The Best Thing He Never Knew He Needed (23 page)

He grazed her back with the
slightest touch of his fingertips before circling his arms around
her, pulling her into him more, if that was even possible. He
listened as her moans thickened along with the ragged breaths she
was able to take. He felt her body tighten around him, all of her,
until she crashed against him, waves of passion forming one after
the other. Rising, then falling. Cresting.

In a quick maneuver, with
their bodies still connected, he lowered her to her back, staring
down at her. “Sherita, look at me, baby.” He watched her, panting
softly. Still riding the wave before being swept under the current
that was him. All him. “Sherita, baby, look at me.”

Sherita opened her eyes,
staring directly into his as he had requested.

With his hands locked
around her wrists, his body reclaiming her, he said, “I love
you.”

She looked shocked for a
moment as if she was unsure of what he’d said.

“
I said, I love you,” he
repeated as if reading her thoughts. “And yes, you should be
flattered because I’ve never said those words to another woman.
Only you, princess. I love you.”

“
I love you too,
Desmond.”

“
Mmm,” he moaned as he
kissed her again, satisfied she’d said it back. Her words triggered
something explosive inside of him, prompting him to slam his eyes
shut and sail off into paradise, taking her with him
again.

He smiled, then kissed her
again while holding her body hostage. And they made love once more
until neither of them could hardly catch their breaths. Afterwards,
she rested her head against his firm, moist chest while their
bodies cooled off – while they struggled to breathe normally
again.

Sherita closed her eyes,
pulled in a breath full of his scent, then found his free hand,
interlocking their fingers. His other hand was submerged in her
hair.

“
Desmond.”

“
Yes, baby.”

“
I have to leave tomorrow
for work.”

He’d known that already,
especially since she had written it in her planner. “You
don’t
have
to.”

“
I do. I have couples
counting on me to capture their memories.”

“
And where are you
supposed to be going, Rita?”

“
Myrtle Beach.”

“
For the entire
weekend?”

“
No. I’m leaving tomorrow
evening, and I won’t be back until next Friday.”

Desmond frowned. “Next
Friday? You’re leaving for an entire week?”

“
Why do you make it sound
so bad? The time will go by quickly, and you need a break from me
anyway.”

“
No, I don’t.”

“
You do. Desmond, you have
work to do. Before I knew who you were, I realized you had a strong
work ethic and since I’ve been here, I’ve been a constant
distraction for you. So, use this week to get your work in
order…finish phase two of the marketing plan you’ve been working on
and Friday, I’ll be back.”

She was right. He couldn’t
argue against it. She was a distraction, a good one, but still, a
distraction. “Where are you staying?”

“
I haven’t booked a place
yet.”

He snickered. “You’re going
to Myrtle Beach in July, and you haven’t booked a place
yet?”

“
I usually find some lil’
rinky-dink motel. I’m not worried about it.”

“
I’m not worried about it
either, because I have a vacation home there. That’s where you’ll
stay.”

Sherita smiled. “That’s
very generous of you, Desmond, but—”

“
I’m not
asking
you to stay
there, Sherita. I’m telling you. No wife of mine is staying at a
motel.”

Sherita smiled against his
chest, lifted her head just slightly to kiss him.

“
I’ll give you the address
and keys in the morning.”

“
Okay, Des.”

“
What time does your
flight leave?”

“
I’m driving.”

Desmond sat up, prompting
Sherita to do the same. “That’s a five and a half hour
drive.”

“
It’s a drive I’ve taken
many times before, Desmond.”

He shook his head. “No. I
don’t want you driving.”

“
I’ll be fine,” Sherita
said. “I don’t want to fly. I need to take all of my equipment, and
I don’t want to lug all that stuff around trying to get on and off
a plane.”

“
In that case, we can hop
on the company jet.”

She looked at him, seeing
the worry in his eyes. “I’ll be fine.” She kissed his lips, then
slowly leaned against him so he was lying flat on his back again.
She rested her head back onto his chest.

After releasing breath, he
said, “Then you’ll take the Mercedes.”

“
And what are you supposed
to drive to work?”

“
I’ll take your
car.”

Sherita laughed. “Not with
those long legs you have. Plus, my car doesn’t suit your
style.”

“
I’m not worried about
myself. I’m worried about you. So you’ll take my car, and I’ll take
your car.”

“
If you
insist.”

“
Now get some sleep so you
can be ready for that long drive.”

“
Yes, sir,” she said, then
giggled.

“
I’m serious, Sherita,”
Desmond said. She hadn’t even left yet, and he was already starting
to worry.

“
Okay, Desmond.
Goodnight.”

“
Goodnight,
princess.”

CHAPTER 25

In the morning, Sherita
eased out of bed to prepare for her road trip, smiling when she saw
that, at some point during the night, Desmond had slid her ring
back onto her finger. She packed a suitcase with a week’s worth of
clothes, some of which she had to take from the back seat of her
car. She pulled the bag to Desmond’s jeep, opened the back door
smelling the scent of him floating into the morning air. She pulled
in a breath of it, feeling her body quiver by his smell alone,
thinking about how he’d made love to her last night.

And he said he loved
her…

She didn’t know if he meant
it, or if he only said it to get her to stay. It was probably the
latter. If she walked away, she’d put fifty-million dollars in
jeopardy, and he couldn’t let that happen, right, especially after
going through great lengths to ensure The Champion Corporation
sealed this deal with Victor.

