Slow Burn (A Madaris Family Novel) (16 page)

Walking directly into his bedroom, he went straight to his closet to hang up his jacket, tie, and shirt. He had made it over what he’d perceived as the first hurdle, and planned to continue forward.

He glanced over at the clock on his bedroom nightstand. It was late, way past the time he was usually in bed, but tonight he was so full of energy and his body was pumping so much adrenaline through his system, he couldn’t go to bed now if he wanted to.

He might as well pull out his favorite book,
Profiles in Courage
by John F. Kennedy, and reread it for the umpteenth time. He smiled as he finished undressing. As usual, Diana had looked beautiful tonight, and at fifty-seven she still had a feminine figure any man would appreciate, which attested to the fact that she kept herself in good physical shape. And it was plenty evident in that designer pantsuit she was wearing tonight.

He remembered during a part of the play when she had laughed at the actors onstage. He had glanced over at her at the exact moment part of the stage’s lighting seemed to shine on her. Her chocolate brown skin still had that smooth, rich glow, and her makeup was flawless. Her eyebrows were arched to perfection, and just the right amount of lipstick had been applied to her lips. The diamond earrings she’d worn had brought out the brilliance in her short salt-and-pepper Afro.

The first word he always thought of when he saw Diana was “classy.” She was classy in the way she dressed, talked, and carried herself. He always felt like the proudest of men when she was by his side.

His heart tripped a beat when he remembered the exact moment he realized he no longer wanted her for a friend and that he had fallen in love with her. She had flown into D.C. to attend a Presidential dinner at the White House with him. And when he had arrived to pick her up at the Mayflower Hotel and had walked into the lobby to discover she was there waiting for him, the moment he had looked into her smiling face, it was like he’d been hit with a ton of bricks. He had stared at her for a long time, so long she had eventually asked him if he was okay.

Since that day he had tried to fight it, but it had gotten useless. Now his mind was made up. He had never pursued a woman in his life, but he was intent on pursuing this one. In the end she would be
his
lady.

His very own Lady Diana.

“I’m so nervous I can’t stand it,” Skye said as Slade took her
hand to help her out of the car. They had arrived at the home of Justin’s brother Dex and his wife, Caitlin. The couple had been kind enough to host a small dinner party in Skye’s honor to introduce her to some of the members of the Madaris family, specifically Justin’s parents and his sisters and brothers. Slade had explained that over the course of the summer she would meet the rest of his kin.

“No reason to get nervous. Consider yourself among family and friends. Everyone is anxious to meet you.”

Skye was anxious to meet them as well. Vincent had called her earlier that day to say he had arrived with his parents in Houston. The two of them had a long phone conversation in which he told her about his father’s two brothers and three sisters.

“They’re super,” Vincent had said. “And I know I can count on them at any time. I’m blessed to belong to such a wonderful family.”

She knew he was right and was proud that he had recognized just how blessed he was. She glanced down at the pantsuit she had chosen to wear as she and Slade strolled down the walkway toward the front door. “How do I look, Slade?”

He smiled. “Beautiful, but I much prefer seeing you without any clothes on.”

“Slade!”

“Okay, I’ll take that statement back if you want me to, but it’s the truth.”

She shook her head, smiling. “What am I going to do with you?”

He stopped walking, turned to face her, and took her hand in his and said, “You’ve done a lot with me over the past twenty-eight hours, but if you’re still fishing for more ideas, then—”

“Slade!”

“Just kidding.”

She knew that he really wasn’t kidding. He had told her about his healthy sexual appetite last night, and all that day he had shown her just how healthy it was. Just thinking about all they’d done had her blushing.

They’d almost gotten caught when Vincent had called. Slade had been trying to coax her into taking a shower with him and wouldn’t behave. Luckily, since Vincent had called on her cell phone, he hadn’t known she had spent the night in Slade’s condo and not her own.

“Remember you promised not to give anything away,” she thought to remind him.

“And remember I said that I wouldn’t have to. My family knows me.”

She frowned. “Well, pretend you don’t like me.”

He chuckled. “That will be hard to do when I do like you. Then there’s Vincent I have to consider. How will he feel if he thinks I don’t like his sister?”

Slade did have a point, she thought. “Well, just don’t make things too obvious, all right? I want everyone to like me.”

He lifted a brow. “And you think they won’t if they think you are involved with me?”

“They might think you’re the reason I’m here and not Vincent.”

“Trust me, they won’t think that.”

At that moment they had reached the door, and before they could ring the doorbell, the door was snatched open by a smiling Vincent. “It’s about time you guys got here,” he said, taking Skye’s hand and pulling her inside the house.

Slade chuckled as he glanced down at his watch when they entered the foyer. “Dex said seven o’clock, and according to my watch it’s exactly seven, so what’s your problem, kid?”

“I couldn’t wait to see Skye again.”

