“If we’re lucky, maybe one will belong to the arsonist. Let’s talk after we’re done here.”
Randi nodded. Once the meeting ended, she went over her notes while waiting for Brian to finish a call he’d received from the police chief.
Brian headed her way. “Sorry about that. The chief wanted an update.”
She stood. “I wish we had more to tell him.”
“I really hope we can catch a break with that partial message.”
“That still doesn’t help us find the arsonist from the first fire. Have you found something connecting the two?” She hadn’t been the lead on that case but had a message in to get a copy of the report.
“Not yet.”
She handed him a sheet of paper. “Here’s the list of employees.”
He scanned it. “With this many, it might be easier to go out to the site to get the prints, rather than try to find a way to get them all in here.”
“Maybe. The Hunters weren’t too keen on having their employees dragged into a police station.”
“Have you released the scene yet?”
“No. I wanted to wait until I got all of the lab results back, just in case they need additional samples. I should have everything back by tomorrow at the latest.”
“Okay. I’ll call Cedric and see if I can go to their office to do the fingerprints. Will you be available to go?”
“I should be able to. Let me know the time.”
“I’ll call right now.” He removed a business card from a folder and made the call.
Randi almost blurted that Cedric wasn’t in the office but clamped her jaws shut. She wondered how much sleep he’d gotten and whether his energy levels were as low as hers at this moment.
Brian moved the phone away from his mouth and whispered to Randi, “They’re both out of the office, but the assistant is calling Cedric.” A few minutes later, he hung up. “They can have everyone at the office tomorrow at one. Will that work with your schedule?”
She checked her calendar, saw the time slot was empty and added it. “Yes.” The thought of seeing Cedric so soon after their night filled her with mixed emotions. Instead of the terse, impatient man she’d thought him to be, he had turned out to be charming, fun and incredible in bed—an impossible combination for any woman to resist. Randi would be the first to admit that the lines between physical and emotional could easily become blurred, and though she’d agreed they could continue to date, parts of her wondered if she was setting herself up for another heartbreak.
* * *
The next afternoon, Randi and Detective Warner arrived at the Hunter Construction office building as scheduled. As they neared the entrance, she said, “You know I really don’t need to be here for the fingerprinting.”
Brian held the door open for her. “Hey, we’re partners and you need to be in the loop.”
The small two-story building sat on the corner of an industrial complex. Inside, the receptionist directed them to Cedric’s assistant down the hall.
The woman smiled at their approach. “Good afternoon, Ms. Nichols.”
“Hello, Ms. Franklin. This is Detective Warner.”
They exchanged greetings.
Ms. Franklin stood. “Cedric asked that I show you into the conference room. It’s on the second floor.” She led them to the elevator and up to the meeting area. “I’ll let Cedric and Lorenzo know you’re here.”
“Thank you,” Detective Warner said.
Randi watched as Brian set up his equipment. Her phone buzzed and she dug it out of her pocket. Jada had sent a text with the news she was waiting for. “The other lab results are in,” Randi told Brian. She’d go over them when she got back to the office.
“Good. Let me know if there’s anything about that paint.”
“It would be nice to catch a break.” She started to put the phone back and it buzzed again. She read the message from her sister: Just finished the makeup on a fine brother. Made me think of those construction workers. Married? Single? Looking for a bae for a night? Update?
Randi shook her head at her sister’s antics, but couldn’t suppress a smile. She typed back: You are a crazy nut! The one with the locs is married. The other is single. Don’t know about the other question. Not the entire truth, but she didn’t plan to kiss and tell...at least not yet.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
Randi turned at the sound of Cedric’s voice. His dark gaze made a lazy path down her body and back up. A soft pulsing began between her thighs. The slow grin that curved his lips made her speculate on whether he knew the effect he was having. Shaking off the vibe, she extended her hand. “Mr. Hunter, thanks for your time.”
Cedric clasped her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze, then circling his thumb in her palm before letting go. “No problem.” He turned to Brian. “Detective Warner.”
The two men shook hands. “Mr. Hunter.”
“How do you want to handle things? Just about everyone is here and I can send them up whenever you’re ready.”
“That’s fine. I apologize for the inconvenience.”
“No problem. I just want you to catch whoever did this.” He turned to Randi. “Has anything come back on the testing that will help identify the arsonist?”
“I don’t know yet. I’ll be going over the results when I get back to the office and will let you know if anything stands out. I’m hoping we can release the site by the end of the week.”
His eyes never left hers. “Great. My client is anxious for us to get back to work.”
Randi had asked him to be professional when they met again and he was doing a good job. Outside of that little stunt with the handshake and the banked heat reflected in his eyes, one would think they hadn’t spent several hours indulging in the most passionate night she’d ever had.
Voices made her look away. Several men and two women streamed into the room, followed by Lorenzo. She stood off to the side while the detective gave instructions.
