The 1st in the Ex White Soldier book set.
A new ‘black woman white man’ series following Desiree (an African American woman) and Taylor, a Caucasian man. After meeting at a local speed dating event, the couple hit it off. But not all is as it seems; what aren’t they sharing with each other? Read on to find out, and see if this relationship will be over before it’s even begun.
BWWM Military Romance, Read It Now
This book is part of the Ex White Soldier series. See it and all parts to the series on the the book page page.
My White Ex Soldier Sample
Desiree Young was a nervous mess as she looked at her reflection in the mirror on Wednesday evening. She was still cursing herself for letting her sister, Rochelle, and her cousin Cynthia, talk her into speed dating. She never did blind dates or something as adventurous as this. Actually saying that she was a nervous wreck was an understatement. She could feel her sweat glands acting up, making her think that she should have taken another shower. She had three outfits on the bed, not sure which one would be better. She looked at the denim pants and cream chiffon top, the short black sleeveless dress and then the strapless bandage dress. She took a long deep breath and then sighed. This was too hard on her. Yes, she did need someone new in her life. If not for anything else, at least for the sex.
Desiree was a stunning twenty six year old and of course the ultimate beauty. She was tall, had shoulder length black hair and deep warm brown eyes that seemed to look right in your soul. Her curvy body was the ultimate proof to the stereotype that African American women had great asses. Though she had that great body, Desiree had almost always played it safe as far as any hard decisions were concerned. She had a great body and was a great dancer but she never once tried out for the cheerleading squad in high school. The only reason she became a cheerleader later on in college was the fact that cheerleaders were given a forty percent scholarship. In college, most of her professors thought she would make a great marketer or reporter but for Desiree that meant too much attention. So instead, she chose to go into production. To her, it made more sense to shine behind the camera than on the screen. Her career in production was a great disappointment to many people who knew her. And that, playing safe and being out of the limelight, was how she had chosen to live her life.
She was still looking at the three outfits when Cynthia walked in holding a Pepsi. Of course she was holding yet another soda. She was the one person who ate more junk than the world could handle and still manage to be a size zero.
“Why are you still not dressed?” Cynthia asked as she walked into the bedroom. Desiree shook her head.
“Nothing seems okay. This,” she said holding up the bandage dress, “screams fuck me now and this,” she said as she picked up the black dress, “seriously, this is some sort of joke,” she said sitting on the bed. Cynthia smiled and took the two dresses from her.
“That is why those two were Rochelle’s picks. I chose the pants,” she said as she put the two dresses back in the closet.
“Where is Rochelle anyway?” Desiree asked as she sat on the edge of the bed.
“At Tony’s as usual,” Cynthia said as she joined her on the bed.
“I swear those two….”
“…oh, come on. Let them be. Let them have their honeymoon period because knowing Rochelle, Tony will be old news in a couple of weeks,” Cynthia said cutting her short. Desiree laughed. Her sister was what they liked to call a serial dater. She dated men just for a period long enough to still feel the thrill of the relationship before she called it quits. Desiree could not remember the last time her sister had a relationship long enough for her to actually know the man’s middle name. She always stayed just long enough to keep the sex exciting before she called it quits. At twenty three, Desiree thought her sister needed to get her act together but time would tell.
“Now, you need to get dressed and do something with that hair,” Cynthia said pointing at her still wet hair. Desiree smiled as she stood up and headed to the bathroom where she quickly dried herself down and lotioned up. She dried her hair and pinned it up before she finally walked out of the bathroom.
“I still think this is a bad idea,” Desiree said as she pulled her panties on under her towel. Cynthia shook her head.
“We have talked about this, Dee. This, tonight, is happening whether you like it or not,” Cynthia said. “How long has it been since you last had anyone in your life?” she asked looking at Desiree.
“Ten months is not the end of the world,” Desiree said. Cynthia rolled her eyes.
“Someone serious,” she said looking at her cousin who was now putting on her bra. “Leon was a joke. He lied to you and he hurt you.”
Desiree took a long deep breath. She hated to admit it but Cynthia was right. She had given almost three years of her life to Leon Martin, a man she thought she had a future with before she realized that he was lying to her all this time. He was married with kids yet he managed to jet her off to some of the most beautiful resorts in the world, lavish her with expensive getaways and when they were not doing that, he would stay home with her sometimes for days on end before he had to go. It was no wonder Desiree had never suspected he was married. It was not until one day she decided to surprise him at his office. There was a photo on his desk that he had never seen before. One of Leon, a brunette and two kids that looked a bit too much like him. She could not think of any reasonable explanation except that he had a family that he had never told her about for three years.
The pain and humiliation of the whole situation was too much for her. She had shut down almost completely after finding out. She could not think of how she was ever going to get out of that hole she had been plunged into. Almost a year after the incident, she was still single and Cynthia and Rochelle thought they had to step in. Otherwise she would just wallow in self-pity all her life. Cynthia was a part owner of a coffee shop downtown that hosted a speed dating night every Wednesday. And today was one of those days that she would not take no for an answer. This was it. This was the first day of the rest of her life.
“So, what do you think?” Desiree asked after she put on the top. Cynthia smiled.
