“Why is it, when a woman is direct and shows intelligence, she needs to ‘Calm Down’?” She stepped closer to him. “Until you tried play dodge ball with traffic, I was having a beautiful day,” her lips curled tighter. “Besides, I’m not the one stranded.”
“Point taken,” Jaden replied, still bemused. “Listen, I was just joking. You took the bait, so easily, that I had to play with you a little.”
“Oh really,” she scoffed. “Since you’re using a fishing analogy, I’ll complement that train of thought. Why do I get the feeling, that there’s a lot of fish in your tank to play with.”
Jaden laughed. “That’s a good one. Let’s just say, that I’m a good fisherman.”
“Good lord,” she responded, rolling her eyes. “I think that I’d better go,” she said. “Whoa,” Jaden’s smile slackened. “You’re actually going to leave me stranded out here?” Clearly, this bee didn’t like his brand of honey.
“Since you’re so good at fishing…” she answered, “…I figured that you’d snag another driver after I’m gone.”
“Aw come on, Sunny,” Jaden balked and threw his hands up in frustration. ”You know that I’m just teasing.”
“Well…good, ‘cause I was about drive off and leave you alone with your ego, a bit longer.”
“Oh, it’s like that?” He chuckled.
“Pretty much,” she answered. A giggle surfaced and her shoulders relaxed a little.
“Let’s start over,” he insisted.
When her gaze met his, her brows furrowed as her lips puckered in disapproval. “Since it appears that you’re not some deranged serial killer on the run. I guess the reason why you’re dodging traffic—literally—is because you have car trouble.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “My car and cell phone batteries are dead. I was hoping that a beautiful, intelligent, woman like yourself, would be kind enough to give my ride a jump.”
Sunny glanced at the Range Rover and then at Jaden. She sighed and then stalked back to her car. Then she heaved open the door and reached behind the passenger seat. Jaden stepped back, cocked his head, and enjoyed the view of her voluptuous backside as it twisted and turned while she pulled out a hard plastic, black case.
She lugged the case onto the roadway. Jaden was at her side in an instant and extended his hand to help. Sunny gave him a sour look while waving away his silent offer. He stepped back and gave her space.
“An independent woman, indeed,” he chuckled.
She whipped her head to check him out, and then frowned. “Are you laughing at me?”
“I wouldn’t dare.”
He watched her open the case and then untangle the jumper cables. Surprisingly, not only was she prepared to give his SUV a jump, but she was also prepared to place the jumper cables on his battery—doing his man’s work—without a care in the world.
Jaden’s chest puffed out, proud as a peacock, as shook his head. It bothered him that women had to learn to do trivial things, such as changing a tire, pump their own gas, or …jump-start car batteries. .
“Uh, Sunny” he said, “Why don’t you step back? I’ll take care of this.” He took the cables from her hand.
“Suit yourself,” she said with a half-smirk, right before she stumbled over a rock in her path.
Jaden dropped the cables and his arms snaked around her waist, preventing her fall to the pavement. He held her as the seconds ticked. At that moment, in that position, it seemed as if her full lips beckoned to be kissed. Her chocolate skin was warm and smooth, her ebony eyes soulful, with so much depth, that he could get lost in them.
She felt good in his arms…too good.
They stared into each other’s eyes and shared a breath. His hands—one stretched across the round globes of her backside and the other under soft swell of her left breast—felt the heat of her body through her clothing.
“You can let go now,” she snapped.
And just like that, the shrew hissed and the moment was over.
, “About earlier,” he said. Removing his hands, he stepped back. “I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just, as a man it’s kind of hard for me to stand here and watch you do this when I’m perfectly capable of doing it.”
“I’m always amazed at how fragile the male ego is.”
“It’s also called, being a gentleman,” he grumbled.
“Maybe, I should just wait in my car. You can signal me when you need me to crank it up.”
“Sunny, wait,” he said. He gently grabbed her elbow.
