“You were on the phone.” He turned toward her and started soaping up her body, paying particular attention to some body parts more than others.
Beverly did the same.
When they stopped playing around and got out of the shower, it was clear that they were going to be late.
The brunch was taking place at Hollington’s campus on the center lawn, known to students as the quad. There were large tents erected everywhere. It was a huge catered buffet affair with tables of mouthwatering breakfast food and sandwiches.
“I see some pancakes with my name written all over them,” Lucius said as he toted their picnic blanket and searched for a good spot on the crowded lawn. There were a lot of children running around, being that the event was geared toward the alumni and their families.
“I wish I could’ve brought Ruby,” Lucius said absently and then sighed.
Beverly had almost forgotten that he said he had a daughter. A surprising stab of jealousy hit her squarely in the heart. It was a strange reaction since she’d only known this man for a few days.
Days.
She shook her head. In some ways, this weekend felt as long as a lifetime and there were parts of her that felt as if she’d known Lucius all her life—that they had always had this amazing connection. A frown teased the corner of her lips. She needed to watch herself. The last thing she needed was to get caught up in something that would never be. She wanted nothing to do with love. This weekend was just about…fun.
“How about over there?” Lucius asked, pointing to a small spot a good hundred paces away.
“Looks good to me.”
They quickly settled down and then Lucius took off after taking her brunch order.
“Beverly!”
Beverly turned around and saw Kyra rushing over toward her. She smiled. “Hey.”
The women gave each other a brief hug.
“So are we still good?”
Still feeling a bit reluctant, Beverly nodded her head. The best way to get through this day was to just grin and bear it.
“I’m going to have to buy you an ankle bracelet,” Terrence Franklin joked, coming up behind her, “because every time I turn around, you’re gone!”
Beverly blinked in surprise. What were Kyra and Terrence doing together—again?
Kyra laughed. “Terrence, you remember Beverly Turner, don’t you?”
“Of course. You were homecoming queen.”
“Congratulations on all of your success, Terrence,” she said, smiling.
“Are you enjoying the brunch?” he asked. “It’s like one big ol’ party out here, huh?”
“You can say that again. Chloe said that brunch would be open to the community, but I wasn’t expecting such an enormous turnout.”
“This is nothing,” he told her. “Wait until the parade. The streets are going to be chock-full with—”
Kyra jabbed in his side. “Beverly’s a little nervous about being on the float,” she explained, rubbing a hand along Beverly’s back.
Nervous? Nerves had nothing to do with it.
“But she has nothing to worry about, right, Terrence?” Kyra asked.
“Just the thought of being on display in front of all these people is making me feel sick,” she said, fingering the lace neckline of her cream-colored blouse. “I’m a fashion designer, Kyra, not a beauty contestant.”
“You’ll be fine.” Kyra’s voice was bright and full of cheer. “Would it help if we stayed with you until it’s time to head over to the stadium?”
“Bev, you have nothing to worry about. It’s a fun, family-filled event.”
“Kyra’s right,” he agreed. “You’re among friends, Beverly. So, go out there and make the class of ’99 proud!”
She gave a low, shaky laugh. “Right, that’s easy for you to say. You’re not the one on top of that stupid float.”
“Bev, you’re gorgeous,” Kyra told her. “With that pearly white smile and shapely figure, you’re a force to be reckoned with, girl!”
“I second that,” Lucius’s familiar voice said, coming up behind Beverly.
“Hi, Lucius.”
He kneeled and set their two plates down on the blanket.
“Well, knock me over with a feather, if it isn’t the great Terrence Franklin!” Lucius chuckled. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you since Friday, but every time I turn around, you’ve got a crowd of people around you.”
“Hey, man, what’s up?”
“You don’t remember me, do you?” Terrence shook his head. “I figured as much, but I’d hoped that you’d remember the offensive lineman who took all those hits for you in that state championship game.”
“Lucius Gray?”
“Attorney at law,” he added, with a laugh.
“Man, you were one hell of a tackle. How come you didn’t go all the way? With your competitive edge and strength, you could’ve had your pick of NFL teams.”
Lucius pointed a finger at his chin. “I like this face far too much to let it get stomped on every Sunday afternoon!”
Everyone laughed.
“Beverly, can I steal you away for a second?” Lucius asked.
Terrence slipped a hand around Kyra’s waist and squeezed affectionately. “We’ll see you guys later,” he said, nodding at Lucius.
“All right, man, have a good one.” Terrence and Kyra strolled off.
Beverly blinked in surprise at the affection being displayed between the couple. Clearly the two had put their past behind them. But what had happened to Kyra’s fiancé?
“Bev.”
“Hmm?” She turned her attention back to Lucius. “So, what’s up?”
“I just wanted to warn you that I ran into—”
“Hello, Beverly.”
Beverly stiffened. She knew that voice anywhere. Slowly she turned around to see a face she’d spent the last few years hating—her ex-husband.
David flashed his toothy smile. “What—you’re not happy to see me?”
Chapter 10
Lucius was torn.
