Bianca reached for her hand. “Maybe you can be the woman to pull him out of his mourning. Do you love him?”
Garcelle shook her head. “No, I would be lying if I said I was in love, but I do care about him. He’s such a good father to Kadina, and he’s really good and fair to his workers. I like him a lot.”
“And you want him bad, don’t you?”
“I do have naughty dreams of having sex with him in odd places . . . like riding him on top of a horse.” Garcelle’s cheeks warmed at her admission.
Bianca bit on the tip of her index finger as she looked off into the distance, with a reflective expression. “Kahron and I have done some things, but . . . on horseback, huh?”
“Sí, horseback.”
Both women did a high five before they fanned themselves.
Zorrie saw Garcelle’s date, sans Garcelle, in the backyard, with the rest of the men. Her heart raced as her eyes sought out Kade. She felt relief when she saw him standing on the sidelines, watching the men play cards. For a moment, she thought he had snuck off with Garcelle.
Everyone at the cookout was buzzing about the obvious attraction between Kade and Garcelle. Zorrie hadn’t missed their long stares and clandestine peeks at one another. She knew for sure that Kade was sniffing around Garcelle’s hot-blooded skirts.
Zorrie wasn’t too concerned. Garcelle was a Latin servant . . . good enough to screw, but not to marry. No, in the end, Kade would want a proper woman as his wife. Namely, her. And she planned to see that it happened sooner rather than later.
Kade was quiet for the rest of the night. He had a lot on his mind. Or at least someone was on his mind a lot.
“Damn, Kade. Pay attention, man,” Kaleb complained as he counted their tricks. “They got a two.”
Kade winced at the score. In whist, there were thirteen tricks up for grabs. With the two teams playing against each other, any trick over six was a win. And then each trick over six was counted as the score. Their opponents ran a two, meaning they had eight tricks to their five.
“My bad, man,” said Kade.
“Shit. Not your bad. Our good, baby. Don’t sweat that,” one of the Jamison twins joked as he reached across the table to give Kahron a dap.
“We just need a one to send them from here. Let’s get to work,” Kahron added as he pushed his shades up on his head.
Kaleb grumbled as he dealt a new hand. “Pay attention, and get your mind off of you know who,” he said, with a hard stare at his older brother.
As Kade arranged his hand, he looked up and saw Carlos Santos walk up and stand behind Kaleb. “Carlos, what does podría enamorarme de ti muy, muy facilmente mean?”
“Man, what the hell are you talking about now?” Kaleb said, with attitude, as he dropped his hand to the table.
Kade ignored him. His body was tense as he looked at the older man.
“It means ‘I could fall in love with you so very, very easily.’”
Kade felt a chill race over his body.
10
Two Weeks Later
Dozens of spotlights filtered through red film shown on the lone figure sitting in the middle of the dance floor. Kade’s arms were tied behind his back as he sat completely . . . and devastatingly . . . nude. His tall and muscular frame seemed to dominate the wooden chair as he calmly waited. Fine silver hair highlighted the strong contours of his chest, dwindling to a fine line through his rigid abdomen and then spreading out to cover and surround the thick root of his dark penis, hanging between his open thighs.
A soft and sultry Spanish song began to play, and the fine hairs on his body stood on end. The muscle between his thighs stirred to life. His heart pounded.
Garcelle came spiraling toward him in that crimson red dress, and their eyes locked when she stopped dramatically before him, with a flirty smile. She bent over to hotly trace his lips with her skillful tongue. She laughed huskily as he jostled about in the chair in an effort to free his tied hands.
His solid penis rose to attention as she slid her hands from his broad shoulders and down the length of his chest before she moved to stand behind him. She pressed her breasts to the back of his neck as her hand descended and surrounded his steel inches. She stroked upward in a rhythmic motion.
“Please, Garcelle,” he begged as he tilted his head back against her bosom.
She jiggled her breasts against him before she stepped back. She loved how he twisted and turned in the chair to get her in his line of vision. She moved back around him as the tempo of the music quickened. She shook her hair free, letting it spill down over her shoulders, before she slid down to the floor in a frontward split.
