Just One Taste (Kimani Romance) (15 page)

Chapter 17

A
n hour later she opened her eyes, knowing instantly that she was alone. She looked around her bedroom. Chase was gone. It was too early to get up, but she did anyway.

She went into the bathroom. Exhausted, she stepped into the shower and let the warm pulsating water stream down her body. She rolled her neck, letting the water flow over her shoulders, across her neck and down her breasts. She closed her eyes and stepped closer to the water’s flow. The water streamed onto her face. It felt good. Then she heard the glass door slide open and felt the chill.

Chase was there with her. He reached around to cover her breasts. She rested her head back on his chest as his hands palmed her nipples. He circled them, then tweaked her. She gasped and arched her back. His hands dipped down the front of her.

“I thought you left me,” she said.

“No, never again,” he assured her, then nudged her shoulder and turned her around.

She looked up into his eyes and saw exactly what she needed to see. She saw love. He leaned down and kissed her tenderly as his arms wrapped around her. “Never again.”

“Are you hungry?” she asked.

He smiled. “For you, I’m always hungry.” He began kissing her, touching her, caressing her, tasting her. Her body trembled and quivered feeling his mouth on her—all over her.

The kiss pressed her against the tile. Then he picked her up. Her legs wrapped around his waist as he entered her. Slowly, he thrust upward into her body, once, twice, three times. She held tight to his shoulders. He stopped and looked at her. “Are you okay?” he asked, concerned.

“No, no,” she barely rasped. He began to release her slowly. “No, I’m not okay because you stopped. Don’t stop. I want more.”

He smiled that lazy, sexy smile that always sent quivers through her body. “More, huh?” he queried. She nodded. “I can do more.” He began thrusting again. Over and over again he pushed and pulled himself in and out of her body.

She held tighter and tighter until the blazing blast of rapture took her. The intensity was without measure. She called his name as he continued to thrust, giving her more and more until he met his climax in one last strained thrust.

He muttered her name over and over again. His body tensed tightly, and then shook rigidly with tremendous release.

Moments later he cradled her in his arms and closed his eyes. This was what he wanted to feel the rest of his life. She leaned her head on his shoulder as he still held her in place.

“That was crazy amazing,” she said.

“Mmm-hmm. I think I like taking showers with you now.”

She smiled as he slowly released her. “Yeah, me too,” she said.

He lathered her body, then she lathered his. They rinsed, then finally stepped out of the large stall. She towel dried her hair, then wrapped another around her body and grabbed the body lotion.

He stood behind her at the large mirror, reached around and unloosed both towels.

“I think I like seeing you like this. Mine.” The towels dropped to the floor.

She giggled. “Sorry, dude, I can’t be naked all the time.”

“Of course you can. You can be naked for me. We can be naked together.” He took the lotion bottle in her hand and began massaging lotion over her back and shoulders, then down her arms. She watched in the mirror as he rubbed lotion down the front of her body with special attention to her breasts and stomach. “We should have a baby together.”

“A what?” she said, surprised by his comment.

“Yeah, a baby, I like that idea,” he said as if to himself as he continued to rub the flat of her stomach. “My baby right here inside of you. I like that idea. Two or three and then maybe twins. Yeah, and then twins again.”

She looked into his eyes in the mirror’s reflection. He was very serious. Suddenly, she began to wonder herself about carrying Chase’s babies in her body. She allowed the words to roam comfortably around in her thoughts. It felt too good and too right.

“Cinnamon,” she said.

“For a name?” he questioned.

“No. I smell cinnamon.”

He smiled. “I cooked for you. I prepped cinnamon French toast with bananas and chocolate. Come on, I have everything all set up.”

They dressed, then he cooked while she sat at the kitchen counter. When he finished they ate out on the balcony in the middle of the night. After the meal she sat back smiling.

“Mmm, that was delicious. You really are pretty good in the kitchen.”

“Thanks.”

“You know this is my favorite meal,” she said.

“Yes, I know.”

“But you never told me how you knew that.”

“You were right before. I did know a lot about you, but not nearly as much as I want to now.”

