Show Me How to Love (Caldwell Family Book 1) (12 page)

“Why don’t we get a drink and think about our next step,” Ryan said.

Her eyes snapped to him. He appeared…hopeful. In his world, ex-girlfriends didn’t harbor hard feelings for long.

“I’m not having a drink with you. In fact, now that you’ve delivered the bad news, you can leave.” She turned back to her computer.

“Mikayla, come on, baby, don’t be like that.”

Her head whipped around. “Like what, Ryan? Like the girl you cheated on, with some woman in a closet.”

He sighed. “I explained that.”

“And everything is supposed to be okay now? Well, it’s not. We are not friends. Will not be friends, and I doubt we ever really were.”

He slid forward in his chair and reached across the desk. “You know that’s not true. I don’t want there to be hard feelings between us.”

“There are no hard feelings, Ryan. You are exactly who I originally thought you were. Selfish, conceited, and not worth my time.”

His face hardened. He pulled away slowly. Her words were intentional, meant to inflict the blow, and she wouldn’t feel guilty. He’d confided about hating the way people viewed him as a rich boy with no depth.

Angelica glided to Mikayla’s door. As if sensing her man’s feelings were being hurt. Her pretty face twisted into a fierce frown when her gaze landed on Mikayla. A second later, she smiled and called to Ryan.

“My dear, isn’t it time for you to leave? We have plans.”

Ryan stared at Mikayla. She raised her chin then turned away. Without another word, he trudged across the room. Ryan’s voice, low and urgent, trailed behind as he hurried Angelica away from Mikayla’s door.

Mikayla released a shaky breath and rested her head on her hands. Damn this deal falling through. She couldn’t keep playing this back and forth game with Ryan. She could barely stand to look at him, much less watch him and Angelica fawn over each other. If the deal in Hartsville were actually falling through the repercussions would be devastating. Everything she’d strived for in her perfect life completely ruined. She wouldn’t let that happen.

She lifted her head and pushed a lock of stray hair away from her face. Now wasn’t the time for a pity party. Now was the time to find a solution. Reaching for the phone, she called her cousin, Dennis. He managed the Dalmtrix facility in Chicago and oversaw the plans for the move to South Carolina. Although Ryan had no reason to lie, she needed to find out for herself if her brilliant career move would turn into a career-killing mistake.

*

Mikayla slammed her apartment door and threw her black Kate Spade purse onto the floor. Lipstick, a calculator, mints, a pack of cigarettes and coins scattered. She stared at the pack of cigarettes in the middle. Her head ached, she had cramps, and her skin itched with the need for a nicotine fix. She snatched up the pack and step over the mess.

The phone call to Dennis confirmed some of what Ryan told her. Someone warned Dalmtrix about the landfill contamination, and though the company hadn’t originally planned to cancel the move, rumors circulated they were no longer welcome. He planned to continue to push for the move, and Mikayla hoped that her cousin’s efforts proved useful.

A small glimmer of hope at best. Ryan’s idea, that Senator Leventis no longer backed the move is what really pissed her off. The man represented the area, knew the need for a boost to the local economy, and avidly supported Dalmtrix. To find out he would flip on a decision that directly impacted his district, for no apparent reason, didn’t seem right. She wanted to believe that all politicians weren’t corrupt, but there was something wrong about the Senator’s change in plans.

Mikayla stomped into the kitchen and turned on the faucet. With one hand, she clutched the pack of cigarettes, the other filled a glass with ice from the freezer. When she made her way back to the sink the water slowly backed up instead of going down the drain.

“What…not again,” she said. Scowling, she flipped the switch for the garbage disposal. The machine gave a sorry hum. She threw down the cigarettes. “Damn.”

She turned off the water and went back into the hall to snatch up her cell phone. She made a quick call to the after-hours maintenance line and left a message.

A few seconds later her phone rang. That was quick. She glanced at the number and froze. Her heart seemed to stop, then jump back to life.

Her terrible afternoon faded with the sight of Andre’s number. “Hey you.”

“Hey you.” Andre’s deep sexy voice sent her heart rate into a frenzy. “I decided to call instead of text to see how your week went.”

She sighed heavily and slumped against the counter. “Terrible.”

“Was it that hard working with Ryan?”

