Authors: Brenda Jackson
Chapter 10
B
randy was feeling downright edgy.
She wanted the identity of her stalker revealed more than anything, but it was day seven and already Grey was wearing on her last nerve. It wasn’t as if he was doing anything intentionally, but his very presence was unnerving. And although she’d always thought her suite was rather spacious, all of sudden it felt small and cramped.
And filled with a man—a damn striking one at that.
A man whose eyes were so dark they gave you a glimpse of midnight, whose features were so stark they could take your breath away at a glance, and whose body was so well defined it immediately made you think of passion—the hot spicy kind—and of sexual need, the in-your-body-all-up-your spine kind.
And if she thought she had it bad, then she felt totally awful for her female employees, who were trying hard to pretend they weren’t attracted to their boss’s pretend lover. More than once she’d caught a feminine eye looking at Grey with lust and looking at her with envy.
Funny that he had been the one her cousins had sent. If she didn’t know for certain that they were concerned with her well-being, she would think she had been set up. But a part of her wanted to believe that wasn’t the case. Taye, Rae’jean, and Alexia had careers that were just as demanding as hers and the last thing any of them had time to do was play matchmaker. But then some ingrained instinct, one that had gotten to know her cousins very well over the last three years, couldn’t keep a tight lid on her suspicions.
Her thoughts fell on her and Grey’s sleeping arrangements. He slept on the sofa and when she would awake in the mornings, the blankets would be neatly folded and placed back in her closet, and more often than not, he would be sitting at the kitchen table eating or drinking coffee just like it was the most natural place for him to be.
They had spent the first week going over her schedule and familiarizing him with the day-to-day operations of the hotel as well as her key employees. He had set up his equipment in the small office in the suite and kept the door locked to keep the housekeeper out. Brandy had been amazed at all the electronic devices he had brought with him, and how he had transformed her miniature office into some sort of mini-command center, which included a state-of-the-art laptop.
Each morning before they left to go to her office, he would go into her bedroom and stretch out between the covers so the bed linen could pick up his scent, thus reminding her of how important it was for her housekeeper to believe the two of them were sharing a bed.
Brandy knew it would have been a waste of her time to tell him that there was no way Mrs. Johnson, who was old enough to be their grandmother, could be a suspect, because he would not believe her. He constantly reminded her that everyone was a suspect until he found the person behind the notes.
As Brandy continued her walk away from the conference room to the elevator, her gaze darted all around her, even over her shoulder. She walked down the empty hall where a business meeting about the Florida Classic was in session. She’d had to leave to take part in an important conference call regarding another function her hotel was sponsoring.
Although she couldn’t see him, had no earthly idea of just where he was, she knew Grey was somewhere close by. Twice that day he had appeared basically out of nowhere, startling her to death when he seemed to materialize right in front of her. He had told her not to worry if she didn’t see him, because he was an ace at blending into walls and no matter what, he had her back. Him having her back had been a comforting thought.
It had also been an arousing one.
Brandy swallowed deeply and with urgent determination she tried pushing any thoughts of Grey Masters from her mind. He had his job to do and she had hers. He had promised he would not get in her way and she had agreed to be cooperative. He wanted everyone to think they were lovers, but not necessarily glued at the hip.
Another arousing thought.
She rounded the corner, swearing her thoughts away when she bumped into her food and beverage director, Wilbur Green. “Mr. Green, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you.”
“I’m sorry as well, Ms. Bennett, since I didn’t see you either.”
Brandy glanced up at the man who appeared to be rather nervous about something. “Mr. Green, are you all right?”
“Yes, yes, I’m fine. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go check on things for the Lacombes’ dinner party.”
Brandy frowned as she watched the man’s retreating back.
“He seems rather nervous about something, doesn’t he?”
Brandy whirled around. Grey’s sudden appearing acts were destined to give her heart failure. She placed her hand over her chest to calm her racing heart. “Grey, don’t scare me like that!”
“Sorry.”
After inhaling a deep breath she glanced at him; he had those deep, dark eyes aimed on her. At that moment, she suddenly felt something that was kinetically sensual.
