Read Always Unique for Free Online Page B

frying pan. Then fear set in. If she didn’t have enough to worry about as it was, now she was coughing up skeletons in her sleep. Damn, I’m really getting way too comfortable. “Exactly what did I open my mouth up about last night?” she asked, hoping that she didn’t look as frightened as she felt.
    “You said, and I quote, ‘I have never had a real relationship and, looking back, I think it fucked up my life.’ You also said that you were left to fend for yourself. And that you were double-crossed, in the worst way, by the only man you ever cared for, which made you feel unsure that you would ever be able to trust wholeheartedly again.”
    Tyeedah was right, Unique thought, I am falling off . She was getting as soft as a gay man’s dick watching Kim Kardashian’s sex tape. She had no idea that she had revealed so much to Kennard last night. He was looking at her now, waiting for her to say something. She was speechless. And maybe keeping her mouth shut was a good thing, only she was a day late and a dollar short.
    “That’s all true,” she managed to say, “but I’m learning to trust. And the more I’m around you it gets easier and easier.…”
    “Well,” Kennard said, beaming, “this is why we’re here. I know we’re still in the learning-each-other-phase, not quite ready for an engagement, but I want to make you a promise. A promise to love you and a promise that I will never hurt you, and in addition to that, I want you to know that I will always protect you from your heart … and anything that poses a threat to you.”
    Unique felt like a total fraud for not telling him about this morning. But in her heart she thought it was best, for both of them, especially if she took care of the situation with Fat Tee herself. “I don’t know what to say.” And that was the truth.
    “You don’t have to say anything.” He led her into a jewelry store. “I’m going to buy you an eye-popping promise ring to remind you of all the promises I’ve made.”
    Kennard had a way of making her heart melt and forget about everything in the world except for him.
    When the jeweler came over, Kennard said, “Unique, I want you to meet Shummi. Shummi, Unique.” Shummi, a Jewish man, was middle-aged, wore a traditional yarmulke and sported Cartier glasses.
    “This is interesting, indeed,” Shummi said to Kennard with a bright smile. “You told me that you wanted something unique, but you didn’t mention that you already had a Unique,” he joked. It wasn’t funny.
    Kennard was ready to get down to business. “Can you show us what you have?”
    “Sure! Sure!” Shummi went under the counter into what looked to be a hidden safe and retrieved a case. He sat it atop the counter and opened the lid. The case was filled with stunning rings in various sets and individual diamonds of all shapes and sizes. Against the black cloth the gems sparkled like bright, shiny stars on a dark night. “Now if for some reason you don’t like any of these, I’m expecting a few more pieces at any minute and I have an even larger shipment coming on Thursday. All impeccable stones,” Shummi proudly said. “I’m talking four carats and up. Real nice stuff. So clear when you look through them, you see clear up to the Niagara Falls.”
    Unique couldn’t imagine that there was something better in quality coming than what he was showing them now. These stones were breathtakingly beautiful. Shummi was explaining each of the diamonds’ four Cs—cut, color, carat, and clarity—when someone rang the bell on the door. One of his employees buzzed the person in. It wasn’t a customer. The newly arrived person was no more than twenty-one, and had on a bicycle helmet and was wearing a backpack.
    Shummi’s smile grew even larger than it already was, if that was possible, when he saw the boy enter the store. He handed Unique a beautiful platinum-set ring.
    “Total weight nine carats; the center stone is four carats. Very nice