He couldn’t help but glance at the underside of her breast peeking from the side of her frame as her arm pulled away from him. She seemed to turn in slow motion as her hair whipped in the breeze. When her amber cat-eyes, met his, she rolled her bottom lip inward, and moistened it.
Taking one hand, she captured her sable mane to tame it, and in doing so, the dark mounds of her cleavage peeked through the V-neck opening again.
She didn’t snipe at him, nor did she throw a witty comeback. Instead, she allowed him to look his fill. A wisp of her hair escaped and draped across her forehead. Mindlessly, she blew against it and narrowed her eyes until they were slits peeking through a forest of charcoal lashes. Her scent was like honeysuckle on a crisp summer day, and wrapped around him igniting something deep within.
Jaden sucked in air through his mouth and slightly turned from her as his member pulsed through boxer briefs and pressed the zipper of his jeans. Okay, she turned him on. His body was doing things it hadn’t done in years.
Sure, he’d had his share of late night love sessions and most recently, he had an incredible night with one of the production assistants on his short film, but none had affected him the same as this dark beauty.
Her sensuous pout transformed into the most devious sneer he’d seen since his break-up with his last girlfriend. “What?” She huffed.
He was glad that her attitude had done a 180, before he got lost in her deep gaze. No matter how fine she was, no matter how supple her skin felt beneath his touch, she presented a tough as nails exterior. Jaden wasn’t ready to deal with yet another difficult, strong-minded, independent woman who didn’t need a man.
He’d had his fill of those and honestly, he couldn’t get serious with anyone while he had a development deal on the table. Still, she had stopped for him, and he owed her.
“Sunny, I don’t know what’s going on, but seriously, I’m sorry if I came off wrong. You didn’t have to stop to help me, but I appreciate that you did. I’m just having a very, very, bad weekend.”
The depths of her eyes brightened a bit, and her snarl flattened a bit. “It’s okay. Believe me. I’ve had my share of bad weekends.”
“I bet,” he murmured.
“What was that?” she snapped.
“I said that I’d bet-ter get these cables on,” he replied quickly as he placed the positive and negative cables on each car.
When he was done, Sunny cranked her engine and floored the gas pedal while the car was in neutral to rev up the electric currents to his SUV. He leaned under the hood of his SUV and then lifted his hand, striking his thumb up in approval. He then strode to the driver side and jumped into the seat, cranked the engine. Moments later, his vehicle was purring just as loud as hers.
Jaden snagged his cell phone from one of the console pockets and connected it to his car phone charger, powered his phone on, and revved the engine again. When his battery had enough juice, he got out of his car, unfastened the cables carefully before doing the same for her battery. He then put the cable into her small emergency kit that she left on the ground and handed it to her through her open window. She tucked it away behind her and turned back to him.
“Thanks again for stopping. I know nowadays it’s not safe for people, especially women to do so.”
“No worries,” she said.
“So where are you from?”
“Dallas,” she answered, still a little guarded.
“Me too,” he informed. “I was thinki
ng that maybe we could network. You know exchange business cards.”
“I’m out of business cards,” she replied. “You can follow me on twitter. My username is SunnyDfw.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Jaden smiled.
He patted the roof of her roadster, stepped back, and watched until she was out of sight. The jazzy ringtone of his phone sounded and he jogged to his SUV, closed the hood, and then jumped into the driver’s seat again.
“Talk to me,” he said. “I know, I know. I had a crazy weekend, and just got a jump for my car battery.”
He didn’t dive into the details of his afternoon, as it would be a cold day in hell before he’d ever admit that a woman had rescued him.
“I’m on my way,” he said pulling his SUV off the dusty shoulder and onto the highway, anxious to get home to recruit a co-writer for his screenplay. He could only hope that his new agent, Jared Cross, might have some authors with screenwriting experience.
He couldn’t believe that after all these years, and an unsuccessful stint in New York, his play was finally getting adapted into a film. Images of the red carpet, a Golden Globe, or perhaps an Oscar flashed in his mind.
