Page 61 of Sainte
“Don’t tease me, Sainte, not about this.”
I look down at her. She’s fucking beautiful.
“I’m not, babe. I am most sincere. I’m crazy about you, darlin’, and nothing would give me more pleasure than for you to be my old lady.”
She gives me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. When she pulls back, she says, “You know, Hawk was right about something else.”
“What’s that?” I ask.
“He told me on his death bed that you were the man for me.”
“I always knew I liked him.” I laugh and then turn serious. “Now there is one stipulation in this whole relationship thing.”
A worried look crosses her face. “What?”
“No more coke or narcotics of any sort.”
“I swear, I’ve been clean since you flushed everything. Honest.”
“I know, but you have to beat this. You don’t have to do it alone, but you have to be the one to make up your mind and say: ‘no more.’”
“I can’t promise I won’t ever want to touch the stuff again. Unfortunately, I think I will always want it. But I can promise I will fight with everything in me to not act on that want.”
I smile. “That’s all I can ask for.”
Just then, Ice, Emma, and Hobbes walk in. “Is there coffee?” Ice asks.
“Yes,” Honey replies.
“Thank fuck. Our coffee maker at home died this morning. I wanted to stop at Starbucks, but Emma told me she’d leave me if I did.” He looks at her and smirks. “She’s having a hard time with the ‘no caffeine’ part of this pregnancy, and Starbucks is her favorite place.”
“And I’m sick of decaf,” Emma says. “That stuff is nasty.”
Ice gets his coffee and sits at the table. He grabs the paper Honey was reading and drinks his coffee.
Emma grabs herself some juice and joins him at the table. “So what are you two up to this morning?”
I look at Honey, and she blushes.
Emma looks back and forth at us and says, “Okay, what’s going on? You two look like the cat who swallowed the canary.”
“Go ahead, Honey. Tell Emma the good news.”
“Really? You want everyone to know?”
“Damn straight I do. Tell her.”
She looks back at Emma and smiles. “Well, it looks like I’ll need to order another property patch.”
Emma squeals, nearly knocking Ice from his chair. “I knew this would happen. I’m so happy for your both!” She gets up and hugs Honey.
“What’s going on?” Ice asks.
We all laugh.
“Sainte has made Honey his old lady.”
Ice smiles. “Well it’s about damn time.” He turns toward Honey. “I told you, sweetheart, a long time ago that one of these guys would do right by you. And you couldn’t have gotten a better one. Congratulations.” He then looks at his watch. “Rebel should be here any minute. We need to call Michael.” He stands, refills his coffee, and leaves the kitchen.