Skye knew Vincent had no idea how much his words had meant. “Well, I’m here now,” she said, reaching out and giving him a hug. “But I really didn’t expect or need all this fanfare. Your uncle and aunt really shouldn’t have.”

Vincent smiled. “I told Uncle Dex that, but he insisted.”

“And what Vincent is too kind to say,” Slade butted in to add, “is that everyone in this family knows how far to go in rattling Dex, so we let him have his way…most of the time.”

Skye lifted a brow, wondering what Slade meant by that. Before she could ask, a woman she thought was utterly beautiful came around the corner to join them in the foyer. Skye blinked, thinking this definitely couldn’t be the lady of the house since she looked so young. This had to be one of Justin’s sisters. During their conversation earlier, Vincent had told her that his uncle Dex was forty-four, and this woman didn’t look a day past thirty.

“I see our guest of honor has arrived,” the woman said, smiling up at Skye. She held out her hand. “Hello, I’m Vincent’s aunt Caitlin, and welcome to our home.”

Skye knew she had to close her mouth. But then she reopened it when she asked for clarification, “You’re married to his uncle Dex?”

The woman laughed as if she understood Skye’s confusion. “Yes, I’m married to Dex.”

It was Vincent who solved the mystery when he said, “Uncle Dex is eleven years older than Aunt Caitlin. That’s why she looks so young.”

“Hey, I don’t appreciate having my age blasted about, Vincent Madaris.”

Skye glanced up toward the boisterous voice and her eyes connected to a man with the most gorgeous set of gray eyes she’d ever seen. They were actually charcoal gray. Other than the eye coloring, she could immediately tell he was a Madaris. He was tall and handsome, and if he was forty-four, as Vincent claimed, he had to be one of the most handsome middle-aged men she’d seen in a long time. But then, she considered Justin handsome, too. Good grief! So far she hadn’t met a Madaris man who wasn’t handsome.

“Sorry about that, Uncle Dex,” Vincent said, grinning.

“And see that it doesn’t happen again,” Dex Madaris said before playfully grabbing his nephew around the neck. Dex glanced over at Skye and smiled. “Hello. I’m this bigmouth’s uncle, and I guess you’re the sister I’ve been hearing so much about.”

Skye returned the man’s smile. “Yes, I’m the one. Thanks for inviting me to your home. It’s simply beautiful.”

“Thanks, and you’re welcome.” He then smiled over at Caitlin. “And yes, this young-looking woman over here belongs to me. I met her when she was twenty-one and I was thirty-three. I tried to fight it, but it was love at first sight.”

Skye thought it was sweet that Dex would admit such a thing, but all it took was an observation of how Dex was looking at his wife to know he was still deeply in love.

She shook her head. When she’d first seen Slade and Justin, she’d thought they looked a lot alike. But now after meeting Dex, she thought Slade favored Dex even more. They shared the same height, the same skin coloring, the same bluntly strong and sensuous features. The only difference was the eye color.

“Come on, Skye. I want to introduce you to everyone,” Vincent said, grabbing her hand.

Skye found herself pulled into a huge, beautifully decorated room full of people—people she didn’t know, other than Justin and Lorren, who smiled over at her.

“Can I have everyone’s attention for a minute?” Vincent’s voice rang out over the conversations in the room. “Here she is. I want everyone to meet my sister Skye.”

Skye knew there was no way she would remember everyone’s name, but she was determined to try. She had immediately determined where Dex had gotten his eye coloring from when she met his mother. She thought Marilyn Madaris was a beautiful woman, who reminded her of Nancy Wilson, and it didn’t take long to see that Marilyn was the apple of her husband Jonathan Madaris’ eyes.

Neither did it take long for Skye to see that the older couple was everything her parents were not. Jonathan and Marilyn enjoyed being together, and it showed. Even after over forty years of marriage Skye could still see the spark in Jonathan Madaris’ eyes whenever he looked at his wife. Then there were the other two people in the room with charcoal gray eyes, who were Dex and Caitlin’s ten-year-old daughter, Jordan, and their four-year-old son, Gregory. Their seven-year-old sister, Ashley, favored Caitlin.

Then Skye had met Vincent’s other uncle, the one who was an attorney. His uncle Clayton. His wife, Syneda, was also beautiful and actually looked like a model, with her sea green eyes and mane of thick golden bronze hair that fell past her shoulders. According to Vincent she was also an attorney, and she and Clayton had a law practice in the Madaris Building. Their four-year-old daughter named Remington was a little replica of Syneda.

Then Skye met Vincent’s aunts Traci and Kattie and their husbands, Daniel and Raymond. When Traci asked if Skye would like to go shopping next week, before she could respond she had gotten pulled away by Justin, who gave her a friendly warning. “Never go shopping with Traci, I don’t care how many times she asks you.”

