The Savvy Sistahs (21 page)

Madeline smiled. “Of course, how on earth could you assume that Clark was Craig’s child?”

Carla’s head began spinning with her mother’s revelation. “Did Dad know?”

Madeline chuckled. “Not for six years, then his mother told him. I decided I wanted Mark to know he had a son and wrote him a letter. Your grandmother found it and read it and took it straight to your father. He was livid and left. When he came back later that night he’d been drinking and forced himself on me and I got pregnant with you. I never wanted another child. Clark was all I ever wanted. You have always belonged to your father because he knew I never wanted you, not after what he’d done. The only man I ever loved was Mark.”

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything but the front door was standing open so I walked on in.”

Carla turned to see Jesse Devereau standing there. Evidently he was the person her mother had been expecting. She wondered how much of their conversation he’d heard. Right then she really didn’t care. She was still in a daze over everything her mother had said. Now Carla knew the reason she and her father had been so close while on the other hand, her mother had always treated her like dirt; mainly because in her mother’s mind she was dirt. And she now knew the reason her mother had been so obsessed with her telling Jesse that she’d gotten pregnant.

She needed to leave before she did something stupid like start to cry. Her mother and Jesse Devereau were the last two people who she wanted to see her tears. “No, Jesse, you aren’t interrupting anything— not anything at all.”

And with that final statement she walked past him and out of the house.

Chapter 21

A
mber glanced around Cord’s apartment. A bachelor definitely lived here. It was fairly neat and decorated in earth-tone colors. The living room was huge and spacious with several paintings on the wall by African-American artists as well as a wall-to-wall bookcase. For a man who claimed he didn’t have time to read, he sure had a lot of books.

Cord saw what had claimed her attention and said simply, “I acquired most of those while in college, and the others are there just to impress. I heard that the intellectual type turns a woman on.”

Amber arched a brow. She wondered why a man who looked like Cord thought he had to use books to impress a woman?

She had left the hospital after meeting with Dr. Phillips who had given her a list of Cord’s do’s and don’ts. He had given her Cord’s address and told her that he would make sure Cord got checked out of the hospital and home by noon. He suggested that she take care of whatever she needed to do before arriving.

She had gone home, changed clothes, and packed a few things in an overnight bag. Then she had dropped by the bookstore to let Jennifer and Eileen know of her plans and to advise them of where she would be if they needed her.

She had also made it a point to stop by the hotel to see Brandy and tell her of her plans as well. She could tell Brandy had been surprised she would go this far to help a man she barely knew. But her friend didn’t say anything other than that she would let Carla know and to call if she needed her.

“Do you want to see the guest room?”

Cord’s question interrupted her thoughts. “Yes.”

She followed him down a narrow hallway and came to a bedroom directly across the hall from what she assumed was his bedroom. She couldn’t help taking a quick peek inside his bedroom and saw that he had a king-size bed with huge pillows.

“Think you’ll be comfortable in here for the next four days?”

Again his comment recaptured her attention and she stepped into the room and glanced around. It was nicely decorated with the same earth-tone colors that seemed to flow throughout the apartment. The double bed had a comfy look and she could see herself getting a good night’s sleep in it.

“I’ll be fine. It’s a nice room,” she said when things had gotten too quiet and the air surrounding them had gotten a little too warm. Cord was dressed in a pair of jeans and an Orlando Magic T-shirt. For some reason she’d assumed he would be in pajamas since Dr. Phillips had said he needed to rest.

“Thanks. I had to get all new furniture after my divorce.”

Amber swung her head around and looked at him, surprised. “You’re divorced?”

“Yes.”

Amber nodded. That bit of information made her realize just how little she knew about him. “For how long?” she asked, thinking she needed to know.

“A little over a year. Her name was Diane.”

Amber nodded again. She wondered if he and Diane were still good friends. Some exes did remain that way. She had tried it with Gary, but found out all he wanted was the opportunity to get laid every once in a while.

“Are the two of you still pretty friendly?”

Cord chuckled, but Amber picked up on the fact there was more anger than amusement in his chuckle. “Not on your life. She left me for one of my clients and almost destroyed me and my business in the process when she emptied our personal and business bank accounts.”

Amber sighed. Betrayal. Why did marriages have to end that way? She heard the bitterness in his voice and knew how if felt to be betrayed by someone you loved and trusted. “I’m divorced, too, and have been for almost three years. My ex’s name is Gary and he betrayed me with another woman. I came home early from work one day and caught them…right in the act.”