Then suddenly, the small waist, bountiful thighs, curvy hips, chocolate skin and stormy eyes of Sunny Carlisle, his feisty and opinionated rescuer, occupied his thoughts, and they would for the rest of the trip home.
Yes, he would love to see her again…and tango with her incomparable sneer.
-THREE-
AN HOUR AFTER her encounter with Jaden, Sunny coasted into a self-service lane of a gas station in Georgetown, Texas and then retrieved her credit card from her wallet. She swung her legs out of the car and inched between it and the gas pumps until she stood at the fuel pump’s credit card processor. She swiped the card in the slot, and punched her code into the keypad.
Denied.
“What the…” she muttered.
Embarrassed, she smiled sheepishly to the customer who used the pump further down the aisle. She then re-swiped the card. This time the machine prompted her to “see cashier.” With a quick groan, she shifted her purse onto her shoulder and scuttled into the convenience store. After she entered the store, she trudged up and down the aisles before making her way to the counter empty-handed.
“What can I do for you?” asked the cashier.
“Thirty on pump,” she stretched her neck to peek over the display item on the counter to view the pump number. “Uh…what’ pump is that? The one with the red sports car?”
“Three,” the clerk answered.
“Yeah,” Sunny replied while fishing through her purse, “Thirty on pump three.”
“Cash or credit,” the cashier asked.
“Credit please.” Sunny handed him her card. “I’ve got enough money on the card. I don’t know why it didn’t go through outside.”
“We’ve had some complaints about it. Hopefully, it’ll be fixed soon,” the clerk responded.
“Need your driver’s license,” the cashier further inquired and Sunny gave it to him.
Her curved fingers drummed the top of the counter as she watched him compare the signature on her driver’s license with the one on the credit card.
Once the clerk swiped her card, he waited until the register spit out a receipt and then handed her the sliver of paper along with a pen. Sunny signed the receipt and slid it back across the countertop. She grabbed a pack of gum from the rack next to the register and placed it on the counter.
“Sorry, I’ll get this too,” she said and pulled loose change from her jean pocket.
The clerk tended the item and took the change. She worked the wrapping off the pack of gum as she scurried across the pump aisles to the car. She opened the fuel cap and lifted the pump nozzle. After selecting regular unleaded she squeezed the pump’s trigger and set it in the short ridges of the track so that she could wait in her car while fueling. She tilted her seat back and folded her arms under her head, breathing in the humid, Texas air.
Whenever she had the opportunity, she turned her travel assignments into scenic drives, learning the landscape of Texas, and its hidden treasures, namely, her recent visit to the 9th Wonder Spa & Resort.
Her mind flicked back to her decadent suite at the secluded Spanish Colonial designed resort spa pampered weekend. From the moment that the tires of her Mazda rolled onto the cobblestone driveway of the luxurious resort spa in Fredericksburg, Texas, she had been spellbound.
A smile slowly stretched across her lips, remembering the sun's warmth caressing her skin as she stepped onto the second floor balcony of her suite, peering over it to see the courtyard. She watched water spill from shell-shaped dish of a stone fountain and into a round in-ground pond where the colorful specks of Koi fish swam.
A wooden bridge shaded by a pergola and a mixture of ivy that wove around the marquee connected the courtyard to the pool area and grotto. The landscaping included two large Live Oak trees at the far corners of the pristine landscape anchored by small iron French bistro dinette sets. Palm trees, birds of paradise plants, and other tropical plants and flowers dotted the yard.
The pinkish-beige exterior walls met the rounded clay tiles of a terracotta roof and deep-inset wood doors. The varying patterns of vibrant orange, red, and blue hand-painted decorative tiles that accented the windows and archways.