He wanted to give Beverly her privacy, but there was something about this situation that didn’t feel right to him. Not to mention, Lucius didn’t like the way Beverly froze the moment her eyes landed on her ex-husband. There was a palpable tension that one needed a chainsaw to cut through. He glanced down at Beverly, waiting to see whether she would give him a signal to leave or not.
Instead, she moved closer to him so he eased an arm around her waist and then leveled a look at David Clark that made it clear that he had her back.
“What do you want, David?” Beverly asked, her voice razor-sharp.
David’s smile remained in place. “What makes you think I want something?” he answered as if the question was ridiculous. “Why can’t I just come over here to see how my ex-wife was doing?” His gaze finally shifted over to Lucius. “I would’ve done it last night, but, um, you looked…a little busy on the dance floor.”
It was Lucius’s turn to smile slyly.
Beverly sounded equally unfazed. “Well, in case you haven’t noticed I’m still a little busy.”
“There you are, baby.” Another woman joined the small circle, her arm sliding around David.
Lucius felt Beverly tense even more when her gaze landed on the very pregnant woman.
“Oh, hello, Beverly,” the woman said.
Instead of answering, Beverly just turned out of Lucius’s arms and walked away.
“That went well,” David said.
Lucius blinked and then finally took off after Beverly, who had amazingly covered a great distance in a short period of time. When he caught up with her, she kept marching like a solider off to war. He followed while they threaded through men, women and children. It occurred to him that perhaps she didn’t have a destination in mind and that she simply just needed to get away.
Needing to break the ice, he said, “You know we’re walking away from the food, right?”
“Then go back and eat it if you�
�re so damn hungry.”
“Whoa, now.” He grabbed her arm and forced her to stop. “Are you angry at me?”
She didn’t snatch her arm back, but she did glare down at his offending hold until he released her on his own.
“Look, I’m not…I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on.”
“Nothing is going on,” she snapped.
His brows jumped up. Did she really expect him to believe that? “So you just storm and stomp around for what…exercise?”
Beverly drew in a deep breath, warring with whether she should even bother to explain. But then she started shaking her head. Why bother? This man was only going to be in her life for what—a few more hours? “Just…” She blinked her eyes dry. “Just forget it. It’s a long story and…” She sighed. “I don’t feel like dealing with it right now.”
One look at his face and she knew that he didn’t like that answer. Well, tough.
She drew another breath, forced on a smile. “You know what? We made a deal, remember? We’re supposed to leave whatever troubles we have at home.”
“Neither one of us anticipated trouble following us here.”
Beverly cocked her head, indicating to him that she was really trying here.
“All right.” He held up his hands. “A deal is a deal.” Lucius swung an arm around her shoulders. “So what do you say we get back to our blanket before an army of ants carries away our food?”
Beverly had a decision to make. Let David win and have her run home with her tail tucked between her legs or hold her head up high and enjoy this last day. She glanced back to where she’d left David standing. Him and his pregnant wife, Maureen.
Lucius read her mind. “I’m pretty sure they got the message to get lost.”
She smiled and said, “You don’t know my ex. He can be a little slow on the uptake.”
“Then it makes even more sense why it didn’t work out between you two.” When she laughed, he knew that the day had been salvaged once again. “Come on. Let’s go eat before I douse you with ketchup.”
“Hmm. Now that’s something we haven’t tried,” Beverly said, brightening. Laughing, they crossed back over to their blankets and tried again to enjoy the brunch. A few more old college friends stopped by and everyone reminisced about crazy teachers, crazy couples and crazy parties.
Beverly laughed and cracked jokes but she couldn’t help scanning the area for David and Maureen. No matter what tricks she employed, she couldn’t stop feeling a lump of injustice in the pit of her stomach. The fact that she’d spent most of her days—years—burying herself in her work, trying to forget, trying to move on, while David clearly had no trouble with it at all.
She pulled herself out of her malaise and flashed a smile whenever she caught Lucius watching her. By now, he probably thought she was emotionally unstable, going from highs to lows within the blink of an eye. Hell, right now she was thinking the same.
It was disappointing and distressing to know her fragile emotions were still so very close to the surface. Perhaps all the work she’d put into herself was for naught and she was no closer to healing than on that first tragic day. Tears rushed forward but she blinked them back and carried on.
The much-hyped parade was to start promptly at two o’clock. Beverly made a quick change into one of her personally designed gold-beaded gowns that she envisioned shimmering and reflecting the afternoon sunlight. Her reunion float was to roll from the college’s new stadium, wind around the small local streets and then end at the school’s center lawn.
The moment she put on her white sash and checked the pins holding her crystal tiara in place, Darcy and her cackling crew popped up once again, giving her dirty looks and whispering behind their hands. Beverly had had enough and flipped the women the bird before storming by with her head held high.
As it turned out, the event was a lot more enjoyable than she’d anticipated. The cheers from the crowd as her float glided by performed an amazing job in lifting her spirits. Behind her, Hollington University’s award-winning marching band got their jam on and clearly and easily elicited the loudest applause from the crowd.
