Omolade unknowingly used her fingers to comb through the tangled mess of her hair before licking and rubbing her dry lips together to moisturize them, when she heard Nana say her boss was at the door.
She did a quick check of her nails to confirm that there was no dirt lurking under them. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask the old woman if she could get a mirror when a voice mockingly sounded a warning inside her head calling her back to rational thinking
'What is the matter with you Lade? You've not recovered from one heartbreak and you're already priming up like a peacock to meet with another one!?... I pray for your sake that the man is old and shriveled or married with a dozen kids, otherwise, you're heading for another heartbreak when you've not even gotten over your fiancee's betrayal
As Nana walked towards the door to open it for her boss. Omolade tiredly rested her back on the pillow when the voice made her realize what she was unknowingly doing.
'What is the matter with me!? I'm acting this way just because the shirt I'm wearing smells good!?... I must have been crazy with hormones...' She thought and hit herself on the head with the heel of her palm. 'God, for my sanity's sake please let Nana's boss be old and shriveled, or let him be married with a dozen kids...'
She looked towards the door when it opened and nearly had a panic attack when the said man walked in. Her prayers were not answered. Well, maybe just one was partly answered.
He was very far from being old and shriveled, rather he looked to be in his early thirties. He was insanely good-looking and certainly looked like he would have fathered more than a dozen illegitimate babies all over the world.
He looked like he had an Arabian blood mix somewhere in his bloodline. His skin tone was the shade of caramel that was just a tad darker than her own.
A tattoo of what looked to be the tail end of a dragon coiled up his right arm and disappeared into his t. shirt. Two gold studs adorned his left ear lobe, and his braided hair was packed in a small ponytail at the back of his head.
No wonder her hormones were going haywire just by smelling his shirt. Omolade drooled over men like him inside GQ magazine but avoided them like a plague in real life. She would never consider dating them because a woman could never have such a man to herself and Omolade would choose peace of mind over having a man whom she would always fight off other girls.
'No, I need to get out of here as soon as possible!..' She thought as her heart started racing out of control. 'Why am I reacting this way for goodness sake!? I have a fiance that I love! Even though he cheated on me and I hate him right now, isn't it too early for me to be feeling attraction towards another man? Shouldn't I still be heartbroken right now?... God, I urgently need to get out of here as soon as possible. I'm in no state of mind to be around a man like him right now.'
Her breath hitched in her throat when he walked closer to her. Omolade took a deep breath in before letting it out slowly to calm her racing nerves.
"Learn you're awake... How are you feeling?" He asked. His voice was low, rich, and deep.
'God, that voice! Is that a British accent I hear?' Omolade thought in her mind before she answered his question
"I'm good, thank you... Thank you for saving my life." She was surprised when her voice came out strong and clear when she was expecting it to sound mushy like what she was feeling inside. She never knew she could remain this calm in the face of temptation.
Akin nodded in response to her gratitude. Even though she looked pale and fatigued, she was still beautiful and she fascinated him a great deal, he admitted that to himself pulled a chair near her bed, and sat down. Hoping to find out the reason why his uncle was so excited about her
Nana made some excuse about having something to do in the kitchen, removed the tray that had the empty bowl of soup, and left them alone with each other.
"Uhm... I didn't remember to thank you for the soup. It was delicious. Thank you..." Now you're about to start blabbing, shut up right now before you say something to embarrass yourself. The mocking voice of reason said again in her mind
"Yeah? Are you gonna keep thanking me for everything though? I wonder what your next gratitude would be based on?" He asked with amusement
"I think that's about it..." She said and asked after some seconds had passed between them. "Uhm, do you mind if I ask you a question?"
"Not at all... Go ahead"
"I didn't mean to sound ungrateful or anything like that... I'm just wondering... What's in the soup? It kinda left a bitter aftertaste in my mouth that I couldn't get rid of with water?"
"And you're worried that I might have poisoned you... Maybe drugged you or something?" He teased but looked seriously at her
"No, but now that you mentioned it... Did you put something in my soup?" Omolade couldn't help but asked, trying not to sound worried but still having a worried frown on her face
"Yeah... I did!" He said, looking at her face to gauge her reaction.
"You did!? You drugged my soup!? To what end if I may ask?" She asked and tried so hard to not make him see how badly she was panicking inside
"It's herbs?... I decided on it because it works faster than those." He indicated towards the medication the doctor left on the nightstand and laughed when he saw the annoyance mixed with relief look on her face
"Are you playing with me?..." She asked
"Yeah..." He answered with amusement dancing in his eyes.
"You've got spunk though. Every other woman would have been pleading hysterically for me not to hurt them but you didn't. You were calm " He said and thought... 'You're a true Da-Silva alright. The true granddaughter of Silver''
'Was that a compliment or is that respect in his eyes? She wondered and just shrugged, obviously with relief
"Oh, thank God it was just a joke... You didn't strike me as the herby kind of man though."
"He gave a deep chuckle. "How do I strike you then?... A player?
"Actually yes..."
He laughed again. "I hear that a lot"
"So are you a player or not?..."
"It depends..."
"Depends on what..."
"What a girl wants... What you want..." They looked into each other's eyes for what seemed to be a long time. It was as if he was asking her if she wanted to play or not. The conversation is moving too fast for her liking but she couldn't help but go with the flow
"Pa was right!... The attraction was there alright, he thought. He promised he wouldn't read her mind and already shut down that part of himself. But even at that, she was like an open book, he could easily read her from every movement she made. He didn't need to read her mind to realize she was not experienced.
She's courageous like her grandmother but innocent and vulnerable at the same time. She didn't possess her sister's kind of hardcore personality. No wonder she failed to notice her boyfriend has been cheating on her for years.
She needed somebody to take care of her. He wanted to be that somebody like his uncle wanted but she was a no-go area for him. He once helped his father to send her sister into the abyss and the moment her grandmother laid eyes on him, she would know.
Even though they are both water elements and have the same powers. She's at it longer than him, more powerful, and could kill him the instant they laid eyes on each other. He wondered why his uncle was excited even when he knew that fact.
Omolade lowered her gaze first. 'It depends on what a girl wants...' She repeated what he said in her mind. 'He just admitted to being a player, giving me the option to either play with him or not...' Omolade thought.
Men like him are not in her league, that's the reason why she needed to get out of his house if she didn't want to be another notch on his belt. 'Playing with you is not an option, I'll be out of your house before the thought crosses your mind again.' She thought
"May I borrow your phone, please? Need to call someone to pick me up..." She said, instantly changing the subject
"Yeah sure. Nana will bring one for you. He said simply and stood up. I hope you're not thinking of leaving now, it's almost 2 am?"
"No, of course not... When it's daylight"
"It's dragon..."
"What?"
"My password is dragon. Your ride would need it to enter into the estate." He said and started walking towards the door. "Good night"
"Good night..."