"This
is the garden." Tomilola said to the girls. She and the girls were killing
the afternoon by touring the estate. At least the places Tomilola knew how to
get out to and back from without getting lost.
"It's
beautiful." Yemi said, stopping next to Tomilola.
"Well,
look who's come to join us." Amaka pointed down the road, a sly smile
turning her lips. Tomilola turned to see Demola trotting down the road.
"Well, that's a surprise." Considering the way he'd been avoiding
her, he was the last person she expected to see.
He
trotted up to them, tipped his hat. "Ladies."
Tomilola
lifted a single brow. "You lost, Demola?"
He
smiled. "Nope. Charles said you planned on showing the girls around the
estate. I thought you might appreciate a tour guide."
"Well,
that was nice of you." Yemi gave him a big smile. "And you came just
in time to see our race."
"Race?"
Surprise flashed across Rose's face.
Tomilola
wanted to groan out loud at the obvious ploy to leave her and Demola alone. But
she didn't waste her breath. Yemi was incorrigible when it came to men and
matchmaking. And besides, she could use the time alone with Demola to push her
case. Make him see how stubborn he was being.
"Yes,
our race," Rose said conspiratorially. "We're running over that top
and down to that tree on the far side. Everyone except Tomilola, of course.
She's judging, remember?"
"That's
right," Amaka agreed, quickly catching on.
"If
you ladies haven't ridden anymore than Tomilola, you might want to keep your
race on the road. We'll be less likely to have to pick you up out of the dirt
that way."
Amaka
waved away his concern. "We'll be fine. This is tame compared to the stuff
we're usually doing."
"Which
does not make me feel any better." He grimaced, looking over the race
course. "You're going to want to be careful on the sides of that road or
someone could take a nasty fall."
"Not
a problem. Come on, ladies." Yemi called, creating the starting point for
their race.
The
other girls joined her, Amaka hollered go and they were off.
Demola
turned to Tomilola as they thundered away. "They're as subtle as a swarm
of locusts."
Tomilola
laughed. "Yes, but they have gentler hearts. So, you want to tell me why
you really came out here?"
He
tipped a shoulder. "Four daredevils, four cattles. I was afraid the four
of you would cook up something that would get both you and the cattles
killed."
She
rolled her eyes. "So you came along to save us from ourselves."
"Something
like that," he admitted dryly.
"Oh,
come on, we're not that bad."
He
pointed toward the racing trio. "You're that bad. Do any of you ever stop
to think about the consequences of your actions?"
She
sighed, knowing how he felt about the dare-devil stuff. "You think we're
like your sister, don't you? Troubled girls looking for a way to
self-destruct?"
He
just looked at her. But she knew what that look meant.
"I
don't think we are. Which is not to say the extreme sports don't fill some need
for each of us. I'm sure they do."
His
gaze locked onto hers. "What need do they fill for you?"
"I
don't know. Triumph maybe. Excitement surely."
"That's
a pretty sketchy answer."
"That's
because you're looking for some deep dark motivation. There isn't one. My mom
was pretty sick by the time I was fifteen. I was doing everything I could to
hold our world together. But I knew it was falling apart fast. Knew I wasn't
going to be able to save it. I could, however, take my bicycle and ride down
the street. It was a small victory, but it was a victory - and I didn't have
many of those back then. It was also fun and exciting, it was a good release.
End of story."
"It
means more to you than that, or you wouldn't still be doing it."
She
laughed. "Well, it's still a good release. It's not like my life has been
all that great in recent years, either. Remember, creepy boyfriends, dead-end
jobs, classes I don't care about.
She'd
never thought of the risks she was taking in the past. When she was younger,
the bike riding had been fun - and she'd thought she was invincible. A few
accidents and broken bones in her early teenage years had taught her that
wasn't the case, but then the idea of the charity came to her and putting
herself at risk seemed acceptable when she looked at the end result.
Particularly since she didn't really have much to lose.
But
now she had the Big W and an opportunity to make a difference in more than a
few people's lives. And, of course, there was Demola.
She
watched the girls race, heading for the inevitable trek downward, a frisson of
alarm running through her. She'd been lucky to run into these women. They'd all
added important things to her life. Wonderful things. The thought of anything
happening to them . . .
She
held her breath as they careered down the side, the girls rocking wildly. When
they finally hit the bottom, all still on their heels, she breathed a sigh of
relief. "So maybe I'll scale things back for future events. Maybe figure
out a way to use the Big W. Not just as a financial base, but as a place to run
the events. I'll have to think about it."
He
shot her a knowing look. "Good friends, huh? Might want to hang on to them
for a while?"
