by Chanta Rand
“Thank you for calling Sweet Thang!” a cheerful voice announced.
Kendra figured it was the teen she’d seen in the pink shirt a few days ago. She wondered if the girl was always so chipper. Poor thing didn’t have the bitterness of failed past relationships to take the wind out of her sails. “This is Kendra Michaels with Escape Travel & Tours. May I speak with Carl?”
“Just one moment, Miss Michaels. I’ll get him.”
The next voice Kendra heard was Carl’s deep baritone. “Well, if it isn’t the lovely Kendra. I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon. What will it be? Dinner and a back rub? Or should we skip dinner and get straight to the rubbing?”
She laughed at his boldness. Carl thought he could get whatever he wanted simply because he’d sent some candy her way? The man had a lot to learn. “I called to thank you for the arrangement. It’s so beautiful I don’t want to eat it.”
“Arrangement? Sweetheart, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“The arrangement you sent. Y’know, from my Secret Valentine. How sweet.”
He chuckled. “If you’re letting me know I have competition, I can handle it.”
She twirled the phone cord around her index finger. “Oh really? You’re that sure of yourself?”
“I haven’t had any complaints yet. But I’ll let you be the judge. When you’re ready to go out with me, let me know.”
“Thanks Carl.” She hung up, still wearing the smile she’d donned when she’d called. She couldn’t believe that man. He was playing his role of Secret Valentine to the hilt. Well, she made an A in her high school drama class. She could play along too!
Mark eased away from Kendra’s door. Damn! She thought the chocolate arrangement was from Carl Winters. That overbearing Casanova wouldn’t know romance if it jumped up and bit him in the ass. He’d heard Kendra’s entire conversation on her speaker phone. She had no way of knowing the real Secret Valentine behind the arrangement. He’d ordered the arrangement himself. He wanted Kendra to know what it felt to be romanced by a valentine.
“Hey Mark,” he heard a voice call out.
Busted!
Mark turned around to find Lonnie standing behind him. “Whatcha doin’ Boss?”
Embarrassed at being caught eavesdropping outside Kendra’s open door, Mark concocted a lame excuse. “I’m um, inspecting…this wall. The paint is peeling in a few places.”
Lonnie scrunched up his nose and stared at the wall. Any fool could see the surface was in pristine condition–just like the rest of the luxurious office. He gave Mark a sidelong look, and then he shook his head. “Boss, you gotta work on your game. Playa to playa. For real. Work on that game, okay?”
Mark grinned before walking away. Lonnie was right. He had to work on his game. And he knew exactly what to do.
********
Two days later, Kendra returned from lunch to find a long, silver box tied with a red satin bow on her desk. Inside the box were two dozen long-stemmed roses, twelve were white; the other twelve were red. She copiously inspected the box, turning it over on all four sides. The inside was lined with dark blue paper. The only marking on the back of the box was the florist’s name, an upscale shop in Houston’s Galleria area. She wondered if someone had delivered these to her by mistake. She’d never received flowers–not even when she went in for day surgery for her Endometriosis several years ago. Funny, she’d gotten balloons, cards, and even a potted plant, but never flowers. And never anything as elegant as this.
The card read: Stunning flowers for a stunning beauty. From The Competition.
She gasped. It had to be Carl! Based on yesterday’s conversation, this was his way of showing her that he could handle what he referred to as the competition. Her life was work, work, work. Carl was the only new man she’d met recently. It had to be him. She buried her nose in the fragrant blooms. Though she was very flattered, nothing could come of this. He was her client. And although he was damn easy on the eyes, he wasn’t her type. Too cocky and rough around the edges. She liked a man with a quiet confidence. One who didn’t have to brag about his conquests.
One she could trust to keep her secrets.
Someone like Mark.
She shook her head. No! No! No! Where did that thought come from? Mark was definitely off limits. She needed to call Carl and thank him for the flowers, but she would be firm with him. He should focus his affections elsewhere. This time when she called, he answered. “Thank you for the beautiful flowers,” she said.
