Khalid Read online

  “Ms. Alexander, if you would review these documents,” Vanessa suggested. “And I have some for you to look at as well, Mr. Ali.”

  Vanessa slid the paperwork in front of the respected parties, hoping it would be enough to distract them from their current visual entanglement. Deciding she would show Khalid that she could be the bigger person, Racquel intentionally softened her eyes and folded her full lips in, releasing them slowly. She dropped her eyes before his unwavering gaze and focused on what was most important. In her mind, Racquel repeated words that encouraged her to remember what and who she was there for. As long as she got what she needed to extend her father’s legacy, that’s what mattered most. Khalid only looked at the papers in front of him after he was sure Racquel was doing the same. She intrigued him and challenged him and didn’t swoon over him. He liked it, a lot.

  Racquel did more than scan the documents in front of her. She had to ensure that the language was correct and that there were no loopholes that would land her in a situation that could prove disadvantageous and jeopardize her company. One of the documents was her original bid on the property with the signatures of both partners from Brown and Shore. That sealed the property as hers once her signature was affixed to the same. The other document was her second bid. Language had been added, stating that the bid was rejected as the first on the same property had been accepted. She perused to ensure nothing else had been added and that there was no language in the documents she was to sign that mentioned anything about the Ali company’s acquiescence of the property. Only when she was satisfied did Racquel pick up the pen and sign her name.

  Khalid was equally as thorough in his review of the documents Ms. Shore placed in front of him. He looked for similar things, ensuring that there had been no appendages that stood in stark opposition to what he insisted take place. He lifted his eyes ever so slightly when he saw Racquel pick up the ink pen and sign her forms. That was reassuring to him that Brown and Shore were honorable in the transaction. After a thorough review, Khalid also picked up a pen and signed the forms.

  Pleased, Ms. Shore collected the paperwork, checked the signatures, and confirmed that everything was as it should be.

  “I will ensure that the receptionist has copies for you at the desk before you leave. If there are no more questions?”

  She looked from one patron to the other. Neither had any comment. They both wore pleasant smiles when they looked in her direction. Ms. Shore knew to be satisfied with that. She also accepted that although Khalid Ali was the kind of man she could sink her teeth into, she would have to keep her distance. He was otherwise engaged.

  “Thank you, Ms. Shore,” Racquel said, pushing back her chair and standing to her feet.

  “Thank you,” Vanessa shook her hand and smiled in return.

  “Mr. Ali,” Vanessa addressed, taking the opportunity to shake his hand and come into physical contact once again. Khalid obliged, standing to his feet and shaking Ms. Shore’s hand. She gasped silently as his large hand enclosed around hers, and she held onto his as long as she could, hoping it wasn’t awkward or noticed. But Racquel had already pivoted on her heels and started toward the conference room door. Business had been handled. There was no reason for her to linger. She made her way to the receptionist station.

  “Here you are, Ms. Alexander,” the receptionist said as she handled the sealed legal-sized envelope to Racquel.

  “Thank you,” she answered without missing a step. Racquel continued towards the elevator. She didn’t want a repeat of what happened before, an accidental encounter with Khalid. Business had been handled. She’d been successful. It was time to go.

  Although Vanessa tried to linger and engage Khalid in further conversation, he politely excused himself. He had his sights set on Racquel. He didn’t want her to get away. His long strides took him past the receptionists’ desk.

  “Mr. Ali,” she called out. “You’re forgetting something.”

  “Send it to me,” he pivoted while in motion and replied. Just as Khalid smoothly righted his posture and stepped into the hallway, he saw the elevator door closing, but not before he got a glimpse of Racquel inside.

  “Damn,” he uttered, taking even longer strides and reaching the elevator bank. He pressed the button for another car to come. Ordinarily, Khalid wasn’t the kind of man who gave chase. He’d never been that pressed about a woman, any woman. But Racquel had gotten under his skin, and pricked his heart, or maybe she just irritated his heart. Khalid shook his head and smiled to himself. Yeah, there was something about her, he just hadn’t quite figured out what that something was.

