“Not everyone wants assistance,” Tami said softly, seeing the light of zeal in Keaton’s eyes that was common in those new to volunteering. “But it’s wonderful you could offer constructive help to someone who really needs it to get back on his feet.”
“Which takes me back to my original question to you. Why haven’t you taken your old job back?”
“That donation is from you?”
“Not me, personally, but our foundation, yes.”
“Why put strings on it? If you were so moved as to make such a huge contribution to Our People, Our Homes, why put all the responsibility of whether they receive the money, or not, back on to my shoulders. To be honest, a donation with a condition is not a donation at all, is it? It’s a manipulation and I won’t be manipulated. I’ve been there, I’ve jumped through other people’s hoops and I don’t like it. I’m my own person. I make my own decisions. I will not be coerced.”
She realized the shelter had grown silent as her voice had grown louder and everyone around them was staring. It didn’t matter, she thought, as her cheeks flamed. The words needed to be said. A slow clap started at the back of the room, soon joined by more and more people applauding. The tips of Keaton’s ears turned red and he turned to raise one hand in acknowledgement and silent apology for what they’d overheard.
“Look, can we talk somewhere that’s a little more private? You’ve misinterpreted my intentions.”
“Really? And tell me, what were your intentions?”
“Please, Tami. Somewhere private?”
“Go on, Tami, give the guy a break. He looks pretty and he smells nice,” one of the older female regulars said from behind Keaton.
“You think so?” Tami answered with a wry grin. “You can have him if you want him, Sally. He’s single.”
The woman cackled in response. “Hell, no. Too high-maintenance for me!”
Tami saw Keaton’s shoulder sag in relief and she couldn’t help but grin. To give him credit, at least he hadn’t run for the door, yet.
“Okay,” she relented. “There’s a coffee shop around the corner. Would that do?”
Keaton looked at her. “Are you all finished up here?”
“Yes, why?”
“How were you planning to get home?”
“Parking here is difficult so I took a bus. I was going to call a ride to get home.”
“Why don’t I see you home? We can talk there.”
Tami mulled over his suggestion. What difference did it make, in the long run? She’d say what she had to say, and he’d hopefully listen. Then he’d go away again. She wondered how many more times her heart would have to be torn apart by this man, by either leaving him or watching him leave her.
“Fine. Let’s go then.”
She grabbed her coat and followed him out the door after bidding everyone good-night. They walked a short distance in the dark, wet streets to where he’d parked his car under a streetlight.
“You were lucky to get a spot here,” she commented as he held the door open for her.
“I had to drive around the block a few times, but I was prepared to wait. I needed to see you.”
Tami merely grunted a noncommittal response and busied herself putting on her seat belt as Keaton closed her door and got in on the other side. They didn’t speak as they drove out to her home on the outskirts of town, and after they alighted from the car Keaton followed her down the path to her front door. Once they were inside she led him to her small sitting room and gestured for him to take a seat.
“Can I offer you anything? Tea? Coffee?”
“No, thank you, please just sit with me.” When she’d settled on an easy chair he continued. “Look, you got me all wrong on the donation. I know you lost your position at Our People, Our Homes because of Pennington and your involvement with him. I just wanted to ensure that they made your job available to you again now that your name is cleared.”
“How did you know that my name is cleared?” she asked.
He firmed his lips a moment before speaking again. “I was involved in the sting that brought Pennington back to the States. A man like that is motivated by money, lots of money, so with the help of the police, I dangled an obscene sum in front of him as bait and he fell for it.”
“But why would you do that? You had nothing to do with him, or the charity. What did you stand to gain?”
“Nothing, personally. But you stood to gain your reputation back. You deserved to have your name cleared of all and any guilt or suspicion.”
She looked at him in surprise and shook her head slowly. “That’s not what you thought a short while back. May I remind you of the damages claim your company has against me?”
“Our lawyers have been instructed to drop it. You should get confirmation on that from your lawyer tomorrow. I was so angry with you for what you’d done to us at Richmond Developments I was determined to make you pay. That said, it was unfair of me to treat you the way I did and not to listen or try to understand why you were forced to do what you did. I understand that now and I plan to try harder to listen first before jumping to conclusions. I hope you can help me with that and that you’ll find it in your very warm and generous heart to forgive me for my behavior.”
“Warm and generous?”
“I’ve watched you, Tami. I know that at your core you are the most incredible, beautiful, loving woman I think I’ve ever known. And you’re like that with everyone you meet. Whether it’s the people at the shelter, or your work colleagues, or even a total stranger in the street. You exude warmth and caring. You deserve far better than the way Mark Pennington treated you, or the way I treated you. That’s why I wanted you to get your old job back and I wanted them to have sufficient motivation to ensure they took you back. I understand how shaky things were there financially after the money was stolen and while most of what Pennington stole will be returned to them, it’s going to take time. Time they probably did not have. So the Richmond Foundation took up the slack. That’s all. Putting a proviso on the donation was for your sake, not to manipulate you, but to give you back what was taken from you.”
