Risking It All (11 page)

“How does Brian know Quinton?” The name sounded familiar to Julissa, but she couldn’t put a face to it.

“Brian and
Ed are best friends, remember?
” Shanice said, as if she were supposed to already know that.

Quinton did tell Julissa that he and Ed had been meeting up during the lunch hour m
ost every day to hang out. Maybe word had gotten around quickly because of that. “Oh.”

“Anyway, I called to ask if you wanted to come chill out tonight. Brian and Ed are taking Quinton out for a night on the town to celebrate. Brian asked me to bring a few friends.”

“Well…” Julissa started.

“You know you want to. We all know that Michael is out of town on business. Come on, I promise I’ll tell Brian that you coming means no advances whatsoever from Ed.”

The one thing that Shanice didn’t know was that Ed was the least of her worries. “Alright.”

“Good. We’ll pick you up at nine. My friend, Olivia, is the designated driver.”

Julissa waited until she was home and settled to call Quinton.

“Hi, Q.”

“Hey. I don’t know how many times I should thank you for your help.”

“You’ve already said thank you enough. Besides, I only showed you the property, now it’s up to you to make it work for you.”

“Well, I’ll be leaving for Florida tomorrow afternoon. I plan on being back in Atlanta well before it’s time to go to close.”

“Well, take your time. You’ve got a lot of packing to do, don’t you?” Julissa hoped that he was still planning his move to Atlanta.

“Not nearly as much. I live in a
small condo on Miami Beach
. I
’ve already found a way to make things easier
. What my friends don’t raid my condo for, I’ll probably end up donating to
the
salvation army.”

Julissa walked into her closet an
d began pulling outfits out
for tonight. “Good idea.”

“A few of us are going out
for drinks and I wanted to ask if you’d like
to come along. They’re Richard and Christina’s friends. Some are the same people from the wedding party. No one would suspect
—
”

“I already know about it. My friend, Shanice, called to invite me already. And yes, I’ll be there.”

“Well, great…that was easy.”

“See you there?”

“I’ll see you there.”

**

Julissa didn’t know what it was, but she was feeling good tonight. Maybe it was the weather and how it was the perfect night to go out. Maybe it was the fact that everything seemed to be g
oing so right and the past few
days had been the best worry-free days ever since she could remember.

“I’m ready to get my paaartay on,” Shanice’s friend, Olivia, proclaimed.

“Me, too. At least we don’t have to worry about the guys. We already got
some waiting there for us,” a
girl
named, Renee, said from
the back
seat
of Olivia’s Hu
mmer.

Between herself, Shanice, Olivia
, and Renee, the four of them were on a
mission to have fun tonight. The only person missing was Christina. But, Julissa was sure that Christina was having more fun than all of them with her new husband in more ways than one.

Olivia pulled into the entrance of the lounge and had her Hummer valet parked. The moment they stepped into the place, they were already movi
ng to the beat of the latest hit song
.

“Brian said they got a
VIP section by the bar. Let’s hurry up
.
I’m ready to order some drinks.
” Shanice led the way to the back of the crowded lounge and club. Folks were nearly shoulder to shoulder, conversing and dancing. There was a dance floor and a bar on the roof top, which is where they were headed. Each VIP section was no more than a rounded booth seat complete with table and was privately
sectioned off
with
a long velvet
privacy curtain. She remembered coming here with Shanice and Christina a couple months back.

“There they are.” Shanice
pointed at the guys
.

Quinton, Ed, Brian, Leroy, and Tracey were already seated with drinks in hand. They were engrossed in conversation and didn’t see them until they were in front of the table.

“L
adies…How are we?” Ed greeted them
.

“Hey, guys,” Shanice replied
. “These are my friends, Olivia and Renee. You guys already know Julissa.”

Everyone exchanged greetings. Juliss
a blushed when she noticed Quinton’s eyes remained on her the whole time
. She broke the glance and turned away.

“This DJ is tight,” Renee said, bobbing her head up
when yet another hit blasted the speakers
. “I don’t know why you guys aren’t on the dance floor.”

“Waitin’ for y
’a
ll…,” Leroy said, suggestively eyeing all the cleavage that was purposely on display at the top of her tube top.

“Oh, well…here we are then,” Renee shot back, smiling.

“Well, are you guys gonna invite us to sit down or what? We didn’t come here to stand up and watch you guys sit around the table,” Julissa commented, smiling.

“Oo
ooh, well excuse us.”
Ed looked down at her heels. “What? Hubby let you out the house with them four inch stripper heels you got on? That’s what’s wrong with you girls…you come to the club in ten inch heels and your feet hurt as soon as you step out the car.”

“Ed, puhlease
…number one, I have no hubby and number two, believe me when I get ready
to,
I can
work the hell out of some heels. Believe that
.”

Her quick reply seemed to shut him up, yet he still managed a smirk.

All three girls squeezed into the booth. Brian waved the server back over and ordered a round of drinks.

“So,
Quinton, is it?
” Renee said
.
“I heard
that
you
bought
some real estate here in Atlanta. Congratulations.”

