Read Online Two Steps Back by Britni Danielle - Free Book Online Page B

chemically whitened teeth.
    “Brilliant. Thank you.”
    Ugh, even the sales clerks are s oooo L.A. , Jaylah thought.
    “Would you like me to show you , sir?” the blonde asked, running a hand across her cleavage, as they turned to leave.
    “No, no. I’m sure we can sort it out from here . Thank you again,” Johnny said, smiling at the blonde.
    Jaylah held her tongue until they got on the escalator. She was used to women fawning over Johnny while they were out, he was gorgeous after all, and in London, black men like him (well-mannered, moneyed, gorgeous) rarely had unambiguously black women on their arms. The difference? Usually the women back home had the decency to at least acknowledge her while they shamelessly flirted with her man.
    “Would you like me to show you?” Jaylah mocked the clerk’s valley girl tone. “I’m sure she wasn’t talking about the men’s department. Did you see the way she was looking at you? Ugh.”
    “R eally? I didn’t notice.”
    “Yeah, sure you didn’t. That type of thing happens like every time we go out. How can you not notice it?”
    “I don’t know, I’m used to it I guess,” he shrugged like someone had asked him about the weather and he’d said, I don’t know, mate, looks like rain.
    “Humble, much?”
    Johnny chuckled and placed his hand on the small of Jaylah’s back as they transferred from one escalator to another. “That’s not what I meant. Women have always been nice to me.”
    “Johnny there’s nice, and then there’s attempted seduction. She was flirting with you like I wasn’t even there. Who did she think I was? Your sister?” Jaylah said, irritated he didn’t seem to be troubled by the scene.
    “It’s all the same to me, I suppose. I’m not the one doing the flirting so it doesn’t bother me.”
    “Of course it doesn’t bother you , you’re not the one watching your partner get hit on by pretty women.”
    “She was pretty?” Johnny teased , craning his neck toward the bottom of the escalator. “And I am the one at times. I’ve seen how men look at you, babes, especially when you’re wearing a tight dress. Mmm!” He brought his fingers to his lips, then kissed them like an Italian chef tasting something good. “But as long as they don’t cross the line, it doesn’t bother me.”
    “Well, you won’t have to worry about all that. Soon, I’ll be huge.”
    “I know,” he said, putting his hand to her stomach and grinning. “I can’t wait.”
     
    * * *
     
    Jaylah watched Johnny move through the men’s department as if he was a seasoned fashion expert, and in many ways he was. He knew what worked on his toned body, and quickly brushed off suggestions that would not compliment his six-foot-two-inch frame.
    “I prefer a British cut suit,” she heard him tell the salesman. “You know, two buttons, nipped in at the waist?”
    The pair sorted through endless rows of dark colored ensembles, looking for one that was suitable enough for meeting her parents. Jaylah took a seat and eyed Johnny as he picked through the racks, handing off several options to the clerk before checking out the shirts.
    Jaylah loved watching him, that’s how sh e’d spotted him the first night, dancing under the flickering lights of the Mau Mau Bar. From the moment she saw him across the room keeping time with the beat, she couldn’t take her eyes off of him.
    Gorgeous. Intense. Cocksure. She was drawn to Johnny’s quiet confidence and his ability to dominate the space, any space, without even trying.
    Nothing had changed since that first night.
    Back in her flat she’d sit in bed and watch him get dressed for work. After spending the night, he’d emerge from the shower with a towel tightly wrapped around his abdomen and begin shaving his face with the precision of a seasoned barber.
    “ What ?” He’d asked her once when he noticed Jaylah staring at him. “Did I miss a spot?”
    She’d laughed at the thought of it. “ Nah.”
    “Then why are