The Look of Love. Crystal B. Bright
heartbeat decreased in its speed. He’d gotten what he’d wanted since talking to her last night.
“What are you doing here?” He held her hand. Before his mother could answer, he peered across the room and spotted a woman sitting in a chair. “Who are you?”
The woman with an almond-butter skin tone blinked at his inquiry. Her hazel eyes seemed so familiar to him. It had been a long time since he’d been home. She reminded him of Eboni Danielson. No way could she be his old love.
When they’d dated back in high school, Eboni had carried a voluptuous frame that he’d enjoyed touching and holding. In her structured wool coat, this woman looked to be about fifty to seventy-five pounds lighter than his high school girlfriend.
Back in high school, Eboni had light brown hair that she’d kept in loose, natural curls. Once Gunnar had gotten his act together as far as his attitude, Eboni had allowed him to experiment with her hair. He created different concoctions in his mother’s kitchen. Besides his mother and his brothers, no one had trusted him that much.
The woman here had jet-black hair that she kept in waves that cascaded down her shoulders and back. He’d been involved in the hair business with his mother long enough to spot relaxed hair with generous amounts of hair extensions.
Gunnar never understood a woman’s desire to show a false front. If it made this woman feel good, he would respect that. He had to bring his attention back to his mother when the woman licked her lips.
“Darling, you remember Eboni? Good Lord, the two of you were inseparable in school.” Elizabeth pointed to Eboni.
This time, Gunnar had to blink. Now that he stared at her, he saw a glimmer of that woman who had turned him down flat when he’d asked her to join him for his dream.
Eboni stood. He got to assess her from head to toe, especially when she removed her coat. Without the outerwear, he saw how fit she’d become, although her breasts had stayed large, firm, and amazing. Wearing a long-sleeved black turtleneck and charcoal-colored slacks, she resembled a copy of his mother with less jewelry…and fake hair.
Eboni walked closer to Elizabeth’s bed, and Gunnar couldn’t tear his stare from her. He tried to swallow but his throat had become dry. He’d fought absolute beasts in the ring and his nerves never got to him. Yet a woman he hadn’t seen in years managed to make him feel powerless.
“Eboni, I barely recognized you.” Standing on the opposite side of the bed from her, he presented his hand across his mother’s body to shake her hand.
“Boy, you had better walk around that bed and give your friend a hug.” Elizabeth swatted Gunnar on his backside, propelling him to move around the bed.
Keeping his face hard, he stepped up to her. At the last moment, she turned to him and held out her arms, a loud, long, audible sigh punctuating her move.
Great, she wanted this even less than him. A small part of him felt a little disheartened at her attitude. What did he expect? They hadn’t parted on amicable terms. She’d called him a coward.
He embraced her. At once, her honey scent wafted up to his nose. The sweet aroma had him thinking of licking her from her head to her toes.
Her body had still retained some of its softness, although he found her back to be hard as well as her arms. He rested his hand on her waist, dangerously close to her ass that he wanted to touch, to squeeze.
At that moment, he felt a subtle throbbing below his belt. It had been quite a long time since he’d held a woman. At this rate, if he continued holding her, she would know just how long it had been.
Gunnar released his embrace and resumed his spot on the other side of the bed. He hoped he didn’t look like he’d run, but in his mind he’d probably sprinted.
“Good to see you again.” He didn’t smile, still trying to wrap his mind around the surreal events.
“Nice to see you visiting your mother, Gunny.” Eboni did smile, showing all her teeth.
The expression that he’d likened to a hungry shark along with the childhood nickname disarmed him. “Haven’t heard that name in years.” A smile threatened to peek through, but he kept it suppressed.
A tickle ran over his belly as soon as she smiled. A woman scorned shouldn’t be this friendly to the man who’d burned her.
He couldn’t think of that. He would be spending time with his mother, not Eboni, a decision his body detested him for making.
He gazed down at his mother. “Why are you here?”
“Caught the vapors.” Elizabeth waved her hand with its manicured fingernails in front of her face.
“Don’t give me that. What happened?”
When his mother slowed to answer, Eboni quickly piped in.
“She fainted at Press ’N Curl.” Eboni glanced down at Elizabeth. “I brought her here. They’ve been running tests but haven’t said what they’ve found yet.”
Gunnar nodded at her. “When was the last time you went to a doctor’s appointment?”
His mother huffed. “Doctors are for sick people. I’m not sick. I probably didn’t eat enough that morning. I’m trying to lose these stubborn five pounds to fit into a gorgeous gold sequin dress I made.”
Gunnar ran his hand over his face. “Ma, you made the dress for yourself. Why didn’t you make it the right size?”
Her eyes widened as she glared at him. “I did make it the right size. I can’t help it if the materials shrank when I sewed it.”
He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. “Right. The materials shrank.”
“You know nothing about making clothes, not like your brother, Thane. He had a gift.”
“A gift? Yeah, like dodging me. I’ve been trying to call him since yesterday and he’s not answering.” Gunnar wanted to call his baby brother a brat, but that was rule number two with his mother. No name-calling.
“Leave him alone. He’s busy. He’ll be starting spring training soon.” Elizabeth turned to Eboni. “Baseball. America’s favorite pastime.”
Eboni nodded. “I’ve seen him play. He’s very talented.”
Gunnar glared at Eboni. A pang of jealousy punched him in the gut. It shouldn’t have. Gunnar had no plans of getting back together with Eboni. Two stubborn people together never worked.
“Gideon has time to answer his phone, and he’s about to play in the Super Bowl.” Gunnar smiled at his brother’s accomplishment.
“I’m glad you’re here.” Elizabeth nodded.
“I’m happy to be with you, too, Ma. Now you have one of your sons and your daughter here.” He nodded toward Eboni. “Did I miss a reunion somewhere?”
“You and your brothers weren’t here. Eboni has been like a daughter to me. She could have been a real daughter-in-law had someone done the right thing.”
Gunnar groaned and leaned his head back. “Not now.” Arguing about past mistakes topped his list of things to avoid after he hopped a red-eye flight from Vegas to Virginia.
“I’ve taken great care of Queen Elizabeth since you, um, left.” Eboni kept her stare on Gunnar almost in a challenging way, like she wanted him to defend his actions. “I’ve worked side by side with her at the salon.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.” Gunnar meant that. With him, Gideon, and Thane being gone, it comforted him to know someone trustworthy watched out for his mother.
“I don’t need anyone watching out for me. I’m fine.” Elizabeth patted Gunnar and Eboni’s hands.
As she said that, her hospital room door opened and a petite Indian woman in a white