A Christmas Miracle (Excerpt Only) - BWWM Interracial Romance

A Christmas Miracle (Chapter 2)

CHAPTER TWO

 FRIDAY

 Brenda was nervous—more nervous than she expected to be.
The coffee shop was a public place, and she wasn't worried that Green Eyes was some sort of kidnapper or murderer who was going to bury her in his basement or anything—she didn't get any odd vibes from him. Her nervousness had to do with something else—how excited she was to see this man again.
She felt the way she remembered feeling back in ninth grade when she realized she had a crush on one of the junior jocks. Every time he was within her sight or even when someone simply mentioned him, her heart rate sped up and she could barely contain her excitement, her body responding in ways she still didn't completely understand.
She could never quite make eye contact with him—at least not for more than half a second. Everything that usually made her a competent human with communication skills seemed to abandon her.
She didn't know what to do with herself when the boy passed close to her, and was grateful and proud of herself that she managed to stay upright instead of passing out like she felt she might.
Eventually, he graduated without them ever speaking—although he had flashed her a bright smile once that turned her into a complete idiot, and she only realized sometime later that she had become frozen to her spot for a few moments in the aftermath of that smile—her mouth hanging open, her jackhammering heart the only sign she was still alive.
She didn't quite feel that way when she met Ralph; in fact, she never had such an intense crush as that again.
But now, here she was, fiddling with her napkin, trying to slow down her heartbeat. Trying to think of what to say, and hoping she could manage to sound and stay coherent.
The strange man's face had haunted her throughout the day once again, a face she remembered as strikingly handsome, attached to a male body oozing testosterone, like her junior high school crush. But this guy was a grown man—a beautiful man—his eyes, unfairly gorgeous. She couldn't help but feel flattered that such a specimen had sought her out.
Ralph was good-looking, but nowhere near the striking symmetry and overall sex appeal of Green Eyes.
Sex appeal! Girl, get it together.
She couldn't deny it, though—underneath the winter layers, she had sensed a strong, capable body.
He was tall and broad, and in that moment of collision she felt...
Stop it.
She caught herself just as he walked through one of the doors, his frame filling it.
He was early.
She had gotten there twenty minutes before their meeting time to gather herself, and they still had fifteen minutes before their official meeting time.
She saw the light of recognition in his eyes as they settled on her, and he headed in her direction.
She had just managed to calm her heart down a bit, but it was all aflutter again at the sight of him.
He was as tall as she remembered—at least six inches taller than her own five foot six frame.
His green eyes captured her, and his perfect smile held on to her.
She realized, eventually, that his brown hair looked expensively shaped and cut, and she wondered what he did for work.
He extended his hand as she stood to greet him.
"Hi. I'm Alex," he said, sounding almost as nervous as she felt.
She wondered if she was hearing things, making up the quality in his voice. How could a guy like him possibly be nervous?
"Hi," she replied, trying to match his cheery smile. "Brenda," she offered in introduction, although she figured he must have seen her name come up with her real email once they had replied to each other, just as she had seen his.
His smile widened. "I'm so glad you decided to meet me—so glad that whole thing happened although...I hope you're okay."
His eyes filled with concern as his smile began disappearing.
"Oh, I didn't get burned," she assured him quickly. "My shirt took the brunt of the damage."
"Okay, good." His smile returned as he paused. "I'm still blown away that we actually found each other through that website."
"Tell me about it! But I took it as a sign."
"So did I," he said, his voice and face graver all of a sudden. She stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate. It seemed like he was doing the same.
Brenda decided to break the brief silence and go first. She almost felt guilty for what she was about to ask him, and she tried to choose her words carefully as she eased into it.
"What made you look for me...there?"
"Same thing as you, I think...or hope, I should say. Like I said in the post, I'd like to get to know you better. Your eyes caught my attention in a way that doesn't happen often. You looked so sad."
Brenda looked down, unable to face the gently probing, yet sympathetic eyes scrutinizing her.
