A Silken Thread - Brenda Jackson [52]
“Have you been to this café before?”
“Yes,” he said. “The food is delicious. I thought that in addition to drinks we can also try out a few of their signature dishes.”
A low, throaty chuckle erupted from her throat. “Good, I’m starving.”
He was starving, too, he thought to himself. But what his body craved, food could not assuage.
The cab driver interrupted his naughty thoughts. “DeLonn’s Café, sir.”
Griffin glanced out the window. “This is the place.” He handed the driver more than enough to pay for the short ride. “Keep the change.”
The man’s face lit up in a huge smile. “Thanks. I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening.”
Griffin hoped so, too. “Thanks.” When he made a move to open the door, it was then that he realized he was still holding April’s hand.
“Would you like something else, April? What about dessert?”
April glanced up and felt the heat of Griffin’s gaze connect with hers. When he’d suggested they leave the reception and go somewhere to share their drink, she hadn’t a clue where he was taking her and, if truth be known, hadn’t really cared. But when she’d walked into DeLonn’s she was taken aback. From the outside it looked like a little hole-in-the-wall, but the inside was another matter. Beautifully furnished, the soul food restaurant had various pictures posted of celebrities who’d eaten food prepared by Gramma DeLonn.
April was surprised she’d never heard of the place before. After biting into Gramma DeLonn’s fried chicken, there was no doubt in her mind that she would come back.
“No, I’m full, thank you. But because of you I’m going to have to be on the treadmill for two hours in the morning instead of one.”
He chuckled. “So that’s one of your activities to stay in shape.”
“Yes. I also go swimming every chance I get. You probably don’t remember but I was on Hattersville High’s swim team back in the day.”
“I remember.”
She was surprised that he did. “You do?”
“Yes. You made the team in your freshman year. I was a senior.”
Oh, yes, she remembered those days when he would walk the halls of the high school and all the girls’ panties would get wet. He was hot then and he was still hot now.
“So are you going to tell me how you found out about this place?” Despite the good food, she figured this was not the type of establishment a Hayes would frequent. But she could tell from the way he was familiar with the owner and servers that he’d been here often.
He leaned back in his chair and she watched the movement of his shoulders beneath his jacket when he did so. She was suddenly entrenched in memories of the time she and Erica had come upon him jogging shirtless in the park a few years back when she’d come home for a visit. He had stood there and held a conversation with them for a good twenty minutes, and it had taken all her willpower not to stare at his muscular shoulders and the way his chest hair tapered off toward the waistband of his running shorts.
“Sure, I’ll tell you,” he said, smiling. “I attended college with Jabar DeLonn, who is Gramma DeLonn’s grandson. In fact we were roommates all four years and remain the best of friends today.”
“You attended Ohio State, right?”
“Of course.”
She rolled her eyes. “That means you’re a true-blue Buck-eye.”
“Is there any other kind? Unlike you, I was loyal to my state. I bet you couldn’t wait to get to California.”
If you only knew, April thought.
“I couldn’t wait to see the Pacific Ocean.” She smiled, knowing that hadn’t been the only reason.
“You stayed away four years and then some.”
She wondered how he knew just how long she’d stayed away. He must have seen the questioning look in her gaze and said, “I returned to Hattersville after college to find it was almost like a ghost town. Everyone I’d grown up with or knew had either left town for good or was doing their own thing. Now I’m glad a number of them got tired of the big city life