#FutureHusband Read online

  #FutureHusband

  J. Nichole

  Copyright © 2019 by J. Nichole

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  To all my readers for rocking with me! You are the real MVPs! Keep reading and I’ll keep writing!

  J. Nichole Newsletter

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  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Epilogue

  ✩✩✩✩✩

  About the Author

  Also by J. Nichole

  One

  Anaya

  The three-bedroom, three-and-a half-bathroom, single-family home was the eighth house we visited, and the first for her. I waited in the foyer at the bottom of the wide staircase waiting for the couple to transcend, slowly.

  “What’d you think?” I asked when they finally made it to the bottom step. She rubbed her expanded belly and looked to Daniel with a slight smile.

  He looked back up the stairs before he said, “She thinks we need four rooms.” He took a deep breath, likely tired of the house hunt. After all, I had shown him seven other houses in the past month. He’d been trying to communicate their wants, but I’m sure she had a different perspective.

  She leaned on Daniel’s side. “If we expand our family even more, three rooms won’t leave us space for any guests.” I smiled and asked if there was anything else she’d like to include. “If it’s at all possible, I’d like a larger yard.”

  I blinked a few times, because in Northern Virginia, yards were a rarity. They’d already be stretching their budget with a fourth bedroom, now she wanted a bigger yard too. Daniel and I made eye contact and I said, “If we go a little further out we may be able to make that happen.” Daniel’s eyes bulged and I knew he said he already hated his commute now; any further out would add at least thirty extra minutes.

  We left that house, and as I sat in my car, I thought through other homes that could potentially meet their needs. Before I drove off to meet my girls in the city for happy hour, I opened my Facebook page, and made a future husband post courtesy of Daniel.

  Dear #FutureHusband, I hope you cater to me when I’m pregnant with our child.

  I walked into the packed Park on Fourteenth, and dipped and dodged the crowd to find my girls sitting on the second floor. The two of them were laughing when I joined them. “What are y’all laughing at?” I asked as I looked around for a server. “Let me get a Park Lemonade and the jerk wings,” I said over my shoulder before turning my attention back to Marley and Lisa.

  “We were just laughing at this guy who tried to talk to Marley.” Lisa leaned back against her chair, her long legs extending beyond the table. “I still don’t know what he said.”

  Marley rolled her eyes and tried to defend the guy. “I mean, it wasn’t that bad, Lisa.” She looked at me and said, “He had an accent, maybe from the islands or somewhere. But”—she laughed—“I think he was nervous.” I squinted my eyebrows at her. “He stuttered over his words a bit.”

  Marley grabbed her phone and pointed the screen in my direction. “But tell us about this post.” Thankfully, the server delivered my drink and wings. I’d need energy to keep up with the two of them.

  “Y’all know I admire the clients who are couples most,” I said after taking a sip of my lemonade. “This dude today was so patient with his pregnant wife.” Lisa leaned in and I knew she was going to try to suggest another homeboy for me to go out with, but I kept describing Daniel to Marley who wasn’t trying to play Cupid. “I mean, if I ever want kids, you know it’d be nice to be spoiled while pregnant.”

  “Right.” Marley held her glass in the air and reminded us we needed to make our obligatory toast. “To April.” We clanked our glasses together for our best friend, the one we had lost to a car accident earlier in the year. “April would tell us we were too young to be worried about settling down.”

  Marley was right, she would. April was spontaneous, living life day by day. After graduating from Howard with us, she was the one who took a year off to travel, while the rest of us rushed into our careers.

  “Do you remember Ben, Anaya?” Lisa asked. I shook my head. “He was at my barbecue over the summer.” Lisa was outgoing, and was one of the few people I knew who maintained majority of her friendships, like from childhood through college. So the barbecue was packed.

  “He’s single again.” She smiled and I looked at Marley, because she too was single. “You know Marley has a type, and it’s damn near non-existent. But anyway, Ben is cool. I’ve known him since high school.”

  I was casually dating, nothing serious, ‘cause I was living my best life. I fielded most of my friends’ and family’s hook-ups, just for the hell of it, but nothing had come of any of them. “I don’t have plans this weekend,” I responded.

  She clapped her hands while she side-eyed Marley. “Don’t hate on me just ‘cause I’m not game for being hooked up with every John you try to pimp out,” Marley said with a smirk.

  Lisa was in a committed relationship but swore her life would be much easier if the two of us would be in a relationship, too. Like, we could triple date or invite the guys to joint happy hours and suddenly life would be grand.

  “Bet.” She pulled out her phone and started texting. “Does Saturday work?” she asked. I thought through my Saturday plans, showing a few houses then, essentially nothing. I nodded my head then took a sip of my drink.

