Spontaneous (5 page)

“I guess we’ll have to wait on Sherri and Terrence.”

He glanced back at her. “Wait on them for what?”

She smiled. “Babies. I’ll be godmother to any baby they have. That’s a given.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “Is it?”

“Yes.”

And any baby his brother and sister-in-law produced would make him an uncle.
Uncle Duan.
He liked the sound of that, but he wasn’t so sure it would be Terrence
and Sherri who would be bestowing the honor upon him first. For some reason, he had a feeling it would be Reggie and Libby.

Deciding to change the subject to the one they needed to discuss, he asked, “How are things with your mother?”

The face she made told him the answer before she opened her mouth to say anything. “Basically the same. I’ve talked to her twice this week and at least she’s agreed not to do anything rash about her marital status until after I get there.”

“When are you leaving?”

“Friday, and I plan to be there for a week. That will give me a few days to spend with her and to get to know the man she wants to marry.”

He nodded. “And are you still contemplating taking a fake fiancé with you?”

She tilted her head back and met his gaze. “It depends.”

He lifted a brow. “On what?”

“On whether or not you were serious about going with me.”

T
HERE, SHE’D SAID IT
and now she was trying to decipher his response, Kim thought, studying Duan. She had been tempted to bring up the subject all morning but hadn’t known how to.

Although he’d made the offer last weekend, it had been post-sex, when they’d still been caught up in the
hot time they’d shared in her hotel room. When she’d played the offer over and over in her mind this week, she’d tried to convince herself that he had been serious, but she wasn’t so sure. This was one way to find out for certain.

He placed his fishing pole aside and leaned over her. “Then I guess I just became your pretend fiancé since I was dead serious, Kim.”

She swallowed. He was giving her
that
look. “You do know what that will mean when it comes to my mother and aunt, don’t you? They will be asking you questions, trying to pin us down to a wedding date and all that stuff. It won’t be easy.”

He shrugged. “And it won’t be hard. You tell me what to say and I’ll say it.”

She tilted her head and continued to hold his gaze. “And just what will you get out of this?”

A smile touched his lips and that smile made sensations flutter all through her. “I’m surprised that you would ask me that, especially after last weekend and this morning,” he said in a throaty voice. “But just in case you don’t have a clue, let me break it down to you.” He leaned closer. “I’ll be getting you, Kimani. I like kissing you. I enjoy having sex with you.”

His smile widened as he added, “Um, I
especially
like having sex with you.”

She couldn’t help noticing he’d specifically pointed out they’d had sex and not made love. Why did his description of what they’d done bother her, when the same
terminology from any other man would not have? She pushed the thought from her mind and wriggled up to wrap her arms around his neck. Looking up at him, she smiled. “Then I guess we are officially pretend engaged.”

“D
UAN ACTUALLY VOLUNTEERED
to go to Shreveport and pretend to be your fiancé?” Sherri asked Kim a few days later. Terrence had left their hotel room to grab them breakfast and she’d taken the time to give Kim a call.

“Yes, can you believe my luck? Seeing me with him will satisfy Aunt Gert I’ve got a man.”

“Is there something you aren’t telling me about you and Duan, Kim? Sounds serious.”

Kim chuckled. She knew just what Sherri was hinting at. “Not serious, just sexual. I don’t do serious, Sherri. You of all people know that. And Duan isn’t looking for anything serious, either. It’s the perfect arrangement.”

Before her best friend could ask her any more questions, Kim quickly said, “Now hang up the phone before your husband returns. You
are
on your honeymoon, you know.”

“I know, and I am so happy I have to pinch myself to make sure it’s real.”

Kim could hear the sheer contentment in Sherri’s voice. She laughed. “Why pinch yourself? Just look at the size of that rock on your hand if you have any doubt.”

Moments later, she hung up the phone and glanced across the room at her packed luggage. She would be flying out of the Keys in a few hours and would catch a connecting flight in Atlanta, where Duan would be joining her to continue on to Shreveport.

Strolling from the living room to the kitchen, she couldn’t help but smile when she glanced over at her table. She was consumed with memories every time she walked past it. Even now her mind was filled with memories of their lovemaking on Terrence’s boat. To be totally honest, there wasn’t a single night since the wedding that she hadn’t thought about all the lovemaking she and Duan had done.

He was definitely a man who knew how to have a good time and she remembered how quickly she had slid her bikini bottoms down her legs and untied her top. It hadn’t taken Duan any time at all to remove his swimming trunks, and using the rocking motion of the boat on the water, they had taken each other hard, fast and often.

