He had made it back to the living room when she reappeared carrying two glasses of wine. “Sorry I got detained. My mom called on my cell phone to let me know she and my father had made it to California.”
He accepted the glass she handed him. “They went out of town on a trip?”
She smiled. “Yes. They’re spending two weeks on vacation in Hawaii.”
“Nice.”
“I know, and I’m hoping that they enjoy themselves.”
“In Hawaii? I’m sure they will. There’s a lot to see and do.”
She nodded, taking a sip, too. “I take it that you’ve been there.”
A smile touched his lips. “Yes, several times. I have a couple of clients there.”
“Umm, tell me about the advertising business. Tell me about you,” she said, moving toward the sofa.
He wondered if that was her cue to let him know she wanted to find out more about him before dinner and not during. That was fine with him. He much preferred being here alone with her than in a public place surrounded by others.
He decided to take a seat in one of her Queen Anne chairs and not give in to temptation and sit beside her on the sofa. If he were to pull such a move, they would never get any talking done. Already he was champing at the bit to taste her mouth again. The need to kiss her was overwhelming. But then there was a deep need for her to get to know him as the man who would be a part of her life.
So, while the two of them sipped their wine, they talked, mainly about him. He told her everything she needed to know and then some. He mentioned his family and how close he was to them, especially to his siblings. He even told her that he would be a new uncle soon, when his older brother Shane and his wife, Faith, had their first baby.
Then they talked about the advertising business. He had good people working for him. Employees he knew he could count on to make things happen, but in some ways he was still a hands-on guy.
A painting on her wall caught his eye. It had from the first moment he’d walked into the room. It was beautiful, and he doubted he’d seen anything like it before. Like her, it was colorful, and it was filled with eye-catching abstract shapes. It had been hand-painted on canvas and would be the centerpiece of whatever room it was in. Courtney had chosen this room for it, smartly so. It blended well.
“That’s a beautiful painting,” he said, trying to make out the signature on it from where he sat. “I’m familiar with a number of artists, but not that one.”
She glanced over her shoulder at the painting. “Isn’t it gorgeous? Jetrica gave that to me as a gift.”
He racked his brain, trying to remember the name. Apparently the person was someone she had mentioned to him previously. He then remembered. “Jetrica? Is that the teenage girl you mentioned that you mentor? The one whose mother is serving time. She’s being raised by her twenty-year-old sister?”
Courtney nodded. “Yes, that’s the one.”
“She has an extraordinary degree of talent.”
“I’ve tried telling her that. Others have, too. But I think she actually thinks we’re full of it. She sees her work as something she engages in when she wants to get out of doing real work, mainly her schoolwork. And she’s an excellent student once she applies herself. I think her problem is that she sees herself as a burden on her sister. Her sister gave up a chance to go off to college on a scholarship to stay back and raise Jetrica so she wouldn’t be put into the system, and possibly have to go to a foster home.”
Then Courtney’s house phone rang and she stood. “Excuse me for a moment. Few people have my home number, so it’s probably Vickie.”
He watched her cross the room and decided to take that time to get a closer view of the painting. It was hard to believe it had been done by a fourteen-year-old. This Jetrica was definitely way advanced for her age.
“Excuse me, something has come up, Lake, and I have to go.”
He spun around and saw the worried look on her face. “What’s wrong?” he asked, as if it was his right to know.
“That was Bethany, Jetrica’s sister. The two of them had an argument earlier, a pretty bad one, and Jetrica left. Bethany is worried.”
Lake frowned, wondering what this Bethany thought Courtney could do about it.
As if reading his thoughts, she said, “I’ve got to find her. Usually I’m the only one who can talk some sense into her when she gets like this.”
He nodded. “So in other words, your relationship with her goes beyond just mentoring.”
“Yes, I’m also her friend, or at least I try to be. Jetrica has a way of putting her guard up at times, like she’s afraid to let anyone get too close. She’s afraid to get too attached.”
He picked up on Courtney’s frustration when she said, “I’m sorry our evening has to end like this, and I was looking forward to it. We haven’t even made it to dinner yet.”
“And we will. I was looking forward to dinner, too.”
“I would invite you to stay here until I get back, but I don’t know when that will be. I have to try and help find Jetrica.”
He crossed the room to her. Took her hand in his. They were trembling, which meant she was worried. “Thanks for the invite, but how about if I go with you? Let’s go find her together.”
She looked up at him with grateful eyes. “Are you sure?”
“Positive. And we can take my car so I can drive.”
“Thanks. Just let me grab my purse.” And then he watched her take off toward her bedroom. He shook his head. Hadn’t he just moments earlier inwardly proclaimed that he preferred not to indulge in drama of any kind?
Courtney tried to think of things other than what she wanted to do to Jetrica once she found her. Wringing her little neck wasn’t legal, neither was slapping some sense into her, but she was tempted. Bethany was worried that Jetrica had gone off to meet some boy. For some reason Courtney didn’t think that was the case, but Bethany was seriously worried that Jetrica might do something stupid just for spite.