His deep chuckled filtered through the line. “Here we go with that again.”
She smiled. “Are you saying you didn’t send me two dozen roses?”
“Correct. You got me confused with some other brotha.”
“I don’t believe you.”
He laughed again. “Woman, you are something else. You know, I think you’re inventing a reason to call me.”
“Trust me, that is not it.”
“Darlin’, I think you’re making all of this up. There is no Secret Valentine. You really wanna hook up with me, but you’re playing hard to get. I know the game women play. And I’ll admit, you’ve got the whole package, Kendra. But I’m not looking for a relationship. Unless you have something more short-term in mind…”
Her mouth dropped. “All that liquid sugar must be getting to your brain.”
“Ooh. Feisty. I like a little spice with my meal.”
Kendra took a deep breath, partly to staunch the flow of smart remarks that threatened to spill from her lips. She had to remember this was a client. She lied instead. “Sorry, Carl. I’ve got a call on the other line. I’ll talk some other time.” She hung up before he could say anything else. She would have Marge call him from now on.
********
Kendra stood at the sink in the break room arranging the impressive bouquet into an over-sized vase when Mark strolled in. “Wow!” he exclaimed. “Somebody must like you.”
She tossed him a look over her shoulders. Her glossy long hair was piled in loose curls atop her head. Her smooth skin radiated. The black, knee-length dress she wore clung to every one of her curves. As he moved closer, he noticed the material was actually intricately crocheted designs. Kendra always looked amazing. “Yeah. Apparently Carl is more of a romantic than I thought.”
“Carl?” Mark couldn’t stop his lip from curling at the mention of the man’s name.
“Yes, Carl Winters from Sweet Thang!”
“Carl did not send you those flowers.”
“He said the same thing, but I know it’s him.” Kendra laughed as she turned from the sink to face him. The way she leaned her backside against the laminate counter top made him want to grab her hips and pull her against him. Her smile lit up the room. “You might be right about this Valentine’s thing,” she admitted. “It’s kind of nice to get an unexpected gift.”
Mark crossed the cuff-linked sleeves of his shirt over his chest. His plan had been to get Kendra to appreciate Valentine’s Day, not to get mixed up with another man. This was going all wrong. “Does Carl know that white roses stand for friendship and red roses mean passion? It’s a special message. That knucklehead is too braggadocios to be romantic!”
One of Kendra’s perfectly sculpted eyebrows jumped. “Sounds like some hateration going on.”
“Who me?”
“Yes, you, Mark Sullivan.”
He stared into her pretty eyes. “I have no reason to hate on Carl. Sure, he’s a good-looking dude with his own business, but I wouldn’t consider him competition.” He licked his lips that had suddenly gone dry. “Should I?”
She pushed away from the counter, closing the distance between them. Her voice sounded as sweet as maple syrup on pancakes when she spoke. “You don’t have to be jealous, Mark. You got it goin’ on too.”
Her compliment made him feel good. He had no shortage of women throwing invitations his way, but this was the woman he wanted. And it felt good to hear the praise from her lips. “I know I said you sh
ould be more open-minded about Valentine’s Day, but if I were you, I’d be suspicious of this guy’s motives.”
Kendra swatted the air. “Carl is harmless. Besides, his motives are the same as every other man’s. They all want the same thing.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
“I might want the same thing too.”
His body heated up thinking of doing that “thing” with her. If she was as free in bed as she was with her opinions, she had the potential to rock some guy’s world. He grinned at the thought. “As long as you know what you’re getting yourself into.”
“Why are you so concerned?” she taunted. “Since that night you pulled me into your lap, you think you have a vested interest in me?”
“I didn’t pull you in. You placed yourself there, and then wiggled your pretty ass until you gave me a hard-on.”
