Thanks so much for the reviews and feedback. It really motivated me to continue this story and renewed my love for fiction writing.
So because you asked for it...here is Chapter 2, where we meet Shane, get some hints of Rick and Michonne's individual past loves, and heat things up with the help of a red dress...
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CHAPTER 2 (Rick's POV)
"Gotdamn! I'd put the cowboy boots away, too!"
Shane stared at the picture of Chonne on my phone for a few more seconds, then burst into another fit of laughter.
"Now I think you've been looking too long. Let me put this away," I said giving my friend what Chonne and Rhee would call the "side-eye". I placed my phone on the other side of the counter away from him.
He put his hands up in defense and shook his head. "Just saying, man. I get it now."
Shane and I were standing in front of the mirror in my bathroom. We were going over my look for my first date with Chonne for the umpteenth time. My friend at first didn't seem to understand why I was more dressed up than usual, black blazer jacket, black dress pants, and black dress shoes. The only color I was wearing was the red button-down shirt under my blazer. I was killing two birds with one stone: it was in the spirit of the holiday season, and yesterday when I asked Chonne to give me an idea of what she would be wearing, she gave me a coy smile and simply answered "red". Her response both turned me on and filled me with anxiety about what I should wear. I wanted to look my best for her, impress her, and get her weak in the knees for me.
Shane didn't seem convinced with me just telling him that Chonne was worth the extra effort. I then remembered I had a picture of her in my phone. The whole team had actually exchanged numbers shortly after Labor Day for emergency purposes. Since the Christmas party, however, she and I were now using our numbers to exchange mostly innocent but some flirty texts. During lunch that Thursday, I asked Chonne to send me a picture that I could add with her other contact information. That night, she sent me the selfie that I had just shown Shane. Her locs, which she told me to call them during one of our text exchanges, was pulled into a high ponytail. With her big brown eyes, glowing skin, bright smile, and full lips in red lipstick, it seemed to do the trick in changing Shane's mind.
"And she's got you spending big money on a first date? You tryin' to marry this girl?"
I had been giving my beard a once-over but froze when Shane asked the question. We stared at one another through the mirror.
"Not looking for anythang that intense. Not yet, anyway. But I'm not looking for a fling. I just…wanna see how this goes. And she's not the kind for playing games. She just…" I shrugged, "She makes me wanna bring my A-game."
"If a woman's got you gifting dates as Secret Santa gifts, dressing up, and wantin' you to bring your A-game…and you haven't even gotten a kiss yet?!"
Shane turned away from the mirror, and in my periphery, I could tell he was looking at me with disapproval. I turned to face him.
He patted my shoulder and said, "It was nice knowing you, man."
"This isn't the first long-term relationship I've had. This isn't even a relation-"
"This is different," he cut me off. "I can tell. Have fun tonight. Hope your A-game pays off."
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She had to be hiding something.
That's what I had been telling myself from the time I picked Chonne up at her apartment until we had entered the steakhouse. She was stunning, as always. I don't think she could ever look bad, even if she tried. That wasn't the problem. It just seemed as if she weren't giving me the full picture.
Her locs were now pulled into a bun, giving her the appearance of royalty that could be found in one of her social studies textbooks. Additionally, I could tell that she was wearing a red dress that stopped right above her knees. The dress, however, was mostly covered up with a white peacoat that matched her white heels, so yes, I was purposely not getting the full picture. Still, she hadn't made her teasing nature a secret since whispering in my ear that she wanted to postpone our kiss. I just had an inkling that she hadn't said "red" without a little more behind it.
"I'll take your coat," I said while pulling out her seat.
"Thank you," she responded over her shoulder.
And there it was. As she slid the coat off her shoulders, I noticed the cutouts on the back of her dress, exposing portions of her skin. The cutouts stopped just above her ass, but that did nothing to stop the sweating along my brow or the tightening of my pants.
I was raised to be a gentleman, but I am a man, too, and I cannot deny that Chonne's ass was a thing of beauty. Big and round yet perfectly proportionate to her body. I never even considered myself an "ass man" until I met her. I guess it was just a matter of getting in close proximity to the perfect one. And I hadn't done a good job of keeping my appreciation of her backside a secret, with Rhee and Peletier catching me checking her out a few times.
Now Chonne's caught me, too.
"You okay, Grimes?" she giggled, holding her coat in her hand.
Her question interrupted my trance, and I finally tore my eyes away from the dress.
"Yeah. I'm good," I answered.
As I placed her coat on the back of her chair, I heard her whisper, "Looks like I made the right decision."
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We were taking a break in our conversation to enjoy what was currently on our plates. We had both even gone so far as to turn our tokens black side up to indicate to the waiters that we didn't want any more food coming to our table.
