In The Moment

In The Moment

Published by Vallory Vance at
Smashwords

Copyright 2012 Vallory
Vance

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Cover designed by Tatiana
Vila

Kevin slowed the truck to a crawl in
the late afternoon traffic jam that was downtown Fort Worth, Texas.
He looked from his left to his right mirror. There was no place to
move. He could only wait and fume. He reached for the cigarettes
that were no longer there.

“Why would anyone want to meet at five
on a Friday?” Ronald, Kevin’s foreman, groaned and banged his hand
against the window.

Kevin breathed in heavily through his
nose and exhaled loudly through his mouth. “This woman is off her
fucking rocker.” Though his only interaction with Amber Grayson was
a series of telephone meetings, she had managed to make him
consider smoking after two years.

Paul Bingham, senior partner of Bingham
and Pratt Law Offices, had hired Kevin and his renovation company,
Another Time, to turn a crumbling turn of the century estate into
the headquarters for the old man’s pet project. Paul Bingham wanted
to gift art and music education to the underprivileged children of
the DFW metroplex.

The bid had been a lark. Kevin was sure
that the project would go to one of the more well-connected and
larger companies. When Amber Grayson had called saying that their
bid had been accepted, he and Ronald had been ecstatic. This would
be their largest project in the company’s two year
history.

Then he had had to deal with endless
pre-meetings to discuss wall color and landscaping. When Kevin
reminded Amber that Another Time renovated properties and that he
was neither an interior designer nor a landscaper, she had laughed.
She insisted that he attend every call so that everyone was “on the
same page”.

Ronald had calmed him down saying that
once they got these big projects they would have to put up with
more crap. She had really pissed him off when she was a no show for
the first face to face meeting and then scheduled this walk-through
on a Friday afternoon.

He and Ronald had decided that either
Bingham was banging or wanted to bang his pushy office manager and
given her the title of project manager as a lover’s
gift.

They finally pulled into the driveway
of the estate. A very tall Black woman in a black suit and a
shorter blonde in a blue suit stood on the front steps. They both
smiled and waved at the sight of the oncoming truck. Kevin looked
at the petite blonde and glanced at Ronald. “He’s fucking
her.”

They laughed and walked up the steps to
greet the women.

The tall Black woman extended
her hand, “I’m Amber Grayson. Thank you so much for meeting us
today.” Kevin shook her hand and looked in Ronald’s direction to
see if he was surprised. As Ronald shook her hand, Kevin saw his
mouth hang slightly open.
Yep, he was
surprised too
.

“This is Lilly Williams, my
assistant.”

“I’ve talked to y’all on the phone.”
The southern voice was familiar to Kevin as the one that
rescheduled the meeting. He nodded his head and snuck another
glance at Ronald with a grin.

“Well, let’s get going ladies.” He held
his hands up for Amber to lead the way, which she did
immediately.

As the group ambled up the three steps
to the porch, Amber rattled off details and Lily held up the artist
renderings on her e-tablet for them to see. They moved through each
room of the house like that, Amber talking, Lilly holding up
drawings and Kevin and Ronald following and
half-listening.

When they reached the front porch
again, Kevin was tired of hearing Amber talk but he could have
followed her anywhere. She had taken her jacket off inside the hot
house to reveal a sleeveless top that hugged her breasts. Without
the jacket, her plump ass could be seen clearly, pressing against
the pants of her suit.

“So can it be done, Mr. Miller?” She
looked at him, flipping her long brown hair over her
shoulder.

“Yeah, we can do it.” He wasn’t exactly
sure what he was agreeing to and slapped Ronald on the arm for
support.

Ronald nodded his round head. “We can
do it.”

Because of his short stature, Ronald’s
eyes were level with and locked on Amber’s breasts. Kevin slapped
his friend’s arm again. “Umm…I love the ideas and we’re going to
make it work.” Ronald stared at the ground, color rising in his
light brown skin.

She must be used to men staring at her
chest and continued as if she hadn’t noticed anything. “Thank you
gentlemen and I will be here on Monday for the start of the day and
I’ll be able to provide you with the conference schedule for the
next few months. Lilly, am I missing anything?”

“You have a meeting with the architects
on Monday morning and probably won’t be here until the end of the
day.” Lilly grinned up at Amber.

“Oh, she keeps me on my toes!
Thank you.” Amber patted the girl on the arm. Lilly practically
beamed. “Gentlemen, I will see you at the
end
of the work day.”

After their good-byes, Kevin and Ronald
got into the truck and followed the ladies around the circular
driveway to the intersection. Once their car was out of sight,
Ronald rapped his fist on the dashboard. “Whooo…Sister is
fine…fiiiine! I mean she got junk in the trunk, up front, coming
out the sides! Mercy.”

Kevin laughed barely able to hold the
steering wheel. “Man, if you didn’t stop staring at that woman’s
chest…”

“Kev, I caught you looking too. Don’t
lie.”

“But I’m tall enough to pull that shit
off. You’re five seven. You got to look up when you’re talking to
her.” Kevin was able to stop laughing and said in a serious tone,
“Ronald, this woman is our boss for the next few months and you’re
married.”

