“No, just crazy.” Malik pushed out a breath and paced away from her so he could think clearly.
He instinctively knew that if he ventured down this road, he was asking for trouble. Lindsay was the kind of woman he’d promised himself he’d avoid from now on. The kind with plenty of sass and attitude that turned him on. The I-don’t-need-a-man type. The crazy kind. The ones who’d smash your car window or burn your clothes in a front yard bonfire—both of which had happened to him.
He didn’t know why he was attracted to drama. Maybe because otherwise, his life was boring and sedate, having been raised by a single mother who’d been too proud to reach out to anyone, even family, for help, no matter how hard they struggled.
So women like Lindsay were his catnip, and three years after their not-so-stellar introduction to each other, she could easily jeopardize everything he’d worked toward the past few years. As temptation personified, she could make him forget his personal promise and do all the nasty things to her he’d envisioned ever since that kiss.
But how could he pass up this opportunity?
Malik came back to her, his eyes resting on her expectant face. “Are you sure this is going to work?”
“Of course. We have to get a few personal details down first. We need to get to know each other better. I’ll send you some questions, and we could have a meeting at a later date, to compare notes and talk.”
“Something tells me I’m going to regret this,” Malik muttered.
“I promise you won’t.”
He sighed. “Fine.”
“Yes! We only have to pretend for a few more months. Which brings me to the next issue.” She smiled sweetly.
“What?” he asked, suspicion lacing his voice.
“You’ll have to put your private life on hold for a bit. We both will because we’ll have more media attention on us. So, whatever your biological urges, please be discreet. You know how to be discreet, don’t you?” She flashed a grin.
She was obviously fishing for details about his sex life, and he eyed her for a few seconds, wondering how much of his private life to share. “You don’t have to worry about my biological urges being a problem. I don’t date much.”
“You sure?”
“One hundred percent certain.”
“Hmm. That explains how you have so much time to create all those pieces. Why don’t you date much?”
“You gonna keep probing into my personal life?”
Lindsay wasn’t the kind of woman to fluster easily and so far didn’t seem to have a problem saying whatever was on her mind. Yet his question made her lower her thick lashes and a reddish tint surfaced under her luminous brown skin.
“I’m curious about you, that’s all.”
Like other women he’d run across, she was probably wondering what was wrong with him.
“I’m a single man living in Atlanta, where sisters outnumber men. It’s easy to hook up. I just don’t want to.”
“All the more reason why what you said doesn’t make sense.” She bit the tip of her fingernail between her teeth, looking at him like she wanted to serve up a platter of Malik.
“Relationships take time, and I’m too dedicated to my craft. Focused on one goal.”
“Which is?” She gave him that look again, heat in her eyes like she wanted to climb on top of him.
“Becoming a successful artist.” He wanted to put away six months’ expenses in the bank. If he could do that, he’d be on his way to achieving what his mother had wanted for him.
“You’re a very attractive man, Malik, with an obviously incredible body. There are so many women who would be happy to have a non-relationship relationship with you. You know, like a friends-with-benefits thing that wouldn’t distract you from your work.”
“Is that so?”
“Mhmm.”
“Do you know of any?” He looked right at her. Would she admit it?
“I do.”
“I wouldn’t mind talking to her. See where her head is at.”
“I’m sure she wouldn’t mind talking to you, too, or doing whatever you have in mind.”
Malik laughed softly and scrubbed a hand down the side of his beard. His gaze swept her body. “What am I going to do with you, Lindsay?”
“I can think of a few things.”
“Is that right?”
“Mhmm.” Her hazel eyes glinted with a mischievous light, and his dick jumped. They were entering dangerous territory, wading into waters he hadn’t ventured into for a long time. He needed to set her straight before the situation got out of hand.
Malik stepped closer so they were less than a foot apart. She gazed up at him, lips parted, eyes seductively peeking at him through her long lashes. He wanted to kiss her again and do much more. Lately he’d had some wild thoughts in which she’d held a starring role. He imagined licking every bit of brown flesh or having her bounce up and down on his thrusting hips, his hands filled with her lush breasts. And right now, standing so close, the scent of her was tempting. She was really testing his resolve.