She glanced over at Lake and saw how he was calmly and expertly maneuvering his SUV in traffic, which was another reason to wring Jetrica’s neck. Courtney hated traffic, and Orlando was full of it. She studied Lake’s profile. He was quiet and had been since she’d given him directions to where they were going. It was a section of Orlando people tended to forget and definitely tried to avoid. You say Orlando, and people everywhere immediately thought of Disney World. But every city had its less-than-desirable section, and that’s where they were headed.
“Do you meet with her here often?”
She glanced up at Lake’s face. Traffic was at a standstill. She knew why he was asking. The area where they were headed wasn’t one a person should go too often alone. Bethany was working to change that. She had put in for a new apartment through the city’s housing department. But things were going slow. “No, usually we meet at her high school, but I’ve met with her here before.”
Traffic was moving again, and his attention was back on his driving. This afforded her the opportunity to study him some more. While at her place, she had deliberately jumped from topic to topic to make sure he didn’t feel like he was under interrogation. It worked. He had revealed a lot of personal information about himself. It wasn’t hard to conclude that he was a confident man. He loved family. He loved his job and was very successful.
And he was getting to her like nobody’s business.
In a way, she should be grateful to Jetrica for causing this stir. At least it had gotten her and Lake out of the house. Had they stayed, they would have sipped more wine, started feeling a little loose, probably too comfy, and ended up doing something they might later have regretted. Umm, then maybe not. She certainly wouldn’t feel apologetic if she’d suddenly found herself in his arms with his lips devouring hers again. And then there were his hands, especially those sexy fingers. She could just imagine them touching her all over, especially her breasts. She had a weakness when it came to her breasts. A tongue on them could drive her
over the edge in a flash. The problem she’d encountered was that most men didn’t enjoy foreplay. They much preferred to cut to the chase, go right between the legs. Another problem was that she was selective with the men she slept with. Usually it was a right they had to earn, work hard to get. Some cut the mustard. Some didn’t. She wasn’t about to lower her standards by any means, but Lake was a temptation she wasn’t sure she could resist for much longer. Just sharing car space with him was causing an ache that was only intensifying with every mile they drove. They were sexually attracted to each other. That was a gimme. And if they continued to see each other, they would share a bed. That was a gimme, as well. What she wasn’t clear on was when they would do so. If the throbbing between her legs kept up or got any more intense, it would be sooner than later. That thought didn’t bother her. In fact, it sort of calmed her.
“How long have you been Jetrica’s mentor?”
Lake’s question had cut into her thoughts. Just as well, she decided. She needed to stay focused, and later tonight, if he was willing, they could do something to take off the edge she felt. They had gotten off Interstate 4 and were now headed toward the apartments where Jetrica and her sister lived. “For almost a year,” she finally answered. “My best friend Vickie was one of her teachers and saw something in Jetrica. I do, too. She’s not really a bad kid. Just one who needs direction and doesn’t want to take it from her older sister.”
“Like I told you earlier back at your place,” Lake said, “I think the kid is mega-talented. If she concentrates on her studies and her art, she’ll be able to capitalize on both.”
Courtney was glad Lake thought that. “I agree one hundred percent. And as her mentor, I try to get her to see that.”
It was dark, and they were headed deeper and deeper into an area most referred to as the projects. She glanced out the window and saw something, someone she immediately recognized. “Wait! Stop! That’s her walking over there.”
Lake stopped the car and leaned forward to look out the windshield. “Doesn’t she know walking alone in the dark is dangerous, especially in this area?”
Courtney heard what he said but was already out of the car. “Jetrica!” she yelled out and sighed in relief when the girl turned around and began walking toward them.
“Ms. Andrews? What are you doing here?”
“Don’t ask any questions, Jetrica, just get in the car.”
It was easy to tell that Jetrica didn’t like her tone. She placed her hands on her hips, pouted her lips, glared, and said, “And if I don’t?”
“Don’t push your luck with me tonight, kid. Get in!”
Evidently there was something in Courtney’s voice that made Jetrica think twice about not following that order. She grudgingly opened the door and climbed in the backseat of Lake’s SUV. She saw him and glared at him, as well. Then within seconds, she cocked her head and smiled at him. When Courtney got back in the truck and snapped on her seat belt, Jetrica commented from the backseat. “Hey Ms. A, your boyfriend is kind of cute.”
Courtney glanced over at Lake. At the moment she didn’t want to imagine what he was thinking. So much for a second date. This would probably be their last. Instead of dwelling on that, she responded to Jetrica’s comment, deciding not to correct her thinking that Lake was her boyfriend. “Thanks. Yes, he is cute and is probably pissed that because of you we’re missing dinner.”
“Nobody tell you to come looking for me. I can take care of myself.”
“Walking alone in this area, Jetrica, is a rape just waiting to happen. Use your common sense, will you? What are you trying to prove?” Courtney turned around in her seat to ask.
