His family was worth billions. What in the world did he want with an unsophisticated scientist who couldn’t even fake glamour? She figured that’s why Gareth had dropped her. She no longer fit in his world. He now had a woman who obviously thrived in that environment. She, on the other hand, belonged in the jungle.
She gazed up into Chance’s handsome face. He smelled wonderful, and his body was so hard. Memories of their lovemaking and how he’d been able to anticipate all her needs triggered her body’s response to his nearness. She was tempted to drag him off somewhere and rip his clothes off.
But that wouldn’t be wise. Everything was up in the air. She hadn’t expected to see him again. Now that she had, she didn’t know how to proceed. Sure, he’d said they could choose to take their relationship anywhere they wanted to. How did you come back from sleeping with someone the very night you met them, though? Did couples actually form lasting relationships after one-night stands? She knew Lauren and Colton had made love the very first night they met, but that had been different. Even though the two of them hadn’t actually ever met, they were aware of each other. Lauren knew Colton’s parents well. Colton and Lauren’s ex-husband had been business rivals. And Colton had seen Lauren before, when she’d been married to her ex, and had admired her from a distance.
What happened to them that night at her snowed-in cabin had been spontaneous and was also an act of comfort on both their parts. She helped him when he was grieving his father. He helped her when she was getting over a bad divorce. Now they were married with a baby. That was a happily-ever-after scenario.
With her and Chance, it had been nothing but lust. She could admit that. What else could it have been? She’d known nothing about him. He had known nothing about her. Could you build something worthwhile from a beginning like that?
He was looking at her as if she was the most beautiful woman in the world. Apparently, he believed they could.
What the heck, she thought. He’s here and he’s hot. I’m going to kiss him, at least. So she kissed him—right there in the ballroom while couples danced around them.
He smiled at her afterward and asked, “Does that mean you’re going to give us a chance?”
“No, that means you’re adorable and hard to resist. We need to think about this for a while longer. Is it even advisable to be involved with someone you work with?” she asked sensibly. “You are here to persuade me, aren’t you? I’m not sure I want to do one of those shows. I hear really negative things about them.”
He laughed. “It’s not as if it’s going to be a reality show like the Housewives,” he tried to reassure her. “The show will be more like the Planet Earth programs on BBC. You’ll narrate, talk about your work, we’ll see the animals in their natural habitat and showcase the people of the Congo. For the most part, African Americans don’t know much about their homeland. Genetically, most of us come from several countries in Africa, not just one. I had a DNA test done and found out my ancestors came from Ivory Coast/Ghana, Cameroon/Congo, Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, South Africa and Benin-Togo. To say nothing of Great Britain and other parts of Europe.”
“The legacy of slavery,” Petra said sympathetically.
“Yes, that vile practice,” Chance said. “But wherever we came from later on, we’re all Africans. That’s where mankind originated, after all.”
“Yes,” she agreed, smiling at him and wanting to kiss him again. Nothing turned her on more than an intelligent man.
He hugged her a little tighter. “You will consider doing the show, won’t you?”
She nodded slowly. “Yes, if it’ll benefit the primates and the people of the Congo. The people, not the government.”
Chance looked at her with a serious expression. “Yes, I know about the government. If we’re going to set the show there we’ll have to deal with them. We’ll see what happens when we make the proposal to them, and hope for the best. The first season depends on how much footage you have already. We may be able to do the first season using just your footage, which you had a permit to shoot, right?”
“Yes, of course, I did. You sound like you’ve given it some thought,” Petra said, knowing she shouldn’t be surprised. He did this sort of thing for a living, after all.
As if he’d read her thoughts, he said, “It’s what I do.”
Chapter 6
Petra went back downstairs to the lobby with Chance to say goodbye to him. She could see the disappointment in his incredible cinnamon-colored eyes when she hugged him and said, “I appreciate the romantic gesture of your coming all the way down here to see me, but I need more time to figure out what to do about you.”
“You make me sound like a problem you need to solve,” he said softly. Even the vibrato of his voice turned her on.
They stood near the bank of elevators, out of the path of other hotel guests and personnel, their eyes locked. His hand was gently rubbing the back of her arm, his touch igniting little fires of desire in her erogenous zones.
“If you’re a problem to be solved, you’re a wonderful problem that I don’t mind having and will take great pleasure in finding a way to make you make sense.”
He gave her an askance look. “Maybe you think too much, Dr. Gaines, and should just go with your gut feelings.”
“That’s what I did when I slept with you.”
“Wait a minute. Are you saying that was a bad thing?”
“No, I’m saying I’d like to see how you feel about me a few weeks from now. I don’t know much about producing television shows, but I’m pretty sure it’ll take a while to get a show like the one you’re proposing off the ground. Call me and let me know when you want me back in New York City, and I’ll come. In the meantime, I’ll stay here and get to know my nephew.”
He grinned. “There’s a new addition to the family?”
“Yes, you met Lauren and Colton. They have a toddler. He’s my first nephew and I already adore him.”