Clenching a fist to resist the urge to toss her over his shoulder and have his way with her, Malik lowered his voice and whispered, “I’m not gonna fuck you, Lindsay.”
Her eyes widened. “Excuse me?”
“I mean, I want you and I’m going to have you eventually, but not right now. The timing’s all wrong. I’ll fuck you when I’m ready.”
“Wh-who do you think you are?” she sputtered.
“Right now, you need to prove you can do what you say you can for my career, and I need to keep my head clear. Thing is, when we fuck—”
“Would you stop staying that!” She glanced around even though no one was nearby. “You make it sound like it’s a given.”
“Because it is.” No way they wouldn’t end up together. Heat registered between them every time they came near each other. “I’ve had my eye on you since that night at Stephan’s party, and I know you’ve had your eye on me. I’m not ready to make my move yet because I need to concentrate. But when I’m ready, we’ll hook up.”
Lindsay’s mouth fell open, and she took a step back. “Does that schtick really work?”
“What schtick?”
“Your overbearing confidence and the cocky way you told me what was going to happen between us.”
“You’d be surprised how well honesty works.”
“Is that what you call it?”
“Because of my honesty, I’ve had women throw their panties at me like I’m a rock star.”
“Wow. Unbelievable.”
“I’m just being honest. I can’t tell you how many women have told me I’m the best sex they’ve ever had.”
“Were they all virgins? Because all this bragging makes me think you probably can’t deliver.”
“You don’t believe that for one minute.” He locked gazes with her.
She took a tremulous breath. “Be that as it may, I think you need—”
“This conversation is over for now, and we should get back to talking about how we’re going to fool everybody into believing we’re a couple. Like you said, we need to learn enough about each other to make our relationship believable. The chemistry between us can be addressed at a later date. We good?”
She appeared frustrated but answered, “I guess. As long as you sell it.”
“I did before, didn’t I?”
“Yes.” She looked confused, as if she couldn’t figure out what had just happened during the conversation. He’d thrown her off balance.
“How bad do you want this, Lindsay?”
“Really bad.”
His gaze dropped to her lips. “Yeah, I want it bad, too,” he said, and she licked those pouty lips as if they’d suddenly gone dry. His eyes flicked back up to hers. “I guess I’ll be your fiancé for the next few months.”
Chapter 8
“Hi Paula, is Stephan here?” Malik asked his cousins’ house manager as he walked in the front door.
Paula was
an older white woman with a narrow face and crow’s feet around her eyes like splintered spider webs. He’d only ever seen her hair in the long gray braid that fell to right above her behind.
“Yes. He’s in the kitchen eating breakfast.”
Malik checked the time. It was almost midday. “You cooked for him today?” he asked with a smirk. Stephan and the housekeeper had a love-hate relationship.
“He was rude to me earlier this morning,” Paula replied by way of answer.
Malik followed her into the kitchen and found Stephan seated at the massive, moon-shaped island, bare-chested and in boxers. A bowl of cereal that looked large enough to hold a gallon of milk sat in front of him. Reese sat on the opposite side of the counter, and they had a guest. One of their cousins from Seattle, Gavin Johnson, was there, as well. Gavin was tall, dark-skinned, and had the same light brown eyes as Stephan. The last time Malik had seen him was back in March when his brother Xavier Johnson got married.
“Hey, what’s up? You’re a long way from home,” Malik said.
“Surprise inspection,” Gavin replied. He oversaw quality control of his family’s breweries.
“How’s the wife?”
“She and the kids flew down with me. She’s hanging out with her brother and his family while I work.”
“She’s not pregnant again, is she?” Malik asked. Gavin and his wife had the most children of the Johnson siblings. A total of four so far—two girls and two boys.
Gavin chuckled. “No, she’s not.”
