Heat Wave

by Donna Hill

  “Of course.”

  During the next thirty minutes, she updated Maleek on ideas she had for the event, getting his approval for each item on her list. Many times she looked up from her design board of swatches of colors to find his eyes on her. And always—always—her heart swelled. She was a mature, observant woman who knew damn well when a man found her desirable, and the look in Maleek’s eyes hinted at nothing less. That and the way he kept focusing on her mouth.

  “Okay. You know what? Stop doing that!” she finally said, slapping her hand down on the desktop.

  Maleek looked confused. “Stop doing what?” he asked, holding up his hands.

  Love rose to her feet, shaking her head. “Never mind,” she muttered, feeling foolish. “So this should do it for now. I have your cell number if I have any other questions. Monday we will go and view the locations I have in mind. Okay? Alright. Enjoy your weekend.”

  Maleek rose as well. “Did I do something?” he asked.

  Love brought her hand up to play in the soft tendrils at her nape. “No, nothing at all,” she rushed to assure him, just wanting him gone. Wanting her body to ease back to normalcy.

  Maleek hung his head, and then cut his eyes up to look at her as he licked his lips. “I better get going,” he said, his eyes dipping again to watch as she nervously licked her lips.

  Love’s heart raced, but she was learning well to hide how he made her feel. And he made her feel hot. Very hot. Nervous. Anxious. Dizzy. “Good-bye,” she told him, turning on her heel to walk away from him.

  She held her breath until the door closed quietly behind him.

  Maleek took three steps before he turned and strode back into Love’s office. She looked up, obviously startled by his return.

  He was just as surprised.

  “Listen,” Maleek began, closing the door behind himself.

  “Yes, Mr. Trenton?” she asked, all too politely, leaning back in her chair.

  The nerves he suddenly felt shocked him. He had ten women on speed dial, but it was this woman dominating his everything. It was Love he wanted to make smile. It was Love he wanted to know more about. It was Love he wanted to see sitting across a candlelit table. “I have a charity dinner to attend next week and I wanted to—”

  Brrrnnnggg.

  “Excuse me,” she said, leaning forward to answer her phone. “I’ve been waiting on a call from one of my vendors.”

  Maleek licked his lips as he turned from her. Am I making a mistake asking Love out? he wondered. What do I even know about her?

  Love rose to her feet, covering the phone with her hand. “I’ll be right back,” she mouthed before coming around the desk and crossing the floor.

  Maleek’s eyes dipped to take in the subtle back and forth motion of her hips until she passed him. He smiled before he dropped his head. He was curious as hell about what was hidden beneath her pencil skirts and sophisticated blouses.

  But if that was all that intrigued him about Love, then it would be easy to ask her out, show her a good time, and wait for her to show him a better one . . . and then eventually go their separate ways.

  But it wasn’t just the hint of sexy contained beneath her sophisticated garb. Maleek found himself wondering what made her curve her luscious lips into a smile or just what would put a mischievous glint in the depth of her bright eyes. He would catch himself wondering what she was doing throughout the day. He wondered what she liked to do outside of work.

  Maleek wanted to know more about her than just what sweetness was hidden between her thighs . . . and that reminded him of the fall he took for Monique. But he knew if he wanted that bigger picture—the happily ever after—then he had to take a chance on falling in love again.

  But . . .

  Rubbing his hand over his mouth, he pulled his iPhone from the pocket of his crisp short-sleeved T-shirt. He opened the browser and quickly typed her name in the search engine. After quickly scrolling through the results for her professional Web site and some newspaper articles on her business, his eyes lit on the ex-wife of R & B superstar Byron Bilton is now taking the entertainment world by storm in her own right . . .

  His stomach tightened as if he’d been gut punched. Love had been married to Byron Bilton.

  The office door opened.

  Maleek looked up as he exited out of the screen with his thumb.

