Chadwick's Rare Find (An Intriguing Romance Novel)

by Heidi Sexton

  Clarence walked past the foyer without an invitation to do so, which made Vana want to grab him by the neck and throw his little behind out the door. “This is a nice house. Do I get a tour?”

  “No you don’t get a tour. This is my sister’s house. She would be the only one who could give you a tour.” Vana wanted him gone. She had seen enough. She looked at Brittany and mouthed the words “I’m sorry,” over Clarence’s head. Brittany smiled and shrugged her shoulders. Revenge was in the making first. Friendship would come later.

  “Well, Clarence I just wanted to introduce you to the girls. I’ve had a long day and since you and Vana know each other, I’ll leave you two to it.” With that Brittany pivoted and took the stairs two at a time with nary a look over her shoulder. Amber was right behind her. Vana stood beside Clarence in disbelief. She had been left alone with a perverted midget.

  #

  Adanna came home to find glass and water on her floor. Her beautiful vase that she had picked up at the flea market was on the floor in a zillion little pieces. Someone had pushed the broken table back against the wall. Adanna was more interested in what had happened than upset at the damage done. She headed towards the kitchen where she could hear talking. The sight that met her eyes was enough to make her lean heavily against the wall and clutch her chest.

  Vana was dressed from head to toe in the most hideous outfit she had ever seen. She had a wild look in her eyes. Across from her sat something. Adanna had to move further into the room to be sure. Yes, it was just as she thought. Sitting across from Vana was a hideous little midget man. His little legs stuck right out from the booth he was sitting in. They didn’t even dangle. Adanna was rendered speechless. She looked mutely from the midget man to Vana. She repeated this three times, before she was mercifully spoken to directly.

  “Another pretty lady. This is my day. I’m Clarence Rochester. You must be Adanna?” He reached his hand out to shake hers. Adanna could see Vana shaking her head no, but it was too late. The little odious man had his wet lips on the back of her hand already. Adanna’s hand stayed suspended in the air even after he had leaned back into the booth. She felt faint. Adanna had no idea what to do next. So, she looked to Vana for direction.

  “Clarence, it has been a long day for all of us and I have enjoyed your company, but Adanna and I have some things we need to take care of, so you’ll have to excuse us.” Vana was trying to tell him to leave in the nicest way possible.

  “Should I wait here until you finish?”

  Vana’s patience snapped. “No. What you should do is leave. Come with me. I will walk you to the door.” Standing up Vana waited for him to climb out of the booth. Instead of preserving his dignity and sliding out, he actually turned onto his knees and scooted out backwards to slowly lower his feet to the ground.

  All the laughter had long died inside of Vana. She looked at Adanna, who still wore a puzzled look on her face. Taking the little man by the forearm she guided him out as if he were a child. She marched him to the door, opened it, and let him out like the little puppy that he was. He turned to speak, but Vana shut the door in his face before one syllable reached her ears.

  She had spent two and a half hours listening to that imbecilic creature. She had spent days being angry and stirred up over lies that he had told on Brittany. Vana was full of self-loathing. All she wanted was a shot of whiskey and sleep.

  “Vana, what is –”. Vana’s hand went up to silence Adanna. There would be no more talking on her part or anyone else’s in her presence. She wanted silence.

  “Ask someone else. I am going to bed.”

  Adanna was left alone to wonder who had vandalized her foyer, why her sister was dressed like a homeless person, and why she was entertaining an obnoxious little midget man in her kitchen.

  CHAPTER 16

  Brittany turned over in bed. Lying on her back, she stared at the ceiling. Lifting her pendant watch from her neck, she noted that she had been asleep for two hours. After fighting Vana and getting to the bottom of her hostility, Brittany had been exhausted. Leaving Vana with Clarence had been an awfully catty thing to do, but Vana deserved it after all the trouble she had caused. Lying back in the bed Brittany wondered what time Chadwick would call. She decided that she would let Vana clear up the lies she had repeated. After all, Chadwick hadn’t mentioned anything to her yet. If their parting kiss was an indication of where he stood with her, then he had not believed a word Vana said.

