“You knew you were in love with Uncle Carlton the first day,” he said smoothly.
Aw hell! Ava rolled her eyes as she left the window and stormed back to the elevator. “That’s different.”
“How?”
“Well, well, it’s…it’s…it just is!”
Eric laughed, and Ava knew she’d lost that argument. “She’s special.”
“This is moving much too fast.” Ava finally said. “You need to be dating more girls.”
“Can I help it that I don’t have a player’s bone in my body?” Eric asked seriously. “Remember that pep talk you gave me before I left for New York?” His voice took on a light, feminine tone. “ ‘Remember that every girl you meet is your mother, me, or your grandmothers. They are queens. Even if they’ve somehow forgotten who they are, don’t forget who you are.’ ”
Damn! Word for word. Ava couldn’t argue with that either.
“Marie’s a queen and doesn’t know it. Other guys haven’t made her feel that way. I do,” he said proudly, and she could picture him standing tall with his little chest stuck out.
The words almost brought fresh tears to Ava’s eyes. Eric was the exact opposite of his mother. Where Raven pushed love away at every opportunity, Eric wanted love, welcoming it with open arms and a pure heart. And that could be dangerous on all counts. Ava would reserve judgment on whether this Marie woman loved Eric or his money, in spite of what he’d said.
She brushed away a tear. “I’ll be downstairs in a few minutes, Eric. I’ll send your mother a text message to let her know what’s going on. She might not mind at this point.”
“Thanks, Aunt Avie.”
“Don’t thank me,” she grumbled. “You’ll wish you had dinner with your mother when I get through with you.”
❤ ❤ ❤
Ava stepped off the elevator into the circular marble lobby and headed toward Eric and the young woman standing a few feet behind him, wringing her hands.
“Auntie Avie!” Eric hugged her enthusiastically then pulled away, putting his arm around the waist of his girlfriend. “This is Marie.”
Ava’s gaze traveled over the fleshy young woman whose high cheekbones, sulky mouth, and pert nose reflected an innocence that didn’t quite reach her brown eyes. Marie had been around the block and had probably parked a few cars. There was a hardness about her lips that Ava summed up quickly as belonging to a woman who had seen difficult times. Her freckled features were touched with a light sprinkling of cosmetics, which complemented her reddish-brown hair. To her credit, she wore a conservative dress that draped her form tastefully.
A second glance brought a sudden realization. Eric had chosen a woman who mirrored Raven in size and—if the eyes told it correctly—pain. He had been in over his head the moment he had laid eyes on this one. And there wasn’t much Ava could do, since his heart and hormones were involved.
Eric reached for Marie’s hand and they stood side by side.
She swallowed and met Ava’s eyes, not in a challenging way, but in a way that showed she was nervous but would not let anyone cower her where Eric was concerned.
Then Ava saw it. The moment Eric smiled down at Marie, the younger woman softened. Marie’s eyes communicated the way she felt about him as surely as the window of Heaven could pour down sunshine or rain. At that moment, the sun appeared from behind the clouds, shining through the glass doors behind them as though giving Ava some direction. Two youngsters in love, looking at each other in very much the same way as she and Carlton had when they first took the plunge. What could she say to condemn that? Absolutely nothing.
Raven wouldn’t be happy to find out that Eric was seriously dating—and possibly contemplating having sex. Oh Lord, I’m getting too old for this! Thank God she had plenty of time before her own children reached that phase. But Eric was like a son to her. Her relationship with Eric was so close, she could only be grateful that Raven wasn’t the jealous mother type. Eric appreciated the fact that Ava supported him in areas that Raven did not. And sometimes that could be a tight rope to walk.
Eric looked up at Ava, eyes sparkling with a bit of fear and anxiety, awaiting some positive sign. She couldn’t do otherwise. “Marie,” Ava said, extending her hand, lifting the corners of her mouth upward in what could pass for a smile. “I’m pleased to meet you.”
Marie’s mouth twitched a little as she looked up at Eric for reassurance before taking Ava’s hand.
Eric stared at Ava for a moment, watching the emotions play about her face.
Ava let out a long breath. Saying anything to dissuade him would only push him into this young woman’s arms and into her bed just to prove a point. At least they were taking it slow—or so he said. She knew many men who started the relationship that way, but who would also do a pole vault to get some nookie at the first come-hither.
A sudden commotion behind them made the trio turn.
Simeon stormed into the lobby from the elevators, two beefy bodyguards in tow, zeroed in on them, and continued his angry stride until he stood in front of Ava, Eric, and Marie. He wore a powder-blue and white striped Simeon Cahill signature sweat suit. His dark skin, well-groomed short hair, flashing black eyes, and curved lips were a combination most women considered handsome. Ava would never be counted in that group. Attitude and arrogance were a deal-breaker in her book.
“What happened to the damn meeting?” he asked Eric, then turned to Ava. “And who the hell are you?”
“Good afternoon to you too, whoever you might be,” she replied calmly as she released Marie’s hand, but didn’t offer it to the newcomer. “Ava Davidson. I’m Raven Armand’s lawyer, and his,” she nodded in Eric’s direction.
