“And what?” he questioned.
“And did I tell you that you look very handsome tonight?”
“Thank you. And you look ravishing,” he whispered.
“Thank you,” she said quietly.
“Although,” he began, dipping closer for her ears only, “I think I prefer you as you were last night.”
“Naked?” she asked.
He leaned back, looked into her eyes, then gripped her closer, spreading his fingers wide against her lower back and pressing her closer. “Yeah, that’ll work.”
She blushed shamelessly. “Right back at you.”
“Are you tempting me, Ms. Duncan?”
“Of course not,” she said innocently, licking her lips and feeling the burn of her body suddenly overwhelm her. “That would be wrong, particularly given our agreement.”
“Yeah, very wrong,” he whispered, moving his hips to grind against her. She felt the stiffness of his penis press close. She gasped, instinctively holding him tighter. He was masterful, knowing exactly what it took to excite her.
He leaned back slowly. Their eyes connected. They said everything there was to say without speaking a single word. He licked his lips and she shivered. He smiled, knowing the effect he had on her. He dipped her hips, pressing his thigh between her legs. It was mind-blowing and arousingly sensual. He stroked the full length of her back, and every thought she tried to hold instantly shattered. It was as if they were making love all over again. This time they were in the center of a crowded room surrounded by hundreds of people. This was getting to be too much. She had no idea how she was going to walk off this floor when the song ended.
“Keith.”
“Yes,” he whispered.
She couldn’t respond. Her mind was a tattered mass of scrambled images from the night before. All she could focus on was their bodies entwined in the intimate dance of lovemaking and looking into his eyes as he sent her body skyrocketing to unimaginable climaxes.
“Um, I think we’re getting in trouble again.”
“Is that a bad thing?” he asked.
She wanted to say yes immediately, but she knew she couldn’t. But then again... Her heart pounded like a snare drum. He was holding her just right and moving his body against her, and between the two she was losing the battle. “Keith,” she moaned again. He dipped his mouth to her ear and tenderly kissed her lobe. “I think maybe...” His hot moist breath nearly vaporized her skin. Breathing was almost impossible. “Maybe...”
“Yes.”
“Um, I was thinking, maybe we can...”
“Make love right here, right now,” he suggested.
“Probably not the best idea,” she said, knowing he was joking.
“Are you sure?” he asked humorously.
She smiled and leaned back. They laughed quietly as he held her slightly away. The song was coming to an end and they both knew that they needed to calm their emotions down. Gia sighed heavily. “What in the world am I going to do with you?”
“Keep me,” he said offhandedly.
She smiled. “Oh, definitely that.” They smiled.
“So, when, where?” he asked her.
She shrugged. “I don’t know how we can do this.”
“Maybe we should start by just getting out of here.”
“Yeah, that sounds good, but I came with Val. She drove.”
“No problem. I’m sure Val will understand.”
“Yeah, I know she will.” Gia glanced around the dance floor, seeing the many couples around them. Most were football players with young “barely dressed in anything” women dancing impossibly close. Then she spotted Rick dancing with Mamma Lou. “Uh-oh, that’s not good. Looks like Mamma Lou gave up on me and now he’s next. Do you think he knows he’s in trouble?”
Keith glanced over to see the odd pair enjoying their dance as women of all ages stared enviously at them. He chuckled. “If he doesn’t, he will soon enough.”
* * *
“You realize, Mrs. Gates, they’ll be taking my player card for this,” Rick said, releasing her to slowly turn around, then back to him again.
Louise smiled brightly. “Call me Mamma Lou, dear. Everyone does. And you’re not a player. You’re just a wonderful man who hasn’t found the right woman yet. But no worries, that will change soon enough.”
Several women stood along the side of the dance floor watching them enviously. Rick knew they stared and he knew exactly what they wanted—him. “And don’t you even look in their direction. We both know they don’t mean you any good. They’ll just take half your money and make a mess of your life.”
Rick smiled and chuckled as he held Louise gently and carefully glided her around the floor. “Yeah, but you have to admit, they do look good in those dresses.”
Louise glanced over to see the women openly staring and nearly drooling at her dance partner. She chuckled. “What dresses? I see two stickers and a rubber band.”
Rick laughed out loud while shaking his head. There was no way in his wildest dreams that he would think he’d be on the dance floor with an eighty-year-old woman while in a room filled with very willing good times waiting to happen. But here he was. And even more amazing, he had no idea how he had let this wonderful old lady talk him into putting the moves on Gia just to get Keith to step up, but she did that, too. But to her credit, as soon as Keith took Gia’s hand he knew Louise Gates was right. They had love in their eyes.
“I have to admit, you were right, they do look good together.”
Louise nodded. “Yes, they do. Now, Rick, tell me about you. I want to know everything. “
“Okay, let’s see, I’m a football player for the Philadelphia Knights. I’ll be a free agent when my contract expires at the end of this season. I’d like to head back to my hometown.”
