my own restaurant had always been a dream of mine. Now look at me. I’ve been nominated for Restaurant of the Year and I was confident that award was mine. I strutted in six-inch heels to the kitchen and immediately the scent of collard greens with smoked turkey legs ruffled my nose. As much as I loved food I don’t know how I managed to keep this body looking so good. “ How ’s things going back here?” I asked Mimi, my head chef. She was stirring a pot of black-eyed peas when she looked up and smiled. “Everything ’s fine. ” “ That ’s what I like to hear. Jamie, I hope you ’ re not burning the cornbread again.” “ No cuz, ” he said with a groan, then moved over to one of the ovens and removed a beautiful golden brown loaf. “ Now that ’s what I ’ m talking ‘ bout.” I winked at my second cousin. He got a felony conviction at eighteen for robbing a convenience store. After serving two years I gave him a chance when no one else would. He ’s still a knucklehead and I know I ’ m hard on him, but that ’s because I want him to want to be better. “ All right y ’ all. We open in less than an hour.” I waved, then left the kitchen and moved down the hall to my office. As soon as I stepped in I grinned. The room was all about me. Pink and cream. From the walls to the pink chaise I kept in the corner near the window. This was my escape when the days got long and the nights even longer. I moved behind my desk and logged onto my computer. I usually advertised in Wednesday ’s newspaper and I had yet to send this week ’s special engagement to the editor. Friday we always featured a live band. And this week was the Hump Band, a local favorite. I logged into my email and I noticed a message from Blackfolksmeet.com. My painted lips curled at the notification that I had three flirts and one personal message in my box. Flirts just means someone likes what they see. As a diva, I didn’t expect any less. It also meant they were too damn cheap to subscribe to the site, so they weren’t able to send a personal message. Since I had a few minutes before the crowd would start coming through the door, I quickly logged onto the site to take a closer look. Three clicks later, I discovered two of the men flirting were straight up busters. But the third sounded interesting.
Hey FoxTrot. You’re sexy as hell. I’m not into head games either. If you want a real man then hit me back.
I clicked onto his picture and stared at him for several seconds. “ Janelle, we still have that big catering order for Saturday?” My cousin said as she appeared outside my door. “ Yep.” I gestured with my hand for April to come here. “What ’s he look like to you?” I waited while she maneuvered her wide hips around my desk and looked closely at the screen. “ Sexy, but he looks mean.” “ That ’s the same thing I was thinking.” Jaguar22 as he called himself was golden-brown, with a close cropped haircut, light brown eyes and a salt-n-pepper goatee. I loved a man with pretty teeth. Yet even smiling he looked mean as hell. Her chocolate eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Whadda you on? One of them Internet dating sites?” “ Uh-huh. Ronnie hooked me up with it.” April moved in for a closer look. “ Hmmm, I don’t know about him, cuz. You might wanna pass on that one.” “ Yep. That ’s what I was thinking.” Although there was something about him I found intriguing. Lord knows I hated a man who was like an open book. “ Who else they got on that site?” I clicked the mouse and scrolled through every man who had visited my personal ad. There were a couple that looked good enough to eat and several creature features. “ Hold up!” April shouted just as I was about to click on the last one. “ What?” One of her brows went up and her mouth kind of hung open. “ Hell nah! That ’s Pat ’s husband.” I tilted my head and looked up at her. “Pat who?” She gave me a