Taming Precious Sinclair (13 page)

They both laughed at this and the merging sound formed a fusing harmony. He enjoyed seeing her mouth turned up into the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen on a woman’s face. He wanted her mouth to stay framed just as it was. However, as much as he wanted this, Hamilton still had other questions. His mind still lingered on the topic of marriage. He asked.

“What do your friends think about marriage? I already know about Faye because she’s engaged.”

Precious laughed then she said...

“And wasn’t the timing of her engagement amazing.”

She smirked at him, raising one knowing eyebrow. Precious continued.

“Don’t get me wrong. I don’t doubt that she really cares for Wilson, but Faye lives to plot and plan. Rarely are there coincidences. Faye met Wilson shortly after you gave our reality show the go ahead. Then she fast tracked their dating by breaking several rules. Generally, Faye never is the one in the relationship doing the traveling. She prefers her men to come to her. But when she met Wilson, she deliberately kept him a secret. She wanted her fans to learn about him after her engagement announcement.”

“Maybe she waited because she wanted to be sure that the relationship would take.”

Precious shook her head, while saying...

“No way. That isn’t the way Faye operates. She held back her news because she wanted to be the shining star on our last show. Faye wanted to start the summer off, with everyone talking about her and Wilson.”

“Well, it kinda worked.” He said, and she understood his meaning. Even though a few of the entertainment shows had talked about Faye and Wilson; everyday Precious was a hot topic. By the downturn of her head, he rightly assumed that this was a subject better left alone.

Hamilton said...

“What about Regina and Pamela. Are they marriage phobic?”

She laughed, saying...

“Regina isn’t dating anyone serious but she’ll marry the first man that dares to ask her. And Pamela... Well, as long as the guy can tolerate her fascination for fast cars and motorcycles; I would say that she’s the marrying kind. Actually, Pam wants to marry and start a family right away. Get this... Pamela wants to have three boys and three girls.”

“Sounds like the Brady Bunch to me.”

“Sounds like she’s nuts to me.”

They both laughed. For a moment, Hamilton wondered what it would be like, having a large family with Precious. He’d never considered this before. In the past, only once had the opportunity presented itself; but the chance had not lasted for long. But with Precious; well, she would be the perfect person. Her features would mix well with his. Their children would come in varying shades; pale like him, creamy brown like her, while the others would fall somewhere in between. With his silver gray eyes, and her constantly changing hazel shade. On that point, their children’s eye color would be determined by a toss of the coin. Yep, he thought to himself. If it were up to him, he wouldn’t mind having Precious as the mother of his children.

Precious squirmed in her seat. The silence was beginning to make her uncomfortable. Not as much as Hamilton’s heavy gaze, but eerily similar. The way he looked at her; his stare touched her, heightening her senses. His pointed gaze made her more aware of her body. Precious felt a sudden chill and the sensation spur her hands into motion. When she came outdoors, she’d neglected to dress properly for the night weather. Her hands urgently glided across her flesh; rubbing her arms with vigor. Hamilton’s eyes went wide, because he didn’t like the idea of her being uncomfortable.

“Come here Precious.”

She was quite certain, Hamilton had beckoned her to come to him but instead, he’d been the one to rise, changing his position. When he sat next to her on the bench, she thought it best to keep her gaze on the fire. Hamilton wrapped his long arms around her shoulder; pulling her to sit closer, to draw from his body heat. She’d never felt her body respond so swiftly and she’d not been given any time to prepare herself. All at once, the hairs on her arms stood on end, and her blood vessels nervously began to constrict. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. The sound was so loud, she could hear the chambers opening and closing; each valve sending its echoing beat to her ears. Too much of him was flooding her senses. The smell of his aftershave. The weight and pressure of his arm around her neck. The feel of his strong fingers caressing and warming her skin. Even the vibrating sound resonating from the wall of his chest; the full deep timbre in his voice willed her eyes to lower. Precious sought out darkness behind closed lids because his gesture to warm her had drummed up enticing images.

“There, now. Isn’t that better.” He asked, but Precious couldn’t find her voice. She just hummed a sound, praying that he wouldn’t ask to hear more.

“Mmmhm.” Was all she could say.

“I love it out here at night. The stars and the sound of crickets and tree frogs.”

Hamilton’s head fell back. From this angle, he admired the night sky. With a slight turn of her head; instead, Precious choose to admire him. What was it about this man, she asked herself? What was
it
that begged to question? Being in his company had drudged up intense longings and desires; emotions that warred with her moral compass. Her struggles weren't wholly due to his rugged good looks and her out of control fantasies didn’t revolve around Hamilton’s endless class flow either. She admired the way he thought things out, finally reaching a place of reason. But even that wasn’t the one characteristic that compelled her to desperately crave his nearness. She couldn’t clearly weed out an answer, yet she sensed a hunger only Hamilton could satisfy. Precious had come to understand this, and the slow revelation had twined with her world; refusing to release its hold. Despite that, she still didn’t know what to do or how to react. Relinquishing control had never been one of her strong suits.