“Where’s home?” she asked.
“I was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana.”
“Oh, I have quite a few very good friends down in Louisiana,” Louise said, smiling and nodding as Rick continued. She listened closely, knowing of course that he’d be absolutely perfect for her next little project.
Chapter 15
They left the ball at separate times, him in his car and her in a cab. They met up at the diner. He was there when she walked in. The diner’s lights were bright and, dressed in a stylish evening halter dress and five-inch stiletto heels, she might have seemed completely out of place, but for some reason she felt right at home sliding into his usual booth. “This is so not the way I thought this evening was going to end,” Gia said.
“It’s not over yet,” Keith promised.
“I meant being here with you,” she said softly. Keith smiled. Gia’s stomach tumbled. The man could rock her world without even saying a word. She picked up the menu and flipped through without paying much attention. He picked up his menu, too. She smiled to herself.
It had taken her twenty-eight years to feel this alive, and for the first time in a long while she was deliriously happy. After all the flirting and foreplay on the dance floor, they hadn’t done anything when they were finally alone together. Of course they weren’t really alone.
“What can I get you?” Gladys asked.
“Are you hungry?” Keith asked.
“No, not really.”
“Dessert,” he said.
She smiled and nodded. “Perfect.”
“Cake or pie?” Gladys asked.
“Pie,” Keith and Gia said together, then laughed.
Gladys shook her head. “Ya’ll been having a little too much fun tonight?”
“Not nearly enough,” Keith said.
“I agree,” Gia added.
“I guess those notes ya’ll passed the other night really did the trick. A’ight, what kind of pie ya’ll
want, darlings? We have apple, cherry, blueberry, lemon meringue and Boston cream.”
“Cherry,” Keith said.
Gia nodded, smiling knowingly. “Definitely cherry.”
Gladys nodded and walked away. She returned a few minutes later with two huge slices of cherry pie and two cups of tea.
Keith and Gia ate pie and drank tea while Keith talked about his father’s economic plan for the city. He explained in detail their ideas. Gia listened, both impressed and delighted.
“Wow, it sounds wonderful. But will it happen?”
“It already is. The mayor has everything already in place. He’s going to meet with the council to finalize the details in the next few weeks.”
“They don’t know about the plan?”
“They know the general basics, but unfortunately they aren’t the easiest seated council to work with. In most cases the mayor has to circumvent certain obstructions to get anything done.”
“That’s not exactly ethical, is it?”
“It’s legal.”
“What if someone finds out?”
He smiled at her. “Yes, what if?”
“Chairman Jameson,” she said, knowing that’s who he meant.
He nodded. “Yeah, your boy. He’d be very interested in this.”
“No, not my boy,” she defended quickly. “I know it seems to you that OCC and Jameson are tight, but it’s not true. Bill and Lester are friends. Lester and Bill’s dad grew up in the same neighborhood. When Bill and his dad lost their money in that Ponzi scheme, Lester helped his father out.”
“So you owe him?”
“No, I don’t own him and OCC doesn’t owe him.”
“You might want to check with Bill about that.”
“Bill’s all right. He just has family issues. He lost almost everything and being penniless isn’t his style. His half sister, Bonnie, still has her trust fund and inheritance from their grandparents, so every day it’s a reminder that he’s broke.”
“Money has a way of making smart people do desperate things.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Are you trying to warn me about something, Keith?”
“Would you listen to me if I did?” he asked.
“Probably,” she said, wondering just how serious he was.
Keith nodded. “Consider yourself warned.”
She thought about what he said and the whole conversation. But she quickly dismissed his implication. Keith was still a wild card in all this. “Is that all?”
“That’s all I have for you right now.”
“Keith, if you know something...”
“I do. I know you are stunning this evening. I know I’d love nothing more than to release that bow and have your dress drop to my feet. I know that sitting here talking to you about politics is the last thing I want to be doing with you. And I know that you make my body burn and I can’t stop thinking about you, every day, every hour and every minute.”
“What, not every second?” she asked playfully.
He nodded. “I have a feeling that’s coming very soon.”
“I know that feeling.”
“Good. I’d hate to be alone in this.”
“You’re not.”
“Ya’ll want something else from the kitchen?” Gladys asked.
“No, I’m good, thanks. It was the best pie I’ve ever eaten.”
“I’ll pass that on to Twister,” Gladys said, then sashayed away.
“So, tell me about the rest of your family,” Gia began. “I know a lot about your father. What about your mother? We’ve met, but what’s she really like?”
Keith smiled. “Marian Washington is a no-nonsense family court judge who loves children and the law. She protects them both equally and tries her best to keep families together. She’s soft-spoken and even-tempered. It takes a lot to push her buttons, but when she’s upset you’ll know it.”
Gia’s eyes widened. “She sounds fierce.”