  “Okay, sorry about that. What were you saying?” she asked, lightly touching his arm as she came around to reclaim her seat behind her desk.

  Maleek looked down at her and suddenly everything looked and felt different. All of his internal alarms were ringing, even as he felt his desire for her still stirring. He had to think with his bigger head.

  With his wealth and celebrity status, he had run into many types of women. Some were intelligent, hard-working women filled with independence. Then there were the groupies, handing out random sex acts to collect in their mental scrapbooks; the ones looking for a relationship with celebrities as their own claim to fame; and the worst of the worst—the ones looking to wed a celebrity to live in the lap of luxury. It was the husband hunters who faked their love. It made him feel like a walking bank account and not a man with blood and flesh and feelings.

  At least the groupies kept it real.

  Love’s face filled with confusion as she picked up a gold pen. “Mr. Trenton?” she said.

  His eyes shifted to her face. “Uhm . . . never mind,” Maleek said. “Don’t worry about it.”

  Love lifted one shoulder in a semishrug. “Okay,” she said simply. “Enjoy your weekend.”

  Maleek said nothing else, wishing he didn’t feel so disappointed, as he turned and walked out of the office. He rode the elevator down and met up with Yuri, who was dutifully waiting in all black in the lobby. After they climbed into the SUV, he slid down in the seat and covered his mouth with his hand as he peered out the window at nothing.

  “You a’ight?” Yuri asked as he drove them toward the Newark Liberty International Airport.

  Maleek nodded even as the word no formed on his lips.

  Chapter 6

  “Hot Fun in the Summertime” —Sly & the Family Stone

  Two Weeks Later

  June

  As an event planner, Love was so busy organizing and executing the events of others that she rarely had time to entertain or be entertained. So as busy as she was, she couldn’t turn down Ayannah’s offer to attend a dinner party. She needed a break from work and a chance to enjoy the beginning of summer. Especially a nice laid-back evening of good food and great conversation at someone’s private home. No press.

  Lance didn’t count. He had a strict rule that whatever went on in his home stayed there. Ayannah made sure Love knew that.

  “You came.”

  Love turned on her straw-stacked wedges to find Maleek standing beside the front of her parked Range Rover. She took an inadvertent step back from the sight of him dressed in a white linen suit and a pale blue silk shirt. She swallowed hard and fought the urge to hum in pleasure. The sight of him, tall and strong and handsome in white as the summer sun just began to set in the skies behind him, truly was a majestic vision.

  “Yes, I needed a night out of my own house,” she told him, closing her door after slipping her floral satin clutch under her arm. “And how are you doing this evening, Mr. Trenton?”

  “Damn good, seeing you in that dress, Ms. Lovely,” he said, his voice filled with warmth and unabashed praise.

  Love knew that she had great style. She paid attention to fit and form and the latest trends. The strapless empire maxi dress was a beautiful shade of blue that accentuated the deep bronze of her skin and pushed her plump breasts high up on her chest while flowing around the curves of her hips and her long legs. She wore her hair in a side-swept ponytail and went just a bit heavier with her blusher, bronzer, and lip gloss. “I see you got the memo on the color,” she joked lightly, coming to stand in front of him. She had to tilt her head back to look at him.

 
“Looks better on you,” Maleek said, his eyes moving back and forth over her face and down the length of her body before resting on her mouth.

  Love arched a brow and tilted her head to the side. “Do I get to go inside or are you going to trap me by my car all night?” she joked, admitting to herself that she was actually quite comfortable in the shadow his body made against hers.

  Maleek opened his mouth but then closed it as if changing his mind. He offered his arm instead. “You’re alone?” he asked, a seemingly obvious question.

  Love slipped her arm through his, instantly noticing the way the side of her breast was cushioned against it. Her nipple hardened in a rush from his touch, his scent. Their chemistry. “I am single and loving it,” she told him as they slowly strolled across the garden. “Just like someone else I know.”

