Randi stared at the phone for a lengthy moment. “Oo-kay.” She waited for him to offer an alternative, but he remained silent. “So, are we rescheduling or what?”
“I’ll let you know.”
“Oh.”
“I’m coming,” she heard him say. Then he came back on the line. “I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Don’t worry about it.” She pushed the end button, tossed the phone on her desk and released a deep breath. “I guess that’s that.” She turned back to her computer. At least it had ended before she invested too much of her time. And her heart.
* * *
Cedric sat in his office Friday evening staring out the window. He should have been going over the specs for the next project, but he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Randi since their short conversation yesterday. The emotions she evoked in him scared the hell out of him and he needed some time to think. He’d thought having a little distance would help, but less than an hour after talking to her, he had wanted to call her back. He got up and paced the office. He could still hear her husky voice in his ear and feel her kiss on his body.
“Hey. How late are you planning to be here?”
He stopped and turned at the sound of Lorenzo’s voice. “Probably another couple of hours. You headed home?” Since getting married, Lorenzo had made a practice of leaving the office no later than six thirty, unless they had an emergency.
“Yeah. I figured you’d be leaving, too. You and Randi aren’t going out?”
“No.” Cedric went and dropped back down in his office chair.
Lorenzo came over, propped a hip on the desk and folded his arms. “Did she end things already?”
“Not exactly.”
“Hmm, then that means you did.”
“Not exactly.”
Lorenzo shook his head. “What exactly does that mean?”
“We were supposed to have dinner last night and I canceled. She wanted to know if we were going to reschedule and I told her I’d let her know.”
“And she said?”
“She said don’t worry about it.” Those four words had been eating at him all day. He’d never had a problem ending a liaison or moving on. This time, his head said he should be constructing a temporary ramp, but his heart seemed to want a bridge.
Lorenzo started laughing. He whipped out his phone and typed. “This is great. I can’t believe it.”
Cedric frowned. “What’s great and who are you texting?”
“Seeing you being brought to your knees. And I’m texting Jeremy to tell him to get my money ready. You might as well get yours ready, too.” He laughed harder.
“I don’t owe you anything, because nothing has happened.”
Lorenzo wiped tears of mirth from his eyes and sobered. “Look, Ced, I know you always said that you’d never settle down with one woman. By the way you’re acting, you realize Randi might be challenging that position, and it’s probably scaring the crap out of you. I get it. I was there, too, remember? But you don’t have any demons to fight like I did, no trust issues or anything. Wait, you don’t, do you?”
“No,” Cedric grumbled. He buried his head in his hands. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. Just sex, no, no...other stuff.”
“If it helps any, falling in love isn’t a bad thing with the right person. And Randi may very well be that person for you.”
“Can’t it just go away?”
“I’m afraid not, cuz,” Lorenzo said, clapping Cedric on the shoulder. “And the fact that you’ve already slept with her this early in the game—more than once, I’d say, given how miserable you look—will make it that much harder to let her go.”
“She’s already given us the report and if I have any questions about the case, I can call the detective, so technically, I don’t need to see her.” Even as Cedric said the words, the thought of not talking to her or kissing her didn’t sit well.
“True, you don’t need to see her. Problem is you want to. Want some advice?”
“Not particularly, but I’m sure that’s not going to stop you.”
Lorenzo’s phone buzzed. He checked the display and chuckled. “That was Jeremy. He said he can’t believe you’re caving so fast.”
“I’m not caving,” Cedric said through clenched teeth. Reason number twenty why I stay away from emotions. He didn’t have time for all these distractions. He jumped up from his chair. “I’m going home.” He couldn’t concentrate and would only be wasting his time trying to read the document.
“My advice is to decide what you want. If it’s Randi, don’t let anything stop you from going after her.”
Cedric had no idea what he wanted or if he wanted it.
“By the way, you said something when I was falling for Desiree and fighting it. It was the time Brandon, Khalil and Malcolm showed up.”
Cedric remembered that day. It happened not long after his and Lorenzo’s fathers had retired. The cousins had come up to offer assistance. With Brandon being the oldest and heading up his own family’s company, he had a wealth of experience to share.
“I tried to tell you all that things with Desiree and me were casual and you said, ‘You do remember that this is how it started with the cousins and look how they ended up.’ It’s your turn, Ced.” Lorenzo straightened from the desk. “And now I’m going home to cook dinner for my beautiful wife. She’s had a lot on her plate these past few weeks and deserves a little pampering.”
“Tell her I said hello.” After Lorenzo left, Cedric packed up and followed suit.
He spent a restless night trying to figure out his next move with Randi. The way he saw it, he had two options: bite the bullet and call her or let it go. By Saturday afternoon, he had decided on the former. He picked up the phone to call, then set it down again. What would he say to her? The short fling he had proposed no longer seemed appealing and he, who said he would never pursue anything outside of a physical relationship, wanted more. Cedric ran a hand over his head in exasperation. What if she didn’t? She had readily agreed to his terms because she hadn’t wanted anything permanent, either. This isn’t hard, he told himself.
