Black Sparkle Romance by AMARA NICOLE OKOLO Read Free Book Online

himself to his haunches and took his trainers off. “That feels so good,” he murmured as he dug his bare toes into the warm white sand. “Go on, take them off.”
    “No! I’m not taking off my shoes – hey … what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
    Dominic swept her off the ground, hoisted her onto his shoulder and he began walking. Startled at the closeness of their bodies, she began kicking and flailing her arms. “Put me down, you mad man,” she yelled. “Help! Kidnapper o! Rapist o! Murderer—”
    “Hey, you could add ‘Slave Master’ if you want,” he snickered.
    She thumped her bag on his broad back. “Put me down!” she ordered, wishing she could kick him in the ribs or pelvis. “Mr Dominic, I swear if you don’t put me down I will kick you in the … somewhere you’ll regret!”
    He seemed unfazed. “You don’t want to lose the ‘100,000 naira’ Gucci shoes and I am tired of your whining, so I think we should just walk this way, abeg. That will save us time, and your breath.”
    “Put me down now, you—”
    “Are you ready to lose the shoes?”
    “Fine – I’ll take off the damned shoes! But put me down now !”
    He obeyed and gently slid her to the ground. Mira whacked him on the shoulder with her bag, and he chuckled. She glared at him. “Do that again and I swear …”
    He rolled his eyes with a mock bored expression. “Yeah, yeah – you’ll send an army of boot-camp soldiers my way … I get it. But please take off the shoes. We haven’t got all day, Missy.” He left her and began walking ahead. She considered flinging her shoe at his back, but noticed an old man atop a palm tree a few metres away staring at her. A palm wine tapper, Mira thought. Smiling, she yelled a greeting in Yoruba. He didn’t reply, just continued gaping. She decided against flinging the shoe and hurried after Dominic.
    They walked alone along the deserted beach, but after a while spotted a few people: tourists in scanty bathingsuits lying on beach chairs and soaking up the sun. Local fishermen were dragging in their canoes, their nets full of fresh fish and prawns. Some surfers were out in the ocean, gliding through the frothy waves, while other people lay on top of their immobile boards and on the decks of their yachts, sunglasses on their eyes and foreheads, decorative straw hats on their heads. Mira bought one of the hats from the young guys selling on the beach, and with her Chanel sunglasses and multicoloured floral dress she looked beautiful. Mira saw several men sneaked glances as she walked past, and noticed Dominic couldn’t take his eyes off her either. He kept looking back, checking to see if she was still walking behind him and had not bolted.
    Mira did feel like bolting. She was sweaty and tired, and as she waded through the sand she cursed him under her breath. Dominic sent her an amused look as she tiptoed gingerly over the white sand, and twice she missed her step and crashed to the ground. She yelped with fright, frantically dusting off the tiny grains of sand like they were venomous scorpions. The first time this happened he had a stony expression on his face as he tried to help her up, but the second time he burst out laughing. “If you keep walking that way you’ll just keep falling,” he said as she began rummaging through her bag, searching for her hand sanitiser. “Come on, Mira. Loosen up. It’s a beach – it’s clean and fresh. There are no germs here, OK?”
    She glared at him. “You know what I’d want to loosen up right now, hmm? You! I want to loosen you up … thentighten you back in a complicated knot and fling you into this ocean! I can’t believe I’m doing this, following you around like an idiot, waiting to be amazed by whatever it is that you’ve found for the photo shoot.”
    “We are there already … you can stop your yelling now,” he said.
    She looked around. They were standing a short distance from the shore, beside a coconut and palm tree