“Ms. Kingsley,” Roark exclaimed. “You came.” His gaze shifted to Malcolm. “And you managed to do what I could not.”
She laughed. “It wasn’t easy.”
“Malcolm.” Roark extended his hand. “Had I known all it took was a beautiful woman to get you here, I would have sent over my lovely Gertrude to reel you in.”
Roark’s better half laughed and leaned into her husband’s arms.
Malcolm and Gloria grinned at the attractive couple.
“Please accept our heartfelt condolences for your loss,” Gertrude added with a genuine note of sympathy.
“Thank you,” Malcolm said.
Before an uncomfortable cloud of silence was able to settle over their heads, Gloria excused them and led Malcolm to the mayor, then toward a couple of pro football players and then at last to a chart-topping pop diva and her rap mogul boyfriend. Malcolm admired the way Gloria expertly glided them around the room as if they were performing their own private dance. She was amazing with remembering names, positions and even whose children were sick or getting ready to go to college.
For most of the evening, he did feel like a budding politician, shaking the right hands and smiling into the right faces. All that was missing were a few screaming babies and an interview with Anderson Cooper.
After an hour of smiling, shaking hands and accepting condolences, the organizers of the event were ready to start the evening’s program. Midway through dinner, Malcolm was introduced and went up to the podium and delivered the speech Gloria had written for him. The applause was deafening and brought a few burning tears to the back of Malcolm’s eyes.
In his head, he could hear his father’s voice reading the words on the printed page. He knew just when his father would pause or raise his voice for dramatic effect. The speech was just a small thing, but Hanlon’s legacy speech refused to leave him.
The rest of the evening breezed by and had it not been for his catching Gloria yawning every two minutes, he might not have noticed it was nearing midnight.
“We can go if you’re tired.”
She shook her head and protested; but when she opened her mouth, she yawned again. “Oh. I’m sorry,” she gasped in embarrassment.
He just laughed. “Let’s go, Sleeping Beauty.” As he escorted her toward the door, he murmured their goodbyes to those they passed in their great escape.
“Seems like you had a good time,” Gloria said as they waited for their limo.
“I admit it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would it be. Thanks for convincing me to come out of my shell…and for the new tux.”
She smiled up at him admiringly. “I always thought that you just needed a woman to polish you up a bit.”
“Is that right?”
“Surely you didn’t miss how all those women were flirting with you tonight.”
“What makes you think that doesn’t happen all the time?” he challenged.
Their limo pulled up.
“Does it?”
“Well. I don’t want to brag,” he said, dusting his shoulders off.
Gloria rolled her eyes as their driver hopped out and opened their door. “C’mon, Romeo. Let’s get you home.”
Chapter 9
It turned out that Malcolm was just as tired as his companion. While he and Gloria reviewed the evening, they took turns exchanging yawns in the middle of their sentences until they could do nothing but laugh at themselves.
Gloria had never enjoyed Malcolm’s company more. Plus, she was growing to like the way his voice rumbled whenever he laughed or how his lips sloped whenever he remembered an embarrassing comment. None of that compared to how she felt each time he said her name. It could have been just her imagination, but she could swear his tone deepened into a caress when he addressed her.
She shook her head. Yeah. It had to be her imagination.
Regardless, she liked this version of Malcolm Braddock instead of his usual stiff and stoic persona. This man could win the hearts and minds of the people and continue the good work his father had started.
“Hey, why aren’t we moving?” Malcolm asked suddenly. He turned and glanced out of the window.
“I don’t know.” She blinked sleepily. She hadn’t even noticed that the vehicle had stopped.
Malcolm pressed the speakerphone and spoke directly to their driver. “Is there a problem?”
The driver lowered the glass shield separating the back compartment from the driver section. “Traffic. I’m guessing there’s been a bad accident. We’re in the middle of a gridlock.”
Gloria perked up in instant concern. “I hope no one was hurt.”