Brian handed her the employee list. “Randi, would you mind checking each person off the list as they’re fingerprinted?”
“Sure.”
Cedric walked over. “I’ll go first.” He leaned close. “Having a little problem with that agreement?” he asked as he passed.
She didn’t answer.
He made sure to cross her path after finishing and said for her ears only, “You’re not the only one because all I want to do is strip you naked and make you scream my name again.”
Randi’s gaze flew to his and her pulse skipped. She tried to keep her voice neutral. “You’re all done, Mr. Hunter.” She called the next person on the list and hoped Cedric would leave the room. She’d never played these kinds of sensual games and it was all she could do to pretend to be unmoved by the subtle touches and the heat of his body near hers. A few minutes later, he came back to where she stood and she braced herself. Cedric leaned over her shoulder pretending to look at the list.
“Are you guys close to being done?”
“There are still seven more to go.” She took a step to create some distance between them and he moved right with her.
“Come by my office and I can help us both,” he whispered. He raised his voice. “Sounds good. If you have a moment, can you stop by my office before you leave?”
“I rode with Detective Warner, so—”
“We’re almost done here, Randi. I can finish up,” Brian said. “I’ll wait for you.”
“Oh, okay.” She glanced over at Cedric’s amused expression. If she said no, undoubtedly there would be questions. She did a quick survey of the room to see if anyone else was paying attention. The employees stood around talking and laughing. Lorenzo seemed to be the only person looking their way. The smile on his face told her he knew exactly what was going on.
“It won’t take long,” Cedric said.
&nb
sp; Randi handed the list back to Brian. “Be right back.”
Cedric gestured to the door. “After you.”
She waited until they were in the elevator before speaking. “What are you doing? You’re supposed to be acting professional.”
“Oh, I was being very professional. If I wasn’t, I would have kissed you the minute I stepped into the room.” Cedric closed the distance between them and murmured against her lips, “Like I’m going to kiss you as soon as I get you in my office.”
Luckily, the elevator chimed and stopped her from doing something crazy like grabbing him and planting her lips on his, not caring about who saw. She followed him to his office and before the door closed good, the kisses started. Randi couldn’t tell who was more eager. Her hands roamed over his chest and up to frame his face, holding him in place as she devoured his mouth. She lost herself more and more with each stroke of his tongue. He pulled her closer and she reached between them to cup the solid ridge of his erection.
Cedric broke off the kiss sharply and jumped back. “Don’t do that.”
A sly smile tilted the corner of her mouth. “No? Why not?”
“Because.”
Randi pressed her body against his and he groaned. “You’ll need a better answer than that, Mr. Hunter.” She leaned up and kissed him again. “You started this, remember?”
“I do, and I plan to finish it...later.”
“Promises, promises.”
He held her around her waist and chuckled. “Didn’t expect you to be this playful.”
She shrugged. “There are a lot of things you won’t expect when it comes to me.”
He lifted a brow. “Is that a challenge?”
She backed out of his arms. “Time will tell. I have to go.”
“I’ll call you later.”
“Okay.” She stood there a moment longer, warring with herself and wanting nothing more than to continue.
Cedric folded his arms. “You should probably go before I break my promise to remain professional. Otherwise, everybody in this building is going to know what’s going on between us.”
Randi read the heated warning in his eyes and walked out of the office while she still could. She nodded to his assistant on her way to the elevator. Once there, she hit the up button, leaned against the wall and released a deep sigh. This was moving too fast. Way too fast.
* * *
Cedric didn’t get the all clear for the construction site until late Friday afternoon and he spent Saturday and part of Sunday checking out the damage and trying to get an estimate of how much material he needed to order. Monday morning, his crew was on-site at six to get started with the cleanup. He made sure the foreman and more experienced construction engineers supervised the careful removal of debris. Because of the many projects the company had going, Cedric couldn’t pull anyone from the other sites, so they’d hired seven temporary workers to assist with the cleanup, another expense they hadn’t planned for.
He continued his walk around the building, stopping to make notes on his iPad. He heard a car, looked over and saw Lorenzo drive up. “Hey,” he said at his cousin’s approach. “What time did you get in last night?”
Lorenzo surveyed the damage with a grim stare. “Hey. Almost two in the morning. They couldn’t fix the issues with the door, so they put us on another plane, which didn’t leave for another three hours.”
“How did things go in Chicago?” Lorenzo had left right after the fingerprinting to accompany Desiree to visit her mother. Her mother’s Alzheimer’s disease had progressed to a level where she could no longer live alone safely and they had begun evaluating different housing options.
He shook his head. “Man, her sisters are still at it. Between Patrice complaining about the cost and Melanie complaining about one thing or another at every facility we went to, I wanted to pack up my mother-in-law and bring her back here. The one good thing is that Desiree’s brother stepped in and told them they could stay home or shut up.”
