Something to Talk About (2 page)

Adam was with a tall, equally handsome man who was also wearing a devastating smile. Adam introduced him as Bryant Porter. Michaela, who was on a mission for her sorority, boldly asked if he was available for their auction. “It’s for a wonderful cause and it’s a fun event, too,” she said persuasively.

Bryant turned his dark chocolate face with the beautiful bone structure to her and smiled with what looked like genuine regret. “Unfortunately, I live in Chicago and I’m only here on business. If my schedule weren’t so full I’d love to accommodate you. I’m sure my friend here will volunteer in my stead though,” he said with a pointed glance at Adam.

Adam shrugged eloquently. “Sure, I’ll do it
.
You know I always step up to the occasion.” He kindly ignored the indelicate snort that issued from Katina. “If you like, I can ask a couple of my associates at the firm to participate. They’d never miss an opportunity to perform a service for the community,” he said smoothly.

After he and Bryant left the ladies’ table a few minutes later, one of the women looked at Katina with an expression of total disbelief. “And you made that
gorgeous
hunk of man bring you home so you could sleep in your own bed? Girl, if that had been me, we’d still be in the woods and we’d
still
be busy. You’re not mad at him; you’re mad at yourself,
fool. And I’m not mad about the
long
hair,
either; that ponytail is
hot.”

***

After Adam and Bryant were seated in a booth, Bryant nodded toward the table of women. “Why do these organizations think that auctioning off men is a good way to raise money? There’s something really creepy about being ‘sold,’ even if it is for a good cause,” he said with a shudder.

Adam shrugged and gave an expression of indifference. “Yeah, it’s kinda whacked in a way, but I never pay it any attention. Some women go crazy for it and they do make a lot of money every year. Me, I go along with it. I get Alicia to bid on me with my money and get me outta there before any real damage is done.”

Bryant raised his eyebrows and smiled. Alicia Fuentes was a topic of interest with him. As all three of them were architects, they’d met often over the years, usually at conferences. The reason
Bryant was in Detroit was the annual Midwestern Conference of African-American Architects and Urban Planners. After the conference ended, Bryant had offered to take Adam and Alicia to dinner to repay their hospitality, as they had hosted him earlier in the week. But that wasn’t the only reason; he wanted to get to know Alicia better. Alicia was brilliant, attractive, and single, and Bryant was quite taken with her. Now he was reconsidering his interest because if he wasn’t mistaken, someone else was rather taken with her, too, and the person was sitting across the table from him.

Suddenly Adam rose from his seat, just as Alicia reached their booth. He stepped aside to allow her to enter and made sure she was comfortable before resuming his place. Alicia flashed her usual bright smile and greeted the two men. “Sorry I’m late, but I had to pick up the kids from daycare and drop them at my parents’ house. Have you ordered yet?”

Bryant reached for her hand acros
s the table and squeezed it gentl
y.
“Absolutely not.
We just got seated a few minutes ago. We ordered drinks, but nothing else. You’re really not late at all,” he said. He looked her over thoroughly, enjoying the intelligence in her long-lashed eyes. “I didn’t know you had children,” he added.

Alicia returned the squeeze with a friendly one of her one, and then
discreetly
took back her hand. “I don’t have children, yet. I was referring to my niece and nephew. I live with my sister and we share a lot of carpooling duties,” she said as she rapidly skimmed the menu.

Adam hadn’t said a word; he was merely observing his dining companions with a neutral expression. Alicia was her usual charming self, understated but beautiful. Her deep bronze complexion was rosy from the cold
early spring
weather, her shining black hair was in its us
ual long braid, and she was neatl
y but casually attired in khaki slacks, a ribbed silk pullover sweater, and
a nicely
tailored wool sport coat. She had no idea of the effect she had on men. Alicia never seemed to notice when one was drooling all over her, and Bryant was doing just that
.
For reasons he wasn’t willing to examine closely, Bryant’s attention to Alicia was getting on Adam’s last nerve. Adam was the coolest, calmest, and most self-possessed of all the men in his family, but something about the way Bryant was looking at Alicia was annoying in the extreme. The caress of Alicia’s familiar fragrance, coupled with the warmth of her body, created a warm aura from which he was loathe to emerge, but Bryant’s constant attention to his partner was jarring him out of his newly found comfort.