And they would be back together again for a third weekend. She shouldn’t, but she was beginning to consider him as her weekend lover, and his ability to turn any fantasy she’d ever had into reality was simply amazing.

Kim glanced at her watch. It was time to begin loading her luggage in the car. As she headed up the stairs she couldn’t squash her anticipation at the thought that in a few hours she would be seeing Duan again.

D
UAN PULLED INTO
the airport parking lot and then into the space his car would occupy for the next ten days. He patted the pocket of his shirt to make sure the ring he’d slid inside was still there. He had volunteered to come up with an engagement ring and thought the one he already had in his possession was perfect. It was the ring his grandmother had left him to present to the woman he would one day marry. When he’d mentioned it to Kim, she’d thought using that ring was a good idea, as well.

He had to remind himself that the ring’s purpose was twofold. First, it was personal since he was helping out a woman he’d come to consider a friend. It was also business, in that he hoped to determine if Edward Villarosas was guilty of murder.

The Atlanta police department had agreed to reopen the two cases and was putting together a list of family and friends that would be interviewed again. According
to the cold case file, wife number one hadn’t returned home from what should have been a weekend trip to Orlando with her two girlfriends ten years ago.

The other women acknowledged that Mandy Villarosas had been acting strange and had left their hotel room right after breakfast, saying she was meeting someone. When she hadn’t returned for lunch, they’d begun to worry and had called Edward, who’d encouraged them to notify the police.

The other women claimed they had no idea who Mandy was supposed to meet, but indicated there had been a man in a club the night before who Mandy had been flirting with. Two years later, Villarosas had divorced his wife on grounds of desertion, and a year after that, he remarried.

He and Sandra Villarosas had been married two years when he’d reported her missing. She hadn’t shown up for work and one of her coworkers had gotten concerned. Edward was out of town on a fishing trip in Florida with friends and had left two days before. In fact, Sandra was the one who had taken him to the airport. Several witnesses verified that, and also the fact she had been seen around town afterward.

Neither woman had been heard from since, and Edward’s alibis were verified by family and friends.

Duan walked inside the airport terminal, which was busy as usual. Any other day he might have wished he were someplace else, even in his office totally absorbed in another case. But not today.

If Kim’s flight left on time she would be here in less than an hour. It had been five days since they’d been together and he was anxious to see her again. With that admission, he felt a punch to his stomach and something close to panic. He was reminded that the last thing he needed to do was get wrapped up with any woman. Women, he knew for a fact, had the ability to wrap a man around their finger, then walk away and not look back.

Instead he switched his thoughts from Kim to the real purpose of this trip. Edward Villarosas. Going to Shreveport to meet Kim’s family would afford him the opportunity of being in the man’s company for almost a week, and with a bit of luck he’d notice or discover something that the other detectives who’d worked the case hadn’t. For the time being, the less Kim knew about what was going on, the better.

If Villarosas was guilty, then he was a man who’d successfully gotten away with two crimes. It was going to be up to Duan to figure out how Kim’s mother played into any of this. Was the man looking to knock off wife number three? He had read the two case files over and over, and there was nothing in them to indicate Villarosas was a man who married women and then got some sort of sick kick getting rid of them.

But Duan did not intend on taking any chances. He would be on full alert until he figured out just what type of man they were dealing with. At no time did he plan on putting Kim or her mother in danger. A deep frown
settled on his face at the thought of anything happening to Kim. He would protect her with his life if he had to, and wouldn’t let Villarosas or anyone else harm a single strand of hair on her head or her mother’s.

Right now he didn’t want to question why he’d become so protective of Kimani; he just accepted that was the way it was. While his partners were out in the field gathering information, Duan’s job in Shreveport over the next few days was to get close to Villarosas and develop a rapport with him in hopes the man would let his guard down.

Even without meeting the guy he had a gut feeling the man was bad news, and the quicker that could be proven, the better.

K
IM GLANCED AROUND
when she approached her gate. Duan’s head could be seen above everyone else’s, making him easily recognizable. In addition to that, he was the man most women were giving a second look.

She glared at one such woman when she passed, then frowned, wondering why it annoyed her that other women found him as desirable as she did. It wasn’t like he was her man. Everything between them was strictly casual. They enjoyed having sex with each other. No big deal.

Kim breathed in deeply, wondering who she was fooling. It was beginning to become a big deal. There was something about this affair with Duan that was
different. Emotions were starting to come into play, at least on her end, and she never let emotions creep into any of her relationships. There was no place for them.

