Temptation (BWWM)

Chapter 10

It had been a week since I heard from Tony.
In that time I have cried , eaten way too much ice cream and then cried some more.
But I could confidently say I was alright.
I didn't feel weak anymore nor did I feel as if my whole life had crumbled away.
I was me again.
Work was almost over when I heard a soft knock on my door.
"Come in"
Jeremy walked in with a smile on his face.
He was tall , dark and handsome. I had known him for about two months since he had transferred to this branch a few months ago.
He stood at 6'1 with broad shoulders and what looked like a toned body underneath his work attire.
And he's smile lit up every room.
He was the epitome of a beautiful chocolate man.
"Jeremy , how you?"
I was surprised by this visit. We had barely spoken to each other in the two months that he was here nonetheless had any office visits.
"Hey I'm good and you ?" He said widening his smile .
"I'm good, so what can I help you with?"
I didn't mean to sound rude but I was extremely curious to know what he wanted.
"Well I was wondering if you'd like to go get a drink or something after work?" He said leaning against the door frame. Looking effortlessly handsome and out together.
He radiated confidence.

I was shocked by his rather random request and could feel my eyes widen as I stared at him in panic.
Work romances never worked.
I didn't want to give him the wrong idea by accepting this offer.
"Just as friends" he quickly added "I've been quite lonely since I've moved here and Lauren thought I should maybe just ask you to hang out since she's got the baby and all" he said with a chuckle.
Immediately my heart went out to him, moving was always a hard thing.And making friends was another struggle , I technically only had one friend which was Lauren and the rest were simply acquaintances.
So I understand where he was coming from.
"Then I'd love to! I think I'll be done in about thirty minutes, is that okay ?" I asked
"Perfect , see you later." He said giving me another heartfelt smile as walked out closing my door behind him.
***
"How did you find this place?" I asked as I sat down.
Jeremy and I were in a Greek restaurant that was classy but somehow also felt super relaxed.
"Found it on one of my many exploration trips. I've surprisingly found so many cool locations around here , I just never have anyone to go with." He said casually looking around.
The waiter eventually came and took our orders.
I had my usually glass of red wine and was beginning to feel very relaxed.
"So , the mysterious Aubrey . I'm dying to know What's your story?"
"My story?" I said laughing. "Thats the corniest question I've ever heard" I said taking a sip of my wine.
He simply shrugged before responding.
"Slightly corny but for real. I've been tryna figure you out. You so closed off. I wanna know why."
He's directness caught me off guard. I never thought off myself as closed off.
"Well my story isn't very interesting. I was raised in middle class family. Strict African parents. I did well in school. Got my heart broken in my first year of uni and now here I am. Pretty boring"  it was my turn to now shrug.
"I'm sure you're making it seem more boring than it really is." He said never dropping the smile from his face.

"Maybe I am. But it's true. I guess I've just been someone that stays in their own lane. Haven't tried to push past any boundaries."

"You don't sound happy about that ?" He said raising an eyebrow.

"How can I be? I don't know." I laughed " I always just thought I'd be someone exciting when I grew up." I shrugged.
"Well you still have time to change that. Time to become an exciting adult." He said sending a quick wink my way.
He's words made me feel hopeful but I didn't like being under the spotlight.

"Enough about me tell me your story"

"Well I was adopted when I was 3. I was a happy kid, athletic , socially accepted. Just going with the flow , wasn't too serious about life. Then my mom died of cancer just before I went to university. It killed me. But it made me work harder, all I've ever wanted was to take care of my dad. He's my best friend. Strongest man I know." He said with pride. My heart went out to him. I wouldn't have guessed that he had gone through such a time based off of his happy-go-lucky demeanor.

"I'm sorry about your mom"

"It's okay. I know she's in a better place."

The food came and the table was soon silent as we dug into our food , besides the brief small talk.

"I'm stuffed!"I said as I leaned into my chair wishing I could just unbutton my pants.
"So am I! But we have to have dessert!" Jeremy excitedly said as he grabbed the dessert menu and began to browse through it.

"How do you have room for dessert" I groaned, trying to find some sort of relief.
The food had been so good that I couldn't stop myself from eating. I didn't stop eating when I was full , I stopped eating when my food was finished.

"I always have room for dessert." He said with that childlike excitement. He looked up but seemed to look past me than at me. Before looking back at the menu.

Jeremy ordered something for us to share.
I was too full to even pay attention to what he had ordered.

"Do you have any angry white ex's I should know about?" He asked as I took a sip of my wine making me choke.
"What?" I said
"There's a guy that's been staring daggers my way since he's got here. And I don't know him so I'm guessing it has something to do with you" He said nudging his head.
I turned in the direction he was looking and surely enough Tony was sat there.
He was staring intensely at Jeremy but now his eyes were on me.
He looked mad.
But he wasn't alone.
I immediately recognized the woman sitting next to him. She had been photographed with him a few weeks ago.
She looked angelic.
She had long blonde hair and bright blue eyes I could spot from across the room. She was dressed elegantly. Not revealing too much but just enough to make your imagination run wild.
I quickly turned away and chugged my wine.
"So I was right." He said
"No" I said looking for the waiter. I needed more wine.

"Relax." Jeremy said
"Do you want to leave ? We can make it a takeaway ?"

"No it's okay" I took a deep breathe "this has been such a nice evening." I said.
Just then he's phone rang , he politely excused himself and walked away to answer his call, leaving me alone.
I pulled out my phone and was aimlessly scrolling through Instagram trying to distract myself from the fact that Tony was so close by. It wasn't long before someone sat down into Jeremy's chair.
Tony.
"Hi" He said
"Hello"
"Are you on a date ?" He asked bluntly.
"I don't think that's any of your business."
"I think you're over reacting about everything. I made a passing comment when we first met and now I'm being iced out."

"I am not over reacting." I whisper shouted back at him. "Now leave."

He was clearly taken back by my rudeness but it was the only way I knew how to respond.

"No." He said. "You are being unreasonable."
He said sternly while holding his ground.

" Do you know what everyone will think whenever they see me ? There goes Tony's piece of ass! Tony's fuck buddy! I'm a joke."

"Then let me set the record straight ! I'll let them all know that you're my woman. You're the person I want to be with and I made a mistake." He said

"You're on a date" I said dismissing his romantic plea. But my will power was slowly chipping away. I would be lying if I said I didn't want to be in his arm now , that I didn't want everything to be okay again.
"No I'm not , that's my sister." He said with disgust.
Making me whip my head back to woman he had been sitting with, who was subtly watching us from a far.
I felt a wave of relief knowing that he wasn't on a date but it didn't change the fact that the had been spotted with multiple women over the past few weeks.
"Baby, I will do everything to make things right." He said reaching for my hand and holding it.
The tears were welling up. All I wanted was to be in his arms. But my walls had been shot back up.
My feelings for Tony scared me.
I had never felt so passionately in love with someone before and it was a feeling that was overwhelming.
I had found an easy was out.
Without having my whole world collapse.
Things would end on my terms.
"Tony" I pulled my hand out of his hold.
"I'm not giving up on us." He said before getting up and walking back to his table.
My heart longed for his touch, his presence but I couldn't bring myself to call out for him.
*****

A/N:
A relatively long chapter for my loves☺️
Hope you enjoyed !
BIG THANK YOU to everyone that's reading my book ! I hit 10k read which is so crazy and I never imagined that I would even go past 1k reads !
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Have an AMAZING week my loves❤️❤️
(2019/04/23)