Red Velvet Kisses. Sherelle Green

vacation in Anguilla with her boyfriend, Shawn Miles.

      As she walked back to her condo the words coming through her headphones almost made her want to cut off her phone completely. “You are in control of your own destiny. You can be the aggressor. In order to love someone else, you have to love yourself. There is nothing wrong with a vocal woman. You can do it. Just give it a try.”

      Lexus blew out a frustrated breath as she continued to listen to the voice coming from her headphones. “Yeah, yeah...be the aggressor. I got it,” she huffed aloud.

      * * *

      Lex hopped off the CTA Red Line train and glanced at her cell phone. She was rarely late, but the glass of red wine she’d had after returning home from the lingerie shop had caused her to fall asleep. When she woke up, she’d realized she only had thirty minutes before the dinner started.

      “Hello, I’m here for the Cydney Rayne dinner party,” she said to the hostess when she arrived at the restaurant.

      “Right this way, miss.” Lex followed the woman to the private room. After apologizing for her tardiness, she gave hugs to everyone in attendance including her other two Elite Events business partners, Imani Rayne-Barker and Mya Winters. She took one of the two vacant seats at the end of the dinner table when Cyd’s boyfriend, Shawn, tapped his fork on his wineglass.

      “Now that almost everyone is here, we have an announcement to make,” Shawn said.

      “Shawn and I are engaged!” Cyd finished as she stuck out her hand to reveal a gorgeous three-carat diamond ring.

      “Oh, my gosh, congratulations!” Lex exclaimed as she jumped from her seat and rushed over to hug Cyd, followed by others offering their congrats.

      “I guess I missed something,” said a familiar baritone voice from the doorway of the room. What the heck is he doing here?

      “Everyone,” Shawn said gathering the attention from the group and making his way to the man. “This is one of my best friends and my business partner, Micah Madden. He just moved to Chicago last month and if he accepts, he will be my best man.”

      Lex watched with eyes wide open as the two men embraced while Micah shared his congrats. She barely heard Cyd’s story of how Shawn proposed in Anguilla because she was too busy staring at Micah, hoping that he wasn’t the same person she thought he was.

      Unless he has a twin, that’s definitely him. As if he knew she was analyzing him, his eyes landed on her and slowly looked her up and down before he began walking toward her. She had to get out of there.

      “I’ll be right back,” she said to the group of women, although they were too busy listening to Cyd’s story to hear her. She turned and walked around the table in the opposite direction Micah was walking.

      Once she was in the hallway, she slipped into a nearby bathroom and took a deep breath. He’s just a man. A normal man. She glanced at her reflection in the mirror. Who was she kidding? He wasn’t a normal man. He was a fine man. A tempting man. A man with a nice round butt begging to be grabbed. Lex was a sucker for a man with a nice butt. And why the heck am I just meeting him! Shawn and Cyd had been dating for eight months. She didn’t remember Micah at any of Shawn’s previous get-togethers since he hadn’t lived in Chicago. But she definitely knew his name. Both Cyd and Shawn had mentioned him on more than one occasion.

      Last year, Cyd had planned a series of appreciation events for the Peter Vallant Company and had gotten kidnapped at the winter formal. Shawn and Micah had been securing the series of events and Shawn had saved Cyd from a crazy woman who’d become obsessed with her. Micah had been at the formal, but Lex hadn’t arrived until after he was assigned to watch Cyd so their paths had never crossed that night. If she hadn’t had another event that day, she probably could have met him that night and saved herself some embarrassment. Usually, when Lex met an extremely attractive man for the first time, she performed a ritual to help settle her nerves. The ritual started with a quick pep talk in the mirror similar to the one she was giving herself now and it ended with a conversation with Mya who often gave her witty things to say so she could keep the guy on his toes. An unprepared Lex equaled embarrassment and she had already been embarrassed enough for one day.

      “Okay girl,” she said to herself. “You can’t hide in here forever.” Fluffing her curls and reapplying a coat of red lipstick, she exited the bathroom, running right into a solid chest. Caught off guard, she tripped over his feet and twirled around so suddenly that she sent them both tumbling to the ground.

      “Ouch,” she said, landing hard on the man. When she heard him let out a loud groan, she looked up at his face. Oh, great.

      “I’m sorry,” she said as she attempted to get off of him.

      “We have got to stop meeting like this, lingerie girl,” Micah said, not easing his grip on her. Lingerie girl...that’s kinda cute. Unfortunately, the way her purple summer dress was gathered high on her thighs was not cute at all. She was sure a part of her panties were showing.

      “Can you let me go now?” she asked as she struggled out of his arms. He finally let her go. When she stood, she nervously glanced around to see how many people were around to witness their fall.

      “You’re so adorable,” he said to her before taking a step forward.

      Here we go with this word again. She took a step back. “I’m sure you say that to your girlfriend, too.” Real subtle Lex.

      “What girlfriend?”

      “The one who kissed you on the cheek in the lingerie shop today.”

      “That woman was my cousin, Winter Dupree,” Micah said with a laugh. “She owns Bare Sophistication lingerie boutique and she needed me to watch the store for a few hours. The store just opened and she doesn’t have much staff right now.”

      Cousin? Just kill me know. “And on that embarrassing note, I think I’ll go back to join the group,” she said leaving him in the hallway.

      “Don’t turn around. Just keep walking,” she said to herself. But even with the warning, she had to know if he was staring at her. When she reached the end of the hallway, she slightly turned her head. Micah was still standing there with his hands in his pockets and a sly smile on his face. He looked handsome. And downright dangerous. Mercy.

Chapter 1

      Three months later...

      Lexus Turner stared out of her window seat on the CTA bus as she admired the holiday shops and boutiques festively decorated along the Magnificent Mile. She loved living in downtown Chicago, but driving in traffic often made her nervous, so she opted to take public transportation instead. Doing so allowed her the opportunity to admire her beautiful city and embark on some of the best festivities Chicago had to offer.

      Lexus completely ignored the loud hustle and bustle of Chicagoans getting on and off the bus as they made their way through downtown for an array of winter festivities. When she reached her stop, she stepped off the bus and breathed in the crisp November air. Soft flakes were beginning to fall and the loud salt trucks caused a few pedestrians to take cover under store awnings to avoid the swinging salt from the trucks’ brushes. Some people disliked the busyness of the city, but Lexus loved the constant activity and noisy atmosphere.

      As she made her way into the tall skyscraper and arrived on the floor where her company was located, she admired the new logo that was intricately painted on the main office glass door. When Lexus, Imani, Cyd and Mya had joined forces and founded Elite Events Incorporated, they could have never predicted their company would take off so fast. They each ran their respective divisions while alternating as lead planner on each event the company booked. Lexus considered herself lucky to be able to run a successful business with those closest to her.

      “Good morning, Ellie,” Lexus said to the office assistant as she began removing her snow-white scarf and jet-black