  Maleek smiled. His teeth were as bright as his suit. “Single isn’t all it’s caught up to be,” he countered.

  “Neither is marriage,” she said softly in return, noticing that he had led her to a small rose-filled garden . . . and not toward the party.

  “With the wrong person, you’re right. But if you’re lucky enough to find the one you’re meant to be with, then marriage should and can be the best thing ever.”

  Love slipped away from his arm to bend down and press her face against a large yellow rose with bright red tips. “So you believe in ‘the one’ and destiny and all of that, Mr. Superstar?”

  “I used to . . . and I’m starting to again.”

  Love looked over her shoulder to find his eyes on her. She rose to her full height and turned to fully face him, never taking her eyes off him. “I used to . . . and I never will again,” she finished softly.

  Maleek nodded in understanding before turning to tear two long-stemmed white roses in full bloom. Careful of the thorns, he discarded the stems before stepping forward to lightly push the roses into her ponytail.

  Love allowed herself to take a deep inhale of his cologne as he tended to her. “I love the summer,” she admitted, fighting the urge to rub her cheek against his inner wrist.

  He paused and looked down at her with a smile. “So do I,” he said.

  “Perfect weather.”

  “Vacations,” Maleek offered.

  “People are friendlier,” Love countered with a smile.

  “Longer days.”

  “Outdoor concerts.”

  “Chillin’ on the beach.”

  “Amusement parks.”

  “Picnics in the parks,” Maleek said.

  Love started in surprise. “That was my next one,” she said, playfully nudging his rock-hard abdomen with her forefinger.

  “Maybe we should have a picnic in the park together,” Maleek offered, his voice deep as his hands slid down to lightly grasp the sides of her face and raise it gently as he lowered his head to hers.

  Yes! Love thought, feeling every emotion that could only be quenched by the taste of his lips. But as badly as she wanted to live out just a small part of her nightly dreams, Love couldn’t forget everything that came along with him. The fame. The celebrity. The women. The life.

  She wanted him, but the rest could be damned to hell.

  “I can’t,” she whispered brokenly just a millisecond before his mouth touched down on hers. She inhaled the breath he exhaled as their eyes locked for a few hot seconds.

  His eyes searched hers before he nodded in agreement and released her face. “You’re right,” he agreed with a breath.

  Love was both relieved and disappointed when he stepped back from her. They both were playing with fire.

  The thing was, every moment she spent in Maleek’s presence over the last two weeks made her all the more aware of the passion she lacked in her life. There was this vibe between them that she knew he felt too. The truth was in an extra-long stare between them . . . or the way they both rushed away from an innocent touch . . . or one catching the other staring when they thought they were unseen.

  The vibe was there. Thick and heavy and almost palpable.

  But they never ever came this close to crossing the line from business to pleasure.

  “I hope the thorns didn’t prick you,” Love said, pulling a compact out of her clutch to check the roses in her hair. She still couldn’t believe the suave and sexy sports star had done something so sweet.

  “It was worth it.”

  Love refused to look at him. She knew his eyes would draw her in and she would be lost. They couldn’t keep playing with fire. “We better get to the party.”

  Maleek offered her his arm again, but Love declined, walking quietly beside him instead.

  “You can’t take your eyes off her, little big brother.”

  Maleek shifted his eyes from watching Love across the patio as she animatedly talked to Ayannah’s hairstylist, Raoul. He looked down at his sister standing by his side. “Don’t you have something else to do but watch me all night?” he asked, only feigning any real irritation.

  “Don’t you have anything else to do but eye-stalk Love all night?” Ayannah stopped a passing waiter and grabbed two mojito shots from his tray.

  “You know I don’t drink,” Maleek said with a frown, crossing his muscled arms over his chest.

  “Who said one was for you?” she asked with her usual sass before tipping one back.

  Maleek chuckled. “I feel sorry for your husband.”

  “Trust me, he ain’t sorry,” she said with a little belch.