"I...okay, I'm just gonna throw this out there—I mean, we met off of Craigslist after all..."
He grinned. "Not really..."
"Well, you know what I mean." She sighed. "I realize you don't know me, and you have to know how awkward this is, but I'd like to invite you to..." No. Soften the blow. "Not that this is the only reason I agreed to meet you, but I'd like to ask you a favor."
His face took on a slightly wary, curious look, but his mouth said, "Shoot."
"Would you mind accompanying me...I mean, if you don't have any plans, my sister is having a Christmas dinner and, of course, obviously, you probably have your own plans with your parents or your own family...or..."
His smile began fading.
Brenda let out a breath. "Look, I've already blown off my sister's previous invitations, and I haven't seen her in a while—although frankly, I don't mind waiting a little longer, but something is telling me I should go. But I can't go by myself. So..."
"You want me to go with you."
Brenda nodded, trying to smile. "You're the first possible candidate I've considered asking; in fact, I hadn't even seriously considered going until I met you. It gave me the idea—if I could find someone to go with me, it might not be so bad."
"What might not be so bad? Why are you going if you don't really want to?"
"Because I sort of do want to. I just...look, can you go with me or not? I mean, I understand you might be busy..."
"I'll go with you once you tell me why you're so nervous about the idea of spending Christmas with your sister."
"She's my half-sister."
"Oh, come on. How bad can it be? It's not like she stole your boyfriend or anything, right?"
Brenda knew her face had revealed everything. He had caught her so off guard by guessing it on the nose, that there was no way she could mask her expression in time.
His face held comprehension. "Oh," he said. "So she did. Then yeah, I guess that is awkward. Is she still with him?"
Brenda nodded her head.
"Oh." His face then broke into a wide, bright smile. "Say no more," he said. "Hell, I'm amazed you want to go at all. Kudos to you for trying to be big about it. I really don't know how I would have reacted if my brother...anyway. So they're serious, huh?"
"So serious, she's about to have his baby. They're planning to get married in the spring, a few months after the baby's born."
"I see. Well, this should be interesting at the very least. And it gives me the opportunity to hang out with you some more, so consider it a done deal. I had no other plans for Christmas anyway, besides moping around, feeling sorry for myself."
His follow-up smile was again so wide and bright that she didn't believe he could possibly be serious.
"So yes," he said. "I will go with you to your sister's Christmas dinner. It would be my pleasure."
Brenda was sure her smile finally matched his in wattage.
She felt herself relaxing, relieved to have both broken the ice and sort of killed two birds with one stone. She could quiet the part of her that told her it was time to stop avoiding her sister, while appeasing the part of her that kept whispering she should get to know this man.
"Thank you," she said. "I really appreciate it. But don't get any ideas—I know this is cuffing season."
His face held confusion as she suspected it might.
"I'm sorry, what?"
She let out a nervous giggle. "You know—it's that time of year guys troll around for a girl to hang out with for the holidays, handcuffing himself to her only to indulge in her and/or her family's good food, convenient sex and whatnot of her company, and then right before Valentine's Day, dumps her. A sort of extended version of slam-bam-thank-you-ma'am."
Brenda watched in wonder as her companion erupted into laughter.
*
Alex couldn't stop laughter from taking over him. He had never heard of something so ridiculous in his entire life! Cuffing season? Who the heck came up with that? But as he thought about it, he realized it made more than a little sense. No doubt there were guys out there, looking for a girl to cling to to provide for him—sexually and otherwise—for a period of time. Come to think of it, wasn't that what most guys did? And, of course, some of those jerks would find before Valentine's Day the perfect time to get rid of her so that he didn't have to compete with all the other men in relationships and buy her an expensive or otherwise elaborate gift.
Thankfully, Brenda's face didn't reveal offense at his sudden burst of laughter.
