Dylan grunted and made another try for the remote. This time he managed to slip it out of Lola’s hand without disturbing her.
He’d aimed it at the television with the intention of muting the volume, when video footage of Lola from this afternoon appeared on the screen.
“Next on Beauty Outtakes special correspondent Willow Gates, also know as the Wicked Glam Mother, gets misbehaving diva Lola Gray’s reaction to her ousting as the face of Espresso Cosmetics.”
Dylan turned up the television and gently shook Lola. “Wake up, sweetheart, the show’s about to start.” He wasn’t the kind of guy who used endearments, but this one came as naturally to him as breathing.
Lola’s eyelids fluttered, and she muttered something unintelligible, but otherwise didn’t respond to his attempts to rouse her from sleep. Dylan dropped a kiss on her forehead and pressed the record button on the remote.
Then he watched the woman sleeping in his arms light up the television as her afternoon with the media replayed on the screen. Her casual appearance—cutoff denim shorts and dark hair tucked beneath a cap—didn’t dim the wattage of her star power, Dylan observed. Lola Gray possessed the illusive It factor, along with a new confidence that she’d seemed to develop over the past few days.
The segment ended with the Wicked Glam Mother giving her impression of Lola to the host of Beauty Outtakes.
“I’d met Lola’s sister-in-law, Sage Sinclair, last Valentine’s Day. However, this was my first encounter with the infamous Lola Gray, and after all the media reports about her, I wasn’t sure what to expect.”
The blonde host of the show tilted her head toward the blogger conspiratorially. “Same here. I was actually holding my breath when I watched the footage of you asking her about being fired from her own company.”
The pixyish blogger placed a hand to her chest. “So was I.”
“Then you just wouldn’t let up with those questions about how humiliating it must have been to be replaced by a drag queen.” The host shook her head.
The blogger winked. “Honey, they don’t call me ‘wicked’ for nothing.”
Dylan frowned at the screen, remembering how difficult it had been for him to stand down and not clear the entire square of media. But there had been too many well-meaning people in Lola’s life, constantly telling her what was best for her and bulldozing over her wishes.
Dylan instinctively knew Lola didn’t need his advice or protection. What she needed, what she craved, was his respect, and that’s exactly what he’d given her, because she’d earned it.
The pixie and the host of Beauty Outtakes continued their chatter.
“I swear I thought she was going to throw that bucket of white paint on you,” the host said.
“So did I, but she surprised me,” the blogger replied. “I think she shocked a lot of people, who were expecting a temper tantrum—or one of her infamous beat downs. However, she wasn’t like that at all. I think Lola handled herself exceptionally well. I also believe a lot of the stories surrounding her lately are just that—innuendo and made-up stories.”
The show’s host chimed in. “I think letting an eloquent beauty like Lola go is Espresso’s loss, and my sources tell me the producers at America Live! regret canceling her rumored guest-host spot, too,” the blonde said.
“Lola’s not only stunningly beautiful, she managed to rally an entire town around her without lifting a finger. I don’t think she’ll have trouble finding work,” the Wicked Glam Mother said.
Dylan watched as the blonde nudged the blogger and lowered her voice to a staged whisper.
“In fact, you and our viewers at home didn’t hear this from me, but there’s been some water cooler talk in the Fashion Channel offices about the possibility of her being tapped to do a show on our network.”
The segment ended, and Dylan stopped the recording and turned off the television. He sat motionless on the sofa, taking what he expected would be one of his last opportunities to savor the feel of Lola against him and the gentle weight of her head resting on his chest.
He glanced around his modest home, located on a tree-lined street in a small town. He loved it here and being surrounded by friends and family. It was enough for him, but it could never be enough for the woman in his arms.
The tiny flashing lights of Lola’s silenced cell phone, resting on the end table, caught Dylan’s eye. Her phone was blowing up already, he thought. Just as he’d predicted, the world had discovered the delightful attributes he’d seen in Lola Gray all along.
Now he’d have to do something that would be more difficult than not intervening when the media had descended on her today—let her go. It would be one of the hardest things he’d ever done in his life, because without a doubt he liked Lola Gray. He liked her so damn much.
* * *
“It’s a wonderful opportunity and an extremely generous offer, but I’ll need time to think it over. I’ll get back to you in a few days with my decision.”
Lola ended the call, unable to decide whether to hug or pinch herself. Last night, she’d fallen asleep with no employment prospects, but had woken to her choice of desirable jobs. She’d spent the morning fielding and returning calls, including a preliminary offer she’d just been made by the executives at the Fashion Channel.
“Another job offer?” Dylan asked.
He’d come home for lunch. Now he was preparing them both sandwiches. Lola had been assembling an accompanying salad, with the vegetables in his fridge, when the call came.