Simeon glowered angrily at her. “Simeon Cahill!” he snapped, as if she should already know.
She returned his glare as seconds ticked by.
“What happened to the meeting?” he ground out through clenched teeth, rubbing a hand over his extended stomach that looked strange compared to the rest of his slender frame. “I was called in from the Hamptons because there was some big ‘secret’ meeting going on. Now the boardroom’s empty.”
“It’s been delayed,” she answered cautiously, watching as Eric made a slicing motion across his neck.
“No one told me.”
Ava grinned at his frustration, understanding that Eric didn’t want her to mention anything about the deal. “It was kind of sudden.”
He turned around to survey the area, then faced her again. “Where’s your client?”
Ava shrugged, giving him a wide smile before turning her back to him, pretending to look for something in her attaché.
Simeon huffed and turned to Eric. “Where’s Pierce?”
Eric just looked at him and shrugged. Marie tensed under Simeon’s hard gaze and stammered, “I think he, I think they—” Eric nudged her into silence.
“This is bullshit!” Simeon looked annoyed, probably more with himself than anyone he could name.
Ava turned and looked at him, hazel eyes flashing fire as her lips pursed in quiet disapproval.
“So I take it that negotiations are off?” he asked her.
“Seems that way for now,” she replied with a haughty lift of her chin. “It’s not like this was the only offer on the table. Just the best…at the moment.”
Simeon narrowed his eyes as he moved closer to her. “What kind of game are you playing, lady?”
“Survival of the fittest,” she shot back, outrage quickly replacing annoyance. “Pierce Randall is making this deal worth the effort, and since he’s not around, we’ll wait until he is.”
Eric was right. She would not give this asshole any room to move past what Pierce had put together—period.
Simeon turned to Eric and Marie. “Don’t you have work to do?”
Eric met the man’s angry glare with one of his own. “We have the rest of the day off.” Eric extended his right arm to Marie, the other to Ava, grinning sheepishly. “Ladies, Amy Ruth’s awaits.”
Twelve
The late afternoon sun was still blazing above the horizon. The tour of MEG had taken much longer than expected. Raven had asked so many questions that Pierce knew she had committed every detail to memory, strictly to write about it later. Couldn’t she just enjoy life and go with the flow? Why was she always so serious?
Sim bore down on them the moment they set foot outside the elevator bank and onto the executive floor. The man’s nostrils flared, but he swallowed his anger as he looked at Raven with keen interest.
“Well, I’ve heard rumors about the little woman that got away,” he said with a curl of his lips that was more predatory than congratulatory.
Pierce instantly pulled Raven a little closer, causing her to look up at him with a perplexed expression. “This time I’m going to keep a very close watch.”
The thinly veiled threat brought an ugly glint to Sim’s eyes as he lustfully scanned the length of Raven’s body.
Raven returned the gaze, flicking over his body, rolled her eyes, then affected an air of total indifference, followed by a mild yawn.
Sim’s look turned to something akin to hatred.
Atta girl! Pierce silently cheered, warmed that she’d peeped Sim’s whole game in a matter of seconds and played an ace.
“You’ve got your hands full with that one,” Sim spat, followed by a cynical laugh.
Pierce slid his hand down, draping it possessively around her waist. “I sure do. And I’ll love every minute and inch of it.”
The intimately wicked suggestion hung in the air.
Raven looked up at Pierce, then lowered her lashes as a seductive smile played about her lips. She turned her body toward him to wrap her arms around the fullness of his hips so it appeared they were in an embrace only lovers would share.
Pierce smiled back. The woman knew the game and was playing her part well.
Sim’s coffee skin darkened with anger, beyond miffed at being sneered at by Raven. “Why didn’t I know anything about that meeting? And where is everybody?”
“What do you mean?”
“Everyone’s gone. Including her lawyer.”
Raven turned to Sim and said, “Well, I guess that’s all for today.” She gave Pierce’s chest a gentle pat and lowered her voice to a breathy whisper, “Come on, baby, show me what you’re working with.” She looked over her shoulder at Sim. “I could say it was nice meeting you, but then again, I’d be lying.” Raven pressed her lips to Pierce’s, who immediately got over the shock and returned the passionate gesture. Reluctantly breaking apart, she turned her back to Sim and swished toward Pierce’s office with a little dip in her hips that almost made Pierce salivate right there on the floor.
“Pierce, we need to talk—now!” Sim growled, appraising Raven’s back view with jealous eyes.
Raven’s seductively swaying hips spoke their own language. She looked over her shoulder directly at Pierce, moistening her lips in a slow, tortuous motion that made his dick stand at attention.
Pierce straightened his lapel, winked at Sim, then followed the luscious lady and his future into his office.
“Pierce! Get your ass back here!” Sim boomed.
The moment the door closed and locked, Pierce scooped Raven into his arms, embracing her as both of them tried to muffle the sounds of their laughter.
She looked up at him, shaking her head in disbelief. “I don’t know why I did that.”
“Instinct. Damn good one, too.”
“You’ll tell me what that was all about, won’t you?”