“Ryan was only part of the overall crappiness that was my week. A deal I was key in getting may be falling through. I found out right before leaving work. Then I came home to a broken garbage disposal.”

“What was the deal? Maybe I can help.”

She smiled. His offer to help sent a comforting warmth through her body. “I don’t want to talk about that right now. I’m just glad today’s Friday.”

“Big plans. A hot date.”

“I wish. No just me and whatever movies I recorded on my DVR.”

“What about the disposal?”

She scowled at the water in the sink. At this rate, the water would drain by the next millennium. “Hopefully maintenance will call back tonight.”

“I’ve got one better. How about I help you out?”

She gripped the phone. Giddiness did a fairy dance across her skin. Right now she didn’t care what Ryan, Renee, or Philip Caldwell thought. She wanted to see Andre.

“You can help me from Greenville?”

Again he laughed. Again heat took over her insides. “I’m actually on my way to Columbia.”

“Why is that?”

“I’ve got some things to do at the state house next week. I’ll be in town all week. Maybe we can get together for lunch…or something.”

Her body nearly seized from the invitation in his smooth baritone. She could enjoy his company without getting wrapped up in the situation.

Yeah right.

“Lunch sounds good.”

“Only lunch?”

“Maybe some smoking cessation classes.” She laughed. Funny she hadn’t thought about smoking since getting on the phone with him.

He joined in. “I’ll stop by tonight and take a look at the garbage disposal for you.”

“I’m supposed to believe you know something about plumbing? You don’t have to pretend to work on my sink to visit.”

“For the record, I don’t need an excuse to see you. I planned to come by tonight anyway.”

His declaration froze her flirty comeback. “Why?”

There was a short pause before he answered. “I miss you.” Surprise wrapped around his voice. She missed him too.

“I’ll see you soon,” she answered, then rushed to end the call before changing her mind.

CHAPTER 13

Mikayla checked her reflection in the mirror for the third time in the hour since Andre called. She changed out of her work suit into her usual Friday night attire, pajama pants and a t-shirt. Then changed again into a pair of jeans and a long sleeve yellow V-neck shirt. Renee’s advice to always look cute had her considering changing into a flirty cream top. Her plan was to appear casual. Difficult to do when nothing about Andre coming to her apartment induced casual feelings. Instead, anticipation coursed through her body like electricity through a power line.

She checked her reflection in the mirror for the umpteenth time, and someone banged on her door. She jumped and dropped the cream top. Who in the hell would hit the door like that? Andre didn’t come across as the door pounding type.

The banging came again. Frowning, Mikayla crept from her bedroom. She grabbed the baseball bat she kept next to the door before looking through the peephole. With a sigh of relief, she unlocked and opened the door.

“What are you doing?” She asked with a laugh.

Andre grinned back. He must have come straight from the office. Beneath his dark overcoat, he wore a light blue button up shirt with white cuffs and dark blue slacks. Gold cufflinks gleamed in the cuffs of his shirt and his tie was perfectly knotted around his neck. He balanced a pizza box with DVDs on top in one hand, and several grocery bags and a small toolbox in the other.

“Sorry for banging on the door. My foot is the only thing free.” He lifted the pizza box. “I stopped for food. You said you’d come home to a broken disposal, so I assumed you didn’t have time to eat.”

She forgot how delicious his voice sounded in person, or how quickly the sound heated her blood.

Friends, just friends.

“I haven’t eaten yet.” Mikayla stepped back and let him in. “But I’m more curious if you plan to fix my disposal wearing that.”

“Kitchen?” he asked. She led the way down the hall to her kitchen where he dropped the pizza and bags on the island in the middle. “You don’t like my outfit.”

“It’s a little fancy for a plumber.”

“I left my overnight bag in the car.”

Her hand froze in the act of lifting the top of the pizza box. She turned wide eyes on him as her insides quivered. “Really?”

The corner of his mouth lifted. He pulled off his coat and hung it on the back of one of the chairs at her dining table. “I’m spending the next few days in Columbia. If I mess up this shirt, I have more.” He turned to the sink. “So what’s the issue?”

Her shoulders slumped. “Um…it’s clogged. The disposal is jammed.”

He nodded before flipping the switch. They both frowned at the humming noise. Without hesitating, he removed cufflinks and rolled up his sleeves. She watched the play of muscles. The man had fantastic arms, strong, lean, and with just enough dark hair to be sexy.