Ronald eased down into the seat and
slapped his hand to his forehead. “Aw man, I’m just
looking.”

Kevin thought of the tall Amber in her
conservative black suit and the glimpse of her body that he had
seen underneath. “Um, she is hot. Do you think that old man’s
fucking her?”

“If he is, I ain’t mad.” Ronald pulled
out his phone and started pressing keys.

Kevin reached for the cigarettes, the
image of Amber’s pink top straining against the curves of her
breasts foremost in his mind.

~~~

Ronald had suggested an evening of
strip clubs and steak with the crew. Kevin had declined. Whenever,
he had to live on-site for a job, he spent the first night making
the space comfortable for working. As the owner, his business came
first. After the first few weeks, he would be able to relax and
join the guys for a night out.

As he exported his contact listing from
his phone to his back-up laptop, he saw the name Amber Grayson
flash across the screen. She had given him her personal cell for
anything that might come up during the project.

Well, he wasn’t convinced that an open
art space on the second floor would pass final inspection. He
waited for the export to finish and called her.

She answered after a few rings, “Mr.
Miller?”

“Please call me Kevin.” He rushed on,
“I had some questions about the art gallery on the second floor and
wanted to know if we could meet to discuss them.”

“Ahh…Actually I’m free this evening if
you are.”

“Sure…sure, would you like to meet for
dinner? There’s a nice steak house next to the hotel.”

“I’m not a fan of steak, but I’m sure
they’ll have fish. What time?”

He rolled his eyes. “In an hour.” He
gave her the address and clicked the phone off. He quickly called
hotel’s front desk and was assured that reservations would be made
under his name.

He headed into the shower.

~~~

Amber glanced around the crowded
restaurant waiting to approach the inundated hostess. She blamed
her presence in the steak house and her fascination with Kevin
Miller on Hollywood. Cowboys in movies were always sexy, strong men
who loved their women fiercely. He definitely looked like he had
stepped off the range and right into her personal cowboy
fantasy.

For the afternoon meeting, he had worn
a blue button-up shirt, worn jeans and a pair of dark brown cowboy
boots. The only things missing were spurs, a cowboy hat and a
‘thanks, ma’am’ thrown around for good measure.

After having been cooped up in her home
for months mourning her failed engagement with Harold and working
out like a mad woman, the thought of relieving stress with Kevin
instead of her elliptical machine thrilled her. Of course, she knew
that she couldn’t ever live out her fantasy with the real life
cowboy. Kevin was technically her employee for the next several
months and she doubted that cowboys ventured outside of their race
for rolls in the hay.

Still she had chosen a blouse with a
dangerously low neckline and a fitted black skirt that showed her
curves. She was proud of the body that had emerged during her
self-imposed exile. She had joined a volleyball league, regaining
her passion for the sport and was eating healthier.

The result was a trim body, smooth skin
and the longest hair that she had ever had in her life. Giving up
cheesecake hadn’t been easy but it was worth it as she noticed a
long glance from a cute guy at the bar.

“Friend of yours?” A deep voice sounded
behind her.

She turned and flashed a broad smile,
feeling warmth in her cheeks. Luckily, she was dark enough not to
blush. She shook her head. “No. No. Did you already get a
table?”

“Right this way.” He placed his hand on
the small of her back and guided her to a table overlooking a
lighted pond. He held her chair out for her and she sat
down.

Amber flipped her hair back. While it
was easy to maintain as a straight cut, her hair tended to clump on
one side her head and she had to move it at times. “This is
beautiful.” She said pointing toward the pond.

“Yeah.”

Amber turned to see that his eyes were
focused on the front of her blouse and not the scenery. She clasped
her hands in front of her chest, bringing his eyes to hers. “So
what’s the problem with the gallery?”

“Can’t we order first?” He motioned for
someone behind her. “So we won’t be disturbed.” His light brown
eyes twinkled.

A server appeared before she could
respond to him. “Ummm, I’ll just have water to start. I haven’t
looked at the menu.”

“It’s a steak place. They have steak.”
He grinned at her.

“I’m not in the mood for steak. I told
you that.” She looked up at the server. “I’ll need a minute before
I order.”

“Bring me a bottled beer, your choice.”
The server retreated with a nod.

Amber perused the menu. When she
glanced up she saw that Kevin was staring at her. “Can I help
you?”

“Just trying to figure out what you
hope to find at a steak restaurant if you’re not eating steak.” He
chuckled.

Amber closed the menu and placed it on
the table. “I know what I want.” She tried to keep from smiling at
his handsome features set in an amused expression. She turned her
attention to the pond again.

Within moments, the server appeared and
she ordered grilled tilapia with broccoli. “Is the broccoli cooked
in butter?”

“No, ma’am.” The server shook his head
and turned to Kevin.

“Well, I’ll take her butter and a
porterhouse, medium rare. Give me a baked potato with sour cream,
cheddar cheese and bacon.”

“I can hear his arteries hardening as
he’s ordering, can’t you?” Amber looked up at the young server with
a grin.