“As soon as the roads clear up I’ll get you two home.”
Malcolm and Gloria nodded their appreciation and the glass divider slid back in place.
“Guess we’ll be camping out here tonight.”
“Well, I’m beat,” she confessed, stretching and yawning. “I hope you don’t mind my making myself comfortable.”
“Not at all,” he said as she kicked off her shoes and curled up in her seat. “I’m guessing you were a cat in your former life.”
Gloria smiled. “My mother used to say the same thing,” she admitted. “I could always squeeze myself into rather small spaces when I was younger.”
He cocked his head and frowned. “Why is that?”
She shrugged as she laid her head against the leather seat. “Probably I was just trying to get away from my parents’ yelling and screaming. Of course, that was a constant occurrence when they were still together.”
Silence followed her admission, and when she fluttered her eyes open it was to see Malcolm staring down at her.
“You really did have it pretty rough growing up.”
Gloria gave another listless shrug. “Others have had it worse. I’m just grateful they finally split. You know, some couples try to stick it out for the kids when in fact it just makes things bad for everyone involved.”
“You sound bitter,” he said.
“I’m not. Besides, the experience has made me what I am today. Strong and independent.” She lifted her chin. “I wouldn’t change a thing.”
That adorable slope to his lips returned. “Nor would I.”
She smiled despite her eyelids drooping. “So you think the Arc Foundation will be doing more work with the center in the future?”
“Definitely,” he said, and then started tossing out ideas on how to raise awareness for all that the foundation was doing for the community.
Gloria started drifting; the sound of Malcolm’s voice was like a warm blanket. The next time she managed to open her eyes, she was enveloped in his masculine scent and nestled against his hard chest. Embarrassed, she started to pull away, but Malcolm’s arm tightened around her in silent possession despite his being fast asleep.
She sighed while a smile of contentment curved her lips. Yet in the next second her eyes lowered again. She might have been mistaken, but for a split second she thought she felt his lips press against her forehead. She quickly dismissed the idea before drifting off to dreamland.
Malcolm awaited her there, too. Handsome and gallant in his new tuxedo, he offered her his hand for a dance. Gloria accepted it with a smile and glided effortlessly into his arms. This time, she wasn’t wearing her red dress but instead a beautiful white gown that could have been a wedding dress.
Malcolm’s approving smile lit up the room as he prepared to lead in their first dance. Love glowed in his eyes, and she could feel the powerful emotion radiate through her. As they floated around the room, Gloria had never been so happy.
Magically, the faceless crowd and ballroom faded, and then by magic it was replaced by a luxurious bedroom where an obscenely large bed encased in red-and-white silk stood prominently in the center of the room.
“Oh, Malcolm. It’s beautiful,” she said, spinning around in the room.
He only smiled and moved in close.
Gloria peeled off his jacket and the tiny buttons on his ve
st disappeared when she brushed her hands against them. Just the sight of his toffee-colored skin weakened Gloria’s knees. His broad chest wasn’t monopolized by muscles, yet it was hard as steel.
Malcolm’s hand drifted across the back of her gown and it fell from her body like water.
The first touch of his hand cupping her firm breasts sent shock waves of pleasure throughout her body. When his pillow-soft lips captured a kiss, her soul stirred. Yet, it was the taste of him that intoxicated her and emptied her mind of all rational thought. Their tongues mated in an erotic dance that caused Gloria’s body to awaken in ways it never had before.
Gloria returned the kiss with enough fever and emotion to cause Malcolm to moan in response. A victorious smile ghosted her lips at the feel of his sex pressed against her, making it clear once and for all just how much he wanted her. In answer, she lowered her hand and caressed his erection until he panted her name.
“Oh, Gloria,” he said, nibbling on her ear. “You feel so good.”
Hell, he didn’t feel so bad himself, she thought—vaguely aware of how real this dream felt. Malcolm’s strong and nimble hands were everywhere.