She
smiled, watching the girls steak by the finish line. "The best. And now
that we've solved the Angels' idiosyncrasies, let's take a closer look at
yours, shall we?"
His
expression turned dark. "I don't have any idiosyncrasies. I have a code of
ethics that won't let me drag you into my mess. Looking at it closer won't
change anything."
"Let's
give it a shot, anyway."
"Let's
not." He pointed to the cattles. "Those cattles are spent. They need
to be walked straight back to the
barn and put away. And since you seem to have finally grasped - at least in a
fledgling manner - the idea of caution, my work here is done. I have to get
back to my real job." Without another word, he led the cattles away,
Tomilola
stared after him, irritation pounding through her. She'd had him in her grasp
and let him slip away.
Man,
she hoped she had better luck tonight.
**************************************************************************
"You
look great." Rose brushed one more
of Tomilola's curls into place and stepped back.
Amaka
tweaked the ruffles at Tomilola's cleavage. "Oh, yeah, he sees you in
this, no way he's going to let you trundle off to the bar alone. If he lets you
trundle off at all."
Tomilola
looked in the cheval mirror. With a trip into a boutique and a few things that
had come out of her bag, Amaka had worked miracles. Tomilola was wearing a dark
green, midcalf skirt, the crinkly, gauzy kind that had tons of material in it.
It floated around the curve of her hips and swished softly, coyly, against her
calves. With the flat, strappy sandals she wore, it represented the soft,
feminine side of the outfit.
The
strapless bustier top that nipped in her waist and lifted her breasts like twin
gifts to the gods was the leave-no-man-standing side of the outfit. Its white
cotton eyelet material played with her tanned skin, while the small ruffled
edge that ran along the top drew a man's eye directly to her provocatively
plumped breasts.
She
frowned at her reflection. "I'm not sure about this. It feels. .
.dishonest."
Amaka
tsked, fluffing her own curls in the mirror. "There's nothing dishonest
about making a recalcitrant man sit up and take notice. Nor is there anything
wrong with reminding him he isn't the only fish in the sea. Or in this
instance, the only "guy" in Lagos."
"He
might not be the only guy in the state, but he's the only one I'm interested
in. And . . ."
"And
you said you've tried everything to pin the man down in the last week. . .to no
avail," Yemi pointed out.
"That's
true. But still. . ."
"But
still, nothing," Amaka admonished. "Relax, will you? You aren't
committing a cardinal sin here. All you're trying to do is make the man come to
you long enough for you to have a real conversation, right? Long enough for you
to convince him he's being overly sensitive about this ex-con thing,
right?"
"Yes,
But. . ."
"But
nothing. Do you want him or not?" Rose asked, impatiently.
She
did want him. And he wanted her, dang it. He was just too wrapped up in his
skewed sense of honor to take her. Which meant it was up to her to make him see
how wrongheaded he was being. She squared her shoulders. "I want
him."
"Then
let's go." Amaka waved a hand toward the bedroom door.
They
headed down the stairs, Tomilola's stomach tied in a tight, aching knot.
"What if this doesn't work? What if he doesn't come out of his house?"
"I
saw his face when we mentioned dancing," Yemi said. "He'll come out.
And if he doesn't, we'll go dancing."
God,
Tomilola hoped he came out. If he didn't, the last thing she was going to feel
like doing was dancing.
They
made their way onto the porch, Yemi and Amaka talking in an animated fashion.
Amaka turned to her. "For pity's sake, girl. Smile, laugh, make him think
you can't wait to get to the bar and start reeling in hunkly men."
Tomilola
forced a smile to her lips and managed a half-hearted giggle. But she was
afraid the effort was futile. Demola's car was parked in front of his house,
but the house was dark. "I don't think he's home."
Rose
threw a covert glance in that direction. "His car's there."
"Yeah,
but this is an estate. He could very well be out checking on the cattle."
But
Rose wasn't fazed. "He could just as easily be hiding in the dark,
watching. Come on."
They
chatted in front of the girls' car for a few minutes. But nothing at Demola's
moved.
Tomilola
sighed, disappointment crashing over her. "If he's in that house, he's not
coming out. You guys go on to the club. I'm going back inside."
Amaka
grabbed her arm. "No, you're not. You're going with us. If he is in that
house, watching, hoping you won't go at the last minute, we're calling his
bluff. I bet he shows up at the bar by ten."
Tomilola
didn't hold out much hope for Amaka's scenario. Demola had already told her he
wasn't much for games. She was pretty sure he wasn't going to fall for this
one. But the girls were looking forward to a fun night of dancing, so she
crawled into the car, the night stretching out long and gloomy before her.