Jetrica didn’t say anything for a moment, but even with the brevity of the light coming into the truck, Courtney could see the hurt and anguish on the young girl’s face. “I’m trying to prove that I can take care of myself,” she said in a low and broken tone. “Bethany is talking about not going back to school in the fall because of me. Money’s tight so she can’t register for the college classes she needs, and it’s all my fault. I offered to get a job, but she won’t let me.”
Courtney frowned. “Get a job? Doing what? You’re only fourteen.”
“Yes, but there has to be something I can do.”
Yes, there was plenty she could do, and none of it legal, Courtney thought. Jetrica was a pretty girl. She could just imagine some hard-up-ass man convincing her to make money doing something really stupid like selling her body. Unfortunately, teens who were hard up for money were easily pulled into that sort of lifestyle. “Look, let’s get together on Friday and talk about this. Maybe I can talk to my aunt Peggy to see if there’s something you can do at the place where she works. Although a lot of the jobs the teens do there is strictly voluntary, they might be able to swing something for you to—”
“I don’t want charity!”
Courtney inhaled, downplaying the temptation to wring the girl’s neck after all. “Look, Jetrica, don’t push it, and don’t push me. We meet Friday at school, and you better show up. Understood?”
Jetrica glared at her. “Yeah, whatever.” She then eased back onto the soft leather cushions of the backseat. She shot Lake a glance and said, “Hey, mister, your girlfriend can be a real bitch at times.” A smile touched Jetrica’s face when she added, “But I like her.”
16
“Thanks for everything tonight, Lake.”
A hour later, and they were back at her home. After returning Jetrica to the apartment she shared with her sister, and after giving her another tongue-lashing for good measure, Courtney had suggested to Lake that they grab some take-out and then go back to her place to eat it. He had agreed.
He also hadn’t said much, she noted. She knew that someone like Jetrica was probably a lot to get used to, but he really wouldn’t have to get used to her. Courtney had a feeling that after tonight, any thoughts of an involvement with her was long gone from Lake Masters’s mind. What woman in her right mind would use her date’s time and money—since the cost of gas wasn’t cheap these days—to go chasing after some smart-mouth kid? Not many with good common sense. Men were scarce, and those worth keeping were extremely rare. For whatever reason, such a man had been blown her way, and just her luck she had blown him toward someone else.
She took a deep breath and pushed her food container aside. Last week he had fed her from one of the most expensive restaurants in Orlando. Tonight, she had fed him Chinese food from the Fire Dragon. A vast difference. And he had refused to let her pay for it, although she had offered.
“We’ll do the movie another time.”
She blinked, not sure she’d heard him correctly. He couldn’t possibly be telling her he wanted to see her again. “Excuse me?”
He smiled. “Since we didn’t make it to the movies tonight, we’ll do that the next time.”
She was still having a problem keeping up with him, and at the risk of sounding dense she asked, “The next time?”
“Yes, the next time. What are you doing this weekend?”
She shrugged. “Nothing really. I haven’t made any plans.”
“Then how about Saturday night?”
“Saturday night?”
“Yes.” He pushed his own take-out box aside and leaned over the table and stared at her. “Are you all right?”
“Not sure. You want to take me out again?”
He lifted a brow. “Yes, you sound surprised.”
“I am. What about tonight?”
He reached across the table, took her hand in his, and lifted it up to his lips and kissed it before saying, “As far as I’m concerned, it’s not over yet. There are still a number of possibilities.”
“I’m talking about earlier tonight. You had plans to take me out and enjoy a meal and a movie. Not to encounter unnecessary drama.”
“You’re right there, but it’s okay. We did enjoy a meal together, and we’re doing the movie on Saturday.” The smile on his lips stretched into a sensuous grin. “I told
you that I was nice. Now you see that I’m also flexible.”
He was definitely that, she immediately thought. But in just the little time she’d gotten to know him, she’d determined that he was kind and understanding, and she appreciated that.
“Before we left to find Jetrica, you and I were in the getting-to-know-each-other-better stage. Is there anything else you want to know about me?” he asked.
Courtney stared at him. The look she saw in his eyes had made her pulse flutter and had her stomach twisting in knots. There was fire in their dark depths, enough to ignite more than a spark within her. The throb between her legs returned with a vengeance.
“Yes, there’s something that I would like to know,” she said softly, trying to ignore the sensations assailing her.
He nodded. “Go ahead and ask.”
“Why aren’t you with someone already? I know what you said the other night at dinner about preferring to seek out your own woman. But still.”
The smile on his lips curved to intensify all those sensations she was feeling. “Mainly interest. You’re the first woman I’ve been interested in in a long time.”
Her stomach tightened at his words. “And just how interested are you?”
“As interested as a man can get in a woman, Courtney.”
She wasn’t ready to let it go yet. “That sounds deep and scary.”
He lifted a brow. “Why scary?”
“I don’t know of any man who’s been that interested in me. Ever.”
“You’re going to discover that I’m different from most men.”
She’d already discovered that fact.
“Especially any other man in your past,” he continued saying. “I’m in it for the long haul. I’ve told you that before, and you didn’t believe me.”
Her Little Black Book Page 13