King's Promise Read online

  Images of him nestling his head in between her lovely breasts and sucking on those big nipples made Xavier light-headed. Cheryl’s sexiness was different from the type of women he and his brothers usually hired at the gentlemen’s club. Sure, she was curvy in all the places that counted, but it was the strength in her arms, abs and thighs that was turning Xavier on in ways he’d never experienced before.

  Xavier partnered up with another dude to toss the medicine ball back and forth; while he did so, Cheryl moved on to do some shadow boxing in front of the mirror. There he checked out her form and footwork. She’s pretty good.

  An hour later, he knew that he needed to head out, but he wanted to stick around to watch Cheryl finish her workout. For him it was like watching his own private lap dance. I have issues.

  Panting, Xavier grabbed his towel out of his bag and wiped himself down. When he started to return the towel it was then that he realized just how hard he was, mainly because it was visible.

  Cursing, he grabbed his bag and slid the strap over his shoulder, moving it in front of his body to hide his…excitement. Time to go. A second later, he realized a problem. He would have to walk past Cheryl in order to leave.

  If it wasn’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.

  Maybe if he dropped his head and looked off to the left, he could pass her without being recognized.

  “Xavier,” Cheryl exclaimed, smiling and pulling her earplugs out of her ears. “What are you doing here?”

  “Uh…” He held on to that leather bag as if his life depended on it. “Actually, I’ve been coming to this gym since I was a teenager.”

  “Really? I didn’t know that.”

  He rocked his head. “Yep. It’s like a second home to me.”

  An awkward silence followed the minor revelation about his life, and they stood there for half a minute bobbing their heads and smiling way too broadly at each other. It was probably a good time for Xavier to just go along his merry little way, but…he really didn’t want to leave Cheryl’s presence. But damn if he knew what to say next.

  This is worse than my first school dance.

  “Uh, last night,” Cheryl started. “I just wanted to tell you that I’m really…really sorry about that. I assure you that I don’t just go around body-slamming people on the pavement on the regular.”

  Two guys off to their right twisted their heads around upon overhearing her.

  The hairs on the back of Xavier’s neck stood up as new waves of embarrassment washed over him.

  “What? Did I say something wrong?” Cheryl glanced around to see what had captured Xavier’s attention. But the minute she turned, the eavesdroppers had turned back around, pretending to mind their own business.

  “Nah. It’s cool.” He tried to laugh the situation off, but it sounded more like a misfired weapon. “Besides, it was probably like you said. You just…”

  “Had the element of surprise,” she filled in for him.

  “Yeah. That’s it.” He continued to laugh, but this time a little too hard and a little too loud. “I mean, let’s be real. It’s not like you could ever do something like that again.” His head rocked back a bit with the next rumble of laughter and it took him a moment to realize that he was the only one laughing.

  “What? You don’t think I could do it again?” she challenged with a sudden glint in her eye.

  Xavier’s laugh died down and the smile melted off his face. “No… Well. I mean…c’mon.”

  Cheryl cocked her head and folded her arms across her chest. “C’mon what? You think that just because I’m a woman that I can’t take you?”

  Heads started to turn in their direction. Xavier was being backed into a corner. “Well…there is that. Plus, I’m…me.”

  A single brow rose in the center of her forehead. “Arrogant, aren’t we?”

  “No. No. It’s just…” Xavier’s bag shifted. “I don’t know if you’re aware of this but I’m a Golden Gloves champion.”

  “More like…were,” she corrected him. “You were a Golden Gloves champion.”

  “Ooooh,” a few of the guys chimed in.

  Both Xavier and Cheryl looked around to see that they had at least half the gym huddled in a semicircle, unabashedly listening to their conversation.

  “Be that as it may, you’re hardly a threat to me. And I’m not being sexist. It’s just a fact.” His bag shifted some more.

  Cheryl shrugged with an amused smile. “You want to settle this in the ring?”

  “Ooooh,” the fellas chimed in again as smiles spread across all their faces.

