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What Happens After Midnight: Zaddy’s POV
“Not guilty!”
The verdict hit the room like a spark in a chamber full of gasoline. The gallery erupted—cheers, claps, relieved sobs—but I didn’t flinch. I just exhaled. I smoothed the front of my tailored charcoal suit. It was as if the past six weeks hadn’t been a high-profile circus the city couldn’t stop watching.
Flashbulbs snapped the second I pushed through the courtroom doors.
“Mr. Walker. Statement?”
“Attorney Zaedrick, how did you pull this off?” Another reporter questioned.
I gave them my signature half-smile. Calm. Unreadable. Then I walked straight through the chaos like it knew better than to touch me.
I needed silence.
I needed heat.
I needed the ocean.
Two days later, Fiji greeted me with warm air that tasted like salt and sunlight. By the second morning, my shoulders finally dropped. Barefoot, I walked the shoreline, letting the tide skim my feet.
That’s when I saw her.
A silhouette drifting toward me, curves outlined by the rising sun. Her hips moved with an effortless rhythm, shadow sliding across the sand like poetry. As she drew closer, the light sharpened her features.
Full lips, honey-brown skin, eyes lit with quiet fire.
My pulse jumped.
“Good morning, ma’am,” I said as I approached her. “I don’t mean to offend you, but… are you really this attractive?”
She smiled. Didn’t slow. Didn’t answer. Just kept walking, the hint of laughter tugging at her lips.
I laughed under my breath too, rubbing my jaw. I couldn’t believe I was this corny, but not used to being ignored, I followed.
“Okay,” I called, “maybe that wasn’t the right line.”
My voice softened as I caught up. “Let’s try this again.”
She slowed, studying me like she was deciding whether I was trouble… or worth it.
I extended my hand.
“Zaddy. From Houston. Can I walk with you?”
Her smile widened. Warm. Feminine. She placed her hand in mine. Cool. Intentional.
“That’s better,” she said. “And yes. For a moment.”
“Your name?” I asked.
“Chyna.”
Her voice hit like tropical dusk. It was smooth, low, and dangerous.
“What brings you out here?” I asked.
“Peace,” she said, eyes on the water. “I needed a break from everything back home.”
“What’s everything?”
She smirked. “Life. Work. People. Expectations. Pick one.”
I laughed. “I get that. Courtrooms get loud. Clients get needy. Reporters get on my damn nerves.”
Her eyes narrowed playfully. “Courtrooms and reporters? What do you do?”
“I’m an attorney. Criminal defense.”
“So you clean up messes.”
“Pretty much.”
“And ran to an island?”
“Absolutely. Sun. Silence. No one asking me to save their career before breakfast.”
She nodded. “I’m here alone too. Needed to remember I’m still a person.”
“I know that feeling,” I said. “Being important to everyone except yourself.”
“Yes! That part,” she looked down and started pushing the sand with her feet.
Damn! Her feet are pretty too.
My mind was running wild.
I imagined licking her from her toes to her lips.
“Do you come here often?” She broke the brief silence.
“When I’m close to losing my mind. Or when I need to disappear.”
“So which is it this time?”
“A little of both.” I glanced at her. “But I’m glad I came.” I winked.
Her eyes softened before she looked away, then back at me again.
“You always this forward?”
“Only when it counts.”
We continued walking.
“You here alone?” She asked.
“Yeah. Needed space. Time. Just me and the ocean.”
“Me too. Guess we’re both running from something.”
“Running?” I shrugged. “More like… taking a damn break.
She laughed. The sound was soft and bright. “I’ll take that.”
After a few quiet steps, I slowed.
“So… can I take you to dinner tonight?”
She pretended to think. “I don’t usually say yes to strangers.”
“But you did say I could walk with you.”
She nudged me, gently. “Fine. Dinner it is.”
Yes!
I felt like I had just won the lottery. “Meet me at The Coral Flame. It’s the restaurant inside the resort. Saves you a trip across the island.”
“Convenient and considerate,” she said. “I like that.”
We continued strolling along the shoreline, the sky fading from gold to a soft lavender as the sun dipped lower. Our hands brushed a few times, accidental, but warm enough to make my dick stiffen.
As we turned up the sandy path toward the resort villas, the lights along the walkway glowed like fireflies.
When we reached hers, she stopped.
“Well,” she said softly, “this is me.”
I stepped closer, lowering my voice. “Good. Gives you time to get extra beautiful.”
She laughed. “Extra beautiful? That sounds like pressure.”
“You don’t need pressure,” I said, leaning close. Close enough to kiss. Close enough to feel her breath. “You already had me mesmerized at hello.”
I felt the shift. That subtle pull. The moment begging to be taken.
For a split second, I considered closing the distance completely, taking what the moment offered.
But…
I didn’t take it.
I held back.
Electricity hummed between us. Thick and alive.
“So… Coral Flame?” she smiled.