“What do you mean? How did you know? Did you have me checked out or something?” He didn’t reply and she got her answer. “You had me investigated.”

“I needed to know about you.”

“Why, because of Mikhail? I know he does business with Andre and Titan and—”

“No, because of your cottage on Stock Island,” he said.

“What about it?”

“Titan needed the land.”

She swallowed hard. “It’s just two acres. It’s insignificant compared to the Blackwell property you already have.”

“It’s a strategic part of the new facility development. It’s closest to the coast and we need the coast.”

“What facility? Look, if you want it, tell me.”

Chase nodded. “Titan has been commissioned by the federal government to construct a research facility. Our main focus will be the Gulf waters. We’ve developed a new element. I can’t go into specifics, but it will greatly reduce the chance of another Gulf oil spill disaster.”

“I don’t understand.”

“New oil platforms are being constructed between Cuba and Key West. Titan’s new technology will identify, analyze and ultimately prevent or eliminate the possibility of another oil spill.”

“So all this is to help Key West?”

“It’s the first in a series of new programs we’re developing for the U.S. government.”

She nodded. Everything she thought about Titan was wrong. Perhaps they were the power-hungry beast at one time, but at least in this instance they were actually trying to prevent disaster.

“I couldn’t say anything to you because if this technology were to be made public, our stock would go through the roof. Yes, that’s a good thing. We’d all be multibillionaires several times over, but it would also cripple the energy industry. One test facility on the coast can be kept discreet. Key West is the perfect location.”

“But if Titan has developed the capability to save the ocean waters from oil spills they have to do it.”

“We are and we have been for the last year. We perfected the technology just after 2010, after the Gulf oil disaster. We were too late.”

She nodded. “I understand. Thank you for trusting me.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Take it. I’ll sign it over today.”

“What?”

“The cottage, the land, it’s yours.”

He nodded. “Thank you.”

She yawned and looked up at the clock on the wall. “I can’t believe it’s still the middle of the night. I’m gonna be useless in the morning.”

He stood. “Come on, let’s get you to bed.” They went back to her bedroom, undressed and got in bed. But they didn’t make love. He just held her close until they both fell asleep.

Chase awoke to Nikita’s kiss. He opened his eyes just as she was standing. He reached out and took her hand. She turned smiling. “Good morning,” she whispered.

“Good morning. What time is it?”

“Too early for you to be up,” she said softly, “I have a present for you.” She handed him a tissue-wrapped package.

“What is it?”

“Open it,” she said.

He did, and then smiled. “Thank you, it’s perfect.”

“I gotta go.”

“Wait. Where?”

“To work.”

“Wait for me. I’ll go with you. We need to talk.”

“No, stay, relax. We’ll talk tonight,” Nikita said.

“Tonight? No, I can stop by the café later this morning.”

She shook her head. “I won’t be there. I have a full day today. I’ll be in the studio all morning and most of the afternoon taping the cooking segments for the local morning show and then off to the aquarium to help plan a function. So, I’ll call you. What do you want for dinner tonight?”

“Surprise me,” he said.

“Okay, I will. Seven o’clock?”

“Perfect. Call me later.” She nodded, then turned to leave.

“Nikita, wait,” he said. “Come here a minute.”

She came to him. He sat up, smiled, and took her hand and kissed it. “Tonight we need to talk. There’s so much you need to know about me and about Titan. But right now I need you to know one thing, that I love you. With all my heart. Nothing can and will ever change that. I’ve never said those words to anyone. And no matter what happens, remember that.”

She nodded, smiling from ear to ear. “I love you, too. But I don’t know what all this means. Our lives are—”

“Ours to enjoy together. We’ll figure it out tonight.”

“Sounds good to me. I’ll see you tonight at the house.”

Chase nodded and watched her hurry out with one last wave goodbye. He lay back in her bed and looked up at the ceiling. So this was what contentment felt like, he thought. He was happy. And most important of all, he was in love.

He reached over, grabbed his cell phone and turned it on. He checked his messages. He had fifty-two.

A second later his cell phone rang. It was Andre. He answered. “Yeah.”

“It’s about time you turned the phone back on.”

