Craving Temptation by Deborah Fletcher Mello Page B

asked, her voice dropping to a loud whisper.
    â€œI need to pee before you lock yourself in the bathroom!”
    Amina laughed. “Hurry up!” she said.

8
    Troy only had time for one quick cup of coffee and a pecan Danish. He had taken a seat at the corner table and was previewing his schedule on his iPad when Quentin made his way over and took a chair by his brother’s side.
    â€œGood morning.”
    Quentin nodded. “How are you doing this morning?”
    Troy shrugged. “I didn’t sleep well.”
    â€œCompany in the bed will do that to a man.”
    Troy chuckled. “I wish that had been my problem.”
    Quentin took a sip of coffee from his own cup. “How’d your date go? You two were back fairly early, weren’t you?”
    Troy nodded. “Amina is living with her daddy,” he said, his tone sarcastic.
    Quentin laughed. “We remember those days, don’t we? Pop was a stickler about the hours we came in and went out in his house. Even after we were grown.”
    â€œThat’s why we both purchased our own homes, remember that?”
    His brother nodded. “So, why didn’t you get enough sleep?”
    Troy shrugged, not having the words to tell Quentin everything he might have wanted to share with him. He was grateful when one of the staff suddenly called for Quentin’s help back in the kitchen.
    Troy thought back to the previous night. Dinner had been amazing. He couldn’t remember ever having that much fun on any date. But then Troy had never done a lot of dating. There had been a few women who’d briefly captured his attention but no one who’d been able to hold it for any length of time. There was something about Amina though that had his full attention on lock.
    He hadn’t known what to expect when their evening had started. But he had never expected that he’d be wanting Amina as badly as he found himself wanting the woman. His desire for her had been consuming, simmering on a low burn until he found himself so heated that he felt like he would combust from the inside out. Leaving her had been the hardest thing he’d ever had to do.
    That first kiss had been monumental. She’d been too sweet and he had felt an addiction for her rising with a vengeance. She’d left him weak, and wanting, and none of it made an ounce of sense to him.
    He’d kissed her one last time before she’d knocked on the back door for his sister-in-law’s attention. When Harper had answered he’d wished both women a good night and had gone on his way. He’d been afraid to follow her inside. Troy knew that if he had stepped into the home behind her he would never have been able to let her go. That knowledge disturbed him more than he was willing to admit. He blew a deep sigh.
    It had taken him almost two hours to regain a semblance of control over his emotions and his body. He had resisted calling her but dialed her number, his want like an addiction causing him to need to hear her voice one more time. Frustration had tainted the conversation. Amina had been frustrated as she’d told him about her conversation with her father. They’d talked into the early morning hours and Troy had wanted nothing more than to wrap her in his arms to take her hurt away. He had wanted to protect her, to assure her that he would make everything well. All he could think of was having her with him, by his side, and then he’d felt selfish for even having had those thoughts. It disturbed him because Troy had never been a selfish man, but wanting Amina had him thinking of very little else.
    Shaking the thoughts from his head Troy tossed back the last drops of caffeine in his cup and stood up. He had a full schedule ahead of him and couldn’t afford to be late to his first meeting. He also had to be focused and after the sleepless night he’d had, he was finding that harder and harder to do.
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    Amina had been at the