Pierce stroked his fingers across her face. “Yes, but not right now, okay?”
She nodded. He went to the mini bar, poured himself a brandy, then offered Raven a glass of Warrington Lake pear wine before taking the space next to her on the sofa.
“How did you know that this is one of my favorites?”
Pierce smiled and winked at her over the rim of his glass. The man had done his homework. The smooth, award-winning creation was not even on the open market since Marv Hieppas made the wine purely for the love of it, and not for commercial use.
“Does he always flirt with the women you want?”
“Unfortunately.” He didn’t add much more than that, but her puzzled expression let him know that she would bring it up again if he didn’t elaborate. “It keeps things honest. Women who want him as a main course, usually skip me as an appetizer.”
“I thought you were close. Buddies, even.”
He set his glass down on the table next to them. “We were close once, but time and money has a way of changing people.”
“But you all started this company together, right? I thought he was your boy.”
How to answer that one? It was more complex than a yes or no answer could provide. “At one time he was. Sim was my college roommate at Howard University. Our friends partied and blew off classes while getting high, but Sim and I spent our nights planning ways to take the music industry by storm. He had the money—although I probably should’ve questioned the source.” Pierce took her hand in his. “I had the marketing and music background—that’s where I felt comfortable.
“First, we landed internships at a major label, then took what we learned and went out on our own. We did pretty damn good, too.” Pierce grinned fondly at the memories, then went on to give her a brief overview of what had transpired between them, leading up to the unfortunate newsworthy incidents of the past few months. “At this point, I’ve been thinking about doing things a little differently.”
Raven didn’t tear her gaze from him. She loved that he had been so open with her. “What do you mean…differently?”
“I want to do movie soundtracks and some independent productions under a company of my own—with no involvement with MEG or Simeon Cahill whatsoever. But first, I want to be in a position to take on all the people I hired here at MEG, because I know the moment I leave under any circumstances—by choice or force—their jobs are in jeopardy.”
“Sounds like a really difficult place to be.”
“You have no idea.” He stroked a finger across her hands. “But I expressed my true plans and what’s going with MEG to your agent, and it’s the only reason she agreed to bring you here to get things moving.” His gaze fixed on hers. “I want to be involved in a company that’s built on integrity and fairness—qualities that will allow it to grow strong and persevere. I want to create things people can believe in. I want to be around people I can believe in. And I want a woman who understands that—a woman I can believe in, too.” He gently kissed her again before he pulled back. “Raven, this isn’t a game to me. I don’t want you to think that. It’s all about firm foundations and things that have a lasting effect—like your books and good music. I think the two of us together could be something powerful. You feel me?”
Raven could only nod. Then she did something that surprised even herself. She reached for him, pressing her body to his as she brushed soft lips across his neck, then up to his cheeks, ending at his mouth, eliciting a groan from him that echoed in the office.
“Tell me, Raven, why did you leave that night?”
She pulled away, scanned the length of the office before reaching for her glass and taking a sip. “I was wondering when you’d get around to asking again.” She moistened her lips. “I’m not sure I have an answer that would sit well with you or me.”
“I take you for a straight shooter,” Pierce said in a low voice. “Just tell the truth.”
“I intend to,” she replied, crossing her legs. “But I’m not sure what that is.”
Pierce focused on her face and lips. He would not look down at her thighs, which certainly spelled trouble. God, the woman was sexy! “Okay, then,” he conceded, seeing her frown. “Speculation would work for me.”
She was looking around the room as though searching for an answer when her gaze fell upon the silver framed photo on his desk. Pierce slipped out of the space next to her, plucked it from the desk, and placed it in her hands.
“Yes.”
Her index finger traced the outline of his mother’s face, exactly the way Pierce had done earlier that morning. Again he felt the stab of pain deep in his heart. “They looked very happy.”
“They were before a drunk driver took them away.” He removed the picture from her hands, and placed it back in its permanent spot on his desk, then took his place by her side.
She still couldn’t make eye contact as she struggled to find an answer.
“You’re stalling, Raven,” he whispered.
Her eyebrows were still drawn in, she remained silent.
Pierce sipped his drink, the liquid trailing a fiery path down his throat. Being near her trailed a fiery path to his heart—and other places as well. She seemed suddenly vulnerable and uncertain. Some instinct within him wanted to hold her close, to calm whatever was going on behind her expressive eyes.
She said carefully, “I was…afraid?”
“That sounds more like a question.”
Raven bit her bottom lip and paused. “I was afraid of what I felt, of what I wanted in such a short amount of time. It hit so hard and so fast. I’m not a one-night-stand kind of woman.”
“I didn’t think you were.”
“But you suggested…” she blinked, flustered. “But you expected—”
“I never make love to a woman before she’s ready.” He hoped the intensity of his words—and the steady look capturing hers—made his meaning very clear.
“I wasn’t sure if I was ready or not…” She stared blankly out toward the sun.
Pierce extended his hand, then walked her over to the window. They soon stood side-by-side, watching the ever-increasing traffic build into the afternoon rush.
“I misjudged you,” she said simply, quietly.
“Yes.”
“I apologize.”
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