Lola nodded as she resumed chopping tomatoes. “The Fashion Channel wants me to host a model-themed reality show.”
“That sounds interesting.” Dylan cut both sandwiches on the diagonal. “I think you’d be great at it.”
Lola nodded. “It does sound like fun, but it wasn’t the most interesting call I received this morning.”
Dylan raised a curious brow, and Lola, who was practically bursting, began to fill him in.
“Cole called shortly after you left to do your morning patrol. He wants me to consider a bigger role in the running of the company,” she said. “He even sounded contrite.”
“Your brother? Contrite?” Dylan chuckled as he slid a plate bearing a turkey sandwich across the breakfast bar in her direction. “I would like to have heard that conversation.”
“I know. I nearly fell off my chair.”
The phone rang again, but Lola ignored it. Dylan had come home for lunch to see her instead of eating at his mom’s or the diner. Lola didn’t know what the future held for them or if they even had one, so she didn’t want to waste their precious time together talking on the phone.
She placed the finished salad at the center of the table. She was retrieving a bottle of salad dressing from the refrigerator when her phone began chirping, indicating she had both a voice mail and text message.
“I’ll switch that off while we eat,” she said.
“It’s cool if you have business to handle,” Dylan said.
She glanced at the clock on the microwave and then waggled her eyebrows at him. “If there’s time after we eat, I’ve got some business for you to handle.” She smacked his ass as she walked past him to get her phone.
“You’d better get your rest this afternoon,” he called out to her retreating back. “Because I intend to handle that business all night long.”
Picking up the phone, Lola immediately saw a text message from her former agent on the locked screen. She shook her head and switched off the phone. She’d get back with Jill later.
“Problem?” Dylan asked.
“Not at all.” Lola sat on a stool at the breakfast bar. “It was just my former agent asking for a second chance.”
“Is that a possibility?” he asked, and then took a huge bite out of his sandwich.
Lola shrugged. “Anyt
hing’s possible. It would largely depend on if she understood that she works for me, not vice versa. I won’t tolerate being berated like a naughty child or disrespect from anyone. Not anymore.”
Lola watched a smile form on his full lips. Dylan put down his sandwich, held up his fist, and she promptly bumped it with her own.
“Good job,” he said.
She picked up her sandwich, and then placed it back on her plate. “Speaking of second chances,” she said. “I’ve been thinking, and I believe Officer Wilson deserves another one.”
Dylan’s expression darkened. “He lied, Lola.”
“I know, but...”
“No buts. A cop has to be aboveboard,” Dylan said. “And how can you defend him after you nearly got arrested due to his nonsense?”
“Because I know how it feels to have people disrespect you, to treat you like a joke. He wanted to tell the truth, but was just afraid of once again being ridiculed as the bumbling rookie.” Lola pleaded the young man’s case.
“I’ll think about it,” Dylan said. “Meanwhile, you have bigger and better to things to think about than Todd Wilson. You have a huge career decision to make.”
Lola exhaled and made a mental note to bring the subject up with Dylan at another time. She didn’t have to think about her next career move. Lola already knew which job she truly wanted.
Her only question was did she have the guts to go for it?
Chapter 16
Lola left the next day.
Dylan had known something was up the moment he’d awakened. Usually, she was still asleep when he left the house to make his early-morning patrol through town. However, when his alarm had gone off, she had already showered and dressed.
Her suitcase was in the trunk of her red Mustang. She’d kissed him goodbye, told him she was Nashville bound and would be in touch.
He’d known all along this day would come. Still, he hadn’t been prepared. It had taken every shred of strength he possessed to let her go, when everything in him wanted to take her back to bed and make love to her until she could barely stand, never mind leave.
“Chief?”
Dylan blinked. Marjorie was standing at his desk, staring at him curiously. “What’s up?” he asked.
“I’ve been standing here talking to you a few minutes, but I don’t think you’ve heard a word.”
Dylan didn’t bother denying it. He’d simply been going through the motions of his daily routine in the week since Lola had left Cooper’s Place, his home and his bed. He apologized to the dispatcher and asked her to repeat what she’d said to him earlier.
“I was asking if you’d heard from Lola?” Marjorie cast a glance at the small-town police station’s lone jail cell. The duvet, lampshade and other touches of pink reminiscent of the woman who’d occupied it for less than an hour.
Dylan nodded. Lola had kept her word about staying in touch. She’d called him when she’d made it back to Nashville, and two days later she’d phoned from New York. The last call had been a brief one from Los Angeles, where she was meeting with producers for a television show.
He hadn’t heard from her last night or the night before. He’d expected her calls to eventually phase out. Dylan had thought about calling her. He’d picked up his phone at least a dozen times a day, his finger hovering over the number. Each time, he shoved the phone back into his pocket.
