D’marcus watched her leave, thinking that she had one hell of a sexy walk. He rubbed his hand down his face in frustration. His administrative assistant was turning into one seductive temptress.
“I’m glad D’marcus agreed to bring you to dinner this evening,” Marie was saying as she and Opal walked out onto the patio through a set of French doors. The backyard boasted a lovely garden and huge swimming pool. D’marcus and his uncle had walked next door to take a look at their neighbor’s new boat.
“Thanks for inviting me. Dinner was great. You’re a wonderful cook.”
Marie beamed at the compliment as they sat down together at a patio table. “I had to be, especially when Charles and I suddenly found ourselves as guardian to a very active and hungry little boy. I swear, when D’marcus was little, he ate everything and anything he could get his hands on. There wasn’t anything he didn’t like,” she said with fondness.
Opal smiled as the older woman poured her a glass of iced tea from the pitcher on the table. She could just imagine D’marcus as a kid. But, unlike the kid then, he rarely ate now. His aunt would probably be surprised if she knew just how many meals he routinely skipped due to working so hard. She decided that she wouldn’t be the one to tell her.
“So, did you and D’marcus finish up all those projects today?”
Opal smiled over at Marie after taking a sip of tea. “Yes, we got all of them completed. Those new stores should open without any problems.”
“And later this evening, I understand the two of you have work to do that will take you well into the night.”
Opal hoped the older woman didn’t see the blush on her face. “Yes, that’s what I understand.”
“Well, don’t let my nephew work you too hard. If he wants to be a workaholic, then that’s his business, but don’t let his overzealous work habits rub off on you.”
“I won’t,” Opal said with a smile on her face.
“And another thing,” the older woman was saying. “I know you and D’marcus want to pretend there’s nothing going on between the two of you, but I know better. I may be old but I’m not blind.”
Opal almost choked on her tea and the older woman gazed at her with concern. “Are you all right?”
Opal nodded since she wasn’t capable of talking at that moment.
“Well, like I was saying,” Marie went on, “I’m not going to get into you and D’marcus’s business, but I just wanted you to know that his uncle and I are truly happy that he has found love again. We can tell he’s extremely happy.”
Opal knew D’marcus’s aunt was wrong in her assumptions. He was not in love with her. “Mrs. Armstrong—”
“Marie, please.”
Opal smiled. “Marie, D’marcus is not in love with me,” she said. In a way, she felt a little embarrassed about it. Chances were his aunt would think that, if Opal truly believed that, then why were the two of them lovers?
“Of course he is,” Marie countered. “The boy can’t keep his eyes off you. And he has never taken a woman to his home before. Trust me, he loves you.”
Opal would stand her ground and argue with the woman if she thought it would do any good, but she knew it wouldn’t. The woman was steadfast in her belief. Unfortunately, she was getting love mixed up with lust.
“I want to make a request of you,” Marie said, reclaiming Opal’s thoughts.
“Yes?”
“I thought he would never get over Tonya. Her death broke him. It’s taken him a long time.”
Opal was a split second from saying that he still hadn’t gotten over it. D’marcus was still suffering from intense heartbreak and pain to the point where he would never love another woman and he would never commit his life to one, either.
“And then when he found out that Tonya had been pregnant, he—”
“Tonya was pregnant?” Opal asked, almost in shock.
His aunt nodded. “He didn’t tell you that part?”
Opal was tempted to say that he really hadn’t told her anything, other than how his fiancée had died and why he’d had an aversion to the ocean as a result of it. Instead, she said, “No, he didn’t tell me.”
His aunt inhaled a deep breath. “I’m not surprised. It hurts him to talk about it, especially since he blames himself for Tonya’s death.”
Another surprise revelation. Opal stared at the older woman for a few moments before asking, “Why would he blame himself?”
“Because he was supposed to go with Tonya on that boating trip. He had flown home for a few days to see her, but had skipped the boating trip in order to study for an exam.”
Opal’s heart immediately went out to D’marcus. No wonder he was still hurting, even after six years.
“Now, with you in his life, his uncle and I are hoping that he will move on.”
Opal sighed. She hoped he would move on, as well, but his aunt was wrong in assuming she was in his life for the long haul. She was more in his bed than in his life.
She took another sip of her tea and thought about all that Marie Armstrong had shared with her. She understood D’marcus a little better now and because of it, although she still knew he didn’t love her, her love for him increased at that moment. She would never be able to take Tonya’s place and she wouldn’t think of trying. But just for a little while she would try and make him the extremely happy man that his aunt assumed he was. The extremely happy man he deserved to be.
And, most importantly, she wanted to make him the extremely happy man she loved with all her heart.
“You didn’t say much on the drive back. Are you okay?”
Opal turned toward D’marcus when they entered his home and smiled at him. “Yes, I’m fine.”
A smile touched the corners of his lips. “Then, I guess your reason for not saying much is that my aunt probably talked you to death. I told you she was a talker.”