“Five million dollars is a lot of slack, Keaton.”
“We looked further into the charity. It does really good things, but like all charities they’re hamstrung by financial constraints. We think we’ve found a way forward where we can possibly use some of our construction as a method of providing the low-cost, low-interest housing you discussed with me in Sedona, and provide jobs for skilled workers on hard times. Working with Our People, Our Homes is a viable way for us to do this.”
“That’s really great news, and I’ll give serious consideration to resuming my old role. I miss it. But I’m not sure it’s the right thing to do.”
“Well, you could always come back and work with me,” he said with a smile.
“No, I couldn’t. I don’t want to go anywhere where people will always be second-guessing my integrity.”
* * *
Keaton looked at her as comprehension dawned. For the first time he really understood the toll this entire chain of events, started by that lowlife Pennington, had taken on her. She was right. Because of Pennington, her integrity had been grossly undermined, and he’d added to that.
“Tami, I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t you see, Keaton. In forcing Our People, Our Homes to take me back, I’ll never know whether I’m there because I’m worth it, or because you made them do it. I know you think you were trying to help, but you’ve only made it worse for me.”
“I was trying to help,” he insisted. “And we can certainly make the donation unconditional.”
But he knew it was too late. The damage was done. And, considering the way Pennington and her father and who knew who else had treated her, he knew why it was so important to Tami to feel valued. Another idea took shape in his mind.
“I
have a suggestion and I want you to consider it carefully before giving me an answer.”
“More manipulation, Keaton?” she asked wearily.
“No, an opportunity for something new. The Richmond Foundation, Our People, Our Homes and Richmond Developments will need someone to act as the coordinator for the new affordable-homes initiative. I don’t see why that shouldn’t be you, if you wanted the role. It would give you the opportunity to expand on the organizational skills you’ve already proven you excel at, while allowing you the hands-on involvement with the people you’re so passionate about caring for. You’re far better-suited to that position than anyone we could appoint internally from Richmond.”
Her expression changed and he saw a glow of hope light up in those beautiful hazel eyes of hers.
“You’d offer that to me?” she asked, still sounding unsure. “But you have no reason to trust me. We both know that.”
Keaton sat forward in his chair and reached for her hands, holding them both in his, then stared directly into her eyes.
“I understand why you did what you did, Tami. And I forgive you, totally and absolutely. I’ll admit, it took me a while—too long a while, to be honest—but I know now it was your compassionate heart that led you to take the steps you did. I’m sorry you were forced to do that. I’m sorry your father used you that way and I’m sorry that a man like Pennington put you in a position where you felt you had to turn to your father for help.”
“None of that was your fault,” she said, pulling back.
He felt the loss of her touch as if she’d slammed a door in his face, but he wasn’t going to give up. Not yet, maybe not ever.
“No, but my reaction to the situation could definitely have been better. I did what I could to bring Pennington to justice, for you, Tami.”
“But, why?”
“Because...” Keaton took her hands again. “I would have done the same thing for any person that I loved. I had to bring Pennington back to the US no matter the cost because of what he’d done to you and to Our People, Our Homes. He had to pay for what he’s done and he will pay, dearly. You weren’t his first mark, Tami, and you wouldn’t have been his last. He had to be stopped. Anyway, that’s what I needed to say. I’ll go now. But, please, think about my offer, okay?”
He got up and began to walk toward the front door, but stopped when he felt Tami’s hand on his shoulder. He turned around. There was an incredulous expression on her face.
“Did you just say you love me?”
He smiled. “Well, yeah. I love you, Tami Wilson. More than I’ll ever be able to express in words, so I had to do it with actions. Will you forgive me for being so arrogant about everything? For not listening? For not trusting what my own eyes had told me about you? For not trying to understand you better?”
“Of course, I forgive you, Keaton, not that I believe I have anything to forgive you for—you are exactly who you are and I love you for all of it. I think I’ve loved you since you were so patient with me on the tandem zip line and taught me then to trust you. Knowing what my father wanted me to do to Richmond Developments tore me up inside, all the more so because I continued to learn about what an incredible man you are. Intelligent, mostly patient, strong and kind. And, I have it on good authority that you smell good, too,” she said with a chuckle.
“Mostly patient?” he asked with a crooked smile.
“You know what I mean,” she said.
Tami slipped her arms around his waist and cuddled in close for a moment before stepping back and taking his face in her hands and gently pulling him down toward her. He needed no encouragement. He’d been craving her taste, her touch, from the second he’d woken on the morning after they’d first made love. The morning he’d sent her out of his life. Their lips met, sealed and ignited a conflagration of need inside him. Her also, judging by the enthusiasm with which she returned the embrace.
