by King, Imani
“I tried, Daddy. I’ll get taller. Promise.”
“I know you will, sweetcake.” He took my hand. “How about dancing with someone with your own size?”
“Um, okay,” I said, sounding innocent enough. He took me to the center of the room.
To say I was nervous was an understatement. It wasn’t just the whole stripper thing. I wasn’t going to jump on the mast of the bed and flash some seductive pose or anything like that.
No, it was just the way he was looking at me. The way he was touching me, taking my hand, leading me around.
I knew he wanted me. In a perfect world, I would have wanted him right back.
We started to dance around the room, trying to do some sort of waltz.
Miles had taken notice of the silence. “Ashley, would you provide us with some music please?”
I wondered what he meant, and I had to suddenly burst out laughing when Ashley began to go doo-doo-doo in some rhythmic fashion, I guess trying to copy some fancy dance music she saw in a movie somewhere.
It was the least romantic song I had ever danced to, exotic or otherwise.
Yet I couldn’t help being captivated by Miles as he led me around the room. He was clearly more of a veteran in this sort of dance. It was sort of expected when you had the sort of money he did. Me? I guess I actually danced like this at a friend’s quincinera years ago.
His arms wrapped around me. He wasn’t going to do anything sexual, no, not in front of Ashley. He wasn’t that crass. He was the opposite—pure class. I could barely look him in the eye. Why was I even entertaining the thought? I didn’t deserve a guy like him, no matter how much I wanted him.
I couldn’t escape the thoughts. Even as we innocently danced, he avoided any sensual touching, I thought about him cupping my ass, pulling me close. How I wanted to feel his hardness rub against me.
Of course, again, it just reminded me that at the end of the day, what kind of girl I truly was.
His eyes though. The way he looked at me. I knew that he wanted me. God, I’d seen that look on guys before. It was pretty much my job. Yet the look he was giving me, it was far beyond some drunk in a bar. It was desire. Passion.
Was he thinking the same awful dirty things I was?
Chapter 9
Miles
My sweetcake had one hell of a day. I only got her for half the week, and I guess I felt the need to make every day worth it, even if Vivian insisted on trying to keep me away as much as possible.
Destiny was more than picking up my slack though.
As I danced with her, my mind was rushing with desire for her. Not just as a sexual being, no. Although yes, I was very much intrigued by that, and couldn’t keep that out of my head.
That shirt she was wearing though, I could do without. What the hell was Vivian thinking when she bought that?
I wanted to take her on that bed right now. Ravish her. Seduce her. Just do... endless things to her. It was all instinct, primal need.
Yet I was a man, a father, and I could restrain myself. Our dancing, whatever it was, was entertaining Ashley.
Damn, she was so good to her. I wasn’t of the opinion that a child absolutely needed two parents to thrive, no. Two, though, did do wonders. It helped in raising a child, making sure they were loved. As long as one of those two wasn’t Vivian.
As I pranced about with her, I realized she was everything Vivian wasn’t. So in turn, she was everything I wanted.
I knew it was absurd. She was right, of course, I barely knew her. I couldn’t tell you her birthday, her favorite foods, hobbies, or whatever else. I figured I would learn those in time.
What I did know was that she was sexy. She was sweet. She was kind. She was giving. She was someone I truly did want Ashley to become.
Well, the sexy thing is up to her, I supposed, but all the other traits I definitely wanted in my daughter.
She needed a role model. She would naturally look to a woman to emulate. I had to intervene so I wasn’t raising Vivian 2.0.
Right in front of me was a beautiful woman, awkwardly trying to hide her own attraction for me. I needed a fiancée for the custody case, but more and more, I found that I desired the real thing, damn everything else.
My daughter continued her little beat-box-esque musical number, only stopping to yawn. I knew she was winding down.
I stopped our dance. “Ashley, I think its time for a nap.”
She nodded.
“Alright then, we’ll...”
I took her in my arms and laid her down on the bed. She turned to her side and shut her eyes and, just like that, she was out like a light.
“I wish I could fall asleep that easily,” Destiny said.
“Don’t we all.” I held Destiny’s hand and pulled her toward the door. “Let’s give her some quiet.”
“Right.”
I led her out of the room, and softly closed the door behind us. We started down the hallway as our conversation continued. “You’re a saint for doing this stuff with her.”
“I’m hardly a saint.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.” I said with a sly grin.
“We’re supposed to be keeping things professional, you know? We still barely know each other. I’m surprised you trust me so much with your daughter already.”
“Call it a father’s intuition.”
“I thought women had the intuition.”
“Vivian clearly doesn’t have any, so I guess fate decided I get it instead.”
“I’ve known plenty of women with bad intuition, so I guess there’s lots of extra floating around for the taking.”
“Clearly you know how it is, Destiny. You have plenty of it yourself.”
She stopped and looked me in the eye. “How what is?”
“When you get a feeling about someone. Desire, passion, need. It boils over to other things. You wonder why you feel this way, and you figure there has to be a reason why you feel this way.”