He sighed as he gazed into her eyes. “I love kids. All right, you stay and spoil your nephew. I’ll try to behave like the mature man I am and wait for you.” He frowned. “You’re not still running scared, are you? The odds are looking in my favor?”
“No, and yes,” she answered. “I’m not going to run from my feelings, and the odds are very much in your favor.”
His grin got wider, and he bent down and kissed her cheek. “I’ll dream of you every night until we’re together again,” he whispered in her ear.
Petra pulled him down and kissed his mouth. His soft lips parted and their tongues sensually danced around each other, slowly and powerfully arousing her to the point where all she wanted to do was press her body closer to his. How could this sensation be anything but good for her? Still, she had the strength to break off the connection and release him. He was so much more than a guy she’d slept with. If she wanted more from him, and for him, she needed to step away and use logic instead of falling headlong into animal passion every time she was near him.
After their lips parted, they looked at each other. He was smiling, and there was an amused light in his eyes. “That’ll hold me until I see you again,” he said, and turned and walked away.
Petra stood and watched him until he walked through the hotel’s front entrance, his muscular form poetry in motion.
“Damn, I’m probably going to regret sending him away like that,” she said under her breath.
* * *
Chance’s ego was a little bruised when Petra didn’t jump into his arms and willingly go to his hotel with him and make passionate love to him, but he was man enough to accept her verdict with an understanding heart. This was a new experience for him, too, and he felt that letting a bit of time pass before they saw each other again was a good thing.
He would go home. He’d go home and put things in motion for the reality show he wanted to build around her. He hadn’t been this excited about a p
roject in a long time. And it wasn’t because he was attracted to Petra. It was because it was a brilliant idea.
When was the last time he’d seen a person of color talking about the African jungle on film? The most a lot of people knew about the jungle was from the Tarzan books and movies. Yes, some people watched nature shows that featured African wildlife, but how many times had the hosts been black? You might see African guides or African rangers who worked on game reserves. But you never saw black people in authority discussing their own country and their efforts to save animals that were, and always had been, part of the African landscape. He was excited to become the first producer of such a program.
As for Petra and whether or not they would continue to see one another, he felt positive that what they had already shared had been so wonderful, they would be fools not to take it further. Petra Gaines didn’t strike him as a fool. And neither was he.
When he got back to his hotel room that night, he phoned his sister, Alia, who lived in Harlem in a building she’d purchased and turned into an artist’s sanctuary, as she called it. She lived on the top floor in a loft and rented apartments in the building to fellow artists. He suspected her rates were very reasonable because most of them were struggling. But that was his kindhearted big sister. She would never admit to it, but he knew she’d bought that building in Harlem in order to show respect for their grandparents’ legacy.
Both Nero and Angelique Youngblood were gone now, but in their heyday, they were pillars of Harlem society. Nero’s newspaper was so successful he was able to provide jobs for the community. Even today journalism scholarships were given to students in his name. Angelique was a businesswoman in her own right. An artist, like her granddaughter after her, she opened the first art gallery in Harlem, which was still alive and doing well today. Angelique’s daughter-in-law, Debra, a successful sculptress, was its curator. Therefore, Alia was a third-generation artist in the Youngblood family.
Alia answered the phone with her usual enthusiastic “Speak to me!”
Chance heard music in the background. Alia liked to listen to music when she was painting. Tonight it was Aretha Franklin’s voice soaring to “I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You.”
“I know you’re not having man trouble,” he joked.
Alia laughed. “No, just giving the queen her props tonight while I’m painting a portrait of her.”
“A commission?”
“Nah, it’s part of my Women of Strength series,” Alia told him. “You remember. I’ve been working on it for a while now. Women from all walks of life who inspire us to be better human beings.”
Of course Chance remembered. He was just a little spacey right now. Alia had started that series about two years ago after her husband, Adam, a physicist, had gone missing while on a secret government mission in the Middle East. They still didn’t know whether Adam was alive or dead. For a while there, he had wondered if Alia would survive the grief. He and Brock had moved in with her for over a month just to keep an eye on her. It was during that time she’d begun painting her Women of Strength series, starting with a portrait of Harriet Tubman.
The series, he suspected, had been cathartic for her. She’d grown stronger since then and was her former cheerful self.
“How many portraits do you have in the series now?” he asked.
“Twenty,” she said. “This will be the last one. Twenty-one to represent the twenty-first century.” She laughed suddenly. “Stop procrastinating, Chance. What happened with Petra?”
Chance groaned, then laughed too. “I never could get away with anything with you. Okay, it isn’t hopeless, but let’s just say I was underwhelmed by my reception.”
“You mean she didn’t drop everything and run into your arms and be ravished by you?” Alia asked, laughter evident in her tone.
“Not only that,” Chance informed her, not at all fazed by her sarcasm, “she now needs time to think about what to do about us after the one-night stand didn’t turn out the way one-night stands are supposed to—with the two parties never seeing each other again, thereby saving them from embarrassment.”