"This is good," Chonne acknowledged after taking another sip of her Brazilian limeade.
"I think this bacon-wrapped pork has been my favorite thing so far," I concurred before taking another bite.
"That, too, but I meant…the date."
I swallowed my bite and glanced up from my plate. We caught each other's eyes.
"Since we already work together, we got to avoid some of the first-date awkwardness," she said with a little shyness in her voice.
She moved her gaze down to her lap and began fiddling with her napkin. It appeared as if she weren't sure that she should've admitted that things were going well. Just as she had reassured me at the Christmas party that she wanted to see where this would go, I wanted to reassure her that I felt the same way about the date.
"I'm having a good time," I said with a laugh. "But I was never in any real doubt."
Those brown eyes widened in my direction again and her gorgeous smile was on display.
"When did you know that you wanted to go out with me?" she asked placing her hands on the table.
I made sure to free myself of any distractions before answering. I flattened my napkin in my lap, moved my plate away from me a few inches, and folded my hands on the table.
"I knew you were the most beautiful woman I had met the first day I saw you."
"I'm flattered, but that wasn't my question." She blinked at me with a grin. I wasn't getting out of this without a direct answer.
I really had been caught off guard when I was introduced to her. She was striking. For the most part, I just assumed she wasn't single, and even if she were, she had suitors lined up. She wouldn't be looking in my direction.
"To be completely honest, I didn't think I had a chance—"
"Why did you think that? Not because you thought I was one of those black women who didn't date white men?"
"No!" I immediately responded. Then I thought it over. "Maybe just a tiny bit. Now we've hit that first-date awkwardness."
We shared a chuckle in response to the slight embarrassment.
"It was mostly due to you being out of my league."
"You can't be serious," she scoffed.
"You are absolutely gorgeous. You're smart and funny. When I've been able to poke my head into your classroom, you've got those kids' attention. You always seem to have your shit together. And can I just go ahead and say that your body is…perfection."
"So you have been checking me out?!" she exclaimed pointing her finger at me.
I threw my hands up in surrender. "Guilty as charged. I'm not even gonna lie."
"Maggie told me that you were, and I would sometimes think that you were, but I…just didn't wanna believe it."
"Why not? Not because you thought I was one of those white men who couldn't appreciate a beautiful black woman?"
I did feel a little smug now that I didn't have to hide my approval of her physique. I took a sip of my wine and winked at her. She squinted at me.
"No!" She then paused. "Maybe just a tiny bit. And besides, the whole deal with Ms. Anderson—"
"Could we not go there? Must I remind you that that was completely one-sided?"
"I know that now. The only other thing I will say is that I noticed she wasn't standing outside her door waiting on your kids this week." She took a sip of her limeade.
"I'll give her credit for taking the hint."
"Okay, enough about that." She waved her hand in a dismissive manner. "Let's get back to the original question."
"Which was…?"
"When did you know you wanted to go out with me?"
We sat in silence for a moment and I had to mentally rewind the past four months.
"I guess it had to be the Wednesday after Labor Day."
"That was like, your fifth day at the school."
"But that was the first time I sat next to you during a meeting. It was our grade level meeting. I had already been checking you out—I feel so much better that I can say that now."
She giggled, and I continued.
"You were wearing a yellow dress and your hair was up. You were wearing a perfume or lotion with a lemon scent. It reminded me that summer was winding down, and I…just imagined being able to watch you on a beach. I then started to imagine dinner, spending time with you—"
"All of that from just a yellow dress and Bath and Body Works lotion?"
"You're worthy of someone with a big imagination."
Her smile faded and she moved her hands to her napkin again.
"Did I say something wrong?"
She shook her head but continued to focus on her napkin.
"I know we're not supposed to bring up Ms. Anderson, but I can understand why she pursued you. You're making me feel something I haven't felt in a long time."
"What is that?"
Our eyes met again and her hands returned to the table. I reached and took one of her hands in mine. I rubbed her knuckles hoping to comfort her.
"Wanted."
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"When did you know that you were gonna go out with me?" I questioned as I shut off my car.
Chonne shrugged her shoulders and looked out the passenger window.
"Well, since you confessed to checking me out from the jump, I'll even things out with my own confession."
"I'm listening."
"I thought you were handsome from day one, as soon as you introduced yourself to me. Don't sell yourself short, Grimes. You are…visually appealing."
A moment of silence took over as we watched one another.
"As you can see, I would've said yes as soon as you asked."
"God, we're as bad as our kids," I chuckled. "Actually, we might be worse. I should've just slipped you a note that said 'Do you like me? Check yes or no.'"
Chonne leaned away from her seat and positioned herself closer to me. I did the same, removing my left hand from the steering wheel and placing it on her waist. My eyes traveled down to her lips. The only thing separating us was the armrest. This was it.
