by Marilyn Lee
Get a grip, girl. Of course he didn't leave any message. It was a one-night stand. The night is over. He’s moved on and it’s time for you to do the same.
She went into the bathroom and showered. As the water cascaded over her body, she closed her eyes and allowed her thoughts to drift to the delights of the night before.
Clay hadn’t been her first handsome, skillful lover. Martin had been both. But Martin had never done what Clay had done, satisfied her without coming himself. She sighed. There was something irresistible about a man who didn't always put his dick first. Too bad she and Clay weren't likely to meet again. For him she'd been willing to make an exception and date a white man ... at least until her ebony knight rode into her life. Giving herself a mental shake, she left the shower, and quickly dressed. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand. 7:20 a.m. She had less than an hour to have coffee and catch the hotel shuttle to the job fair.
* * *
She arrived at the fair with five minutes to spare. By the time she made her way to the hall hosting Calder's booth, it was nearly 8:15. She moved quickly down the aisles of the big hall, noting the names of the various recruiting companies.
Near the center, she spotted the Calder Technologies sign and smiled. They'd landed a good location. A pretty, blue-eyed blonde sat at one of their tables. Darbi approached and extended her hand. “You must be Melissa. I'm Darbi Raymond.”
The blonde smiled and shook her head. “It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Ms. Raymond.”
“Please call me Darbi.” She put her briefcase down and sat behind the desk located to one side of the table where Calder Tech employee applications and information pamphlets were arranged.
She glanced across the aisle. Her gaze narrowed. Frazier Technologies was located just opposite. A beautiful, model-thin woman with skin the color of dark toast staffed it.
“Ironic, huh?”
She glanced at Melissa and nodded. “I understand Frazier himself is here. Have you seen him?”
Melissa shook her head. “Not yet, but I've been keeping my eye out for him.”
Darbi arched a brow. “Oh?”
Melissa grinned. “I know our own head honcho, Jefferson Calder, is handsome, but I hear Frazier is absolutely drop-dead gorgeous.”
Darbi recalled Sharde's description of Frazier. If he were half as delicious as the man she'd spent the night with, he must be breathtaking. She smiled. “I suppose we'll soon see.”
The hall's doors were opened and Darbi and Melissa were soon occupied with answering question and accepting resumes. The morning passed quickly. She and Melissa took turns taking breaks and a forty-five minute lunch each. During the day, another woman joined the woman manning Fra-Tech’s booth, but there was no sign of Clayton Frazier.
As the fair was about to end for the day at three p.m., Darbi glanced up and found herself looking into the piercing green eyes of a man seated behind the desk in the Fra-Tech booth.
Her heart raced and she went wet, recalling how dark his eyes had looked the night before as he gazed down into her eyes while cupping her ass in his palms and slowly sliding his cock into her.
He gave her a brief smile and looked away.
Only then did she realize he was not the man she had spent the night with. Like her lover of the night before, he had green eyes and was drop-dead gorgeous. But there was no silver at the temples of his short, dark hair, and he did not have the deep tan of the man she'd spent the night with. But his resemblance to her lover of the previous night was too striking to be coincidental.
She knew from Sharde that Clayton Frazier was close to forty and he was drop-dead gorgeous. Her one-night stand had been stunningly handsome. Not only had he told her his name was Clay, but he'd had a visible reaction when she'd told him her name.
As the implications sank in, she closed her eyes briefly. He'd known then who she was. It was just her luck to have slept with her company's biggest rival. Way to go, Darbi. When you screw up, you do it big time.
“Darbi? Are you all right?”
“What?” She blinked and looked at Melissa. “I'm sorry. I'm a little tired and my thoughts wandered.” She glanced at her watch. “It's about time to wrap things up here, Melissa. Why don't you head out? I'll hang around in case any stragglers come along.”
“You're sure?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
Melissa gathered a folder full of resumes and sat them on the desk. “Great. Then I'll see you tomorrow.”
She nodded. “Thanks so much for your hard work today.”
Melissa smiled. “Thanks for not pulling rank and allowing me to pick my lunch time.”
She smiled. “My pleasure.”
She watched Melissa gather her briefcase and leave before turning her attention to the stack of resumes. After a quick nap, she'd have dinner, and spend the evening looking through them. Then maybe she'd work out such things as what to do about having slept with Clayton Frazier and decide if she should call Sharde and tell her.
She closed her eyes briefly. Or worse yet, would she need to tell Jefferson? Oh, lord, what a mess.
“Hi.”
She looked up into the green gaze of the man who could only be Clayton Frazier's younger brother. She smiled and rose, extending her hand. “Hello.”
“Damien Frazier from Fra-Tech.”
“Darbi Raymond, Calder Technologies.” She moistened her lips. “Are you and Mr. Frazier related?”
“We're brothers.”
“Oh.”
“Do you know Clay?”
“Know him?” She had carnal knowledge of him, but she didn't know him. “I don't believe we've ever been introduced.”
He gave her a brief, intense stare before smiling. “Ahhh. I thought perhaps you two might have met last night.”
Oh, hell! Had he told his brother about sleeping with her? “Is he here?”