Kade’s eyes burned a hole through her soul as she lifted her voluminous dress skirt to show him how she lightly worked her hips up and down as if riding the floor like a lover. His penis bobbed like a diving board as he clenched the muscles of his abdomen.
Garcelle rose to her feet, releasing the dress skirt, and it floated down around her hips and thighs as she removed the straps of her dress. They fell from her softly rounded shoulders with ease, exposing her small, but firm and plump, breasts to his eager eyes.
His mouth gaped open as his heart pounded wildly in his chest. She swiveled her hips as she used her thumbs to work the dress down her hips. It fell with a whoosh down her thick, shapely legs to the floor.
Kade’s penis ached at the sight of her nakedness. “Come ride me,” he ordered thickly as sweat covered his body.
Garcelle brought her hands up to play lightly in the soft and neat curls covering her core. She walked to him, with the strength and grace of a panther. “Are you ready for me now?” she asked in a thick Spanish accent.
He tilted his head back to look up at her with heat- and desire-filled eyes. “More than ready.”
She straddled his hips, shifting forward so that the hard base of his penis pressed against the thick lips of her moist opening. She used her hands to guide one pert breast to his open, eager, and ready mouth.
As Kade’s tongue circled her chocolate nipple, Garcelle rose up on her toes and held his heat with her shaking hand as she eased down upon it, with a harsh intake of breath.
He clenched his jaw and furrowed his brow as his hips bucked upward, off the chair, at the feel of her tightly surrounding him. Throbbing against him. Soaking him with her juices. “Garcelle,” he roared.
She arched her back, her head nearly reaching the floor, as she worked her hips and rode him. At times she worked his shaft slow and sensual. At other times she was fast and furious.
The muscles in his arms, shoulders, and back tightened as he pulled against the bonds holding him. With one final savage grunt, he tore the material that secured him, and he was free to touch her.
He didn’t use those hands to grab at her buttocks or breasts but to pull her upper body to him before he lightly grasped the sides of her face. “Podría enamorarme de ti muy, muy facilmente,” he whispered to her tenderly.
Tears filled Garcelle’s eyes as she lowered her head to kiss him deeply. . . .
Garcelle eyes fluttered open as she shook off her hot daydream. When she touched her cheeks, she wasn’t surprised to find that like in her heated and emotional dream, she was crying. Everything had seemed so real.
The sex. The emotions. His words. She sighed.
In the last two weeks, her relationship with Kade had gone from awkward to distant to near nonexistent. They only saw each other in passing. He had even started leaving her paycheck on the counter in the kitchen. She wouldn’t be surprised if he let her go from the job next.
That would probably make Zorrie Kintrell climax all over herself. Somehow the woman’s vacation had been extended to a whole month. Didn’t she have a job to get back to?
Okay. In truth, what really had her going was the obvious closeness she saw developing between the woman and Kade. Correction. Between Zorrie, Kade, and Kadina.
Thankfully, Zorrie was visiting the house less and less during the day. Just when G
arcelle thought the woman had found her life, she discovered Zorrie saved her “visits” for the evening . . . when Kade was home. Like clockwork, little Kadina would innocently fill Garcelle in on all the fun the threesome had had the night before . . . at dinner, the movies, the local fairs and festivals, the water parks, etc., etc.
To Garcelle, Zorrie was the worst of the worst man hunters, because she was going after the husband of her dead best friend and she was using a sweet, innocent child to do it. “Puta,” Garcelle muttered under her breath as she walked over to the window to check on Kadina, who was riding her bike in the front yard.
Kade was blind if he didn’t see MANIPULATOR and HORNY MAN HUNTER written all over Zorrie’s pretty and vacant face. It frustrated her so much that she felt like climbing to the top of the house and scream down at him, “Get your head out of your ass, Kade Strong.”
