Dedication
The Single Life with Zola Patterson (Part II)
I love being single.
I make a living being single.
I get everything I want being single.
As a dating coach, I guide people through the dating process without a problem.
As a dater, I navigate the single life with ease.
As a rule, I follow my own advice.
But with him it was different.
I tell people all the time: follow the rules and you’ll be fine.
Please listen to that advice.
Because I broke Rule Number Five…
And I am not fine.
Prologue
“Zola!”
In a throng of people wearing black at the release party for my book Getting It, I stood out in my white goddess style dress. Usually that wouldn’t bother me, but since I wanted to sing and dance with my friends, the constant stopping to take pictures was feeling more like work than play.
“Zola,” the voice called out again.
With a forced smile, I turned around to see who it was. My eyes widened and my smile became sincere. “Heaven!”
“Thank you so much for inviting me,” she said loudly. “It’s so much fun! So many cool people here.”
“And you’re one of the cool kids,” I told her with a wink. “Thank you for being here.”
“We’ve been having such a good time. We never get a chance to hang out, so this was perfect.” She looked beyond my head and beckoned someone over.
“Who is we?” I wondered, hoping it was a clue to how I helped her relationship.
“My brother,” she said, just as the man stepped into my eyeline. “You actually met him—”
“Saint Anderson,” I uttered. His name tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop it.
“Zola Patterson,” Saint returned, eyes burning into me.
Heaven was talking, but I didn’t hear a word she was saying. Those light brown eyes held me hostage and I was having a hard time tearing myself away. My heart was pounding in my chest.
I thought I’d made peace with never seeing him again since he squandered the opportunity to make a move. I’d tried to forget about the way he looked at me and how it felt like he saw right into my soul. I was sure I’d moved on from the intensity of the connection we had since he made it clear he wasn’t interested in pursuing me. I thought I had let go of the indescribable hold he had on me. But as I stared into his eyes, everything I thought I let go came rushing back to the forefront.
I sucked in a shaky breath.
Rule Number Three: When you know, you know.
Chapter 1
“…if that’s okay?” Heaven concluded.
I tore my eyes away from her brother. “I’m sorry. I missed that,” I admitted, turning to face her.
Smiling, her eyes bounced between the two of us. “I was saying that it seems as though you two don’t need an introduction so I’m going to run to the restroom and then make a phone call, if that’s okay.”
“Text me when you’re ready,” Saint responded as she backed away. “Maybe Zola has a few minutes to keep me company while I wait.”
I glanced over at him, skimming his profile until our eyes met again.
Rolling my shoulders back, I tried not to be seduced by the intensity of his gaze. “Yeah, I guess I can spare a few minutes.”
“Congratulations on the release of your book,” he told me. “Congratulations on all of this.” He gestured around. “This is incredible.”
Pride filled me and I stood up a little straighter under his praise. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“Are you having a good time?”
I nodded. “I am. Everything turned out even better than I imagined.” The DJ shifted to a new song and my shoulders started moving to the beat. “Are you having a good time?”
“It’s been nice to get out, spend some time with my sister. I picked up a couple of books and—”
My brows furrowed. “You bought my book?”
“I bought five copies of your book.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. One for me and one for my sisters.” A little smile played on the corners of his mouth. “I got one for my mom, but I don’t know if I’m going to give it to her…”
I lifted my eyebrows. “You don’t think your mom would like my work?”
He shook his head. “I’m going to be honest… I don’t want to know if my mom likes your work. I took the books back to my car and I flipped through one of them on my way.” He let out a low whistle. “The title of one of the first chapters was cunnilingus so I’m still debating on if I should give it to her.”
“That’s fair,” I agreed, suppressing a giggle. “I appreciate you supporting me, though. Thank you.”
“You’re talented. The pleasure is all mine. For someone who doesn’t have any books in her office, you have a way with words.”
I laughed loudly. “My books are on my shelf! You know what… I don’t even know if you have a bookshelf and here you are, coming for me and mine,” I argued playfully.
“Oh, I have books on my bookshelf. Mine is more than just for show.”
I put my hand on my hip. “Then let me see a picture.”
“I don’t have a picture.”
“Of course you don’t have any proof,” I sighed loudly, rolling my eyes. “Like I said, I don’t even know if you have a bookshelf.”
He gestured to the crowd of people on the dance floor and at surrounding VIP section tables. “If you didn’t have all these people here to celebrate you, I’d be happy to prove you wrong.”
“Mm hmm…”
He grinned. “What?”
“I know an excuse when I hear one.”
His chuckle reverberated through my entire body. I couldn’t help but laugh along with him.
“You look beautiful, by the way,” he stated as he checked me out.
I made a show of turning in a circle, showing off my body in the goddess-like dress. “Thank you, thank you.”
He chuckled. “No, thank you. Especially for that little spin move.”
“You’re welcome.” I reached out and touched the satin lapel of his black suit. “You clean up nice,” I acknowledged, downplaying the fact that I’d been eye-fucking him the whole time.
“You like the suit?” he asked.
I realized I was still running my fingers over his chest. Pulling my hand back, I smiled. “It’s a nice suit.”
He caught my wrist mid-air and brought it back to his chest, over his heart. With his head cocked to the side, he asked, “Just nice?”
I tried not to grin as I smoothed down his lapel. “Yes. It’s the satin. I like the way it feels, that’s all.”
With a smirk, he let go of my wrist. “Oh, is that all? It’s not because I’m aggressively good-looking?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. You’re real flirtatious for someone who didn’t ask me for my number, I thought as I eyed him.