Chapter 14
Famke knew the man was bound to show up sometime and when he arrived at her workplace six days later, it was while Kara and Keshaun were in the middle of another one of their fantastic arguments about him not appreciating how she needs the finer things in life.
“Famke, weigh in here,” Kara dragged her into the argument. “If you could do Christmas in New York, you would right?”
“You are asking the wrong person,” she shook her head. Avoiding the gaze of the man approaching the counter. “I have never been out of Pittsburgh, let alone the state. With my luck, I’d get pickpocketed or mugged within ten minutes of being in the Big Apple and lost within twenty. I once got lost in IKEA. New York does not appeal to me.”
“If you could go anywhere?”
“But I can’t so why waste my thoughts on fantasy. I have everything I need for Christmas right in my tiny little apartment.”
“What do you do for Christmas?” Keshaun leapt on the chance to change the subject.
“Bram and I go to church Christmas Eve because we are certain we heard the ghost of my mother cursing us both out the one year we skipped it. I mean, it could have been the homeless lady on the corner, but maybe mom channelled through her.” She heard Keshaun’s snort and laughed, “Christmas morning we exchange the one gift we buy each other every year and then we watch home movies of our parents and eat until we can’t move.”
“Just the two of you?” Royal interrupted the conversation.
She wordlessly extended her hand for the travel mug. He passed it to her, and she nodded once and then began cleaning the mug. She ignored his question and filled up his mug with his coffee and slid it along the counter not once making eye contact.
“Awkward,” Kara whispered under her breath.
She shot her annoyed glance. How much Keshaun and Kara knew about the situation was unclear, but she was not about to feed into Kara’s love of gossip. Over the last several weeks, Famke had realized Kara lived for the moments when the rich and famous stopped in and she would chat their ears off. Then when they left, she would gossip about them as if she were on reality television.
“Famke, do you have a minute?”
“I’m at work, Royal,” she had ignored every one of his texts for the last six days. Even the one which said he needed her to urgently call him. Bram kept reminding her she owed this family nothing.
“Can you take a break?” Before she could answer he questioned Keshaun, “can I steal her for ten?”
1/2
Chapter 14
“Only if she wants to go,” Keshaun argued with him. “Do not make my favorite employee quit. She and Cesar make a hell of a pair. She pulls double shifts, Royal. Kara and I had date night Friday night. Do you know when the last time I was able to take time off and not worry about this place was?”
“I want to talk to her, not kidnap her or hurt her.” Royal rolled his eyes at Keshaun’s dramatics.
“Famke, do you want to talk to this spoiled man whose mama never told him no?”
She snickered at Keshaun’s question and finally looked at Royal who was looking at her as if daring her to deny the conversation. The devil made her do it. “Not really. The last time I had a conversation alone with him in this shop, a woman called me a whore.”
“Slut,” Kara giggled and covered her mouth with her hands, “she said slut and the way you told her off has been the topic of conversation with my girlfriends for days.”
“I’ll keep my shirt on, so the ladies don’t get jealous of you,” he said boldly running his hands over his
chest.
“Pft,” she flicked her fingers at him, “shirt or no shirt I’m not interested.” She sneered condescendingly, “Not my type.” She was lying through her teeth. Her stupid libido had this man front and center in her dreams, night after night. She was wearing the batteries out in the sex toy in her nightstand just from the frustration she had every morning.
“What’s wrong with me?” He quirked his eyebrow, folding his arms over his chest as if truly affronted by her comments.
“You’re too,” she wiggled her fingers in his general direction, “Royal.”
“What does that mean?”
“Well, you’re arrogant, rude, and condescending. You don’t take no for an answer, and you have a horrible habit of showing up my workplace and upsetting me. I prefer men with a little more,” she tapped her chin thinking, “respect for me.”