“Ouch. That must have hurt pretty damn bad.”

“Yeah, it hurt like the dickens but I’ve gotten over it. Even after the divorce, I thought it would be best if Gary and I remained friends. But it didn’t take long to see that our meaning of
being friends
was different. So, I thought the best thing to do was move away and start over. That’s how I came to live in Orlando.”

“From where?”

“Nashville.”

Cord leaned against the dresser. The casual stance showed off his long limbs, hard muscles and manly form. “After college I lived in Atlanta but the accounting firm I was working for decided to downsize and Dev talked me into joining him here.”

“How long have you and Dr. Phillips known each other?” she asked curiously.

Cord smiled. “Dev and I were friends in high school. He and his Dad took me in after my grandmother died when I was seventeen. We were living in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina at the time. After high school I went to Atlanta to attend Clark University and Dev went to Howard, but we went home to South Carolina for the holidays.” He chuckled softly. “Mr. Phillips would not have had it any other way.” Then Cord momentarily got quiet and said. “He died last year of a heart attack. He was sixty and had been working too hard and refused to slow down.”

“Like you?”

Cord’s mouth curved into a smile. “I see that Dev has been talking to you.”

“Yes, and the reason I’m here is to make sure that you follow his orders for the next four days, which has me wondering why you’re not in bed.”

I’ll be glad to get into the bed if you get in there with me,
he wanted to say. Instead he said. “I didn’t think it would be proper for you to arrive and find me in my jammies.”

She waved off his words. “Hey, I’ve seen a man in his jammies before, so the sight would not have bothered me. I stopped by the store and got you a couple of cans of soup. Dr. Phillips mentioned that your cupboards were probably bare.”

“They are.”

“Then I think the best thing to do is for you to get back in bed and I’ll bring you a bowl of soup.”

“You’re not here to wait on me, Amber, and I’m not bedridden. I can relax without being glued to the bed,” he said stubbornly.

“Yeah, well, I’m sure you can but I prefer that for the rest of the day you stay in bed and let me take care of you like I assured Dr. Phillips that I would.” When she saw he was about to be defiant, she coaxed, “Go ahead and humor me.”

He met her gaze and kept it level with hers. “All right, Amber, I’ll humor you, but when the time comes I expect you to return the favor.”

What had Cord meant by that?
Amber thought as she poured hot soup into a bowl. After they’d left the guest room he had gone into his room and closed the door saying he planned to change into his jammies and she hadn’t heard a peep out of him since.

She had continued to familiarize herself with his house and had called home to check for any messages on her answering machine. She had then gone into the living room and watched television and had gotten caught up in a movie when she’d noted it was time for Cord to eat something before he took the medicine Dr. Phillips had prescribed.

She knocked on his bedroom door twice and when she heard soft snoring decided not to wake him. Amber had made it back to the kitchen and had sat the bowl of soup on the counter when the phone rang. She quickly picked it up.

“Hello?”

“Ms. Stuart?”

Amber smiled, recognizing the voice immediately. “Dr. Phillips, yes, it’s me.”

“I was just calling to check on my patient. I know how difficult he can be at times.”

Amber’s smiled widened. “Yes, well, he’s sleeping right now and has been for over a couple of hours.”

Dev chuckled. “That’s good since he definitely needs the rest. I increased the dosage of his medication for that reason. Besides wanting to check on Cord, I wanted to let you know that my lady friend and I plan to bring you and Cord dinner. She enjoys cooking and has made this huge pot of red beans and rice that we’d like to share.”

“Umm, that sounds delicious.”

“It really is,” he said, and Amber could hear the admiration in his voice for his girlfriend’s talent in the kitchen.“And Briana and I can stay a while with Cord if you need to go out or something. You know you don’t have to be there with him every minute of the day.”

“Yes, I know but being here gives me much needed rest, too. Last week was pretty hectic getting things prepared for the bookstore’s anniversary party. So this way I can relax a bit. I haven’t been doing much of anything since I got here but watching television, so in a way I’m glad I’m here and not at home. If I were at home there would be a million things for me to do.”

“Well, I’m sure Cord appreciates you being there. I got to check on a few more patients then I’m out of here. Expect me and Briana around six.”

“All right. Good-bye.” She then hung up the phone.

“Was that call for me?”

