The Kwanzaa Brunch, A Holiday Novella: The Holiday Shorts

By DL White

A fated brunch and an unlikely Cupid

Sienna Charles is tired of the same old, same old. Same old job, same old city, same old friends. Same old men. Just when she's relegated herself to living Groundhog's Day, romance edition, Booker Lasalle swaggers into her life, courtesy an open position at Precision Software. He's new- to the company, to the city and, most importantly, to her. ?Booker Lasalle is making a new life for himself. He relocated to an Atlanta suburb, leaving a stressful job and an ex-wife behind for a great job with growth potential. He's turning over a new leaf- no more falling for the first pretty woman that crosses his path? like the witty, gorgeous, and obviously interested analyst at Precision. Everything about her tempts Booker to throw that "new leaf" plan out of the window.

• Language: English
• Publisher: DL White
• Release date: Oct 11, 2020
• ISBN: 9781735968124

DL White

DL White is an Atlanta based author of adult fiction, women's fiction and contemporary romance. She lives in Atlanta, GA and s an avid reader that devours books. She blogs her thoughts on books and writing at Books by DL White.com. 

Book preview

The Kwanzaa Brunch

THE KWANZAA BRUNCH

DL WHITE

Books by DL White

INTRODUCTION

A fated brunch and an unlikely Cupid…

Sienna Charles is tired of the same old, same old. Same old job, same old city, same old friends. Same old men. Just when she’s relegated herself to living Groundhog’s Day romance edition, Booker LaSalle swaggers into her life, courtesy of an open position at Precision Software. He’s new — to the company, to the city and, most importantly, to her.

Booker LaSalle is making a new life for himself. He relocated to an Atlanta suburb, leaving a stressful job and an ex-wife behind for a great job with growth potential. He’s turning over a new leaf — no more falling for the first pretty woman that crosses his path… like the witty, gorgeous and obviously interested analyst at Precision. Everything about her tempts Booker to throw that new leaf plan out of the window.

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Please note that if you have not read Unexpected, a holiday short, this book will spoil the ending for you! Pick it up HERE.

CONTENTS

Author’s Note

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

About the Author

Also by DL White

Have you met Will & Saidah?

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Hello to my new and seasoned readers! It’s a joy to be bringing a book to you this month! It took every ounce of fight, but I finally have my holiday short for 2019! She almost didn’t happen, but I hope you adore Sienna and Booker because these two would. not. die.

A note that if you haven’t read Unexpected, this story is going to spoil it for you! If you care about that sort of thing, go back and read it first. Meet Anthony and Faith and more importantly, Will and Saidah. (And since I get questions about how to pronounce her name, it’s SAY-DAH or SAH EEH DAH. Either way works.)

Forge ahead if you don’t mind, but you have been warned if you wanted to read the happy ending for yourself!

It is my deep wish that everyone has a pleasant, peaceful, happy end to the year and that plans for a productive 2020 are underway. I honestly have no idea what’s coming from Books by DL White. It’ll be some hotness, though, so BRING IT ON.

Please enjoy this tongue in cheek, light Kwanzaa romance. As always, if you loved it, drop a good word.

Merry Chrismahanukwanzaakah!

DL White

1

Sienna

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Beee-boop. Beee-boop. Beee-boop. Beee-boop.

Aggressive lyrics and hard, driving beats from Complex Magazine’s year end hip hop round up blasted through my headphones while I glared at the blinking, warbling object perched on the corner of my desk. My office line had been ringing nonstop for the past half hour.

I rarely picked up the phone, a well-known fact at Precision Software. Sales analysts were support staff, not customer facing, and the staff I supported would rather email or leave a voicemail. If they wanted to chat — which was rare, and that was fine — they knew how to find my office.

Anthony Thomas, lead sales consultant with the biggest customers and most complicated account profile, got great joy out of doing the opposite. He’d rather call than email and would keep calling until I picked up. I only put up with him because his wife was one of my best friends.

And because she was a chef. Not a person who likes to cook or that messes around in the kitchen. Faith was Le Cordon Bleu-Paris trained, and I was a big fan of a well-cooked meal. I could count the curves Faith had put on my hips since our college days.

Beee-boop. The phone lit up again like Christmas.

I seethed, punching the button to open up the line. No, I barked, yanking off my headphones and slipping the telephone headset over my ear. I maneuvered the microphone, so it was in front of my mouth, the better to snap at him about blowing up my phone.

Anthony wasn’t discouraged, as this was the standard Sienna Charles greeting. You don’t even know what I’m calling about.

"It doesn’t matter what you’re calling about. Did you forget where my office is? Or what that interoffice chat bubble means on your desktop? Or how email works? I’m busy."

Anthony laughed, his cackles climbing to that pitch only dogs could hear. You’re so funny when you try to be hard, Sienna. For real, though. Are you coming down to—

"Definitely no. Make that hell no."

Come on. You know she does it to be nice.

Do I look like a person who cares about that woman being nice? I fell for the bullshit last year and frankly, you’re still on punishment because you didn’t warn me about her.

Her was Zoraya Mason, the new CEO of Precision Software. She took over the company a year ago, after her father, Ezra, stepped down because of health problems. She brought her shiny new MBA and modern business strategies to Precision and implemented a host of changes, one of which was a Diversity and Inclusion Committee. While I applauded the observance of cultural and religious holidays represented by the staff, our new chief executive was overly eager to be one of the gang.

She wanted everyone, from the Vice President to the janitor to call her Zoraya, or Zo. She’d had her title removed from the website, her nameplate and her business cards. Zoraya loved employee gatherings and insisted on bringing a dish to contribute to the table.

But wherever her Black Girl Magic shone, it wasn’t at the stove. Or the oven. Not even the refrigerator. The woman could not cook.

But she really wanted to and always tried. Trying not to hurt her feelings about it stressed me out.

Zo has every department breathing down my neck right now. Her roasted goose frappe or whatever the hell she brought in for this fake woke Kwanzaa Brunch ain’t it, Chief.

Anthony laughed again. "Hey, don’t hold back. Tell us how you