“No wonder,” Tiberius whispered. “You think he’ll mind if I pet him?”
“No, if he hasn’t bitten your arm off by now, he won’t.”
An uncertain grin crossed Tiberius’s mouth. “That makes me feel so much better.”
Lewey obviously understood or felt that Tiberius had complimented him, for he allowed the man to pet him. He licked Tiberius’s hand, showing his approval of the big man seated next to his owner.
Tiberius’s rich laughter filled the room in response to Lewey appreciating his hand. “He’s friendly.”
“Hmph, for a change. He must like you.”
“Well I like him…and his owner.”
For the next several seconds Tiberius and Capri held each other’s gazes. Each wanted to say something, but neither made the first move. Luckily, the heavy mood was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell.
Tiberius pulled his eyes away and shook his head as if to clear it. “I’ll get it.”
Kiva was on the other side of the door. When she saw Tiberius, her large brown eyes widened. “Well, hello stranger!”
“What the hell are you doin’ here?” Tiberius exclaimed, pulling Kiva close for a tight hug. “I didn’t know you were friends with Capri.”
“Mmm-hmm,” Kiva replied, smoothing her hands across Tiberius’s wide back, “she and Rod have been friends forever so of course we are, too.”
A smirk added a devilish element to Tiberius’s handsome face. “Yeah, just like him not to introduce me before now.”
Kiva laughed, but didn’t respond. Instead, she walked on into the house. Spotting Capri on the sofa with her foot bandaged, she frowned. “What in the world happened to you?”
“I tripped on a step,” Capri explained. “I was showing Pepper out of the house and we were laughing and…”
“You were the one who was trippin’?” Kiva noted, causing Tiberius and Capri to laugh. Kiva knelt to pet Lewey then looked around the living room. “Capri, this is so nice. I love what you’ve done so far.”
“Thanks, I was able to do so much more with it since there’s so much more room here than I had at the condo.”
“Well, I think it’s fabulous.”
“So do I. I plan on being here for a while,” Capri admitted, feeling very comfortable in her new surroundings.
Kiva smiled and glanced at Tiberius, whose unwavering gaze
had never left Capri’s face. “I guess you’re glad to hear that, huh, Tibe?”
“Hmm?…What?” he muttered, looking over at Kiva after a moment.
“Sounds like you’ll have a permanent resident,” Kiva clarified, amused by how absorbed the man seemed by Capri.
“Oh…yeah,” Tiberius finally came to his senses.
“Steady cash flow,” Kiva teased, rubbing her hands together in a sneaky manner.
“You’re crazy,” Capri accused through laughter.
Suddenly, Tiberius cleared his throat and ran both hands through his thick, curly crop of hair.
“Um, I better get goin’, ladies,” he announced, his eyes settling back on Capri’s face. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he promised, before smirking at Kiva. “All right, girl, holler at Rod for me.”
“Will do!” Kiva shouted, never missing the intense look on Tiberius’s handsome face when he looked at Capri.
“So what do you think of your new landlord?” she asked when she was sure he had gone.
“He’s very nice.”
“Yeah?”
Capri groaned and rolled her dark eyes toward the ceiling. “All right, he’s gorgeous and sexy as hell, but I got a feeling he’s something of a…playboy, for lack of a better word.”
Kiva stood from the armchair and dusted both hands across her long, form-fitting denim dress. “Honey,
playboy
is the perfect word for Tiberius Evans. He can be hard to resist though, and I got the girlfriends that’ll testify to that.”
“I seriously doubt that I’m his type, Kiva.”
“Why not? You’re a woman, aren’t you?”
Capri clicked her teeth. “You know what I mean. There are obvious reasons why it couldn’t work between us.”
Kiva appeared clueless. “Such as?”
Sitting up a bit on the sofa, Capri let her shock show. “For starters, I’m supposed to be
saving myself
, remember?” She twisted her lips as the fact rattled something inside her. “Anyway, I’ve got the feeling our gorgeous doctor hates the idea of commitment.”