“Hey, Andre, what’s going on?”

Andre laughed. “Funny you should ask that question. I think I should be asking you. You have half the family calling you and the other half calling me. They want to know what’s going on down there.”

“What’s going on is that I’ve come to my senses.”

“Heads up, the family is furious and Dad is headed your way. He’s not happy.”

“Is Daniel ever happy?”

Andre half chuckled. “Not often. So what are you going to do about Nikita?”

“What do you mean? For the past three weeks you’ve been instrumental in forwarding the process of eminent domain on her property.”

“I’ll be deposing that first thing this morning.”

“Good. I was never very comfortable with that.”

“I agree. Have you told her you love her yet?”

“Yes.”

“And everything else?” he added.

“Tonight.”

“Good luck.”

“Don’t need it. I have love on my side. See you later.” He disconnected the call, then lay back and flipped through his gift, a first edition, autographed copy of Nikita’s cookbook. He opened the front cover. Tucked inside he found the deed to the Stock Island property. He got what he came for. His job was done.

Chase wasted no time. After Nikita left he got up, got dressed, hurried to the house, showered and dressed again. Then he was out the door.

He told Nikita everything, just about everything, and now he needed to make it right. She’d given him the land; now it was his turn to give back. He called his assistant.

“Hey,” Kelvin said anxiously. “Damn, I’m glad you called. Daniel has been driving me crazy. He’s called my phone at least twenty times since daybreak. He’s looking for you and he’s furious. He’s at the Keys Gateway Hotel, penthouse suite. Where are you?”

“I’m headed to the new property. Meet me there in half an hour.” Chase ended the call and steered his car into town.

Chapter 18

A
t exactly seven o’clock in the morning Oren unlocked the doors of the Davis Realtors and Associates office and hurried inside. This was the day he’d been waiting for. It was a chance to prove he could dance with the power money. The plan was simple. Check, double-check, and then triple-check everything he’d already done. There could be no mistakes. Everything had to be perfect.

Working with Chase was one thing, but now, working with Daniel everything had to be flawlessly exceptional. This was his big chance. To date, Daniel was his biggest client and by far the most lucrative the office had ever had. Keeping him happy was imperative. If he landed Titan Energy Corporation and the Buchanan family, he could write his own ticket in the city.

He worked steadfast the next two hours. When his staff tried to interrupt, he abruptly told them he was busy and could not be disturbed. At exactly nine o’clock he called the Keys Gateway Hotel and was connected to Daniel Buchanan’s suite. Daniel’s assistant answered. Oren was told Daniel was busy and would return his call shortly.

Three hours later the phone call he was expecting finally came. He excitedly grabbed the phone seeing the caller ID announcing Daniel Buchanan.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Buchanan, may I say, it is a true pleasure to be working with you. I have every confidence that we will come to a very amicable and profitable accord.”

“Mr. Buchanan will meet with you at the Keys Gateway Hotel,” a woman’s voice responded. “Your appointment has been confirmed for one o’clock sharp. Please do not be late. Mr. Buchanan’s time is extremely valuable.”

Oren frowned. He had hoped to speak directly with Daniel. Being put off by an assistant was degrading. “I’d like to speak to Daniel now.”

“I’m afraid that’s impossible.”

“Do you know who I am?” Oren warned threateningly.

“I’ll be happy to cancel your one o’clock appointment.”

“No, no, of course not. One o’clock this afternoon is perfect, and please tell Mr. Buchanan that I am truly—”

“Thank you,” the woman said, cutting him off.

A second later the call was disconnected. Oren bristled at the nerve of some people. He had more to say and she very obviously cut him off on purpose. He made a mental note to speak with Daniel about this assistant’s manners. But for right now he was doing the happy dance.

* * *

Ever since dawn Nikita had been walking five miles above cloud nine. Being with Chase last night and this morning had done that to her. And then having him confess his love made her deliriously, unbelievably happy. She was about to get everything she ever wanted and the unbelievable truth in that changed everything.