He remembered his cousins all sharing what they went through to get their women—the missteps and uncertainties. The one common denominator: it was worth the risk. He picked up the phone again and it rang in his hand. He smiled.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Hey, baby. I’m cooking dinner tonight for you and your brother. We haven’t talked since your grandmother’s party and I wanted to see how things were going. You both have been working extremely hard.”
“It’s been a long couple of weeks for sure, and I know Jeremy has been putting in lots of hours to get his company off the ground.” The robotics engineer had struck out on his own two years ago after making a name for himself in the area of prosthetics. “What time?”
“Around six. Oh, I should’ve asked if you’d be busy or out on a date first.”
Cedric smiled. His mother never failed to slide in a comment about his love life. He wondered how she would have reacted if he’d said he did have a prospective woman in his life. “Six is fine. I’ll be there. Do you need me to bring anything?”
“No, honey. I’ll see you in a little while.”
He disconnected and checked the time. He had a good three hours to mow his lawn, do a short workout and shower before going over to his parents’ house. He left the balcony off his bedroom, laced up his sneakers and got started.
He made it to his parents’ home a few minutes after six and used his key to enter. He and his brother both had keys, but used them only when his mom and dad were expecting them. He found his mother in the kitchen, standing over the stove. “Hey, Mom.” He bent and placed a kiss on her smooth brown cheek.
“Hi.”
“You need help with anything?”
“Nope. You
r dad and Jeremy are in the family room. We’ll be ready to eat in a few minutes.”
“Okay.” Cedric found them watching a basketball game. “Hey, Dad. What’s up, little brother?”
“Seeing as how I’m a good three inches taller than you, who’s the little brother?” Jeremy said, unfolding his tall body from the love seat to tower over Cedric like he always did.
“The four-year difference in our birth certificates says you are.”
Their father chuckled. “You two have been having this argument since you were teenagers. How’s the cleanup going, Cedric?”
Cedric dropped down into a recliner. “It’ll probably take another week, at least, to finish hauling away all the debris. I’ve already started ordering more lumber, but I want to wait until everything is gone to get a true measure. We’ve gotten the reports from the fire inspector and police and turned them over to the insurance company. They said we should receive a check in a couple of weeks.”
“Good.”
He waited for his father to say more, but he didn’t. They’d had a long talk when Cedric first took over the company. His dad always offered to help when some crisis or situation arose, even as he allowed Cedric and Lorenzo to make the final decision. It was one more reason he loved and respected the man. “How are things at the lab?” he asked his brother.
“Not too bad. My staff and I are working on a surgery robot and I have a little something I’m doing on the side.”
“Dinner,” their mother called.
They all made their way to the dining room table where their mom had set out her best china, silverware and cloth napkins. Whenever Cedric asked about it, she always said every occasion they sat down as a family was a special one. Their father blessed the food and Cedric piled the grilled salmon, crab cakes, sautéed corn, mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli on his plate. Thank goodness he’d worked out earlier.
Over the meal, he and Jeremy caught their mother up on everything they’d told their father. Then Jeremy said, “I’ve been asked to speak at a robotics conference next year. In Madrid,” he added with a huge grin.
“That’s wonderful,” his mother gushed.
His father nodded. “Yes, it is.”
“Congrats, bro. That’s big.”
“Thanks. Madrid is on my bucket list and I’m going to enjoy crossing it off. The conference lasts a week and I plan to get in as many sights as I can.”
“Jeremy, you’ll have to take lots of pictures.”
“I will, Mom. Are you and Dad planning any more trips soon?”
His father set his fork on his plate. “As a matter of fact, we’re thinking about doing a wine train tour in Napa and staying the weekend.”
Cedric took a sip of his lemonade. “Sounds like fun.” He wondered if Randi would like to take that trip. Outside of her favorite food being Mexican and the fact that she was the only woman to make him have back-to-back orgasms, he didn’t know much about her personally. Then again, he’d never wanted to get that deep with a woman before. But for some unexplainable reason, he did with her.
After dinner, Jeremy volunteered to help his mother in the kitchen, while Cedric and his dad retreated to the family room. They chatted about the NBA and gave their predictions of who would win the championship.
“Dad, how did you know Mom was the one?” The words tumbled out of Cedric’s mouth, shocking him in the process. If his father’s expression was any indication, he felt the same.
“Well,” he started slowly, “your mother was the only woman I’d met who matched my fire and drive. She encouraged me to follow my dreams and I did the same for her.” He leaned back in his favorite recliner and a wistful smile spread across his lips. “She took my breath away every time she walked into the room. Her poise and grace, not to mention I thought she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. My heart would start beating faster and I’d be grinning like an idiot.”
“Did she feel the same way?”