"Well, I've never done it myself," he said once he recovered, "but I'm sure it happens; I just didn't know there was a term for it. "I can only hope those unfortunate women actually got more out of the deal during the course of the relationship, and weren't just waiting to reap all the rewards on Valentine's Day. Surely they at least got taken out to a nice dinner a few times, and hopefully he was at least good in bed. I don't know—I'd like to think most women don't just sit back and let themselves get used like that."
Alex thought about his latest relationships. They hadn't been serious, but he made sure to carry out the basic courtesy of treating the women like ladies. He was pretty traditional in that way, understanding that, as the man, he should pay for the outings. His mother had taught him the precious gift and sacrifice a woman was making when choosing to date someone, the value of a woman's time, beyond the time she put in to look good for him.
It might be tougher to see since you don't have a sister, his mother had told him, but don't forget, women are people, too—disadvantaged ones in a world run by men. It's easy to fall into treating them like a means to your end, a way to scratch your itch. But realize there's only so much power she has, and most of that power lies between her legs. Her clock is ticking when it comes to her youth, beauty and desirability—reward her for spending some of her best times on you. Society will turn on her once those parts of her are aged and there are new, young beautiful women to take her place. At least give her good memories. Her time is valuable, and her prime, short-lived—treat it as such.
Alex didn't feel like she needed to preach to him and his brother so hard—he could clearly see how much his father treasured his mother and he hoped to someday find a woman he could love the same way.
Unfortunately, it had been hard after losing his parents to really get involved with anyone. He was convinced he would lose whoever he had chosen as soon as he did, so as much as he wanted the kind of relationship his parents had, he couldn't help keeping his distance while dating.
"I make sure to take care of the women I date—it's part of the deal," he said to Brenda. "My mom taught me to value the time a woman has chosen to spend with me; I'm definitely no moocher. And it's been a while since I've been in a serious relationship myself. Sounds like you've been on the market about six months, but me? My last serious relationship ended about four years ago."
"Wow! Why is that? Are you a confirmed bachelor?"
The widening of her eyes was almost comical and he couldn't help smiling in response.
"No, I just haven't found the right one yet; I haven't been inspired."
"Well, I've always planned to take the traditional route myself, but don't get scared—I don't have my eyes set on you or anything. I fully expect to part ways once this whole thing's done." She paused, flashing him a brief smile. "So how would you like to do this?"
"What do you mean?"
"Should I just double check with you via email that you're still up for the dinner a few days before or..."
"Brenda, I'm interested in you beyond a possible drama-filled family Christmas dinner. You don't understand—when I saw you...Look, I promised to do you a favor, now will you do one for me?"
Brenda nodded but looked wary.
"I'd like to get to know you, if that's all right. And it solves exactly how we'll 'do this.'"
"But you just told me you don't do serious relationships. Not to sound like a prude or anything, but that's all I'm interested in; I don't do casual."
"Then what's this whole thing about having a fake date? Why bother? Why not get yourself a real, serious boyfriend..."
"That's different."
"Look, we can at least be friends by the time Christmas gets here, right?"
She looked down.
He noticed that she fiddled a lot—with her nails, her napkin, whatever was on the table. She had a lot of nervous energy.
"I guess so. But I don't know what that means—the whole 'friends' thing."
"It means you come and see a movie with me sometime. Or tell me about something funny that happened at work."
"Nothing funny happening at work, I can tell you that."
"Look, let's get this straight: I'm not trying to 'cuff' you—I really want to get to know you, wherever that leads. I'll be honest—it's been a bit lonely lately, and I'd like someone to hang out with. I promise you it'll be worth your while. And this isn't just for me—I feel like this thing between us can bring mutual satisfaction because I get the feeling you're lonely, too—I saw that look in your eyes yesterday and as I walked in today, so let's do each other a favor and spend some time enjoying the company of another human being."
He watched the struggle in her eyes.
He could see that she wanted it, but was probably scared of the uncertain terms. The company-starved part of her and the 'traditional' part of her were fighting, no doubt.
What does he really want? she must have been thinking. And how hard will it be to resist him?