“Perfect,” Cynthia said before leading her to the dressing mirror. “Now we just have to take care of that hair and your makeup,” she added as she sat Desiree down.
“I thought my hair was fine,” Desiree said as Cynthia undid the clip that held her hair up.
“Well, we just need it to be good enough to match your outfit. So fine is definitely not what we are looking for,” she said as she began to work her hair using the curling iron.
Desiree felt a weird sense of déjà vu going through her, almost as if this was prom night the second time around. When she looked at her reflection in the mirror, she felt like she was looking at a completely different person. The usual shoulder length straight hair was replaced by beautiful bouncy curls that were the perfect complement to her very chic outfit. She smiled and then looked at Cynthia.
“I feel like this might be a tad too much,” she said looking back at her reflection. Cynthia shook her head.
“We are trying to get a hottie and a money baggie, not some homeless broke ass nigger,” Cynthia said. Desiree made a face at her.
“I am my own woman remember? I don’t need some guy with a lot of cash to help me out,” she said as she grabbed her purse from the dresser and then walked over to slip on the high heeled sandals. “Now, wish me luck,” she said as she blew Cynthia a kiss.
Her stomach was in knots the entire ride to the coffee shop. She kept on thinking of what she should do, how she should act. The whole speech about being yourself did not make so much sense to her now. There was no way she could be expected to “be herself” with this kind of nerves. When she walked into the coffee shop, she was not so sure she had made the right choice. She looked around at the room full of single men and women and she suddenly was not sure this was such a good idea. She was just about to spin on her heel and walk out when she heard the hostess over the PA system. Damn it! It was on.
“Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Santana’s Coffee speed dating night. Now a few rules,” the hostess said. Desiree found herself almost rooted to the spot as she listened to the hostess speak. She smiled and turned around. Maybe this was not such a bad idea. You only had ten minutes with each date – that was not so bad. She walked to one of the tables and sat down. One waitress walked up to her and cheerfully took her order. Desiree thought she could do with an iced tea.
“Here goes nothing,” she thought as the highly anticipated yet highly dreaded event (for some) began.
As she talked to the first few people, she was already regretting this. She should have never been swayed. “God, this guy is pathetic,” she thought as one of the guys talked to her about how he had once been kidnapped by a UFO. “So you really think that? Some aliens took you to their planet or something?” she asked looking at the man in disbelief.
“Dude, that totally happened,” the man said as he ran his fingers through his hair. Desiree shook her head. Did he think that he was maybe some teenage heartthrob or something?
“And he just said dude,” she thought as she looked at him, trying hard not to roll her eyes. This was too much.
“Maybe I could get your number and you could come over to my place. We could get stoned or whatever,” he said with a smile. This time, she could not help it. She rolled her eyes and thankfully, the ten minute bell rang. Her ordeal was over. She smiled and breathed out her relief as she looked at the man who was now taking a seat in front of her. She thought that he looked ….well, normal enough.
“Hi, I’m Mark,” he said as he sat down.
“I’m Desiree, pleasure to meet you,” she said with a smile. “Thank God you look more normal than the last guy. He just asked me to go and get high with him at his place!” she said as she took a long sip of her iced tea.
“I was about to do that. Darn!” Mark said. Desiree looked at him in horror. “I’m kidding,” he said quickly when he noticed how fast her expression had changed. Desiree laughed and drummed her fingers on the table.
“That would have been the straw that broke my back,” she said looking at him.
“Tell me about it. I just met a woman back there who had a long list of her seventeen cats,” he said as he looked at Desiree. “Please tell me you do not have cats, or dogs, or any animals at all.’ He looked at her hopefully making her laugh.
“I am not there yet,” she said.
“So, Desiree” he began as he leaned forward. She suddenly noticed that Mark was the most beautiful black man she had ever seen….after Denzel Washington. Nothing could ever, ever beat Denzel. “What do I have to know?” he asked. She smiled and took another sip of her iced tea.
“I feel like we should come to these things with some kind of recording,” she said. Mark laughed.
“I know, right?” he said. “I’ll just get the awkward part out of the way. Let’s not talk about our jobs. Let’s just talk.” He extended his hand.
Desiree nodded. Eight duds later and she finally had someone interesting to talk to. She nodded and stretched out her hand to shake his.
“Deal,” she said. She suddenly heard the ten minute warning bell again and frowned.
“Maybe we should talk later,” Mark said. She smiled and nodded. She looked at him as he walked away. Somehow, it did not feel so right. This was the first person she had actually had a conversation with, even though the conversation was just a few minutes. She needed that again.
She was still staring after Mark, trying to work out a way of how the two of them would meet after this, maybe even before the second round began, when yet another man sat down in front of her. She looked at him and almost gasped. He was the cutest nerd she had ever seen. He was actually a quite good looking nerd. There was something about the way he looked in his rimmed glasses and perfect hair. Actually, he was a bit too well groomed to be a nerd.
“Mind if I sit?” he asked looking at Desiree.
“Sure,” she said as she forced a smile. She was getting sick of the small talk. She never realized just how exhausting speed dating could be.
“Is this yours?” he asked handing her what looked like a business card. She frowned as she took the card from him. Mark Jerome. She smiled as she looked at the card.
To read the rest of this story and see other parts, click here.