A Valentine Challenge (Challenge Series, #1)

by Kiru Taye

  He stood straight, scrubbing his hand on his head. For a moment his grey eyes looked distant. Weary. Haunted.

  "Kasie, I want to talk to you. I want you to listen...Please."

  In the time she’d known him, he’d rarely used the magic word. She watched him closely. Despite his appearance, his air of arrogance had lost some of his lustre. He looked pained. Almost desperate.

  She shook her head. A man like him was never desperate. Still, there was no harm in listening to him so he would leave her office as quickly as possible.

  "I’m listening."

  He hesitated, watching her carefully before speaking.

  "I told you about the bet. What I didn’t tell you about was the reason my friends pushed me into the challenge in the first place."

  He paced away from her. With the space between them, she inhaled deeply.

  "A long time ago, there was another girl. Her name was Ruth. Her father was a senator and I was assigned their security detail. I was head over heels in love with her. At the time I thought she loved me too. In the end I found out I was only a bit of entertainment for her. When I persisted, trying to convince her there was more to us, she reported me to her father, claiming I’d assaulted her. He reported me to my commanding officer and I lost a stripe. It precipitated my leaving the army."

  Her heart lurched at what he had to suffer. She hated when women made false assault claims against men. It trivialised genuine cases. A part of her wanted to inflict pain on the vindictive woman who had accused him of something so horrible and so untrue. No wonder he’d been so bitter.

  She wanted to go to Michael and hold him. To tell him it was all in the past and she’d always have his back. Instead she kept still and folded her hands on her lap to stop from reaching for him.

  "Anyway, I guess I never really got over what she did to me. And when my friends saw you. You reminded them so much of her. They thought I needed to prove to myself I had gotten over Ruth. Hence the challenge."

  She snorted. She understood his reasoning. Yet he’d had several opportunities to tell her before. He hadn’t.

  "Yes, I know it was the wrong thing to do. At the time I was so blinded by my resentment of all women like Ruth I didn’t see the real you beneath the facade," Michael continued.

  "Do you know how it made me feel? To think I was just a pawn in your game?" she retorted, her anger rising.

  "I know. I lived life without regrets but since you, I’ve been consumed by my guilt. I regret ever making you feel that way. The night we spent together I realised how important you’d become in my life—"

  "Well, I hope you’re happy you won your stupid challenge." She turned her back to him.

  "It was a pyrrhic victory. I lost you." His voice was thick with emotion. She still refused to turn around, not wanting him to see the tears she was fighting to hold back.

  "These last few weeks have been torture. Thinking you were gone for good. So I’ve come to rectify things. I brought you this."

  She heard the ruffle of papers and turned to look at him. He held a sheaf of papers in his hands.

  "Take them," he said.

  She took the papers, her eyes refusing to focus on the words. "What is this?"

  "It is the contract of sale for my plane, the Cessna I bet on the challenge. It’s yours to do with as you please."

  Baffled, she looked from the papers to Michael. "What? I don’t understand."

  He squatted beside her. "Kasie, the plane brought me a lot of joy but it could never compare to the utter bliss and exhilaration I felt when you were around me. You are infinitely more important to me than the plane. I want you in my life. And if it means giving up the plane, I’m willing to do so."

  Still not getting his full meaning, she shook her head. "You want to give up your plane for another weekend with me?" she asked, her stomach sickened at the thought. She wanted much more from Michael.

  He shook his head. "A weekend would never be enough, my love. Don’t you get it? I’d give up everything I own to have you for the rest of my life."

  She leapt at him, laughing with joy and kissed him. He held her, stopping both of them from falling on the carpet.

  She leaned back and looked at him warily. "You’re not joking? This is not another game."

  "This is not a game."

  He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small square velvet box. Her heart leapt when she saw it.

  "I had to fly to London to get this. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was for you." He opened the box. It had the most exquisite pink diamond sitting in a platinum ring.

