hand, and this time she was the one leading them toward the exit.
AFTER RIDING THE TROLLEY for a half hour, Quasar and Randi finally walked through the doors of Marlon’s Seafood. The place was packed, and Quasar immediately knew they would be in for a long wait.
“Do you want to go someplace else?” he leaned down to ask Randi. His lips came so close to her ear that he was tempted to lick it. Instead he quickly seized the opportunity to grab her by the waist and pull her closer when the man standing in front of them turned abruptly, almost colliding with them.
“Sorry,” the man said.
“No problem,” was Quasar’s response.
Randi looked up at Quasar. “Thanks.”
He smiled down at her. “Don’t mention it.”
“We don’t have to go anyplace else,” she said.
“Okay.” He didn’t mind the wait if she didn’t. Besides, he hadn’t removed his arms from around her yet. The way she fit against his body was sending all kinds of sensations rippling through him.
The door behind them opened and more people came in. He moved, edging her in front of him to accommodate the new arrivals. He inhaled sharply when her perfectly shaped backside pressed against his groin. Her intoxicating scent filled his nostrils and her beauty almost blinded him. Suddenly a big, tall, brawny older man came barreling through the crowd, a mass of blond hair flying around his shoulders. Quasar was about to pull Randi aside, out of the giant of a man’s path, when unexpectedly the huge hulk stopped in front of them. The smile on his face was so huge his blue eyes seemed to illuminate the entire area.
“Little Randolph! One of the waitresses sent word to me that you were here,” the brawny man said before grabbing Randi in a massive bear hug, lifting her feet off the floor in the process.
Little Randolph? Quasar watched the affectionate exchange between the two.
When Randi’s feet were planted firmly back on the floor, Quasar noted her smile was almost as big as the giant’s. “Uncle Marlon! How are you?”
Uncle Marlon? Quasar glanced from the man back to Randi, definitely not seeing any family resemblance.
“Quasar, I want you to meet my Uncle Marlon Farentino. Uncle Marlon, this is my friend Quasar Patterson.”
They shook hands, and Quasar felt the man’s strength in his handshake. “Nice meeting you.”
“Same here.” Marlon turned his attention back to Randi. “Come on, girl. I’ll take you to your special place.”
Marlon led, and they followed through the crowd of people who seemed to open up a pathway like the parting of the Red Sea. Although Quasar was wondering where the man was taking them, he decided not to ask. Not even when they went through the double doors that led to the kitchen. An older lady and younger women noticed the procession and happily waved at Randi, who waved back and threw kisses.
They exited the kitchen and entered a huge dining room set up for a private party. Quasar barely had time to take in the beautiful view of the Potomac through the private dining room’s large windows before Marlon led them up a set of stairs to another room with more tables set up. But they didn’t stop there. Marlon kept walking until they reached another room where only one table was set up. This room also had a gorgeous view of the Potomac.
“You want your usual?” Marlon asked, pulling the chair out for Randi.
“Yes,” she said, sitting down. “And Quasar has a taste for raw oysters.”
An even bigger smile crossed the man’s ruddy features. “We serve the best in the city. Did you tell him that?”
Randi chuckled. “Yes, I told him.”
“Good. Now, what would you two like to drink?”
“Beer is fine for me,” Randi said.
“Same here,” Quasar said, looking around. This was a nice room that provided privacy.
When Marlon had left them alone, Quasar glanced across the table at Randi and quirked a brow. “Little Randolph? Uncle Marlon?”
The cutest smile curved her lips. “Yes. Before I was born, when Uncle Marlon was in his twenties or so, my father defended him in a homicide case. Dad was able to prove it was self-defense. The Farentinos adopted Dad as one of their own, and when I was born, Uncle Marlon began calling me Little Randolph, after Dad. His daughter, Avona, is my age and is an attorney at my father’s law firm. His son, Damon, has his own seafood restaurant, and it’s a very popular place in South Miami Beach.”
Quasar nodded. “Marlon looks like he ought to be a ship captain.”
“He was a fisherman for years and still loves the sea. I’ve gone out with him and his family on his huge boat.”
“You must come here a lot for him to consider this your room.”
She smiled. “At one time I did, while attending college at Howard and Georgetown. Whenever I needed to escape, this room became my study room, my eating room and, on occasion, my nap room. Uncle Marlon put a cot in that corner for me to use whenever I needed it. And whenever I could, I helped out on the weekends, waiting tables.”
At that moment, a waiter appeared with their beers. Quasar watched as a slow, delightful smile touched the corners of Randi’s lips. “After all that walking we did today, I need this.”
She lifted the ice-cold mug to her lips and took a sip. Then her tongue licked the sudsy residue from around her mouth. Quasar’s breath hitched in his throat as he watched her. The lingering erection he’d gotten when her body had been pressed close to his earlier was now beginning to throb all over again.
Quasar knew he needed to think about anything but her mouth right now, so after taking a sip of his own beer, he said, “Earlier, when you introduced your family at the zoo, did I misunderstand or did you say Haywood was your sister and Trey was your brother?”
“No, you didn’t misunderstand. Both my parents were married previously, and Haywood and Trey were products of their first marriages. So I’m sister and brother to both. While Haywood and I were growing up, Trey didn’t live with us. He lived in California with his mother and her second husband.”
“They have a beautiful bunch of kids. All of them.”
Another smile touched Randi’s lips. “Yes, they do, and I love all of them to pieces. Aren’t the twins adorable? I got to name them,” she said proudly. She took another sip of her beer. “Are there any little ones in your family?”
“None that I know of.” If she found his response strange, she didn’t ask him to elaborate. He appreciated that, because the topic of his family was one he preferred not to discuss.
* * *
IT HAPPENED AGAIN.
Randi sensed a high degree of pain and sadness within Quasar whenever he spoke of his family. She couldn’t help wondering why. He’d gotten quiet since diving into his bucket of oysters. All the members of her family were seafood lovers, and she’d seen them eat live oysters many times. But there was something about watching Quasar that spread intense sexual heat through her. She’d never thought that shucking oysters could be erotic until now.
She watched as he expertly used the oyster knife to open the oyster, and when he placed it to his lips and sucked the oyster into his mouth, she pressed her thighs together where she felt a deep throb between her legs.
“Something’s wrong?”
She blinked when he asked the question, and she knew she’d been caught staring. “No, nothing is wrong,” she said, turning her attention to her plate of crab cakes, fries and coleslaw. And because