Close Quarters: A Novel (Zane Presents) Read Online Free

went to kitchen with it. I returned and plastered the compress across Malik’s forehead.
    “Thanks, Mel.”
    I turned to go get dressed when Malik called my name. Again, I went to him on the couch. “Yes?”
    “Can you rub my back?”
    I scowled. “Can I what?”
    “I feel awful and I need to fall asleep. Please. Just for a few minutes.”
    I was the one who groaned that time. I started to kneel in front of the couch, but Malik stopped me.
    “No. Sit down right here.”
    Malik leaned up so that I could sit on the couch. He turned on his side with his back facing me and laid his two-hundred-plus pounds across my lap. I frowned at the back of his head, wanting to slap it.
    “Mel, come on.”
    “Man, you better chill the hell out. Nobody told you to be out all night drinking like a fish.”
    “Lecture me later. Right now, rub.”
    I closed my eyes and took a deep, cleansing breath. It took every ounce of my willpower to stay silent. I placed my hand on his back and began to gently make small circles. Malik moaned. I moved my hand up and down his back in a slow, soothing motion.
    In a few minutes, his breathing evened out and his head sank deeper into my lap. I stopped rubbing, and when Malik didn’t protest, I realized that he had fallen asleep. I sat, thinking about how to move from the couch without waking him. The phone rang. I tried to get up, but Malik was oblivious and did not budge. I had no choice but to let the machine retrieve the call. I slid my hand underneath Malik’s shoulder and attempted to lift his six-foot-four frame from my lap. He shrugged me off, tightening his arm around my legs. I leaned my head back against the pillows and sighed. Apparently, I was staying home.
    • • •
    I was roused by the ringing of the telephone again. I leapt from the couch, bumping my shin against the coffee table. Hobbling into the kitchen, I snatched the phone from its cradle.
    “Where have you been? I’ve been calling you for the past three hours.”
    “Oh . . .I . . .I must have dozed off. Why, what’s going on, Ellis?”
    “I wanted you to have lunch with Mother and me, but we’ve already eaten now. I just got her settled at home and I’m on my way back from Manhattan.”
    I smiled, thankful for the reprieve. It seemed Malik’s drunken stupor had benefited me after all. “I’m sorry I missed Bebe .”
    “Don’t be cute, Lina.”
    “I’m not being cute. You heard your mother tell me to call her Bebe. I’m only respecting her wishes.”
    Ellis sighed into the phone. “I’m coming to pick you up and take you back to Long Island. Are you dressed?”
    “I’ll be ready when you get here.”
    “Good. Pack enough clothes for the week. I’ll see you in twenty minutes.”
    Before I could respond, Ellis hung up. I glared at the receiver and spoke to no one in particular. “Yes, Master.”
    I turned to replace the handset and found Malik leaning against the wall, smiling.
    I jumped, almost dropping the phone. “Look who’s returned from the living dead.”
    He was dressed in a pair of dark-blue jeans and a bulky, chocolate-brown turtleneck sweater. “I’m feeling one hundred and ten percent better.”
    Malik took the phone from my hand and returned it to its place on the wall. He leaned over, kissed me on the cheek and then headed straight for the refrigerator.
    I stood there, wondering if he was still intoxicated from the night before. “Malik—”
    “Thanks for taking care of me, Mel.”
    “No problem,” I said, snickering. “Your condition saved me from a lunch date from hell.”
    “With your future mother-in-law?”
    “How long were you listening to my conversation?”
    Malik took a bottle of cranberry juice from the fridge, placing it on the counter. “Don’t get riled up. I didn’t intentionally listen to your call. I sort of overheard what you were saying to Master .” He brought the bottle up to his smiling lips.
    “Whatever, Malik.” I left him standing in the kitchen,