  "Oh my. This is the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen. How did you know I like pink?"

  "I realised you had a thing for pink the first night in the car."

  Her face heated up as she remembered her pink lingerie on that occasion.

  He lifted her out of the chair pulling her up.

  "Kasie, you are the woman I took home to my mother. The woman who completes me. From the moment you walked up to me in the hotel car park, I lost my heart to you. I love you. The last four weeks without you have been miserable. Save me from my misery. Marry me. Please."

  "Well, when you put it like that I suppose I can’t leave you in misery, can I?" The deep sound of his warning growl made her laugh.

  "Of course, I’ll marry you. I love you. And yes, these past few weeks have been miserable for me too."

  He scooped her up and kissed her, knocking the breath out of her.

  "It’s a good thing you said yes. I thought I would have to bundle you out of here and lock you in my house in Victoria Island until you agreed."

  His laughter rumbled through her.

  "Shame. You can still bundle me out if you so wish. I guess I’d better tell my boss to reassign me to Enugu. It looks like I’m relocating there permanently."

  "Oh, I thought you wanted to live and work in Lagos. I’d had the house in VI prepared for you."

  "A plane and now a house, all for me? Hmmm...What else have you got in store for me?" She ran her hands against his stubble, something she'd missed doing.

  "There are plenty more things I need to show you, obi m."

  He kissed her again, the kiss filled with all the promises of their future together.

  Carry on to read Chapter One from An Engagement Challenge by Kiru Taye, the next book in the series.

  Blurb:

  Book 2 of the contemporary romance Challenge series, set in Nigeria. Three friends. Three challenges. Are they willing to risk everything for love?

  When the stakes are high, who’ll be left standing?

  When savvy PR consultant Ijay Amadi meets successful Industrialist Paul Arinze, the only things on her mind are to forget the pain of her failed relationship and enjoy the delights his branding touch and soul-searing kiss promise. It’s a one-time only event. Perfect.

  However, Paul is annoyed to wake up and find her gone the next morning. He isn’t ready to forget the dark-haired beauty or their scorching night together just yet. So he plans to have Ijay right where he wants her—in Abuja, working on his latest business project by day and enjoying the pleasure of his bed by night.

  Except when Ijay arrives, she’s wearing another man’s engagement ring. With the explosive desire between them threatening their priorities and loyalties, the stakes get higher by the minute. Who’ll be left standing at the altar when Ijay walks down the aisle?

  Chapter One

  You’ll die a lonely man.

  With ease Paul Arinze navigated the throng of people gathered at the party. He ignored the dire phrase echoing in his mind—words that had plagued him in the past few weeks. Instead, he keyed into the thrumming vibe of the urban music thumping out of hidden loudspeakers in the shiny black glass walls of the nightclub.

  His back prickled with sensation, the hairs standing erect. Someone was watching him. His gaze dragged across the dance floor, searching. People were dancing, chatting, drinking. A lady brushed past him—long blonde hair and a dress th
at showcased her full unshackled breasts. She smiled at him, the eager inviting message in her green eyes unmistakable. She’d accommodate his desires.

  Yet nothing stirred within him. No spark. No passion. Just emptiness. He gave her a reluctant smile in return and moved on. He was exhausted, mentally.

  As a waiter walked by, his silver tray laden with drinks, Paul stopped him and replaced his empty glass with another full glass of champagne. It wasn’t his poison of choice. For tonight, it would have to do. He took a sip from the crystal glass and allowed the fizzing crisp dry liquid down his throat. The light intoxicant didn’t do much to settle his soul’s restlessness, but it took the edge off his body alertness.

  Spotting the sliding doors leading to a balcony, he walked toward it. Once outside, he inhaled deeply, enjoying the fresh night air in his lungs and on his face, cooling his hot skin. He slid the door shut, the sounds of music and loud conversation muffled by the reinforced glass. His gaze travelled across the blue-black night sky, the lights on the London Eye and other landmarks reflecting in the dark water of the Thames.