  “There’s no ‘oooh,’” Xavier said, frowning at the crowd. “There’s no way I’m getting in the ring with a woman.” He faced Cheryl again and saw her smile widening, probably because he was doing an excellent job of making a fool of himself. “Look. You’re going to have to accept my apology. I don’t mean any harm,” he said, releasing his grip on his duffel bag, which allowed for it to swing back to his side.

  Cheryl shifted her weight and lifted a finger, but before she could start wagging it or giving him a piece of her mind, her eyes dipped.

  At her startled gasp, Xavier followed her gaze. He was as hard as an iron fist. At the sight of the unmistakable bulge in his crotch, he grabbed the leather duffel bag again and shoved it in front of his body.

  But it was too late. She saw. “Oh.”

  Actually, she wasn’t the only one. Dudes started snickering and turning away.

  Wide-eyed, Cheryl glanced away, as well, but there was still a hint of amusement hugging her lips.

  After the initial heat wave of embarrassment, Xavier gave up the ghost and started laughing himself. “I, uh, think I’ll just leave you to your workout. I’m going to jog home and take a very long cold shower.”

  “Yeah,” she snickered. “That sounds like a good idea.”

  Xavier turned around, still clutching his bag in front of him, and strolled off. He smiled as he passed the other members. “Yeah. Yeah. Chuckle it up.” He rolled his eyes and made faces at the guys until he exited the building. But before the door slammed closed, he heard everyone explode with laughter.

  Strike two.

  Chapter 7

  Two weeks later…

  “There’s still nothing out of The Dollhouse?” a frustrated Lieutenant Mackey asked as he stopped his nervous pacing in front of Detective Grier.

  Cheryl glanced to her side at her partner.

  Johnnie sucked in a brief sigh and turned her head away.

  “Sorry. Nothing yet,” Cheryl confessed. Her feelings for her lieutenant aside, she hated delivering this bit of bad news. In the past few weeks, the crap Mackey was taking from the mayor and the chief of police had only increased with the number of police screw-ups that had been hitting the news lately. He needed some good press—and soon.

  Mackey tossed up his hands. “Then maybe you’re just not doing your job right?”

  “Excuse you?” Cheryl’s head snapped as she looked up his long frame. “I’m doing my job. Don’t you worry about that. But if there’s nothing going on, then there’s nothing going on.”

  “Are you sure you’re not distracted?”

  Heat charged through every pore of Cheryl’s body. Every eye in the conference room had settled on her at Mackey’s vague accusation. “Distracted by what? Naked women?”

  The other members of their team, detectives Dominic Gilliam and Lester Royo, laughed.

  One side of Mackey’s mouth inched upward. “I was referring to Xavier King. But now that you’ve brought it up, it’s not like you wouldn’t be the first to start pitching for the other team.”

  “Go to hell,” Cheryl spat out, before she could filter her response through the politically correct mechanism in her brain.

  Instead of getting angrier, she seemed to have tickled Mackey’s funny bone. His laughter was quick and genuine. “Calm down, Detective Grier. It was just a question.”

  Eyes narrowed, Cheryl leaned back in her chair and
unloaded a barrage of invisible AK-47 bullets at the center of Mackey’s forehead.

  He smiled and then turned his attention to Detective Royo. “Any chance your informant got this one wrong?”

  Royo tossed up his hands. “We’ve talked to him several times and he’s pretty adamant about his claims.”

  “They usually are when they’re trying to negotiate for a shorter sentence,” Cheryl tossed out.

  Despite her snippiness, Mackey mulled her words over. “Look, I only have a limited amount of time and resources for this investigation. In order to justify it, you’re going to have to bring me something. That’s just the bottom line. My bosses only respond to results—something to let us know that we’re even in the right ballpark. Got it?”

  All the officers in the room nodded and rededicated themselves to the case before being dismissed. The moment Cheryl climbed to her feet, but before she could make it out of the room, Mackey called out.

  “Detective Grier, I need a word with you.”

  She stopped and turned around.

