Curtis (4 page)

They were both breathing heavily. She
could barely manage to catch her breath again when he spoke. Her hand was
connecting with his cheek so quickly that she barely realized it was her. But a
man did not tell a woman he was sorry after devastating her like he had.

Then without a word, he was gone. She
couldn’t move. Couldn’t think beyond he’d kissed her and she’d slapped him. When
Daniel touched her shoulder she’d done the most incredibly stupid thing and
burst into tears. The one man she’d loved forever held her while she sobbed and
he suddenly wasn’t what her body hummed for.

Her doorbell rang as she pulled her wrap
off the hanger. She was late. And she hoped that whoever was at the door was here
to help her zip her dress and not yell at her. She was sure it was going to be
Curtis and he was going to have a whip in his hand ready to… She wasn’t sure
what he’d be doing at her apartment, but she opened the door anyway. She almost
choked on disappointment when it was Daniel.

If he noticed her look he was polite
enough not to say anything. “You look lovely. But I’m thinking…do you need
help?”

“Yes, please. I’m running behind again. And
now my limo is going to cost me more and then there is—” She slapped her hand
over her mouth. She’d just blurted out part of their secret.

But again Daniel was too polite to
mention it. After she turned for him he pulled the zipper up only having it
catch once. His fingers grazed her skin and she shivered. It was nothing like
when Curtis had—

She turned to him smiling, then she
frowned. “What are you doing here? I thought I told you I had a date with my
dad.” He reached for her wrap and she allowed him to put it over her shoulders.
“Daniel, what’s going on?”

“Your dad called me. He said that he’d
broken a button off his jacket and the neighbor was sewing it on. Instead of
making you both late, he asked if I could pick you up since my date bailed on
me at the last minute. I told him that I would bring you and he’d ride in
later.” He put out his arm for her to take. “Ready?”

The ride over was spent with the two of
them talking. He never mentioned Curtis and neither did she. Nor did he bring
up the file. She was glad and hadn’t realized until that second she’d needed
this more than she’d thought. He smiled at her when the limo stopped, but made
no move to get out when the door opened.

“Curtis is going to be here tonight. Are
you going to be all right with that?” She looked at the open door. “Kylie, what
is the relationship between you two?”

That startled her. “We don’t have…he
kissed me, that’s all. And then I slapped him. End of story. And even if things
were different, you know as well as I do that I’m not his usual type.”

Daniel nodded. Actually, Kylie had no
idea what anyone’s type was, but Daniel didn’t seem to know that. She’d been
gone until last month and now this.

“I’d like to see you. I know that we’ll
be working together on this project, but I’d very much like to take you out.”
Her heart flipped at his words. “You don’t have to answer me now, but let me
know.”