Yes, she was, but Opal appreciated her tendency to chatter. Otherwise she would not have known as much about D’marcus as she did now. “I’m going to my room to pack.”
Even as she said the words, a sharp pain speared her heart. Getting on that plane and leaving him tomorrow would be hard on her. She knew her emotions were more caught up in this relationship than his, but, at the moment, she couldn’t help herself. Whoever said when you were in love you had the tendency not to think straight certainly knew what they were talking about.
“Do you need my help?” he asked her in a deep, sexy voice. He stood leaning against the living-room doorway staring at her with those intense dark eyes of his. He looked like the perfect male specimen.
Their gazes held and, at that moment, something inside of her seemed to break free. Tomorrow at noon she would be flying back to Detroit on D’marcus’s jet without him. It would be the middle of next week before she saw him again. Five days without looking at his handsome face, tasting his succulent lips, lying in the warmth of his arms. She began to miss him already.
She would think of him every waking moment. She would think of him even when she slept. In other words, every minute of every day. Would he think of her at all?
“Come here, Opal.”
She heard the deep urgency in his voice. She heard the depth of desire in it, as well. Tonight was their last night together for a while and she wanted it to be one that he remembered as much as she did. She was still a novice when it came to making love with a man, but over the past couple of days, D’marcus had taught her a lot, and she intended to use some of those saucy lessons on him now.
She kicked off her shoes as she slowly walked across the room to him, not breaking eye contact. When she got halfway she pulled her blouse over her head and tossed it to the floor. She undid the waistband of her skirt and let it shimmy down her hips to the floor. She smiled when she stood in front of him wearing her black high-cut panties and matching bra.
Opal took a few more steps and then she stopped to remove her bra, tossing it aside, as well. Then, as gracefully as she could, she removed her panties. Instea
d of dropping them to the floor, she tossed them to D’marcus. He caught them with the proficiency of a skilled football player on the field and held them in his grasp.
She watched as he slipped them in his back pocket. “I think I’ll keep them as a souvenir,” he said in a deep, throaty voice. And then he moved away from the door, slowly walking toward her.
As he moved closer, Opal felt heat flood her entire body, especially the area between her legs. But she stood immobile. Immobile and naked. Naked and hot. Hot and ready.
When he was halfway across the room to her, he stopped and tugged his shirt from the waistband of his jeans. He pulled it over his head and threw it aside. He then kicked his shoes off and Opal watched as his hands went to his fly. Her body tensed with anticipation as he eased it down.
“Do you know you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known?” he whispered, his gaze still on her.
She knew his words weren’t the full truth, but decided she would accept his compliment anyway, as well as provide one of her own. “Thank you, and I think you’re the most handsome man I’ve ever met.” Her words were the full truth.
“If that’s true,” he said, kicking his jeans aside, “you and I make one hell of a couple, don’t we?”
Not a couple, really. More like bed partners. She started to correct him but his briefs caught her attention. Well, not exactly the briefs but definitely the size of his erection. He was undeniably aroused. And, when he removed his briefs, she saw that her eyes hadn’t lied. She smiled, knowing she had been the one to bring him to such a state.
“What are you smiling about?” he asked when he finally stood right in front of her.
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I was thinking about something I would really like to do to you.”
He lifted a dark, sensuous brow. “What?”
“It’s something I’ve never done before,” she said, reaching down and encircling her fingers around his large, thick shaft. When she heard his sharp intake of breath, she proceeded to stroke him, the same way she had stroked the keys on the piano that night. Meticulously and precisely. Her smile widened when he released a groan from deep within his throat.
She met his passionate gaze and asked sweetly while she continued to stroke him, “You okay?”
He shook his head. “No, I think I’m dying.”
“Umm, not before you get to experience this.” And, before D’marcus realized what she was doing, she slowly dropped to her knees and took him into her mouth.
The next groan he released was one of profound pleasure and not that of a dying man.
Chapter 15
“Well, did you enjoy your time in California?”
Opal smiled over at her sisters and cousins. She’d been back in town less than a day and they had arrived at her apartment, bringing bottles of wine and boxes of pizza. Now that their stomachs were filled and the wine had loosened their moods, she was ready for the questions to begin.
“Yes, I enjoyed it. San Francisco was simply beautiful.”
“And what about the tyrant?” Ruby didn’t hesitate to ask. “Did he give you a hard time?”
“Did anything happen between the two of you?” Pearl asked almost before Ruby had finished her question.
Opal tried to hide her smile. D’marcus had given her something hard all right but it hadn’t been a hard time. And, yes, something had happened between the two of them, something she wanted to keep private for now. The time she’d spent with him had been simply wonderful and the memories would be etched in her mind as well as her heart, forever. He had brought out her sensuous side and she had enjoyed sharing it with him.
“No, he didn’t give me a hard time and, no, nothing happened.”