By four o’clock it was all over and Beverly was pleased to say that she had survived. She stood taking pictures for a while and then changed back into her clothes and caught up with Lucius. He was engaged in an impromptu football game with a few of his old college buddies.
The moment he saw her, he called a time out and rushed to her side. “You looked beautiful up there today,” he said, kissing her upturned face. “I was proud of you.”
She beamed. “Thanks.”
“Are we playing ball or what?” Kevin Stayton yelled.
“I’m coming!” Lucius shouted. Then he asked Beverly, “Do you mind killin’ about an hour with these knuckleheads before we head back to the hotel?”
“Sure,” she said, and then received another kiss before he raced back off.
“It’s almost like watching little kids,” Chloe Jackson said, standing next to her.
Beverly hadn’t even seen her standing there. “Yeah. I guess.” She swallowed a lump in her throat. “About last night and my trying to back out of the parade…”
Chloe waved her off and said sweetly, “Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad Kyra got you to change your mind.”
Beverly chuckled. “No one can say no to Kyra.”
The women laughed.
“By the way,” Beverly said, “congratulations. That was a beautiful proposal last night.”
Chloe’s face darkened with embarrassment. “Thanks. I—I still can’t believe it happened.”
Smiling, Beverly turned her attention back to the men’s game. It was clear to the average observer that the guys weren’t as agile as they once were. It took many of them a considerable amount of time to get up once they were sacked. Beverly and Chloe were amused.
At dusk, the game was over, mainly because there were more injuries than touchdowns. Beverly helped a limping and laughing Lucius to his car.
“I don’t think a man should be hit that hard after age thirty,” he complained. “These bones aren’t as strong as they used to be.”
She laughed along with him as she tucked herself under his arm and supported most of his weight as they headed toward his car. But as luck would have it, David and his wife were also walking across the parking lot. She tensed, watching David hold open the passenger door of his Mercedes while Maureen struggled to get inside. When he closed the door, David’s gaze scanned the lot and he found her staring at him.
He waved and she quickly dropped her head and kept moving.
Back at the hotel, Beverly and Lucius took another hot shower together. But it was all about getting clean instead of exciting each other. They devoured another meal from room service and then promptly fell into a deep, exhausted sleep in each other’s arms.
When Lucius woke, the room was dark except for a small strip of moonlight. Yawning, he glanced at the clock and saw that it was well past one in the morning. The weekend was over. He would have to be at work in a few hours. He groaned at the thought of ninety-hour workweeks, endless negotiations and tedious courtroom battles.
Truth be told, he had a love-hate relationship with his job. He loved being good at it, hated how it usually destroyed his private life. He glanced down at the woman curled in the crook of his arm. Something about the way she clung to him touched his heart.
The question was whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Studying her sleeping face, he still saw the naked vulnerability she displayed when her ex-husband came onto the scene. Now, like before, he felt a fierce protectiveness toward her. He didn’t know what David had done in their past to hurt her, but he definitely wanted to punch in the guy’s face, all the same.
Was that a good or a bad thing?
As much as he had enjoyed this weekend, he had no time in his life for a relationship. Hell, he had a hard time trying to juggle weekend visitations with Ruby. Of course, that
had more to do with his flaky and unpredictable ex-wife than anything.
We have a deal, he reminded himself. They had this weekend and then they were to walk away. His heart squeezed.
Was that a good or a bad thing?
The questions kept coming and he found that he just didn’t have any answers. He liked Beverly—a lot. But now this early Monday morning, he wasn’t as sure as he was Friday night that he could have this one wild weekend and walk away, either. Maybe there was some middle ground. Would she be up for that—or was she an all-or-nothing kind of woman?
Beverly stirred in his arms and he automatically pressed a kiss against her forehead. She smiled, though he doubted that she was aware of it. She was so beautiful—but it was clear that there was more to her than what met the eye.
He pressed another kiss to her forehead.
Her nose.
Her lips.
Beverly’s eyes fluttered open while she emitted a long kittenlike purr.
Their gazes locked and just like that their passions were reignited. Their light kisses deepened. Seconds later, their hands got into the mix. Roaming and touching and this time stirring emotions that were much stronger than lust. When he entered her, in a weird and erotic sense, it was like sliding into home.
So sweet.
So perfect.
So wonderful.
He started moving his hips; his strokes were slow, deep and languid. Unlike their wild weekend, he wanted to take his time making love to her. He wanted to see how deep he could go, how hard she would quiver and how often she would whisper his name. The intimate moment was heightened by the fact that they refused to break eye contact and it created an invisible bond that shook him to his very core.
Lucius sensed when Beverly’s orgasm neared by her body’s small tremors. Suddenly his name was being replaced by small gasps and high-octave sighs. As he watched her submit to the waves of ecstasy she looked even more beautiful…angelic.
I could make love to her forever. The rogue thought drifted across his mind at the precise moment his own orgasm hit. He cried out her name, shivered and shook before collapsing and pulling her close.
“Amazing,” he panted, feeling a calm settle over him.
Tender to His Touch Page 8