  Johnnie pulled up by her side.

  “Just Detective Grier,” he clarified.

  Johnnie glanced over at Cheryl with an apologetic look before turning and walking out of the room.

  Pulling in a deep breath, Cheryl coaxed herself to remain calm, despite knowing that it might be next to impossible.

  “Close the door,” Mackey said, taking a seat in one of the now-empty chairs and crossing his arms.

  Cheryl had to pull in another deep breath as she turned to do as she had been instructed and then stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jacket. “All right. What is this all about?”

  “Well, right now, I’m trying to think of a reason why I shouldn’t write you up for insubordination,” he started. “Telling your superior officer to go to hell?”

  Cheryl simmered and folded her arms while she upgraded her imaginary machine gun to a rocket launcher.

  “Can you think of a reason why I shouldn’t?”

  “How about you just go ahead and do what you feel you need to do,” she said as calmly as she could. But there was no way she could mask the venom in her voice.

  Again, Mackey seemed to get his rocks off irritating her. “What if I said that there was something you could do to talk me out of writing you up and having it in your permanent record?”

  “Are you stupid enough to actually believe that just because we slept together once you can’t be slapped with a sexual harassment suit?”

  “What are you talking about?” he asked, confused. “I’m talking about your outrageous behavior this morning. You know, where there were a few witnesses to.”

  “Uh-huh.” She crammed her hands back into her pockets. “So you’re going to write me up. Got it. Can I go now?”

  Mackey laughed. “What is it with you? Do you hate me that much?”

  “I plead the fifth.”

  “C’mon. This isn’t a court of law. You can talk to me. Tell me how you feel.”

  “And just confess all my hopes and dreams while I’m at it?”

  “If you like.” He chuckled.

  “Mackey…let it go. It’s over. We’re over. So you can just stop trying to bait me into arguments in front of the squad. You can stop with the endless harassment about writing me up over bullshit, too. We’re through. Over. Finished. We’re never getting back together. You got that?”

  Mackey nodded. “I’ll make sure I’ll have that written and ready for you to sign tomorrow.”

  Cheryl rolled her eyes. “Whatever. May I go now?”

  “Absolutely. We’re through here.”

  “Exactly,” she retorted. Turning, she jerked open the door and marched out. Clearly, Mackey was a mistake that she was going to regret for the rest of her life.

  “What did he want?” Johnnie asked the moment she stormed back into the detectives’ area.

  “To get under my skin,” she answered, blazing past her partner’s desk.

  Johnnie jumped up, grabbed her purse and raced after Cheryl. “I’d say by the way you stormed through here that he’s done an excellent job of doing just that.”

  “And I’d say that you are right. Then again, you usually are.” Cheryl pushed open the front doors to the precinct and continued her mad dash to her car.

  “So where are you going now?” Johnnie asked, struggling to catch up.

  “Over to federal. I want to talk to Royo’s informant myself. Maybe there’s something we’re missing on this one.”

  “What? You know it’s not a good idea to intercede with another cop’s informant. You can jeopardize the trust between him and his snitch.”

  “I’m not interested in jeopardizing anyone’s trust. I just want to get a sense of whether this guy is for real or not. Because, I gotta tell you, I feel like we’re barking up the wrong tree. Mackey has the FBI involved and all his hopes are on making some big bust that makes national news, and all we really have is a bunch of hearsay from some guy who could be getting his rocks off by sending the police on some wild-goose chase.”

  “Damn.” Johnnie stopped walking.

  Reaching her car door, Cheryl glanced back at her partner. “What?”

  “That man got you fiendin’ that hard?”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Johnnie settled her hands on her hips. “Don’t front. Xavier King.”

  “Oh, please. Don’t you start that BS with me, too.” She shoved her key into the car door lock. “There’s nothing going on between me and the damn owner.” She snatched open the door. “But I’m so happy to see that everyone has soooo much faith in me.”

  Johnnie dislodged herself from the center of the police parking lot and waltzed over to the passenger side of Cheryl’s car. “What now?”