She watched as he disappeared out of the
limo and then reached back for her hand. She let him pull her out and then
stood next to him as cameras went off all around them. She smiled, letting the
moment take her. She finally had her dream man in her arms and nothing would
spoil it.

~~~

Curtis stood at the bar and watched them
come in. He had already explained to his mother what he’d done and what he was
going to do about it. She wasn’t any happier about it than he was.

“You kissed her. Why?” He didn’t answer,
not that it mattered. “What does Daniel think? That girl has been in love with
him for nearly all her young life.”

“I know that. Da…darn it, Mom, why do
you think…I’m not going to go tonight. I would embarrass her.” He didn’t add
that he’d be hard pressed not to throw her over his shoulder and take her home
with him. “I don’t think we’ll be able to come to an agreement if I make her
too mad at me.”

“You’ll be there, young man, or you’ll
answer to me. And you’re going to be nice to her. I don’t care if it kills you.”
He thought it might. “And you’ll not make Daniel mad either. He might want to
settle down with this girl.”

That statement was why he was hanging
around at the bar listening to the mayor go on about pre-election planning and
whatever else spewed from his mouth. When Daniel pulled the chair out for
Kylie, Curtis excused himself and stepped outside at the back of the building. He
nearly turned and went back when he saw Kylie’s father, Jon Washington, standing
there.

“Hello, Mr. Washington,” Curtis said
when the man caught him. “It’s a little stuffy in there right now until
everyone gets seated.” He was babbling. He snapped his mouth closed and looked
out across the lake that butted nearly up against the building. To the left of
them was a beautiful eighteen hole golf course and to the right, the slightly
smaller building that the city used for other functions. This building would
hold more than a thousand and it looked like it was nearly at capacity.

“It is. I don’t care for these things
anyway. Had to have your brother pick up Kylie so that I could get myself
together a little more. Been years since I had to tux it up.” He ran his hand
down his jacket and fussed with a bit of lint. “My Betty used to love these
things.”

Curtis nodded. He remembered her, but
not well. She’d died when Kylie had been about five or six. He turned to see
Royce come out and nearly groaned. He had the look of a man who wanted answers.

“I’ve been looking for you.” Royce
directed his statement to both of them. “I was wondering if you’ve given any
thought to what we’ve proposed.”

“No, not really. I’ve been…I turned it
all over to Kylie yesterday. She has all the information that you asked for. I
understand that Daniel is going to be taking over from now on.” Royce gave him
a questioning look. “I hope you don’t mind, but, well, I don’t have the heart
for it anymore. I’ve been a fool and now… well, now I just don’t know what to
do.”

A few minutes later Jon entered the
party and, before Curtis could sneak in behind him, Royce stopped him. This was
not going to go well he knew. His temper was getting the better of him and he
didn’t want to be nice to anyone right now.

“Don’t.” Royce looked at him harder. “I
mean it, Royce. I’m in no mood to explain things to you and I certainly don’t
want to be around people right now.”

“Mom said you’d kissed Kylie.” That
surprised Curtis though he wasn’t sure why. They weren’t a family that kept
secrets well. “Feel like explaining that?”

“Nope.” He moved toward the door again. “Daniel
can handle the situation and I’m going out of the country until next month. I
want to be there to make sure the new building we put up in Europe finishes on
time.” He didn’t have to be. They had the right people in the right jobs. And
he knew that when he went he’d more than likely be miserable as well as pissy. Which
was fine by him. He was tired of being the nice guy.

The family table was crowded. There were
several men standing and more sitting in the chairs around it. He saw his mom
talking to the mayor as well as a few others from the state office there. Daniel
nor Kylie were around so he grabbed a chair when someone stood and ordered a
drink.

“You still pouting?” He looked over at
Kasey. “You’ve been in a nasty funk all day, and yesterday too. Is it because
your brother got the job?” He didn’t know what she was talking about and asked.
“Royce managed to get that job in the governor’s office. It’s only a part-time
thing but he seems to be excited. I thought you were going to try for it.”

“I decided that I didn’t want the
headache right now. I told Royce last week.” He was glad now that he’d made
that decision. “I’m going to Europe on Monday. I was wondering if I could have
some little kiddy time before I left.”

He watched little Lee, Royce and Kasey’s
son, a couple hours a week. Kasey got some free time with her aunt Suzy and he
got to play with the little guy. He was nearly six months old now.

The meeting/dinner was called to order
and he was relieved to see that Daniel and Kylie weren’t sitting with them. He
