Courting Guinevere (The Davonshire Series Book 1)

by Olivia Gaines

  Shontae looked at the monitor and the swashbuckler was real. She started to smile, and before she knew it, she said, “Damn, he is fine with a P-H!”

  Wilfred only smiled and added, “Sho’ you’re right!” continuing with the Barry White tone, and adding the perfect toothy grin before closing with a wink. Gawain was disgusted. He had seen that look on her face before and it was usually right before they….

  Wilfred was not going to be deterred from irritating his big brother. “Shontae baby, anytime you want to come out to my ranch, I have a beautiful stallion I will teach you how to mount and ride like a queen.” Wilfred’s smile was so lascivious that Gawain thought Shontae had an orgasm standing upright.

  Gawain lightly pushed Shontae and told her to sit down. A darkness had settled over his face and Wilfred, for the first time in their lives, saw something in his brother that he had never seen. Even when he found his little brother screaming at 3 am when he woke to find his fiancée going reverse cowgirl on Wilfred, he did not have that look. He stopped for a moment and realized he had gone too far. His brother actually cared for this woman.

  Gawain smiled at him. “I will get you back when you least expect it. And I am going to make it hurt. I’m very patient, too. You aren’t going to see what I am going to do coming. You know that, don’t you?”

  Wilfred did not seem fazed. “Yeah, but, Junior, you know I will always love you no matter what your life choices!”

  Gawain disconnected the call and looked at the computer monitor. “Ass.”

  He looked back at Shontae. “Hold your own, eh?” He briefly explained that his grandfather used to be the Portuguese Ambassador to the United States, and that his mother also spoke six languages. He ruefully added that she sometimes refused to speak English to anyone in the family other than their father.

  “Wilhelmina, that’s my sister’s real name, refuses to speak anything other than English, French and Portuguese.”

  Gawain added her twin, Wilfred, would only speak English, Spanish and Portuguese. Gawain on the other hand, had an affinity for languages and spoke many. “Dinner usually leaves me with a headache because Mamí will switch between the languages with each of us.”

  She listened to everything he said and developed a new appreciation for him. “My parents are chronic overachievers, and because I do not produce anything tangible that they can order online or see in book sales, they feel that I am not as successful.” His phone chirped and he hit a button.

  The screen came to life and there was a darker version of him on the screen. “Junior, I’m on the tarmac at Ronald Reagan and can have wheels up in 20.”

  He answered, “Sounds good, Chuck. I’m in Chicago.” Chuck was his cousin, who also served as the pilot on the plane he had purchased for his sister’s birthday present.

  “I can pick you up in about an hour and a half, but I’m coming into Midway instead of O’Hare,” Chuck said.

  “Cool, I’ll be ready. Can you lay in a flight plan for Bisbee?” Gawain asked and went on to add he would not be headed back to San Francisco for several weeks.

  Chuck said, “Okay, but I should warn you,” he paused, and Gawain leaned his head to the side, waiting. “Aunt Elena said something about heading home to Portugal to find you a cousin or something to marry.”

  Shontae saw Gawain’s mouth tighten again. Chuck went on to add, “Yeah, I think Uncle David also thinks you’re gay. I nearly fell off the boat when he said he would love you no matter what your life choices.”

  “Chuck,” Gawain added through tight lips, “that is not what he meant!”

  “You sure? ‘Cause on the flight up, he told me he thought you were gay,” Chuck was teasing his cousin because he seldom got an opportunity to have an actual conversation with him. Let alone get in some old fashioned ribbing.

  “Chuck, as always, you are a day late and a brain wave short. I’m not even sure why I pay you, I could hire a monkey to do your job!” Gawain did not add any humor to any of it.

  “Speaking of monkey,” Chuck said, “What is this I hear about you dating some big-bootied babe with a gold tooth and a lisp?”

  “Did you just call my lady a primate, you dick? And she does not have a big booty or a lisp. You guys need to get your facts straight!” Gawain’s jaw had begun to tense, his right eye was jumping.

