“How can I? You spend enough for the both of us.”
Rosa flinched as if he’d slapped her.
“I’m sorry.” He took her hands into his. “I didn’t mean that.”
Her expression softened beneath the tranquil glow of the setting sun. He admired and loved her earthy and timeless beauty as well as her sassiness and flair for dramatics.
“What’s troubling you, honey?” she asked. Her hand caressed his face. Concern mirrored in her eyes.
He shrugged and stood. “It’s nothing.”
“There’s something you’re not telling me,” she said, her tone sounding unconvinced. “What is it?”
Noah slid on his jacket and shook his head. “I swear. It’s nothing.”
Rosa held his gaze as if trying to decipher the truth. Noah’s reliable poker face saved him.
“Well, all right then. We better get going if we don’t want to keep them waiting.”
His headache intensified. “No. We wouldn’t want that.”
Twenty miles outside of Jackson, Mississippi, Jordan and Christian were parked in the emergency lane off I-20. The heat from the blazing sun burned mercilessly while they stood over the propped-up hood. Clouds of smoke billowed from the engine.
“What do we do now?” Christian asked with dread through her voice.
“It looks like we walk.”
Shielding her eyes, she glanced around and inquired, “How far do you think we are from the next exit?”
“One, maybe two, no more than three miles.”
She expelled a long breath and shook her head. “Well, let me get my purse. Do you need me to grab anything out of the car for you?”
“A flying carpet, if you’ve got one.”
“Cute.”
Jordan laughed. “It didn’t hurt to ask.” He walked past her, grabbed something from the glove compartment, and then waited for her.
“You think this is safe?” she asked, once they were on their way.
Jordan crossed a hand over his heart. “You’ve wounded my masculine sensibilities. Are you doubting my ability to shield you from danger?”
“Masculine sensibilities? You keep talking like that and I’m sure I’ll be the one protecting you if someone tries to attack us.”
He laughed.
She looked around again. “But I’m serious. I feel uncomfortable doing this. Too many senseless crimes happen this way.”
Jordan draped an arm around her shoulders. “I’m sorry this has happened, but I’d rather take you with me than leave you alone back there in the car. I should have brought my cell phone, but I didn’t want to be disturbed by business on this trip.”
“Leave me? I would never have stayed, not without some type of protection.”
“I would have left you with my gun.”
Christian stopped. “You carry a gun?”
He turned and faced her. “Does that offend you?”
She blinked and shook her head. “Guns don’t frighten me. I’m just surprised that’s all. You just don’t look like the Dirty Harry type.”
“To me, being armed just makes sense. I’m a black man living in the South and I drive an expensive car. In my opinion, that makes me a moving target.”
They resumed walking.
“It’s rather sad that things really haven’t changed that much over the years. I mean, concerning racism.”
Jordan shook his head. “True, but you have to remember it’s not necessarily a hate crime. There are just as many brothers out there that wouldn’t think twice of taking me out just for my car.”
She reflected on his point of view with bitterness. “I guess you have a point.”
“But hey, let’s talk about something else. Tell me about yourself.”
“Why?”
“Why?” He laughed. “We’re stuck with each other for the next three days. We could try to get to know each other.”
Ashamed of her defensive attitude, she chanced a quick smile in his direction. Their gazes held for a brittle moment. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it the way that came out.”
He nodded. “That’s all right.” He looked at his watch, then glanced over his shoulder as cars whizzed by them. They still had plenty of daylight left, he calculated.
Five miles later, they reached the next exit.
Christian never complained during their walk. And yet, she never answered too many questions about herself either.
He didn’t understand the big mystery, but he promised himself he was going to enjoy solving this one.
When they reached a gas station, Christian excused herself and went to the bathroom, while Jordan hurried to get the water needed for the car. Christian caught up with him ten minutes later. He’d found them a ride back to their vehicle.
Their ride was with a six-foot-six man with steel, Nordic eyes that sent shivers down her spine. He walked over, dressed in a pair of greasy overalls, and thrust out his hand. “Hello, ma’am. Name’s Earl.”
“Hello. It’s nice to meet you,” she greeted, casting an inquisitive look at Jordan.
As they headed toward a faded red pickup truck, she leaned over and whispered. “I don’t know about this.”
“It’s going to be all right,” he assured her in the same hushed tone.
She pinned him with a look of doubt.
“Trust me,” he added, climbing in behind her.
“You guys are sure lucky that I dropped by here,” Earl boasted in the thickest Alabama accent Christian had ever heard.
“We sure do appreciate the help,” Jordan thanked him.
She tolerated the sweltering heat inside the truck, which was in dire need of shock suspensions. She sat squeezed between the two men with her jaws clenched and a prayer in her heart.
After making a complete circle on the highway, Christian breathed a sigh of relief when she made out their car parked in the emergency lane.
As they drew closer, she gasped.
Jordan leaned forward. “What the hell—?”
