If he sounded bitter, he couldn’t help it. He had loved her, and she destroyed that love. Over the past few months, he’d had time to reflect. He knew now that while at the university, Vonetta had gone after him with a single-minded determination to snag a law student for a future husband. Having grown up without much of anything, she had seen him as her key to having the finer things in life, those things she had been forced to do without. Things she had somehow felt she’d deserved.
He’d known that. He’d been warned by his frat brothers. But he had fallen for her—hook, line, and sinker. She had played the part of a loving and supportive girlfriend, and then a doting wife and, a year into the marriage when Kia had been born, a loving mother. But when they’d moved from Atlanta to Los Angeles, it seemed she’d gone buck wild. She had wanted to go to parties every night and hang out all day with women she’d met who hadn’t had anything going on in their lives other than expensive shopping and pool parties. He’d known two years into their marriage that he had made a mistake but was determined to make things work because of Kia. He’d even taken on more cases to feed Vonetta’s expensive buying habits.
Soon he and Vonetta had begun drifting apart, and she rarely spent time with him or Kia. He’d always assumed it was because she was with those women she liked to refer to as her “girls.” Never in a thousand years had he thought she was being unfaithful to him. He had definitely been blind-sided by that.
A short while later, after Nash had left his office, Jamison was still sitting at his desk thinking about Kendal. And his thoughts kept drifting back to the last French kiss they’d shared, the one that day in front of the girls. Her lips had felt perfect. Her taste divine. And memories of the way her tongue and mated with his still kept him awake some nights. That had been the beginning of desire that seemed to become endless and was steadily building. He knew the outfits she wore weren’t intended to entice, but they did so anyway.
There was nothing she wore that didn’t bring emphasis to what a nice pair of breasts she had. And then there was her small waist and voluptuous hips. The outfits she wore definitely knew how to flaunt her attributes in a subtle sort of way but still make you feel you’d been hit by a freight train with the amount of sexuality she emitted.
And he hoped he hadn’t been imagining things, but on more than one occasion, he had caught her watching him. Like this morning. She had gotten up before him as usual, and he’d been in the bathroom shaving. Then he had picked up her scent and had felt a stirring in his gut at the exact moment he’d glanced into the mirror at an angle and had seen her standing there with a cup of coffee in her hand. For a moment, they had stood staring at each other through the mirror while his breath came in and out a little faster and his heart-rate increased ten-fold. Longing and desire took over his senses and filled him with a need that he’d felt deep in his gut. He’d gotten so hard his boner had hurt pressed against the bathroom vanity. Luckily, it was a boner she hadn’t been able to see, because his back had been to her.
The moment had been shattered when the girls had burst into the room to give him their morning hugs. As she did every morning in front of the girls, Kendal had kissed him on the cheek. She then handed him the cup of coffee and said, “I thought I’d bring this up here while you got dressed.”
“Thanks.”
And then she had quickly turned and left the room with the girls following dutifully in her wake. On the drive into work, he hadn’t been able to get that morning’s episode out of his mind. And so many other ideas had joined that one.
Jamison stood up from his desk and blew out a deep breath. Maybe it was time to move their relationship to another level. In other words, turn up the heat and stoke the flames. He couldn’t help wondering just how she would feel about that.
A smile curved his lips. Maybe it was time to start testing the waters to find out.
***
“Do you know how many nights I’ve been tempted to jump his bones?” Kendal swung around from her pacing to ask Tonya.
Tonya smiled. “I bet not as many times as I was tempted to jump Bryan. You know how long I loved him and how long I waited for him to make a move. Some men will have you waiting forever if you let them. I say go ahead and make a move.”
Kendal nervously began gnawing on her bottom lip. “But what if he doesn’t find me attractive that way?”
Tonya waved off her friend’s words. “He finds you attractive, trust me. I’ve watched him over at Gramma Thelma’s watching you. He definitely has the hots for you. If you don’t believe me, test the heat.”
Kendal felt her skin start smoldering at the very thought. “I can’t do that.”
“Sure you can. The two of you share a bedroom.”
“But not a bed.”
“Then change things,” Tonya said. “You love Jamison. We both know it.”
Kendal couldn’t deny Tonya’s words, because they were true. Over the past week, all of those feelings she had for him years ago had resurfaced but with a totally new element. She was no longer a fourteen-year-old girl. She was a twenty-eight-year-old woman. And every time she was around Jamison, she was reminded of that.
Like this morning.
She had figured since she had gotten the girls settled at the kitchen table with breakfast that she would take Jamison’s cup of coffee up to him. She had heard him moving around upstairs and had known he was up. But what she hadn’t known was that he had showered and was standing in the bathroom with his back to her, looking in the mirror shaving with just a towel wrapped around his middle.
She had stood there, fascinated by his damp, dark skin, the way the water had beaded on such a strong back and solid shoulders. And the portion of firm, sinewy thighs not covered by the towel. The man was so fine it had literally taken her breath away. She’d known he was in great physical shape, but she hadn’t realized to what degree until that very moment.