Damn.
She turned back around to watch Wilbur Green as he rounded a corner, and used that time to let the jolt that had passed through her subside. She tried like the dickens to think of something else other than the good-looking man standing in front of her. She then recalled the comment he’d made earlier. “Yes, he did seem rather nervous.”
“Is his job stressful?”
Forcing her gaze back to Grey’s, she replied, “Yes, it can be. One of the things I did when I took over was increase the number of conferences we book each year, which can be rather stressful, but so far he seems to be handling things.”
Brandy then glanced down at her watch. “I need to get going or I’m going to be late for the meeting and most of the city officials will be in attendance.”
Grey nodded. “What are your plans for this evening?”
Brandy raised a brow. “I don’t have any, why?”
“I thought it would be a good time for us to be seen together at your friend’s restaurant.”
Brandy shook her head, still not liking the fact that Grey considered Thomas a suspect. Besides, a part of her wanted to believe that whoever had wanted to scare her had backed off, since she hadn’t received another note. “Maybe my little nightmare is over, Grey, and whoever was behind this decided to stop trying to scare me. It’s been over a week and I haven’t gotten another message.”
Her met her gaze. “You haven’t but I have.”
Brandy lifted a brow and her heart escalated in beats. “You received something?”
At his nod, she then asked quietly. “From
The Man
?”
Grey smiled and even with her nervousness Brandy felt another jolt, another sensuous kinetic pull. “Yes. An envelope was left at the front desk for me a couple of days ago.”
Bandy frowned. “And you didn’t tell me about it?” she asked, clearly upset. She inhaled deeply and was almost afraid to voice her next question, but did so anyway. “What did it say?”
Grey’s smile suddenly turned into a deep, dark frown. His eyes also changed. They became intense. “It said for me to stay away from you or I’ll be sorry.”
Amber stood as she arched her back, thinking she had been bending over way too long when she felt the kinks settling there. A hot bath in the Jacuzzi tub she’d had installed a few weeks ago sounded real tempting and she couldn’t wait for her day to end. She thought about the store’s anniversary party in two weeks and all the things she had to do to prepare for it. She had even decided to bake cookies to serve in order to cut expenses, and Jennifer and Eileen had both volunteered to bake cakes and to do the punch. The only thing left for her to take care of were the peanuts and mints and the decorating.
She had to admit she was getting rather excited thinking about it. In fact she was happier than she had been in years, which went to show that a woman could be happy without a serious relationship with a man clouding up anything.
Amber didn’t look around when she heard the sound of the bell indicating someone had entered the shop, since Eileen was on duty. Besides, Amber was determined to have all the new book releases on the shelves by the end of the day, although she had to admit that things would go a lot faster if she didn’t stop to read a few pages of every book she picked up.
“What you’re doing looks like fun.”
Amber turned at the sound of the deep, male voice and nearly gasped. It was the man who had patronized her store last week.
The man who had invaded her thoughts ever since.
She lifted a brow. He was dressed a lot differently than he had been then. The jeans, sweatshirt and Nikes had been replaced with an outfit that looked like one of Armani’s top sellers. Everything he had on shouted money. She always enjoyed seeing a brother who looked good and dressed good.
With a sigh of female appreciation she smiled and tried to ignore the sensual pull she felt deep in her stomach. “Hi, it’s good seeing you again. How did the reading go?”
“Wonderful, and that’s why I decided to drop by to get another book.”
“Oh, which one did you like? Walter Mosley or that romance novel I recommended?”
Cord chuckled. “Actually, both. I enjoyed my mystery and my secretary enjoyed the romance book.”
“You mean you weren’t tempted to read a few pages from that romance novel?”
He chuckled again.“Okay,I admit I did take a peek but after the first page I decided it was too sappy for my taste since there was no mention of blood or guts.”
Although she didn’t want to, Amber couldn’t help but grin and quickly retraced her earlier thoughts. Although she knew there was more to being a woman than getting wrapped up in a man, she could definitely see a sistah getting pretty wrapped up with this brother real tight like. “You do have a point there, Mr. Jeffries.”
