Silver Screen Romance

by Altonya Washington

  Kale reciprocated the nod while taking inventory of the woman. Deftly, he assessed the features he hadn’t been able to fully appreciate during his study of the file his lawyer had provided him the night before.

  His warm, appealing stare was fixed on every move she made from dragging her short hair back from her face to fingering the thick black plastic band of the headset she held. He didn’t know how long she’d been calling to him before he realized he’d been all but drinking her in with his gaze.

  “Sorry about that.” Quietly, Kale cleared his throat and gave a quick shake of his head before meeting her eyes once more. “Would you mind repeating that?”

  “Would you like to go to my office?” Davia asked obligingly, her tone just as quiet.

  Kale hesitated before answering. Of course, going to her office was the logical move. They needed to talk, but to hell with him believing he’d be able to focus on a damn thing alone in a room with her. A silent, stony voice interrupted his thoughts to remind him that she hated his guts.

  Kale nodded, the gesture accompanied by a fluid smile. “That sounds good.”

  “Davia? Your assistant’s not at her desk,” Leslie pointed out, her blue eyes bright with interest. “Is there anything I could get for Mr. Asante?” A few beats passed and then she shook her head. “And for you, too, Davia.”

  “I’m fine.” Davia arched a brow in Kale’s direction. “Mr. Asante?”

  Kale sent an adoring smile toward the receptionist. “I’m good, Leslie, but thank you.”

  “Yeah, thank you, Leslie.” Davia spared the woman a knowing look and wondered if Kale Asante could sense how very much her receptionist wanted to see to his needs.

  “If you change your mind, I’ve got a bar in my office,” Davia said as she led the way.

  “Uh, thank you.” Kale blinked away from where his gaze had drifted. He was pleased he’d managed the response before Davia Sands grew suspicious of his silence and turned to find that he was more focused on the way she moved beneath her clothes than on her offer for a drink.

  Davia didn’t seem any the wiser and was showing Kale into her office suite a few moments later. The room had the remarkable ability to pull his eyes away from his hostess’s beckoning figure. He summoned a whistle while surveying the vast space of the corner digs and all it held. All the comforts of home.

  “Tell me you don’t sleep here.” His rich voice held the distinct chord of wonder.

  “All right.” Davia allowed her quiet to do the talking. When Kale laughed, she joined in.

  “I put in a lot of long hours.” Her slight shrug sent a ripple through the fabric of the olive-green shirt dress that drew the eye to the stunning length of her legs. “After a while, it gets hard to focus, so it helps having my favorite things around to help me unwind.”

  “Favorite things, huh?” Kale smiled over the phrase while running the back of his hand along one lever of the elliptical machine he stood closest to.

  Davia proffered a knowing smile. “Necessary.”

  Kale had to bite his tongue before he found himself telling her she must spend a great deal of time on that which she found “necessary.” Her body, though willowy, appeared toned with subtle yet tempting curves. His palms heated with the desire to see if his eyes were in any way deceiving him. Upon first glance, he wagered she’d break if he held her firmly enough.

  Aside from the exercise equipment, the office boasted a cozy entertainment area. The spot was complete with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves filled to capacity with books and an array of DVDs and CDs. The overstuffed recliner in the far corner held a pillow and a fleece blanket and looked to be the perfect nook for a lengthy snooze.

  Davia Sands’s work digs were almost an exact replica of his own. Somehow, though, he didn’t think she would appreciate knowing they had anything more in common.

  “So...Mullins, Iowa,” he said.

  “Mullins, Iowa,” Davia repeated. “Have you ever been there?” she asked.

  “Not yet. I decided to drop in and meet you first.”

  “Why’s that?” Davia asked while heading to her desk where she set down the headset she’d used.

  “A few reasons.” Kale followed her across the room.

  Davia took a seat along the front edge of her white oak desk. Raising her hands, she silently encouraged him to continue.

  “I’ve been told that Mullins isn’t the sort of place that’d be suitable for one of my properties.” Kale eased a hand beneath his suit coat to slide it into a trouser pocket.

  Davia gave a cool smile. “Lavish, expansive, expensive,” she said.

  “My reputation precedes me, I see.” Kale steeled himself from grimacing. He’d immediately regretted his choice of words. He had hoped to save the discussion of his reputation—or rather, her perception of his reputation—for later.

  Davia didn’t appear on edge. Moreover, she seemed amused, as though enjoying a joke she wasn’t quite ready to share the punch line for.

  “Yes, Mr. Asante, your reputation has definitely preceded you.”

  Kale acknowledged her thinly veiled insinuation with a faint nod. “I came to see you, hoping we could’ve discussed plans for you to buy me out.”

  “Could have?”

  Kale nodded once more. That time he shared with Davia an approving smile. “You’re a thoughtful listener,” he commended.

  Davia tilted her head to acknowledge his accuracy. “It pays to hear what the other person is really trying to say. If people did more of that, maybe a lot of misunderstandings could be avoided.”

  “I’ll have to remember that.” Kale watched Davia as if he’d discovered some additional facet to her appearance that had him newly intrigued.

