FallingforSharde_MLU (14 page)

“Oh.” She frowned, eyeing him. “But isn’t your mother...”

“White? Yes. Don’t let this deep tan fool you. I spend a lot of time in the islands, where I was born.” A smile curved his lips. “Mom’s a beautiful blonde trophy, all right. But like my father, her taste runs to lovers with darker skin tones.”

“Oh.” She blinked. “Both of them?”

He laughed at the dismay she couldn’t keep out of her voice. “Yes, both of them. They are both in long-term relationships with their island lovers and I have two younger biracial siblings to prove it.”

“Oh?”

“One from each parent.”

She parted her lips.

He shook his head. “If you say oh again, I’ll be forced to kiss you into saying something else.”

She blushed, then laughed.

He smiled. “That’s better.” He tilted his head. “Are you sure you won’t come dancing with me?”

She sighed. “I would love to go dancing with you, but I don’t dare.”

He reached across the table to touch her hand. “You don’t need to be afraid of me, honey. Nothing will happen between us that you don’t want.”

Normally, having a man call her honey on a first date would annoy her. But the endearment, spoken in that low, deep voice of his with just the hint of a southern drawl conjured up lustful thoughts of long nights of endless fucking of both her entrances. First date? That assumed there would be other dates. She swallowed slowly. “That’s what I’m afraid of–wanting something to happen.”

“Why?”

“I can’t do that to him. Not with you. Not after Vanessa.”

“Look, let’s clear the air. I didn’t want nor did I chase his woman.”

“You took her from him.”

“The hell I did! I told you she is not my type. She came to me and offered to get information to help me outbid him.”

“What?!”

He shook his head. “Wait a minute. Don’t get the wrong idea. She offered, but I did not accept. I told her to take her faithless ass out of my office and never spoke to her again.”

She stared at him.

He stared back. “We won that bid fair and square, Sharde. In business, I’m not going to make any apologies for not taking any prisoners, but I do not cheat. We earned that contract fair and square. I hope you believe that.”

“I don’t know why I should, but I do.”

He smiled. “I’m glad to hear it. As for her, if he can’t see she did him a favor by walking out on him, he’s dumber than I thought.”

“He’s very intelligent.”

“Then how do you explain his falling for her or his allowing you get away from him? Such asinine behavior qualifies as dumb in my book.”

“Love is blind.”

“Maybe so, but does it have to be dumb as well?”

She stared at him and then laughed. As she did, she felt much of the tension she’d been feeling for so long ease. She sat back in her seat. “You are certainly good for a woman’s ego.”

“I wouldn’t have thought your ego needed any help.”

It did when she loved a man who didn’t love her. “I think I’m going to like you far more than I should.”

“I have that effect on intelligent, discriminating women.” He grinned at her. “So. Come dancing with me? Before you say no I promise I won’t grind against you and at the end of the night I will take you home and leave you there alone. No pressure. I just want to dance with you. So what do you say?”

* * * * *

“Do you want to talk about it... her... them?”

Jefferson paced the length of his rec room, raking his hands through his hair. A knot of rage tightened in his gut as he briefly thought of Sharde with Frazier. The two of them might even now be in bed together. She might be allowing Frazier to do things to and with her that she had not allowed him to do.

“I should have punched his damned lights out!”

“So you want to talk about him?”

He swung around and stared at Ben, who sprawled in one of the two chairs in front of the plasma TV. “No. If I talk about it, I swear I’ll wring his damned neck. If he touches her...”

“It will be because it’s what she wants.”

He swallowed hard to dislodge the lump in his throat. He shook his head. “She won’t sleep with him.”

“You sound very sure of that.”

“I am. She may be angry with me but we’ve been friends almost since the moment we met. She wouldn’t do that to me. I know she wouldn’t.”

“Even if she thought you’d betrayed her with Sally Bimbo?”

“Even then.”

“Okay. So you know she won’t betray any company secrets and you know she won’t sleep with him. Why are you so upset?”

“Because she’s my woman and she has no damn business seeing him or anyone else!” He walked over to his chair and sank down into it. “I miss her. Damn, I’ve been a fool. I thought I wasn’t ready for commitment with her because I told her it was just physical between us.I mean I knew I cared about her on a personal level.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“Win her back.”