  When the elevator door opened, Khalid quickly stepped in and pushed the button to descend to the lobby. The descent couldn’t have been fast enough. He needed to talk to Racquel. Even when he was nice, genuinely nice with no ulterior motive, she suspected him. Khalid needed to know why. He could only get those answers from her. He found himself watching the numbers as they lowered, signifying that he was moving in the right direction. Khalid didn’t want to begrudge anyone else trying to go down, but he was grateful when the elevator descended without interruption.

  When the car reached the lobby, and the doors opened, Khalid stepped over the threshold. His eyes immediately roamed the space to see if Racquel was still inside. He didn’t see her. His long stride carried him to the front door and exited the building. Khalid continued to look around for her talking himself out of his desire to see her. Why was he making such a big deal about her? Why did it matter if she understood his motivation? Why did it matter at all?

  But it did, and it didn’t totally make sense to Khalid, but it mattered. When he finally spotted Racquel, she was sliding into the driver’s seat. He could call out, try to get her attention from across the street, but there was a chance she wouldn’t hear him, and he would feel even sillier than he already did. Khalid stood there and watched as Racquel pulled her BMW from the curb and out into traffic. His desire to understand Racquel and have her understand him would have to wait.

  Chapter Ten

  “Hey, bro.”

  “Hey, Tareef, what’s up?”

  “Just checking in to see how the meeting went?” With a juris doctorate in law and the family’s legal representative, Tareef had his hands in much of the family’s business. New acquisitions meant documents that needed to be reviewed, contracts that needed to be constructed, and legal processes of insurance and coverage that needed to be activated. He wasn’t just nosey.

  When Khalid didn’t answer right away, Tareef listened carefully before saying more.

  “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

  “Nah, man,” Khalid replied. “It’s just, the meeting didn’t turn out as I expected.”

  “What? Did you lose the negotiation? I thought the bid we worked on was a good one. Did the competitor outbid us?” Tareef questioned.

  “It wasn’t that,” Khalid sighed, navigating the Mercedes through the downtown Atlanta streets.

  “Then what?” Tareef asked.

  “It was who the bid was relinquished to,” Khalid answered.

  “Relinquished? When do we acquiesce?” Tareef challenged.

  “It was Rocky.”

  Khalid recoiled as he heard laughter blare through his dashboard from the connected phone. He was stopped at a red light, his eyes casually looking at the surrounding cars to see if they could hear his brother cackling over the line.

  “I’ll wait,” Khalid quipped, reaching up and pressing the button to turn the volume down slightly.

  “Sorry, man,” Tareef chortled. “It’s just,” his voice dropped off, but the laughter continued.

  “It’s just what, Tareef?”

  “What are the chances of the one woman who loves to hate you is the same woman you keep running into after all this time, bro, that’s crazy.”

  Khalid couldn’t agree more, but he refused to give Tareef confirmation of anything he was already laughing about.

  “So, because it was Rocky, you ga
ve up the property?”

  “It wasn’t like that,” Khalid defended. He knew, had it been someone else, he would have negotiated tougher, fought harder to ensure Ali International secured the best deal while remaining ethical in their dealings. But it was Racquel. “We can erect our center any number of places,” Khalid went on. “She wanted that place to extend her father’s legacy.”

  “Just like we work as hard as we do to extend our family legacy,” Tareef taunted. He meant it. Legacy was a major part of why all the brothers worked so hard. Yet, he understood why Khalid would make the move he made. Given the situation, Tareef might have done the same thing.

  “But I get it,” Tareef, chuckled. “She got your nose open.”

  “I will hang up on you,” Khalid threatened.

  “No, for real, man,” Tareef replied, trying to quiet his laughter. “It’s more than ironic, though, don’t you think? Maybe it’s destiny.”

  “The only way to know that is if I speak to her again,” Khalid acknowledged.

  “Huh? You didn’t get her number, address, nothing?”

  “It wasn’t that kind of situation,” Khalid sighed. When the light changed, Khalid moved with traffic headed towards the interstate.