  “Now that we have that out of the way…” Marley stood from her seat. “Let’s set this thing off.” Marley was much shorter than Lisa, and much thicker. A few sways and her ass was rolling in a circle. She shook her natural curls, while her hands parlayed through the air. I waited till my wings were finished before I joined her.

  The three of us danced together, uninterrupted, through a few songs. When I stopped to order another drink at the bar, a guy approached. His grey, fitted suit displayed his dedication to the gym. “Can I get that drink for you?” he asked. Unlike the guy who apparently tried to talk to Marley, this guy had a distinguished, steady voice.

  I hadn’t reached Million Dollar Listing status, yet, so free drinks were always welcomed. “Sure,” I said nonchalantly. I didn’t want him to think I was too excited about his offer. “What’s your name?” I asked as he handed me my second lemonade.

  “Colin,” he said with a baritone I hadn’t heard when he asked to order my drink. Although the lounge was dim, I could make out his features—a thin nose and chiseled chin, with dark-brown eyes. Despite his grey suit, the scruff around his chin gave him a bad boy vibe, and I was feeling every bit of it.

  “Colin”—I reached out my right hand—“I’m Anaya.” He smiled and I felt my nipples perk up. “I’m over here with my girls.” I stopped short of inviting him to join us because I’d never hear the end
of it if I did.

  He nodded his head in the opposite direction and said, “My guys are in that corner.” With his eyes on my drink, he said, “I don’t want to interrupt you tonight, but if you don’t have plans this weekend, maybe we can grab more drinks or dinner.” Shit, I had just given up my Saturday night.

  “I’m free tomorrow,” I said with a smile. We exchanged numbers before I headed back to the girls. “My weekend is shaping up,” I bragged. I turned my head and followed Colin to the group of guys in the corner.

  “I see.” Marley stared at the group of guys and added, “You’ll have to check his friends for me.” Before we left The Park, Marley had a contender of her own. I doubt he was her type but she gave him her number anyway, especially after Lisa hounded her for ‘blocking her own blessings.’

  Friday rolled around and after a few showings, I was ready to start my weekend. In a sweater dress and knee-high boots, I was ready for my date with Colin and for the chill that welcomed me as I walked to my car. Colin offered to pick me up from my house, but because I watched too much TV and knew better than to give a man my address before getting to know him, I drove myself to the Wharf.

  If Colin with a suit and scruffy beard was sexy, Colin with jeans, polo, and leather jacket was skip dinner let’s fuck. He wrapped his arms around me and gave me a familiar hug, and I inhaled his woodsy scent. I wanted to rub myself all over him to transfer his scent to my dress, for later.

  “Our table should be ready soon,” he said. “One of my guys went to Howard, said he recognized you.”

  “Oh yeah? Small world,” I said. I wasn’t as interested in his homeboy’s time at Howard, or how he could know me. I didn’t have a shameful past, so I doubt he had anything negative to say, but to ease my mind I asked, “What’s his name?”

  “We call him Foster,” he said, and paused for a minute.

  “Jeremy Foster,” I finished for him.

  “Yeah, Jeremy Foster. You know him?” Did I know him? Shit. There goes any hope of Marley hanging out with one of his homeboys. Jeremy Foster was the reason why she had a well-defined, or nearly impossible, list of expectations of her next boyfriend. It was him that burnt her; after years spent together he ended their relationship with little explanation right before graduation.

  As we were seated at the table, I explained how I knew Jeremy. “Did you go to Howard?” I asked.

  “No, I went to Norfolk State.” I was happy he attended an HBCU.

  I shrugged. “Not Howard, but at least it’s not Hampton,” I said with a wide smile. He told me about his time in Norfolk and we compared our HBCU experience. “How’d you meet Jeremy?”

  “We work together,” he said before giving the server his order. “All of us there last night met at work, although we all don’t still work together.” He leaned forward on the table giving me a closer glimpse of his brown eyes and scruffy beard.

  Marley stopped stalking Jeremy a few months after we graduated and I had no idea where he ended up working. “What type of work do you do?”

  “I’m a finance consultant.” Makes sense, Jeremy was a business major at Howard. Our food was served, and we continued chatting about work, the housing market, then I made a comment about the president and when he responded, “I mean, he had some good ideas,” he may as well have slid his nails across a chalkboard.

  “Good ideas?” I had to take a sip of my water and calm my inner hot head ‘cause she was ready to go off.

  He chuckled and adjusted in his seat. Being in the nation’s capital and the daughter of a political consultant, politics always came up in casual conversations. I was always open to listening to opinions; I tried not to judge, except when it came to our current president. There was just nothing about him, or his administration, that I could take as a valid opinion.