The drinks arrived, and Alicia beamed when she saw that Adam had ordered he
r favorite libation, a
mojito
, the
rum cocktail that originated in Cuba. The server asked if they were ready to order and Alicia was the first to respond.

“Absolutely.
I’d like a cup of French onion soup, the petite filet mignon, medium rare, and the steamed vegetables. And may I have extra vegetables instead of a potato? What’s the house dressing?” she asked, looking up at their server. Upon hearing that is was a creamy Caesar, she replied, “Okay, that’s fine, I’ll have that, please, but I’d like my salad after my entree, and yes, I will be having dessert if you have blueberry pie and vanilla ice cream.” She handed her menu to the server. When he told her they did indeed have the pie, she smiled in delight, which charmed Bryant.

“Alicia, I have to confess, I love watching you eat,” he drawled. “There’s something profoundly sensual about watching a beautiful woman enjoying the pleasure of a good meal, and you, my dear, have perfected the art. I love watching those lips in action.”

Alicia’s eyes crinkled in a smile and she responded cheerfully, “Well, you’ll get plenty of opportunity to watch since I never seem to stop eating, do I, Adam?”

Adam took a deep swallow of his scotch before answering, and when he did it was more of a grunt than actual words. He’d never told anyone before, but he loved to watch Alicia eat
,
too. Her eyes always lit up when she was about to consume something wonderful and she had a habit of giving her bottom lip a dainty little lick before she took her first bite. Then she would issue a heartfelt sigh of repletion and close her eyes in bliss as she savored the morsel. Alicia had really sexy lips, lips that were big and moist and prettily shaped, and the way she used that mouth in eating was, well,
arousing,
that was the only way to describe it. Adam got a secret thrill whenever they ate together. But being her mealtime
voyeur, that
was
his
thing, something between him and Alicia alone. And that bigheaded, grinning baboon had somehow stumbled onto his private fantasy. Adam abruptly excused himself and left the table.
 
Something was going on in his head and his heart that was becoming more and more difficult to handle. He and Alicia had been best friends and business partners for over ten years, and somewhere along the line, Adam had crossed the line of friendship. But what was he venturing into?

Alicia took a good long look at Bryant as she sipped her smooth, icy cold
mojito
. She didn’t drink often, but she loved the taste of the Cuban rum cocktail. And she didn’t see Bryant Porter often, but she always liked what she saw. He was an intriguing and personable man. And unattached, which was a total puzzle to her. As she often did, Alicia spoke before she thought.

“Bryant, you’re one of the nicest people I’ve ever met
Why
aren’t you married? Are the women in Chicago just nuts or what?” she asked curiously.

Bryant laughed out loud, a deep, sexy, belly laugh. “Well, thanks for the compliment, but I might ask you the same thing about the men in Detroit. How have you managed to evade matrimony? You’re gorgeous, smart, funny, and down-to-earth. Why has no man snatched you up?”

Alicia twisted her face in a halfhearted imitation of a smile. “I can cook, too,” she said wanly. “And I’m not as, umm,
irresistible
as you might imagine. I was engaged once, to my college sweetheart, as a matter of fact. We were going to get married right after I finished grad school.”

Bryant could sense her withdrawal and probed gently. “What happened, Alicia?”

“Oh, the usual.
I was extremely busy with a dual program of architectural design and urban planning. One of them is bad enough, but combined it makes for the program from hell. I was studying and working on projects almost tw
enty-four-seven,” she said quietl
y.

“Well, sure, that’s to be expected. So what became of the
fiance
?”

