Read Pink & Patent Leather for Free Online

I wiped my hands, needing to clean them after I’d touched that grimy door. “Can this wait until after service? I’m running late, and I refuse to dishonor Holy ground.”
    Now, you may think I was just throwing around a line or two, but I respected the house of the Lord and I had no intention of having this discussion until well after service. And, actually, I didn’t want to talk in the church at all. I was hoping that we would have the talk in the parking lot so that our words would be between just the two of us. I especially didn’t want the nosey old bats who were standing around included.
    I expected Xavier to agree. Surely he didn ’t want to display our business in public. But then, he surprised me. He grabbed my arm and pulled me into an embrace. Just at that moment, the front door opened and Sister Stroman strolled in, with her Bible in her hand and her nose in the air. She was the First Lady, so you would have expected her to say something to somebody. But she just walked away like she was the most important person in the building. I smiled because she wasn’t heading in the direction of the sanctuary. She was on her way to Malik’s office.
    Good! That meant that I would get to the sanctuary before she did and I ’d be able to execute the first part of my plan without any problems from her. God’s favor was shining on me already, but I wasn’t surprised. Didn’t the scriptures say that all things work together for good for those who love The Lord?
    My attention returned to Xavier, though, when h e hissed, “Listen to me, Sasha. I don’t know what kind of games you’re playing, but I’ve been here for you. I’m the man God intends to be your husband, not Pastor Stroman.”
    My eyebrows stretched to the top of my forehead. Really? Xavier thought that God w anted us to be together? While he’d often talked about us being a couple, he’d never talked about marriage. Well, now that I thought about it, maybe he had, but I never let him really talk about it since that discussion served no purpose.
    But now, I reali zed that Xavier’s thoughts about us was far worse than I thought and I felt bad. There was nothing I could do about it, though.
    His lips hardly moved as he continued, “ Don’t you know he’s a man of God who’s happily married?” he said as if I didn’t already know that. Well, I knew about the married part, but Malik was far from being happy. He couldn’t be because if he were, God wouldn’t have put together this plan.
    But I guess Xavier didn ’t know all of that because he kept talking. “Pastor’s certainly not going to leave his wife or lose his church over some little girl with a big crush.”
    He paused as if he expected me to say something, or come to my senses. I ’m not sure which. But I said nothing, and I had more sense than he did at this moment. Because I was doing what God wanted.
    Xavier said, “ You actually want me to believe that God would ordain for you to take another woman’s husband?”
    Then, he shocked me for a second time when he leaned over and kissed me. A gentle, warm kiss that felt so sincere I a lmost felt bad. I closed my eyes and let his lips linger on mine. Now, I wasn’t trying to lead him on, but it was just that Xavier’s kisses were the best. Not that I had anyone to compare him to, but whenever he kissed me, I could feel it all the way down to my soul. Even now, standing in the church where I was about to become the First Lady, it was hard for me to break away because this felt so good, it almost felt right. And I enjoyed the familiarity of this connection. In that moment, I realized that I wasn’t completely ready to let my best friend go.
    But I couldn ’t get caught up like this. Especially not with Malik so close by. That’s why I finally broke away, and then turned from him as if he nor the kiss mattered to me. I didn’t get two steps away, though. Xavier gently grabbed my arm, pulled me back, and whispered in my ear,