“She was only in town for a few days, but it’s not the same around here without her.” Marjorie shrugged. “I suppose we’ll all get used to it.”
Lola deserved each one of these opportunities. Dylan knew regardless of which one she decided to pursue, she’d excel. He wouldn’t stand in her way. No matter how much he liked her. He found the corner of his mouth pull into a half smile as he remembered their private joke, always using the word like in lieu of the L-word that truly expressed their feelings.
“Chief?”
This time, Dylan heard Marjorie call him, and looked up in her direction. The dispatcher was frowning.
“Your uncle’s on the phone. He sounds angry. Says to put you on the line ASAP.”
“Ass,” Dylan muttered under his breath. Once again he thought of how he and Lola said the word simultaneously whenever his uncle Roy’s name came up.
Shake it off, man.
Dylan stood. “I’ll walk over to city hall and see what he’s upset about this time.” Hopefully, the fresh air would clear his head of the woman dominating his thoughts.
He was nearly at the glass double doors leading out of the building when Rosemary Moody burst through it. “Have you heard the news?” she asked breathlessly.
Dylan frowned. “You know I don’t listen to gossip, Rosemary,” he said. “Why don’t you give my mom a call? I’m sure she’ll want to hear your news.”
Having caught her breath, the older woman smiled smugly. “Oh, you’re going to want to hear this gossip, Chief Cooper.”
“I want to hear it,” Marjorie yelled over his shoulder.
Shaking his head, Dylan walked around the town busybody and pushed opened the door. He froze in the doorway, spotting Rosemary’s big news at the same time she announced it.
“Lola’s back, and she’s just filed the paperwork to run for mayor!”
Dylan blinked, and his mouth stretched into a full-fledged grin.
Lola was leaning against her red Mustang, which was parked in front of the station. He walked over to the car, resisting the urge to break into a run. She smiled back at him. “I was on my way in to see you, but I didn’t want to steal Rosemary’s thunder.”
“But you were in Nashville, and then New York and Los Angeles,” he said, still stunned.
“I had my mind made up before I left, but I thought I owed it to myself to hear all the offers,” she said. “And to tell my family personally I’d be voting my own shares of Espresso Cosmetics from now on, but I wouldn’t be involved in the day-to-day operation of the company.”
She handed him a sheaf of papers, and Dylan quickly thumbed through them. Rosemary was right. Lola Gray was officially a candidate for mayor of Cooper’s Place.
“I used your address on the application. I hope you don’t mind,” she said.
“From now on it’s our address, because I like you, Lola Gray. More than I’ve ever liked anyone in my entire life.”
She smiled. “I like you, too, Dylan Cooper, and I can’t wait to get you home, strip that uniform off you and show you just how much.”
He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close, and then he captured her mouth in a kiss that left no doubt to how very deeply he liked her.
Dylan broke the kiss to take another look at the copy of the documents she’d filed. “I still can’t believe it. You had your choice of the most glamorous places and careers in the world, and you’re staying in town.”
Lola threw her arms around his neck. “Baby, I’m staying to run this town.”
Epilogue
Four months later
Wearing a simple white sheath with pearls adorning her ears and neck, Lola stood inside the gazebo in the Cooper’s Place town square surrounded by friends and family.
“You look beautiful.” Her father kissed her cheek. “I only wish your mother could be here today. She’d be so proud of you, and I believe she’d like your young man.”
“I like him, too, Dad.” She exchanged a look with Dylan, who was standing nearby. They’d been living together since her return to town, and she’d never been happier.
The ceremony was brief and tears welled in Lola’s eyes as she made an oath before God and everyone she held dear.
“Congratulations, Mayor Gray.”
A beaming Lola shook hands with the judge who had just sworn her into office. Her second congratulations came from Dylan, who wasted no time sweep
ing her into his arms.
“You did such a good job painting this gazebo, I think we should hold another ceremony here,” he said.
“Are you proposing to me, Chief Cooper?”
Dylan nodded as he pulled a small velvet box from his pocket. He opened it, revealing a diamond solitaire. “Well, what do you say?”
Lola grinned. “I think this town is about to have another mayor who goes by the name of Cooper.”
* * * * *
We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Kimani Romance.
You dream in vibrant hues! Harlequin Kimani Romance stories feature sophisticated, soulful and sensual African-American and multicultural heroes and heroines who develop fulfilling relationships as they lead lives full of drama, glamour and passion.
Enjoy four new stories from Harlequin Kimani Romance every month!
Connect with us on Harlequin.com for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!
Other ways to keep in touch:
Harlequin.com/newsletters
Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks
Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks
HarlequinBlog.com
ISBN-13: 9781460387498
Heated Moments
Copyright © 2015 by Phyllis Bourne Williams
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
Heated Moments Page 16