thinking about those eyes, remembering how she felt to be under his gaze.

  “He’s a brooder,” Alinna offered.

  “YES! He’s a brooder. It’s like he can see right through you and read your thoughts. Okay, I’ll admit it; he’s a very handsome and sexy man. Everything about him – how he dresses, the cologne he wears - is sexy and very classy. He’s a very smart businessman to but… I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if he’s a playboy. Pretty boys like that have their choice of any and every woman; why wouldn’t he play the field? He also seemed a bit arrogant, and that’s a turn off for me.” Satra wrinkled her nose in distaste and took a sip of her wine.