It wasn’t about the money he had or the job he had or the family he came from, it was about the man. She’d been fooling herself all this time thinking that she didn’t need love and didn’t want a family of her own. In truth, she wanted the happily ever after and everything that came with it.

She spent the early-morning hours in her café kitchen dancing, humming, singing and generally driving her staff nuts. Then just before the morning crowd began, she got two phone calls that had changed her day completely and she was even happier.

The studio shoot had to be rescheduled because of a breaking story and the event at the aquarium had been postponed. It was perfect. Now she planned to take the whole afternoon off, catch up with Chase and spend the rest of the day just being a woman in love.

Shortly before noon, Darcy came into the kitchen. She wasn’t smiling.

“Hey, I was just about to get out of here. What’s up? Are you okay?” Nikita asked.

She shook her head. “I think you need to see this.”

“See what?” Nikita said as an icy chill shot down her back. She instinctively knew this had something to do with Chase. She washed her hands and followed Darcy out the back door. “Okay, what’s going on?”

“Just wait here a moment,” Darcy said.

They waited. “Okay, what am I looking at?” Nikita asked.

“Just wait.”

Nikita looked around, centering her attention mostly on the building next door. Then she saw something not quite right. She saw Kelvin Simmons, Chase’s assistant, come out of the building next door talking on his cell phone.

“Now, isn’t that…” Darcy began.

“Yeah, it is. Kelvin. I wonder what he’s doing here.”

They stepped back slightly and watched as he hurried to his car, got in and waited. Darcy shook her head. “Seriously, I have no idea what all that was, but it’s strange.” She turned and headed back into the café.

Nikita nodded slowly. Suddenly, she remembered Chase’s last words to her.
No matter what happens
.

At first when he’d said them she was too overjoyed by his love to get it. Now she feared the stark truth was coming out.

“Yes, it is strange,” Nikita replied. She stayed a few seconds longer, then just as she was about to follow Darcy back inside she stopped. Her breath escaped in a slow laborious flow as if it had been sucked out of her. She watched as Chase came out of the building, got into Kelvin’s car then they drove away. Nikita didn’t move for a while. She just stood there, watching the car.

A few minutes later, Darcy came back out to her side. “Hey, you okay? Look, I’m sure this doesn’t have anything to do with Chase. He was probably just checking the place out.”

Nikita unbuttoned her jacket. “Yeah, right, of course.”

“You had a call on the office phone. It was Wendy. She wanted to know if you listened to the message she left last night.”

“What message?” Nikita muttered. She went to her office, grabbed her backpack and pulled out her cell phone. She replayed the message.

“Hi, Nikita, it’s Wendy. Listen, I still don’t know what the new owners want to do with the building next to yours and for once my idiot boss isn’t talking. It’s weird. Oren usually can’t shut up when he lands a huge commission. Seriously, he gloats for cardio exercise. But now all of a sudden everything is all hushed. But he did say that he was purchasing some land for his new client out on Stock Island.

“Anyway, here’s the interesting thing, the company didn’t just buy the building next to you. They were interested in buying your building, too. I still can’t tell you who signed the papers, but I can tell you it’s a company out of France. It’s that crazy?
France
of all places. Anyway, I hope that helps. I’ll call you when I have something new. Later.”

Nikita didn’t move. The words refused to sink in. They just bounced around in her head, ricocheting like a pinball machine. A million things started going through her mind. After a while she smiled, shook her head and chuckled.

It was confirmed—Chase took her building now he was trying to take her business. She laughed, shaking her head. It was all a joke on her.

Darcy came to the doorway with a package in her hand. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Darcy asked, seeing Nikita’s shell-shocked expression.

“I just found out who bought the building next door.”

“Who?”

“Chase. Titan.”

“Oh, well, that’s good, isn’t it? He can sell it to you.”

“I don’t think that’s his plan.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s also trying to purchase this building.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean he wants everything.”

“Nikita, no,” Darcy began, her eyes wide with concern as she closed the door. “Look, I know all this looks strange, but I have to believe there’s more that you just don’t know.”

“No, there isn’t. I was a fool again.”

Darcy sat down. “Why don’t you take a few days off? We can handle everything here. Drive down the coast, to the mainland or better yet head over to Cutter Island and hang out a few days.”