“I’ll be waiting.” I winked and let my eyes linger on her a second longer than necessary.
She placed her hand on the villa door handle, then looked back at me over her shoulder. “See you at 7. Don’t be late.”
“Wouldn’t dare,” I said, giving her one last slow, appreciative gaze as she disappeared inside.
I walked away smiling like a fool.
I had arrived thirty minutes early to the Coral Flame. I wanted to find the perfect table. It was right in the corner with dim lighting.
When she walked in, I stood without thinking.
Blue dress. Dangerous curves. Confidence stitched into every step.
My eyes betrayed me. I scanned from her lips to heels, then back again.
“You clean up nice,” she said.
“I had to step it up,” I replied, smoothing a hand over my shirt. “You set the bar.”
A server placed menus in front of us, but I barely looked at mine.
“What do you like?” I asked.
“Seafood. Something I can taste the ocean in.”
“That sounds dangerous.”
She laughed.
I leaned in. “Tell me about you. What do you do when you’re not making strangers rethink their entire lives on a beach?”
“Work keeps me busy,” she said. “Very busy. Too busy. So when I finally get a chance to breathe, I take it.”
“I respect that. I’m learning how to breathe again myself.”
“Do attorneys forget how to do that?” she teased.
“Often,” I shook my head. “Someone’s always calling. Needing. Demanding.”
“I see,” she smiled.
“But tonight,” I continued, “nobody needs anything from me. I’m just a man eating dinner with a beautiful woman.”
She tasted the grilled mahi placed in front of her.
“Mmm.” Her eyes closed, lashes fluttering softly. “This is good.”
I cut into my own plate. A seared tuna steak glistened in citrus glaze. I lifted a bite to my mouth.
The moment it hit my tongue, I nodded slowly. “Damn… okay, this is fye.”
She smiled. “What’re you tasting over there?”
“A masterpiece,” I said, wiping the corner of my mouth with my thumb. “You ever eat something so good that it makes you rethink your whole life?”
“Every time I travel,” she said, laughing softly.
We ate a few bites in silence. It was a comfortable, warm silence. The soft clink of silverware punctuated the air. The distant murmur of the ocean sounded outside the restaurant’s open-air terrace.
I cut another piece and held it out across the table.
“Try mine,” I offered.
She leaned forward. Her lips closed around the fork. Her tongue brushed the back of it.
My chest tightened.
“Mmm,” she said slowly. “Okay, that’s good.”
My jaw flexed.
Lord… why she eat like that? She gon’ make me lose it in front of strangers.
“You’re dangerous,” I muttered.
She tilted her head. “For liking your food?”
“For liking it with your whole mouth,” I said before catching myself.
Her eyebrows shot up. “Oh? So you were staring.”
I cleared my throat. “I was appreciating. There’s a difference.”
“Uh-huh.” She swirled her wine. “And what exactly were you appreciating?”
“I plead the fifth.”
She laughed, softly and sensually, then reached across the table, placing her hand on top of mine. My pulse jumped instantly. Her fingers were warm, soft, and deliberate. “You’re easy to read,” she whispered.
“You think so?” I flipped my hand so our palms would pressed together.
“I know so,” she smiled,
I squeezed her hand lightly. “Then tell me what you see.”
She didn’t look away. “A man who hides behind control… but loses it around the right woman.”
Heat slid down my spine. She’s reading me like she’s known me for years.
I lifted our joined hands and brushed her knuckles with my thumb. “And what do you want from that man?”
She smirked. “Dinner. Drinks. And maybe… to see what else he can’t control.”
Her voice dipped into something thick and honeyed that went straight to my bloodstream.
A server passed by with dessert menus, and she pulled her hand back slowly, her touch drifting away like silk.
She took another bite of her food as I watched her lips close around the fork.
I bet those lips are soft.
“You okay?” she asked, finally meeting my eyes again.
“Uh… yeah.” My voice was unsteady. “Just… appreciating the food.”
“Is that what you were appreciating?” she whispered, leaning in with that knowing smile.
My throat tightened. “Don’t start.”
“Start what?” she asked sweetly.
The air shifted, thicker, hotter.
I blinked slowly, heat crawling up my neck.
“Dinner was good,” I changed the subject quickly.
“Dinner was good,” she echoed, her voice was warm… layered with an unspoken promise.
Our eyes held.
The air thinned.
And the restaurant seemed to blur into nothing but candlelight and each other.
My attention was intense and locked in, like she’d become my favorite study.
A live band began to play, saxophone notes melting into the glow of the lanterns.
My gaze dipped to her mouth, then to her breast… and then I stood, offering my hand.
“Dance with me.”
The moment she rose, my breath caught.
My body reacted before I could stop it. Heat surged through me. The zipper of my pants pushed out quickly… urgently… and unmistakably.
For once, I, the unflappable Zaedrick Walker, felt out of control.
I saw her eyes glance down at my zipper. I was ashamed as heat crawled up my neck, but her smile told me she liked it.
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