And when their gazes had met and held through the mirror, she had almost dropped the cup of coffee from her hand. Suddenly, she had felt desire, as keen as it could get, infiltrate her entire being, making her juices flow and make her wet between the legs in a matter of seconds. She’d never felt that much desire for any man in her entire life, and it scared the daylights out of her.
“Kendal?”
She glanced at Tonya and remembered her friend’s suggestion. “You think that I should seduce him?” Kendal heard herself ask.
“Yes, why not?” Tonya challenged, smiling. “Simply put, friend, maybe it’s time for you to show Jamison what he could have had.”
“I could end up making a total fool of myself,” Kendal breathed out in a trembling voice.
“You could, but you won’t. It’s time for you to start believing in yourself and your abilities as a woman.”
A thoughtful expression crossed Kendal’s features as she stared over at Tonya. She hoped Tonya was right. Maybe it was time to make a Kendal Fischer move on Jamison Savoy.
Nine
Jamison decided to leave work early and made a pit stop by the florist. He and Kendal had officially been married two weeks today, and he wanted to surprise her with a gift. When he let himself in through the front door, he didn’t hear a sound, which was odd. He was a couple of hours early, so maybe Kendal and the girls had gone out somewhere, to visit her parents or his grandmother.
Sitting the vase of flowers on one of the living room tables, he had jerked off his tie and removed his jacket thinking that a shower sounded good right now when he heard the sound of girls’ voices. So that’s where everyone was. Out back by the pool.
He glanced out the kitchen window and saw Carr and Kia in the pool. And lying stretched out on the lounger in a delectable-looking one-piece bathing suit was Kendal. She was wearing sunglasses with her legs bent and her iPad resting in her lap. Every so often, she would glance up to make sure the girls were still in the shallow end. She was wearing a swim cap, which meant she’d already been in the pool with the girls or planned to join them at some point.
/> He felt a tightening in his chest. Kendal and the girls were his family, and he couldn’t imagine not coming home to them every day. He glanced at his watch. They weren’t expecting him, and he didn’t want their routine to change because he was home early. However, after making his decision about Kendal, he hadn’t been able to get much work done, so he’d left the office. Now he was home and wanted to spend as much time with her and the girls as he could.
His gaze shifted back to Kendal and roamed the length of her. She looked good in her bathing suit. Jamison realized this was the most flesh he’d ever seen on her, and he liked what he saw. Creamy brown, soft and smooth-looking skin. He could imagine the feel of her flesh beneath his fingertips. He wondered how her skin tasted, and the inquisitive thought caused a strong stirring sensation to cut through his loins.
He turned and headed up the stairs. He intended to have some play time with his girls, but especially with Kendal.
***
“Daddy!”
“Uncle J, you’re home!”
The girls’ loud exclamations had Kendal lowering her sunglasses on her nose to stare at Jamison, who was sliding open the French door. Her mouth dropped at the sight of him bare-chested and wearing the sexiest pair of swim trunks she’d ever seen on a man. No, they weren’t swimming trunks but a pair of those swim briefs she’d heard about. And Lordy, they looked so good on him she could feel her eyeballs straining in the sockets.
He smiled and returned the girls’ greetings, and then he glanced over at her. Kendal was convinced that the smile he gave was different from the one he’d given the girls. He was staring hard at her in a way that made her want to melt. Was there some deep and primitive interest hidden in his dark depths?
Regaining her wits, she quickly switched screens on her iPad. The last thing he needed to know was that she had Googled information on how to seduce a man. She sat up, lowered her legs, and smiled back. “You’re home early.”
“Yes, I am. Today is our second week anniversary, so I thought I’d get off early to bring you a gift and come spend time with my girls.”
She swung her legs off the side of the lounger seconds before he reached her and leaned down. Instead of kissing her on the cheek like he usually did, he brushed his lips against hers.
Kendal tried ignoring the fire that was racing through her. “You bought me a gift?” she asked and thought it was nice that he’d remembered they had been married two weeks.
“Yes, it’s in the living room.”
She was about to race off toward the French doors when he wrapped an arm around waist. “Hey, wait a minute.”
She looked up at him and tried to downplay the heat generating where his arm was. “What?”
“You look hot.”
If only he knew that she felt hot as well. “I do?” She wondered if he meant hot as in the temperature or hot as in how she looked.
“Yes. Umm, maybe I need to make sure you get cooled off.”
Something about what he’d said and how he’d said it suddenly caused a sensation of unease to run up her spine. “No, I don’t need to cool off,” she said, backing away from him, only to find she couldn’t when his arm tightened around her waist.
“I think you do.”
The next thing she knew, he picked her up and tossed her into the pool.
***
Kendal came up sputtering water and all but swearing at Jamison. The girls had found the entire thing funny and were having a field day laughing.
“I think she’s mad at me,” he told the girls when he came to stand at the edge of the pool.
“Yes, I think she’s mad at you, Uncle J,” Carr agreed.
“Daddy, Aunt K told us she wasn’t going to get back in the water,” Kia spoke up to add. A worried look appeared on her face. “She might not like you anymore.”
“Oh, she likes me, don’t you, Kendal?” he called out and asked.
“No!” Kendal screamed over her shoulder as she swam toward the side of the pool.
