Sweeter Temptation (Kimani Hotties) (8 page)

Nia sighed deeply into the phone. “Don’t get your hopes up,” she finally said. “I don’t get the impression he’s here to turn the factory around.”

Silence stretched over the phone line as Nia gave her friend a moment to absorb what she’d said.

“What do you think he’s going to do?”

“Honestly, I think he’s going to shut it down.” Nia struggled to keep the defeat out of her voice. “I asked him to hear us out, but he didn’t exactly agree to do so.”

“Then we have to make him listen.”

“How are we going to make a millionaire listen to us?”

“I don’t know yet, but we’ll come up with something,” Amy said. “Put on a pot of that kerosene you call coffee. I’m on my way over there with a bag of Oreos.”

Nia allowed herself a sliver of hope. Although she’d only known Kyle a short while, she believed deep down the man who’d stayed with her couldn’t meet the people of Candy, see for himself how wonderful they were, and then proceed to destroy their lives.

* * *

Kyle stared out of the passenger-side window while the deputy steered the patrol SUV along the freshly plowed road.

He’d borrowed the deputy’s phone to make a quick call to Margie to explain his whereabouts and instruct her to have a rental car and cell phone charger waiting when he arrived at the hotel in Brookville.

He didn’t like the way he’d left things with Nia, and he realized when they did talk, they’d have totally different objectives. She’d want to make a case for the candy factory, when the decision to close it had been made before he arrived. He wanted to talk about them, and he suspected his case was also a lost cause.

“You and Nia seemed pretty friendly back there.” The deputy broke into his thoughts.

Even before he’d sat in the passenger seat of the deputy’s SUV, Kyle knew the man’s motives had less to do with offering assistance and everything to do with getting him out of Nia’s house.

“I consider her a friend. After all, she did come to my rescue in the middle of a blizzard,” Kyle said.

He hadn’t missed the borderline hostile look the deputy gave him when he’d emerged from the bathroom, and later when he’d interrupted his and Nia’s conversation in the dining room. Also, the cop looked like a lovesick puppy every time he looked at Nia.

“We’re all very fond of Nia around here,” he said. “We wouldn’t like some stranger trying to take advantage of her.”

“Nor would I,” Kyle countered.

He knew what the guy was fishing for, and he wasn’t taking the bait.

The deputy spared Kyle a glance. “The two of us have been trying to get together, you know?”

“Really.” Somehow, Kyle doubted it.

Nia hadn’t kissed him like a woman interested in someone else, and she damn sure hadn’t made love to him like one. It had been his name she’d moaned into the wee hours of the morning.

“It’s just a matter of time,” the deputy said.

The deputy eased the SUV to a stop behind a tow truck parked behind the wrecked Ferrari.

“But you’re just passing through, right?” he asked.

“Yeah, I am,” Kyle finally said.

Kyle felt almost as sorry for the cop as he did for himself, because the way he saw it, Nia didn’t want either one of them.

Chapter 11

T
he next morning, Nia stood on the top rung of a ladder in heels securing a welcome banner to the rafters of the candy factory’s foyer.

“I’m not sure this is a good idea,” she said.

She and Amy had brainstormed the idea to throw a welcome reception for Kyle upon his arrival at the factory—one he wouldn’t be expecting. Their scheme sounded brilliant at Nia’s kitchen table. Now she was wavering.

Amy gestured for her to move the banner a little to the left.

“It’s a fabulous idea,” she said.

While Nia appreciated her friend’s vote of confidence, Amy hadn’t seen Kyle’s expression when he said the factory wasn’t profitable. There was no doubt in Nia’s mind he intended to shut it down. She just hoped this last-ditch effort would be enough to change his mind.

“Maybe I should have stayed close to the house yesterday,” Nia said. “He did come back, you know. Twice. He left a note with his phone number and asked me to call. Maybe I should have.”

Getting the okay sign from Amy that the banner was straight, Nia slowly climbed down the ladder careful not to catch the heels of her pumps in the steel rungs. She’d put on one of her work outfits this morning, a navy pencil skirt and a matching peplum sweater. Looking businesslike would lend credence to her proposal, and she needed all the help she could get.

“Why? So he could turn you down?” Amy asked.

“Maybe not.” Nia shrugged.

“This idea is better,” Amy said. “It’s your best shot at him hearing out your proposal for Peppermint Village.”

Nia chewed on her bottom lip. She still wasn’t sure about ambushing Kyle, but she didn’t see any alternative.

“Are you sure he’s coming today?” Nia asked for the third time that morning.

“Will you relax?” Amy crossed her arms over her chest. “His assistant told the factory president Mr. Ellison will be here at nine o’clock on the dot.”

Nia took her friend’s advice and blew out a calming breath.

It wasn’t as if she were proposing Ellison Industries prop up the failing factory like some kind of charity. She had come up with a solid proposal to turn it and Candy, Ohio, into a tourist destination that rivaled those in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and Santa Claus, Indiana.

All she had to do is lay out the plan and hope his company would finance it.

“Didn’t you say he was a nice guy?” Amy asked.