Then again, maybe Zorrie Kintrell was what Kade wanted. He was pulling further and further away from their newfound friendship and closer to Zorrie. The woman’s personality was as flat as paint. If Garcelle had to spend more than an hour in her presence, she felt herself getting sleepy. Seriously.
“Whatever,” Garcelle said, with a false nonchalance, as she reached into the double-sided refrigerator for the bowl of chicken salad she’d made earlier to serve for lunch. She was busying herself with making Kadina a sandwich, with sliced fresh fruit for dessert, when she heard the front door open and close.
“I was just about to call you in for lunch, Kadina,” she said over her shoulder as she reached in the fridge for one of the little girl’s juice boxes.
“I’m not Kadina, but I could go for lunch if you’re offering.”
At the sound of Kade’s voice and the knowledge of his presence, Garcelle closed her eyes and took a deep, steadying breath as she clutched that juice box until the middle caved in. “Right away, Mr. Strong,” she said, with an edge in her voice.
“Mr. Strong?”
Garcelle ignored his question and began to fix him a sandwich. “Do you want chicken salad or tuna fish?” she asked. “Or should I call Zorrie and ask her to tell you what you want?”
Kade looked over his shoulder at her as he washed his hands at the sink. He frowned. “Zorrie?”
Garcelle waved her hand dismissively. “Nothing.”
Kade dried his hands with a towel as he swaggered over to her. “No, say whatever you have to say. Be a woman about yours.”
Garcelle eyed him sharply as he stood beside her, but she chose to say nothing. Kade Strong and Zorrie Kintrell are none of my concern. I just work here.
“Speak up, Garcelle. I’ve never known you to be so quiet,” he said sarcastically as he moved over to the island and jerked one of the stools back to sit on.
“And I’ve never known you to be so . . . so . . . blind,” she flipped back at him before she could catch herself.
Kade jumped to his feet and slammed his hand against the top of the island as he pierced her with his eyes. “Say what you gotta say, Garcelle.”
She swallowed back everything she wanted to tell him. “I like my job, so eat your sandwich while I go and get Kadina,” she told him, flinging the dish towel onto the counter as she walked past him to leave the kitchen.
He reached out and caught her wrist.
Garcelle yanked her wrist free of his grasp, with eyes blazing, as she faced him. “Two weeks ago on your porch, you started to kiss me, and I was woman enough to tell you that you were not ready, Kade Strong. Now you’re dating your wife’s best friend—”
Kade’s eyes flared as he leaned down to Garcelle. “I’m not dating anybody,” he spit out.
“Hah!” Garcelle said, with a sarcastic laugh. “If a man and a woman go out to eat, to the movies, and all that good stuff . . . they are dating, baby.”
Kade flung his hands in the air.
“That woman is a barracuda in disguise. A wolf in sheep’s clothing . . . ,” cried Garcelle.
Kade turned his back to her as he reclaimed his seat. “You don’t even know her to have an opinion about her.”
“Hell, do you really know her?”
“Better than you know your boyfriend, Rico Suave, I bet,” he countered around a mouthful of his sandwich.
“Rico Suave?” Garcelle came around the island to face him. “Is that a racist comment?”
Kade dropped his sandwich on his plate. “Oh God, not that shit again.”
“What? You don’t like Latinos?”
“I . . . am . . . not . . . a racist!” Kade yelled at the top of his lungs. “And you know that, Garcelle.”
Yeah, she did, but so what.
“You ain’t a good judge of character, either, baby,” she said under her breath as she moved away from him.
“Zorrie is a good friend of mine and nothing more.”
“Keep dating your wife’s best friend. I don’t care,” she said dismissively as she started putting things back in the refrigerator.
Kade came up behind her, and Garcelle felt the heat of his body cloak her. When his hands came around to cover her hands, she thought she would pass out from wanting him so bad.
“You care,” he said huskily. “Just like I hate seeing you with ole boy.”
Garcelle allowed herself to lean back against the hardness of his body.
“But I am not dating Zorrie or anyone else, because you’re right . . . I’m not ready.”
Those words pained her so very deeply.