“Ready to do what you need to do?”

“It’s not that simple. She–”

Ben bolted to his feet. “Look, Jeff, if you’re not going to lose her, you’d better get your ass with the program. I’m thinking Frazier would love to snatch her right out of your grasp. If that’s what you want to happen, keep thinking you have time to play games.”

He sighed. “I know, but I don’t think she’s ready to even talk to me, let alone forgive me.”

He shrugged. “You could be right. Just don’t wait too long or she may do something with Frazier you’ll both regret.”

“If he touches her, I swear, I’ll–”

“Don’t give him the chance. Take care of business.”

* * * * *

Two days later, Sharde met Darbi for lunch at the mall near All Faiths. Picking at her salad, she told Darbi of her date with Clayton Frazier.

“So he’s... what was he like?”

She shook her head. “He is the most gorgeous hunk I’ve ever seen. Oh, lord, Darbi when he kissed me, I swear I nearly had a heart attack. He reeks of sex appeal. You look in his eyes and you just want to rip off your clothes and let him fuck you until your pussy is dry and numb and then you’d let him do it all over again.”

“So why did you refuse to see him again?”

“I couldn’t do that to Jeff.”

“Still in love with him?”

“Yes. Clayton is hot, but my feelings for Jeff go beyond the physical.” She sighed. “How is he?”

“Miserable. You know he broke down and asked me about you.”

“And you told him?”

Darbi shrugged. “I wanted to tell him I wasn’t going to discuss you, but he looked so hungry for information, I told him you were fine. So how are you?”

“In the last few days, I’ve been kissed by two of the most attractive men in the city.” Recalling her date with Clayton, she smiled. “Of course I’m fine.”

“You have a faraway look in your eyes. What are you thinking of?”

“Dancing with Clayton,” she admitted. “Oh, Darbi, girl, it ought to be against the law for any one man to be so damned sexy. While we danced all I could think of was hot monkey sex. One minute we were slow dancing and I was longing for Jeff, the next, I looked in Clayton’s eyes and... I was sooo tempted to spend the night with him.”

“To get back at Jefferson?”

“No! For the pleasure of having him fuck me! I’m telling you, Darbi, he is hot.”

“So you’ve replaced fantasies of Jefferson with those of Frazier?”

“No!” Her cheeks burned. “I know it might sound like that, but no. My attraction to Clayton was powerful, but strictly physical. I’m in love with Jefferson
and
sexually attracted to him.”

“I’m glad to hear that because I don’t think he could recover if you had an affair with Frazier.”

She frowned. “I’m not having an affair with him! We had one date. Period. At the end of the night, he went home...” She grinned. “After kissing me until my toes curled. I think there was actually smoke pouring out the top of my head.”

Darbi tilted her head. “If you’re not going to end up in Frazier’s bed, I’m thinking you’d better forgive Jefferson pronto and put you both out of your misery.”

She shook her head. “I want to, but I can’t allow myself to be hurt anymore. I need more than he’s willing to give me.”

“Are you sure that’s still true? He’s been so miserable since you left. He might have had time to change his mind.”

“Maybe.” She moistened her lips. “Now that you’re working so closely with him... how do you two get along?”

Darbi smiled. “Strictly like a boss and an employee. We don’t do lunch and we have no shared outside interests. And we haven’t shared a single smooch. I haven’t spent a single Sunday watching a ball game with him and I don’t plan to. Not that he’d want me to. Don’t worry, Sharde, we have zero personal interest in each other.”

She laughed, shaking her head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t even have asked that. It’s just that you’re so beautiful and he’s so handsome and horny.”

“Maybe so, but he’s not horny for me. And I’m not interested in him.”

“Why not?”

She shrugged. “Granted, he is handsome and he can be charming, but he just doesn’t do anything for me. And I am very sure I don’t do anything for him. He doesn’t look like the kind of man who could appreciate a full-figured woman.”

Sharde grimaced. “I’m not exactly a size six.”