  It was late. The house was quiet. Brittany felt sure everyone had gone to bed. Climbing out of her own bed, she made her way to the bathroom. Having a bathroom all to herself was a novelty. She had shared a bathroom with her sisters all her life. The peace and quiet of it all was foreign but welcome. Brittany needed the privacy to think about her and Chadwick’s relationship and where it was headed. She could literally hide away for hours in this spacious room Adanna had so graciously given to her.

  Walking into the luxurious bathroom, Brittany flipped the switch on. She looked at herself in the mirror. Aside from a few scratches on her neck, she was unscathed from her fight with Vana. She was glad to observe there were no patches of hair missing. Shaking her head and laughing at the events of the evening, she poured musk-scented bubble bath into the tub of running hot water. Before long, steam was rising all around her. Brittany stretched, stepped out of her underwear and lowered herself into the tub.

  It felt wonderful. Leaning back, she closed her eyes. Her thoughts drifted easily to Chadwick. He was so strong. Brittany knew she was a big girl. He had lifted her voluptuous, long-legged frame several times. Each time she had felt as light as air. Brittany smiled and sank lower into the water.

  Her cell phone was ringing. She was out of the tub in a flash. Her feet tangled in her underwear and she stumbled into the bedroom landing sideways on the floor. Crawling on her knees, she frantically grabbed the phone and hit the green button.

  “Hello!”

  “Hello. You sound---are you okay?” Chadwick’s voice was concerned.

  “I’m fine. Hold on, Chadwick.” Brittany picked herself up from the floor, bent over and snatched her bra and panties from around her ankles. Throwing them across the room she went back into the bathroom with the cell phone in her hand.

  “Okay, Chadwick. I’m here. Sorry about that, I had a little technical difficulty.” He didn’t need to know what kind. Lowering herself back into the tub, Brittany was careful not to drop the phone or get it wet.

  “Are you in the tub?” Chadwick could hear the water.

  “Yes. I just ran a bath before you called.” She felt her skin warming and not because of the warm water. What must he be thinking?

  #

  Chadwick’s evening at the office had been boring and uneventful. With every passing hour he wanted to howl. His partner was gone to Honolulu with his wife and kids and would not be coming back for a week. There wasn’t a chance Chadwick could get away earlier – not with a merger in progress. He was stuck in Atlanta for a whole week.

  He left the office at midnight. He wasn’t hungry. So, he had gone straight home. After jumping into the shower and putting on a t-shirt and some briefs, he’d climbed into bed with a beer and popcorn. Picking up his cell phone he hit the memory button for Brittany.

  #

  “You’re in the tub?” Chadwick said in disbelief. How was he supposed to have an intelligent conversation with Brittany Bradfield, a six- feet-something, bombshell, sexual goddess, virgin, while she sat naked in a tub?

  “Yes. If that bothers you, I can get out.”

  “No. Please stay in. It’s just that it’s so early in the morning.”

  “It’s just eleven o’clock here. That’s still late, but not too late.”

  “I forgot about the time difference. It’s one o’clock here.”

  Brittany settled back into the water and listened to Chadwick talk about his day at work. She asked a few questions, but mostly listened. He soon got around to asking questions about her day. He couldn�
��t believe that all she had done was taken a nap. Brittany was hesitant to tell him anything else. So, in order to change the subject about her day she had to come up with something different to talk about. But first she had to get out of the tub. Her skin was wrinkled from being in the water too long.

  “Chadwick, hold on again. I need to get out of the tub.” Chadwick was thankful, because it had taken more reserve than he knew he possessed to keep from getting into phone sex with her. He knew exactly what to say to get them both in a bit of trouble even over the phone. Their conversation picked up again once Brittany was settled into bed.

  “Chadwick, let’s give each other a question tonight. You ask me something personal and I have to answer it and then I ask you something personal.”

