Slow Seduction (14 page)

He finished as Jenisha pulled up in his drive way. He hoped Robin wouldn’t do anything to set her off. He didn’t want anything to spoil the night or amazing morning they had shared.

“Okay, I’ll see you later,” Robin rushed across the grass, making eye contact with Jenisha as she got out of her car. She hurried to her car, got in and drove off.

“What was she doing here,” Jenisha asked, standing on the porch next to him.

“Oh, she dropped off some papers that Principal Kimball wanted me to look at,” he answered, waving the envelope under her nose.

“Isn’t it awful early for that, baby?” Jenisha asked, taking it from him.

He shrugged his shoulders and pushed the thought of Robin and Principal Kimball to the back of his mind as he noticed Jenisha’s outfit. “Principal Kimball is a strange man.”

Moving her jacket to the side, Clinton admired the tight, white t-shirt covering Jenisha full breasts. “I love this shirt,” he murmured, brushing a finger over her nipples. Jenisha gasped at his boldness.

Slapping his hand away, she said, “Clinton, we are outside. Don’t do that.” Jenisha glanced around at the other houses on either side of the street. “Your neighbors will see us.”

“I can’t resist touching your body. Don’t blame me.” Reaching out he pulled her to him for a quick kiss. Jenisha melted against him, all the fight gone from her body.

They stood in the embrace for about five minutes. Slowly, Jenisha eased away from him. “Are we going to miss our flight?”

Sighing, Clinton took Jenisha by the hand and took her back into his house. “Have a seat,” he said, pointing to the couch. “I need to pack a different overnight bag.” He didn’t wait for an answer as he left Jenisha alone in his living room.

Jenisha tossed her purse on the couch. She looked around the rental home. The only thing that seemed like him was the school plans spread out on a table by the kitchen. Remembering the email from Principal Kimball, she took it out of her purse laid it on top of the envelope Clinton tossed on the desk before going to his bedroom.

She didn’t like Robin around Clinton. Robin had been over here for all the wrong reasons. Clinton just didn’t realize it. “Are you ready, sweetheart?”

Jenisha turned around to find Clinton standing behind her wearing a pair of slacks with a green shirt that matched the color of his eyes. He looked lip-licking delicious. “You look very sexy,” she said. “Am I going to have to fight the flight attendants for your attention,” she said jokingly.

Clinton chuckled at her innocent comment. “No,” he answered honestly. Grinning, Jenisha went out the door as Clinton locked it behind them.

Hours later, Jenisha sat at the dinner table angrier than she had ever been in her whole life. Why Clinton didn’t tell her on the flight that she would be having dinner with his father? she thought. Lance Campbell was a very intimidating man.

For the longest time, he just sat there looking at her. She wondered what the problem was. Then he told Clinton he needed help in the kitchen and that’s where Clinton still was.

“Clinton, is this the same Jenisha you mentioned over a year ago?” Lance Campbell asked.

“Yes, Dad, it is,” Clinton admitted, wondering where his father was going with the conversation. His father wasn’t going to pull the same thing on him that he did Hayward about True.

“She seems a little quiet for you,” Lance commented, glancing back at the closed kitchen door. “Are you sure she’s the one?”

Folding his arms across his chest, Clinton prepared himself for a battle. “I love her more than anything.”

Lance snickered at the imposing sight his son made then reached out and patted his son on the shoulder. “I can see the love between the two of you. I guess I’m getting another daughter in-law,” he said with a grin. “Your mother would be so happy right now. You know she worried about you the most.”

“I know she did,” Clinton sighed, uncrossing his arms. Sometimes it still hurt that his mother was dead.

“She never wanted her boys to be alone,” his father confessed to him, taking his hand off his shoulder.

“I still miss her, Dad.”

“So do I, Son.” Lance muttered. “Well, w better go back before Jenisha gets more nervous than she already is.”

Clinton grabbed the slices of pie off the table and waited while his father grabbed the tray with the three cups of almond roasted coffee on it. They had been drinking the stuff ever since True introduced them to it.

Jenisha gave Clinton a small smile as he headed back toward the table. Clinton sat down with his slice of pie and smiled back at her. She loved how the corners of his eyes wrinkled when he smiled, but she would never tell him that. It was her little pleasure secret.

“Sweetheart, are you sure you don’t want a piece?” he asked, cutting into the pecan pie.

“No, I’m fine.” Crossing her legs underneath the table, she looked around the beautiful dining room and tried to ignore the fact that Clinton’s father was staring at her.