“Not anymore. Did you want to see him?”
“Yes.” She noted the lack of surprise in his green gaze at her admission. “Where is he?”
“Back in Philly by now.”
So after she'd confessed her shameless desire to sleep with him as often as possible, he'd hightailed it back to Philly. So much for liking her more than he should. The big, cowardly ox had known all along who she was and that he'd had no intentions of sharing any more than a one-night stand with her.
Damien glanced around the hall. “Everything seems to be wrapping up here. How did the day go for you?”
“Fine. How were things for you?”
He shrugged. “I arrived late so I haven't been here long, but I'll be here for the next two days.”
“Well, I'm sure there are enough prospective employees to keep us both occupied.”
“No doubt. Tell me, Darbi, do you fraternize with the enemy?”
Recalling just how closely she'd fraternized with his brother the previous night, she was hard pressed not to blush. “Not as a general rule, no.”
When he smiled, he was a breathtaking as his brother. “But, as you've probably heard rules were made to be broken.”
She smiled. “I have heard that.”
“Good. Can I buy you a drink?”
She considered him in silence. Sleeping with Clayton had been unintentional. Should she compound that mistake by being overly friendly with his equally handsome brother?
“There's no need to look at me like that. I promise I won't attempt to ferret out any company secrets from you. I'm just looking for pleasant, non-business related conversation over a drink.”
She smiled again, deciding she liked this Damien Frazier. “Let me gather my things and return to my hotel to freshen up and --”
“In that case, why don't we make it dinner?”
If she had dinner with him, she would surely have an opportunity to learn something about Clayton Frazier. She nodded. “Okay.”
“How does six o'clock sound? That'll give me time to shower and change and discover a good place to eat before I pick you up.”
“Great.”
Chapter Four
As Clay sat in a crowded, dimly lit club, watching Amber dancing with a man half his age, his thoughts drifted to Darbi Raymond. Instead of sitting in this noisy, smoke-filled place, he'd like to be somewhere quiet, holding her in his arms as they slow danced.
His cell phone rang. He pulled it from his waist holster. “Hello?”
“Clay? I can barely hear you. Where are you?”
“I'm in a club with your sister having my hearing impaired.”
Damien laughed. “Better you than me. Listen, I've met her.”
He frowned. “You've met who?”
“The woman you ran away from.”
He tensed. “What? What are you talking about?”
“Oh, come on, Clay. You know who and what I'm talking about. She's gorgeous and her name is Darbi Raymond.”
When had Damien gone from being an annoying younger brother to a man who knew him like a best friend? “What makes you think we know each other?”
“I know you do.”
“How?”
“She asked about you.”
“And that proves what?”
“It was the way she asked.”
He sighed and raked a hand through his hair. “What did she say?”
“She said she wanted to see you.”
Seeing her again was not in his game plan, nevertheless ... “She said this when?”
“I introduced myself at the job fair and we're about to have dinner.”
He stiffened. “You're having dinner with her? You move fast.”
“I move fast? I'm only planning to have dinner with her, Clay. I'm thinking you did a lot more than that.”
He swore softly. “What's the point of this conversation, Damien?”
“I just wanted to know if there was anything I needed to know about her before I see her again.”
“If there's something you want to know about her, ask her.”
“I will, but I need to know if things start to get interesting between us tonight, is that going to be a problem for you?”
“Why should that be a problem for me?”
“Didn't you sleep with her?”
“Where the hell did you get that idea?”
“You know how people who have met either one of us immediately know we're related when they meet the other one of us?”
Despite the nine-year age difference between them, before he started to gray, people had often mistaken him and Damien for twins. “Yes.”
“Well, when she looked across the hall and saw me, I know she probably thought I was you. And the look on her face when she did, said it all. She had the look in her eyes of a woman gazing at a man who knows her in the biblical sense. You two have a one-night stand or is there something more between you?”
“What?”
“I know you did more than hold her hand. You want to tell me how much more so I know what I'm dealing with?”
“Fuck off, Damien!” He broke the connection and turned off his ringer. He sat back in his seat, resisting the urge to order a drink. He was there to see that Amber had a good time without getting into trouble, not to drink.
He sat staring into the distance without actually being aware of his surroundings until Amber returned to the table some time later. She leaned down and linked her arms around his neck. “What's wrong, Clay?”
“Nothing's wrong.”
She kissed his cheek before slipping into the seat opposite his. “While I was dancing, Damien called on my cell phone. He said you weren't answering your cell and asked me to tell you he wouldn't touch her.”
Clay swallowed a lump of relief. He was going to need to handle his Darbi problem soon.
Amber tilted her head. “Who isn't he going to touch and why should you care? Are you two still sharing women?”
He narrowed his gaze. “What makes you think we share women?”
She tossed her head, sending her long, blond hair flying around her pretty, golden brown face. “I know about Cami.”
Damn. Could this night get any worse? Instead of denying there was anything to know, he spoke in a low, cool voice. “Let me make myself perfectly clear, Amber. I have no intentions of discussing who I may or may not sleep with, with you.”
