She’d missed him, too. So much. Too much.
“How’s the investigation with James Morse going?” she asked, her palm caressing the side of his face. Joya had told her what she learned from Derek, which really wasn’t much. So far her friend had been fortunate enough to keep her job.
Rowan snorted. “Painful. But we’ve come up clean so far, and none of us has been arrested so that’s a good thing. Looks like Lightfoot wasn’t involved, either.”
Emilie laughed along with him. “Are you staying for the jam session or just here to see your friends?”
“I don’t think I’ll make it through all the performances but I did want to catch up with Willy and Dwayne before their warm-up session. I’ve been invited up to their suite. What are you doing right now?”
“Now? I guess just making sure everything’s set up.”
“Now? Tonight? Later? Forever?”
Emilie gave Rowan another playful tap on his cheek. “Tonight I’m sticking around long enough to get this show on the road and then I’m going home.”
“Come with me, meet the guys, and afterward we’ll go somewhere and talk,” Rowan said.
Emilie wanted to prolong their time together and savor every moment they had left. It had taken her long enough to sort out her feelings and find out she loved this man.
“I’d like that,” she said simply.
Before she could change her mind, Rowan took her arm, hustling her off in the direction of the elevators. They got off on the penthouse floor and walked down plush carpeting to the end of the hall where the rapper friends were sharing adjoining suites.
Emilie found Dwayne Ramos, aka Ice Cube, and Willy Corbitt, or Twenty Cents, fun, regular guys. They greeted her warmly and immediately began trading insults with Rowan. She heard stories about the tough life they all had growing up in the projects.
“How’s your mom these days?” Ice Cube asked.
Emilie, for whatever reason, had assumed Rowan’s parents were both dead, although he’d mentioned them and two siblings.
“After dad died, I moved her to Arizona. Better weather, better living, that kind of thing. She’s loving it.”
He really was a kind, remarkable man.
The entourage had started partying, and both suites had enough food and drink to feed a small army. Someone had cranked up the music high and a few people had even started dancing.
“You guys are on in half an hour,” Ice Cube’s manager announced when the men looked like they might be getting too comfortable.
“Kill ’em, guys,” Rowan said as he and Emilie left. Outside he asked, “Is there anything else you need to do here?”
“No, I’m done.”
She could find plenty to do that didn’t need doing. That’s exactly how uptight she was. One technical glitch, and someone would decide moving the jam was a bad idea and it would be all her fault.
Rowan held her hand as they strolled along the crowded boardwalk. She was aware of the stares and whispers but didn’t care. Let them talk. As they approached a less-congested area he told her his news.
“As soon as this investigation is over I’m leaving Flamingo Beach.”
“Heading where?” she asked as her stomach plummeted and an icy band encircled her heart.
“Pittsburgh. That’s where the opportunity is. It’s a city that’s being revitalized. What are your plans? Still looking for a place to live? Still hunting for a job?”
“I’m thinking about accepting a position with the Knight Corporation in Singapore.”
“That’s so far away.”
Rowan shook his head. Was there a glint of something in those blue eyes? Did her moving away mean something to him?
“I may not have a choice,” she hastened to explain. “I was offered a position in Miami, but I’m not interested. All that expense to relocate for a trainer’s position doesn’t make sense. I have résumés out all over the country but no guarantee of a job.”
“There is always my offer,” he said, squeezing her hand.
“Which is?” she teased.
“Whatever you want it to be, baby. You could move into my town house and just think about things for a while.”
“You mean be a kept woman?”
“No, you’d work for me. You could be my assistant and keep me on the straight and narrow.”
“You already have an assistant,” Emilie reminded him.
“Blanca handles the administrative end of things, barely. I mean a personal assistant. We’d work together, travel together. I could even consider making Flamingo Beach my base.”
“I thought you were going to Pittsburgh?”
“I am. Another option is you could move with me.” He looked at her expectantly. “What do you say?”
Rowan was offering her a position, and a home, but he wasn’t offering her the one thing she wanted more than anything else, and he hadn’t said those words.
She couldn’t be with a man for convenience. She needed to know he loved her and she had his heart.
They’d come to the end of the boardwalk.
“You’re turning me down flat, aren’t you?” Rowan said when she was silent.
“I need to be with a man who loves me.”
Rowan burst out laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“You,” he said, gathering her in his arms and kissing her soundly. “Honey, I thought you were going to bring the race thing up, not the he-doesn’t-love-me thing. I’ve been after you from the beginning and been persistent as all hell. Why would I do that if I didn’t love you?”
“You’ve talked about everything else tonight but never once about what really matters.”
“What really matters is this.”
Rowan kissed her again and she knew for certain that he’d spoiled her for anyone else. The chemistry between them was undeniable.
“We have a bond,” he said when they came up for air. “Honey, we connect on so many levels—mentally, physically, emotionally. Even more important, we respect each other. Do you know how many people never find what we have?”
He had a point. She’d allowed her own blindness to get in the way. All her life she’d felt compelled to honor a promise to her father. And in doing so she might have passed up a man who was true-blue and honorable.
Rowan was the real deal. He was hardworking, ethical and in love with her. Yet she kept putting obstacles in their way.
“Is that offer to go to Pittsburgh with you still on the table?” she asked.
“Of course it is. I’d like nothing better than to have you with me wherever I go.”
“Would you consider putting down permanent roots in Pittsburgh?” Having a home was so very important to her.
“I would. It’s an up-and-coming urban city with lots of promise, and it’s not too far from New York or New Jersey,” Rowan said, winking at her. “Besides, Pittsburgh has big hotels, just in case you don’t want to work for me.”
Not caring about the few people passing by, Emilie threw her arms around him.
“Then what are we waiting for?”
“Yes, what are we waiting for?” Rowan said, wrapping his arms around her. “What if at the end of my project you don’t like the city…”
“We’re coming back to Flamingo Beach?”
“You got that right, baby, to build our dream house and construct those public parking garages this town so badly needs.”
Emilie’s heart was in her eyes when she kissed him.
“Rowan James,” she said. “Take me to that town house now.”
“Oh, baby, like you said before, what are we waiting for?”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-0837-1
SEX ON FLAMINGO BEACH
Copyright © 2007 by Marcia King-Gamble
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