“He is, but...”

Amy raised a brow. “Is there anything else you want to tell me about him?”

Since yesterday, her friend had been fishing for details about Kyle and how they’d spent their time snowbound. Nia had kept her answers brief. It would be hard enough to see him again today without reliving their hours at the farmhouse and in bed.

“There’s nothing else to say,” Nia said.

“Well then, we have nothing to worry about,” Amy said, “because there’s no way a nice guy can say no to an entire town.”

* * *

Kyle drove through the open chain-link gates of the Peppermint Lane Candy Factory’s entrance the next morning with thoughts of Nia foremost on his mind.

Where in the hell had she gone, he wondered.

Yesterday, he’d checked into the hotel Margie had booked for him in the neighboring town of Brookville, where both his rental car and cell phone charger were waiting. Then he’d spent the balance of the day checking in at work and arranging for his Ferrari to be picked up from the local garage and transported to a mechanic in Atlanta, who specialized in repairing the exotic automobiles.

That night, he’d gone back to Nia’s place twice, but she hadn’t been home either time.

He’d tried again on the way here. Still, no Nia.

Kyle circled the factory’s employee parking lot before finding a vacant space. Sliding the car into it, he sat with the engine running staring at the once-majestic candy factory.

Two candy canes that must have been red and white at one time, but were now a faded gray flanked the logo hanging above the doorway. It boasted Home of the World’s Best Peppermint Bark.

The crumbling brick of the building’s exterior told another story. One of deterioration and neglect.

“What were you thinking buying this place, Dad?” he asked aloud.

Had David Ellison intended to pour the small fortune into it that it would take to restore the physical plant to its former glory? Not to mention the other updates it undoubtedly needed. Kyle shook off the notion. It simply didn’t sound like something his bottom-line oriented father would do.

Then again, neither did buying the factory in the first place.

Kyle sighed heavily.

Like Nia’s grandmother’s mysteries, his father’s reasons would also remain secret.

The buzz of his cell phone kept Kyle from ruminating any further.

He pulled the phone from the inside pocket of the winter coat he’d purchased yesterday and saw his uncle’s private number flash across the screen. Another person he hadn’t been able to reach.

“Marjorie filled me in on the weather delay, but I trust everything is back on track,” Jonathan Ellison said without preamble.

“I’m outside the factory now about to go inside and meet with the president.”

“Excellent. The sooner we shut down that money pit, the better.”

Kyle thought of Nia and her plea.

“Uncle Jon, the woman who took me in during the storm has some kind of proposal to turn the place around. I believe she deserves to be heard out,” he said.

“The decision on the candy factory has already been made.”

“But what if her plan is viable?” Kyle stared out at the downtrodden factory, which was still the lifeblood of the small town surrounding it. “Maybe her idea can transform this place into a moneymaker.”

Kyle’s words were met with silence from the other end of the connection, and he heard Uncle Jon’s drawn-out sigh.

“So what you’re telling me is you’ve been shacked up with some honey for two days, and you’ve forgotten your reason for being there,” his uncle said.

“It wasn’t like that. She’s not like that,” Kyle argued, unable to tone down his annoyance.

“This is business, son, not personal.”

“I realize that.” Kyle understood how business worked, and he’d always done what was best for Ellison Industries.

“Then start thinking with the head on your shoulders instead of the one in your pants,” his uncle said. “Maybe I should have sent Logan there to deal with this after all.”

Kyle told his uncle goodbye, afraid he’d lose his cool if he stayed on the line a moment longer.

“Hold on, there’s something else I needed to tell you,” Jonathan Ellison said.

“Go ahead,” Kyle said.

“I just want you to know Logan officially started work yesterday.”

“Already?” Kyle asked, astounded. “He’s barely been on the scene three days. Weren’t you just lecturing on the distinction between business and personal?”

“This is different. It’s family.”

Family, they hadn’t seen or heard from in nearly twenty-five years, Kyle thought. “
R-i-g-h-t,
” he said aloud, exaggerating the word.

“I want him to get his feet wet working with you on the new personal care unit,” he said. “He’s in your office now. Margie’s going over the particulars with him.”

Son of a... Kyle managed not to swear aloud. The personal care division of Ellison Industries was his baby, and his uncle damn well knew it.

One thing Uncle Jon was right about, Kyle needed to wrap up his business in Candy and get back to his office ASAP. Before Uncle Jon gave it to Logan, too.

Kyle got out of the car and made his way toward the factory’s entrance. Lingering anger from his conversation with his uncle was just going to make the rough task he had ahead of him worse.

He pushed open the factory’s door and stopped short. The factory’s foyer was packed with people, who at the sight of him broke out in applause. His eyes lit on a homemade banner hanging from the rafters
reading, Welcome Ellison Industries.

What the?

Kyle immediately searched through the crowd for Nia. Whatever was going on here, he suspected she was behind it.

He finally spotted her standing against a wall on the right side of the room. Instead of jeans, she wore a sexy pencil skirt that complimented her curves and showed off legs he remembered wrapped around his waist.

