My Funny Valentine (Sneaky Peek)
My Funny Valentine is a Sweet & Short holiday story. Here’s your quick sneaky peek below.
Synopsis:
When it comes to the principles of love, Nyla Blackwell never thought those good things would ever come her way. The love she knew always had an element of struggle. Until she met DeMario Hughes on New Year’s Eve, he was everything she envisioned. From his personality down to his facial features.
DeMario’s charm has no limit. Though he and Nyla hadn’t known each other very long, DeMario was ready to make it official. But, of course, there is no time like the present with Valentine’s Day around the corner, so DeMario whisks Nyla away on an excursion that blows her mind.
Chapter One
“Imma need you to have a few bags packed for tomorrow,” DeMario says coolly.
He and Nyla laid caked up on the phone at their respective homes. This was a nightly occurrence for the two ever since they met on New Year’s Eve.
Unsure if DeMario was joking or not. She says, “Huh?”
“Imma need you to—HUH. Imma need you to have a few bags packed for tomorrow.”
Nyla giggles, “Why? Where are we going?”
The bass in his voice vibrates the phone. “Now, if I told you, would it be a surprise?”
Her cheeks grew hot. “Boy, quit playing.” Nyla playfully rolls her eyes.
“Playing?” DeMario scoffs. “Who said I was playing, Ms. Blackwell? Be ready to go in the AM. The driver will be there at eight.”
Nyla felt uneasy, realizing he wasn’t kidding. “Buh—but, DeMario, I have to work.”
Smch! DeMario sucks air between his teeth. “Man, fuck that job,” he says casually. “Didn’t you say they were getting on your nerves?”
“Ye—ah,” she stuttered. Nyla’s mouth dropped at DeMario’s response. “Don’t clock my tea,” she sassed.
He let off a haughty laugh. “You women and this lingo. I’m just saying. Are you gone allow your job to impede an opportunity of a lifetime?”
“Opportunity of a lifetime?” she repeats. “You won’t even tell me where we’re going, so how do I know that?”
DeMario dragged his words. “Comme oonnn.” “Live a little. Where we’re going, you won’t be the least bit worried about work, trust me.”
Trust you? Nyla’s inner critic roared. The last time a man told Nyla to trust him, it landed her in a hospital after his child’s mother shot at her. They had been only dating for four months at that point. Grazed by one of the flying bullets, Nyla was lucky she survived. Until three months ago, she swore off men to cleanse her energy field. Unlike the others, DeMario didn’t appear to have any screaming red flags at this point. They met up often, but Nyla felt like they hadn’t known each other long enough to go on vacation together.
“You’re not paying my bills, so my money will always come first.”
“Shit, that’s it?” DeMario says nonchalantly. “Consider it handled. What else is stopping you?”
Her eyes grew wide. Dayum! Straight like that, huh? In all of Nyla’s twenty-eight adult years, she never had a man throw money her way so easily. She looked over at her miniature toy schnauzer, who chewed on her favorite pink plushy bone. “Who’s gonna take care of Sookie while I’m gone? I can’t leave her here by herself.”
“You can put her devilish ass in a doggie hotel.”
Nyla clutched her invisible pearls. “Don’t do my baby like that,” she said, sounding fake hurt.
“Sookie is not a devil. She just needs to feel you out a bit more.”
“Yeah, whatever,” he bypasses.
The line gets silent. DeMario disliked Sookie, but the feelings were mutual. Every time DeMario hung out with Nyla at her place, Sookie would, in so many words, ‘cockblock.’ And DeMario would hide her toys to taunt her. Sookie gets vicious behind her treasured bone. She doesn’t care if he hid the others, but she will draw blood behind the pink one. One time Sookie sunk her fangs so deep into DeMario’s finger it left a two-centimeter gash.
“Stop trying to find reasons not to come and let a real nigga be your Valentine.” DeMario proposed to Nyla.
Nyla chokes on her water, caught off guard as it goes down her esophagus. “Oh… shit…,” she coughs. No one has asked me to be their Valentine since grade school. Nyla smiled, wiping the corners of her mouth after her cough attack.
Nyla had not asked DeMario about V-Day since they hadn’t known each other that long. It had been less than two months, to be exact. But, just in case he didn’t ask Nyla to be his Valentine, she had a pre-confirmed date in the works with someone who has been striving to get on her social calendar for a while.
“Are you going to take a chance or what?” DeMario pulls Nyla’s attention from her roaming thoughts.
The corners of her mouth turn upward. “What time you said the driver will arrive?” she responds.