  “Oh, so she does have a gold tooth!” Chuck broke out in laughter. “Hey, Junior, is that the same one that curled your toes and made you cry, and you went and bought her a car?” He was still laughing.

  Shontae stepped around the monitor, “You told him about that?”

  Chuck looked at the monitor, saw the gold tooth, and went, “Oh shit, it’s true!” and began to laugh harder. “Wait until Aunt Elena finds out about this one!” He had doubled over and was not out of range on the screen.

  Gawain slid the MacBook over and looked at Shontae’s face. He could see the hurt, but he knew Chuck. He had something totally distasteful to close with, but she had asked for it, and he was going to let her feel it all.

  “Hey, ask her if she has a cousin, Junior.” There it was. The start of something totally offensive was about to come out of his mouth, and instead of disconnecting the call now, Gawain was still mad with her. He was mad with his sister. And he was pissed off enough at his brother to just let the chips fall. But most of all, he was pissed off with Shontae.

  “And if she did, Chuck, what would you want Shontae to tell her cousin about you or your marriage?”

  Chuck stopped laughing quickly when he heard the tone in Gawain’s voice. He knew Chuck was going to hit hard and was now braced but he didn’t have time to prepare Shontae and didn’t want to, for that matter, so he waited.

  “Well, I would have at least bought her cousin a Mercedes and real house instead of some foreclosed condo and a four year old Subaru.”

  Chuck was a spiteful, ungrateful little bastard, and always had to have the last word. “Shontae, if you’re listening, you ought to be feeling used. He is a gajillion billionaire and bought you a used condo and a used car.” He closed with, “Yep, used is the perfect word.”

  “Chuck, you seem to forget, that the only reason you have this job is as a favor to your mother. If I didn’t love my aunt so much, I would have fired you a long time ago. And just so we are clear, Shontae traded the Subaru a while ago and bought a Lexus with her own money. She also bought the condo, which is in her name, with her own money. Not everyone is looking for an easy or free ride.”

  Gawain disconnected the call. He knew that when his brother had called Chuck, he embellished the story. Chuck was on the other side of the boat when he and his father were talking about him selling off his shares in both companies. There was no way he could have heard the conversation.

  He turned his attention back to Shontae. She was wiping away the tears. “There is a great deal about me you don’t know or understand, and instead of asking, you chose this option.”

  He knew it was mean, but there were still five more calls to come in, and he only planned to take the next one. She rose to leave the table.

  Gawain raised his voice and slammed his fist onto the table. “Sit your ass down!” She nearly jumped out of her skin. He had never raised his voice to her and his choice of language today was hurtful, but she needed this to end. He was going to hurt her either way. She had only invested three years, she could recover without too much damage. Two more years … bearing him a son, she would never be able to let him go.

  He yelled at her, “You started this fucked up party, let’s get it finished!” He pulled out the chair and pointed for her to sit. “The best call, or the pièce de résistance is about to pop off, as you like to say.”

  Then the phone rang. He synced the two systems and turned the computer so she had clear view of the monitor. She gasped as the most ravishing woman she had ever seen in her life showed up on the screen. His sister was a miniature version of the dark haired diva that graced the monitor. She looked at her son with pity.
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br />   “Buena sera, Yuńior,” she said in perfect Italian.

  “Good evening to you as well, Mamí.” He paused. “And just so we can make this brief and as insulting as possible for all of us, please speak in English because I’m tired.”

  His mother was nonplussed. “Don’t take that tone with me because you are unhappy with your life choices, son.”

  His tone was dry. “That’s a good place to start, Mamí. Were they my life choices?”

  She smiled and checked the large diamond on her right hand. “My beautiful first born, we all have the ability to choose, and I am just concerned about some of the things you are choosing. That is all.” She added a smile that Shontae knew was disingenuous and had the feeling that what was coming next was going to be hurtful to them both. She laid her head on the table and let the tears roll down her cheeks.