“True,” Kiva eased a hand into the pocket of her dress and paced the living room. “But have you told him that he’s living next door to a virgin?”
“No! Hell no!”
Kiva raised her hands. “Well then, honey, to our gorgeous doctor you’re just like any other woman. His for the taking.”
Capri shook her head. “He’s not really that bad. Is he?”
“Tibe’s a sweetie,” Kiva conceded, coming to join Capri on the sofa, “but he’s a man who thrives on a challenge, and damn if you wouldn’t be the perfect one.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt that for a minute,” Capri quickly responded and her lashes briefly fluttered as she remembered the feel of his fingers along her skin. Shaking her head, she tried to clear her mind of the sensual thoughts. “Anyway, I’ve got a feeling that this challenge wouldn’t exactly be Dr. Evans’ cup of tea.”
L
ate the next morning, Capri awoke to strange sounds outside. Unmindful of the revealing cotton-gauze chemise she wore, she headed right downstairs. The closer she got to the front door, the louder the sounds of chainsaws and hammers became. Not about to open the door, Capri pulled back the long mauve drapes covering the bay window and peeked out. It appeared that someone had hired a construction crew and not informed her. There were at least eight men out front and it seemed they were relaying the entire porch.
Tiberius’s promise to fix the broken step immediately came to mind. Capri was sure a mistake was being made and was about to head next door. She detoured up the small stairway and went to the dining room. Opening the long blinds over the French doors there, she looked to see if Tiberius had already left for the day.
“Tiberius!” she called, spotting him about to settle into his truck.
He had just thrown his briefcase into the truck when he heard his name. Smoothing his hand across the tan suede vest he’d put on over a long-sleeve cream shirt, he frowned and walked closer to the gate.
“Tibe!” Capri shouted again, when she saw him right next to the gate. When he looked over at her house, she waved him over.
He wasted no time getting across the yard. A look of concern darkened his handsome face when he stepped through the French doors Capri held open. His fierce expression changed to one of sensual shock when he saw what she was wearing.
“What’s wrong?” he whispered, his light eyes trailing across her caramel skin seductively revealed by the skimpy attire.
Capri pointed behind her. “All those men on my porch…”
Tiberius sent a blank stare her way, before he threw his head back. “Oh…well I promised you I’d get that step fixed.”
“But they’re redoing the entire porch,” Capri pointed out.
Tiberius was barely paying attention to the conversation because he was so entranced by Capri’s dark hair. He wondered if it was as soft as it looked. Suddenly grimacing, Tiberius pushed his hands into the deep pockets of his cream trousers and glared at her. “Listen, Capri, I can’t take a chance on anything else happening because of repairs that need to be made, all right?”
Capri absently toyed with the low ruffled neckline of her gown and shook her head. “Do you go to such lengths for all your tenants?”
Tiberius’s strong fingers brushed against the satiny skin above the gown’s neckline. Then, he took her hand in his. “No, not all. Just for the very lovely, tiny ones.”
Capri’s enchanting gaze widened slightly at his smooth compliment. Before she could respond though, Tiberius was gone.
“Hey, Charlie? Could you get Max to check the lighting in that corner? I think it’s a little too dark.”
“Sure thing, Cap.”
Capri had felt up to going back to work after only one day of rest. The deadline for the cologne ad would be upon her soon enough and she didn’t want to waste any more time. While she took care of last-minute details in the studio, however, her thoughts unwillingly drifted to Tiberius.
She had tried to pretend since they met that she felt nothing for him. Only to herself could she begin to admit her intense attraction to the man. Her body reacted whenever he was around.
She began to tap her magnifying glass to the easel as Tiberius completely took over her thoughts. She couldn’t help but think about what she’d confessed to Pepper that day over lunch. It was the first
time she’d ever admitted having reservations about her decisions to abstain. The words she spoke to Pepper had sounded almost foreign to her ears.