He hadn’t had to explain. Vincent had already told her that his aunt Traci was a bona fide shopaholic. She smiled. “Thanks, Justin. I’ll remember that.”

Dinner had been wonderful and everyone had their own “Vincent” story to share. She couldn’t help but note that true to his word, Slade had remained in the background, giving her time in the limelight with Vincent so there could not be any attention placed on them.

But still, time and time again she found her gaze seeking him out and, as if he’d known she would, he had been within her scope, and whenever their eyes would meet, he would give her a charming smile and a supportive wink.

It was during those times that her love for him intensified, because even from a distance he was letting her know that he was a man she could count on. And it was sad to think that during her entire twenty-six years she never had a man in her life who’d actually fulfilled that role.

Justin’s youngest sister, Christy, had arrived late, and she and Skye struck up a friendship immediately. Christy explained she had just come from dropping her husband off at the airport, where he was off to California on a business trip.

“I would like to invite you over for dinner tomorrow,” Marilyn Madaris said later that evening when she and Skye stood alone out on a beautiful terrace that overlooked a swimming pool. “Whenever Jonathan and I aren’t the traveling retirees, we like getting the kids and grands together for Sunday dinner. And you’re more than welcome to come.”

Marilyn then leaned closer and smiled and whispered, “And that invitation also extends to Slade, of course.”

It was then that Skye decided that it seemed that she and Slade had not fooled Marilyn Madaris. The woman was sharp and saw it all, just like Vincent had said.

“I can’t believe Caitlin is also an accountant,” Skye said when she and Slade arrived back at her condo. “Isn’t that wild?”

“Yes, it is. I think tonight went okay, don’t you?” Slade asked, placing his arms around her waist.

She turned around and smiled up at him. “It went better than okay. I really like your family, and it’s hard to believe that’s just part of them and there’s more.”

He chuckled. “Oh, trust me, there’s plenty more.” He glanced at his watch. It wasn’t eleven o’clock yet. “So whose bed will it be tonight?”

Skye frowned. “What do you mean?”

He smiled down at her. “Are we sleeping here or over at my place again?”

Skye shook her head. “You are sleeping in your bed and I’m sleeping in mine. Remember, we agreed that once I started spending time with Vincent, he was to become the focus of my attention.”

“Yes, but I thought that was for when Vincent was around. He isn’t here with us.”

“Yes, but I can’t flip back and forth like that. You’re a person who needs all of a woman’s attention, Slade, and I can’t give that to you. If I tried, sooner or later someone in your family would detect something and—”

“This is not about my family, Skye.”

“It is to me. I believe that I made a good impression on them tonight, as Vincent’s sister. Not as your lover.”

“But you can be both.”

“I won’t! It is not the proper thing to do.”

Slade paused. He saw the stubborn glint in her eyes and heard it in her voice as well. The best thing for him to do was back off, play things her way. At least let her assume he was playing things her way. Eventually she would see that when it came to a woman he wanted, there was no stopping a Madaris.

“Okay, look, I don’t want to get you upset. I just can’t cut my emotions on and off like that,” he decided to say, giving it one more try.

“And you think that I can? Even tonight I wanted to cross the room and be with you, to stand beside you each and every minute. But I couldn’t. I had to stay focused.”

He inhaled deeply. “I think you might be putting too much into this, Skye.”

“Well, I don’t. I think your aunt Marilyn suspects something already. She invited me to dinner tomorrow and said you were invited, too. But then, Vincent did tell me she was one sharp lady.”

“She had to be, raising Justin, Dex, and Clayton, especially Clayton,” Slade inclined his head to say. “He was the provincial bad boy of Houston.”

“But you do understand, Slade, don’t you? Besides, starting Monday I’ll be working for you. What would people think if they knew I was sleeping with the boss?”

“I still think you’re putting too much into this, but I’ll do things your way.”
For now
.

“Thanks, Slade.”

He lifted her chin so their eyes could meet. “Can I at least kiss you good night?”

Skye smiled brightly, glad he was seeing things her way. “Yes, you can do that.”

At first she thought it would be one of his gentle kisses, but then his tongue latched on to hers and it became a kiss that was, in her opinion, downright mentally drugging. In no time at all, he had desire thrumming through all parts of her body. No one could ignite passion within her so quickly and completely like he could.

How long the kiss lasted she wasn’t sure. All she knew was she felt a sense of loss the moment it ended. “Think of me tonight,” he whispered huskily against her lips.

“And I’m leaving my car for you to use to go to dinner at Aunt Marilyn’s place. I can use my truck.”

She lifted a surprised brow. “Aren’t you going?”

“No. My mom is big on Sunday dinners, too.” There. He was letting her see she couldn’t have it both ways. “Do you need directions?”

She shook her head. “No, I’ll use my laptop and look up the directions on MapQuest.”

“Okay then. I’ll check on you tomorrow before I leave for church. Unless you want to go to church with me. My parents would love meeting you.”