To steer her sisters and cousins away from asking any more questions about her and D’marcus, she presented them with the souvenirs she had purchased for them at Fisherman’s Wharf. Then, after bringing her up to date on Reverend Kendrick’s sermon the Sunday before, her family decided to call it a night. However, before they left they all promised to be there to help her move the following weekend. Everyone left except for Colleen who claimed she needed Opal’s help on a report she had to present to her employer on Monday.
It took Opal a few seconds after closing the door to know Colleen did not have any report she needed help with. From the way her cousin was standing in the middle of the room with her arms folded across her chest, Opal knew Colleen had not accepted her rendition of how things had gone in California as easily as the others.
“Okay, Opal, what’s the real deal with you and D’marcus Armstrong?”
Opal shrugged. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Don’t you?” Colleen countered. “Then explain that glow that’s all over your face. And how about that funny-looking smile, the one you have on your face, even now?”
Opal shook her head. She could fool her sisters some of the time but never Colleen.
She couldn’t help but smile. She was bursting with so much love for D’marcus that she wanted to share it with someone and she could think of no one better than the person she considered her very best friend. “Okay, I’ll be honest with you,” she said, walking across the room to sit down on her sofa.
Colleen curled up on the sofa facing Opal. The inquisitive expression on her face, Opal thought, was priceless. She reached out and took her cousin’s hand in hers.
“The most wonderful thing happened to me while I was in San Francisco with D’marcus,” she whispered.
Colleen’s eyes filled with even more curiosity. “What?”
“I realized that I loved him.”
Colleen nodded. “And what was the reason for this big eye-opener?”
Opal smiled. “Spending time with him, getting to know him better…and being with him.”
Colleen lifted a brow. “Being with him how?”
Opal chuckled. “Being with him intimately. D’marcus and I became lovers.”
She could tell from the expression on Colleen’s face that her cousin was trying to absorb what she was saying and also trying to determine if she thought her announcement was a good thing or a bad thing.
“It’s a good thing, Colleen,” she decided to say. “I love him.”
Colleen nodded slowly. “Okay, and how does he feel about you?”
Now that was the million-dollar question, Opal thought. And truthfully, it was one that could be answered rather easily. “D’marcus hasn’t gotten over his fiancée’s death and, because of it, he has no intentions of ever falling in love again or committing himself to anyone.”
“So you’re saying the two of you are having an affair?”
Hearing Colleen say it so blatantly hit home for Opal, made her again realize that was the only thing she and D’marcus were sharing—an affair that would lead nowhere. She loved him but he did not love her. But she would depend on her love being enough. And, when things ended, she would have memories of a special time in her life, a time she would rather have with him than anyone else.
For that reason she felt no remorse or regret when she met Colleen’s gaze and said, “Yes, we’re having an affair.”
For a long moment Colleen was silent. Then she quietly asked, “And are you okay with that, Opal? Are you okay with knowing that one day he might get tired of what the two of you are sharing and just walk away and not look back?”
Colleen had never been a person to sugarcoat anything. She called it as she saw it. But what her cousin didn’t know, Opal concluded, was that she was seeing something totally different. She was seeing a man who’d had a lot of hurt and pain in his life, first losing his parents and then losing the woman he loved. He was a special man, a gifted man, a man who had the ability to make her smile, laugh, feel feminine and sexy and make her experience things she’d never had before, both in and out of bed. She couldn’t help but blush when she thought about all the things he had done to her, all the things she had done to him, all the things they had done to each other.
&nb
sp; “Opal?”
She blinked. Colleen was saying something to her. “Yes? Did you say something?”
“I don’t want him to hurt you.”
Opal reached for Colleen’s hand again. “And he won’t. I know the score. I know D’marcus’s feelings. I’d be a fool not to say I’m hoping that one day he’ll grow to love me as much as I love him, but I’m not holding out for miracles. I just want to live one day at a time, with him in my life. And, when the time comes for him to go his way and for me to go mine, I will find the strength to do just that.”
“And what about your job? Have you forgotten that he’s your boss?”
Opal shook her head. “No, I haven’t forgotten, but he has assured me that one has nothing to do with the other. We plan to be discreet but I won’t sneak around and I doubt he will, either.”
Colleen’s hold on her hand tightened. “If you’re satisfied and happy with the situation then so am I. And, no matter what, I’ll always be here for you if you ever need me.”
Smiling, Opal reached out and the two of them hugged. Deep down she knew what Colleen said was true. She would be there for her when and if the time came. A part of Opal was hoping that it never would.
On Wednesday Opal anxiously sat at her desk. D’marcus was to return to the office today. She had spoken to him on Monday but the conversation had been all business since he’d been in a meeting with others around. But later that night he had called her, taking the role of the lover she had left in San Francisco. He had told her how much he missed her, how he wished he could have talked her into staying over the weekend. He had been invited to several social functions and had wished she’d gone with him instead of him having gone alone.
Lost in thought, she nevertheless heard the door to the office open and and saw D’marcus walk in. Opal had to immediately downplay the smile she had for him when she saw he wasn’t alone. Three of his department heads were following in his wake.
In Bed With Her Boss (Kimani Romance) Page 12