He pressed the side of his face to hers as he whispered, “If I did date, it would be you, Garcelle. It would be you. Only you.”
Her heart hammered, and she felt weak as her core moistened.
The front door slammed, and Kadina’s footsteps echoed in the hall. Kade and Garcelle moved apart. The sudden distance did nothing to stop her racing pulse or the heady thump-thump of the pulsing bud between her legs.
Kadina burst into the kitchen, dripping wet, just as thunder roared and clapped around the house. “It started raining, just like you said, Daddy.”
Garcelle and Kade both laughed at the sight she made.
“You look like a drowned squirrel, cupcake,” Kade said, reaching out to lightly pinch her nose. “I told you it called for rain this afternoon.”
“It started all of a sudden,” Kadina said as she smiled up at him like he was her hero.
“Go and get out of those wet clothes before you catch a cold,” Garcelle told her.
“I’ll be right back,” Kadina told them before she tore off at a full run.
As soon as she left them alone, Garcelle felt Kade’s eyes rest on her. “So you’re off for the rest of the day?” she asked, trying to sound normal so that maybe she could convince herself that this whole situation was normal.
“Yeah. Looks like I got home just in time to beat the rain.”
Garcelle chanced a look at him, and her heart responded in a flash. “Since you’re home, I’m going to cut out and go home early if that’s okay.”
Kade nodded as he took a halfhearted bite of his sandwich. “Are you leaving early because of me?” he asked in a low voice.
Garcelle grabbed her purse and keys from the counter. “Tell Kadina I’ll see her tomorrow. Tell her we’ll go to one of the ranches and ride horses,” she said quietly before she strode out of the kitchen, completely ignoring his question.
Garcelle walked out the front door. The rain was coming down so heavily that it looked like the windows had been smeared with Vaseline. She paused on the porch, trying to decide if she should wait it out until the rain lightened or just make a run for her car.
The front door opened behind her, and she looked over her shoulder at Kade. They shared another one of those long, hot stares before she turned away. He stepped onto the porch, beside her.
The slight chill from the rain left her, from being so close to him. He reached for her hand, but Garcelle dodged his touch. She looked up at him, and their eyes locked. She felt herself getting lost in the depths of him. She did a full turn t
o break the hold. “Good-bye, Kade,” she said in frustration before she dashed down the steps, into the pouring rain.
Just as she reached her car, she felt a hand on her shoulder, turning her around. The rain pelted their bodies, drenching them both. He brought his hands up to her face to tilt it forward as he lowered his head to hers. They pressed their mouths together. Garcelle closed her eyes as she raised her hands and wrapped them around each of his wrists.
Steam could have risen from the heat of their bodies as they shared a slow and sensual kiss. Their tongues tentatively touched for the first time before circling and suckling as they stepped closer to each other. They both trembled. Their hands shook. She felt his hardness. He knew he had made her wet.
Garcelle broke the kiss as she panted for air. “Don’t, Kade,” she warned.
“Don’t what?” he repeated.
“You’ve said you’re not ready. I’ve said you’re not ready. So no more long stares or kisses or touches or standing close or any of that.”
“Garcelle—”
“This isn’t all about you and you trying to deal with your wife’s death, Kade. I have feelings. All the looks, that kiss, all of that affects me, and then I have to deal with you pulling away because you’re not ready. I can tell you’re torn, but I have to look out for me, you know. So unless you want me to quit working for you, just stop. Stop. Please.”
Kade nodded as he reached for the keys and unlocked her car door. “You’re right, and I’m sorry,” was all that he said.
Garcelle climbed into the car. She watched as he walked up the stairs and into the house, without looking back at her.
Kade had forgotten how much he enjoyed sitting beside the lit stone fireplace in his den. Sometimes he’d read; other times he’d watch television. Today he sat quietly, reflecting as he watched the rain shower outside his window. He let his head fall back against the leather club chair where he sat as he twisted the gold wedding band on his finger.
He had a lot on his mind. Memories. Regrets. Desires. His past. His present. His future.
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