  “Not even when ya’ll was at the reunion?”

  “Definitely not then.” Although thinking about that night, put a slow smile on Khalid’s lips. He remembered the feel of Racquel, and the smile remained.

  “It’s a good thing I’m a good brother,” Tareef said.

  “Meaning?”

  “I have her best friend's phone number, which means I know how to get in touch with her.”

  “Send me the details,” Khalid answered.

  “I got you, bro.”

  Three Days Later

  Khalid didn’t want to call her. It would be too easy for Racquel to hang up the phone, and nothing would be accomplished. Fortunately, Naomi was more than willing to tell Tareef what Rocky’s schedule was. She felt like it would be good for Racquel to talk to Khalid to clear the air. She didn’t feel like helping things along was a betrayal of their friendship. Khalid waited until it was near closing time before traveling to her father’s original barbershop. That’s where Racquel was three days out of the week. She was there tonight.

  “Sorry, we’re closing up,” one of the barbers said when Khalid walked in.

  “I’m here to see the owner,” Khalid replied.

  “Let me see if she’s available,” the barber answered. Khalid watched the young man walk to the back of the shop. The last customer had just left, and the last barber left in was cleaning up his station when Khalid entered. He’d timed it just right. With no audience, Khalid hoped Racquel would be more willing to talk to him instead of blowing him off in front of her staff.

  When the door to the office opened, the barber exited first. Khalid didn’t want to look around him anxiously. Instead, he waited to see if Racquel would emerge. She did, traipsing out of the office. She didn’t have to ask her barber who it was. The security cameras in her office told her all she needed to know.

  “I’ll see you later, Rocky,” the barber called out as he moved towards the front door.

  “See you later,” Racquel replied. She hadn’t looked in Khalid’s direction. She hadn’t even acknowledged he was there. She watched her employee leave. Passing Khalid as if he was an inanimate object, Racquel sashayed to the door, turned the lock, flipped the open sign to closed, and then pulled down the blinds. Then and only then did her eyes slowly trail towards her unexpected guest as she slowly meandered in his direction.

  “Is it too late for a cut and a shave,” Khalid crooned from his position near the door.

  “I’m sure you have a private barber who handles that for you.” Her hand eased up her ample hip. Khalid’s eyes fell, following her enticing curves. Even in dark jeans and work smock, Racquel was still as sexy as hell.

  Khalid slid one hand into the pocket of his slacks. He gained Racquel’s eyes and refused to let them go as he strolled in her direction, stopping just short of intentionally invading her personal space.

  “I want you to do it for me.”

  As Khalid’s eyes studied her, Racquel hoped her face didn’t betray the disjointed feelings she felt inside. She was agitated that he had the audacity to come to her place of business. She also felt a flitting in her belly and a thump in her heart every time she was in his presence. It was dichotomous and aggravating, not knowing which feeling or thought to lean into.

  “And you wait until the close of business to make this request?” Rocky challenged.

  “Yes,” Khalid replied, his eyes still holding steady.

  “What makes you think I won’t put you out? I mean, technically, the barbershop is closed.”

  Khalid took a decisive step forward, further reducing the space between them.

  “You could put me out,” he chortled. “I’ll just come back.”

  “Why?” She sounded irritated but also curious. For Khalid, that was a good sign.

  “Because, Racquel, we need to talk.” The way her name spilled from his beautifully defined lips rang musically in her ear.

  “What could we possibly have to talk about? What is there to say that we haven’t already said?”

  “You never answered my initial question,” Khalid smiled.

  That irritated her.

  “What are you smiling about? And what initial question?”

  “Well, beloved, there were two initial questions,” Khalid replied. “One I asked you a few weeks ago that you have yet to answer, and the one I asked a few moments ago that you refuse to answer.”

  Racquel shifted her weight onto one foot, causing her ample hip to push out further.

  “And because somehow you’ve decided that what you say, what you ask is important, I’m supposed to remember a question you asked earlier, much less weeks ago?” Racquel purred. “Khalid, what you say, beloved, is not as important to me as you think.”

