Sample Sunday: Don’t Call Me That

Hey there! We have a U. N Universe Anniversary today! Hakeem & Mariama from Second Shot. Those two…phew, it was a struggle to get them to HEA. Here’s a sample…

Hakeem looked into her hazel eyes and everything he had planned to say all morning disappeared. She pursed her lips and raised her brow.
“Don’t call me that. It’s Mari, Mariama or Ms. Niang.” Her tone had a slight edge to it. She seemed offended, or rather disgusted by his presence. It was strange to feel this energy from her. Her apparent discomfort made him uneasy, but that all disappeared when he realized her name was still Ms. Niang.
“Why?”
“Just don’t. Now, Mr. Richardson, is there anything I can do for you because I have somewhere to be.”
His brows furrowed. They were lovers, best friends, soul mates and now he was Mr. Richardson? Anger boiled in his gut.
“We’re in the hallway. I do business with these people. Either you say why you called me or let me be on my way,” she whispered.
“We need to talk.” His assertive tone was back as he gained his composure. He had always admired Mariama’s strength and independence, but unfortunately, they would have to take a back seat.
“We have nothing to talk about.” She pressed the button for the parking garage.
“Mariama. Please don’t make me come looking for you. You owe me a conversation.”
“I owe you nothing.” The elevator opened and she stepped in.
Hakeem did the same. Fire burned through his body at the way she was dismissing him. She rolled her eyes at him and stood in the corner. He pressed the “Stop” button to jam the elevator between floors. Taking out his phone, he sent a quick text to his assistant to meet him downstairs.
“What is wrong with you?” Her look of disdain almost made him chuckle.
Hakeem walked toward her. He used his hands to trap her in the corner. He leaned over her five-foot five frame. “You want to know what’s wrong with me.”
She nodded as her chest rose and fell.
He should be mad. He was mad, but she was still the sexiest woman he’d ever seen, especially when she was furious with him.
“I’m annoyed that you could go the whole day and act like I was just another client. I’m upset that you can act like I never meant anything to you. That you’re not the least bit interested in talking to me. How can you act like I don’t know intimately every beautiful inch of your body?”
Mariama didn’t flinch. Instead, she locked eyes with him and said, “Number one, you are another client, just not mine. Number two, keyword ‘meant’, past tense. Number three, no I’m not interested in talking to you. And finally, I hope you got a good memory, because you’ll never have that privilege again.”

If you haven’t meet them here.

As a bonus… read a snippet of my upcoming book, His Makeshift Fiancée. Don’t forget to preorder…

Here, there’s a TV crew in his house and Cheta is being interviewed about some mess. But he draws the line when the press adds Reign in it.

“Listen up. I love the game of basketball. I’m honored to play for my city. I can take anything you throw at me mainly because I ignore y’all,” I chuckled. “My lady isn’t a secret, she’s private. There’s a difference. Now, this is my personal appeal to y’all. Leave her alone.

Have a great week ahead!

Peace & Blessings

Unoma