Cradling her head in the crook of his arm, Precious leaned even closer to him. Her head tilted back to admire the night sky. She didn’t even notice when Hamilton’s eyes lowered to look at her. She was so close to him. It would have taken very little on his part to steal a kiss. He imagined the feel of his lips brushing across her cheek. The idea led him to other thoughts. More salacious wonderings. He twirled his tongue considering the taste of her creamy brown flesh. These visions of passion were nothing less than pure magic. Even though he enjoyed the temptings of his brain; Hamilton knew in their current situation, he would never take advantage of Precious. He could smell the thick aroma of wine wafting from her breath. He was also fairly certain, after he’d left her in the house; Precious had consumed the entire bottle. After a brief moment, Hamilton lowered his eyes because his conscience wouldn’t allow him to be anything other than a gentleman. If he kissed her, his show of affection would require something from Precious and in her current state, her foggy brain wouldn’t be able to deliver. Hamilton would need to know with certainty, that his kiss had been wanted, and not tolerated. With so much wine on board and Precious showing signs of inebriation; if they shared a kiss, he knew he would enjoy it but Hamilton wouldn’t know if Precious sensed the same desires and passionate longing.

***********************

Chapter 6

Nine days, and still counting

Precious peered through the passenger side window, pretending to be amused by the sight of a towering mountain. Truth be told, she couldn’t care less and the spectacular pageantry was wasted on her. For the past few days, she’d been impossible to live with and bored out of her mind. After her stroll to the fire pit, that following morning Hamilton had coaxed her outside. They took a short walk and on that next day he’d managed to persuade her to go fishing with him. Hamilton had enjoyed her company immensely, but he’d spotted her yawning more than once. So today, when she asked what was on the agenda; he surprised her by saying that they were going in town for the day. Precious lit up like a Christmas Tree; all glitz and glitter. But her bright smile faded when she saw the place Hamilton referred to as a
‘town’
.

As they left his property, Hamilton drove down a winding wooded road, that emptied out, then curved along the Pacific Ocean. After that, he drove for nearly another hour, then finally she spotted a signpost, pointing the way to civilization. She’d expected to see pedestrians, traffic and streetlights but instead, there were just more tall trees. When the vehicle finally came to a stop, it took Precious less than a minute to sum up the small town. She wasn’t even sure if town was the right word to use in this case but her mind went blank when she searched her vocabulary, attempting to dream up another word to describe what her eyes were seeing. On both sides of the one main street, there were no more than eleven one and two story buildings and that included the three pump gas station on the corner.

In less than twenty minutes; Precious walked up one side of the street, then crossed the road, to walk back down, using the other side. By the time she reached the SUV, Hamilton was leaving the general store, carrying two large bags of groceries. He placed his bags in the rear well of the car, then offered to show her the towns craft store. He pointed out a restaurant with a sign that said
José’s Cafe
. Precious smiled, forcing a grin while trying to be polite but she saw nothing that interest her. So, since there was nothing else to see, Hamilton suggested that they drive and enjoy the scenery. The road that Hamilton traveled was like an ad on TV, beckoning the viewer to visit California. For most of the ride, she cocked her head, viewing from every angle. They rolled their windows down, until Hamilton’s mobile rang, forcing him to raise the windows. The sounds from the wind and surf had prevented him from clearly hearing the caller. Precious sat quiet, so as not to disturb him. She strained her ears, zeroing in, on key words. She felt a sudden uneasiness the second she realized who the person was on the other end of the phone.

Hamilton rarely communicated with the office whenever he traveled in this region. He just didn’t possess the patience to deal with the annoyance. The trees always interfered with the signal and roaming was unheard of in this zone. Already, this call had been dropped twice and Audrey still hadn’t finished telling him her reason for calling. Each time the call connected; his assistant would begin where she believed their conversation had been interrupted. The only problem with this was that, by the time Audrey would realize that the call had been disconnected, minutes had passed. Unaware that no one was on the line; Audrey would continue talking. So, her conversation read like a censored script. Bleeped out phrases, and sentences lacking contextual substance and as for a framework; there was absolutely no reference point. In other words; Hamilton was completely clueless.

They were driving down a portion of road where the tree line wasn’t as dense. Hurriedly Hamilton said...

“Audrey, speak fast before I lose your call again.”

“Those frigging trees. I hate being interrupted.”

“Audrey!” Hamilton wasn’t angry, he just needed to keep her focused. Audrey cleared her throat, then she said...

“I talked to Milt this morning. The news is bad Hamilton. Really bad. Milt said that in his twenty-three years, he’s never seen anything like this. Every reporter that he’s attempted to work with; they’ve ignored his spin. He says, that they are hell-bent to report a story that is guaranteed to pull in their audience. And that means, trashing Precious Sinclair. Right now, she’s reality TV’s public enemy number one. Her fans want her to redeem herself by accepting Stone’s proposal of marriage. Milt says, if that’s true, then his hands are tied and fixing this mess won’t be easy. But not to worry Hamilton. Milt sent a few of his people to talk to Stone Norris.”

“Why did he do that?” Hamilton was being careful not to use names. He didn’t want to unnecessarily worry Precious. Especially if sparing her was something within his power.

Audrey continued.

“Milt was only trying to meet your timetable. You know the one I’m talking about. You told him to make Precious his top priority. Well, he interpreted that to mean that he has to make her problems go away, now. He believes he can accomplish this if Stone Norris goes public, saying that he is returning to Fiji. He wants Stone to be filmed saying that he is moving on with his life and that he wishes Precious all the best.”

“Is Milt close to meeting this goal?”

“No. Not close by a long shot. His people talked to Stone, but he didn’t say what they’d hoped he would. Stone said that he’s still in love with Precious and he’s still holding out hope that she’ll marry him.”

Up ahead Hamilton noticed that his turnoff was just around the bend. From that point forward, the signal would begin to get jumpy; and more than likely the call would abruptly end. He needed a quick summary, so he said...

“Bottom line it for me Audrey.”