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and waited politely while she drowned her rice in soy sauce. The entrees outshined the rice by miles.
    “The School of the Arts, and then…”
    Brice nodded and listened, asked questions when appropriate. He finished his food and waited for her to finish. He leaned in to hear her better and paid attention to her many stories of auditions gone awry, right, and wickedly horrific. At 5’10” and 235 pounds, she had more wickedly horrific stories than she did successes. But Aerial loved it all. Tawana and Chloe tired of hearing her stories and her brothers were normally too busy.
    But Brice sat patiently across from her—listening.
     

Chapter Six
     
    “Okay, your turn,” Aerial sang and nodded to him.
    Brice blinked. Right. She wanted him to tell some quirky, funny tale about his life. Unfortunately, all his stories revolved around death, betrayal and attempted murder. She did like Shakespeare, so she may find his stories entertaining, but he doubted it. Fiction kept true emotions at bay, but reality smacked of grittiness that kept the entertaining factor at bay. Besides, he liked her happy demeanor and smiling face, and his tales would spoil her sunny disposition. Not wanting to ruin the mood, Brice decided to not share. He wasn’t ready, and to be frank, he didn’t want to taint Aerial’s view of him.
    Why do I care what she thinks? Why did I even come tonight?
    The less cynical part of him produced an answer. He came for one single reason—he wanted to see her. It surprised him, but he did care what she thought of him. The floor of his bedroom had been covered with clothes as he tried on different outfits to wear tonight.
    “It’s after eight. We’ve been here for hours. I think we should go.”
    Aerial nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. The server’s been giving us the hurry-up-and-leave glare for about an hour.”
    Brice waved over the server and settled the check making sure to leave a large tip. He waited for Aerial to scoot out of the booth. His eyes drifted over her luscious and deep curves. Sweet Jesus! When he saw her walk in, he’d nearly fallen off the barstool. Several other men around him made comments about her thickness, but damn, if they lacked the ability to see how sinfully sexy she was, all the better. An eruption of heat crawled up his back at the sheer delight Aerial struck. She seemed completely unaware of the ka-pow she wielded.
    While in Chicago, he’d found himself missing her. He wondered if she had strutted that sexy walk of hers down the path to her sister’s office. And if she had, he wouldn’t be there to see it. Throughout his sales meetings, lunches and conversations with professionals, he somehow found himself longing for Aerial’s honest nature. He’d pushed through the week and closed the sale. But on the flight home Thursday night, he found himself truly looking forward to Friday. Unable to just sit at home or work late in the office, he’d went home, cleaned up and arrived at Chang’s early.
    “Brice…”
    “May I take you home, Aerial?” he asked, holding the restaurant’s door open for her.
    She exited and stopped at the edge of the parking lot. Above, the evening sky glittered in its velvety darkness. Aerial shone against that backdrop like a star. Her sparkly beauty rivaling the heavens.
    “Yes, please,” she answered. “Thank you.”
    She rubbed her arms as if cold. He wanted to wrap his arms around her, but he didn’t know if he could be ready to open himself completely to her. How had she managed to get under his skin so quickly?
    Aerial threaded her arm through his and pulled him close. “Lead on to your chariot, great Caesar!”
    She laid her head onto his shoulder as he walked. Stiffening, Brice knew it was too late to try to extract himself from her. He didn’t want to anyway. Humming a song, Aerial’s arm wrapped around him and laced her fingers through his hand. Instinctively, his curled around hers.
    When he reached his two-door, silver sports