The Best Thing He Never Knew He Needed (6 page)

His eyes traced the outline
of her face, zoomed in on her ripe lips, her ears and the hair
she’d just stroked, raking it behind her right ear. He noticed she
had three piercings in her ear and he imagined she had the same in
the left. Her neck was long and elegant, leading down to a nice
size, average chest. In the beige tank top she wore, her arms were
visible, looked firm, but he could attest to their softness since
he’d touched them. Twice. He had to talk himself out of touching
her again. She’d probably run off the road if he traveled the
length of her arm with his index finger.

Continuing his examination,
he checked out her flat stomach and those small, delicate hands
gripping the steering wheel. Her fingernails were painted a light
pink. On her right hand, there were two silver rings – one on her
index finger, the other on her pinky finger. Near her wrist, he saw
a dark scar, and he wondered how she’d gotten it.

“
I must have something on
my face.”

“
I don’t see anything,”
Desmond said.

“
Huh?” She asked, glancing
at him then back at the road.

“
You said you had
something on your face.”

“
Oh. I didn’t realize I
said
that
out
loud.”

“
Well, there’s nothing
there, but I can put something there if you would like.”

She could see him lick his
lips in her peripheral vision, and the way his dimple peeped out
when he smirked. “No thanks.” Sherita swore she could feel his
breath massage the side of her face. Seemed he had moved closer.
What on earth was he doing? Slowing to a red light, she finally
looked at him and said, “Okay, what is it?”

“
What do you mean?” he
asked with a straight face.

“
Why are you staring at
me, Desmond?” she asked, watching his eyes land on her
lips.

“
Just a part of my
process.”

Eyebrows raised, she said,
“Your process?”

“
Yes.”

“
Your process for
what?”

“
For learning you. Light’s
green.”

“
What?”

“
Go,” he said, amused.
“The light is green.”

“
Oh.” Sherita pressed the
gas pedal. Desmond was throwing her off balance again. “Why would
you be interested in
learning
me, whatever that means?”

“
It means your mannerisms,
your thought process. Things you like and dislike. Love. Hate.
Things that make you feel uncomfortable.”

“
And why would you be
interested in that?”

He shrugged. “Just am, and
by the time I’m done, I’ll know you so thoroughly, I’ll be able to
decipher what you’re thinking without you having to say a
word.”

Sherita laughed so hard,
she felt water in her eyes. She knew Desmond was a womanizer, but
comedian? “Oh, so I’m supposed to believe…” she began before
laughter took over again. When she could catch her breath, she
cleared her throat and said, “I’m supposed to believe you’re a mind
reader now.”

“
No,” Desmond said with a
straight face, “But I am very good at reading people, Sherita,
especially women.”

“
So you’ve done this to
other women?”

“
I have, but not as
thoroughly as I plan on doing it to you.”

This fool done lost his
natural mind
. Sherita shook her head. Men
like Desmond were accustomed to getting what they wanted, but he
had to be a world-class moron if he didn’t think she was aware of
that already. “Well, thanks for the warning, and the laugh,”
Sherita told him.

“
You think it’s funny now,
but you’ll understand what I mean when you witness it happening for
yourself.”

Sure I will.
“Like I said, thank you for the
warning.”

“
A warning won’t do you
any good, princess.”

“
Sure it would. When you
know what time a thief is coming to rob your house, you know when
to be on alert.”

“
Yeah, but just because
you’re alert doesn’t mean you have what it takes to fight off the
thief. Maybe he’s stronger than you. Maybe he has more
experience
robbing
than you think he does.”

She quietly digressed.
Desmond wasn’t going to rob her of anything. She’d had her heart
stolen by a thief once before. Now, her guard was up. And it would
stay up.

Finally at the
park, they got out of the car, then opened the
back doors to get the babies.

“
Okay, so we’re not going
to go far since we don’t have strollers,” Sherita told him. She
scanned the park, looking for a good place to set up. “There. We
can go right over there by the willow tree. You take Grace. I’ll
carry Ezra, and then you can watch them while I come back to the
car to get my camera and stuff.”

“
Or I can carry Ezra and
Grace while you grab your equipment now.”

“
Oh…right. Okay. Do that,
then.”

He smiled, walking around
to her side of the car with Grace, then picked up Ezra’s car
seat.

Sherita scooped up her
equipment, stuffing everything she thought she needed in a shoulder
bag. “Okay…I think I got all I need.”

Together, they headed for
the spot she’d chosen.

Once there, Desmond said,
“What now?”

“
Okay…umm,” she rummaged
around in her bag and removed a white, ruffled blanket. “Can you
spread this out? I’m thinking of lying them both here, flat on
their backs and standing above them, taking a few
shots.”

Desmond took the blanket,
spread it out on the ground then took Grace and Ezra from their car
seats, one-by-one and laid them there.

“
Perfect,” Sherita
said.

He stood back while
watching Sherita work. She was good with the camera, taking shots
of the babies at all angles, watching them stir a little. Desmond
had done a phenomenal job of lying them there without waking them,
but now they were waking up and Grace wasn’t a happy camper. She
expressed her displeasure with being exposed to nature by a faint,
whiny cry. And even her cries sounded like a pleasant
melody.

“
Aw, Grace, it’s okay,
beautiful,” Sherita said.

“
I’ll get her,” Desmond
said. He dropped to the ground next to Grace, placed his face
against hers and said, “Uncle Des is here, baby girl. Everything is
all right, sweetie.”