  “That’s a good idea. I already know what I want to ask you.”

  Brittany didn’t like the sound of it, but she didn’t have any skeletons in her closet. So, she wasn’t too afraid of what he might ask. “Okay. You go first then.”

  “Are you a virgin?” Chadwick asked.

  Brittany was caught off guard. She assumed he already knew based on some comments he had made. So, why was he asking?

  “Yes, I am.”

  “Why?” Technically this made two questions, but Chadwick needed an answer. It was no accident that she was still a virgin. There was some deeper reason. He had to know what it was.

  “When we found out momma was dying, we promised her that we wouldn’t have sex until we were married.”

  “Has it been hard to keep that promise?”

  “Not until I met you,” Brittany said quietly.

  Chadwick’s heart was pounding. He knew Brittany wanted him, but to hear her say it was like an aphrodisiac. It was a good thing he was in Atlanta, almost two thousand miles away from her.

  “Now it’s my turn.” The silence was making Brittany uncomfortable. “I want to know why you’re still single at thirty-five. Have you ever been engaged before?”

  “I’ve never been engaged and never been married. Over the past ten years I have spent all my time building my business. The business is a success, but my personal life has been in shambles.”

  Brittany was relieved to know that there would be no old commitments jumping out of closets at her. He was a free man. It seemed too good to be true, but from what she knew about Chadwick already, it made sense that he had not made promises to women he couldn’t keep. All in all she was reassured.

  Their conversation continued with Chadwick talking low and sexy into her ear through the phone. Brittany told funny stories about her childhood and growing up with Christy and Amber. Chadwick talked about his college days and some of the stupid things he and his guy friends used to do. The conversation vacillated between being serious and sexual. Eventually Brittany’s eyelids felt like lead, but Chadwick talked on. His sensual baritone voice turned into a lullaby in her ears. Before she knew it she was asleep.

  #

  Brittany awoke the next morning with the cell phone between her head and her pillow. She was mortified that she had fallen asleep during their conversation. She tried to call Chadwick back, but got his voice mail. She left a message apologizing for her rudeness.

  Feeling invigorated even though she couldn’t have gotten more than three hours of sleep, Brittany jumped out of bed, grabbed a robe and left her room. Amber’s and Christy’s rooms were empty. Brittany knocked on Vana’s door. She heard a faint moaning sound. Pushing the door open, she saw Vana lying across the bed in pajamas.

  “Thanks to you, I hurt everywhere,” Vana said.

  “You didn’t get in some hot water before you went to bed?” Brittany asked with real concern.

  “No, I didn’t. You guys left me with that horrible little man and he wouldn’t leave. When he finally did leave all I could do was fall into bed and sleep.”

  “You deserved it Vana. How could you believe anything he said? Where are you hurting?”

  “Everywhere --- my arms, legs, and back. I didn’t know him well enough to think he had any reason to lie.” Vana offered as her excuse. She turned over limply when Brittany nudged her. Brittany began a deep muscle massage on her back.

  “Well, how could you doubt your brother’s judgment then? Don’t you think he would have known if I was a bad woman?”

  “Oh, that feels so good. Please, have mercy. I think I’ve paid the price for what I did. Just let me enjoy this massage. No more questions.” Vana’s eyes rolled around in her head before she gave up and closed them completely. She never knew when Brittany finished. She was fast asleep when Brittany quietly left the room.

  #

  Making her way down the stairs, Brittany noticed a beautiful new bouquet of flowers on the side table she and Vana had wrecked during their fight. There was a white envelope hanging from the vase. As she neared the table, Brittany picked it up and noticed her name on it. Upon opening it she read: I didn’t know you snored. Again, tonight at 10:00 please. Love Chadwick. Holding the envelope close to her chest, Brittany leaned over to smell the flowers.

  “Those flowers can stay right there. You and Vana should be ashamed.” Adanna had slipped up on her, catching her by surprise.

  Whirling around Brittany was relieved to see her smiling. “Oh, so you’ve been told all the sordid details.”