  Davia looked as though her interest had risen a notch, as well. “So you were coming to discuss plans to sell your part of the property but you’ve...changed your mind?”

  “I have.”

  “Something I said?”

  Davia’s thinly veiled insinuation was met with a grin that broadened as he spoke.

  “It is, actually.” Kale could see the wave of shock freeze her exquisite features.

  There was no going back now. The conversation he’d just as soon put off until...well, never, would soon be under way. Before that, he thought a little clarification of his earlier comment was in order.

  “It’s about what I overheard you say when you walked in earlier.”

  Davia drew into herself, attempting to rewind her thoughts.

  “You said you’d planned to be out of town for the next few days, maybe longer,” Kale supplied.

  “Yeah. That...that’s right.” Davia silently admitted she was stumped, having no clue where the conversation was headed.

  “May I assume you meant out of town in Mullins?”

  “You may.” Davia folded her arms over her chest. Her curiosity was through the roof.

  Kale lowered his head as if deeply focused on the unraveling of a mystery. “Is it also safe to assume that you’re not thinking about selling your part of the property?”

  “Well, I... No.” Davia blinked, once again stumped. “No, I don’t think I could sell it, Mr. Asante.”

  He shook his head. “Just Kale. Kale’s fine.” Actually, most everyone who knew him referred to him by his first initial but—and he would only admit it to himself—he very much wanted to hear her say his name.

  Davia obliged. “Kale. I just don’t think I could sell it.”

  The hint of a frown began to darken his dreamily crafted face. “Why? Did your lawyer say something that turned you against it?”

  Davia remained cool. “Well, no, it...it’s a gift. Or it was. A gift from my aunt—something she would’ve wanted me to have.” She left her perch on the desk and moved to the floor-to-ceiling windows that provided a
spectacular late-evening view of the Bay area.

  “I have my aunt to thank for my career.” Davia’s voice held a soft, faraway tone that hinted of some nostalgic air. “She could’ve done anything with that property had she known about it. That it’s come to me...that it belonged to her...that means something to me.”

  Kale had moved to the windows. He stroked his jaw, a contemplative look taking over his features. “Yeah... I see what you mean,” he murmured while he looked out over the evening skies, as well.

  Davia turned, resting her shoulder against one of the tall windows. She watched him, trying to decipher the path of his thoughts.

  Kale didn’t keep her in the dark for long. “Why do you think your aunt and my uncle left it to us? Why are we just finding out about it now?”

  Davia let a quiet sigh escape. The question was nothing new to her. “I asked my lawyer the same thing. She doesn’t think it was so much left to us as it was an asset that was somehow overlooked when the estates were settled after their deaths.” She stood back to fix him with a kind smile.

  “I don’t know how it went with your uncle, but my aunt never married, never had kids. Everything she had went to me. We, um, we were close like that.”

  “Same with me and my uncle.” Kale turned, putting his back against the window. “My mom’s got four brothers, but she and Uncle Bry—Bryant Leak was his name—were closest in age and he was the one I bonded the closest with.” He smiled, the nostalgic air having claimed him then, as well.

  “I got my love of the movies from my uncle.” Kale grinned, resting his head back on the window. His grin took on a heightened definition when he heard Davia laugh.

  “I’ve got my aunt to thank for that,” she said. “That’s why all my projects are theaters.”

  “Same here,” Kale concurred. “So what do you think caught their eye in Mullins, Iowa, that made them buy it?”

  Davia shrugged. “Did your uncle ever mention the place?” She strolled back to her desk, resting against the edge once more.

  “Not a peep.” Kale pushed off from the window. “I never heard of it before talking to my lawyer yesterday.”

  “Yeah, me, either.” Davia sighed. “I guess it’s worth it to at least go and see what’s out there. Then I can decide where to go from there.”

  “Well, just so you know, I don’t plan to fight over it—whatever it is. I mean to accept whatever offer you make me and I only plan to accept it from you.”

  Davia closed her mouth once she’d finally realized it was hanging open. Easing off the desk, she reclaimed the chair behind it. “Why would you do something like that?” she managed to ask after a lengthy pause. “From what I’ve heard, there’s some developer already interested in the area. You’re sure to get a pretty penny from selling to them. Why give me the option?”

  Kale claimed the spot Davia had abandoned along the edge of her desk. “A few reasons.”

  She laughed, swiveling her chair a bit. “You still haven’t shared all the reasons you came to see me.”

  “That’s right.” He gave a playful wince that simply intensified the dreamy appeal of his creamy, chocolate-doused features. “Like I said, I came to see you about selling the place.” His expression turned more serious and his eyes darkened. “I also came to see if you were as incredible to look at in person as you were in the file photo my lawyer gave to me.”

  Davia felt her heart make an unexpected and frantic shimmy into the back of her throat.

  “And...I came to talk to you about Martella Friedman.”

  Davia’s heart stumbled into a suddenly upset stomach. She sighed. “And just when we were getting along so well.”

  Chapter 3

  “So your generous offer is motivated by guilt.”