Sherita took a few face
shots of Desmond with the babies.

“
Since you’re sneaking
pictures of me with the babies, you should take pictures of the
four of us. Can you set the auto-flash?”

Sherita grinned. “I’m a
photographer. Of course I can.”

“
Right.”

Desmond watched as she
positioned the camera on the tripod, angled it towards them then
walked over next to him. She sat down on the grass and picked up
Ezra. Desmond was holding Grace.

“
Okay,” Sherita said. “Get
ready. It’s about to flash several times, so let’s do different
poses.”

When the camera began
flashing, they both smiled, both did a shot of them looking at the
babies, then they did face-to-face shots with the babies before
Desmond did something completely unexpected. He leaned in closer to
Sherita, so close their faces touched. Before she could put up any
resistance, the camera flashed, taking their picture.

Sherita jerked her head
away from him. “What are you doing?”

“
Taking pictures,” he
said. “

“
Let’s just pack up so we
can get the babies back home,” she said, exasperated.

“
We should probably pick
up dinner while we’re out,” Desmond suggested.

Sherita sighed while
packing her equipment. It was going to be a long night.

CHAPTER 6

Back at Dante’s house, they
changed the babies, fed them again and rocked them to sleep. Ezra
went down easy. Grace, on the other hand, had proven to be a
challenge – one Desmond seemed to have no problem accepting.
Sherita had watched Desmond walk back and forth with Grace, gently
bouncing her in his arms and humming to her while his large hand
cradled the back of her head.

For a while, Sherita
observed how Desmond interacted with Grace. If a stranger saw the
two of them together, they would swear Grace was his daughter. He
had obviously bonded with his niece and nephew, which took her by
surprise. You would think the motorcycle-riding, millionaire
bachelor would be somewhere partying or, better yet, trying to spit
game to some unsuspecting woman. But no. He was here. On a Friday
night, rocking his niece to sleep.

“
I think she’s finally
fallen asleep,” he whispered to Sherita. “Where should we put
them?”

“
I’m going to take Ezra
upstairs since he’s probably out for a few hours. You can put Grace
in Ezra’s Pack-N-Play.”

“
Good idea.”

Before she attempted to get
up from the couch, she watched Desmond carefully lower Grace to the
soft blanket. Then he took another blanket and spread it over
her.

“
Sweet dreams, baby girl,”
he whispered.

“
I’m going to put Ezra to
bed,” Sherita said softly.

“
I’ll warm
dinner.”

After climbing the stairs
and reaching his room, Sherita carefully lowered Ezra to the crib,
made sure he was lying in a safe, comfortable position, before
leaving his room. She took a moment to step into the bathroom to
control her breathing. She would be alone with Desmond, again,
eating dinner. How would she survive breaking bread with the man
when the mere thought of being alone with him gave her
palpitations? She’d nearly fainted in the car. And when he leaned
against her for the photo, his face touching hers, she felt a
nervous energy rip through her body – the sensation causing her to
jerk. She knew he felt it. The moment she trembled, he
smiled.

“
How am I going to do
this?” she said out loud. Then, annoyed with herself that she was
even considering coming up with a strategy to avoid him, she left
the bathroom and jogged downstairs. She told herself to remember
who she was dealing with. He was a charmer. He was Thane all over
again.

Desmond took some
plates from the cupboard and placed a serving of
lasagna in both. He had suggested food from his favorite Italian
restaurant and since Sherita had never eaten there before, he knew
this would be a treat for her. His brothers weren’t due back for
another three hours, and he’d planned on using that time
effectively to further probe inside Sherita’s mind.

“
Everything all right?” he
asked when she walked inside of the kitchen. He already had their
plates on the table.

“
Peachy,” she responded.
She sat down at the table, watching him join her. She had been so
nervous about the idea of being at the house with him, she hadn’t
eaten anything since lunch. She was starving, but still too nervous
to eat.

Desmond sat down at the
table, glanced up at her and said, “You’re not hungry?”

She looked back at him. “I
am.”

He cracked a smile.
“Eat.”

Sherita picked up a fork,
using it to cut a slither of lasagna then took it to her mouth. She
wasn’t certain about this strange energy she felt between herself
and Desmond. All she knew was, she wanted to limit their
conversation. He wasn’t the type of man she wanted to get entangled
with.

Then again, perhaps she was
looking at this all wrong. Maybe Desmond had no real interest in
her. He was being himself, a ladies man. A player. Didn’t all
players try to hit on every woman they came into contact with? Why
would he be any different?

She watched him slice a
massive chunk of the lasagna, opening his mouth wide to chew it.
Apparently, he was hungry too.

Desmond greedily finished
the first bite. After taking a sip of water, he looked up at her.
“So, Sherita…”

Sherita looked up at him
and held his gaze, watching his lips form into a smile.

“
Yes?” she forced
out.

“
I want to address
something you said earlier.”

“
What was
that?”

“
You said I’d been doing a
good job of avoiding you.”

Sherita shook her head.
“There’s no need to address it.”

“
There is. You seemed
bothered by it?”

She lifted a brow. “Not
sure how you got that impression, but I’m not bothered by it. Not
at all. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even want to come here
tonight to babysit when Emily told me you would be
here.”

“
And why’s that,
Sherita?”

“
Because I don’t know you
all that well, Desmond. I know
of
you. I know what I hear, what I’ve
seen.”

“
Then let’s address some
of it,” he said, stuffing more lasagna to his mouth.