“No, no, not at all. She’s the sweetest woman ever.”
“Spoken like a dutiful son.”
“All right, tell me about your mother and growing up,” Keith said. “You lived in Boston for a while, right?”
Gia stopped smiling and nodded. Keith reached over and placed his hand on hers. “Along with my grandmother, my mother is my hero. We didn’t have a long time together, but the time we had was magical. I remember being very happy and then she died and I wasn’t anymore. Afterward, I lived with my father and grandparents. When my father remarried I went to a boarding school in Boston. I ended up staying there.”
“What about your grandmother?” he asked.
“I was told my grandmother didn’t want anything to do with me. I believed it. I could never understand why or what I had done to make her not want to see me. So, growing up, I always felt disconnected. Funny, saying it now sounds so strange.
“When I graduated from college I contacted my grandmother. I guess I just wanted to meet her as an adult. She was nothing like I expected or was told. She told me she loves me and she knew everything about me. She even sneaked in and went to my high school and college graduations. I asked her why she never wanted to see me after Mom died. She told me that she’d been told that I never wanted to see her again.
“Money has a way of making people different. I confronted my father and grandfather about the lies they told me. Long story short, they didn’t want her to influence me. I told them it was too late and I had no intention of working with them. They cut me off monetarily. You know, it’s funny, when you’re used to having money, life is a lot easier. Then when you don’t have it anymore you learn that money isn’t everything.”
Keith nodded slowly. “Money sometimes has a way of magnifying the worst in people.”
“True. Anyway, my grandmother and I got closer and when she had the heart attack I moved back here to Philly to take care of her. Then she got sick again and I took over her position at OCC.”
“You have a law degree, so why community service?” he asked.
“Why not?” she answered quickly. “The best answer I can give you is that I like helping people, but more as a whole, not necessarily one person at a time like in law or social work.”
“The greater good,” he suggested.
She smiled and nodded. “Yeah, that’s exactly it, the greater good.” She looked into his eyes, and the feeling was back instantly. But what she saw warmed her heart just as much. The same feeling was reflected in his eyes. “Keith, what do you think this is, us here, now and before?”
Keith knew exactly what she meant. “Right now this is us getting to know each other without all the goggling and newspaper articles. And before, well, before was...” He smiled seductively. “This is nice, though, very nice.”
She nodded. He was right. “Yes. This is nice, talking with you like this. I like it, not that before wasn’t great, it’s just...”
“What?” he asked.
She leaned in closer and lowered her voice. “Having crazy, all-night-long, multiple orgasmic and nonstop sex with you the first time we were alone together was not good,” she said, then paused. “Wait, don’t get me wrong, you were amazing, you know you were amazing. The sex was phenomenal and being with you makes me crazy happy, but...” she said, then looked away. He stroked the palm of her hand gently just as he’d done on the dance floor. Her stomach instantly jumped. “But that wasn’t me. I still can’t believe we did that, that I did that. It was too fast, too soon.”
He nodded. “Yes, it was fast. And I have a feeling that no matter how much we might want to slow this down, it’s out of our hands. But I promise we’ll go at your pace.”
“I guess we could just be friends, professionals,” she said. Although his expression never wavered, she knew her words had affected him. Truth
be told, they affected her, too. He was right. This was more than either of them had expected. “I don’t know if I’m ready for more than that.”
He didn’t speak for a few moments. Then he nodded. “Whenever you’re ready, come find me. I’ll be waiting.”
Chapter 16
It was her suggestion and it was without a doubt the dumbest thing she’d ever come up with. Seven days, one week since they had talked all night in the diner and the only thing she got were brief phone messages asking how she was doing. She saved them all, of course. Playing them over and over again was childish but she needed to hear him, even if it was just a recording. Just hearing his voice sent shivers down her body. She grabbed her phone in a desperate attempt to clear her head. “Hey, Val, it’s Gia, are you busy?”
“No, not at all, just catching up on some work.”
“On a Sunday morning?” Gia said.
“You know me, forever saving humanity by righting the wrongs of the world and putting away one nutcase at a time. You know the drill,” she said, “superhero stuff.”
“Woman, you are so dramatic,” she laughed.
“Yeah, yeah,” Val chuckled.
Gia laughed. “Okay, superhero, question. What are you doing this afternoon? I need to get out of this house or I’m gonna be one of those nutcases. I was thinking about lunch at the Art Museum. Are you free?”
“Sounds cool, but I’m hanging out with Prudence today. The Knights are playing at home. It should be a good game.”
“Oh, okay. Well, we’ll do something another time.”
“No, don’t be silly. Why don’t you just come with us? We’re just going to the football game and then maybe grab something to eat afterward.”
“I heard the tickets were sold out.”
“No tickets necessary. We’ll be in the owner’s box. Prudence’s mom and dad are gonna be there, too. It’s good publicity.”
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