Nikita looked up. “No, I’ll be fine. I just have to get to the bank.” She motioned to the package Darcy held. “What’s that?”

“It just came for you a few minutes ago,” Darcy said handing it over. Nikita placed the package on her desk. “Is there anything I can do?”

“No, I’ll be fine,” she said.

“Um, there one piece of business we have to clean up.”

“What is it?”

“The Chase Buchanan contract,” Darcy said.

“What about it?”

“It’s still open. He has two days left and if you decide to cancel him, he could void the contract, not pay or even take us to court for breach of contract. I know this is the last thing you want to hear, but…”

“No, you’re right. I have to fulfill the contract.”

“But what about—”

“Darcy, I’m a big girl. I’ve been left at the altar and now I’ve been conned by the best. Surely cooking a meal won’t kill me.”

Darcy nodded. “The meal information is in the email I forwarded to you. Apparently, he’s having guests over tonight.”

Nikita nodded. “I’ll handle it.”

Darcy got up and left without another word. Nikita listened to Wendy’s message twice more then she listened to messages from Natalia, Tatiana and Mia. Afterward she grabbed the package off her desk, opened it and read through the paper. It was an official notification that her cottage on Stock Island was being considered for eminent domain. She shook her head slowly. It was official. She had lost everything, her café, her dream and her home. A slow, steady tear fell down her face. She wiped it away and left.

* * *

Oren gathered everything he needed for his meeting with Daniel. His briefcase was nearly bursting at the seams. There were high-end properties all over Key West that he’d put before Daniel. A man like him would want nothing but the best.

Just as he was about to leave his phone rang. He checked caller ID, smiling. “Yes, Daniel, I’m on my way.”

“Thank you for your interest,” said the rude female assistant from their earlier conversation, “but Mr. Buchanan is no longer in need of your services. Your appointment has been canceled.”

“What?”

“The situation has been resolved.”

“By whom?” Oren demanded.

“I’m not at liberty to say. Goodbye.”

“Wait. Wait. I want to speak with Daniel right now. Put him on the phone.” His answer was simple and unmistakably clear. It was a dial tone.

Oren grabbed his briefcase and hurried out. He had all intentions of going to the hotel when he saw Nikita walking to her car. “Nikita. Nikita, wait up.”

She stopped. “Oren, I don’t have time right now.”

“Look, I just wanted to apologize. I knew you were interested in paying off your mortgage and buying the building next to the café. But when Chase Buchanan made an offer to the bank, I had to take it. Then when he asked to buy your building, too, I just had to make the deal.”

“What? What do you mean my building, too?”

“Hadn’t you heard? He purchased your mortgage, too. He owns both properties.”

“Why?”

“I believe he said it would be leverage.”

“I have to go.” It took every ounce of strength in her body not to pass out. She walked to her car, got in and just sat there. Her hands shook and her legs trembled. She was a fool. She trusted a man again and he betrayed her. Tears began to fall down her cheeks.

She drove to her cottage. As soon as she pulled up, she saw the one person she never wanted to see again.

Chase walked toward her, smiling, without a care in the world. He was a new man. For the first time in his life, everything was perfect. “Hey, there you are. How was the taping?”

“It was canceled. I worked at the café all day.”

“At the café,” he repeated. “I tried calling you. Your phone’s turned off.”

Nikita finally looked up at him and he saw she’d been crying. “What is it? What happened? Is it your sisters?”

She smiled and shook her head. “You can drop the act. I know everything. You got what you wanted.”

Chase went still. She knew. “Nikita, it’s not what you think.”

“Funny thing, I just happened to step out back and I saw you and Kelvin leaving the building next to the café. You bought it.”

“Yes. I bought it, but I have—”

“Then I ran into Oren and he told me the rest. Congratulations. You have everything you came for.” She turned to leave.

“Nikita, please. I did this for you, for us.”

“Don’t, please. I’ve had enough.”

“Nikita.”

She walked away and he watched her go without stopping her. He knew she needed to calm down. But he assured himself that he’d make it right.