And as she got closer to where he stood, she didn’t want to analyze what those strange feelings were about. The only thing she wanted to do was concentrate on him. He was wearing a polo shirt and a pair of khaki pants and he looked good. Instinctively, she walked into his open arms and a part of her wished all those drooling women took notice.

“Good seeing you again, Kim,” he murmured, brushing a kiss across her temple.

The moment his lips touched her skin, Kim felt the muscles in her belly tighten. He pulled her closer and she melted into him easily. Already he was hard and erect. She tilted her head and looked up at him. There was never any other way with them. Their desire for each other was spontaneous. They saw; they wanted.

“That was just a public kiss,” he whispered. “I’m going to give you a very private one later when we’re alone.”

She smiled. “I can’t wait. And speaking of waiting, have you been here long?”

He shrugged as he released her and took her hand. “This is a busy airport so I figured it was best to arrive early. There are a couple of eating places around here if you’re hungry. We have a couple of hours before our flight leaves.”

“No, I’m fine. What about you?”

That elicited a laugh. “I could use something else but will settle for a cup of coffee.”

She had an idea what he meant. “Okay.”

He took her hand and led her toward the food court. He glanced over at her. “You look cute.”

“Thanks.”

She had deliberately worn this outfit, a short denim skirt and a green tank top with spaghetti straps. She hadn’t missed the way he’d scanned her appreciatively from head to toe.

She followed him to an empty table and a waitress came to take Duan’s coffee order. Before the woman left he glanced over at her. “You sure you don’t want anything?”

“Um, I would like some vanilla ice cream.”

He lifted a brow after the waitress walked off. “Ice cream? This early?”

She laughed. “It’s not
that
early, Duan.” She checked her watch. “In fact, it’s a few minutes past ten. I love ice cream and I’m known to eat it for breakfast. It used to drive Sherri crazy.”

He smiled. “I bet. And before I forget, give me your left hand.”

Instinctively she did as he asked and watched him pull a small jewelry box out of his shirt pocket. He placed it on the table beside her and opened it up.

“Wow! It’s beautiful, Duan.” And she meant it. The ring was dazzling. “And this was your grandmother’s?”

“Yes,” he said, taking it out of the box and sliding it onto her ring finger. It was a perfect fit and she watched in surprise as he lifted her hands and kissed her knuckles.

“When she died she left it for me since I was her oldest grandson,” he said, releasing her. “However, since I have no plan to ever marry I thought about giving it to Terrence, but Dad figured I should keep it anyway since it was left to me. I think she felt bad for the way her daughter turned out.”

Kim fluttered her fingers, admiring the ring Duan had just placed on it. “Well, regardless, I think it’s beautiful and—”

“Oh, my goodness! Did the two of you just get engaged?”

Both Kim and Duan glanced up at their waitress. She was standing there holding a coffee in one hand and a cup of vanilla ice cream in the other, a delighted look on her face.

Kim opened her mouth to answer but Duan beat her to the punch. “Yes, we did.”

“Congratulations!” the woman exclaimed. “That’s wonderful and it’s a beautiful ring.”

A huge smile spread over Duan’s face. “Thanks.”

He glanced expectantly at Kim. She then caught on to what he was doing and smiled up at the woman. “Yes. Thanks.”

The waitress placed the coffee in front of Duan and gave Kim her ice cream. She gave both of them
another huge smile before leaving. Kim leaned over the table. “Why did you let her think we’ve just gotten engaged?”

He shrugged. “For all intents and purposes, we have.”

She rolled her eyes. “We’re role-playing for Mom and Aunt Gert, not necessarily for strangers.”

He chuckled. “Who’s to say she doesn’t know some one who might know you? You’d be surprised how small this world is sometimes. Besides, telling her we’re engaged gave me some practice time.”

“Practice for what?”

“Smiling whenever anyone congratulates us. I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot of that over the next few days. Did I seem genuinely pleased?”

She momentarily clamped her mouth shut, not sure what to say or to question why she felt irked by what he’d said. Of course they were role-playing, but for some reason she was bothered by the thought.

When he continued to stare at her, waiting for her response, she pasted a smile on her face and said in a syrupy tone, “You were simply marvelous, darling.”

He wiggled his eyebrows. “Ready for an Oscar?”

She rolled her eyes. “Um, I wouldn’t go that far.”

He laughed as he reached out and took her hand in his, caressing the finger that wore his ring. “But you would say I was good, wouldn’t you?”

The smile that touched her lips that moment was genuine. “Yes, Duan, you were good.”

And then she gently pulled her hand away from his to eat her ice cream.