“Not yet,” Stephan added. “Only a matter of time. Five years from now, you’ll be on one of those reality shows. I’ve got the perfect title. Nine kids and counting.”
“We’re not having nine kids.”
“That’s only because she won’t let you,” Reese interjected. “You would have nine if you could.”
“True.” Gavin glanced at his watch. “I better head out. I’ll see you guys later for dinner at Aunt Sylvie’s. You coming, Malik?”
“For sure. See you later.” When Gavin was gone, Malik fastened his gaze on Stephan. “I came here to talk about Lindsay.”
“No need to thank me. I talked to Lindsay the other day, and she told me you two are working together now. Am I the man, or am I the man?” He spread his arms wide, waiting for the accolades.
“You’re full of crap, you know that?”
“Whoa, what did I do?” Stephan laughed.
“You know exactly what you did.”
“Remind me.”
Paula entered the kitchen. “Can I get you anything to drink?” she asked softly to Malik.
“No, I’m fine.”
Stephan scowled at his employee. “You offer him something to drink, but I have to beg you to fix me breakfast?”
Paula smiled sweetly at him. “Looks like you found plenty to eat.”
“This is cereal. I wanted bacon and eggs or pancakes or something. Is that too much to ask? I know you think you run this house, but I pay your damn salary, Paula.”
“Your mother pays my salary, Stephan.” She picked up a purse on the counter with an uncaring attitude, which only inflamed Stephan’s ire.
“And I can tell her how unhappy I am and she’ll stop. Then you’ll be begging for my forgiveness.”
“You’re right, I should learn to behave myself.” She fake-smiled at him. “I’m on my way to the market, gentlemen.”
“Don’t forget my chips,” Reese said to her.
“I haven’t forgotten.”
“Not that you care, but please make sure you pick up that peach jam I like,” Stephan said.
Paula walked out of the kitchen without another word.
“You see that shit?” Stephan said to Malik. “She purposely ignored me. One of these days I’m firing her ass.”
“You say that every week,” Reese said.
Stephan could fire her any time he wanted to but hadn’t, which meant he enjoyed their sparring matches, and she probably did, too.
“She never listens to me.” Stephan swiveled to the door and yelled, “She’s the worse house manager in the galaxy!” No response. He turned back around. “One of these days, I’m getting rid of her. No joke. I’m tired of her crap. She barely talks to me and has full-on conversations with Reese.”
“What can I say? I’m the younger, more charming one,” Reese said.
“Back to me and why I came over,” Malik said.
“Oh yeah, what is it I’m supposed to have done? I’m pretty sure you should be happy and not mad.” Stephan ate a spoonful of cereal.
Malik braced his hands on the island. “So you still want to play innocent? First of all, you hook me up with that fine woman, pretending that you wanted to help me get exposure for my art.”
“Pretending? Lindsay’s sister owns a chain of hotels. I’m pretty sure one of them could use your sculpture. Was that not clear?”
“What’s clear is that you set this whole thing up to tempt me into reneging on my personal promise of celibacy because, quite coincidentally, Lindsay is tall and has great breasts, just the way I like my women.”
Stephan chuckled. “Wait a minute, let me get this straight. You’re tempted by her, and you think I set you up so you could break your celibacy streak?”
“Are you saying you didn’t send her over to tempt me?”
“Man, I’m not thinking about your sex life. Or should I say your non-existent sex life. I have my own needs to worry about, but I understand your dilemma. Her tits are fantastic, aren’t they? I’ve fantasized about them plenty, believe me. You should see them in a bikini top. Whew! I know I’ve got some pictures somewhere. I could—”
“I got it.” The direction of the conversation irritated Malik. He didn’t want to listen to his cousin’s lewd description of Lindsay’s breasts, which was unfair since he’d been having some pretty lewd thoughts about them, too. He wondered if the nipples were walnut dark or caramel colored. He wondered what she’d look like riding him, squeezing her breasts together, or letting them swing like heavy fruit as she bounced up and down on his dick.