Their eyes connected. Her face flushed and she averted hers. She’d been thinking along the same lines, he thought.

Kyle’s eyes remained on Nia until a white-haired man, who identified himself as Candy’s mayor, grabbed his hand and gave it a vigorous shake.

“Welcome, Mr. Ellison,” he said. “We decided to throw you a little reception to welcome you to town.”

“I’m here on business, Mr. Mayor. Not to socialize. Now if you’ll just point out the factory’s president to me...”

“Sure thing.” The mayor slapped him on the back. “We’ve been trying to talk to someone from Ellison for months. So we couldn’t be more delighted you’re here. Surely, you can have a cup of coffee and maybe a cinnamon roll.”

He called to a woman standing a few feet away. “Tina, honey, get our guest one of your homemade cinnamon rolls.”

Within seconds, Kyle was holding a plate bearing a frosted sweet roll, and surrounded by a town full of people crammed into one room, all eager to talk to him.

He blew out a sigh after finally extricating himself from a swarm of middle-aged women, who worked in quality control, showing off photographs of daughters who’d be perfect for him. Again, he scanned the room for Nia.

“Mr. Ellison.” A gangly man removed a battered John Deere cap from his balding head extended his hand. “Butch Redmond.”

Kyle nodded absently and shook it.

“Just wanted you to know how much everyone in town appreciates you coming here personally. We were beginning to think Ellison Industries forgot about us.”

Kyle nodded again. What else could he do? He needed to inform the company president of his decision, before anyone else. The mayor, who was supposed to point him out, had also done a vanishing act. No doubt his disappearance and Nia’s were no accident.

They intended for him to spend as much time as possible meeting the factory’s employees.

“I’ve been an employee here thirty years now,” Butch said. “I only have a high-school diploma, but I put three kids through college thanks to my job here.”

“Congratulations, that’s a huge accomplishment, Mr. Redmond.”

“Thank you, sir,” he said. “And call me Butch.”

“You must be proud, Butch,” Kyle said, hoping to end the conversation. However, the crowd swarming around him made walking away impossible.

“We’re pleased for our kids, but worried about the fate of other children in the community if the factory goes under. We’re all on pins and needles waiting to hear your plans to put Peppermint Lane back in the black,” Butch said.

“That’s something I’ll need to discuss with the company president first, and we’ll make an announcement shortly afterward,” Kyle said.

It was an explanation he repeated over a dozen times as he navigated the throng of people, their stories, handshakes and slaps on the back. All had good things to say about working at the factory and believed his visit meant Ellison Industries was prepared to pour money into it.

Kyle had to admit, it would be harder to shut this place down now that he had faces and stories in his head instead of names on an employee roster. Hard, but not impossible.

He still had a job to do, and the detour Nia had set up wouldn’t stop him from doing it.

* * *

Away from the boisterous crowd of the reception, Nia paced the worn carpet of the factory’s conference room.

She’d sequestered herself in the upstairs room to give her friends and neighbors unencumbered access to the vice president of Ellison Industries and force Kyle to interact on a personal level with the people whose livelihoods he held in his hands.

Nia hoped it was going as planned. Amy was supposed to do reconnaissance and return with a report, but Nia hadn’t seen her in over a half hour.

She inhaled a gulp of air and slowly released it in hopes the breathing technique would help her focus. She should be reviewing her proposal to expand the factory and transform Candy into a winter-holiday tourist destination, not thinking about the man she hoped to sell on the idea.

Easier said than done.

She’d put her feelings for Kyle on the back burner earlier, throwing herself into decorating and organizing refreshments for the reception. Keeping herself too busy to think about how they’d left things between them.

Watching him stride through the factory doors this morning put her tumultuous emotions and Kyle back in the forefront of her mind.

The door to the room squeaked, and Nia spun around expecting to see Amy with an update. Instead, Kyle stood in the doorway.

Looking at him now left no doubt he helped run a multimillion-dollar corporation. He’d shed his overcoat, revealing a European-cut gray suit. The jacket hugged the broad shoulders and rock-hard chest her fingers itched to touch again. While the crisp, white shirt emphasized the caramel tones of the brown skin she’d kissed all over.

“You’re a hard woman to find these days.” He walked through the door and closed it firmly behind him.

“Kyle.” Her heart was pounding so loudly, she barely heard his name fall from her lips.

“I missed you last night,” he said.

She’d missed him, too.

Nia thought about how she’d spent the night tossing and turning. She only managed to fall asleep after abandoning the plush mattress of her bed with its memories of their lovemaking for the uncomfortable living room sofa.

“I came back to the house so we could talk. Did you get my note?”

“I didn’t get in until late,” she said.

Kyle glanced around the room. “Planning all of this?”

Nia nodded.

“You shouldn’t have gone through the trouble.” Kyle ran a hand over his short-cropped hair. “I told you I was coming back to talk.”

“I couldn’t sit around and wait. I had to do something,” Nia said. “I thought if you got to know your employees it would help influence your decision.”

Nia’s stomach clenched as she watched him slowly shake his head.