Nyla had jumped up long before she and DeMario said their ‘see you laters’ for the night. She sat stressed in the crisscross-apple-sauce position inside her walk-in closet. Her head swiveled side to side, eyeballing her variety of clothing. So many options, but she was unsure how she would like to execute each piece. Nyla took pride in her fashion, but she preferred to know where she was going, so she didn’t overdo it. DeMario refused to give her any information except that it will be ‘cold.’
Nyla had a limited time to get packed, and Sookie dropped off. Nyla flipped through her assortment of jackets. “Aspen is pretty sexy this time of year,” she says. Snow. Cozy Cabin. I’m curious to see what else he has in store. She grinned, putting together a little fantasy in her head.
Chapter Two
Chugga-chugga-chagga. Choo-choooo! Chugga-chug.
Her cellphone alarm blared, mimicking a train’s chime. It rumbled through her eardrums, causing her eyes to crack. They tingled as the blue-ray lights pierced her pupils. She was unprepared for the three hours of sleep to pass by in thirty minutes. She groans, silencing the alarm. Cemented to the plush mattress and bamboo sheets, Nyla dreaded getting up. She secretly wished she could close her eyes back, but DeMario and the driver would be at her house in two hours. She had a few more items to pack, along with accessories.
Nyla was grateful she could talk her best friend, Lola, into watching Sookie while she was away on such short notice. But Nyla was not prepared to drive her pup across town to Lola’s house. Anytime she needed someone to watch Sookie, Lola would care for her at no charge. Nyla would only have to pay if Sookie damaged something which hasn’t happened. When she finally returned home, she had very little time to pack and sleep. So, she showered and crawled in the bed instead since she completed most of her packing before leaving.
Quickly going through her morning routine, Nyla packed the rest of her things. Before she knew it, time had flown. It was a quarter to eight, and Nyla still had not gotten dressed. Nyla had never been flewed out before, let alone flying out of state. She recently registered for her passport to assist with getting over her fear, but the day to fly came before she could decide where she wanted to go.
Nyla stood anxiously in the mirror with a tinge of curiosity in the air. She wondered what this day would bring. She smeared clear lip gloss across her lips, adding some shimmer to the smudged matte chestnut-colored pencil she used to line her plump lips. It gave them a more supple appearance. Nyla did one of those ‘no makeup’ makeup looks. It was a step up from a bare face because she didn’t look sleepy. So she ushered in the vibrance with her favorite cosmetic products.
DeMario called just as Nyla finished getting dressed. “Top of the morning,” she greeted.
“Good morning,” he chuckled into the receiver. “Are you ready to go?”
“Why yes, yes I am,” she blushed. Nyla couldn’t believe she was doing this right now.
“Great. Do you need any help with your bags?”
“No, I got them. I squeezed everything into my big roller and carry-on. I will be down shortly.”
Nyla ensured she had everything before traveling to the front door for the umpteenth time. “Boy! You scared me.” Nyla jumped back when she saw DeMario standing on the other side. He stood tall with his sandy red locs sectioned off in neat two-strand twists all over his head. DeMario wore a Nike tracksuit and the matching runners. He was as chill as he wanted to be.
He gazed at Nyla with a partial curve in his lips. “You thought I was going to let you bring those heavy bags down by yourself?”
Nyla batted her eyelashes. “I—mean. I can handle it.”
“Let me handle that for you.”
Their eyes glued together. DeMario bit his bottom lip, making Nyla wonder what his lips would feel like against her skin. They hadn’t explored one another sexually yet because when sex materialized in her relationships, things would turn from sugar to shit. So she switched things up in hopes the outcome would be different.
The nonexistent hairs stood at attention, covering her skin with tiny pellets. Finally, she rested her forearm on the standing luggage handle so that she could gather herself. “For me?” Her grin widens as she eyeballs the bouquet of long-stemmed roses DeMario held in his hands. The rose petals vibrate with passion.
“Of course.” He sat the flowers wrapped in a soft chocolate-colored paper with golden trim and hearts in her hands. DeMario loved her expressions every time he did something she didn’t expect. He then pulls her into his embrace.
Nyla puts the flowers in a vase before securing her home. She and DeMario made their way to the lobby hand in hand. They exited through the carousel doors, where a black Cadillac XT5 awaited them. The driver steps out of the car's front seat, getting Nyla’s bags from DeMario. DeMario opens the door to the back seat, helping Nyla into the truck. He slid in next to her, swinging his arm around her shoulder. The driver pulled off from the curb, and they were off to the airport.
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