He squeezed the bridge of his nose. His thoughts about Lindsay were getting wilder and wilder. Fucking Stephan.
“She’s actually not your type,” Stephan said.
“Meaning?” As far as he could tell, she was exactly his type. Tall, pretty, sepia-toned skin, and those breasts.
“Lindsay likes to party and be seen. You’re an introvert who lives out in the country. You’d probably get on each other’s nerves. If you want to deprive yourself of the pleasures of the flesh, that’s completely up to you, but I sent Lindsay to you because I was trying to help.”
Stephan actually sounded sincere. “So this really wasn’t a set-up?”
“No.” Stephan laughed again. “You must really be tempted to break your sexual fast.”
“Shut up.”
Reese hopped into the conversation. “So you’re going to cut her off because you want to jump her bones?”
“No, we’ve gotten in a bit deeper. She wants me to pretend to be her fiancé.”
“What?” Stephan and Reese said at the same time.
Malik explained the plan to his cousins. When he was finished, Reese spoke first.
“I can’t believe you agreed to her idea, but I guess it could work.” He shrugged.
“At least you don’t have to worry about any old exes popping up and causing problems. You haven’t been with a woman in years,” Stephan said.
“You love bringing that up, don’t you?”
“Remember Tanya?” Stephan asked Reese, purposely ignoring Malik.
“Who could forget Tanya? When they broke up, she took one of every pair of shoes he owned. He had no matching shoes.” Reese broke down laughing and shook his head.
Stephan doubled over chuckling. “That level of petty doesn’t come along everyday. That takes some thought. Ah man, Tanya was a treat. She was my favorite.”
“I’m glad you guys find that so funny. I had to buy a
ll new shoes.”
“What the hell do you do to these women to make them turn on you like that?” Stephan asked.
“Hell if I know,” Malik muttered.
“Whatever it is, don’t do that to Lindsay. She’s liable to burn your house down.”
Malik’s eyes narrowed on Stephan. “What’s the deal with you and her? Just friends?”
“Truth?”
“Of course.”
“Back in the day, I tried her, but Lindsay wasn’t having it. She said there was no way that anything was going to happen between the two of us. She cut me down so hard, my ego was bruised for a week. Every now and again I try her, in case she’s changed her mind. She always turns me down.”
Malik felt an immense sense of relief at that answer. “There’s actually a woman alive who can resist the Stephan Brooks charm?”
“One and only one.”
Reese shook his head and Malik laughed.
“I’m out of here,” Malik said.
“What are you going to do about Lindsay?” Stephan asked.
Malik paused on the way out the kitchen. “Tread carefully.”
Chapter 9
She’d never wanted a man so much.
Maybe because he seemed unattainable, but when Malik walked into the hall for the Podcast Movers & Shakers event, Lindsay almost drooled all over her black dress. She’d paired the ribbed, off-the-shoulders outfit with a black choker, all in preparation for seeing Malik at tonight’s event.
She sashayed over. “You clean up nice.” She wasn’t surprised by the black jacket, shirt, and tie. She noticed he wore a lot of black.
He bit his lip as he gave her a once-over. “And you look fine, as usual. About to have every man in here in trouble with his woman because they can’t keep their eyes off you.”
Lindsay laughed softly and looped her arm around his, leaning into his solid form. Oh, the things she would do to this man if he were open to it.
“Let me get you up to speed.” Her eyes swept the room filled with round tables and attendees. “Everybody who’s anybody in podcasting is here tonight to network. You’ll recognize a few celebrities. For instance, over there is the actress Anna Faris. She’s been doing a relationship podcast for years, often with celebrity guests. Over there is Jen Taylor. You definitely want to meet her tonight and give her a card and tell her all about your wonderful work. She’s one of the advertisers who’s in attendance, but her husband collects art and is always looking for unique pieces. That guy over there is Gabe Randolph. He’s a sweetie. His partner’s cousin owns a construction company and you never know…they might be able to use your work. Maybe a good candidate for a commissioned piece.”
Wild Thoughts Page 5
