Marrying the Millionaire (29 page)

Tilting her head and glowing on the
inside, Kayla’s heart softened like butter. Yes, he’d awaken her,
but she surely didn’t mind waking up to a fine man like him working
hard on her porch. Because she’d been so broke, she put off having
her porch fixed.

As he hammered at the wooden planks,
droplets of sweat dripped from his forehead. Hunched over, the
strong, glistening muscles in his back flexed. His hard biceps
bulged, sheening with perspiration. Kayla had no idea that Richmond
was such a handyman.

Wanting to wrap her arms around his
shoulders and tell him how sorry she was, her feet seemed glued to
the floor. She’d slept restless last night. Had tossed and turned
all through the night. Storming out on him, her behavior was
immature. “Good morning. I’m surprised to see you.”

“
Oh yeah,” he said, keeping
his head down while steadily hammering. “I hope it’s a pleasant
surprise.”

Shifting her weight, she folded her
arms beneath her breasts. Of course, seeing him was a pleasant
surprise. She loved him. She just wished he loved her, too. “Thanks
for replacing the wood on the porch.”

When Richmond lifted his
head to meet her gaze, a bead of sweat drizzled down over his eye.
He blinked. “When I’m done with the porch, I’m going to paint the
house. I’ll pick up the paint from Lowe’s later on today. Since
you’re not moving in with me, I might as well fix up your home.
Make sure you’re living good, like every queen should.”
I’m a queen?
He dragged
his arm over his forehead, wiping the sweat off, then
stood.

Richmond’s helping out was such a big
help, but the last thing she wanted was for him to do it because he
felt sorry for her. Like she was a charity case or something. “I
appreciate what you’re doing, but you really don’t have to do all
of this, Richmond.”

The early morning sun glowed brightly
on his face. “I know I don’t, but I want to,” he said, squinting
against the sun. “Your fence needs repairing, too. Hopefully, I’ll
get to that by the end of next week.” Next week? So he planned on
sticking around? Even after the way she’d stormed out of his house
last night, he wanted to continue a relationship with her? “May I
get a glass of water, please?”

“
Yes. I’m sorry.” Where
were her manners? She’d been so shocked by him showing up out of
the blue like this, she’d forgotten to ask him if he wanted to come
inside. She pushed open the screen door and stepped to the side.
“Please come in.”

Richmond stepped over the threshold
and paused. He stared at her face. Longing enlightened his facial
features as he held her gaze. Manly musky scents flowing from his
pores streamed up her nose.

He cleared his throat. “You
left me last night. Don’t ever walk out on me again. If you do, I’m
going to put you over my lap and spank your little sweet ass ‘til
it turns bright red and you beg me to stop.”
A spanking from him would actually be a turn on.
Dipping his head, he clutched her shoulders
harder than usual. “Promise you’ll never leave me like that again,
Kay?”

“
I pro—”

Richmond’s mouth covered hers before
she get her answer out. His tongue swirled around inside her early
morning breath as if it didn’t bother that she hadn’t brushed her
teeth. Well, it may not have bothered him, but it sure as heck
bothered her.

Pinning her between the door and his
sweaty, bare chest, his shaft grew tough and rigid on her stomach.
Her whole body heated like an oven. “Where’s CJ?” he asked,
releasing her top lip from his clenched teeth.

“
Asleep in his
bedroom.”

He flattened a palm on the door above
her head, crooked a finger to her chin, and kept his lips gently on
hers. Deep yearning crept up inside her. Her nipples curled tight
beneath her robe. “I’m ready to tell you how I feel about you,
Kay.” The hard ball in his thick neck glided up and down. He
continued. “Being with you makes me feel alive. Vibrant. Whenever
you decide to stay at your own home at night, I long for your warm
body to be in my bed next to me instead. Your face is the first
thing I want to see when I awake in the morning, and the last thing
I want to see before I close my eyes at night.”

He grabbed her hand, placing it over
his heart. His strong, beating heart shook her flat palm. “My heart
is beating like drums inside my chest, and it’s because I love you,
Kay.”

Kayla’s heart whirred. Her mood shot
to buoyancy. Blinking at the tears on her lashes, a soft sob
spilled from her pursed lips. “I thought I’d never hear you say
those words. I love you, too, Richmond.

He jerked her off her feet and kicked
the door closed with the heel of his shoe. Stalking down the
hallway with her cradled in his arms, he stated huskily, “I’m still
spanking your ass for leaving me last night. You’re not getting
away with storming out on me.”

Twisting her arms around his neck,
Kayla’s mouth smiled. “You can spank me all you want.”

“
You think this is a
laughing matter, I see. Let’s see how funny you think it is when my
hard hand smacks your rear.” Richmond entered the bed with her
snickering in his arms. He closed the bedroom door, locked it, then
went and stood over the bed.

Lowering her to her feet, dark desire
formed on his rugged, unshaven face. Rounding Kayla, he sat at the
foot of the bed and turned her to face him. Glaring up at her, he
loosened the knot on her robe and removed it.

Richmond hiked her nightgown up to her
hips to find she wasn’t wearing any panties. His lips pulled into a
sexy grin. “Perfect.” Gripping her hips, he laid her across his
lap, raised his hand high in the air, and paused.

Anticipating the hard smack
on her rear, Kayla squeezed her butt cheeks as she glanced over her
shoulder up at his hand. As Richmond’s hand came crushing down on
her rear, she winced in pleasure.
Spank.
Spank. Spank.

Writhing in his lap, Kayla’s laughter
filled the room. Her butt warmed from the tender, loving
licks.