  “Yunior, I am concerned because your sister tells me you went shopping in a bad neighborhood and picked up something rather unsavory.” She was the epitome of breeding and class, yet could be as vindictive as a pretty blond child on a playground.

  “No, Mother, I shopped for what I needed and brought home what made me happy.” Shontae lifted her head and saw the look of determination on his face.

  Elena Devonshire threw her head back and brushed the side of her perfectly coiffed hair and tapped at the chignon at the base of her neck. “I seem to recall the last thing you brought home to make you happy wound up in bed with my baby, attempting to bring him joy as well.”

  It was a blow to Gawain’s pride, and she could see that he was crushed by the words. Elena Devonshire didn’t stop there. “The toy before that one you decided to bring home,” she paused to deliver the punch. “I recall was found in your bed playing with the help.” Shontae could not believe a mother could be so hurtful. He dropped his head as if to gather his courage for a final charge at the dragon.

  “Darling,” she continued, “my first born, the joy of my life, I only want to see you living a life filled with joy. Not a life of monthly payments to your baby’s mama. We all know that you are not happy. Stop this insanity, find a nice lady, and start making my genius, beautiful grandchildren.” She added a “hmmm” and told him she loved him and looked forward to seeing him this weekend, but before she closed the connection, she imparted two kisses at the monitor and was off.

  Gawain stood and picked up the items he had gathered earlier, talking softly to Shontae. “You were mine and yes I was selfish, because you were my oasis. Here, I hid from them….” He saw her tears, and he knew her pain because he felt it too.

  “The closest thing I had to a bed was the one I shared with you. I have a bed at my sister’s in New York, a bed at my parent’s in Phoenix, and a bed in San Fran as well as my brother’s ranch.”

  He felt heavy in his chest when he added the last part. “For the first time in many years, I felt with you that I had a home. I loved you the only way I knew how. For the first time in my life, I did not feel lonely.”

  Gawain told her it had been a great three years. “If there is anything you know, baby, it’s how to take care of a man.” He thanked her for all she had done. “You made us a nice place here and I always looked forward to coming … home.”

  He helped her up from the chair and held her for a moment. “I kept you from them, not because I was ashamed of you, but because I was ashamed of the way they would treat you. I accepted you for who you were, and I didn’t want you to change to suit me and especially not them. You are beautiful as you are.” He kissed her forehead, picked up his bag and jacket, and headed for the door. Without looking back, he uttered the words, “I’m going to miss you.”

  Shontae grabbed him, holding on a few minutes longer, sobbing into his shirt. She had to know. “Did you ever love me?”

  He let go of his bags and huged her tightly, “I always have and always will. You were my lady, my woman, my Boo Bear.” His smile faded as he tossed his door keys to her. He was truly going to miss her, but in his mind, this was the close of another chapter.

  As he exited the elevator and slid inside his rental car, he called his assistant and asked him to get a new phone tomorrow. “Rod, please route all my calls through the switchboard and only the most important calls are to be sent to my new line. Also order flowers and a necklace to be sent to Shontae.”

  His assistant heard the sadness in his voice, but made no comment other than, “Where shall I send the new phone?”

  “I’ll be at my brother’s ranch,” he clicked off the line.

  He would sit with his father over the weekend and talk about his shares in both the companies as well as any other holdings that may need to be liquidated. The time had come. It was time to leave the job, check out from his family, settle down, and find the right woman. It was going to be one of the most difficult weekends of his life, but he felt infused with something he couldn’t put his on. It was as if he had been given a new mission. A new dragon to slay.

  The anger had somehow energized him and he had to move forward. His heart went out to Shontae, but it was better for her to hear it the way she did than to experience it face-to-face. There was someone out there waiting for him, someone who would fit in with his family and his life. He wanted someone to love him and someone he could love without reservation.