Her back.
Her butt.
Sliding in between her legs.
She shivered and the ache where her thighs met intensified. She needed relief—now.
Lolling her head back, Gloria gave Malcolm access to her long neck, her throat and collarbone. What she was experiencing paled in comparison when his hot mouth settled over a hard jutted nipple. His gentle suckling had a direct link to the throb pulsing in between her legs. Each caress of his tongue on her breast was like a long stroke against her clit.
That was until his fingers slid inside of her and tears of joy leaked from her eyes.
“Oh, God. You’re so wet,” he moaned. His fingers worked inside of her as if she was a human slip-and-slide.
Gloria’s hips thrust against his hand and pleasure rippled throughout her body and heated her blood.
“That’s it. Come for me, baby,” Malcolm coached.
She nodded, her hips picking up speed, rocketing her into the heavens. With no time to prepare, Gloria’s orgasm exploded and caused fantasy and reality to splinter. She woke suddenly. Alarmed to find herself in the back of a limo, sitting atop Malcolm’s lap with his hand planted between her legs and her breast spilling from his mouth.
Chapter 10
Gloria shot off Malcolm’s lap like a rocket and scrambled to the other side of the limo, pulling and tugging her dress down.
A stunned Malcolm stared at her wide-eyed and confused. “That wasn’t exactly the reaction I was hoping for,” he mumbled.
“Did we just…please tell me we didn’t,” she pleaded.
“Well, you did. I didn’t,” he said with a devilish grin. “I was sort of hoping I’d be next.” Malcolm watched as horror blanketed Gloria’s face. “Or not.” Her reaction killed his hard-on. “Did I miss something here?” he asked.
“I didn’t think we were…I thought I was…dreaming.”
He lifted a dubious brow. “Dream of me often, do you?”
“Never!”
His rumbling laughter now irritated her. “Methinks thou protest too loud…and too quickly.”
She turned away from him and scrambled for her shoes.
“If it makes you feel any better, I thought I was dreaming, too…until you started fondling me.”
“What? I did no such thing!”
He shrugged his shoulders as if he hated to be the bearer of bad news. Gloria suddenly remembered stroking his erection and moaned pitifully into the cup of her hand.
“Actually, I thought it was a nice way to wake a man up,” he said, hoping to relax her a bit, but saw his friendly banter had the opposite effect. “Look, I’m sorry,” he said, backpedaling. “I thought this whole thing was consensual.”
Gloria stammered and stuttered but failed to string together a cohesive sentence. To complete her horror, the limo driver announced over the speakerphone, “We’re here.”
“Ohmigod! Do you think he saw us?”
“I don’t know,” Malcolm answered truthfully. “Do you want me to ask him?”
“Don’t you dare!” She glanced around and grabbed her purse before the driver opened the back door.
Malcolm leaned over and touched her dress strap.
Gloria jumped and popped him on the hand. “Will you stop?”
Malcolm snatched his hand back. “I was just going to fix your dress before you flash the driver your lovely lady lumps.”
Gloria glanced down and saw that one of her breasts was prominently exposed. “Damn it.” She dropped her purse and quickly poured herself back into her dress.
The back door opened and Gloria launched out the backseat as fast as she could.
Malcolm chuckled and climbed out of his own seat. “Wait here,” he told the driver, and rushed after Gloria.
“What are you doing?” she asked when he caught up to her.
“I’m walking you to your door.”
“That’s not necessary,” she said, reaching the door of her apartment building.
“I know it’s not necessary, but it is the gentlemanly thing to do.” Of course, he made no mention that what had transpired in the back of the limo was missing on the list of gentlemanly behavior, but now was not the time to split hairs.
“Really, Malcolm. You don’t have to do this.” She continued her mad dash toward the elevator bay.
Malcolm said nothing as he followed. When the elevator arrived, they spread out to opposite corners of the small compartment. Malcolm seized the opportunity to apologize again. “Look, Gloria.”
