rel="nofollow" href="#u7c5946e6-c9a4-55bc-a037-2d1f7f9858c2">Chapter 8
In order to win the love of a strong-minded man, he must feel challenged, and desire that woman so bad that it hurts. Ajay Reed reflected a little more. He’d overheard an older man telling a group of twentysomething-year-old guys that statement one day. Even though it had been years since he’d heard it, the comment still stuck with him. He considered himself a determined man, but he’d come across enough women to know that he no longer enjoyed the thrill of the chase. He was simple. Easy to understand, if you knew what you were looking for.
When anyone asked, he always claimed that he liked his women as he liked his everyday life...uncomplicated. So he couldn’t understand why he seemed to be mesmerized by the mouthy woman standing before him giving him a lecture on the menu for Inferno, his newest lounge. Autumn Dupree didn’t know the definition of uncomplicated. She was the type of woman who always had an opinion about everything.
“I’m sorry, but can we back up this conversation?” Ajay said, motioning for her to slow down. “How did Taheim and Winter asking us to meet result in you questioning my menu?”
She tilted her head to the side as one of her hands went to her hip. “Since we’re standing in your office in Inferno right now, this conversation hardly constitutes as irrelevant.”
“Maybe according to you. But to me it seems very irrelevant, since I didn’t ask for your opinion on the menu.”
“Well, maybe you should have,” she said with a snarky smile. “I just don’t understand why your menu doesn’t offer any healthy options. You don’t even list the calories of your dishes in the menu.”
“That’s because this is a lounge. Not a health club.”
“What does that have to do with offering healthier options?”
He glanced at his watch, wondering what in the world was taking his brother, Taheim, and Autumn’s sister Winter so long to arrive. He hadn’t heard from Taheim in days, and before Autumn started arguing with him over the menu, she’d stated that she hadn’t heard from Winter lately, either.
“Can we just talk about something else?” he offered. Anything that would get her to stop her rant about his choices in food.
“Like what?” she asked with a shrug.
“Like why my brother and your sister asked to meet with us after being MIA for almost a week.”
“I have a theory...” She slightly worried her bottom lip and crossed her arms over her chest.
“And what might that be?” he asked when he realized she wasn’t going to continue. Her eyes searched his face. He wished he knew why every time she observed him, he felt a slight kick in his gut. That was the main thing that irritated him about Autumn. He couldn’t figure her out, and Ajay prided himself on being a good judge of character. After being burned by people one too many times, he’d spent years perfecting that trait. However, Autumn made him doubt his ability to read people. One minute she’d be giving her opinion on something he wished she wouldn’t, and the next he’d catch her staring at him...trying to read his thoughts.
As much as she annoyed him at times, there was no denying her beauty. Her hazel almond-shaped eyes, full seductive lips and smooth milk-chocolate skin tone were definitely features that had instantly attracted him to her. No matter how much she tried to ignore their chemistry, sometimes he caught that look of interest in her eyes, too.
“Well, let’s look at the facts,” she said, uncrossing her arms. “Almost a week ago, Taheim made a declaration of love and proposed to Winter in front of everyone in attendance for the Inferno grand opening. Then, both Taheim and Winter disappeared, only sending us both texts to say they were fine. So we can assume they were in their own love cocoon.”
“Okay, and those facts tell us what exactly?”
“If I had to bet money on it, I’d say they called us here to discuss the wedding. They probably set a date and I’m guessing this is their official ‘will you be my best man and maid of honor’ speech.”
He was already shaking his head before she finished her statement. “There’s no way they chose a date already. I know my brother. He’s a careful thinker, and even though the proposal was a bit spontaneous for him, I’d bet he wants a long engagement. When he proposed, he hadn’t even picked out a ring yet.”
“I disagree,” she replied, lifting an eyebrow.
“Big shocker.”
“No, seriously, I’ve been paying close attention to them lately, and I figured if they did decide to tie the knot, I couldn’t see Taheim wanting a long engagement. He’s been waiting for weeks to tell anyone who would listen how much he loves Winter.”
He took a moment to think about how Taheim had been lately. Autumn was right. He had been acting real territorial with Winter. But there was no way he was telling her that she was right.
“Well, if they did call us here for that, good for them. I haven’t been a best man yet, so I’m ready to take on that honor.” A quick observation proved that Autumn didn’t share the same feelings as he did.
“What about you? Ever been a maid of honor before?”
“Um, no, and I don’t really want to start now.”
What? Maybe I heard her wrong. “Are you saying you don’t want to be Winter’s maid of honor?”
She waved him off. “Winter is already well aware I disagree with the whole wedding thing.”
“I thought all women imagined their wedding day and being in their friends’ or sisters’ wedding party.”
“Ha! That may be true for some women, but not for me. While I believe in marriage, I don’t believe in the so-called wedding enterprise.”
“Wedding enterprise?”
“Yeah, those suckers in the industry who convince you that in order to marry the person you love, you have to be willing to spend money unnecessarily. When in reality, they reap all the benefits. You know, like the venue, the florists, the cake designer. All those people get paid, but not the couple. Unless by some miracle they get back a ton of money in the form of a wedding gift.”
He