“Yes. She said she liked that I was straightforward about my intentions and didn’t play games. I fell in love with her a week after we met. And she still makes my heart speed up when she comes into the room.”
Cedric listened to the passion and love in his father’s voice. In some ways, his father had described some of the emotions Cedric was beginning to experience. He didn’t think he’d fallen in love with Randi, but what he felt went beyond just the physical. He enjoyed laughing and talking to her as much as he did kissing her.
“Is there a particular reason you’re asking?”
“I’m not sure.”
His father laughed. “Then I think you’d better find out. It would be a shame for some other fellow to take her off your hands while you’re trying to decide.”
Yeah, maybe he should.
Chapter 10
“This is the best steak I’ve had in months,” Iyana said as she and Randi sat eating dinner Sunday evening. “Mine never come out this way. I either undercook it or burn it.”
Randi laughed. “We all have our gifts, and yours is cooking like you were born in Mexico.”
“I’m all in for food swaps.” Iyana took another forkful of the meat. “How’re things going with you and that hottie who was at your house?”
“He heard your comment, by the way.”
Iyana’s mouth fell open. “Are you serious?” She giggled. “Oh, well. It’s not like he hasn’t heard it before.”
“No doubt.” Randi still hadn’t heard from him. She couldn’t be mad, though. He’d set the parameters on that first night and she’d gone along with them. “But to answer your question, it’s not. He canceled dinner the other night and when I asked about rescheduling, he said he’d let me know. There was something in his tone that made me think he was trying to find an out.”
Iyana paused with her fork halfway to her mouth. “I know you had a comeback.”
Randi shrugged. “I just told him don’t worry about it. It’s not like I didn’t expect it to end. It was only supposed to be a short affair anyway.”
“Yeah, but it turned into more than that for you, didn’t it?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” She still couldn’t believe how fast Cedric had gotten under her skin. It usually took weeks before the emotional part of her got involved in a relationship. She’d naively assumed he would fall into the same category, but she should have known by her initial reaction to him that he would be different. “But it’s okay. I need to be focused on all these fires that keep popping up, and working on getting into the ATF.”
“The ATF? You didn’t tell me about that.”
“Oh, I didn’t? I saw one of the agents I’d worked with in the past at one of our task force meetings and he told me about an opening that would be coming up in a few months. It’s not public knowledge yet, but I’m going to start preparing for the exam and the fitness test.”
“You’ve been working out since high school, and with all you had to do to become a firefighter, I’m sure this will be a piece of cake. It pays to know people.”
“I hope so. It’s still no guarantee I’ll get the position, but at least I have some time. How was LA?”
“A beautiful, sunny seventy-five degrees. It was too bad I didn’t get a chance to see any sights outside of the sets. We started at the crack of dawn and ended when it was dark.” As they ate, Iyana talked about the grueling but rewarding work.
“We should plan a trip.”
“Ooh, count me in. I want to go to Disneyland and California Adventures.”
Randi laughed. “How old are you?”
“What? Disneyland is for everybody. We haven’t been since we were kids, and they have way more stuff now.”
“That’s true.” And a couple of days away would help keep thoughts of Cedric at bay. She pushed her empty plate aside. “Universal Studios is there, too. We could make a weekend out of it and see
everything.”
Iyana reached for her phone. “Let me see how much tickets are.” After a minute, she said, “We should probably go before June. Prices jump by twenty to forty dollars.”
“I don’t want to be that far away until we catch this arsonist. If it was only a couple hours away, I’d say let’s do it next weekend.”
“I hear you. Are you making any progress?”
“We thought so, but both leads turned up nothing.” The fires were being mentioned more on the news and Randi made a mental note to call Brian tomorrow to find out if he’d heard anything else from the mayor’s office.
“If anybody can figure it out, it’s you, sis.”
“I appreciate the confidence, because I don’t feel it at all right now.”
“Hey, my big sister is the best. Do like you always taught me—think outside the box. Don’t just look at things in front of you, go deeper.”
Randi grinned. “I can’t believe you remember that. I said that to you when you were auditioning for your first part in high school.” Many of the girls going out for the lead part in the school’s spring theater arts production had chosen standard recitation parts, and Randi had told Iyana she needed to stand out. And she had. Her love for the theater had expanded to include makeup, but Randi’s sister still loved being on stage.
“Girl, I have that taped to my bathroom mirror. It’s my mantra every day.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Want dessert?”
“You’d better believe it. I ate light all day because I knew I was going to hurt myself over here. What are we having?”
“Ice cream sundaes.” It wasn’t until Randi had gotten home from the grocery store and started unloading that she realized what she’d done. Somehow those sundaes she and Cedric never got around to having had jumped from her subconscious to her shopping cart. Just like that, the rest of what happened that night came back to her in vivid detail. No other man had taken his time to kiss every part of her body as he had done. And that shower... She shoved the memories aside and took her dishes to the sink. “You want to make them now or later?”
Spark of Desire ; All for You Page 11