It went without saying that these
reservations
would have to be dealt with. If, in fact, her vow to remain a virgin had less to do with celibacy and saving herself for marriage and more to do with some expectation of herself to be more like her sisters, then she had some serious soul-searching to do.
Her attraction to Tiberius Evans was dangerous, for she could very easily give in to the increasing demands her body was insisting she satisfy. Caught in the midst of such temptation while trying to come to grips with what she really wanted could have her throwing caution, and other things, to the wind.
Capri was so absorbed in her thoughts of the handsome physician that she didn’t notice Avery Erickson come into the studio.
“Earth to Capri,” Avery sang, grinning when her lovely dark eyes snapped up to his face.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t even hear you come in.” Capri hoped she didn’t look as flustered as she felt.
Avery waved his hand. “No problem, but you look like there’s somethin’ heavy on your mind,” he detected, gazing appreciatively at her small form encased in a denim jean jumper.
Capri was oblivious to his stare. “Well, work always keeps me in an uproar,” she sighed.
“Is it the ad?”
“The deadline will be here before we know it.”
“You know what you need?” Avery said, pulling the camera Capri was holding out of her hands and turning her to face him. “You need to get out.”
“You think so?” Capri asked, her full lips twitching slightly.
“I do.”
Capri walked away from Avery. She gave him a mischievous look over her shoulder. “And I suppose you’re offering?”
Avery spread his arms wide. “If you insist.”
“Well, I don’t,” Capri declined gaily and with her brightest smile in place. “Look, Avery, maybe I didn’t make this clear before but I try very hard not to get involved with the people I work with. Especially the models. No offense.”
The confident gleam in Avery’s dark eyes dimmed. “Well what’s wrong with models?”
“Avery, I just don’t mix work and play, all right?”
Tapping his fingers against his square jaw, Avery took a moment to think. “Okay then, we’ll just have to wait until after our work is done to play.”
Capri tossed a thick curl out of her eye and tilted her head back to look directly at the tall, attractive man across from her. “Forget it Avery,” she said politely but firmly, although she didn’t think it would be the end of his pursuit.
Aside from Avery being late, the first shoot went off without any serious problems. Capri couldn’t believe that she hadn’t used half the time she’d anticipated for the shoot. She’d sent one of her assistants off to prepare her darkroom, so she could get started right away on the prints.
“All right everybody, that was a good one! We’ll meet on the beach at 6:00 a.m. sharp! You guys know where.”
Everyone groaned at the early hour, but they were glad to have the rest of the day off. Avery decided to make one last attempt with Capri and walked up behind her. He pulled out one of his cards and held it in front of her face.
“What’s this?” Capri asked, frowning slightly at the gray card with raised black letters.
Avery waited until Capri turned to face him to continue. “Call me when you think you can relax your rules.”
Capri glanced at the card and then watched Avery saunter away.
Shaking her head at his determination, she slid his card into her bag.
Deciding not to waste any time, Capri went right to work developing the prints from the day’s shoot. She was very pleased with her work, as well as with the group she was working with.
“Now all I need to do is decide which prints to include in the portfolio,” she whispered to herself pushing her hands into the back pockets of her jumper.
“Can you hold off on that a little while?”
Capri dropped the prints on the table and turned around. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
Rod stepped from the shadows of the doorway. “I need your help.”
“For what?”
“I need to go shopping.”
“Shopping?”
“Shopping.”
Totally confused, Capri leaned back against the table. “Am I missing something?”
Rod came close to Capri and held her upper arms in a light hold. “You gotta keep quiet about this, all right?”
“Uh-huh. What is it?”
“I’m gonna propose to Kiva, but I need an engagement ring and—”
Capri’s screaming interrupted.
“Will you hush?” Rod ordered, clamping his hand across Capri’s mouth.
Capri nodded but her dark eyes were impossibly wide with excitement.
“I need some help picking the thing out. You think you can help without tellin’ the whole building?”
Capri pulled Rod’s hand away and gave him a dazzling smile. “You can count on me.”
She threw her arms about his neck and hugged him tight.