  Slowly, a reflective smile tugged his lips as he took in the view. It was evidence of his hectic lifestyle that whenever he was in London, he never got the chance to really see London. The closest he got to any of the tourist landmarks were either from a London cab window or via his hotel room view.

  Many years ago, he’d lived in the city while he’d attended university to complete his MBA. He’d loved his time here and the freedom that had come from being away from Nigeria and his father. He spent two years after his program working for a British firm to build his experience. In the end he’d returned to Nigeria. His home country was in his blood. While he was away he missed the place. Where ever else he visited—in his recent trip it’d been Singapore and New York—he never got the same peace of mind as he had when he was on Nigerian soil.

  It was home to his family, closest friends and businesses—his life as he wanted it.

  Yet in the past few weeks, a roiling restlessness had settled over him since his break up with his last girlfriend, Kate. Letting out a resigned sigh, Paul leaned his back against the cool brick wall and allowed the memory of their conversation on the fateful night replay itself.

  ***

  “The wedding was great fun. When are we going to set our own date?” Kate asked as she flung her clutch bag on the low round glass-top centre table.

  Paul pretended he didn’t hear her. They’d just returned from the wedding of an old school friend and a socialite. The couple’s families were heavily involved in the Nigerian political scene—his friend’s father was an ex-senator and the girl’s father, an ex-minister. Socially arranged marriages were common place for the political elite. While Paul didn’t mind attending other people’s weddings, he certainly didn’t want to discuss his own.

  Silently, he shut his apartment door behind him and walked past Kate. He stood still, staring out of the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the mountains in the distance. In the inky darkness, all he could make out were the outlines of the rocks. In the daytime, the view was breathtaking; part of the reason he’d bought the Abuja home.

  “Paul?” Kate’s probing voice broke into his thoughts.

  “Our own date for what?” Paul asked, nonchalantly loosening and pulling off his blue embroidered silk tie. Painstakingly slow, he rolled it in his hands before undoing his top button. Then, he turned around to face her.

  “Wedding date, of course,” she purred; her smile a sultry invitation. Seductively and easily, she swayed her wide hips, coming toward him. When she stopped, she moved his jacket lapels apart, brushing his shirt with her palms in a sensuous movement that should’ve excited him. Instead, suspicion spiked his blood and tensed his muscles. “We’ve been dating for so long and I’m getting tired of attending other people’s weddings without planning my own.”

  “Kate, I told you I wasn't ready to get married when we met. I’m not interested in wedding bells.”

  “Yes, that was over a year ago. I didn’t expect you to marry me then. I do now.”

  Her eyes widened, flashing angrily at him. He pretended not to notice. He wasn’t interested. Her full bosoms heaved, nearly spilling out of her figure-hugging long black dress. To think that when he’d seen her earlier in it all he’d wanted to do was bring her here and take the dress off her body. Now he couldn’t even stand to look at her.

  Bile rose in his throat. The mention of the word marriage always spoiled his mood. He wanted the smooth fiery taste of a drink to quash the bitterness in his mouth. Instead of moving over to the small bar in the corner of his living room, he allowed his gaze to meet Kate’s.

  “Nothing’s changed for me, Kate. I still don’t want to get married. I’ve never pretended otherwise,” he replied coolly.

  He should’ve seen this coming and done something to prevent it. Perhaps he should’ve broken off the relationship months ago. He’d become complacent, partially hoping that with Kate it would be different. That she understood his need for no-strings attached relationships.

  She was a high-flying career girl and worked as head of department for a retail bank. He’d met her at a function right here in Abuja. He’d liked her because she was work-focused and they lived in separate towns – she in Lagos, while he spent most of his time split between Abuja and Enugu. She’d come up to Abuja for the weekends when she was available. It’d suited him fine to see her occasionally.

