Negotiating for Love by Sharon C. Cooper

Author:Sharon C. Cooper
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, african american, contemporary, contemporary romance, multicultural romance, african american romance, family series
Publisher: Amaris Publishing LLC

Chapter Thirteen

“I’m done,” Paul grumbled after leaving yet another message for Martina. In the last two weeks, she had avoided the majority of his calls.

He needed to have his head checked. Every night he went to sleep thinking about her. She dominated his dreams. And if that weren’t enough, he woke to thoughts of her. Then the cycle started all over again.

Clearly he was suffering from some brain condition. That was the only reason he could come up with to explain why he hadn’t moved on. He never had a problem attracting members of the opposite sex. Yet, there was only one woman who sparked something within him that he couldn’t seem to walk away from.

“Yep. I need my head examined.”

Paul strolled down the stairs and headed to the kitchen. After putting in some long days, it felt good to sit back on a Sunday evening and watch football. Knowing he didn’t have to travel for the next four days made relaxing that much sweeter.

He pulled a beer from the refrigerator and a bag of chips from the pantry. When he decided to finally renovate the house, he hadn’t thought about how long it would take to adjust to a larger place. Paul loved the house, but he wanted a home and a family.

The thought brought with it the last conversation between him and Martina about where she saw herself in five years. Paul wasn’t ready to give up on her … on them, but at some point, he would have to make some tough decisions if he planned to have a family. He wasn’t getting any younger. If he were blessed with children, he wanted to still be able to chase after them.

Paul took the steps two at a time, returning to the den to watch the second half of the Cincinnati and Pittsburgh game. The moment he sat down and propped his feet on the ottoman, the doorbell rang.

He hurried back down the stairs, assuming it was Davion, but instead recognized Martina’s figure through the textured glass door.

“Hey, wha…” His voice trailed off when she turned to him. The first thing he noticed were her red eyes and then the way she shivered, holding her jacket closed. “What happened? Are you okay?”

He reached for her hand and pulled her inside. Before he could say anything else, she dropped her bag and lunged into his arms. Her body trembled against him, and his protective instincts kicked in.

“Baby, you gotta tell me what happened. Are you hurt?” His heart pounding viciously, he tried loosening her grip from around his waist in order to see her face, but she held on tighter. “Martina, I need you to say something. Talk to me.”

When she still didn’t speak, he thought he heard her sniffle. That couldn’t be because he had never seen her cry. As a matter of fact, he was pretty sure there wasn’t a vulnerable bone in her body.

“Martina.”

“I just need you to hold me,” she mumbled, her voice filled with emotion.

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