“Hey, you,” Dolce said, as he stepped out of his car. Ethic took his time replying. He took his time doing everything. The world seemed to wait with baited breath as it anticipated his next move. He paused because he knew it would be easy to deflect what he was going through onto her. Her unannounced visit had thrown him. Her unrequested presence annoyed him, but he had to ask himself if the slim, leggy woman with an inviting smile and wanting eyes would have irritated him if he hadn’t just come back from visiting the gravesite of the love of his life.

“I wasn’t expecting you,” he said, his tone even, as he opened the back door of his car. Bella bounced out.

“Hey, Dolce!” she greeted, before running across the massive lawn to Ethic’s home, heading for the front door.

Ethic reached down to grab Eazy, who was dead weight in his strong arms.

“I thought you would need a good meal and some good company?” Dolce said, as she held up the single, plastic, grocery bag she carried. Ethic wondered why he found it hard to take her seriously. She was a decent woman who offered something convenient. It may not be everything he required in a woman, but at least she was there. At least she put him above all else. When she bit into her bottom lip and added, “And I need some good…”

She let her words linger and it wasn’t hard to fill in the blanks. Ethic sighed, as he remembered why she just didn’t do it for him. She was too available, too easy; too much like a replica of every woman he crossed paths with these days. Her weave was long, her waist was unrealistically shaped, her ass too fat. Her brain too empty, he thought. He would rather appreciate the value in a dinged-up quarter than accept a shiny penny. Dolce was shining but her worth was insignificant.

He took the plastic bag from her hand, holding his heavy child with one, strong arm and the groceries in the other. Despite his lack of enthusiasm regarding her presence, he was still a gentleman. There were no thrills in causing her embarrassment. He nodded his head toward the house. “I’m a little tired, but dinner I can do,” he said.

Just the mere thought of being in his space, under his roof, at his dinner table put a hope in her eyes that Ethic hated because he knew he would never give her the more she sought.