Working Man (3 page)

The incredulity in his voice grated on Dakota's already frayed nerves. “Yes, I spent the night here. What was I supposed to do, sleep in the car? The movers are on their way here with all my worldly goods and the driver doesn't seem to be answering his cell phone. I have to be here when they arrive,” she said, brushing her fantastic hair out of her eyes.

“No, what you had to do is to find someplace to store your stuff until this place gets fixed,” Nick contradicted her. “It'll be at least three weeks before this place is ready for you to move into, maybe a month. If your furniture is in here it'll just make it that much harder to get the place done right,” he told her as he absentmindedly scratched Cha-Cha's ears. She was practically singing with delight at his touch and it was really annoying Dakota for some reason. She abruptly plucked the cat off her perch and put her on the floor.

“Look, Rick,” she began.

“Nick,” he corrected her. “My full name is Nicholas DeVaughan Hunter, but everyone calls me Nick.”

“Okay,
Nick.
” Normally she would have been embarrassed about forgetting someone's name, but it didn't bother her this time. She was too busy reacting to his take-charge tone of voice. The last thing she wanted or needed was to be bossed around by a stranger. “It's obvious this dump needs something. I'm thinking about a gallon of kerosene and a few matches, but that's not really the answer, tempting as it sounds. The point is, I start a new job on Monday, I don't know a soul in Chicago except my new employer and I have no idea where I'm going to find a reliable contractor to fix this place. I have no idea where the crook who did this to me is and trust me, I'm not going to rest until I find him.”

“So what's your point? You need a place to put your stuff until this place is ready, you need a place to stay, and you need the best man in the business to get the job done,” Nick told her.

“I think we've already established that,” Dakota said dryly. “You wouldn't happen to know where I can get any of these things, would you?”

“Of course, darlin'. There's one man for the job and you're looking at him.”

Dakota stared at him suspiciously, thinking that he was teasing her. He looked calmly competent and sincere, as though he meant every word. She opened her mouth to start interrogating him, and to her chagrin a huge growl started in her stomach and charged its way out of her in the noisiest way possible.

“You haven't eaten a thing today, have you? You need some food, baby. I'll go get us something and we can work out all the details while we eat.”

He didn't wait for her answer; he just turned and left the room. She and Cha-Cha looked at each other with wide eyes. “Chach, girl, who was that masked man?” she murmured. “What in the world are we getting ourselves into
now?
” Her cat had no answer for her other than a soft purr as she wound her way around Dakota's legs.

 

An hour later, Dakota was in a much better mood. The first thing she'd done when she heard the door close behind Nick was to dash into the bathroom and take a speedy shower. She put on a little makeup, put on her favorite scented lotion and matching perfume and managed to find a cute outfit, a pair of jeans with flowers embroidered down one leg and a soft-pink top with a deep scoop neck and three-quarter-length sleeves. She thought she looked much better than she had that morning, but she wasn't aware of how sexy she looked or she might have put on something else. Since there was nothing to sit on, she dragged the air mattress downstairs to the living room and put it in the center of the room, smiling as she arranged her flowers nearby. She had put a throw over the mattress and it looked kind of cute, albeit makeshift and Bohemian in the middle of the empty room.

Nick returned rather quickly with two bags of food that smelled wonderful to a starving woman and her hungry cat. “I hope you like soul food,” he said. “There's a place not too far from here that has the best food in Chicago.”

Dakota smiled the first really genuine smile he'd seen on her pretty face. “I eat plenty of it, how do you think my butt got to be this big?” She was so hungry she didn't even think twice about what she'd just revealed to him, she was too interested in the food. “What did you bring us?”

Cha-Cha was going crazy, walking around Nick's ankles in figure eights and making throaty sounds that signaled extreme hunger. “I brought some fried chicken, potato salad and greens. There's some Crowder peas and cornbread, too. You're gonna like their cornbread, it's just like homemade. Your cat must smell that chicken, she's going nuts,” he commented.

“Actually, it's the greens she's after. She's crazy about them,” Dakota said as she walked to the kitchen to get Cha-Cha's dish.

Nick admired her figure as she walked away. If soul food was what put that luscious behind on her he was going to make sure she had a steady supply from then on. She looked even prettier than she had earlier and he could tell she'd done a little primping while he was gone. It pleased him to see that she'd made the effort, although she would probably deny that's why she'd done it. She returned to the living room, where the cat was now dancing around in excitement.

“Okay, we need to share with her or we won't be able to eat in peace,” Dakota said with a smile. “Which one is mine?” she asked, looking at the bags.

Nick reached into the larger bag and took out two containers. “They're both the same, so help yourself,” he said as she took one from him.

He watched with amusement as she put a small portion of greens in the cat's dish. She used the plastic knife and fork to cut it up finely, and then added a small piece of cornbread, which she crumbled over the top. Cha-Cha fell on it as though she hadn't eaten for days, purring loudly while she ate. While Dakota cleaned her hands with a small bottle of antibacterial cleanser, Nick watched the scene in amusement.

“I never saw a cat eat greens in my life,” he said, taking the bottle from Dakota and using it on his hands.

“Oh, she loves greens, grits and catfish. If you want to see her really go nuts, bring some chitlins up in here. She'll gank you for them,” Dakota said before saying a quick grace and taking her first taste of the deliciously prepared food. “This is sooo wonderful! Thank you so much, Nick.”

Nick watched her eat and smiled with satisfaction. She ate daintily but with good appetite and was obviously enjoying every bite. He loved watching a pretty woman tackle a good meal, it was a wholesome and sexy sight that often led to some fantastic after-dinner sex, but he wasn't crazy. He knew better than to put some cheap moves on her so soon. She was a different breed of woman and he could sense it, but it didn't stop him from teasing her as he dug into his own meal.

