Slow Seduction (10 page)

Jenisha brushed his hand away and sat up on the couch. “What?”

He smiled at the frustrated look on her face. “I said we better go before we’re late. I’ve planned a very romantic dinner and I don’t want you to miss it, gorgeous.”

“You can stop kissing me just like that?”

“Precious, you don’t know how much I wanted to continue what we were doing, but this date means a lot to me. So come on and get up. I want to show you a good time.” Reaching down, he pulled Jenisha off the couch and into his arms. “I promise you will have fun tonight.”

“I believe you, Clinton.” She swiveled away from him and picked her purse off the couch. Running her fingers through her hair, Jenisha looked down at the table then back up at him. “Have you seen my hair clips?”

Clinton grabbed her by the arm, tugging her toward the front door. Opening the door, he gently escorted her out then closed it behind them. “Those horrible things are long gone. I got rid of them,” he laughed. He didn’t want her hair pulled back tonight. He wanted it falling down on her shoulders in a curly mass.

“I need those, Clinton. What did you do with them?”

“I can’t remember.”

Cupping her chin in his hand, he searched her face. “Now are you ready to go and have the time of our life tonight?” He felt a warm glow flow through him at the smile that crossed Jenisha’s ebony face.

“I’m ready to go anywhere you want to take me, Clinton.”

Inside the car, Jenisha slid next to Clinton and laid her hand on his thigh. Well-toned muscles clenched under her hand. “I’m really happy to be here with you tonight.” She didn’t realize how much she wanted this date until Clinton drove away from her house. In the back of her mind, she knew she was trying to find a way to stall back at her house. However, Clinton didn’t let her, and she was extremely pleased about that. It was about time she got out of her shell and lived a little. If she didn’t do it now with Clinton, then who would she do it with?

Sneaking a look at the man next to her from the underneath her lashes, she knew what it meant for a man like Clinton to show interest in her. He could be out with any woman that he wanted, but he chose her. Smiling to herself, she basked in the knowledge of her sexual appeal. Tonight there would be no thoughts of her past in Texas or her current problems. She would focus all of her attention on the handsome man next to her.

“You don’t know what this means to me either, darling,” Clinton confessed, covering her hand with his. She noticed his well-manicured nails and smiled. She loved a man who knew how to take care of himself.

“I wished for this to happen fifteen months ago, and let me tell you no dream compares to the reality of you.”

Her heart pounded at his soft-spoken words. She could barely keep the happiness out of her voice. “Reality is usually better than our dreams.”
God, if this is a dream, please don’t let me wake up.

Turning his head slightly, Clinton grinned at her. “I have to agree with you.”

“Where are we going?”

Clinton brought her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it. “I want to it be a surprise.”

“Well, I guess I can wait,” she pouted.

“Baby, it’s not like you have a choice,” Clinton laughed. The low, throaty sound filled the cramped car’s interior, making her shiver.

Damn, this was the first time a man’s laugh had turned her on. Letting go of Clinton’s hand, she moved back to her side of the car and looked out the window.
Do I really know what I’ve gotten myself into?

*

As he got closer to their destination, Clinton took a glance over at Jenisha. She hadn’t said much to him in the past half hour, and it surprised him. “I love that you don’t make a lot of small talk. My past dates thought they had to fill the silence with a lot of meaningless chit chat.” He didn’t realize until now how much that truly got on his nerves.

Her dark eyes looked away from the window over at him. “No, I enjoy the quiet sometimes. It gives me time to think about today or relax my mind for a while.”

He studied Jenisha’s face for any sign of what was going on in that beautiful head of hers. “I don’t know if I should ask, but where you thinking about us?”

“No,” she replied.

Clinton was more intrigued by her answer than he should be. If she hadn’t been thinking about him, then what had her so quiet the past thirty minutes? He already knew from meeting her back in Montana that she didn’t like talking about herself, but she still needed to open up a little more.

“Can I ask you a question?” Jenisha asked, breaking into his thoughts.

She wants to know more about me?
He would tell her anything she wanted to know. “Sure. Ask away, Precious.” His voice was calm and steady, but inside his heart was pounding a mile a minute. Jenisha was showing interested in him. It was a small step toward him winning her over.

“Did you love any of those other women you dated? Was there a woman who got away and you wished she hadn’t?”

Taking his eyes off the road for a second, Clinton glanced at Jenisha. Always wanting to be honest with her, he answered her openly. “Yes, there was one woman I wished I had won over from my past.”

Jenisha hated the jealousy she felt at hearing that. “Can I ask who she was,” she asked in a low voice.

“Sure.” He paused just long enough to grab Jenisha’s attention and hopefully make her a little jealous. “It was you.”

“What? How could it be me?” she muttered in disbelief. “We didn’t know each other that long.”

“Precious, I think I fell in love with you the moment we were introduced,” Clinton confessed. “I wanted a relationship with you then, but you were like an ice queen-cold to the touch.” He still remembered how she didn’t make eye contact with him over dinner. No matter what he did that night, she acted like he wasn’t even in the same room as her.

“If I came across so standoffish, what made you come all the way here and seek me out,” she questioned, hurt.

Clinton heard the hurt in Jenisha’s voice and it upset him, but he had to be honest with her. “One thing had me come to California for the job at your school and that was love.”

He didn’t miss the wide-eyed looked Jenisha threw his way. He knew he sounded crazy, but he wasn’t. What else could be it but love? He had never felt this away about another woman in his life.