was just getting relaxed when he noticed them coming toward them. Daniel was
touching her back and guiding her to the table when he saw her stiffen. It was
all he could do not go simply leave.

“Hello, everyone. I hope you don’t mind,
but Kylie’s table has been over filled. Mr. Taylor brought his wife and
girlfriend. I think we might be safer over here. And I suppose being a tad late
didn’t help. Kylie had some zipper problems and I had to help her with it.” Daniel
winked at him and sat her next to him as he sat on her other side. This was
going to be a very long night.

“My goodness, Kylie, that dress is
stunning. Where on earth did you get it?” Kasey kicked him under the table and
he winced.
What the hell was that for?
“Don’t you think it’s a lovely
dress, Curtis?”

He looked at the dress in question. He
did. And if the amount of drool he’d been wiping off his chin was any indicator
he’d be dehydrated for a month. He tried to think of something to say that didn’t
start with “I want to see it off you” and end with him in prison for killing
the first man who looked at her. He looked at Kasey then back at Kylie. He was
clueless and he… “It’s very pretty. It fits you nicely.”

And it did too. The thing looked like it
had been molded over her body and then tightened just a little bit more. Her
hair was down, a riot of curls that hung to her hips and made him want to ask
her to turn so that he could see what she was hiding beneath it. But the front
of the dress was what he was amazed by.

Black silk and pearls. The bodice held
her so lovingly that he found himself jealous of the material. He could see her
breasts as they overfilled the cups, and the lace that covered them did nothing
but make him want to rip it from her. The long skirt flared slightly and the
long slit up her leg gave him a view of her long, luscious leg every time she
took a step. He was kicked again when he realized he was staring.

“Thank you, Mr. Hunter.” That hurt,
though he was sure he deserved it. “I wasn’t sure if it would be too light
since it has gotten so cold.”

Cold? Hardly. Especially sitting here
with her. Curtis tried to think what the hell was wrong with him. He’d seen
beautiful women before. Dated a lot of them because of events like this. He’d
kissed a great number of them as well. But this woman, after one kiss, had
gotten him so churned up that he wasn’t sure what to do. He shifted in his
chair again and looked at the now empty plate in front of him. Christ, had
someone taken his food?

Everyone was still talking and some were
finished as well. He was glad. He hoped that he’d at least chewed with his
mouth closed. Looking up, he watched Kylie place  a bite of potato into her
mouth. Her lips curled around the fork and then her jaw moved in motion. He’d felt
that mouth under his. And wanted to feel it move over his—

“I said, why don’t you ask Kylie to
dance?” He looked at Daniel and decided then and there the man was going to be
killed tonight. “I have to go and meet with the mayor about that building they’re
selling off and Kylie wants to dance.”

He looked at her and she shook her head.
“No, that’s not…I mean, I can wait until you get back. I don’t want…need to
dance with Curtis, Mr. Hunter. It’ll be fine.”

He stood up. “I’d love to dance with
you.” He walked around the table and pulled her chair back. “Come on, I promise
not to step on your toes.”

He was pissed that she’d not wanted to
dance with him. He didn’t particularly want to dance with her either, but that
wasn’t the point. The space  where the band had been set up was across the room
and Curtis walked behind her just so he could see her ass sway. He was going to
pay for this and he just knew it.

Chapter 4

“What are you doing?” Daniel looked over
at his mom. “You know that they had a fight yesterday and I’m reasonably sure
that they haven’t resolved anything. Why would you force them together?”

He grinned and watched Curtis walk
behind Kylie. The man had it bad. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mother
dear. I simply asked my brother to dance with my date.”

“That’s another thing. Since when do
you… Why you sly devil, you. You did this on…when did you figure it out?”

He looked at his mom again before
answering. “When I was in Curtis’ office yesterday. It wasn’t until she slapped
him that I realized that they were perfect for each other. You should have seen
them together. Combustible.” He took her hand into his and kissed the back of
it. “If I make this work, will you leave me alone in your match-making ideas?”

“I most certainly do not know what you’re
going on about.” She flushed and he knew he had her. “Besides, they’re only
dancing. I wouldn’t be crowing just yet.”

Daniel spent nearly two hours on his
plan. First was to get them together alone. Well, that had been a bust tonight,
but the night was still young. And he’d make his brother jealous. In this case,
more jealous. He’d seen the way Curtis had watched her every move. And Kylie
wasn’t much better. He’d nearly fallen off his chair when she called him Mr.
Hunter.