Body By Night by Zuri Day Read Free Book Online Page B

completely like the beautiful women in the contest had done, but at least she wouldn’t be afraid to show some thigh. That, she decided, was a start.
    “Night, I’ll do it.”
    “D’Andra?”
    “Oh, yes, I’m sorry. I’m just trying to get this out before I change my mind. I’ll be the spokesperson for your big girl campaign and do the photo shoot.”
    “That’s beautiful, doll. What made you change your mind?”
    D’Andra told Night about the television show and the nude modeling.
    “You know,” he said, dropping his voice an octave, “that too can be arranged.”
    “Not in this lifetime. That’ll never happen.”
    “Never is an awfully long time. Besides, seeing you in all of your beautiful glory would be a powerful motivator to your sistahs out there.” His voice held the purr of a cat, a very big cat, one that was king of the jungle.
    “Yeah, well maybe the show is on DVD. If not, my sistahs will have to get their glory and motivation by looking in the mirror.”
    They finished the conversation with D’Andra giving Night her email address and agreeing to meet on Tuesday. They decided to schedule the shoot during what would become her regular Tuesday workout time. His plan was to work with her for forty-five minutes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and for her to work out on her own two additional days of the week. This unsupervised time would include work on the treadmill, stationary bike and, as she became stronger, the Stairmaster and elliptical machine.
    Their conversation left her excited and energized. She didn’t even begrudge her family for leaving the kitchen a mess, and cleaned it while her thoughts raced a mile a minute. She felt good about the positive changes she was making in her life and decided that she might as well continue while she was on a roll. Just one wrong word or bad incident and she knew she could lose momentum.
    As soon as she turned out the kitchen light, she hurried to the desk in the corner of the living room. She knew if she thought about what she was getting ready to do, even for a moment, she’d change her mind.
    Quickly turning on the computer, she typed in the Web site for Google, then stared blankly at the box used to search. She didn’t know what to type. So she just typed her desire: find someone .
    Thousands of Web sites jumped on the screen. D’Andra picked one randomly: Peoplesearch.com. She read the information on their Web site and with only a slight hesitation paid the small initiation fee to begin the search. After the charge went through another box popped up. She took a deep breath, faced her fear and typed the name: Orlando Dobbs.

6
     
    “Wow, all this in two days? You’ve been busy,” Elaine said after hearing a recap of D’Andra’s weekend. She was told about D’Andra’s escapades in working out, the spokesperson opportunity, the decision to go apartment hunting, and the decision to try and find her father.
    “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you mention your dad,” Elaine said softly. She’d been a daddy’s girl since she was old enough to say “da”—still was—and couldn’t imagine growing up without him. “When did you see him last?”
    D’Andra offered a bittersweet smile as she finished off her low-cal Subway sandwich. “According to an old photo, when I was about two. But I don’t remember.”
    “What does your mother say about him?”
    “Nothing, Elaine. That’s just it. In all these years, she’s refused to say much at all. Except that he was an asshole that I was better off not knowing. But I still wonder about him, you know?”
    Elaine didn’t know but nodded anyway.
    “And now, well, it’s not just the need for a nostalgic walk down memory lane or a potential date with my sperm donor. I need to know the history from his side of the family for my health; whether there are patterns of diabetes, heart disease, cancer, stroke. I am a part of who he is, whether I want to be or not. So I need to know.”
    There was