“Jenisha, I love you more than I thought I could ever love anyone.” He took another quick glance at her to make sure she was listening, and then he looked back at the road. “I have to admit when Hayward fell so hard for True I thought he was crazy until I saw your beautiful face.” His mouth kicked up into a smile. “Then I had to control myself so I wouldn’t drool all over you in the living room.”

“You didn’t do a very good job at hiding what you felt,” Jenisha muttered. She still remembered his hot gaze like it was yesterday. “You made me a little uncomfortable with all the questions at first. I wasn’t use to an attractive man giving me his full attention like that.”

Pulling the car in the empty parking lot, Clinton turned off the car and gave Jenisha his full attention. He leaned forward and looked at her intently. “I can’t believe that for one minute,” he whispered. “You are too striking not to draw appreciative stares.”

She shrugged. “I’m not saying I don’t draw attention from men. But, they usually don’t want to know my life story in one night.”

‘Well, sweetheart, you will learn pretty quickly that I’m not most men.” Clinton frowned at the thought of Jenisha being with other men before him. He would make sure there weren’t any after him. Jenisha was his now his, even if she didn’t believe it.

“Is that a promise or a threat?”

“Neither. It’s a fact, sweetheart. I’m not a very jealous man, but I can be if I have too. So, let’s not discuss any more men from your past,” his deep voice muttered.

Jenisha heard the cool tone of Clinton’s voice, but the heat in his eyes showed her his true emotions. He didn’t like thinking about her with anyone else but him. This odd possessiveness he felt for her should have scared her away, but it didn’t. She was kind of getting used to being the center of attention.

“Is this where the date is going to be?” she asked, looking at the dark parking lot through the car window. Where in the hell had he brought her?

“Patience, sweetheart.”

Getting out of the car, Clinton went around and opened passenger door for her. He grabbed her hand and pulled her out then closed the door. “Close your eyes.”

“Mmmm…I don’t know about this,” she mumbled.

“Don’t you trust me?” he asked.

She closed her eyes and stuck out her hand for him to take. “I trust you Clinton.”
Maybe more than I should
, she thought. “Come on, I want to experience this amazing date you keep talking about. You know the night isn’t getting any younger.”

Clasping their hands,
Clinton
pulled her from the car and lifted her into his arms. Shocked, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “What are you doing?” she gasped.

“Taking you on our first date,” he chuckled.

It seemed like
Clinton
carried her forever, but when he finally put her down on was on a soft piece of material, she could hear water out in a distance and feel the wind brushing her bare arms. “
Clinton
, where are we?”

She could sense
Clinton
standing in front of her, but she couldn’t see him because her eyes were still closed. She wouldn’t open them until he told her too. This was his surprise, so she didn’t want to ruin it.

“Open your eyes.”

Cracking open one eye slowly, Jenisha was shocked by the beautiful vision in front of her. She quickly opened the other eye. She was on a blanket at the beach and surrounded by a candlelight dinner for two. “How in the world did you do this? I can’t believe it. This is the sweetest thing a man has ever done for me.”

Hearing music, she glanced over to see a man playing guitar a few feet away. “Where did he come from?”

Squatting down, Clinton laid his fingers on her lips. “Stop asking so many questions, sweetheart, so I can answer them,” he said with a smile. “I planned this the same night you agreed to have dinner with me. I wanted our first date to be intimate without a lot of people around bothering us.”

His lips brushed against her when he spoke again. “If there have been other men in your life, I want to make you forget their names.”

“How are you going to be the man I remember forever?” she questioned, loving their verbal foreplay.

“That’s an easy one,” he smirked. “With a little slow seduction, everything I do will be to capture your mind and body.”

Kissing him on the lips, she whispered, “Mr. Campbell, you are off to a very good start.”

*

After eating their delicious meal, Clinton helped Jenisha stand up while he cleaned up the dinner remains and put them in a picnic basket. Jenisha wrapped her arms around her waist. Staring up at the starlit sky, she prayed this moment wasn’t a dream as Clinton placed his arms around her.

“What has put that look on your breathtaking face?”

“I was praying this wasn’t a dream, and if it was, I didn’t want to wake up.”

Spinning her around, Clinton kissed her, slowly making her realize he was a flesh and bone man. “Does it still feel like a dream?” he breathed in her ear.

She ran her tongue across her lips, tasting him. “No, I know you are very real.”

Squeezing her tight, he said, “Good. Now, let’s not let good music go to waste.”

Pulling her further into his strong arms, Clinton danced with her for the next hour. She loved how warm and protected she felt in his arms. If she wasn’t careful she would fall hard for the delicious smelling man holding her so close to his body. She rested her against his chest and got lost in the moment.

A while later Clinton rubbed his hands up and down her back. “Baby, I think its best we leave.”

Lifting her head from his shoulder, she nodded. “Okay, let’s get out of here.” She hated for the night to end. This date was more than anything she expected it to be.

Clinton walked her back to the car. After he got her safely inside, he went back and paid this guitarist. She sat inside the car with a huge grin plastered across her face. Talking out loud, she said, “Clinton Campbell, you are one surprising man. I don’t know what else you’ve tucked up your sleeve, but I can’t wait until I find out.”

Mark Kimball rested his back on the counter, staring at the two people in his living room with disgust. “We need to get this plan worked out pretty soon because the construction on the building begins next week.” He took a long sip of his drink and then wiped the back of his hand across his mouth.

“Campbell Construction and Design is a very detailed firm. I’ve researched them and they don’t take anything for granted, but the two of you already know that.”

He took another sip of his drink and waved his free hand toward the couple. “Our revenge against Clinton and Jenisha has to be fast and swift. They can’t see us coming.”