Page 1 of Kobalt

“Bye, girl. I’ll call you when we get there.”

“Okay. Have fun for me, miss mamas.”

My best friend, Niagara Harden, and I exchanged air kisses and hugs before I rushed out of her kitchen. I glanced at my phone as I stepped out of her house into the late afternoon sunshine. I groaned at the text from Kevin, my boyfriend.

BAE:

What’s taking you so long?

Aye? Why aren’t you answering me?

A’ight. Keep it up and watch me catch this flight without you.

ME:

Hey, I’m here. Just stopped by Nia’s before I left.

BAE:

You act like y’all ain’t gon’ see each other again. It’s just a weekend.

ME:

OMW.

I tucked my phone back into my purse and rolled my eyes. He was always impatient with me, but when it came to him, I had the patience of Job. That made me think about the other little thing we were dealing with.

He had been propositioned by the man who we were on our way to celebrate. Norrell Kidd, the head of an illegal gambling ring, was offering him a quarter of a million to implement performance enhancement drugs into the water, juices, and food of the athletes he serviced.

My boyfriend was a nutritionist, and he had contracts with several notable figures like Reighvyn Bloom, Jeremy Broadwell, Holt Stern, and a few others. I tried not to think about his most notable client, Niagara’s brother, who happened to occupy her sofa in the living room, watching sports, while she and I chatted about my upcoming trip.

Kobalt Harden had an attitude from hell, especially today for some reason. We hadn’t said more than “Hey, how are you” since I arrived, and we seemed to be carefully avoiding each other. His greeting wasn’t as friendly as mine, so I just ignored him the entire time I was here.

I had dropped by Niagara’s house to drop off some paint samples she needed to look at while I was out of town. She was ready to renovate her paint bar, and she had hired me. I wanted to do it for free, but despite the fact that my interior design business, Velvet Opulence Interiors, was booming, she didn’t play when it came to supporting my business.

No sooner than I passed the bushes at the edge of Niagara’s sidewalk and drew close to my car, someone stepped out of the shadows and scared the hell out of me.

“You still messing with that fuck boy?”

I jumped, and my heart locked up for a moment before it beat again—this time gunning into overdrive. “Kobalt, . . . you scared me.”

“If you were mine, you’d never have to be scared of a damn thing.”

My eyes roamed over his gorgeous, truffle-colored skin and those slightly full bow-shaped lips that I used to love kissing.

His almond-shaped nut-brown eyes sparkled with amusement as he watched me knowingly.

Kobalt took another step closer, causing him to tower over my five-foot, six-inch frame by at least seven inches. His muscles strained against the long-sleeved, garnet-colored T-shirt he wore. As a professional MMA fighter, his body stayed firm, muscular, and in good shape.

“What do you want, Kobalt?”

He pulled his fingers over his well-trimmed mustache and through the strands of his full beard. “You.” That simple word sent shock waves of awareness throughout my body.

“Well, you made your choice. You had a great opportunity, I supported you, and we both agreed we wouldn’t put our lives on hold. I went on with my life, and Kevin is my choice.”

“Why him and not me? I’m back home.”

“Another opportunity could present itself tomorrow, and you can’t tell me that you won’t leave. The difference between the two of you is that he’s settled here in the States, and I don’t have to worry about him leaving me, Kobe.”