He awarded her another easy smile and angled his head. “I’m glad you agree, and I prefer you call me Cord instead of Mr. Jeffries.”
Amber placed another book on the shelf, determined not to let Cord keep her from her work. Besides, she needed something to concentrate on instead of concentrating on him, which her mind seemed intent on doing. “So, do you know exactly what book you want?” she asked, hoping that would move him on.
“Yes. I’ll take another Walter Mosley novel.”
Amber took out another book from the box to place on the shelf. “Do you need help finding it?” she asked without breaking her stride in what she was doing. She hoped that pretty soon he would take the hint that she was too busy to chit chat.
Or to ogle him.
“No, I remember what section it’s in. And if you don’t mind I think I’ll browse some. I might see something else to buy.”
“Another book for your secretary or for some family member?”
“I don’t have any family. My grandmother was my only family and she died when I was seventeen.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“It was years ago, but thanks anyway.”
Amber nodded. A part of her felt sad that Cord Jeffries didn’t have family. She’d come from a rather big family and even with the distance separating them, she knew they were there if she ever needed them. “When you’re ready to check out let me know. Either me or my assistant will ring you up.”
“Thanks.”
She watched him walk off, thinking that he looked just as good in a suit as he did jeans and a sweatshirt. Whatever the man put on his body he wore well.
Later, when the shop had endured the furor of the lunch crowd and had a slow moment, Amber was able to sit quietly behind her desk in the back of the shop and let her thoughts dwell on Cord Jeffries.
Everything about him signaled danger, not in the real physical sense of the word but in the emotional sense. It was clearly obvious to her that he was a man that a woman could lose her heart, body, and soul to if she wasn’t careful. Amber had found herself in an alluring dilemma, especially after the man’s parting words were that he would be attending the bookstore’s anniversary party. She wondered how much more of Cord Jeffries she could take, both physically and mentally. It had been way too long since she’d worried about this sort of thing. Mr. Jeffries was definitely a vision of reality.
Amber signed deeply, deciding that she needed to talk to someone and immediately dismissing the thought of calling one of her sisters. All three thought she needed a man and to them, the very idea that she’d been celibate for over two years was a self-imposed torture they couldn’t understand. Although she knew they loved her and wanted the best for her, they just couldn’t grasp the fact that she needed time to appreciate who she was before committing herself to anyone else. Unlike what everyone back home thought, she was not carrying a torch for Gary. She was carrying a torch for herself and her need for growth and development as an individual, a businessperson, and a woman.
With a long, lingering sigh, she leaned back in her chair. The only persons who understood her plight were Carla and Brandy. Like her, they’d been celibate for a while and often joked about calling their sistah-circle the Celibate Club. Well, she didn’t know about Carla and Brandy but going without for over two years was just about to take its toll. But she was determined to hang tight and resist temptation, and Cord Jeffries was temptation with a capital
T
.
Picking up the phone, she decided to call Brandy and Carla to see if they wanted to do the chick flick they had put off doing the other night.
“Yes, hi, Michelle, this is Amber. Is Carla in?”
It didn’t take long for Carla to come on the line. “Hey, girl, I know this is a last minute thing and you might be faced with babysitting issues, but I desperately need someplace to go tonight. How about doing a movie or dinner if you can find a sitter?”
She heard Carla’s soft chuckle. “You sound rather desperate.”
“I am. I need to get out tonight and work off some restless energy.”
“Umm, oh, I see.” There was a brief pause, then Carla asked without preamble, “Who is he?”
Amber couldn’t help but grin. Brandy and Carla had gotten to know her too well. “What makes you think it’s a man?”
“Hey, remember I’ve been there and done that, although maybe not to the extent that you and Brandy have.”
Amber shook her head as she remembered what Carla had shared with them that night at dinner. Carla had been a twenty-nine-year-old virgin when she’d met and slept with a man, so Carla knew nothing about the deep yearnings a woman could feel from the need of a man.