Her lush mouth dropped open and her hazel eyes glowed hot with desire. He stroked the satiny skin of her cheek trailing a finger from her chin to the hollow of her throat. Her pulse raced against his fingertip. Yeah, she wanted him. She could deny it until she was blue in the face, but her body language told him all he needed to know. He pressed against her, forcing her to back up against the sink counter. Thinking only of sating his hunger, he dipped his head and greedily claimed her lips. She whimpered into his mouth as his tongue plundered her mouth, pushing past her delectable lips. He pulled and suckled, and swirled his tongue against hers, invading every inch of her mouth. He couldn’t get enough of her. His hands found her hips, and he ground his pelvis against hers. The marble between his legs spoke volumes. She draped her arms around his shoulders, pressing her soft curves against him. He’d relived their last kiss over and over in his mind, thinking he could never repeat the erotic sensations he’d felt that night. He was wrong. The spiral of heat in the pit of his stomach was back. The taste of her mouth sent a rush of excitement through his blood. If he was this turned on by one kiss, he could only imagine the fireworks they’d create in bed.
A loud peal of laughter rang out in the distance. He dragged his mouth from Kendra’s seconds before two female employees entered the break room. By the time they stopped gabbing long enough to notice anyone else, Mark had moved a respectable distance away from Kendra.
One of the women, a petite blonde from Accounting, gravitated toward the roses. “Ooh! What gorgeous flowers!”
“Thank you,” Kendra answered. Her lipstick was smudged but she was still beautiful.
The other lady spoke up. “Kendra, you’re positively glowing. Whatever you’re doing keep it up.”
Mark discreetly made his exit. She’s doing me, he thought. Now, there should be no doubt in Kendra’s mind he was responsible for these gifts. He’d just turned up the heat.
Chapter 6
Carl sat behind his desk entering the last order for next week’s delivery. Valentine’s Day was in four weeks. He was already getting a shitload of orders. He liked it that way. Business was booming, and he was riding the wave.
“Was that Kendra you were talking to earlier?”
He looked up to see his daughter, Leesa standing in the doorway to his office, sporting her pink Sweet Thang! t-shirt. That girl loved pink. It was one of the reasons why he chose pink and black for the brand colors. “That’s Miss Michaels to you, Leesa.”
“I can tell you like Miss Michaels. I heard you flirting with her on the phone. Smooth rap, Dad.” Leesa practically skipped into his office. And why shouldn’t she? At fourteen years of age, she didn’t have a care in the world. She could barely remember the neglectful mother who ran out on her when she was four years old. But he remembered. He would never forget how the woman disappeared into thin air, leaving him a flimsy ass excuse in a note on his windshield. He’d been raising their daughter alone ever since.
“Nah,” he told her. “It’s strictly business.” He glanced up from his paperwork. “And what do you know about smooth raps? Some fool tryna step to you?” He was fiercely protective of his only child. He had a rule: No dating until age sixteen. He knew what little boys wanted–after all, he used to be one!
“No Dad.” She plopped on a chair across from his desk, not bothering to move to the heart-shaped pillows. A gift from a client. “We need a cleaning lady,” she complained.
Yeah, they did. He would get another one. The last one he let go over a month ago, wanted more than a paycheck from him. He indulged her, but when she started talking marriage, he had to let her go. He couldn’t stand women who came on too strong. “Don’t try to change the subject, little lady.”
“I’d much rather talk about you and Miss Michaels. Don’t you think she’s pretty?”
“Yeah.”
“So, why don’t you ask her out?”
“Why don’t you mind your own business?” He smiled to take the bite out of his comment. He didn’t want to tell the kid that Kendra had turned him down flat. This was new territory for him. Back in his day, his friends called him Ho-Catcher. He used to pull in women by the boatload. But that was when he was young and dumb. He met Leesa’s mother, and he changed his ways. Until she left him for another man. It had been hard to trust women ever since. Kendra Michaels, however, might be a different story. The attraction hit him like a ton of bricks. She came in looking good, smelling good, and talking good. She was a designer diva from scalp to toenail. He imagined every inch of her fine ass body had been waxed, buffed, and perfumed to perfection! He couldn’t even lie–he wouldn’t mind having a piece of that. He had no doubt he could rock her world. But he wondered if she could handle a real man like him.