  This relationship failure was truly his fault because he didn’t fully trust Shontae. He never really let her in and he held her in a certain holding pattern in his life, never letting her move forward with him. He knew he also failed in the relationship because he never tried to win her heart. Gawain had only succeeded at conquering her body. Shontae had eased away his loneliness and he felt he belonged to someone, but never felt as if he actually belonged with her. She was not the someone he belonged to … she was right, she was his trainer. A squire, so to speak. Maybe it would have been different if I had told her I loved her.

  He was going to miss their time together, but he needed someone who could share in his vision.

  He wanted his someone to begin a new enterprise and start something fresh and untried in the marketplace. His wife needed to be his business partner, his friend, his lover, and the mother of his children.

  I need a life partner. He did not know where to start, where to look or what to do, but he knew inspiration was coming. So much of his time had been spent either taking care of his sister, being a companion to his brother, that the only thing left was his job. The little he had left he had given to Shontae.

  It’s time to start pursuing my own dreams.

  Part II

  The Knight’s Quest

  12

  The Lady in Waiting

  The spattering raindrops fell on the windowpanes, creating a melody that was pleasant enough to the psyche, but not enough of a pattern to induce a rhythm for sleep. It wasn’t quite clear why the sound of raindrops striking themselves upon the glass made her crave the touch of a man, but tonight was another reminder of how long it had been since she’d spent time with the stronger sex. It also served as a pitiful memory of the last time she was physically touched by a man.

  The bedroom suddenly felt as if someone was playing with the thermostat and increasing the temperature of the room by degrees. The thick cotton sheets felt slick with sweat, although she did not feel feverish. Her king size bed, once perfect for studying lots of research and data on long nights, now seemed an empty, sad aide-mémoire of living a life alone.

  Sleep was not going to be found that night and her libido was talking to her, encouraging her to get dressed, go out, and find them a playmate. Her lady parts were whispering reminders of how wonderful the weight of a man would feel. She wanted to feel the strength of his arms. Her skin hummed with remembered feelings of the rough hairs of his legs as they rubbed against the smoothness of her own, making her cross her legs to stop the rush of feeling. Instead of an evening of tossing and turning, she swung her long legs off the side of the bed, grabbed her favorite cover-up and headed toward the living room couch. Her head
was flooded with scientific reasons why her body felt as if it was in estrus, while she tried to tamp down what she needed. Science.

  She always had a penchant for science and had spent many years carving out a niche in the scientific world. Her older sister, Cecily, often joked that science was not sexy and men didn’t make passes at fat asses in glasses. Further, she would explain, “An attractive chemist is as much of an oxymoron as a physically fit lab worker.” She often felt that, while Cecily was graced with good looks and a naturally slim figure, there were some benefits to being the one with the brains. Her brain had created one of the most prestigious research facilities in the Princeton research corridor, given Cecily a cushy job, and aided her parents with an early retirement.

  At times, it proved to be a lonely existence, and during clinical trials there were very few if any conversations to be had about anything other than the product under review, FDA approvals, marketing studies, and product shelf life. This zest for scientific perfection garnered her four patents on products that sat in almost every third household in the world. She could honestly say she was the most famous person in the world and yet no one knew her name. If she so chose, she could stop work today and live off the residual income of the drug patents she owned, the drugs she had in development, or the new products that were due to hit the market in the next two years. She had been awarded so many accolades, and yet at that very minute, she had never felt more like a loser.

  Calling Cecily was an option, but her big sister came with so much baggage in physical and non-physical forms that it was sometimes best to just be home alone. There were so few free weekends in her life that when one did come along, it only served as a reminder of how all-consuming her career was, a waving red flag that her career was just a means to hide from a nonexistent life. Cecily teased that she should acquire something called a “maintenance man,” and outside of the one assigned to her lab and to her condo, she had no real understanding of what her sister wanted her to do with an extra laborer. Dating was a game to Cecily – a game that she took far too much pleasure in.