  “No.”

  Davia regarded him through narrowed eyes. “Then why are we discussing Martella Friedman?”

  “Because you’re misinformed about what went on there.”

  “I see... Misinformed that you seduced her business out from under her.”

  His laughter was brief yet full of genuine humor.

  “Very misinformed,” he insisted.

  Davia resented the feel of her mouth tightening but she couldn’t help it. “Kale, this all went down years ago, you know? Why offer an explanation about it now?”

  “We’ve never been business partners before.”

  “We aren’t business partners now.”

  He gave a slight nod. “Closest we’ve ever come.”

  “Not quite.” Davia left her chair and returned to stare out over her view again.

  “I was there the day her creditors came calling.”

  Davia rounded on him, her expression a mixture of amazement and suspicion. “I think you mean her predators.” The clarification sounded hard as stone.

  Kale seemed satisfied. “Looks like we’ve at least got a little information in common.”

  Davia turned to the windows again. She didn’t want to cry for her friend in front of this man—this stranger. “So, what happened? How is it you came to own Tella’s theater?”

  Kale smoothed his fist inside his palm. “I think you know I don’t own it now.”

  “But you did. Explain that.”

  Kale took a seat in Davia’s desk chair, appreciating the decadent peach suede encasing every inch of the furnishing. “I was there that day for inspiration for an annex I was building on one of my multiplexes. I was looking for something inviting, quaint... Martella’s theater had what I wanted...what I was hoping to recreate in my spot. That’s all. We weren’t in business, Davia.” He waited, hoping she would turn so that he could judge her expression. There, he hoped to find just a little understanding. When she didn’t turn, he continued.

  “I was on my way out for the day. I was in town for a few days and had planned to come back to make a few notes before I left for Miami. I went by her office to let her know that I was going and I overheard her inside with her...creditors. It didn’t take much to get the gist of what was up. The place wasn’t open yet for business. I guess they figured they’d caught her there alone.” He paused as the memory overtook him.

  “I was about to go in to break their legs before they could break hers—which was what they were threatening.”

  By then Davia had turned from the window. Her gaze was rapt with interest as she absorbed the story. “Did you think you could take them?” She tried to ease her jitters by teasing.

  Kale smirked a little. “Not before I got in the office.” He shrugged. “Then I was pretty sure I could, but I also heard her telling them she’d have all the money with interest by the following Monday. I heard the figure, went in there and made a big deal about the place being just what I wanted. Then I made an offer. Forty K over what she needed.”

  He leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees.

  “I pretended to be surprised when I noticed her friends,” he went on. “I told her I was ready to transfer money as soon as I saw the paperwork and such. Told her I’d be back with my people later in the week.” He smirked again, the gesture carrying lethal intent.

  “The garbage in there with her said it wouldn’t be necessary, that they were on their way out. They left and she broke down, told me everything. The gambling—how deep she was in and to how many people. I wound up padding a hundred K onto what she owed to the guys in her office.”

  While Kale talked, Davia sat in a chair in front of her desk. “But what happened? How—?”

  “I made the mistake of returning with one hundred and seventy-five thousand in cash.”

  Davia closed her eyes and hung her head. “Tella...” she whispered, lamenting her friend.

  “Even still, she wanted everything by the book. She would’ve refused the money otherwise. She didn’t want it to look like a hando
ut.” Kale shook his head. “I had the papers in hand the next day.” He left the desk chair. Fist clenched, he slowly paced the area behind it.

  “I was an idiot,” he said, his rich voice carrying across the room, “charging in there like that without bothering to think. I should’ve known when I heard how much she was in for that she had a serious problem. I should’ve anticipated that she’d—”

  “You couldn’t have anticipated that.” Davia scooted toward the edge of her chair. “She didn’t want help. Not the kind we were trying to give her. Not the help she really needed.” She slumped back then and pinched the bridge of her nose.

  “I’d been talking to her about selling the theater to me. She wouldn’t even consider taking my money outright when I offered—and it looked like she was even going to turn down my offer to buy it.” Davia let out a soft, cold laugh. “Had I made the kind of gesture you did—padding the offer like that—she probably wouldn’t have accepted that, either.”

  Kale’s fierce expression had softened as he’d listened. “Sometimes it’s easier to accept help from strangers than friends. How long have you guys been close?” He came over to take the empty chair beside her.

  “Since college.” Davia gave a shaky smile. “When I found out her family was in the theater business, my aunt went with me for a weekend visit.” She closed her eyes in appreciation of the memory. “Such an amazing place...”

  “Very amazing,” Kale said.

  “That weekend we saw Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” She smiled as she remembered.

  “Coppola’s?” Kale queried.

  She nodded. “This was several years after the movie originally premiered. Tella’s family was known for doing theme weekends. That weekend all the films were dedicated to the infamous Count and it rained the whole time. The theater had such a cozy old-world style. It was the perfect venue to screen a period piece like that, not to mention all the others we saw. It was a fun trip. My aunt had the best time getting to know Tella’s family and I had the best time getting to know Tella a little better.”