Their touch caused an instant electric static, which made her jump, and she fell back against her desk, laughing nervously.
“This is getting to be a habit,” he said as he steadied her.
“I’m fine. Sometimes I can be a bit clumsy. Thank you,” she answered, embarrassed.
For a while there she’d been professional and had her act together…and then she’d had to blow it and fall all over the man. He probably thought she was a basket case, despite his avowal that he saw her as a professional.
“Please…I’m fine,” she insisted when it didn’t look as though he was going to let her go. “I just tripped again,” she grimaced as she looked up.
With her usual nervous gesture, her tongue snaked out and wet her lips, as she returned his stare, unable to look away. One of his hands moved from her shoulder to gently run the rough pad of his thumb over her chin.
“I think I may have misjudged you, Miss Cain. I’m sorry.”
She knew he wanted to kiss her and her body tensed; her mouth grew dry as he stared at her mouth when she spoke. Candy didn’t look away. She couldn’t.
Even as his head descended, one hand lightly cupping her cheek as the other rested on her hip, she still couldn’t…wouldn’t move away.
Her heart thudded against her breasts, as his lips met hers, soft but firm.
His hand remained on the side of her cheek. One callused thumb caressed the corner of her mouth while he brushed his lips against hers softly. When his tongue snaked out and licked the seam of her lips, Candy released a small groan.
Back and forth he ran his tongue along the length of her lips. When her senses cataloged the sensation, it was gone, forcing her to lean closer, in an attempt to capture his elusive caresses.
He dragged her tight against his body, her body slamming against his. He stopped the light teasing and drew her fuller bottom lip between his teeth. He tugged it completely into his mouth. The kiss deepened and Candy’s body melted into his.
Her breasts tingled and her nipples hardened, pressed so tightly against the hard wall of his chest. They tightened even more as her mound crushed against his hard, thick cock, straining against his rough-feeling jeans.
He deepened the kiss by plunging his hot tongue into the warm, wet recesses of her mouth, searching for hers. When the two connected in a hot, sensual tangle she heard Davis groan harshly.
The hand resting on her hip eased down, traveled lower, and cupped her ass. He forced her warm juncture in tight alignment with his dick. She felt the cream ease from her pussy and saturate the lining of her panties.
Candy moaned when he rained biting kisses down the side of her neck.
His hand remained on her ass, while the other cupped the nape of her neck, slanting her head, angling her for better access to her lips.
With a harsh-sounding grunt, he shoved her against the wall, crushing her between the hard plaster and his unyielding frame.
Releasing her neck, he pulled her hips against his groin and ground his cock against her.
“Damn, you taste good!” He released his suction hold on her mouth long enough to grunt out the words.
“Don’t stop,” Candy begged, her breath coming out in gasps. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him back down toward her aching mouth.
With a gruff laugh he obeyed and captured her mouth, again. He ate, nibbled, suckled and devoured her lips while bumping his thick cock against her mound. She frantically clutched at his wide shoulders, crying and whimpering against his lips, grinding herself against the thick ridge behind his jeans.
He shoved her top up. Cupping her warm breasts in his palms, he thumbed and toyed with her stiffened nipples in perfect orchestration, until she broke.
His mouth swallowed her mewling cry of release, the orgasm sudden and fierce in its intensity.
When she came back to awareness, it was to feel his cool, peppermint breath against her forehead, before he moved away and rested his forehead against hers.
For long moments they stayed in that position, until her heartbeat gradually calmed.
Candy brought her arms down from their position around his neck, and allowed them to rest between them.
Her arms and legs felt like wet noodles, they trembled so. She’d have fallen straight on her butt if he hadn’t held on to her.
Davis pulled away from her, his breathing harsh and loud as he looked down into her face.
“God! I’m so sorry,” his voice broke. He cleared his throat before continuing. “I didn’t mean for that to happen.”
“Please, don’t—” Candy was interrupted by a loud knock on the door.
They barely had time to spring apart when the door was flung open, and Pauline Rogers, a.k.a. Sister Pauline, waltzed into the office like she owned it.
They had only a few seconds to adjust their clothing between the time she knocked and when she walked in.
“Time for your session with the girls, Miz Candy!”
Candy turned frantic eyes toward the clock on the wall. Time had flown by. She had less than five minutes for her session with her girls.
Candy felt the heat flush her skin when the older woman turned her scrutinizing eyes toward the two of them.
It would have to be Sister Pauline to walk in and catch them going at each other like two dogs in heat, Candy thought with an inward groan.
As soon as Pauline had burst in, Davis had shoved her behind him, shielding her from the older woman’s eyes, while tugging his T-shirt down, lower, over his jeans.
Before she stepped around Davis, Candy peeked around his big body and saw the telling wet spot smack in the middle of his zipper.
She straightened her back, and looked at Pauline, plastering what she hoped was a nonchalant I haven’t been dry-humping a parent in my office, and having the best orgasm I’ve had in a long time look on her face.
“Uh, well, yes, Sister Pauline. I, uh, I’ll be out there as soon as I can.”
Her hopes were dashed when she noticed the sly look on Pauline’s face.