Closing her eyes, taking a breath. “I don’t trust those feelings when I have them. I think that leads to confusing lust and love too easily.”
“Well, how do you tell them apart?”
“I can’t really think of a way beyond seeing more of that person and finding out. All those feelings are – are just feelings. They’re an inkling that there might be something for you with that person.”
“Hmm,” I rubbed my chin.
“If I trusted my impulses and instincts, I mean, I wouldn’t do much besides eat Ben & Jerry’s and lay in bed all day.” She tried to turn away from me, desperately desiring to change the subject.
Me, though?
I said I was a man. I meant that. A man can control himself, yes, but he is still human.
He can only go so long without letting it boil over.
“Destiny,” I began, she tipped up her chin.
She was so damned close to me. Our lips were inches apart. If I were to take her, would I be able to stop myself?
I could see her freezing in place. I wasn’t just egotistical. I could tell her desires for me were strong as well. I could see her reluctance, what with me paying her so much.
She stepped back. “I think Ashley had the right idea. I’m a bit tired myself. I’m sure there’s still plenty for me to be ready when that girl wakes up fully charged and insatiable.”
“Yeah, that sounds like Ashley.”
I watched Destiny walk past me. I watched her rear shift with her steps, and wondered how much longer would I be able to resist her?
Chapter 10
Destiny
If there was one thing Miles was most definitely right about, it was that I wasn’t the most thorough of cleaners.
I figured I should work on that.
Short shorts, sneakers, and a tank top, I was ready to get down and dirty and actually do my job properly. Since I was being so radically overpaid, I should at least try. Put some elbow grease into it, as they said.
Heading into the bathroom, I filled a
bucket with hot water and what I thought was some sort of floor cleaner. During my cooking adventure, in my clumsiness, I had busted an egg or two on the floor. Now there were random greasy spots on the hardwood.
Work ethic wasn’t the only reason I was so driven. If I could keep my mind set on the job at hand, I could forget last night. Forget Miles, and how close we came to doing something that inevitably both of us would regret. My dreams were full of the guy to boot, so even sleeping was hardly a break from him. If I thought of mops and scrub brushes, I wouldn’t be thinking of what was underneath that shirt, what he was hiding in those pants, and how I wanted to scrub those clean. Except in a sensual way.
I couldn’t even think of cleaning without making it kinky. How on earth could I communicate that I’m too depraved a woman for a sweet single dad like him?
When I came back to the kitchen, Miles was already there, jeans and t-shirt, on his hands and knees scrubbing out the stains.
He stood up. “Good Morning Destiny.”
“What are you doing?”
“Good Morning Miles,” he said in a falsetto voice. “How are you this morning?”
“I”m serious? What the hell are you doing on the floor?”
“I’m cleaning up the kitchen. You baked some fine cookies, so it’s only fair I clean up.”
“You’re the one who hired me as a maid.”
“I did.” He shrugged. “Then I fired you as a maid.”
“What, my job means that I sit around looking pretty then?”
“You’re really quite good at that, so I wouldn’t mind.”
I let out a frustrated grunt, and leaned into him. “Listen, for what you’re paying me, you have to let me have a stone’s throw at earning my fair share. Let me do the cleaning.”
“I hired you to be my fiancée. That means, for all intents and purposes, we should act like we’re going to get married. And that means we should behave like we’re going to split our household chores like a couple.”
“I thought cooking and cleaning was woman’s work,” I said, crossing my arms.
“I’m a modern man, I think it’s my role to help around the house.” Every word he said came out of his mouth torqued into a cocky grin. He enjoyed doing all this. Making me flustered was his idea of a good time, I supposed.
That cocky grin. I wanted to slap it clean off his face, but at the same time I wanted to makes those lips close and make the almost kiss moment we had yesterday turn into an outright reality.
“Besides, if I let you do all the cleaning, you won’t have time to settle down and help me plan our big announcement party.”
I blinked and then glared at him. “Wait, what? We’re having a party to announce our engagement?”
“We’re engaged. Letting the world know is the next part.”
“I thought this was only for a week. For appearances. For your custody case.”
“Well it looks awfully contrived if I show up and say I’m about to suddenly be married, so they shouldn’t worry about it. If we’re going to spin out into a sudden hurricane of love, Destiny, we can’t cut corners.”
I just kept staring at him in disbelief. I started to fear that goofy expression was going to become a permanent facial feature, based on the rate he continued to amaze me. “So wait, this isn’t just an engagement, there’s going to be a fancy party?”
He nodded.
“With people?”
More nodding.
“Who will see me walking around arm and arm with you? In public?
“Uh huh.”
“You didn’t pitch it like that, you didn’t pitch it like that at all, Miles.”
“What did you expect an engagement to be?”
“That I would just go into the courtroom, act lovey-dovey with you, and that would be enough.”
“Courts want evidence, Destiny. A party that will get some media attention will provide plenty of it, and prove that it’s more than just a crazy stunt.”
“But it is a crazy stunt!”
“Them not knowing that is the point.”
Again, just disbelief.
“I trust you’ll invite your family? I was going to bring them in as a surprise, but I struggled to find a relative of Destiny Brooke on Facebook.”