  With my mouth twisted, I waited for him to defend his opinion. “I don’t think he’s anywhere near the best leader this country has ever seen, but at least...” as he started to try to justify the president’s actions, I tried, really hard, to stomach his political views. I even tried to ignore him and just watch his beautiful smile, his scruffy beard and imagine what it’d feel like between my thighs, but none of that worked.

  I kindly finished my entree, and said, “Thanks for inviting me out.” He looked at me with a smirk on his face. I looked for the server and asked for two checks. There was no way I was considering this a date, one I’d allow him to foot the bill for.

  He stood from the table and walked me outside. “The DC dating scene is tough,” he joked as he stood with his hands in his pockets. I nodded in agreement and turned to go to my car.

  I walked into my condo and released a long sigh. With my phone in my hand, I typed another post on Facebook.

  Dear #FutureHusband, we don’t have to agree on everything, but we have to be on the same political team.

  Two

  Russell

  As we wrapped up the presentation to the client, I looked across the conference room at Chantel who’d been eyeing me for the entire meeting. Typically, I didn’t mix business with pleasure and I should have known better than walking her to her room last night. The drinks were flowing as we celebrated our last week on the project, and I may have been a little tipsy.

  Our team started to disperse and I ended up on the elevator with Chantel, going to the same floor. “Feel like walking me to my room?” she asked before we exited the elevator, and I knew where that would lead. Much like she stared me down through the meeting, she had been eyeing me the entire three months we’d been on that project.

  I should have avoided her room at all cost, but I fell for the trap. She wrapped her arms around my neck before the door closed completely. I could have stopped her, but when her tongue stroked mine, I was done. She had my pants unzipped and hands on my dick before I could move from the door.

  I was getting hard just thinking about what her mouth could do. “Headed straight to the airport?” she asked, distracting me from the thoughts of the night before.

  Avoiding her wasn’t an option, the room wasn’t empty yet, and not responding would lead to questions from our project team. I packed my laptop in my bag and said, “My flight doesn’t leave till the morning.”

  “Mine too,” she said with a purr that made me look at our teammates to see if they caught it. They were all pre-occupied with getting out of the room; some were off to the airport. Chantel leaned forward on the conference room table, her cleavage on full display, and I looked down, hurried my packing, and walked out of the room.

  I strolled through the offices of Moore & Stanley one last time, headed back to what had been my home away from home for the last few months. Before I left town, I had to meet up with my homeboy. On my way to the hotel I called him to arrange a meet up location. “I’ll be down at seven, and we can catch the game,” I said before we hung up.

  Monday through Thursday, I had the luxury of being in a different city. When I graduated from Hampton, it seemed like the easiest way to travel; on the company’s dime. But over the years, it’d proven to be less fun than I had imagined. But as I laid out my luggage and repacked my shit, I was willing to bet there weren’t many people who could pack a bag and be ready to roll quicker than I could.

  I changed out of my shirt and slacks into jeans and a sweater for the chill that’d been awaiting me outside. When I left the room I walked quickly past Chantel’s door. I could only hope my next project didn’t have any sexy ass women to tempt me, and definitely didn’t have her. A repeat of last night would be detrimental to my career. I’d prefer to maintain my trend of finding a chick at the hotel bar, one I could sex, and leave with no regret.

  Thankfully, I made it to the bar next door without running into her. “Nolan,” I said as I saw my homeboy sitting at the bar.

  “Yo, having you in the city has been cool. You should consider moving here,” he said as he took a sip of his liquor. I sat beside him and ordered a craft beer.

  I smirked at him before I said,
“Now you know I have to be in Virginia.” He shrugged and I continued, “But doesn’t stop you from coming down. When’s the last time you’ve been down to DC anyway?” Nolan and I grew up together in Virginia, outside of DC, before attending Hampton University together. Instead of sticking around the area, he took a job in Philadelphia.

  “Shit,” he mumbled. “It’s been a minute.” After moving to Philly, he met his wife and settled down. “Since buying the house, we’ve spent most of our time with projects. Shay has me watching HGTV and visiting Lowe’s.” He shook his head.

  I laughed ‘cause I couldn’t imagine doing any of that at our age. Although my weekends back home were nothing like my days on the road, I didn’t spend them on house projects. But that could be because I was still living in an apartment. “I haven’t even had time to look for a place,” I told him.

  “You can’t stay in an apartment forever. You should start looking now before things get even more expensive around there and you are living far out.” He cocked his head. “I told you about that realtor Shay knows. Did you call her?”

  The truth was, I didn’t have time to call her. The couple of days I was home were too busy. “I’ll give her a call tomorrow.” If I didn’t make time to start looking, Nolan was right; I’d only be able to afford a box or live out in the sticks.

  I glanced around the bar at the few women standing around. Nolan caught my gaze and said, “You still out here smashing random chicks on the road?” I didn’t acknowledge him; instead, I chugged my beer and ordered another.