Candy glanced up at Davis and saw a matching flush steal across his lean cheeks.
Pauline peered over the top of the bifocals set low on her wide nose at them, adjusting the curly gray wig on her head as though it was a hat.
Candy bit the insides of her cheek to force herself not to squirm under the older woman’s penetrating stare.
“Umm-hmm,” Pauline hummed when no one said anything.
“Would you mind getting the session started for me? I need to conclude my, uh, meeting with Mr. Strong,” Candy asked as she tried, unobtrusively, to pull her top back down and tuck it into the waistband of her jeans.
Maybe asking her to start the session would throw Sister Pauline off the scent and the woman wouldn’t say anything guaranteed to embarrass her and Davis.
When the other woman’s ample bosom puffed out in pride at the request, Candy released a sigh of relief. She’d sidetracked her for the moment.
“Don’t worry about it. Sister Pauline got this, baby! Now you finish up in here and get down to session as soon as you can, you hear?” She immediately focused her stare on Davis. “Aren’t you that Angelica’s daddy?”
“Yes ma’am. Angelica is my daughter,” he said in a respectful tone, no doubt taking his cue from the way Candy spoke to the woman.
“Hmm. She a little hellion, that one. You might want to have Miss Thang hang around Miz Candy. Miz Candy is a good woman. She can teach your little bad as—behind,”—she caught herself when Candy coughed—“chile some manners.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m in total agreement.”
Pauline narrowed her eyes even more when he docilely agreed. Candy gave him major kudos for not squirming under the old woman’s piercing stare.
With a satisfied look she nodded her head.
“I’ll get the girls rounded up ready for you, Miz Candy. But don’t be too long finishing up here.”
Pauline popped her tongue against the roof of her mouth and
gave Candy the look. Whenever Pauline did that, Candy felt like one of the young girls she mentored, all of ten years old.
“You might want to lock the door if you plan on having any more in-depth meetings. Understand?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Candy and Davis replied in unison.
Pauline withdrew the whistle she kept buried deeply in her bosom, and left the room, firmly closing the door behind her.
Seconds later they heard the shrill whistle and Sister Pauline’s booming voice. “Time for session! Don’t make me have to find y’all! You don’t want me to come and hunt your little narrow behinds down, trust Sister Pauline on that! If you’re in this session, saddle up, it’s time to roll!” Her heavy footsteps faded away as she stomped down the hallway.
“Who was that?” Davis’ voice was hushed as though he was afraid Pauline would overhear him and return.
“Um…that’s Mrs. Rogers, she’s my assistant.”
“Your assistant?” His deep voice held a discernible squeak. “Didn’t you call her Sister Pauline? Is she a nun?” he asked, horror in his voice, forcing a laugh from Candy despite the tension in the air.
“No. We all grew up calling her that. She’s one of the mattrons at the local church. It’s a sign of respect to call her Sister,” she explained. “Sometimes she’s a little gruff, has a tendency to quote biblical passages in one breath and well, say a mild curse word—or two—in the next. But she has a heart of gold.” Candy straightened her clothes and moved toward her desk, gathering what she needed for the session.
There was a strained moment before Davis spoke again.
“Look, I don’t know what came over me. I didn’t plan for that to happen,” he said, running his hands through his hair. “I’m sorry—”
“Please, don’t.” Candy held up a hand, forestalling him from continuing.
She didn’t know what to think, much less what to say, in reaction to what had just happened between the two of them. What she didn’t want was for him to apologize.
To tell her it was something he regretted wasn’t what she wanted to hear.
“I wasn’t exactly pushing you away.” She straightened her back and looked him in the face.
Davis’s eyes blazed before his expression shut down.
“I don’t know what came over me. I’m sorry that happened. It won’t happen again. I’d better go,” was his stiff reply.
His next words banished any desire she had for him to pick up where they left off before Pauline’s interruption.
“In case you get busy or lose track of time, I’ll have my secretary call you.”
Without waiting for a reply, he turned and left her office, closing the door quietly behind him.
Candy didn’t know whether to laugh, cry or throw something at her closed door.
Damn.
Just like that, he’d brought back to mind why one minute she wanted to jump his bones and strip off her clothes, and the next she wanted to hurt him. Badly.
After the intimacy of what they shared, she didn’t know what she expected to happen.
That odd exchange had not been it.
One minute he ran hot for her, giving her what she’d been dreaming of for longer than she wanted to admit, and the next, he insulted her by suggesting she was so feeble-minded she’d forget something that was so important.
They both were a crazy mess of contradictions, she thought, and gathered her things, preparing for the session with her girls.
Her mind was a chaotic jumble. Angrily, Candy threw her notebook into her bag, tossed it over her shoulder and left her office.
5
“H ey Davis, I just got the specs back on the Henson project. Everything looks good. We have the approvals we need and should be able to start on schedule.”
Davis glanced away from his computer monitor and removed his glasses when his project manager entered his office.
“That’s great, Rod. What about the men? You have your team assembled for this project?”
Rodney was his right hand man. They’d been friends since their freshman year in college, both majoring in architecture. When he’d needed a project manager, Rodney was the first one he’d asked, and Rodney had gladly accepted the position.