She shrugged. “You don’t have to. I know you and Damien are both sleeping with her.”
How the hell had she learned of the unique relationship he and Damien shared with Cami? “Did you hear what I just said? My love life is none of your business.”
Her dark green eyes spat angry sparks. “But you can ask me who I've been sleeping with and expect me to answer truthfully?”
“Damn right. I'm your big brother ... the one who might have to kick a few asses if I catch some knucklehead mistreating you.”
The annoyance vanished from her gaze and she smiled. “I hate when you do that.”
“Do what?”
“Say something to make me want to throw my arms around your neck and kiss you! I hate when you give me your I'm-your-big-brother-and-you-know-I-love-you speech.”
“Why?”
She sighed. “Because I always know you mean it.”
He nodded and reached across the table to capture her hand in his. “I do mean it.”
She nodded. “I know.”
“Good.” He released her hand. “So tell me about this Paul who has Mom so worried.”
She sighed and tugged at her hand. “This isn't the time or place. I want to have fun ... not talk about some ... knucklehead who is dealing.”
“Dealing? Drugs?”
She lowered her gaze to the table.
Damn. Just what he needed -- to have to worry about keeping a drug dealer away from her.
She raised her gaze to his. “I didn't know what he was into when we started dating.”
He nodded. One of her most endearing qualities was her innate honesty. “And when you found out?”
“I freaked. He tried to tell me it wasn't a big deal, because it was just some occasional weed, but ...” She shook her head. “Drugs are drugs.”
“Is he likely to be dangerous?”
“Dangerous? Paul? No! He's very gentle, Clay.”
“A gentle drug dealer? How likely is that, Amber?”
“Don’t make him sound like some big time drug lord. It really was just a little weed. He's not dangerous, Clay.”
He sure as hell hoped not. “Did he know you were coming to the States?”
She shook her head after a noticeable pause. “No.”
So he did know. “Does he know it's over? Is he likely to come looking for you?”
She shrugged. “He ... has a thing for me, Clay so I don't know. I know this is a pain for you and Damien, but ...” She trailed off, her lips trembling.
He smiled and recaptured her hand. “It's okay, honey. We'll deal with whatever we have to.”
She squeezed his hand. “I ... don't want him hurt, Clay ... I love him.”
Great. This night kept getting better every second. He swallowed the urge to tell her it was easy to imagine one's self in love at eighteen. With her eyes glistening with tears, he suspected she wasn't in the mood for a lecture on the difference between infatuation and love.
He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. “We'll work things out, honey. Okay?”
She nodded and wiped at her face.
“Can we leave now?”
“No.” She tugged at his hand. “Dance with me?”
He glanced onto the dance floor with people half his age danced with carefree abandonment. “I don't think so.”
“Oh, come on, Clay. I want to show you off.”
“Show me off? Everyone in here is likely to think I'm a dirty old man trying to sleep with a sweet young thing.”
She shook her head. “All the girls will be jealous because I'm with a hot old white guy who actually has enough soul to be able to dance like a black man.” She flashed a smile at him. “So
come on. Let's dance.”
He arched a brow. “After you call me a hot old white guy, how can I refuse?”
She laughed and bolted to her feet.
Casting his eyes towards the ceiling, he rose and followed her onto the dance floor.
* * *
Darbi took off her robe and slipped into her hotel bed. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand. 12:05 a.m. She hadn't planned to spend so much time with Damien Frazier. He was charming and somehow, the hours had slipped by as they laughed and talked about everything but their competing businesses. And Clayton.
She hadn't even had much time to think about the older Frazier brother until lying in the same bed where he'd made such sweet love to her the night before. Although tired, her thoughts of Clayton didn't bode well for a restful night's sleep. She closed her eyes and pressed her cheek against her pillow.
With a determined effort, she dismissed thoughts of him and the passion they had shared and slowly drifted to sleep. She woke several times during the night with thoughts of Clay taunting her.
She glanced at the clock and groaned when the number flashed at her. 2:15. Damn him. Why had he run away from her after making love to her and making forgetting him such a difficult undertaking? She doubted she’d be sleeping well until she saw him again.
She woke the next morning, tired, irritable, and determined to seek Clay out and force him to tell her to her face he didn’t want to see her again.
Damien called as she dressed. She smiled at the sound of his voice. “Hello.”
“’Morning. How about we meet for breakfast before the fair starts?”
She sat on the side of her bed. “Sure. I'll meet you in Ally's Café in half an hour.”
“See you then.”
She put the phone down and rose. Walking over to the dresser, she stared at her reflection in the mirror. What was she doing and why? Sleeping with one brother and then hanging out with the other? Clay had bedded her and then made his lack of interest in her clear. Did she take the hint? No. She was plotting his downfall instead. And going out with his brother.
Damien had showed no genuine interest in her and yet seemed to enjoy her company. Although she enjoyed him, she didn't need the added complication of trying to cultivate a friendship with Damien any more than she'd needed a sexual relationship with Clayton. Nevertheless, she knew if Clayton hadn't left, she'd have slept with him again -- even after learning who he was. And she was about to see Damien again.
