Free The First Lady by Carl Weber Page B

same way I was.
    “That sounds good. Do you want to meet at my place again? I’ll fix dinner.”
    I wanted to say yes, but after the way she kissed me at her place, I decided not to tempt fate. My body was ready, but my heart was still in turmoil. “How about we go out to dinner this time? My treat. We can go over the details of your plan in a little more depth.”
    A smirk crept across her face that made me think she had a little bit of the devil in her. “Are you sure you wanna take me out to dinner, Bishop? Folks might get the wrong idea.”
    “I’m not much for what people think, Sister Monique. Now that my wife has passed away, I don’t have to answer to anyone but God.”
    Her smile widened. “Well, amen to that. I’ll see you on Saturday. Let’s say about seven?”
    “Seven it is.”
    She leaned in like she was about to give me a kiss good-bye. This time I made sure her kiss landed on my cheek. Although I meant what I said about not having to answer to anyone, I instinctively glanced over her shoulder to see if anyone had witnessed the kiss. Then my eyes lowered and followed Monique’s hips as they swayed back and forth down the hall. I wasn’t sure if she knew I was watching and was doing it for my benefit, but she was putting on quite a show.
    “Maaaaaan, now I know why you’re so infatuated with that girl. Not only does baby got back, but she got one heck of walk too.” I turned to see James standing in the doorway of my office, grinning.
    I shot him a dirty look. “You know what, James?”
    “What’s that, Bishop?”
    “You gon’ make me step on your other toe in a second.”
    I stepped toward him, slamming my foot on the floor in front of his feet, and he jumped back.
    “Stop playing, Bishop,” James whined.
    “Who’s playing?” I stomped my foot near his again, then laughed. “Look, I’m going to find Marlene in the common area. We’ve got dinner plans.”
    “Dinner plans with Marlene tonight? Dinner with Monique on Saturday, and didn’t you have dinner with Savannah Dickens not too long ago? I don’t know, Bishop. If I didn’t know you so well, it would seem to me like you’ve become quite the Casanova lately.” James chuckled.
    I rolled my eyes at his not-so-humorous joke. If indeed I was getting back into dating, no one in the church was going to make it easy for me, including my good friend.
    “I’ll see you later, James, because you’re making way too much of nothing.”
    “Am I, Bishop?”
    As I headed away from James, I didn’t answer him, but I did wonder if he was right. Dinner with three different women in the same week. Had I just allowed myself to become First Jamaica Ministries’ most eligible bachelor without even noticing it happen?
    I waited for Marlene for almost two hours before I got my briefcase from my office and decided to head home, figuring she’d forgotten about our dinner plans. Actually, I was
hoping
she’d just forgotten, because I’d called her house three times and got no answer, so I was a bit worried about her. I tried to reassure myself that everything was fine, but just in case, I’d stop by her place on my way home.
    When I reached the church parking lot, I was surprised to see Lisa Mae Jones, the widow of my late friend, Pastor Lee Jones, standing in the parking lot next to her car with the hood up.
    “Car troubles, Sister Lisa?”
    “I don’t know what’s wrong with this thing, Bishop. I’ve never been good with cars. Lee used to always handle that.” She sounded defeated.
    “Well, I’m not that great with them, either, but let me have a look.”
    “I appreciate that. I probably should have just gotten a ride home with Sister Alison when she offered, but I was sure I could get this thing started,” she said. “That’ll teach me to be stubborn.”
    I smiled at her joke; then I got in her car and turned the key. “Well, perhaps Sister Alison was right. The car won’t start for me, either.”
    Even though the question was