Chapter 15
“Where is she?” Malcolm slapped the phone back in the cradle. He lowered his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. He’d been calling Alex for most of the evening. He couldn’t let it end like this.
He stood and paced the floor. A clean break? What did she mean by that? You just don’t tell someone you don’t want to be friends anymore, he reasoned. His anger increased as his pace quickened. Glancing at his watch, he toyed with the idea of driving over to see her, to talk with her.
A loud knock sounded on his bedroom door.
“What is it?” he snapped, yanking it open.
Clarence’s brows stretched inquisitively at Malcolm’s harsh tone. “Is there anything wrong, sir?”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
“Women problems, I take it?”
“You know, not every time I have a problem is because of a woman.” His tone turned defensive.
Unconvinced, Clarence crossed his arms. “Christian?”
Malcolm laughed. “My ex-fiancée?”
“It was rather a short engagement, sir.”
“I’ve asked you not to call me that.” He turned away from his door and allowed Clarence to enter.
“Force of habit, sir. I stopped by to tell you that I have scheduled the movers to be here first thing in the morning.”
“Thank you.” Malcolm dropped across the bed.
After a moment of silence, Clarence turned to head out of the door.
“I just don’t understand women,” Malcolm confessed.
Clarence stopped. “No man does,” he answered turning toward Malcolm again. “I like to think of them as being the eighth wonder of the world.”
Malcolm didn’t laugh, but instead expelled a long frustrated breath. “I lost my best friend today.”
“I see.”
At Malcolm’s silence, Clarence turned.
Malcolm spoke. “She was in love with me and I never knew it.”
“To be honest with you I haven’t thought about Christian. Up until this morning I thought I was in love with her. Who wouldn’t be? She’s smart, beautiful, and down-to-earth.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“There are a few, actually. One, she doesn’t feel the same way about me. Two, I’m not too sure that I feel the same about her anymore.” Malcolm sat up. “I know this probably doesn’t make a bit of sense to you.”
“On the contrary. You forget that I was once your age.”
“Have you ever been in love?”
“Often,” Clarence answered with a shrug.
Malcolm laughed. “Any words of wisdom?”
“This best friend wouldn’t happen to be Alexandria Cheney, would she?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you mind if I ask how you feel about her?”
“She’s wonderful,” Malcolm responded enthusiastically. “She’s beautiful, funny, intelligent. The list goes on forever, but I never once considered her as more than my best friend.”
“Why?”
“She’s too perfect. I mean, I’ve never done anything right in my life. The last thing I want to do is screw up our relationship.”
“So you thought that if you just remained friends—”
“Then I would never lose her.” Malcolm’s voice trailed off into a whisper.
“Sounds like you were in love with the wrong woman.”
Malcolm shook his head as his gaze locked with Clarence’s. “Or I didn’t realize I was in love with the right woman.”
“My, God. I don’t believe this.” Christian blinked. She stared dumbfounded at the broken glass and dented rental car.
Earl rolled to a stop. No one spoke as they each got out of the truck. Glass covered the pavement surrounding the car as well as most of the car’s interior.
As she neared the passenger’s side, Christian’s gaze assessed the long keyed scratches that had ruined the paint job and the slashed tires. Their clothes had been thrown out of their bags and scattered across the backseat.
She snatched open the back door and dug for the small compartment inside of her tote bag. Her heart squeezed with fear. Her eyes burned with unshed tears.
They were gone.
A sense of loss swallowed her whole. Her mother’s diamond-studded earrings were gone. She shook her head. She had cherished the gift she’d received from her grandmother. They connected her with her deceased mother, and now they were lost forever.
Jordan sat behind the wheel and expelled a long breath that drew Christian’s attention. Wires dangled between a wide, empty space in the dashboard. The car stereo had been stolen.
Earl stood in front of the car, shaking and scratching his head. “If this don’t beat all,” he said. “How long were you folks gone?”
“A couple of hours,” Jordan answered before dropping his head back against the headrest.
Christian remained quiet. What was there to say?
Earl shifted his dingy “Truckers do it better” cap around his head and gazed up at the fading sun. “You folks need a ride back to the pay phones?”
Jordan glanced over at her.
Christian shrugged. What choice did they have?
“Sure, that’s very nice of you,” he replied, getting out of the car.
Jabbing clothes back into their luggage, Christian didn’t bother to separate their belongings. They would just have to figure things out later.
“Just leave it,” Jordan said. “They’ve already taken everything valuable. We can leave everything like it is until we can get some help out here.”
Jaws clenched, she shook her head. Could this day get any worse?
Wong Chin raised his glass to make a toast. “To leadership,” his voice thundered. His gaze centered on Noah as a malicious grin slithered into place. “And to Opulence’s glorious future.”
Noah raised his glass.
Everyone clinked their glasses together in the center of the table.
The men’s gazes locked together, while they drank.
“This is a wonderful restaurant you’ve selected, Mrs. Chin,” Rosa started the conversation.
“Please, call me Mie-Lin.”