Inside, rough-hewn wood beams branched from each corner of the atrium, framing the extravagant crystal teardrop chandelier at its center. A balanced palette of sand, teak, and sky colors swept the walls and ceiling offsetting the hickory stained bamboo floors while strategically placed, southwestern decorative candleholders, folk art, and pottery pulled the spirit of Texas into the ambience.
Black framed photos of the resort manager’s travels adorned the walls of the upstairs hall where the remaining bedrooms split off into their own secluded rooms, each opening onto a burnished slate walk-around terrace.
The 9th Wonder was the perfect getaway from the noise of downtown Dallas, and the chaotic mindbender that was her life. If she could have made time stand still, she would have stayed longer. Unfortunately, she had to follow the big bad winding road home, which led her to Jaden Wright.
Clearly, he was the type of man, who was used to getting his way. After all the madness that he’d brought into her life in a matter of minutes, she was tempted to go back to the resort for another deep tissue massage.
As the thought of the masseuse’s masterful hands rubbing her back eased in, the fuel pump clicked. She yawned through a body stretch and slid from her seat. After she placed the nozzle back on the pump handle, she closed the fuel cap and continued her drive home.
At the top of her list of things to do was devising a plan to get her life back on track. Her game-changing itinerary started with getting her old job back. Her apology would be deep and heartfelt, even though convincing Russ Barton—the stubborn, yet loveable senior copy-editor of the Dallas Urban Journal—that the newspaper needed her just as much as she needed it, would be no easy task.
Sunny was probably more surprised than anyone that she had the gumption to walk away from a secure 9-to-5. Of course then, she had thought she was months away from a publishing contract, hopefully not too far from sitting on Oprah’s couch, riding the waves of a best-selling novel success.
Unfortunately, the contract had fallen through, and she had to start all over again. ”Pride goes before the fall. And baby, the landing is always rough,” her mama used to say. Oh, boy was she right.
She should have never left D.U.J, as its employees affectionately called the newspaper. She had been right at home in the comfy, dimly lit, photo-splattered cubicle walls, with push-pinned articles and tattered maps, until they she retired.
Instead, she followed the advice of her literary agent, Jared Cross, and left the paper. After she finished the book, she was too proud to ask for her old job back, especially since she had failed to give a two weeks notice. She opted for a position as a publicist for a boutique PR agency, a
nd then fell fast in love with Ramone Harrison, running back of the Dallas Steers.
Her relationship with Ramone had cost her almost everything, including her job as a publicist within a matter of months. She had survived one calamity after another for her dream. At times, she wondered if it was all worth it.
Hours later when Sunny pulled into her driveway, her cell phone’s ringtone played. She parked her car and dug around in her purse until she found it. Once she touched the screen. The corners of her lips turned down as she read Ramone Harrison on the display.
“What do you want?”
Bitterness swelled in her chest as each beat of her heart reminded her of the sting of his betrayal. She couldn’t very well move on though, with him calling her or bumping into her at in pubic venues. If she didn’t know better, she’d swear that either had her followed, or slipped a GPS tracker somewhere in her belongings because he always knew where she was.
“Hey, baby. How are you?” Ramone asked in his ever-faithful silky-sleek timber.
“Look, I’m tired, hungry, and in no mood to beat around the bush, Ramone.”
Sunny pulled the phone away from her ear long enough to stick her tongue out at it, and then reeled it back to hear his response.
“Come on Sun,” he said, frustration ripping through his words. “When are you going to forgive me? I made one mistake.”
“That’s not the way I hear it,” she snapped.
“Oh really,” he answered. “What’chu hear?”
“I don’t get this. You act as if we broke up yesterday and it’s been eighteen months,” she said. “Why the apology now?”
Sunny hitched her purse over her shoulder and then grabbed her laptop from under the passenger seat. She slammed the door hard, hoping that its sharp echo would reflect her fury through the phone.
No such luck.
“I was telling my boy about that weekend we spent in Cabo a few years back. Remember?” he asked.
Rescuing Mr. Wright (Texas Treasures) Page 2