“Thank you very much. I’ve been telling the guys that it’s about time t
hat I
come back to my roots, where I was born and raised, so this is just th
e first step
.”

“Oh, so you’re moving permanently?” Shanice asked.

“I’m gonna give it a shot.”

“What else do you do for a
living, Quinton?” Renee asked, flirtingly.

Everyone knew Quinton was up for grabs, so Julissa didn’t blame her.

“I program computers.”

“Oh, so you’re brainy sma
rt,” Renee replied.

Both Quinton and Ed laughed, as if they shared an
inside joke. “Brainy smart? I
f that’s what you want to call it. I’ve been into programming since high school, so I’ve been doing it for quite a long time.”

The
server bought their drinks, cutting the conversation geared toward Quinton short
. As
usual, Shanice and Julissa
ordered a shot in addition to their
favorite mixed drinks.

“For Christina…,” Shanice and Julissa chimed together, tapping their shot glasses.

“Who’s probably making us
god mo
mmies
as we speak,” Shanice chimed in
.

They both giggled as they took the shots to the head, oblivious to the guys staring at them.

“Are you two trying to drink us under the table or something?” Brian asked.

“No, we promised to drink one for Christina if we went out without her,” Julissa answered, starting on her mixed vodka drink.

“Don’t listen to the two of them. When Shanice and Julissa get together, they become two wild
ass women
,” Ed t
eased. “She’s a different chick all together
when she’s not around that jerk
,
Michael.”

“Hey!” Julissa protested. “Michael
is not here to defend himself.”

“Alright, sorry.
” Ed held up his hand, getting her drift. “I like the Liss
a when she’s not with Michael. T
hat’s all
I’m trying to say.
”

“You’ve made ya point, Ed,
” Julissa replied
, literally throwing daggers.

Shanice tapped her on the shoulder, asking if she wanted to join the rest of the girls in the restaurant to freshen up
.

“We’re going to the ladies room. We’ll be on the dance floor in a few if you men would like to join us,” Re
nee said, as they got up
.

“I would have told Ed off for calling Michael a jerk. He doesn’t know Michael like that,” Shanice said, when they were in front of the mirrors checking their hair and makeup.

“Ed’s always acted that way
towards Michael,” Julissa said.

“He and Quinton are too fine. You can tell they come from the same bloodlines,” Olivia exclaimed, reapplying her lip gloss.

“I agree. Quinton is the total package. My pussy was getting wet just looking at him.
And those lips looked scrumptious.
He can get it anytime, girlfriend or not,” Renee said, adjusting her tube top.

It didn’t take them long to make it out to the dance
floor to mingle
. The three of them were dancing tog
ether, but before long they became separated in the thick crowd.
She swayed and rocked
her hips from side to side,
letting her mind drift off to enjoy the moment
.
As soon as she thought she was free to enjoy the music by herself, a man tried to dance with her.
She wasn’t with all of that; she was only here to have fun.

“You want to dance?
” The unsuspecting male whispered into her hair.

“If you can keep your hands to yourself,” Julissa remarked.

“What? You married or something?” The guy asked, suddenly stepping in front of her, still dancing.

“Do you see a ring on my finger?”

“Damn!
Feisty
! I like that,” The guy continued two-stepping in front of her. “What’s your name?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“I would. You’re sexy as hell. You already got a man?”

“Yeah.” Just as Julissa said that, she felt a pair of hands wrap her waist.

“You alright?” It was Quinton.

“Whoa, man. Sorry. Didn’t know.” The guy was gone just like that.

“Thanks. I owe you one,” Julissa said.

“What?”

“You ran that guy off.”

“Is that good or bad?” Quinton teased.

Julissa playfully swatted his shoulder. “It’s a good thing.”

“I was gonna ask you for a dance, but I don’t want to get turned down like that,” Quinton said.

“Don’t worry, I won’t. I like you enough,” Julissa said.

“Oh, yeah?”

They danced to the beat, and
Jul
issa moved her body
as if she
and Q
were the only one on the dance floor.
He
was actua
lly a very good dancer. On beat with the music. Even d
id more than the two-step.

N
ot one time did Quinton’s eyes leave her face and body. Julissa wasn’t used to so much eye contact an
d intimate attention
. Something about the moment was captivating and there was intimacy that she had never felt before.

When the upbeat
song went off, a slow song came on.
The lyrics
flowed through the speakers causing couples to pack the dance floor. Not wanting to be
the only couple with such a wide gap
between them, Julissa stepped in closer to Quinton and he placed his arms around her waist
. She
followed suit and her hands went up to his
back. The tension between them
became intense and the way his eyes locked on hers made her feel as if she was going to faint right there on the dance floor.

“You alright?” he whispered.

“Yes.”

“You got kind of stiff all of a sudden. Loosen up, Julissa. I promise I wo
n’t bite.” Quinton
pulled her even closer into his pe
lvis, and hi
s lips were touched her earlobe
.
“It’s okay…”