Our lips met, and it was better than anything I had fantasized. She tasted sweet from the Brazilian limeade that she had raved about all night. Her lips were so full and juicy that I soon had to give up trying to kiss both of them at the same time. I changed my strategy to nibbling and lightly sucking on her top lip first and then giving attention to her bottom lip. The moan that left her lips let me know that I was going about this the right way.
One of her hands began caressing my beard (Shane and I had debated over whether I should've shave. I'm so glad I didn't), while the other hand slightly tugged the hair at the nape of my neck. I could get used to that.
My hand on her waist traveled to the back of her dress. The skin exposed from the cutouts was hot to the touch, and I continued lower to her ass. Both of her hands then moved to my shoulders and she slightly pushed me away. I shamelessly attempted to lean in to get another taste.
"Grimes—Grimes!"
"You okay?" I asked trying to catch my breath.
"Yeah, I just…needed a moment. I don't trust what I would've done next."
""Next' meaning…?"
"You know I wanna take things slow—"
"No, I wasn't tryin' to—"
"I know. I've made the mistake of moving faster before because that's what the other person wanted. I said I wouldn't do that again."
We hadn't yet discussed exes in any real detail. I didn't want to use the date to bring it up, so I wasn't going to push her to talk about it, either. We'd get to it when the time was right.
"I understand. Slow works for me, too, especially if it means I'm gonna get kisses like that," I chuckled, wanting to lighten the mood.
"You know, there are some women who'd think I was crazy."
"Why?"
"This man thinks I'm beautiful, has already made romantic gestures, and I'm making him wait. 'Girl, you better give him something before he gets it somewhere else.'"
"If that's all I was after, then I had Ms. Anderson for that."
I was telling Shane the truth. I wasn't looking for a quickie or a fling. I wasn't looking for games and ultimatums. I had experienced that with my last relationship.
I was looking for potential. The potential of a real adult relationship. The more time I spent with Chonne, the more I was convinced that I had met someone who believed the same.
"I thought we weren't gonna talk about her," she reminded me.
"Just being honest. And why are you worried about what other women would think? You just said you wanna do thangs on your own terms because you had put someone else's wishes over your own."
She considered what I said and nodded.
"You're right. This is our thang," she recognized, mocking me in the process.
"You picking on me, Chonne?"
"I like your voice. I love listening to you."
She leaned toward me again and pecked my cheek.
"So we go from no kisses at the party to two kisses on the first date?" I wondered, raising my eyebrows at her.
"You're a great motivator."
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We had finally made our way to her apartment door. Neither of us seemed to be in a hurry to end the date.
Chonne started moving her hands along my blazer.
"I'm putting myself in charge of our second date," she announced.
The smile that was already on my face grew in victory. "I feel like I just got a rose or whatever they do on those reality shows."
"You did good, Grimes. Good food, good conversation, good kiss. I'm gonna have to figure out how to top that."
"That dress outdid me."
"Believe me, I can do better than that," she breathed, pulling me closer to her.
She's got me visualizing her in lingerie. Then naked. This isn't helping.
"We're supposed to be going slow," I recalled, even though the closeness of our lips was saying otherwise.
"Remember that we're both going to be out of town for the holidays, so we have to keep in mind what's waiting for us when we return."
There were two more school days before the holiday break, so we wouldn't be seeing each other again until after New Year's. She was going to visit family in Georgia, and I was going to do the same in South Carolina. So we had to make this good.
I wrapped my hand around her waist and pulled her toward me for another kiss. The only sound for the next passing moments was the smacking of our lips, my jaw having never gotten a workout like this before. Our hands seemed to already have their favorite spots for placement. My hands favored her generous backside and hers preferred a combination of my beard and hair. My pants were tightening again, and I had lost count of how many times that had happened throughout the night. The intensity was building, confirming that we were on the same wavelength and ready to pick up from here after the break.
Chonne broke away again. "I'm—I'm gonna go inside now. You've given me a lot to…think about."
Rick Grimes has got Michonne Anthony stammering. Still got it. Not bad for a man who thought he was no longer cut out for the dating game.
"I can say the same," I agreed rubbing my thumb along my bottom lip.
"See you on Monday, Grimes."
I kept my stance as Chonne unlocked her door. I didn't miss the slight wobble in her legs as she entered her apartment. Weak in the knees, just as I hoped. Once behind her door, she gave a quick wave and mouthed a goodbye before she was no longer in my view.
I walked back to my car with a pep in my step. I got my kiss and a second date. And Chonne wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, figuratively at least.
The first thing I did when I got back in my car was pull out my phone to send a text. There was a certain someone who needed to know that the date had been a success.
A-Game paid off.