Cedric laughed. “At least she had one person on her side for a change.”
“Tell me about it.”
“I know this has to be hard on her. How is she handling it?”
Lorenzo sighed. “She puts up a good front, but I know she’s worried, especially since we can’t be there all the time. She broke down once and it felt like my heart was being ripped from my chest because I couldn’t do anything to help.”
“You love her, Zo, and that’s what she needs.”
“Since when did you start doling out relationship advice, Mr. I’m-Staying-Single-Forever?”
“Just because I’m not married doesn’t mean I don’t know what it takes to be in a relationship.” He went back to his iPad. He knew from observing his parents, aunts and uncles, and grandparents over the years the importance of communication, compromise and just being there.
“Speaking of relationships, what’s going on between you and the arson investigator?”
He feigned innocence. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Lorenzo stared at him in disbelief. “So you’re going to act like you don’t know what I’m talking about? I watched the two of you in that conference room. I thought you were going to kiss the woman right in front of the whole crew.”
Cedric focused on his task and ignored Lorenzo. He had been a heartbeat away from doing just that and more. He’d wanted to run his hands over every inch of her golden skin. “Do you plan to stand here all day or work?”
“That bad, huh? Well if it’s any consolation, she wants you as much as you want her.” Cedric still didn’t say anything. Lorenzo studied him a long moment. “You never said how your dinner went.”
“It went fine,” Cedric said and squatted down to inspect an area.
“Must’ve been better than fine since you didn’t reply to my text until two in the morning. Sounds like you got caught up in the moment,” he added with a chuckle.
Cedric whipped his head around and stared at Lorenzo’s retreating back. He knew his cousin had added that last bit to remind Cedric that he had said the same thing when Lorenzo and Desiree missed dinner reservations early in their relationship for the same reason. Damn.
He finished his inspection, locked the iPad in his car, then donned a pair of gloves and jumped in to help with the cleanup.
Everyone stopped for lunch midday and Cedric found himself scanning the faces of each worker, wondering if one of them had set the fire. He dismissed the notion. As he’d said before, Hunter Construction was a family-oriented company. He trusted these people.
His thoughts went back to Randi. They had talked briefly twice since that incident in his office, but due to their work schedules, they hadn’t been able to find time to see each other. The memory of her long legs wrapped around his waist surfaced in his mind and Cedric felt himself getting aroused. She’d matched his drive and energy, and he had to admit it was one of the best nights of sex he’d had in a long time. He placed his sandwich on the wrapper and wiped his hands on a napkin. Impulsively, he pulled out his phone and dialed her office. He wanted to hear her voice.
“This is Randi.”
“Hey, Randi. It’s Cedric.”
There was a brief pause on the line. “Um, hey. What are you doing calling me at the office?” she whispered.
Cedric chuckled. “Relax, baby. This is official business.”
“Oh.”
“I was calling about the fire report. The insurance company wanted an estimated time frame.”
“I should have it done in a couple of days. There were a few results I needed clarification on. As soon as I get that information, I can finish it. I’m surprised they didn’t come out to do their own inspection.”
“They’re sending someone out tomorrow.”
“Well, you shouldn’t have any problems with regards to it being labeled arson. Both the police repor
t and mine will corroborate that.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that.”
“How’s the cleanup going?”
Cedric scanned the building. “It’s going to take two weeks minimum to get everything cleaned up and hauled away. The damage ended up being more extensive because of the water, so it’ll put us behind by at least a month.”
“I’m really sorry, Cedric.”
“I know. There is one good thing that’s come out of this, though.”
“What’s that?”
“Meeting you. Oh, wait, I’m not supposed to be mentioning that, right?”
“Right,” Randi said with a laugh. “Professional.”
“Then I should probably get off this line.”
“Yes, you should. I’ll let you know when I have the report ready.”
“Thanks. Talk to you later.”
“Bye, Cedric.”
He waited five minutes, then dialed her cell.
“Cedric, I thought we agreed—”
“This isn’t your office phone, it’s your personal one.”
“True, but... I thought you said you were going to talk to me later.”
“It is later.”
She burst out laughing. “I can’t with you.”
“Actually, you can...as many times as you want. You did it exceptionally well the other night, I might add.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I do, but this is what I mean. The next time I see you, I’m going to take my time removing your clothes, then I’m going to kiss my way up your beautiful body. I’ll start at your ankles and work my way up those gorgeous long legs, your thighs. Mmm, I might have to stay there for a while, especially once they’re spread wide so I can—”
“Cedric!” she whispered sharply.
“What? I’m not on your work phone. You don’t want me to kiss you or touch you?”
“I didn’t say that. I need to call you back.”
Cedric heard the beep indicating the call had ended and smiled. He picked up his sandwich and continued eating. A few minutes later, his cell rang. He saw Randi’s name on the display and answered.
Spark of Desire ; All for You Page 6