“Ah, what a beautiful name,” Rosa declared.
“Tell me, Noah,” Chin interrupted the women without an apology. “Has your team already come up with Opulence’s new marketing campaign?”
“Our team is still on schedule.”
“Well, that is good news. I do want to express my sympathies over your son Jordan leaving the company. I hope that doesn’t indicate that there is some type of problem that the board doesn’t know about?”
A muscle twitched along Noah’s jaw. “On the contrary, but I am happy to see that your spies are doing such a wonderful job in reporting everything to you.”
Chin didn’t bother to deny the accusation. “One can never be too careful.”
“Now I thought that this was going to be a social evening.” Rosa touched her husband’s arm, but smiled tightly at Chin. “You men can talk business at another time.”
As if on cue, Mie-Lin pushed back in her chair. “I need to go to the ladies’ room.” She stood. “Rosa, would you care to join me?”
Rosa’s gaze darted to everyone. A look of uneasiness settled on her features.
Noah’s hand squeezed hers for reassurance, but he knew the gesture did nothing of the sort.
“If you gentlemen would excuse us,” she said tightly.
Both men stood and waited until the women departed from the table.
Noah turned his attention to Chin. “So what kind of trap have you lured me into Chin?”
His adversary’s thunderous laugh and headshaking denial were too short to be convincing.
“If you remember, Noah. This little get-together was your wife’s idea.”
“And you’ve never been one to pass up on an opportunity to be a pain in my backside.”
Chin’s sobered expression twisted in thought before he said, “You know there is no shame in stepping down as CEO. We all want what is best for Opulence. I know I speak for the board when I say it’s time we start looking for some new blood, a fresh face, if you will.”
“It doesn’t work like that, Chin.” Noah’s razor-sharp voice sliced through the man’s prepared speech. “Opulence is my family heritage and I have no plans to just hand it over to a bunch of greedy, self-indulgent people looking to make a fast buck.” His outrage fell on deaf ears.
“Spare me the heritage speech, Noah. You forget that I’ve heard it before. If you were so concerned about keeping Opulence just a quaint family business, then maybe you should never have gone public. This is business. It’s not personal. Money runs businesses. Money keeps businesses. And whether you like it or not, money is the bottom line.”
Noah’s icy gaze pierced the younger man.
Chin lifted his wineglass and drained the remaining contents before he hit Noah with the ace up his sleeve. “The board wants to meet with your people, review the fall marketing strategies, then vote on whether we want to keep you on board.”
Chapter 16
Lodgers Inn
Jackson, Mississippi
Christian slumped into a chair in the hotel lobby. Her body ached and her temples throbbed. She needed a hot shower and a soft bed.
Jordan thanked Earl and offered him compensation for his help.
“Nah, that’s awright. You two lovebirds probably need to hold on to whatever ya got after a day like this. I’m just happy I could help.”
Christian frowned. Lovebirds?
“Well, thanks again,” Jordan responded with a firm handshake.
Earl tipped his hat toward Christian. “Nice meeting you, ma’am.”
She shared a brief smile, relieved that she had been wrong about the haggard-looking man. He had stayed with them throughout the ordeal of reporting the vandalism to the local a
uthorities and while they arranged for a new rental car. In fact, he had been a godsend.
Jordan dropped into the chair beside her.
She glanced over at his unguarded expression. Tired lines creased around his eyes and across his forehead. His broad shoulders hunched forward as he stared down at the patterns of the red and gold carpet.
She liked looking at him. When he lifted his head, their eyes met. An awkward smile wobbled in place as she averted her gaze.
Jordan stood. “I’m going to see if I can get us rooms. Do you want to wait here?”
“I don’t think I could get up right now if the building was on fire.”
He laughed. “I’ll be right back.”
As he walked over to the front desk, Christian studied him. She enjoyed the view as he moved with smooth, even strides. What was wrong with her? She leaned back and closed her eyes.
“Christian?”
She woke to the sound of Jordan’s voice and concerned gaze.
Blinking, she stifled a yawn and stood. “I’m sorry. I must have dozed off.” She covered her mouth to hide the next yawn.
Jordan chuckled. “I would have never guessed you snore.”
She smacked his arm. “I don’t,” she declared as embarrassment burned her cheeks.
“You most certainly do.” He laughed. “Let’s get you up to our room so you can get some sleep.”
Christian took one step then stopped. “Our room?”
“You caught that, huh?” he picked up their bags.
“You only got one room?”
“They only had one room available,” he answered with a note of apology in his voice.
“I don’t believe this,” she mumbled under her breath and picked up the remaining luggage.
A spark of laughter lit his eyes. “I swear, I’ll be a good roommate. You won’t even notice me lying next to you.”
“One bed?” she asked incredulously.
“I’m afraid so.” His grin broadened.
She stood staring at him.
“No need to look so shell-shocked. At least it’s a king-sized bed.” He laughed as he headed toward the elevators.
I Promise Page 10