  “Let’s talk over breakfast. I’m starved,” she said, climbing inside.

  Cheryl considered whether she wanted to debate the issue with Johnnie or not, but decided on starting the car and driving them to the nearest International House of Pancakes.

  “So talk,” Johnnie said after they settled into their booth and their waitress had walked away. “I was hoping that you could tell me what’s going on.”

  She tossed up her hands. “Nothing! I just want to hurry this whole damn case up so that maybe I can get that asshole off my back…and you.”

  “And that’s it?”

  “You don’t think that’s enough?”

  Johnnie shrugged and eased back in her chair. “Mackey rides everyone’s last nerve. Why should you be any different?”

  “C’mon. You heard him in that meeting. He damn near accused me of sleeping with Xavier King. Why? I’m hardly around the man. I pour drinks. I keep my eyes and ears open—and that’s it. I haven’t done anything that even hints that I should be put on such a short leash. Oh, other than lose my mind one time and sleep with him.” Johnnie snickered.

  “And don’t you start in with that ‘I told you so’ crap right now. I’m not in the mood.”

  She held up her hands in surrender. “I didn’t say nothin’.”

  “I don’t know where all this is suddenly coming from with Mackey. Our thing was years ago. I’ve had other boyfriends since then. I’m sure he’s been with someone else since then, too. Why all of a sudden is he riding me about Xavier King?”

  “Someone said my name?”

  Cheryl jumped before her gaze shifted to Xavier’s sudden appearance at her table. “Mr. King.” She blinked—her mind a blank slate.

  “That is my name.” His smile widened before he shifted his attention to Johnnie. “Well, hello.”

  Johnnie’s mouth fell open and she seemed incapable of speech.

  “Um, this here’s my, um, best friend, Johnnie…Smith.”

  “Hello. Xavier King, aka your friend’s boss over at The Dollhouse.” He offered Johnnie his hand.

  Moving like she was in some kind of trance, Johnnie slipped her hand into Xavier’s. “How do you do?” she asked dreamily.

>   “I’m doing great,” Xavier said, amused.

  Cheryl frowned and then leaned forward to wave a hand in front of her girl’s face. “Hello?”

  “Hmm?” Johnnie’s eyes shifted to her partner.

  Cheryl gave her a look that clearly said, What in the hell is wrong with you?

  As if a light switch had been turned on, Johnnie straightened up in her chair. “Oh. Yeah. Um.” She snatched her hand out of Xavier’s while her entire face darkened with embarrassment.

  “So,” Xavier said, drawing in a deep breath while his gaze shifted back and forth between the two of them. “I certainly didn’t mean to interrupt you. But when I heard my name mentioned, I wanted to make sure that you were telling your friend nothing but good things about me. At least, I hope.”

  Did I say anything damaging? “Actually, I was just…telling her how well things were working out for me at the club. The, uh, flexible hours are really helping me with my class schedule.”

  “Glad to hear it. I’m sure if you’re half as good a doctor as you are a bartender, then you’re probably going to discover the cure for cancer.”

  Cheryl forced a smile. For some reason it bothered her to be lying to this man. “So, what brings you here?” she asked, looking around.

  “Breakfast,” he answered simply, and then glanced at his watch. “I’m supposed to be meeting Quentin, but clearly mornings are still a challenge for him.” She laughed.

  “Since I’m here, do you mind if I join you two?”

  “No! Please do,” Johnnie said, immediately scooting over on the bench so that he could sit down next to her.

  Cheryl delivered a swift kick under the table.

  “Ow. What was that for?”

  Completely embarrassed, Cheryl slammed her eyes closed and then dropped her head into the palm of her hand. What happened to her calm, cool, collected partner?

  Xavier chuckled. “It’s no problem if you’d like to be left alone with your friend.”

  Just when Cheryl opened her mouth to respond, Quentin strolled up, wearing a pair of dark sunglasses and looking like he’d spent the night sleeping in the same clothes.