  Emotions chased their way across Kate’s face. Frustration, pain, anger. None of them touched him.

  “If I wait, can you promise me we’ll get married say in another year?” she asked calmly, her eyes watching him expectantly.

  For some people, a year might make a difference. For Paul it didn’t. He’d already spent that much time with Kate. His feelings for her today were no different from how he’d felt twelve months ago. Except now, he was disappointed she’d behaved like every other woman before her. By asking him for something he couldn’t give her.

  Paul pulled his face in a tight grimace. “There’s no need to wait. I won’t marry you.”

  “Then there’s no point hanging around. It’s over,” she said in a shrill voice. With jerky angry movements, she picked up her bag.

  “Listen. Why not wait until the morning,” Paul said in a placating manner. Stifling the smile threatening to lift his lips in buoyant relief, he kept his face expressionless. It was best to let Kate think she’d ended their relationship, providing him with an easy way out.

  “What would be the point of that, Paul? I’ll pack my things and stay the night at the Hilton. I can head back to Lagos in the morning.”

  He nodded as she walked into the bedroom and grabbed her overnight bag. He called his chauffeur and asked the man to drop her off. When Kate came out of his bedroom, she stood glaring at him for a moment before shaking her head.

  “You’ll die a lonely man,” she said and walked out the door.

  ***

  Though it had done nothing to change his mind about asking her back, the words had plagued his mind ever since.

  Paul let out a sigh as he took a sip of his drink. Perhaps it was time to call it a night. He was due to catch a flight out of London tomorrow afternoon. A good night’s sleep wouldn’t go amiss.

  As he turned, the door to the balcony opened, letting out the noise from the bar and along with it, a sexy goddess.

  Long dark tresses framed an oval face of flawless buttery cream, her curvaceous body in a beautiful navy lace dress that stopped just above the knees exposing satiny legs and feet in wedge sandals. For a moment she stood still, one leg paused over the threshold, the other already outside. In the pose she looked breathtaking with the dim lights from inside framing her in a silhouette.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you. I just wanted some fresh air. I’ll come back later,” she rattled out, the chant of her velvety voice set the blood in his veins alight.

  She lowered her gaze, pulling the corner of he
r lower lip with her teeth in a nervous smile. Her diffident expression had his heart hammering in his chest, sending pulses of granite need down his body.

  For the first time in weeks, his body responded to the sight of a woman with desire. An instant overwhelming craving. Perhaps he wasn’t fatigued. He just needed the right woman.

  This woman.

  “No. Stay. There’s plenty of fresh air to share.” He straightened languorously and lifted his lips in a rapacious grin; all thought of leaving early fizzled into the cool night air.

  Stepping out fully, she closed the door behind her, leaving them in near silence. She moved to the end of the balcony away from him and put her hands against the railing.

  “I love this view of London and come out here whenever I’m in this building,” she said, her tone conversational. Yet her soft voice sent spikes of heat into his veins.

  “It’s a great view. I don’t see much of London when I’m here. So it’s good to see it all lit up at night,” Paul replied, glad that she was talking. For some reason he wanted to listen to sound of her voice.

  He turned back to look out over the balcony, placing his palms on the cold metal. Even from the distance of about six feet, he could sense her heat. He pictured her leaning across to brush his hand with hers. A warm shiver travelled down his spine.

  “You don’t live in the city?” she asked, turning to face him in the near darkness.

  From this angle, her face was a contrast of light and shade. Still, he made out the gentle contour of her almond-shaped eyes, staring at him with curiosity. He wondered at their color. He wanted to find out.

  “No.”

  “I guessed as much.”

  “Why do you say that?” Paul leaned on the railing, turning his body and giving her his undivided attention. The pleasure of watching the bright city lights paled in comparison to the excitement in his blood at watching her luminous skin and graceful curves.

  “I don’t know. There was just something about you that didn’t seem like a local.”