  “TMI.”

  Ayannah nudged him with her shoulder. “Listen, why don’t you ask her—”

  “She turned me down,” he said, shifting his unique eyes back to Love to find her eyes already on him. She licked her lips nervously before looking away.

  “Nooo.” Ayannah gasped in shock.

  Maleek took the other mojito from her hand gently, tossing the contents over his shoulder into the flora surrounding the patio area.

  “You know I haven’t bought a Byron Bilton album since that freaky bastard embarrassed her like that,” Ayannah said.

  Maleek’s eyes squinted deeply until his brows nearly touched. “Like what?” he asked, watching Love reach up to lightly touch the roses behind her ear.

  As Ayannah filled him in on Love’s rocky marriage and tumultuous divorce playing out in the press, he finally understood her aversion to press and celebrity.

  “It’s always been rumored that she found out about Byron’s cheating via a sex tape posted on some blog. The press hounded her bad in the days following the divorce. She pretty much stays out of the spotlight.”

  The pain and shame he knew she must have endured filled him with a desire to protect her . . . and to beat the hell out of Byron Bilton!

  Every time he was in her presence, he had to fight like hell not to just wrap her body in his arms and feast on her mouth. And he knew she felt it. He knew that everything brewing inside of him was gathering in her as well.

  “She’s better than me.”

  Maleek looked at his sister in question.

  “When we were planning my wedding, I made this blasé comment about taking Lance’s ass to the cleaners if we divorced, and she told me with all this pride in her chin that she didn’t take a dime from her ex. She just wanted out. She didn’t want nothing from—”

  Maleek didn’t hear the rest of his sister’s praise for Love. He was already striding across the patio in Love’s direction with his eyes locked on her. She looked up suddenly as if she felt his eyes on her, and then her pretty face filled with surprise and then question.

  He smiled politely at the hairdresser. “Can I steal my event planner for a minute? I just had the greatest idea I want to run by her,” he said, already wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her away.

  “Oh, okay. Alright then, I guess,” Love stammered.

  Maleek led her to the dance floor, his hand pressed against her lower back, and he led her in a nice slow drag to the band’s serenade. “Since the first time I walked in your office, I’ve wanted to
kiss you . . . and hold you . . . and get to know you better,” he admitted, looking down into eyes filled with the moon’s light and surprise. “I have thought about you every day . . . and every night. I can’t explain it and I don’t want to understand it anymore. All I know is there is something there between us that we both feel, that neither of us can ignore.”

  Love’s steps faltered even as her hand tightened on his shoulder and his arm. “Mr. Trenton—”

  “Tell me you don’t feel it,” Maleek insisted, feeling exhilarated by the truth of his words and the feel of her body against his as they danced beneath the summer moon.

  “I . . . I . . . don’t date my clients,” she insisted.

  “Then you’re fired, because this shit I feel for you is bigger than a dumb-ass party, Love,” he persisted as the slow song ended and an up-tempo melody took prominence.

  “Hey!” she protested in alarm.

  Maleek lightly grasped her wrist and led her off the dance floor and into the shadows and seclusion of tall hedges.

  “Maleek,” she said softly, stepping away from him, lightly touching the racing pulse at the base of her neck. She turned just as he stepped up behind her and she held up her hand.

  He stopped with a nod, his face pensive. “I’m sorry. I’m acting crazy as hell and I apologize—”

  “I feel it too,” Love admitted softly, looking over at him with eyes filled with her emotions.

  In one long step, he had her in his arms and lifted her up easily until her face was leveled with his. Her hands lightly grasped his shoulders. Her heart pounded against his own just as fast and hard. Her eyes were soft and glistening as she gazed back at him.

  Maleek moaned deep in his soul before he brought one hand up the length of her back to grasp her neck and draw her face closer to him. He felt her own gasp in the heated air between their lips just before lightly flicking his tongue against her mouth. Once and then twice.