Risking It All (5 page)

After the introductions
were over,
Julissa could barely force herself to look up at anyone or anything. Not even to reach out to take the menu in front
of her.
She’d need to try her hardest to avert her attention away from Quinton. One look at him, and her palms grew warm and she felt something deep down within her that should never be felt for any other man besides Michael.

“Julis
sa, your dress is hot! Where’d you
get it?” Myra w
as seated on her left side. She
reached out to touch the soft fabric material.

“I’ve had this dress for months. I think it’s BeBe. You look hot yourself. Nice earrings.”

After Julissa shared a few more compliments with Myra, she turned her attention back to the menu in front of them.

Michael lean
ed in towards her. “Would you like red wine?”

“You two should try the mixed drinks. They’re good here. They have something like one of
your favorite drinks, Julissa. T
he White Russian.” Shanice must have heard Michael ask her about the wine and decided to put her two cents in.

Julissa thumbed through the menu. “Oh, they do, don’t they?”

“May I have your drink orders?” The waiter stood over Julissa and Michael with his pen and pad in hand.

Julissa and Michael spoke at t
he same time. Julissa tried
to get out White Russian, while Michael said something about wine.
Michael gave her a disapproving
look that she hoped no one saw, turned to the waiter and requested two glasses of
their finest
red wine.

Michael looked down on her when she drank heavy liquors and the only time she had mixed drinks was when she was out with Christina or Shanice.

“Drink orders for anyone else?” The waiter looked around the table.

“I’ll have another
Number Two, double shot,
” Shanice chimed.

“Ano
ther Hennessey and Coke,
” Quinton replied.

Hi
s voice commanded her attention, and she gave in and looked up.
He was more handsome th
an she
remembered him the first time. Maybe it was the way the overhead lamps shined down on his face, but his skin was
immaculate. H
is face smooth, but
hairless
tonight.

Quinton caught her stare, and
raised one eyebrow in question.
He parted his lips as though he wanted to say something, but then shut them again
.

H
e licked his top lip and then lifted the half empty gl
ass to take a sip. H
is tongue tr
aveled across the seam of his mouth
. She felt her pussy contract and grow warm
. She
tore her eyes away from him
as a
devilish smile spread across
his face.

“Shanice, you’re going on your second drink. You drive here?” Ed was looking at Shanice from the other end of the table. Ed’s date looked at him, questioningly.

“Don’t worry about me, Ed. I can handle my liquor. That’s why I’m drinking earlier on. After I eat, I won’t even feel the effects anymore. Besides, I took a cab here, baby. What are you worried about, anyway?” Shanice snapped.

“Just
sayin
'
…Trying to make sure everyone gets home safely after all this drinkin’,” Ed re
plied. His date looked pissed at the attention Ed gave Shanice
, but Shanice wasn’t who she needed to be worried about.

Shanice and Ed were never attracted to each oth
er. Something about Shanice attracted
men well over six feet tall and standing just under six feet, Ed didn’t even make the cut. Also, Ed was attracted to women
with
a little more
meat on the bones.
Those were his exact words. Little did Ed’s girlfriend know that Julissa was
the one she needed to be concerned
about
. She had to give it to Ed though, he never once disrespected his many dates or Michael by letting that fact be known
that he
was interested in dating her
. Ed knew more than anyone else in the group what was going on in her relationship with Michael. He knew a lot more than anyone else, even more than Christina and Shanice.

The waiters and waitresses brought out an assortment of appetizers and su
shi and spread them across the long table
. For the next few minutes, everyone was engrossed in eating more than in conversation.

“So
where are you two lovebirds off to after the wedding?” One of Richard’s cousin looked to the head of the table at the smiling soon-to-be newlyweds.

“Paris.” Christina and Richard spoke at the same time.

“We can’t wait. All our bags are packed in the trunk right now as we speak.” Christina was all smiles.

“Are you two leaving right after the wedding?” Ed asked

“Yes. Limo ride to the airport and then we’re off,” Richard answered.

“Have you guys found a house
yet?” Shanice asked, reaching out with her chopsticks for a piece of Sushi.

“Not quite. The wedding stu
ff sort of got in our way. But
Julissa is looking out for us, going to properties,
and
weeding out the ones that don’t meet everything on our
wish list
.” Christina smiled at Julissa.

“Christina and Richard are my toughest clients, yet, believe it or not. In this market and the neighborhood that they’re looking in, I find it a task to find everything on their
wish list
.”

“It’s Christina, Julissa. You know she’s detail-oriented. Everything has to be perfect the first time. I keep telling her that this will not be our first home
together,
”
Richard said.

“Well, certainly
by the time you ge
t back from your honeymoon, I’
ll have a new
list of properties to show you,
”
Julissa replied

“Oh, did I tell you that my cousin, Quinton, is looking for a property out here,” Richard looked at Julissa, then Quinton. “He owns real estate in Florida and is looking to expand his investments to Georgia.”