“No, but you’re not full-figured either. But I’m thinking he’s really missing you. Why don’t you give him a call and see if you can work things out?”

“He’s the one who strayed after our first fight. If he wants me enough, he’s going to have to be willing to crawl a little.”

“And if he’s not?”

She shrugged. “Then things will stay as they are and I will continue with my life without him. It’s not the way I want it, but I can do it, if I have to.”

“And Frazier? Would you date him?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know.” She tilted her head. “If not for the past hostility between the two of them, I’d definitely go out with him.”

“If you’re not going to end up in bed with Frazier, I think you’d better not see him again.”

“I’m not going to sleep with him!”

“You wouldn’t sound so certain if you could see your face when you’re talking about how hot he is.”

“He is hot, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to bed with him. What about you? I know things have been difficult since the divorce and the failed relationships, but you deserve to be happy too.”

“I know and I will... but right now I just want to concentrate on me without the complication of a man in my life.”

Sharde sighed. That Martin and the two jerks that followed him had a lot to answer for. “You know who would rock your world big time?”

“Who?”

“Clayton.”

“As in Frazier?”

“Yes.”

“What makes you think he’d be interested in giving me what I need?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I just know the two of you would make one beautiful couple. You’re gorgeous and he’s beyond handsome. And Darbi, he likes black women.”

“Does he?”

She nodded. “He said it’s an old southern tradition he’s been following since high school.”

“So he likes black women for what? For sex or for marriage?”

“I don’t know.” She frowned. After all, both his parents preferred black lovers, but were still married to each other. “I’ll ask him.”

“You’re seeing him again?”

“He said he’d ask me again and he’s very persistent. It’s not easy to say no to him.”

“If you’re not going to end up in bed with him, you’d better steer clear of him. But his preference in a woman he wants to marry doesn’t really matter anyway. I’m fine for now. Granted I’m a little horny, but I’ll be all right. You’re the one I’m worried about.”

“Don’t. I’ll be all right too with or without Jefferson.”

A week later when Clayton called, she met him at her favorite seafood restaurant. They discussed movies, sports, and politics; she found herself liking him even more. When he asked her to have dinner with him two nights later, she reluctantly refused.

“Look, honey, I know you’re in love with Calder and I’m not looking to get in your bed,” he told her, as they stood by her car in the parking lot.

“Aren’t you? Why else would you be pursuing me?”

He frowned. “Look, at the risk of sounding vain, I’ll tell you that I have never met a woman I wanted that I didn’t get. Never. If I wanted you in my bed, you’ll end up there sooner or later.”

Although she shook her head, she suspected he was right. “So you don’t want me in your bed. Charming, Clayton.”

He laughed and shook his head. “That came out all wrong. Let me rephrase that. If I were hell-bent on going to bed with you and that was my primary interest in you, you’d end up in my bed.”

“Then what are you looking for? What do you want from me?”

“Don’t misunderstand, honey. If you weren’t so in love with bonehead, I’d be delighted to make love to you, but I’ve accepted the limitations you’ve placed on our relationship.” He shrugged. “Can’t we just be friends?”

“Jefferson wouldn’t like–”

“Really? Does he choose your friends for you?”

She shook her head. “I can’t believe I was about to say that. Of course he doesn’t choose my friends.”

“Good. Because sometimes I just want feminine company without...” He paused. “After my other remark this is really going to sound vain beyond words, but, hell, that’s how it is. I get tired of women coming onto me. Sometimes I just want to be with a woman without any sexual connotation.” He grinned. “Granted that doesn’t happen often, but when it does... may I call you?”

She stared up at him, surprised at how at ease she felt with him. “I do like you.”

“I like you. So. And anytime you want to do something about our mutual like, I’d be happy to oblige.”

She sighed. “Please don’t tempt me.”

He laughed. “Until then we’ll be friends.” He extended his hand. “Shake on it?”

When she placed her hand in his, he bent his head and brushed his lips against her cheek. “And if you need a male perspective or want someone to give Calder a kick in his dumb ass to get him moving in the right direction, I’ll be at your disposal, honey.”

She laughed and got in her car. “You keep your big feet on the ground. I like his ass just as it is.”