He pressed her up against a closed door and lifted her hands above her head, stepping in so close to her that his hips met with hers. He pressed against her and felt her groan into his mouth. He dragged his lips from hers and burned a trail of kisses from her mouth to her jaw, then down her neck.
“Bedroom,” she growled in a hoarse voice. “Behind me, the door, open it.”
He didn’t need to be told twice. Keaton twisted the doorknob and pushed open the door to the darkened room, then turned around so she could walk him backward toward the bed. As he did so, she began to reach for the buttons on his shirt, the buckle of his belt, his zipper. By the time they reached her bed, he was more than half-naked and he kicked off his shoes and shucked off the last of his clothing before helping her off with her jeans and the soft sweater she wore.
There were no niceties about their urgency. Only need, demand, give-and-take. She pushed him back onto the bed and straddled him. He reached for her breasts, cupping them in his hands and squeezing gently. Her thighs tightened around his and he felt the wet heat of her body against his skin. He squeezed her breasts again, this time pulling gently at her nipples with his thumbs and forefingers, and was rewarded with a moan that seemed to come from deep inside her.
Tami bent down then, and began a thorough exploration of his body. Taking her time to nuzzle and lick and kiss and, yes, bite her way from his neck to his abdomen. When she got to his belly button, she looked up at him with a wicked grin.
“Sally’s right. You do smell good. All of you smells good.”
He laughed but it was a strangled sound. “Can we please leave Sally out of the bedroom?”
She chuckled again and Keaton decided he could very well get drunk on the sound. “I will if you will.”
She bent her head again and took his erection into her mouth. His entire body started in reflex to the warm, wet shock of her possession of him. He forced himself to relax, to enjoy, to give in to the sensations she wrought from him, and when he climaxed, she took that from him, too. Taking her time to give him the deepest of pleasures while he ached to give her her own.
She shifted again so her body was over his and he wrapped his arms around her tight. Right now, he never wanted to let her go, ever again. He knew that this was more than a fleeting kind of love. This was something he wanted, with her, forever. They stayed together like that until he felt his heart rate return to normal, until he felt his body stir to life again. He rolled her over and hovered over her, returning the pleasure she’d given him, taking his time to savor the very special taste of her skin, the heat of her body, the texture of every inch of her.
Tami was squirming beneath him when he felt her reach for the top drawer on her bedside cabinet. She dragged it open and grabbed a foil packet from inside.
“Now, Keaton. Please. No more playing around. I want you, inside me. Filling me. Loving me.”
“Of course. Whatever you want. Always.”
He sheathed himself and positioned himself at her entrance, then forced himself to take it slowly, entering her body and feeling her welcome him, inch by slow inch. When he was buried to the hilt he stopped, allowed them both to relish the depth of their connection. Her arms were up, her hands beside her head, and he laced his fingers with hers and bent down to kiss her. A long, wet, thorough kiss that left them both breathless.
“I love you, Tami Wilson. I’m going to love you for the rest of my life,” he promised solemnly.
And then he began to move. At first slowly and then, as his movements stoked the flames of their desire, faster and faster until, in a swoop of pleasure, they reached their peak together. Exhilaration flooded him and he felt her body’s reaction to the joy they’d just given one another. Felt the pulse that beat through her, felt her shake and buck gently beneath him until her body suddenly relaxed and he allowed himself to settle into her before gently rolling them both onto their sides.
He looked at her in the semidark. The room lit only by the light from the hallway. Both of t
hem panting. He could feel the light sheen of perspiration on her body and tracked the shape of her face with one hand.
“I mean it, Tami. I love you more than I ever knew was possible. Will you help me to grow our relationship into something that will last both our lifetimes?”
She reached a shaking hand to cup his face and closed the small distance between them to kiss him.
“Keaton Richmond, I’d be honored to do that with you. Yes, my answer is, yes. To everything. To spending the rest of my life with you, to loving you forever. To being the example to our children that they will deserve.”
“Our kids, I like the sound of that.” He kissed her back. “The day I saw you in the office for the first time, I wondered what the hell I was letting myself in for. Now I know. Thank you for remaining true to who you are and I promise I will remain true to you every day I draw breath.”
“Oh, Keaton, thank you. I will treasure your words, and you, for the rest of my days.”
“I never realized it until you came into my life, that you’re all I ever wanted,” he said solemnly. “I guess I should thank your father for that.”
She laughed and he felt her whole body shake.
“Yeah, I don’t think so. I’d like to imagine we’d have come to each other eventually.”
“Yeah,” he agreed and tightened his arms around her some more. “I can’t wait to see what our future brings.”
“It’s going to be like our zip line ride,” she murmured, snuggling into his chest and inhaling deeply. “Challenging, a little bit terrifying, but overall it’s going to be absolutely amazing.”
And it was.
* * *
Don’t miss
the next story in
Yvonne Lindsay’s
Scandalizing the CEO--A Workplace Romance Page 16