Lance Campbell watched Jenisha glance around the room and avoid his glaze. He sensed an inner strength in her that he liked, but he wondered if she knew how use it. But just like Hayward, Clinton had found a gorgeous woman to fall in love with. However, that’s were the comparison ended. He noticed Jenisha was much quieter than his daughter-in-law was.

She seemed uncomfortable inside the huge house. He needed to see if she would survive in this blunt and honest family. “Jenisha, how long have you been dating my son?”

Jenisha turned her large dark eyes on him, “For about two weeks now,” she answered.

“Has my son been a good boyfriend so far?” he continued.

“Yes, Mr. Campbell,” Jenisha replied with a warm smile.

Clinton sat in silence while his father questioned Jenisha and hoped he didn’t make a mistake bringing her here with him. He knew Jenisha was strong, but she didn’t know if she could handle an interrogation from his father. He crossed his fingers and waited as his father continued his conversation with Jenisha.

“Clinton told me you were a second grade teacher. Do you have any plans to do something else later on?”

Lance could tell that Jenisha was taken aback by his question by the way she leaned back in her seat.

“What exactly do you mean by that?” she asked.

“Well, teachers don’t make a lot of money, so I was just wondering if you were dating my son for his money?”

Jenisha flinched in her chair as if he had slapped her, and he knew that he had made a mistake the second Clinton jumped up from his seat.

“Damn it, Dad, why in the hell would you ask her that?” he roared.

Lance stood up from the table, looking at his son determined to see if Jenisha’s shock routine was just an act. “You have dated a lot of women who just wanted a little extra money. Why should I think Jenisha is any different?”

Jenisha’s small hand touched his son on the arm, and he watched the tension ease from Clinton’s body at the simple caress. “Please don’t be upset with your father. He had a right to ask that question.”

“No, Mr. Campbell, I’m not dating Clinton for his money,” she muttered, answering his question. “I’m dating your son because I find him funny, caring, attractive and very sexy. I’ve dated men, but Clinton is the only who one has touched my heart.”

She took a small breath and then continued. “I’m sorry if you don’t like me, but it’s not going to stop me from dating your son. The only person who can do that is him.”

Lance Campbell walked around the table and stood front of Jenisha. “Would you please stand up,” he asked. Jenisha rose out of her seat to stand in front of the older man and wondered what was about to happen.

“Dad, what are you doing?” Clinton asked worriedly.

“Son, just sit down and be quiet,” Lance ordered without looking at his eldest child.

Clinton sat back down in his chair, watching his father closely. No matter how much he loved his father, he wasn’t going to let him hurt his Jenisha. Taking a deep breath, he sat back and waited to see what was going to pan out.

Stretching his arms, Lance wrapped them around Jenisha for a hug and whispered in her ear, “I’m going to love having you as a member of this family.”

Jenisha smiled at Clinton over his father’s shoulder. Lance hugged her a few seconds longer then went back to his seat. She retook her seat and glanced over at Clinton.

“I’m glad you are made of stronger stuff than Clinton’s other girlfriends. They would have run from the table in tears. I respect you so much for standing up to me.”

Clinton gave his father a disapproving look, “Are you saying that you were testing Jenisha?”

“Yes, I had to see how tough she was and if she could handle my directness. We both know how opinionated I can be sometimes,” Lance said, drawing Jenisha’s attention back to him. “I don’t want you to marry a weak woman. You need someone as passionate and stubborn as you are about a subject. There’s nothing better than having a fight and then later enjoying the make up sex.”

Jenisha laughed at Clinton’s father. Lance Campbell was a very blunt man. He called it as he saw it. She found that side of him very charming. He didn’t believe in pretense. He commanded attention when he walked into a room. She could tell Clinton was more like his father than Hayward. Clinton loved being the man and protecting the woman. He wanted to be the provider. She was so amazed at how well she had come to understand the handsome and brilliant man sitting beside her. She laid her hand on the top of his on the table. Opening his hand, Clinton wrapped his fingers around hers tenderly.

Clinton’s heart swelled with love at Jenisha’s unspoken approval of his family. He couldn’t wait until they got back to his house. He wanted to make love to her in every room because soon his home would be their home. He knew without a doubt that he would propose to her.

“Baby, are you ready to leave,” Clinton stood up to pull out Jenisha’s chair.

“Yes, if you are,” she remarked. “It was very nice to meet you Mr. Campbell.”

Lance looked at the younger woman and smiled. “You are going to be part of the family. You can call me Lance.” Jenisha didn’t say a word. She just looked at him and smiled.