“
You think it’s funny,
huh?” He hefted her in his arms, and in one quick movement he’d
placed her on her back on the mattress. Hovering over her, he
lowered the zipper on his jeans and fisted his erection. Right
before her eyes, the head of his erection popped from the circle of
his grip. Water pooled inside her mouth like a river. He shook his
rod at her, then put the head at her moist opening. “See if you’ll
be able to laugh with all this buried deep inside you.” Groaning,
he pushed. Rocking his hips back, he pushed again. And again.
Sliding to her creamy bottom, his member throbbed.

As Richmond and Kayla lay
in the bed making up, making sweet, tender love, the red-bellied
woodpecker arrived and started pecking its beak on the glass
window.
All this
pecking
, Kayla thought, spreading her legs
wider, then wrapping them around Richmond’s waist.

Appreciating the way he’d taken the
initiative to make up with her, her heated sex sucked him harder
and exploded. Cumming on his erection, Richmond’s thrusts
quickened. The muscles in his face hardened, and she could tell he
was clenching his teeth. Could tell his orgasm was puddled at the
tip of his member.

Driving into her, he captured her
mouth. Bucking on his stem, their kiss deepened. Grunting, he broke
their kiss and flipped her to her stomach. As she lay with the side
of her face to the mattress, he reentered her from behind. “I love
you, Kay.”

RICHMOND’S HEART SWELLED WITH DEEP
love as he drove inside Kay’s slick womb from behind. Holding on to
her butt cheeks, driving long and slow, his eyes roved over her
luscious, curvy figure, which he knew he’d never tire
of.

Hardening more, he twirled.
His hard jewels tingled and boiled with cum.
I love everything about you, Kay.
From her sweet personality, to her light giggles, to her
luscious body, he loved everything about the woman penned beneath
him. Letting him make love to her. Allowing him to pleasure her
body the best he knew how.

Fluid made its way up to his tip,
rattling it. Stroking her tenderly, Kay moaned. Her silky heat
wrapped around him and pulled. Grunting, his lungs constricted and
expanded inside his chest. He brought his erection all the way out,
leaving just the head in, then slammed into her. Sperm charged from
his eye and flew inside her.

Jagged breaths bounded from his mouth
as he dropped to the mattress beside her. Lifting Kay into his arms
so he could feel her pretty face resting against his chest, he
kissed her cheek on her way up. Holding her in the crook of his arm
while stroking her tangled hair, she gazed up at him.

“
I would love to wake up to
you every morning like this.”

“
I’d like that, too. I’ve
got an idea.” Kayla’s eyes brightened. “How about you move in here
with me?”

Moving into her house with
her was out of the question. A man should provide a place for his
woman to stay, not the other way around. There was no way in hell
he was going to move in here with her and she paid the rent.
Oh, hell no.

“
I understand why you don’t
want to move into the house I shared with Salina, but what about my
house on the ocean? Salina and I never lived there. It’s always
been my man cave. With a little help from an interior decorator, I
think it’d be suitable for the four of us.” Water streamed from
Kayla’s eyes as she glanced up at him. “Okay. We don’t have to move
in there either. I’ll build you your own house—”

“
I’d love to move in the
house on the beach. I’d be like a dream come true for me. And CJ
and Isabelle would absolutely love it.”

“
Great. Then it’s settled.
We’ll search for an interior decorator today and start making plans
to move in as soon as the renovations are done. We’re going to have
a good life together, Kay. I’m going to make certain of
it.”

“
How do you feel about
getting remarried one day?” she asked tersely.

Richmond’s heart split. Whoa! Put on
the fucking brakes. Just because he wanted his Kay to move in with
him didn’t mean he wanted to ever get married again. But then
again, Kay was definitely deserving of a good man. A great
husband.

Call him selfish, but right now he
felt as if he never wanted to tie the knot. He could, however, see
him and Kay living together as partners for the rest of his life.
Unsure of how to answer her question, he caressed her cheek with
the pad of his thumb. “To be completely honest with you, Kay, I
have no desire to get married again. Been there, done that. Outside
of marriage, I am willing to give you the very best of
me.”

Disinterment dulled her eyes, breaking
his heart. “Thanks for being honest,” she said, lowering her head
to his chest, then drifting to sleep.

Although Kay and CJ were moving in
with him, he still planned on fixing up her own home, just in case
she wanted to sell it or rent it out.

Later on that day, as he’d promised,
Richmond had gone to Lowe’s and purchased gallons of grey paint so
he could paint Kay’s house. While there, he’d also purchased a new
fence, which he’d scheduled to have completed by the end of the
week. After he fixed up the outside of the house, he was going to
fix up the inside of her house.

Between operating the Equestrian,
renovating two homes, raising two children, finding time to spend
with his Kay, and bringing Salina’s killer—Jason—to justice,
Richmond Spaulding knew he was going to be one busy man. And he
looked forward to doing it all.

ISABELLE’S FIFTH BIRTHDAY PARTY HAD a
huge turnout. Starting at the foot of Richmond’s driveway, cars
lined Spaulding Drive for at least a mile down the road on either
side. Beneath the huge tent placed in the front yard, children
skated on fake ice panels to the songs from “Frozen”. Pictures of
the two princesses, Elsa and Anna, centered high on the inside of
the light blue tent. Fake icicles hung from the ceiling. Inflatable
snowmen had been placed sporadically on the outside of the manmade
skating arena.

Kayla stood in the corner of the tent,
happily watching the children pretend like they were ice skating.
Twiddling her thumbs, a warm feeling rolled over her. Isabelle had
screamed when she’d seen what she’d come up with for her birthday
party. To her liking, everything had turned out as
planned.