“I really don’t want to talk about this right now.”
“But I don’t want you to be angry—”
“I’m not angry,” she snapped.
Malcolm’s brows lifted in dubious silence.
Gloria sighed. “It’s been a long night and…a strange and embarrassing ride home.”
“I rather enjoyed the ride home.”
She groaned. “Look, I don’t want you to think that I do that sort of thing all the time…or even some of the time. I—I’ve never behaved like that and I’d rather just put the whole thing behind me.”
“But what if—”
“Please.”
A strained and awkward silence hung for a few long seconds. Finally, a bell chimed and the elevator doors slid open.
Once again, Gloria took off and Malcolm’s long legs kept pace next to her. However, her great escape was delayed by her inability to get her keys out of her purse and into the door.
“Okay. You’ve walked me to my door, you can go now,” she told him, wondering why she couldn’t seem to get her key into the door. She glanced up at the number and cursed under her breath. “Damn it. Wrong door.” She turned and walked one door down.
Malcolm chuckled. “Gloria, I think—”
“’Night, Malcolm.” She unlocked her door and raced inside almost in the same motion.
“But—”
The door slammed in his face.
He dropped his head against the wooden partition and drew a deep breath. “I guess that means good night.” For a moment he thought about knocking. This seemed like an odd place to leave things, but what choice did he have?
He lifted his head, stared at the door and then finally walked away.
Gloria closed her eyes and exhaled when she heard Malcolm move away from the door. Shame and embarrassment were too mild to describe what she felt. Mortified was more like it.
“How am I ever going to face him again?” she wondered wildly as she slid down to the floor and cupped her face. More than anything, she wanted Malcolm’s respect, and in one evening she’d blown her chances of that by acting like a loose hoochie who hadn’t been laid in a year.
Actually, it had been more like eighteen months—but he didn’t need to know that.
She sighed and prayed for the earth to swallow her whole. Instead, her mind
decided to replay what had transpired inside that limo. Did she truly come on to him first?
A small chuckle tumbled from her lips imagining herself making such bold moves. Despite what she said, the truth of the matter was it wasn’t her first time dreaming about Malcolm. That phenomenon started the night they’d met. She’d been thrown off by his handsomeness and had only made some barb about his suit as a way to pretend that she’d been unaffected by him—unlike the other women in the room who were tripping over themselves, trying to get his attention.
Either he was blind or he was pretending, also.
In the past few years, the girlfriends that she’d known about never lasted for long. Either they couldn’t take the long hours Malcolm dedicated to his charities or they never thought that the son of a wealthy congressman lived such a frugal lifestyle.
Gloria knew enough about Malcolm to know that he didn’t like pretense and would choose brains over beauty in a New York minute. She even knew that his one serious girlfriend from college was an unconventional beauty who was as thick as she was curvy. It had broken his heart when she moved to New York and married some über-rich studio executive.
But that had been over a decade ago—surely, he was ready for love again.
“Wait,” she said, lifting her head. “What am I saying?” she wondered. “Why in the hell should I care about his love life?”
Her love life paled in comparison—the operative word love being used loosely. She’d dated regularly throughout college but found that men usually were intimidated by her intelligence and/or her overzealous A-type personality.
Harmon had thought she and Malcolm would make a perfect pair. Could he have been right?
“No,” she reprimanded herself, and tried to banish the thought; but then she remembered the feel of his breath drifting across her neck.
She shook the thought from her head and climbed onto her feet. “All I want is for him to run for his father’s seat.”
His mouth on her breasts.
She shook her head again. “It’s just business.”
His hands sliding in between her legs.
“Business!” She stomped her foot and became acutely aware that she was acting a little crazy. She chuckled as she headed to the bathroom. A hot shower would be just the thing she needed to purge Malcolm Braddock from her mind.
Her Lover's Legacy Page 7