Clinton grabbed Jenisha’s hand and led her to the front door so his father wouldn’t say anything more. He hadn’t even discussed his decision with Hayward yet. He need some help with this one. Jenisha had been the only woman in his life that he wanted to make his wife. All the others never seemed good enough for the honor. After hugging his father goodbye at the front door, Clinton walked Jenisha to the car and helped her in then got in on his side. After they were secure he took off for his house.

“Your father is so different from mine,” Jenisha said.

“In what way?” he asked.

“My father would have been very cordial to you over dinner and soon as you left he would have summoned me into the den, drilling me with questions, making sure you just weren’t after good sex from a black woman.”

Clinton glanced at Jenisha quickly. “Do your parents have something against interracial dating?”

Not until after the drama of Keith Rogers leaving me at the altar
, her mind thought. Now they would probably throw Clinton right out of the house and asked questions later.

“No, my parents don’t think that way, but father is just overprotective of his only girl. Since they weren’t able to have any more child after me, sometime he goes a little overboard with the daddy’s little girl thing.”

“So, are you saying you are more of a mother’s girl?” Clinton asked.

Jenisha brushed her hair back off her shoulder, thinking about the question. “No, I love both my parents equally. I’m very happy that they are still alive. I don’t know what I would do without them.”

“Yeah, I still miss my mom.”

Jenisha looked at him and touched his hand softly. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. I know Hayward had True, but who did you have?”

His love for Jenisha grew more after hearing her soft-spoken words. “Hayward and True brought me into the circle and the pain wasn’t as bad.”

Turning her head away from him, Jenisha looked out the window. “Did you know True called me a few days ago?” she asked in a matter-of-fact voice.

“No, what did she say?”

“She said she was hurt by us not telling her about our relationship. Then she went on to say she guessed our friendship wasn’t a deep as she thought.”

“What?” Clinton exclaimed. “That doesn’t sound like the True I know and love. Do you want to call her from my house and see what the real problem is?”

Jenisha glanced back over at him with a slight frown on her forehead. “You wouldn’t mind?”

“No, you can use the phone upstairs in my bedroom. It’s on a separate line. I need to use my phone in the office to check on Jim Russell and Dave Turner,” he said. “They are supposed to meet us at the school next week to start on the construction. Dave and Jim are the best two men I have working for Campbell Construction and Design. Hayward and I lucked out when we found them. They are a best friend team.”

“Wow, I can’t wait to meet them,” Jenisha stated upon hearing the praise in Clinton’s voice about his two friends.

Finally pulling into his driveway, Clinton shut off the car and stared at his sexy girlfriend. “Sweetheart, I don’t think you understand what your beauty does to men. I don’t want you putting a spell on them and they can’t work.”

Kissing him on the lips, Jenisha giggled. “There’s only one man I want to put a spell on and he’s sitting right in front of me.”

He felt like an idiot smiling all the time, but he couldn’t help it. When he was around Jenisha, all he wanted to do was smile at her. “Let’s go. I want to show you my home.”

Clinton got out on his side then went around the car and opened the door for Jenisha. She stood beside him while he opened the front door. Shoving the keys back into his pocket, he placed his hand in the small of her back and walked inside beside her.

Jenisha’s eyes got huge at the sight of the spiral staircase. She had always wanted to live in a house with one. “Wow, your house is amazing!” she muttered, walking ahead of him.

“I’m glad that you like it,” he answered, finally happy to see his woman inside his house after dreaming about it for so long.

She looked at him over her shoulder. “How many other women have enjoyed this wonderful place?”

He looked her directly in the eyes and said, “Only one other woman, and she out of the picture. We broke up about two weeks before I came to California.”

Jenisha moved further in the room away from him, and it felt like a knife to his heart.

“Were you sleeping with her?”

He rushed over to her, pulling her into his arms. “No, we just went out on dates. Nothing else happened at all.”

“How long did you date her?”

Clinton’s hold tightened a little. He didn’t want her bolting out of his arms. “We dated for three months.”

Jenisha struggled in his arms. “Do you really think I am going to believe you dated a woman for three months and didn’t sleep with her?”

He pulled her lower body closer his. “Do you feel how much I want you right now? I haven’t slept with anyone since I learned your name. I have wanted you for so long that having sex with another woman hasn’t crossed my mind.”

Standing up on tiptoes, Jenisha nibbled on his jaw seductively. “You taste so good I could eat you up.”

Kissing her hairline, he whispered, “Does that mean you believe me?”

Jenisha laid her hands on his chest. “Yes, that’s means I believe you, good looking.”

Clinton hugged her closer to his body. He let go of her and then grabbed her and pulled her toward the stairs. He was so happy that they settled that problem without a huge fight.