No Other Lover Will Do. Cheris Hodges
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poked him in his chest.
“Well, you’ve only been here for a day and the first few days of a vacation are never relaxing,” he said. “And you have to admit, you like sparring with me.”
Kandace shot him a cold look. “You’re impossible,” she said. “Let me guess. When you were a little boy Mommy and Daddy yielded to your every whim.” Kandace gave him a slow once over. “Judging by your height, you played basketball and were the star of the team and that helped you get your way even more.”
Solomon shook his head. “You don’t know me, Kandace. I’d love for you to get to know me, but you can’t seem to let yourself go enough to enjoy whatever happens.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against him. “Go with the flow, baby.”
Kandace stomped on his foot, though her blow made with a bare foot had little physical impact, and Solomon released her. “If you go out to dinner with me and have a horrible time, I’ll take your no for an answer.”
“And if I tell you no now?” she questioned. “What are you going to do then?”
“You know I own this place, right? So, unless you plan on checking out, I’m going to show up everywhere you go until you say yes.”
“And you don’t think that’s stalking?” she asked as she rolled her eyes.
He shook his head. “I call it being persistent. You can end this whenever you want. Agree to have dinner with me,” Solomon said.
“Get out of here,” Kandace said. “And maybe I’ll consider it.”
“I tell you what,” he said as he backed away from her. “Since you say I ruined your spa treatment, have a deluxe one on me. That way you can’t say you were too stressed out to have dinner with me.”
“I said I’d consider having dinner with you, I didn’t agree to anything,” Kandace informed him.
Solomon opened the door. “But you will,” he said, then winked at her before sending the masseuse back inside.
Kandace tried to think of something other than Solomon’s hands as her real massage resumed. But she couldn’t. His strokes felt so good and her body had been on fire as he touched her. She’d tingled from the roots of her hair to her toenails. Dinner with him would be dangerous, because she knew what his kisses did to her, and coupled with his touch, she was going to be in serious trouble.
“Miss Davis,” the masseuse said, “we’re done. If you put on your robe, I can take you to your facial.”
“Thank you,” she said as she rose from the table and put on her robe. Kandace followed the man to another room and took a seat. Part of her wondered if Solomon was going to show up again. Once her facial got started, Kandace decided to relax and not worry about seeing Solomon again. At least not until she saw him at dinner.
Carmen slammed her phone into the cradle on her desk. She’d called Solomon five times in the last hour and her phone calls went directly to voice mail. She knew what that meant. Obviously that tramp Kandace had opened her legs to him. Carmen didn’t know what it was about this woman that got under her skin so badly. Maybe it was the fact that she didn’t know what was going on. When Solomon had his flings with models and actresses, he kept her in the loop, telling her how stupid they were and what a disappointment they’d turned out to be. This woman was different, because Carmen knew she wasn’t stupid. And from the pictures she’d seen of her on the Internet, she wasn’t ugly either. Still, she needed to know if Solomon had gotten what he wanted and was ready to move on. Better yet, to come back to New York. She picked up the phone and started dialing his number again.
“Knock, knock,” Danny said from the door of her office. Carmen looked up and faked a smile as she hung up the phone.
“Danny, right?” Carmen said.
“You’re killing my ego,” he said. “I invite you to lunch and you never call back, then struggle to remember my name.”
“I’m sorry, we just ran into some problems at the resort in North Carolina,” Carmen lied.
“I thought Solomon was down there handling all of that,” Danny said as he walked in. “You know that guy works you too hard. Does he realize how valuable you are?”
“I knew what I was getting into when I signed up for the job,” Carmen said with a hint of attitude in her voice.
Danny threw his hands up. “I was just kidding with you. No need to get so testy,” he said. “Solomon is my boy.”
Carmen raised her eyebrow and leaned back in her seat. “All right, why are you here?”
“At some point today, you’re going to have to eat. I’m here to insure that you eat one of those meals with me.”
While Carmen smiled at Danny, inside she was groaning and pushing him out of her office. Who did he think he was? Solomon Crawford? His line was stale and he didn’t have half of the charm and charisma that Solomon had in his pinky finger.
“I’m sorry you wasted your time, but I can’t go out to eat with you today. I have to put out this fire in North Carolina, head to my spin class, and then I have to brief Richmond on some other projects.”
Danny perched on the edge of Carmen’s desk and stared into her expressive hazel eyes. “Tell me something. Are we ever going to go out? If you’re not interested, let me know and I can stop making a fool of myself.”
Carmen patted his knee. “I’m sure you’re a nice guy, but I just don’t want to go out with you. Don’t take it personal. I hope we can be friends, but nothing more.”
Danny nodded. “I can live with that, especially since we’re going to be seeing more of each other anyway.”
“How so?” she asked.
“Solomon hired my company to run background checks on new employees and to do random background checks company wide.”
Carmen tugged at her hair. “He didn’t tell me about this.”
Danny shrugged. “Probably slipped his mind. If you have any security issues or questions you want me to take a look at, I’m going to be right down the hall.”
“Then I guess we should have lunch and talk about what you will be doing for us,” she said as he stood up. “Is one-thirty good for you?”
“I’ll check my calendar and get back to you,” he said, then headed out of her office.
Carmen was going to have to make extra nice with Danny. The last thing she needed was for that chump to uncover what she had worked so hard to hide.
Three hours after she entered the spa, Kandace stepped out feeling like a brand new woman. She would have to thank Solomon for her deluxe treatment, which included a facial, pedicure, manicure, and an appointment with the hair stylist on duty. Kandace had decided to try something new with her hair and allowed the woman to take two inches off her brown tresses. She ended up with a sleek bob that highlighted her cheekbones and almond-shaped eyes. Though she’d have to give up her trademark ponytail now, she felt as if the sophistication of the cut was worth the sacrifice.
As she walked into the lobby, the front desk clerk stopped her. “Miss Davis, we have a package for you.”
“Thank you,” Kandace said as she walked over to the desk and took the box from the clerk. She knew it was from Solomon and a part of her couldn’t wait to see what it was. Knowing him, she figured it was some skimpy piece of lingerie. And if it was, she was going to send it right back. This man just isn’t going to learn, she thought as she tucked the box under her arm and headed for the elevator. When she arrived in her room, Kandace opened the box and instead of finding a tawdry piece of lingerie, she was treated to a beautiful red dress with a matching wrap. She pulled the dress from the box and held it against her skin. The silky material flowed as she spun around.