“That’s life,” Alia replied, still laughing. “It’s always embarrassing you.”
“Now we’re supposed to not see each other for a while so we can determine if the attraction was just physical or if there’s something more to it.”
“I take it you already know the answer to that,” his sister astutely observed.
“It’s physical, all right,” Chance allowed. “But I believe I may have met my match in every other way, too.”
“Then be patient and do the work, my brother,” Alia said. “Anything worth having is worth working for. Tread carefully, though. Developing a show around a woman you’re interested in may prove to be tricky. You’ve never been subjected to rumors before because you’ve never been involved with anyone who worked for you. You should probably be very discreet. Although, from what you’ve told me about Petra, she isn’t an attention seeker. Seems like she would prefer to stay out of the limelight.”
“Yeah, I totally agree,” Chance said. “And I can’t see Petra disagreeing with that reasoning. She’s really kind of shy, for all her accomplishments.”
“I can’t wait to meet her,” Alia said happily. “I haven’t heard you sound so excited about anyone in a long time.”
“That’s because I haven’t been,” Chance said. “I was turning into a workaholic.”
“When has any Youngblood looked down on working hard?” Alia jokingly asked.
“Never,” Chance replied. “As far as we’re concerned, it’s a virtue.”
“Exactly,” Alia said. “Now, I’d better get back to work. This may be an all-nighter.”
“Good night, then,” Chance said. “To you and The Queen of Soul.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Alia reiterated.
Chance knew what she was referring to—he tended to dwell on things instead of allowing himself to float on life’s currents and seeing where they led him. Alia wanted him to loosen up.
“I’ll try not to worry,” he promised.
“Give her space. She’ll be happy to see you when she’s ready,” Alia said, sounding so centered and calm. Everything he wasn’t. That’s why he’d called her, to calm himself down.
What if Petra decided after all that getting more involved with him while working on a project that was important to the survival of the conservancy, perhaps to the chimpanzees of the Congo and to her career was a bad idea?
“Look,” he said. “You have been through a lot more than I have. If Petra decides that I’m not worth the risk, then I’ll get over it. But I’m a man of my word, and the show goes on.”
“That’s my baby brother!” Alia said triumphantly.
Her enthusiasm put a wide smile on his face. “Good night, sis,” he said.
“Good night,” she replied softly. “I love you.”
“I love you more,” he replied, and they hung up.
* * *
Petra loved being home again. She spent a lot of time with her sisters, Desiree, Lauren and Meghan, who lived in Raleigh. Mina lived farther away, near the Great Smoky Mountains. Desiree took her on a shopping spree, replenishing her wardrobe. She was staying with her parents in the house she’d grown up in, and the memories of her and her sisters getting ready for school in the morning, of dressing for special occasions like the prom or Easter services, and the fun they had together made her grateful to be a part of such a loving family.
Her favorite spot at her parents’ house was the back deck, where she would prop her feet up on a chair while she sat in another, pondering her life and where it was going. Her mother went to work early in the morning and her dad, now retired, went to the golf course almost as early as her mom left for work. He was part of a foursome of retired military men who golfed and drank and generally goofed off. That’s h
ow he described it, anyway.
While they were out during the day, Petra would go visit Lauren, who was working from home. A sought-after architect, Lauren found that after she went off maternity leave, there were plenty of clients waiting to hire her to design their dream homes or businesses. While Lauren worked in her office, Petra spent time with her nephew, C.J., who, at eighteen months old, was very active. He was toddling all over the place and Petra had fun keeping up with him.
One afternoon, she had him cracking up over a rousing game of don’t-step-on-the-car, a game he’d made up which had her operating the remote to try to keep a remote-controlled red SUV from being stepped on by C.J. He was a rambunctious little boy who delighted in trying to destroy his toys.
Lauren came into the playroom when they were in the middle of the game, and Petra looked up at her guiltily. “Am I being a bad aunt by letting him do this?”
Lauren laughed. “Girl, please, he has been trying to crush that car underfoot ever since his Auntie Meghan gave it to him. He’s just being C.J. Momma warned me about little boys, as if she has any experience raising them.”
Petra laughed as she wrestled C.J. into her arms and kissed his pudgy brown cheek. “I love his energy.”
“You’re going to be a great mom someday,” Lauren said, settling down in a chair and sighing wearily. “Are you thinking more about it since you’ve been bonding with C.J.?”
“Of course,” Petra answered as she kneeled on the floor hugging a squirming C.J. She let go of him and he went and grabbed the toy car, plopped down on the floor and began intently examining the car’s undercarriage.
“I’ve always wanted children, but I just don’t think it’ll ever happen for me.”
“Why not?” Lauren asked.
“Because I don’t think I’ll ever trust a man enough to want to have a child with him. And even though I talk a good game about women being independent of men, I don’t want to have a child who won’t have a father in his or her life. Fathers are as important as mothers in a child’s life.”
Love in New York ; Cherish My Heart Page 21