  “Yes, Amber and Christy filled me in this morning. I am glad it all turned out well. Now we can plan our party for this weekend.” It was obvious Adanna loved parties. Brittany, herself, wasn’t in the mood because Chadwick was away.

  “You know Chadwick will be here for the party? He is coming in Friday night.” Adanna had correctly read that detached look on Brittany’s face.

  Brittany was happy to hear this. She followed Adanna into the kitchen where Christy and Amber were sitting in the booth with paper before them. They were writing a list of names.

  “Help us add some names to the list. Don’t you have some friends you could invite to our gala?” Christy asked. She and Amber both looked excited.

  “I have a few,” Brittany said smiling as she slid in beside Christy.

  Brittany, her sisters, and Adanna spent the rest of the morning making a list of people to invite. They hoped at least half of the people would be able to attend on such short notice. Adanna’s reputation in the Valley for throwing the best parties would certainly be motivation for some to change prior plans in order to attend. Adanna had no doubt that the party would be a hit with five beautiful and single women as the main attraction.

  There were over two hundred names on their finished list, but they anticipated no more than one hundred and fifty. There were more men than women, which was interesting considering the fact that none of them were avid daters. They all had one thing in common though. They attracted men in droves and men enjoyed their friendship to say the least.

  All of them were satisfied with the party list and anticipated having a good time.

  CHAPTER 17

  Time flies when you’re having fun. Fun is exactly what the Bradfield sisters and the Jordan sisters were having. They enjoyed each other and bonded as they made preparations for their big bash. After hurrying the invitations to the post office, they had gone shopping for their dresses. Vana had awakened rejuvenated with all vestiges of soreness gone. She had hugged and warmly thanked Brittany for her help. She was more than happy to join the group. They spent the entire afternoon trying on one outfit after another.

  Needless to say with five women, tastes varied in extreme. Adanna and Amber were much more conservative in their tastes than Vana and Brittany, whereas Christy was in a class all her own. Brittany and Vana went for scandalously sexy, slinky dresses that were more elegant than gaudy, but definitely attention-getters. Christy’s style was simple elegance with no sex. Her dress was elegant, but it did not encourage leering eyes or wandering hands. Adanna’s and Amber’s dresses were conservative and functional. They would have no fear of any unwanted exposure in their dresses. They would be well covered.

  The party
would begin at seven o’clock and last until midnight. A catering service would provide drinks and finger foods, which were to be served continuously throughout the evening. There would be a dance in the dining room. The table had already been removed and the floor polished. Adanna had hired a DJ. Everything was in order by Thursday.

  #

  Brittany tried her dress on several times and she still worried that it was too revealing. Vana had scoffed at her concern and told her to quit acting like an old maid. She said the dress was fine. Amber had only looked at her and raised one eyebrow, which should have been warning enough for Brittany to take the dress back in exchange for something a little more conservative. The dress was made out of silk. It was black and strapless. The hem of the dress wasn’t really a hem; it was more shaggy-edged like someone had torn pieces of material from the bottom of the dress. It exposed the lower half of Brittany’s thighs. If she were unfortunate enough to fall at any point during the party, her behind would be on display. Brittany really wasn’t the conservative type, but she wasn’t exactly flagrant either.

  Brittany had gone along with Vana against her better judgement and kept the dress. She now had accessories and shoes to go with her outfit. There would be no changes made at this point. She had also described the dress to Chadwick, who seemed excited to get home to see her in it. He was a man after all. She really hadn’t expected him to have any objections. She knew that he might if he knew their invited guests consisted of far more males than females, but she had kept that little tidbit of information to herself.

  Friday came upon them all a little too quickly. They rushed to have pedicures and manicures done. Time was spent in the spa with a little waxing done. After coming home from the beautician, most of the day was gone. The girls met up in the kitchen for supper at around seven o’clock. Amber had put some steaks on the grill and Adanna was baking potatoes and loading them with cheese, sour cream, butter, bacon bits, and scallions.