“He decided I wasn’t giving him enough attention and he found someone else who would,” she said simply. “And that’s my sad story. What’s yours?”

“Well, I was married for a while, I have two beautiful children,” Bryant told her while admiring the slight slant of her big eyes. “
Apparendy
my wife was feeling unfulfilled and neglected too, although I wish she’d let me know about it before she found a lover.”

“Wow. I’m sorry I asked. I wasn’t trying to get in your business,” Alicia began.

Bryant waved away her apology. “It’s ancient history,” he said easily. “I don’t want you to think it didn’t hurt because it did; it hurt like the devil. That’s a blow to the heart and the ego that’s almost unbearable, but you know about that, don’t you?”

Alicia nodded in agreement. “You’re right about that
It’s
painful and miserable and depressing. But you get over it eventually. I have to tell you, though; your wife was a big fool. As wonderful as you are, I don’t know how she could turn her back on you.”

She took in his per-
fecdy
smooth ebony complexion, his deep dimples, his straight white teeth outlined by his impeccably groomed moustache and goatee, the whole package set off by a small gold hoop earring. Once again her well-known candor kicked in before she realized what she was saying.

“So why hasn’t some lucky woman snatched you up? I can’t believe someone as handsome and talented and successful as you isn’t taken.”
 
Her remark earned another shout of laughter from Bryant.

“Alicia, you’re so good for my
egol
I’d take you back to Chicago with me, but I don’t think your partner would like that at all,” he said with a knowing smile.

“Oh, I think you’re right,” she agreed. “We have so
many projects going, if I was to leave town he’d be a little bit perturbed.”

It was Bryant’s turn to study her face; he admired her silky skin unadorned by makeup, her high cheekbones, and her wonderfully sensual mouth. He was starting to wonder what that mouth would feel like on his when Adam returned to the table. Adam gave him a quick look without speaking, a look that most people would have missed. It was just a flash, something that could have been dismissed as imagination, but Bryant was wise enough to read the signal and Adam was telling him in no uncertain terms to step off.
 
Adroitly changing the subject, Bryant announced that he would be spending a lot more time in Detroit

“I was asked to teach a course at Wayne State this summer, so I guess we’ll be seeing a lot of each other for a while.”

Alicia was enthusiastic in her response, which made up for the total silence from Adam. “Bryant, that’s wonderful. This’ll be great, there’s a lot to do in Detroit in the summertime, and you’ll really enjoy it. Will you be here on the weekends, too?”

“Probably some of them, but I’ll be going back to Chicago as much as possible to spend time with my kids. I can’t stand being away from them. It’s hard enough not seeing them every day,” Bryant said solemnly.

Alicia patted his hand comfortingly. “That’s only natural. Maybe they can come to see you sometime. Adam has a ton of nieces and nephews they can play with; they’d have a ball.”

Bryant’s sexy mouth turned up in another huge smile. “That’s a great idea, Alicia. I have a feeling that this is going to work out just fine, once I have a place to stay.” What Adam thought of the situation was an entirely different matter.

Chapter Two

After following Alicia home to make sure she arrived there safely, Adam drove around aimlessly for a while. Alicia always insisted there was no need to follow her home; she thought he was being needlessly protective.
Adam would let her say her littl
e piece, and then he’d calmly follow her
snazzy green
Mini Cooper
with the black and white trim
to the condo where she lived with her sister, Marielle. He would wait until she had closed the door and turned the outside light off and on, the signal they’d established over the years. Nothing was ever going to happen to Alicia as long as he was alive to protect her. Besides being his partner in their very successf
ul
firm, she was his best friend and companion. He couldn’t imagine living without her in his life, although lately he was imagining a lot more.
 
He couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment when he accepted the fact that his platonic love for her was turning into something else, but he could remember three specific instances that had occurred in the last six months that had started his mind working in an unf
amiliar
manner.