  “Yet, you are here talking with me,” he sexily rebuffed, taking another decisive step forward.

  This time she backed up, just slightly, just to remind him that there was such a thing as personal space, and she didn’t want to have hers further invaded.

  Khalid’s eyes became even more hooded, and then he sensually folded in his lower lip, allowing it to release slowly between his pearly white teeth, the trim of his mustache, and the perfection of his beard flawlessly accentuating his oral region.

  Racquel’s eyes fell to his mouth, the magnetic movement then measuredly lifted to his eyes that seemed to penetrate her very essence. She wanted to hate it, to hold on to that ugly and uncomfortable feeling that she was most comfortable with. He wanted to make that difficult for her.

  “Racquel, do you know the definition of persistence?” Khalid asked.

  “Tell me,” she cooed.

  “The act or fact of stubbornly continuing to do something even though it is difficult or opposed by other people, existing beyond the normal, usual, or expected time.”

  “And you said that to say?” She challenged him again, and Khalid loved every minute of it. Although they were currently posturing from opposite ends of the spectrum, Khalid preferred a woman who spoke her mind, held her position, and didn’t easily fold. Although he hoped that mutually they could move the needle more to center, he respected Racquel for not caving in to him so readily.

  “I’m not giving up. I am more than persistent when it's important. Understanding what’s going on between us is important to me. I want it to be important to you, too, so if you want to handle it now or wait until I show up again, it’s up to you.”

  Racquel folded her arms across her chest. When her eyes raked over him, Khalid felt penetration that resonated within him. He approvingly appraised her curvaceous figure and returned an unyielding gaze capturing her eyes that followed his.

  “Sit down,” Racquel hummed. “Please,” she added only after seeing Khalid’s brow pitch slightly on his forehead.


  Racquel pivoted on her heels and reached over to the hook where her barber’s apron hung. She slid it over her neck and then tied a loose bow behind her back before turning back around to her client. There was a part of Racquel who accepted that if she didn’t give him a cut now, Khalid was stubborn enough, determined enough to do just what he said he would do, keep showing up unsolicited. She could refuse, but that would only prolong his antics. Better to nip it in the bud, get it over and done with, and then that would be that. She prepared him as she would any other client, first turning down the collar of his button-down shirt. Racquel was careful to be quick, not wanting her fingers to come into unnecessary contact with his sable skin. But she did touch him, and there was an electrically charged current that resulted. Unavoidably, the masculine scent of his enticing cologne filled her nostrils as she placed a thin, cloth wrap around his neck before draping the protective apron around him. Khalid’s medium cropped fade was already neatly maintained; however, as a barber first, business owner second, Racquel could always improve it. Picking up the clippers, she turned them on, and the familiar hum of the blades could be heard. She would have to touch him, in order to give him a fresh cut, Racquel would have to touch him.

  Chapter Eleven

  I can handle this, she thought to herself as she moved the clippers close to him, and with her fingertips, lightly touching his head as a counterbalance to steady the blade. Khalid allowed his eyelids to close. He loved having a fresh haircut. For him, it was more than self-care. He found it relaxing. Yet, to have Racquel’s fingers against his flesh didn’t offer Khalid the same kind of tactile experience he was used to. He felt a different energy in her touch, one that heightened his masculine proclivities. Behind closed lids, Khalid’s mind returned to the last time she touched him, the last time he touched her.

  Racquel moved around Khalid as she attended to his hair. Rarely did she feel the need to be conscientious about how close she got to her customer, how she leaned in, accidental contact, the necessity to be close in order to attend to the detail of the cut. But she was extremely conscientious of her body’s placement next to Khalid's’. He made her that way, arousing her sensibilities because of his proximity. There was a field of energy that surrounded them, even as Racquel moved. It was highly charged with jolts of boosted energy as they circled each other. When it came time to address Khalid’s lining in the front, Racquel had to lean in, getting even closer than close. The swell of her breasts was eye level as his eyes unhurriedly opened and then focused on her nearness.