“You don’t have to do this. I’ve already called the maintenance guy. He’ll be here if not tonight then tomorrow.”

Andre turned dark eyes toward her. “You don’t think I can.”

“No…I mean…I’m sure you can. But you’re in a suit.”

“I don’t mind getting dirty. They’re only clothes. Besides, unclogging a disposal is relatively easy.”

He kneeled to look under the sink. Her mouth fell open. She’d assumed his offer to come was just an excuse to see her again. His actions were definitely not what she’d expect from the callous jerk Renee described. She dropped to her knees beside him and peered over his shoulder.

“Do you really know how to fix this?”

He unplugged the disposal. “I hear doubt in your voice.”

“I’ve never seen a corporate executive play plumber.”

Warm dark eyes turned to her, and a sexy smile spread across his full lips. “I’m not playing plumber.”

She giggled and almost rolled her eyes at her silliness. “If you permanently break my disposal I won’t balk at asking you for the money to replace it.”

“When I finish, you’ll be calling me every weekend to fix broken things around your apartment.” He stood and stuck his hand into the drain.

And that’s not all she’d be calling for.
Don’t go there, Mikayla.

He pulled pieces of the apple cores she’d shoved down the disposal that morning. Her previous thought flew out of her brain. The man couldn’t possibly think about sex as he pulled her junk from the sink. He lowered back to the floor and pulled the toolbox onto his lap.

“How did you learn to work on plumbing? Ryan never…” she let the sentence drop.

When his eyes met hers, she dropped her gaze. Not here ten minutes and out came the comparisons to Ryan.

“I’ve always been interested in how things work. When repairmen came to our house, I usually tagged along.” He removed an L shaped piece of metal, she recognized it as an Allen wrench and slid under the sink. “Some of them consider you an annoyance, but most are willing to show you what they’re doing. I picked up what I could. In college, my friend Jonathan taught me other stuff.”

He used the Allen wrench to screw something on the bottom of the disposal.

“What are you doing?”

“The blades are jammed.”

He talked about what was going on, but she didn’t hear a word he said. Instead, she focused on the way he spread one leg out, bent and swung the other back and forth while he worked. Her gaze locked on that simple movement; the muscles of Andre’s thigh bunched and flexed beneath the material of his pants. Desire slowly spread through her limbs like hot chocolate on a cold night. Seeing Andre in her kitchen, working, had her long neglected libido revving up.

She startled out of the trance when he popped up and once again stuck his hand into the sink. He pulled a few more pieces of apple from the sink before plugging up the disposal. This time when he tried the switch, the familiar whirling of the blades filled the kitchen.

Mikayla grinned from ear to ear. “You fixed it.”

He laughed. “It was simple.”

“That’s fantastic.” She flipped the switch off, then on again. “Thank you.”

She spun around and nearly collided with him. He stood close enough for the subtle scent of his cologne to reach her. Dark eyes took her breath away. The pride in his gaze from her words was evident, but something more…something hotter also flared in the obsidian depths. The air thickened with the awareness between them. Her body ached with the memory of the one kiss.

“I’ve got to do this.” His baritone hit her and knocked away all of that just friends nonsense.

“Do what?”

His dry hand lifted and cupped the side of her face. “Kiss you.” Slowly, too slowly, he brought her face to his.

Her body shuddered and his firm lips connected with hers. He didn’t hesitate to slide his tongue across her lower lip, and she swiftly let him deepen the kiss. The spark and eruption happened again. The feeling of plunging off a cliff that was both scary and exhilarating. Their tongues danced against each other, increasing her need. Mikayla clutched the front of his shirt and pressed her hips forward. He pulled her closer but not close enough. The softness of her breasts flattened against the hard surface of his chest. Her nipples, stiff and aching for attention, tingled. One of Andre’s hands plunged into her hair, the other gripped her waist.

He pulled away too quickly. His lips pressed firmly together, his nostrils flared. Andre’s short heavy breaths echoed in the room. Her fingers slowly loosened their grip on his shirt but didn’t let go. Not when she wanted to jerk him back down. She held her breath. Each pound of her heart vibrated through her body, and her sex, slick with need, pulsed in tandem.