Julissa brought the linen napkin up and dabbed at the corners of her mouth. “Oh. I deal primarily in residential. I seldom show commercial properties. The last time I showed something commercial was to fill in for someone else.”

Quinton shrugged.
“I buy bo
th. Residential and commercial.”

“Quinton, from what I’ve heard Julissa is amazing at finding properties that haven’t even hit the MLS, yet. This would be a good opportunity to pounce on something. She has that
inside track,” Richard stated
.

Quinton looked excited
.
“Oh, yeah? That would be great. Since I already know you do a good job, I wouldn’t mind working with you out here
.
”

“Right. Let me know what you’re looking for and we’ll see if I can be of any help
.
” Julissa stole
a sideways glance at Michael, who had no expression on his face at all.

“I will.”

Julissa reached out with her chopsticks to grab another piece of sushi
at
the same time that Quinton decided to grab his. Ironicall
y, they were both going for the
last piece of sushi. Their hands bumped in the confusion.

“Oh,
sorry.” Julissa moved her chopsticks.

“No. My fault. G
o ahead…you take it.”

“No,
go ahead…you first.”

Quinton pushed the long saucer with the piece of sushi on it closer to her. “Ladies always eat first.”

“Thank you.” The smile on Julissa’s face was not missed by anyone at the table as she took the last piece of
sushi
. The eye contact Julissa an
d Quinton made only seemed to astonish
everyone even more.

Quinton didn’t seem to care. He took his generosity a step further and
passed the soy sauce to her as if reading her mind.
H
is hand
rested on hers as sh
e reached out to take it
.
A thrilling sensation ran through her fingertips and down her spine, causing her to pause way too long before taking the bottle from him.

As Julissa covered her sushi in soy sauce, Michael cleared his throat.

“So…Quinton, you work in real estate
for a living?” Michael asked.

“Yes and no.” Quinton lifted his gla
ss again to take a sip of his drink
. “Yes, I
own real estate and no, I don’t work in
real estate for a living…yet.”

“So what do you do to earn real money
?”
Michael emphasized the real money part.

“I’m a programmer. I deal in computer technology
for a living. Real estate investing is my hobby.”

“Oooo. Computer programming, huh?
” Shanice chimed in.
“
If I had never seen you before and you told me that, I would have pictured…well…a
tortoise-shell-shaped-glasses-wearing
geek.” She
spared no words when it came to expressing herself and telling people what she was thinking
about them
.

Everyone bu
r
st out laughing and Quinton almo
st choked on his beverage
. Michael
didn’t seem to
think it was the greatest joke because he was the only one that didn’t laugh.

“What type of real estate do you own?” Michael asked, and again there was no expression on his face and he appeared to be almost demanding an answer.

“I own four small duplexes, a couple of homes, and two small strip ma
lls in Florida. I hear
the business is even better in Atlanta for real estate. Do you know anything about that?”

Even though Michael had a wealth of information about real estate in Atlanta, he didn’t answer Quinton’s question. “A
re you relocating here?” he
asked instead, giving him a
quizzical
look
.

“Not necessarily. I have my thing going in Florida right now.
I’ve told you how I make money. So
tell me…what do you do for your living?”

“Investment broker. Ironically, I work with clients like you all the time who have a passion for getting into real estate only to realize it’s more work than they’ve bargained for…and even more importantly…requires more money than they have access to.”

Everyone at the table seemed to be moving uncomfortabl
y in their seats at Michael’s comment and underhanded assumption
.

Quinton chuckled, but his voice was challenging. “Maybe you are working with the wrong clients.
If they want to
be
successful going forward, y
our company should
really look into others
ways to expand the client base.”

Michael got the hint and placed his chopsticks on the table. “No problems there. Our client base is strong. It’s just weeding throu
gh the risky guys that have no idea what they’re doing that sucks
.”

“Well! Shall we order dinner?” Christina interrupted the darts that Michael and Quinton were throwing across the table at each other.

After everyone had finished their dinners and another round of drinks, they were seated having casual conversation, waiting for the waiter to give Christina and Richard the
check.

Michael got up, and
on cue
,
Julissa grabbed
her handbag
and followed suit
.

He
pull
ed her chair
from the table to help her up.
“Thank you all, Christina, Richard…for the wonderful dinner. Julissa and I are ready to call it a night.”

Myra nodded.
“Oh, for sure. We all have t
o get up early tomorrow morning.”

Without asking about the tab, Michael p
ulled out his wallet and threw two
fresh one hundred dollar bill
s
on the t
able
.

“This was on us, man, you know that,” Richard commented.

“No problem. I insist. If the tab is taken care of, perhaps this will work as the tip.
” Michael placed his hand on her
back
, as she
maneuvered around the long table
to leave.