Amber whipped around at the sound of the deep, husky voice. Just waking up from his nap, Cord looked as dazed as she felt. The man was standing in the kitchen doorway dressed in a pair of pajamas bottoms and had that “just slept” sexy look. Her gaze latched on the broad span of his hairy chest and masculine torso and wondered how it would feel resting against it.

She lifted a hand to push hair back from her face. Suddenly, she could feel the heat, the sensual power he radiated, evoked and provoked. Her heart began racing out of control and she could actually feel her temperature starting to rise. Cord Jeffries was definitely the type of man who could fill any woman’s fantasy.

“Ahh, yes, that was Dr. Phillips. He was checking to see how you were doing,” she finally found her voice to say.

Cord nodded and ran a hand down his face as if to wipe away lingering sleep. “Did you tell him I was doing fine?”

“Yes, I told him.”

“Good.”

Then his eyes held hers and she could see the heat in them, and it sent desire flooding through her. She decided to break eye contact and turned to the sink. “If you’re ready to eat something, I can reheat the soup. Dr. Phillips said he and his girlfriend would bring something for dinner. She likes to cook.”

Cord chuckled. “Yes, she does.”

Amber blinked. She hadn’t realized Cord had crossed the room and he was now standing directly behind her. He was so close that if she were to turn around he would pin her between his body and the sink. She decided to keep her back to him. “Like I told you this morning, I can’t cook.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m sure you have a number of other talents.”

Amber caught her breath the moment she felt Cord slide his hands around her waist. He then took a step closer and she felt him, the outline of his hard erection against her backside. She couldn’t help but pause a moment and savor the contact and was almost too a shamed to admit it was a contact she’d missed. It had been almost three years since a man had touched her and she couldn’t stop the quiver of awareness that flowed through her, settling in the middle of her legs.

“I want you, Amber. I think you’ve known that from the first and a part of me believes that you want me, too. But I think it’s more than lust here. I think we genuinely like each other, too. Right?”

She nodded, but refused to turn around. “Yes, I like you but I don’t want to rush things.”

“And I don’t want to rush things either,” he murmured, his warm breath brushing close to her ear. “According to Dev I’m not to mess around for two weeks, which I guess is fair. I’d like to use that time for us to get to know each other better. After that we need to make a decision.”

Amber swallowed. “About what?”

“About where we want to go from there, if anywhere. From the sounds of things you’ve had a bad marriage and so have I. The question I want you to think about is will you let the past keep you from ever having a future? That’s the same question I had to ask myself a while back and decided I wouldn’t let Diane take away my joy for living.”

He leaned over and touched his lips to that space on her neck, just under her ear. She began to tremble. She leaned back against him and he shifted forward to cup her curvaceous bottom. The feel of it was driving him insane. He didn’t want to think of how it would feel when they were skin to skin.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked, his tone low and deep.

The husky sound of his voice made her squirm and clench her thighs together. “Yes,” she whispered, barely able to catch her breath.

“Turn around and give me your mouth, Amber.”

Slowly, she turned to face him and immediately locked her gaze with his. His eyes were dark and filled with a wanting she’d never seen in a man eyes before, at least not with such intensity. When he lowered his head and captured her mouth with his, he didn’t try to hide the hunger he felt.

Neither did she.

She closed her eyes when his lips touched hers and then she was lost. He plundered her mouth from corner to corner, side to side, top to bottom, licking, stroking, sucking, and then his tongue captured hers, held it captive and mated, relentlessly, greedily, sending her into oblivion where the only thing she could do was moan. Her breasts were beginning to ache, the area between her thighs felt needy, and she shifted so she could cradle his erection there in her center, although what she craved was more intimate contact.

And when Cord suddenly pulled his mouth away, she bit her lip against a whimper of protest and slowly opened her eyes. He was looking at her with deep desire. His lips were still wet and his breathing uneven. She immediately became concerned that he might have overexerted himself.

She braced herself against the sink, allowing her own breathing to return to normal. The kiss had left her entire body aching for more. “You weren’t supposed to overwork yourself,” she said softly, lifting her gaze to his when she could finally speak.

“I didn’t overwork myself, Amber. What I got is overcharged. There is a difference.” When she was about to say something he covered her mouth with his fingers.

“No, I won’t let you regret what we just shared. I won’t.” Then he replaced his fingers with his lips and kissed her slow and easy, with a sweetness that almost brought tears to Amber’s eyes as her mouth clung to his, taking everything he was offering.

When he broke the kiss and stepped back she knew. There had been a reason she had been drawn to him from the beginning, and although she wasn’t sure what that reason was, she was willing to find out.