What man would marry a
woman just to secure some business deal, anyway? It was hard enough
to find a man who was willing to
commit
himself to a woman let
alone
marry
one.
Men married for one reason – they found their soul mate and for
fear of losing her to someone else, they put a ring on it. Too bad
the ring Desmond had given her had nothing to do with
love.

“
And just what do you
think you’re doing?”

Sherita spun around
quickly, startled by Desmond’s voice. She looked him over, watching
the smirk form in the corner of his lips. He’d come outside in a
pair of white boxers. Nothing more. He wasn’t even wearing shoes.
With hard-as-concrete abs on display and well-pedicured feet, he
stared at her, his eyes more focused on her lips more so than her
eyes.

She had to blink a few
times to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. Finally, she said, “Umm,
I’m putting my things in your car.”

“
I’ll do that for you,
sweetheart.” Desmond lifted her suitcase, placing it on the
backseat. “What else do you need?”

You.
She smiled when the thought came to her mind.

“
Sherita?”

She blinked quickly and
said, “Oh, I need my photography equipment.”

“
Is it all still in the
back seat of your car?”

“
Yes.”

She watched as he scooped
it all up, placing her equipment in the back of his
jeep.

“
Is that everything you
need?”

Lips closed tightly, she
nodded.

He smiled and narrowed his
eyes at her. “What’s going on with you this morning?”

Feeling her cheeks redden,
she said, “Nothing.”

He smirked. “I have to go
grab the keys for the house. Be right back.”

“
Okay.” She felt silly.
How could she be so shy around him, especially after last night?
Still, she could admit he made her nervous in ways no one else had
the power to, and as she watched him walk back to the house, she
could see the muscles running through his back, his arms and the
muscular thighs she’d wrapped her legs around last
night.

While she waited for him,
she walked around to the driver side of his jeep, opened the door
and got in, sitting there running through her mental checklist,
making sure she had everything she needed for the week.

“
Oh, that’s right…I have
to leave my car keys for him,” she said in a monotone.

She turned to the right,
seeing him head back to the car as her eyes keenly watched every
step he took.

When he made it back to the
car, he walked around to the driver side where she was sitting,
opened the door and said, “Out.”

She grinned.
“What?”

“
You heard me. You think
I’m going to let you leave without feeling your arms around
me…without leaving a kiss on those juicy lips of yours?”

She felt goose bumps travel
down her body. At his request, she stepped out of the jeep and
stood there, sandwiched between Desmond and the car. “Here are the
keys to my car,” she said, handing them to him.

He took them from her
grasp. “Here are the keys to the vacation home.”

She reached for them,
taking the keys from his grasp.

“
I wrote the address on
this envelope,” he said, handing it to her.

She looked it
over.

“
And I gave you a little
spending money, too.”

“
I don’t need any money,
Desmond,” she said holding his gaze, before looking down at the
address of his vacation home, only so she could break away from his
hungry eyes.

He took a step closer to
her, standing domineeringly tall, cinching her waist with his large
hands. “Take it and buy yourself something nice.” Using his index
finger, he lifted her chin and brought his lips to meet hers,
kissing her with an intentional greed, feeling her moan in the
process. He pulled away from her, held her head in between his
palms and said, “You know I don’t want you to go, don’t
you?”

She smiled. “Yes. I’m aware
of that.”

“
Then why are you leaving
me?” he asked, leaning forward, leaving kisses on her neck, feeling
her body shudder.

“
D-Des, we…we talked about
this already.”

“
I know. I’m just not
ready to turn you loose.” He sighed heavily then connected his
sight with hers again. “I want you to call me every hour on the
hour. Okay.”

“
Okay.”

He pulled her into his
embrace again. When he let her go, he said, “Drive safe,
baby.”

“
I will.” She turned
around, climbed up into the jeep while reaching for the seatbelt,
securing it. When Desmond closed the door, she started the jeep,
driving slowly down the driveway, heading for the road when she
heard Desmond scream her name. She applied the brakes, checked the
rearview mirror and saw him standing in the driveway.

He must’ve forgotten
something.

Shifting the jeep into
reverse, she backed up, stopping a few feet from where he was
standing then shifted the car in park. She pressed a button to
unlock the doors, reached for the handle to open the door, but the
door flung open before her hand could touch it.

Desmond reached in, undid
her seatbelt then snatched her from the vehicle and into his arms,
kissing her again. Gosh he hated to let her go, but just like his
work was important to him, her job was important to her,
too.

“
Why do you do this to me,
girl?” he asked, taking her in his arms again.

“
Aw, Des…you’re a big boy.
You’ll be just fine without me.”

He leaned down so his
forehead touched hers. “I don’t want you to go. Stay with
me.”

“
Des.”

He sighed heavily and
moaned voraciously when he lowered his mouth to hers again. “Drive
safe for me.”

“
I will.”

“
I love you,
Sherita.”

“
I love you, too,
Desmond.”

He took a final kiss, then
after jumping back inside of the jeep, she drove away.

CHAPTER 26

She hadn’t been gone for an
hour and he’d already missed her. When she left, he went inside,
took a twenty-minute shower and now, sitting at the table with his
laptop in front of him, he wanted to catch up on work but a nagging
urge to call her had him folding his laptop closed. He took out his
phone, dialed her number then heard three loud beeps followed by a
message: