Page 40 of A King’s Obsession

“Nah,” he answered, calm as hell. “Finish what you doing. I'm coming to get you.”

“For what?”

“So I can ask you in person before we go to the courthouse.”

The line went dead. I slowly lowered the phone and stared at the screen, trying to catch up with the last thirty seconds of my life. Across the room, Jru had stopped walking. She was watching me, her brows drawn together.

“What?” she asked, taking a step toward me.

For a second, I couldn't answer. My hand settled against my stomach before I realized what I was doing, and I moved it quickly. Jru's eyes followed the motion, but I grabbed my purse before she could think too hard about it. One bombshell at a time. The salon. Marriage. The baby could wait a few more hours.

I looked down at my phone and shook my head, half terrified and half ready to laugh. Well, shit. I guess I was about to go marry this nigga.

Chapter 10

Whatever Malachi said on that phone had lit a fire under Ashlynn’s ass.

That was the only explanation I had for why this bitch pulled up in front of Vice, barely put the car in park, and looked at me like I was holding up traffic.

I slowly unbuckled my seat belt, watching her reach for something in the center console. “So you just dropping my ass off?”

“Girl, I got somewhere to be,” she answered without even looking at me.

“Where?” I asked, turning toward her. Whatever had her rushing off like this clearly had something to do with that phone call, and I wanted to know what the hell was going on.

Ashlynn reached across me and pushed the button to unlock my door. “None of your business.”

I stared at her, waiting for her to laugh or give me some kind of explanation, but she stared right back like she was perfectly serious.

Whatever happened on that phone call had changed her whole energy. She wasn’t upset. If anything, she looked nervous and excited at the same time, which made me even more curious.

“You acting weird,” I told her, narrowing my eyes.

“And you still sitting in my car,” she shot back, glancing toward the entrance of Vice.

“Ashlynn—”

“Jru, get out.” She pointed toward my door, fighting a smile.

Laughing, I grabbed my purse and climbed out. Before I could close the door, she was already telling me she would call me later.

“Girl, you better,” I warned, leaning down to look at her one last time.

I barely got the door shut before she pulled away from the curb. I stood there watching her disappear down the street, shaking my head.

“What the hell was that about?” I muttered.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t my business until she made it my business. Turning toward Vice, I headed inside.

The club looked completely different during the day. Without music vibrating through the walls and bodies packed around the bar, I could actually appreciate how big the place was. The amber lighting was turned down, leaving most of the room illuminated by the brighter work lights. Burgundy booths sat empty, bottles lined the smoked-glass shelves behind the bar, and the polished black floors still looked damn near untouched.

I had work to do.

Opening night had shown me exactly where we were strong and where we needed work. Two of the bartenders were coming back in for additional training, inventory needed to be counted, liquor orders had to be checked against what we had burned through, and somebody had somehow managed to put two cases of tequila in the wrong storage area.

Work usually settled my mind. Today, my thoughts kept wandering.

I was still thinking about the shop Ashlynn had shown me. More than that, I kept thinking about what she had said. You inspire me a little bit. It had touched me more than I let her see.