The girls looked back at Jamison with troubled looks on their faces. And then Kia said, “We want her to like you, Dad.”
He smiled one of those assuring smiles at the girls and said, “She does like me. Trust me, I got this.” And then he dived into the pool.
Kendal heard the big splash and glanced over her shoulder to see Jamison swimming at break-neck speed toward her with perfect strokes. She turned back around and picked up speed with her own strokes, thinking the last thing she wanted was to be in the pool with him.
But she was not fast enough. He was faster and caught up with her. “Got you!”
He reached out and captured her by the waist again, and the moment her wet flesh touched his, she felt a blast of heat that ripped through her. “The girls think we’re mad,” he whispered close to her ear while keeping his arms firmly around her waist. “That means we need to kiss and make up.”
And before she could offer any kind of protest, he moved her wet, slippery body up against his and lowered his mouth, stealing her next breath.
***
“Thanks for the flowers, Jamison. They’re beautiful.”
He smiled over at her when she came and sat in the chair across from the sofa. “Does that mean all is forgiven with me throwing you in the pool?”
“No,” she said, trying to keep a straight face. When truth be told all was forgiven the moment he had locked his mouth to hers. God help her, but she had so needed that kiss. And he had not disappointed her. The only reason they’d brought it to an end was knowing they’d had an audience.
The girls had gone to bed, and normally, Jamison would head to bed as well. And Kendal would hang downstairs, finalizing whatever aspect of her job she’d been working on that day, waiting until he was asleep before going to bed. But tonight it seemed he was in no hurry to head upstairs, and she wasn’t in the mood to finalize anything.
“So how were things at work today?” she decided to ask him.
Jamison told her about a case he was handling and enjoyed doing so. Vonetta never asked him about his work, other than when his next payday would be rolling around or to inquire when he was up for his next raise.
“And how did you manage things today?” he asked her after telling her how his day had gone.
“Great. The girls were home with me all day, so we did fun stuff. First off, I took them with me grocery shopping to get out of Ms. Collins’s way for a while.”
Ms. Collins was the lady he’d hired months ago to come in once a week to do housekeeping. Kendal had volunteered to handle things, but he wouldn’t hear of it. She had her own work to do, and he didn’t want her to feel as if she were an unpaid babysitter and maid.
“Then we played word games for a while before it was nap time,” Kendal was saying. “While they napped, I took a quick one as well.”
He nodded. “No work to do tonight?”
She shook her head. “I’m all caught up for now. Next big deadline is next week. I thought I’d go to bed early.”
He decided not to question his good fortune. “And it’s time for me to head upstairs myself,” he said, standing. “Coming?”
She stood as well. “Umm, in a minute. I need to shut down my computer.”
“Okay.”
He then watched as she moved down the hall toward the room that was now her office. He wondered if she would feel uneasy about coming to bed knowing he would be awake and would find something to do just to forestall going up.
As Jamison headed for the stairs, he made up his mind that if Kendal did pull such a stunt, he would come back down for her.
***
“I can do this,” Kendal said, pausing outside her bedroom door. It had taken her a little longer than usual to come upstairs because in addition to shutting down her computer, she had escaped to one of the guest bedrooms downstairs where earlier that day she had hidden everything she needed for her plan of seduction.
She had taken a shower earlier after her swim, so all she needed to
do was undress and slip into the sexy lingerie ensemble she’d purchased at one of Tonya’s Temptations home parties.
Kendal glanced down at herself and had to admit the black lace and satin two-piece looked good on her. Called an “anywhere and at any time” baby-doll dress, it hit mid-thigh and was designed to kick the male testosterone into gear. It came with matching g-string. She was thankful for all those morning walks, sit-ups, and leg bends she’d been doing. She might be thick, but she was definitely toned.
Drawing in another deep breath, she turned the doorknob and entered the room, knowing she would feel totally embarrassed if Jamison had gone to sleep already. She entered the room, and her gaze immediately went to where he was sitting up in bed, reading something on his Kindle Fire.
She closed the door, and his gaze switched from the Kindle to where she stood. And she could tell from his expression that seeing her dressed that way was the last thing he had expected. “Oops, if I had known you were still awake, I would have put on my robe,” she lied as she moved to her bed. When she reached the bed and got in, she grabbed one of her pillows and placed it at her back.
Jamison watched her every move. “When did you get dressed for bed?” he asked as his gaze roamed all over her, several times.
“Downstairs. I figured you were tired, and I didn’t want to disturb you by moving around up here, so I got dressed in one of the guest rooms. The one directly below this room.”
One finely arched brow raised when he asked, “You keep clothes in there?”
Kendal swallowed. Just like an attorney to ask a lot of questions. “A few things. Mostly lingerie. I have so much of it that I’ve decided to keep some up here and some down there. I’m trying to wear a different piece each night.”
“Why do you have so many?”
“Trying to do my part and support Tonya and all. You don’t mind me using that trunk at the foot of the guest room bed, do you?”
He shook his head. “No, I don’t mind. In fact, if you’ve been wearing stuff like that to bed every night, I hate that I missed seeing it.”
ALL HE DESIRES (Voluptuous Woman Series) Page 31