I grinned nervously. “My family is very private. They distrust computers and think the internet is going to going to steal their credit cards.”
He shrugged. “Logical enough fear. I’ll find some other way to surprise you, but if you could get me phone numbers and addresses, that’d be great.”
“Do we really need to bring them in?”
He placed his hands on my shoulders. “We have to make it real, Destiny. That’s why we are going to all this trouble. A quickie would be too convenient. We gotta go all out. We have to show I’m head over heels in love with you, and I want the world to know.”
I took some deep breaths. It was still within the price range he offered me, so I had no worries about that. I just hadn’t considered that it would be so public, with media coverage and all. Not to mention there would be a permanent record of our engagement.
It seemed so innocent but I know if I got that close, it would inevitably lead to more. “What next, do we announce a wedding date or something?”
“That would be the next step. Nothing says the wedding has to go along as planned if you don’t desire it to.”
If I desire? Man this guy had some brass balls.
“After I win Ashley and free her from Vivian, we can say the high of love wore off, and we came to our senses. We continue on like nothing happened.”
“You’re a mad man, you know that, right?”
“Never said I wasn’t.” He tossed the sponge on the table. “The floor is clean enough for now. I’ll get around to hiring a real maid soon enough, but for now, we have a party to plan, Destiny. When we get that done, maybe we should create a wedding plan too. Put a honeymoon on top of it to really sell it.”
“This seems a little excessive for a fake engagement.”
“It’s the big picture, Destiny. I’ve already invited all the Corbetts, all of my family. Corbett Crossing will be booked. Never hurts to include a little star power.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Hold up, THE Corbett Crossing?”
“Yes?”
“Like, the Southern rock band?”
“Yes? They’re my brothers. You didn’t know?”
“Corbett is a common enough last name. I don’t assume if I meet someone named McCartney that they’re automatically related to the Beatles guy.”
“Well in this case, I’m part of that Corbett clan. We get around, and it just seems natural to call them in for this gig.”
How did I not know this? It would only have taken a moment of research to know this. “Are you some sort of musician?”
“No, talent isn’t genetic. Except maybe some advantages in sports for some people.” He scratched his head. “Not important. What’s important is that they’re the talented ones, and they’ll play our party, and hell, even our wedding if we want them to.”
Our engagement. After that, we were planning a wedding. It felt so weird. This was quickly spiraling out of control. I mean, doing basically an acting gig and playing his squeeze in a court room was one thing. All this, though? It was something else entirely.
His heart was in the right place. More than anything I wanted him to be happy, and for that to happen, Ashley had to be happy. That meant, sure as hell, she must never fall into sole custody of Vivian, the demon who birthed her.
“Are you okay?” Miles asked, a hand on my shoulder again. “You look sick. You definitely shouldn’t be busting your ass cleaning if you’re about to hurl.”
“This is all just way too much. I’m not your real fiancée, Miles. I’m just woman who tried to get hired as your maid. Can we say I’m a really private person? Maybe I’m super religious. Like Amish or something, and I don’t want to come off as egotistical?” Because I needed another lie on top of all
my other lies. What would make me, a black Amish woman in Wyoming? They weren’t even good lies at this point.
“Is it so wrong that I want things to be special?”
I looked dead straight into his eyes, and spoke clearly. “I’m not your real fiancée. I’m a fake. I’m not any of this.” My fists were balling up. I couldn’t believe that I was actually getting angry that he cared so much.
He took some deep breaths. There was a long pause. As though we were both looking for the right words to make sense of all this.
As for me, I was holding back the truth, because that truth scared me. I had to wonder if it scared him too.
“Everything needs to seem real. Really real. I can’t leave anything to chance, Destiny.”
“Well it’s starting to feel like it’s really real, okay? Like, actually engaged real. Actually getting married real.”
“How real is it for you, then?”
“How real is it for you, is what I want to ask.”
We were locked eye to eye, as if we were in some sort of standoff. And I suppose we were. The words were right on the tip of my tongue, and yet I couldn’t bring myself to say them.
His lips parted.
He’s going to say it, I thought. He’s going to speak the words I can’t bring myself to speak. And then, everything is going to change.
Except Miles Corbett said nothing. Maybe that shouldn’t have been surprising. He wasn’t the kind of man who wasted time with words. When something needed to be done, he just did it. He didn’t need to be asked. That was just the kind of man he was. A man of action. Who took what he wanted and took care of the things he cherished.
And he was looking at me not just with need…but like I was something special. Something irreplaceable. Something he’d spent his entire life looking for.
He raised his hand to my cheek. Warm, calloused hands on my smooth skin. My eyelids fluttered. The walls I built crumbled.
But he wasn’t done yet. Not even close. Because he didn’t just want to watch me unravel in his arms, he wanted to put me back together again.
His hand curled along the back of my head and his other seized my hips. His touch confident and strong. I was breathless, felt weightless, as he pulled me into his hard, muscular body. Adrenaline coursed through my body as I felt for the first time his magnificent length through his jeans.