“What you know about chitlins? You look like the beefWellington type to me. You don't seem like the type who would eat chitlins or pig's feet or anything real down home,” he said between bites.

Dakota rolled her eyes at him. “I could ask you what you know about beef Wellington, which I happen to despise. What do you think you know about me that makes you say something like that? Did you bring anything to drink? I'm not touching that water from the kitchen tap,” she said grumpily.

Nick indicated the other bag. “I brought us some sweet tea. And you just seem like the real sophisticated type, you know.”

Dakota reached for the bag, took out both tall paper cups and handed him one. She opened the other one and took a long draught before cutting her eyes at Nick.

“You know nothing about me. And I doubt that you'll get to know me much better, so let's just keep out of each other's business, okay? Let's talk about what you think you can do for this house, how about that?”

Cha-Cha was inching her way to Nick, trying for another handout. Nick obliged her with a little piece of chicken before fixing her owner with a long sultry gaze.

Dakota was suddenly uneasy with his scrutiny and looked down to see what he was staring at. “Did I spill something? What are you looking at?”

Those big pretty breasts of yours,
he thought, but prudently kept that notion to himself. “I was just thinking about how to get your house in order. Why don't you move in with me until everything is finished?” he asked quietly. He enjoyed the look on her face as she really did spill something; iced tea rolled right down her chin and splashed onto her bosom. As much as he wanted to lean over and lick it off, he didn't miss her next words.

“Are you out of your mind?”

 

By nightfall, Dakota was fairly confident that the man was in full possession of all his faculties. While they ate their dinner, he'd explained to her that he was in the business and that his crew could get her house up to the proper specifications in short order. He also told her that he owned three storage facilities and that he could have her things stored there until the house was ready to be occupied. By the time they'd finished eating, he'd made a few phone calls, and when the movers arrived, he'd directed them to the storage place, and by the time she'd cleaned up after their meal, he was ready to prove to her that he meant every word of what he'd told her.

He took her to his offices, which were spacious and nicely furnished. He introduced her to his office manager, Leticia Banks, and showed her all his credentials, licenses and letters of thanks from grateful clients. Dakota had been impressed in spite of herself. Leticia, who was plump, pretty and well-dressed, had given her a sly smile.

“You look a little overwhelmed, sugar. Don't worry about a thing, Nick can deliver on anything he says he can do,” she assured Dakota. “He'll have you hooked up in no time.” She gave Dakota a sunny smile that didn't seem to match the coolly assessing look in her eyes, but Dakota filed that away for later consideration. She was too busy trying to calculate how much more this was going to cost her and she was hoping she wouldn't have to go to her father for additional funds. She had a big chunk of money tied up in the Amityville horror, as she was now calling her house, and she dreaded the thought of more debt. She'd been totally upfront with Nick about it, too.

“Look, I believe you. I think you can do what you say, but I'm worried about the cost,” she said earnestly as she sat in the comfortable chair that faced his desk. “I already have a bundle tied up in this situation and I'm not made of money. There's not a money tree in my backyard waiting to be harvested,” she said with a sigh.

Nick had turned those mesmerizing eyes of his on hers and didn't crack a smile. “Have I asked you about money? You worry too much, baby. I'm trying to help you out and you're questioning every move I want to make.”

Dakota blinked her long lashes at him. If she didn't know any better, she would swear there was something personal in what he said, almost something sexual. She stared back at him and once again she had to suppress a strong physical reaction to the man. Suddenly she remembered how he'd snickered when her big behind was getting back into her car after the accident and as angry as the memory made her, it gave her a kind of reassurance. Whatever he wanted from her had nothing to do with sex, he wasn't attracted to her. For once her extra pounds had come in handy. At least she didn't have to worry about him trying to get with her in return for his favors.

“I apologize for being slightly paranoid,” she said in a quiet voice. She shrugged her shoulders and added, “But you're a businessman and a good one, from the looks of your operation. You didn't get that way from giving people handouts and as far as I know, construction work doesn't have a pro bono arrangement.”

Nick continued to stare at her for a long moment before answering. “Look, baby, it's commendable for you to be honest about your situation and to be concerned about mine, but I got this, okay? I'll get paid because I'm going after Bernard Jackson myself. And when I'm done with him, he won't be able to do this same number on anybody else. People like Jackson give all black builders and contractors a bad name. You aren't the first woman he's swindled and you won't be the last, unless someone puts a stop to it.”

Dakota was captivated by the change in Nick as he spoke. The intensity of his voice and his rising emotions made his voice even deeper and he seemed even more masculine than before, if that were possible. Her response to his firm declaration moved her so that she felt another massive tremor working its way through her body and she had to work hard to control the urge to fan away the heat he generated in her.
Oh, this is bad, this is really bad,
she thought. “You sound very sure of yourself,” she told him.

Nick leaned back in his oversized desk chair and linked his fingers behind his head. “I am sure of myself. I know what I can do and nothing comes out of my mouth that I can't back up. That's just the way I am. You'll understand that when you get to know me better,” he said with a smile that bordered on cocky.

The smug look on his face was enough to snap Dakota back into her senses. She was about to say something smart when Nick excused himself to answer his phone. She took a good long look at him and had to admit she liked what she saw. He was too tall; she liked men who were about six feet, maybe an inch or two taller. She hated a man who loomed over her; there was something bothersome about it. But he was a handsome man, no question. She knew women in D.C. who'd pay to get a date with a man like Nick. Those cheekbones, that strong chin, that head full of beautiful black hair and especially those green eyes—he could have been a model if it weren't for the fact that he was so broad-shouldered and muscular. Suddenly Nick looked up and caught her staring at him. He gave her a smile that could have melted an iceberg and this time she really shivered.