Rodney had been at Strong Construction nearly as long as Davis had, and was as invaluable to Davis as Milly was. Or as Milly had been, before she’d taken a hiatus from the company.
“Yeah, I have a strong crew for this one. I was thinking of using Griffins as the foreman for this job.”
“He did a damn good job on the school expansion project last summer, but that was a small job. You think he’ll be able to handle one this size?”
“Yeah, it’s a bigger job, but I’m sure he can handle it. He’s a good man, and hell of a crew chief. The men look up to him. He’s ready for the next step.”
Davis nodded his head in agreement. He trusted Rodney completely and knew he had his finger on the pulse of the men who they employed to work the sites.
“What about the crew?”
“There’s Rosalina Cruz, the new worker we hired. I was thinking of putting her on this job. Her resume is tight.”
“Did you speak with her last foreman?”
Rodney ran a hand over his short dark hair and grimaced. “Well, the jury is still out on that one. Something about the man irritates the hell out of me…. I don’t trust his ass. He says Cruz had some problems adjusting to working with a crew that was mostly men.”
“What was the problem?”
“That was it. He couldn’t say what it was, just alluded to a bunch of shit. I don’t buy it. She’s been working construction for over five years and has a solid resume; previous employer never said anything about her having problems with her crew. I’m going to go on my instincts and give her a shot.”
“I trust you can handle this, Rodney. I have enough on my plate without dealing with another defiant female,” he murmured.
Davis massaged his temples. He glanced over his console, his attention divided between the spreadsheet he’d been creating, the upcoming construction project and Angelica. And Candy.
“Milly giving you problems?” Rodney settled his large frame in one of the oversized leather chairs facing Davis.
“Milly? My sister? Why would you think it’s Milly giving me grief?” he asked curiously.
Rodney looked uncomfortable. Had Davis not known him better he’d have sworn he saw a faint blush across his friend’s dark brown skin.
“Or did you mean Aunt Mildred?” Davis took pity on his friend and gave him an out.
“No, actually I meant Milly,” he said and Davis was even further surprised. “I just thought with her taking a break from the business and all, you two may be having problems.”
“No, Mil and I are fine. I may not have understood her reasons, but I didn’t have a problem with her taking a break. It was hard on Angel when she left town. I’m glad she’s back home,” he finished.
Milly had not only taken a hiatus from Davis Construction, she’d also left Stanton for six months to stay with a college friend in New York. Davis had felt the impact of her leaving the business, although they’d hired an assistant to help in the interim.
“I was even happier when she told me she’s coming back to work soon.”
“She is? When? No one told me.” Rodney’s dark eyes widened and the look on his face was so comical Davis wanted to laugh.
“She mentioned it to me last week. I didn’t think to tell you about it. She wasn’t sure she was coming back, for sure. Besides, you have Letty to help you, isn’t she working out?” Davis mentioned the new admin assistant they’d hired.
Milly was not only a partner in the firm with Davis, but she’d occasionally worked alongside Rodney on various projects, aiding him in coordinating the jobs as well as choosing the crew.
When she’d decided to leave Davis had made the decision to hire Rodney his own assistant to help ease his workload.
“Letty is doing fine. She’s
no Milly, but who is?” he asked and he and Davis shared a laugh.
Milly, although she didn’t have their aunt’s ballsy, dominant demeanor, was a force to be reckoned with whenever she was on a project.
She rarely went to the actual sites, as their aunt had, claiming she preferred to work behind the scenes. Yet, she made sure projects ran smoothly and jobs were completed on time.
Davis worried about her, whenever she would go on the sites. As a child, Milly had been in the same accident that had killed their parents. Milly had survived, but the injuries to her legs had been severe. So much so, the doctors thought she would never walk again.
Several operations later, and with the gritty determination she’d inherited from their aunt, Milly had regained the use of her legs, although she required a cane.
“How’s Milly doing, anyway?” Rodney asked, nonchalantly. Davis picked up on the undercurrent lying beneath the casual query.
Davis thought back over his conversation with Milly the previous week, when they’d been discussing Angelica’s truancy. He remembered Milly had the same tense undercurrents in her voice when Rodney’s name had come up in the conversation.
He’d been so wrapped up in worry over Angel he hadn’t dwelled on it.
“Mil’s fine. Angel has been spending time with her since she returned,” he replied just as casually.
“Good to hear.” Rodney nodded. “So, if the problem isn’t with Milly, it must be Angelica.” Rodney changed the subject.
“Yeah, it’s Angel. She skipped school.”
“Again?”
“Again,” Davis nodded his head in agreement. “This time they’ve requested a parent meeting between me and the whole damn interdisciplinary team,” he said and ran his hand through his hair in frustration.
“Interdisciplinary?”
Rodney was unmarried, and he had no children. Therefore he had no need to know about things like interdisciplinary teams.
Davis felt a pang of jealousy.
“It’s a meeting with her teacher, school counselor and principal.”
“I don’t suppose this was Anita Watson’s idea, was it?”
Just Like Candy Page 5