Alex almost laughed at his own thoughts, even though it was obvious that she was terribly attracted to him.
Still, she nodded her head, although he could see it was with some reluctance.
"Okay, then," she said. "Where do we start?"
"Well, we have twenty days till Christmas. I'm not saying we meet every day or even every other day but give me at least every weekend until then—a mere six days total. Minimum. Any more is up to you."
She seemed to relax.
"Six days of friendship," she said, smiling slightly.
He smiled back at her—a warm, encouraging, disarming smile, he hoped.
"Six days of friendship," he said. "Beginning with this weekend. Say..." He thought about what they could do that wouldn't scare her into thinking he had some hidden agenda and was going for more. "A movie?" he suggested. "How about that holiday romantic comedy I've been seeing on billboards everywhere? With all those couples, and Christmas..."
Brenda was nodding her head enthusiastically and her face came to life with her excited smile. Alex felt a different stirring in him at her slower-to-come, but more relaxed, wide smile. He could get used to that leisurely, wicked upturn of her lips—the innocence she meant, but the inevitable sexual tugs it caused since it looked so damned inviting. It completely transformed her face.
"I've been wanting to see that!" she said. "And it's probably more comedy than romance, so I think we're safe."
 But Alex wasn't so sure anymore. Keeping himself in check was going to be hard with the stirrings growing in him, the desire to have more of her.
He didn't want to hurt her—he had made that mistake before, thinking he was ready to give a relationship a real shot. The poor girl who had gotten caught in his confusion ended up with her heart broken after he'd given her all the signs it was safe to jump in with him, that he liked her—which he did, at the time. But his heart suddenly pulled back, and by the end, she was left behind in his dust, crying.
"How could you be so cruel?" she had asked him. "You led me to think you wanted me!"
"I did!" he had replied out loud, but inside went on to say, I just don't anymore.
He didn't know why he couldn't do it; he couldn't force himself to take her more seriously even after he had decided to, and had done everything to show her he meant business.
"You're the worst kind of jerk," she told him. "I wish you'd just been upfront. You could have just been honest with me. You didn't have to lead me on like some sadist."
"I didn't mean to," he'd said softly, but there was no taking anything back—no way to undo the damage, the hurt, the pain, the sense of betrayal.
That girl would hate him for life.
The stirring he felt now was familiar, similar to what he'd felt at the beginning of his relationship with that other girl. But although he had let it fool him before, he would work hard to control it this time; he couldn't bear to be the cause of such pain again.
*
When they parted ways, Brenda was again rushing to get back to work and hoping not to run into anyone else and have another accident.
She and Alex had exchanged numbers and she felt satisfied with their interaction and their deal. But there was one thing bothering her: was he serious? Just be friends? How could they possibly just be friends over the course of the next three weeks? With her already wondering what it would be like to kiss him?
He was trouble, she could tell.
The heat between them was present but quiet, but after hanging out with him, she knew it would only grow from there.
What was she thinking agreeing to such a deal?
She could handle it if it was just the one day—getting through one measly Christmas dinner, pretending to be newly dating was one thing. Sitting next to such a handsome man in a dark theater and watching a bunch of on-screen couples was quite another. But at least with movies they couldn't really talk. She could pretend he wasn't there, really. And after the two or so hours of movie watching, they would probably express their delight or displeasure with the entertainment experience and quickly part ways. No biggie. She could make it through this first date of theirs, and she'd worry about what they'd do next, later.
Besides, she had only agreed to spending two days of the week with him. She would have five whole days to regroup and catch herself.
She clicked on the last text message from Backstabbing Sister.
Okay, she texted back. I'll join you guys.
She ignored the call coming in almost immediately after.
Not quite ready for that, sister dear, she thought.
Great!!! came a text reply with too many sideways smiling faces. I'll set an extra place for you. xoxoxoxo.
Make it for two, Brenda considered texting back, then decided to wait. How embarrassing would it be if Alex ended up canceling on her?