“You think that Louis Vuitton she was rocking was real?” Leesa asked.
“No doubt.”
Everything about Kendra was the real deal. He could tell that from one sniff of her Chanel No. 5 perfume. She’d been sugary sweet to him the entire visit, but he knew if he didn’t have his valuable business connections, she wouldn’t have given him the time of day. She didn’t know the Carl who grew up in Houston’s notorious Fifth Ward. Didn’t know the young hustler who sold CDs and DVDs from the back of his beat up Impala. While everybody in his neighborhood was slingin’ dope, he made his money the hard way–he earned it legit. When he took a cooking class in high school and learned he had a knack for cooking, he turned a small-time talent into a full-time business. Years later, his dream of Sweet Thang! was finally realized. Kendra knew his biography, but she didn’t know how much he’d struggled to get it.
Her phone calls about the chocolate arrangement and the roses were obviously ploys to talk to him. Why didn’t women just come out and say what they wanted? They wanted to be seen as good girls. He knew the game. If she wanted to play, he would gladly indulge her. He’d worked hard to make a name for himself. He deserved a classy lady like Kendra Michaels. But at some point, all that teasing was gonna hafta come to a stop. Then, the real fun would begin.
********
“Four more weeks to go. Escape with Cupid is in full effect. The first-place winner receives our Escape with Cupid Grand Prize, which is an all-expenses paid Valentine’s Day tropical getaway to a luxury resort. The second-place winner gets twenty-five percent off one of our select vacation packages. Third and Fourth place receive a fifteen percent discount off any travel booked through us within the next six months.”
Kendra listened as Caleb presented the promotional stats. Their group of six was seated around the oval table in the conference room. Alfonse was patched in by Skype. His constant nods of approval and murmurs of agreement were encouraging.
Caleb continued. “To be eligible for the contest, customers must send us an email or post an entry on our blog telling us what they would do for their Valentine if money were no object. In addition, the customer must book travel between Feb. 1st and March 31st and pay a fifty dollar deposit toward one of our Escape vacation packages. Their name is automatically entered into a drawing to win one of the four prize packages. We have additional sponsors on board who’ll offer products and ser
vices in exchange for advertising.”
“Well done,” Alfonse said. “I can’t tell you how proud I am of all of you for taking this bull by zee horns and doing what needs to be done. The press kits you sent out have pushed this promotion into zee spotlight. The agency has been featured on commercials, in print, in online magazines, and most impressively, on zee Travel Channel. We couldn’t ask for better publicity.”
Kendra had to admit that this idea had really taken off. Having a group dedicated to the project morning, noon, and night made a huge difference. She’d been tasked with researching vendors for the ultimate Valentine’s package they would offer, and she had to admit, she was impressed with the romantic stuff. It seemed with the media attention, everyone wanted to be a part of Escape with Cupid. She’d been courted by a few sponsors who sent bribes in the form of gift certificates, spa days, and even lingerie. The red teddy she received was not her signature color, but she was sure Mark wouldn’t mind seeing her in it. She imagined him peeling it from her body and licking each place where it had touched her skin. He’d already proved he was skillful with his tongue. She shivered thinking about the kisses they’d shared. His stroke was bold. His touch was magic. The things he did with his lips should be a crime. She found herself daydreaming about him frequently, creaming in her panties afterward. When had their relationship morphed from business to freakfest?
Alfonse’s voice brought her back to reality. “What sponsors do we have on board so far?”
Caleb took the lead again. Rosewood Day Spa. In Bloom Flower Creations. Francesca’s Dinner Club. Sweet Thang! Confectionary Shop. And Heart2Heart Jewelers.”
Mark added, “We’ve got all of the sponsors secured except one. We’re still looking at resorts for our grand prize. We’ve narrowed it down to three luxury resorts: The Anantara Kihavah Villas in the Maldive Islands, Spicers Peak Lodge in Australia, and Hotel Punta Islita in Costa Rica. We have Kendra to thank for all of the detailed research.”