Mrs. Barker interrupted her thoughts.
“Well, since that’s taken care of, I will quickly show you your rooms. After that, Imani and I will prepare something to eat.”
They both followed Mrs. Barker upstairs. Imani willed her nerves to go away, but it didn’t work. Ever since she’d met this man, it seemed like they couldn’t go a day without their paths crossing.
“Here we are. Daman will be in this room, and Imani, you’ll be in the other.”
She gestured for each of them to check out their separate rooms. As Imani walked into her room, she noticed more antique wood. The bed set was gorgeous and looked like the vintage bed set her grandmother had left to Cyd. The similarity was uncanny, since she always thought the antiques her grandmother collected were one of a kind.
Suddenly, the air around her grew thick with awareness. She glanced toward the bathroom and saw Daman fill the entrance. She was so wrapped up in the beautiful antique furniture that she hadn’t noticed the connecting bathroom. Someone really doesn’t want me to get a good night’s sleep.
“Oh, I hope you both don’t mind the connecting rooms. These are the only guest rooms in the house.” Sensing Imani’s reservations, Mrs. Barker continued, “Imani, you’re more than welcome to sleep in my room, instead.”
She thought about the offer. She’d shared a connecting room with Daman at the hotel, so she saw no reason why they couldn’t share a bathroom now. “No, thank you, Mrs. Barker. I’m fine with this arrangement.”
Daman hadn’t said a word for the last ten minutes. Even now, he just stood there staring at her.
“Oh, good,” Mrs. Barker said as she happily clasped her hands together. “Imani, dear, come downstairs with me.”
Daman glanced in his mother’s direction as if he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t have. Imani pretended not to notice the situation, but it was obvious that his mother saw how long his eyes had been glued to her. Imani appreciated the interruption and hurriedly followed Mrs. Barker.
They decided to prepare skirt steaks, green beans, macaroni and a salad. Imani’s stomach was growling just thinking about eating everything. She and Mrs. Barker worked well together. She felt right at home with Daman’s mom. They didn’t do much talking while cooking, but the silence was comforting, and the occasional smile that passed between them felt natural.
“You know, my son seems quite taken by you, Imani. I’ve never seen him this way around a woman. I can tell you care for him, too.”
The statement caught Imani off guard, and she struggled to maintain her composure. “Your son and I do work well together, but we haven’t known each other long. I’m sure he seems taken by me because we’ve been together so much lately.”
She could feel Mrs. Barker’s eyes studying her while she tossed the salad.
“I may have only known you for a couple hours, but I know my son. I can tell when he’s interested in a woman. Daman isn’t easily impressed by the opposite sex, but you have definitely gotten his attention.”
“You think so?” Imani hadn’t meant for her voice to raise and sound expectant. She tried to clear up the mishap. “I meant that we both have the same view on relationships. That is, we don’t want one, need one, or have time for one. I must admit that I’m impressed with Daman, too, and I don’t impress easily, either. We make a great team, and I’m sure when the gala is over, we will keep in contact.”
Imani was downplaying her attraction to Daman, but she didn’t want his mother getting the wrong idea. She also wasn’t sure if she knew her son was actually competing against her for an estate. His mother was sweet, and her love for her son was evident.
“Mrs. Barker, you raised a remarkable man, and I’m sure the woman Daman decides to settle down with will capture his attention in ways he’s never imagined.” She cleared her throat before continuing. “Some people are lucky enough to find someone to spend the rest of their lives with, but others have to live with the fact that a fairy-tale ending may not be in their future.”
Imani was so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed that Daman now stood in the entrance of the kitchen. She was unsure of how much he had heard, but whatever he’d heard was more than she had wanted him to know. Apparently, he got the picture because he hastily informed them that he’d fixed a leak in the bathroom and walked back out.
“Imani, I want you to promise me that when my son does finally come to terms with his feelings, you won’t turn your back on him. When Daman loves, he loves hard. With him, you have to read between the lines. I know you both have separate lives and say you aren’t interested in a relationship, but he’s my baby, and I know my son better than he knows himself sometimes.”
Imani wasn’t sure what to say to Mrs. Barker. She didn’t want to upset her. “I can’t make any promises, but I’ll never intentionally hurt Daman.”
Mrs. Barker looked as if she wanted to say more but decided against it.
“I’ll get Daman, and we can all sit down and eat.”
Chapter 12
Later that night, Daman lay in his bed thinking about the one woman who seemed to occupy most of his thoughts as of late. It was getting harder to hide his attraction to her, and his mom definitely picked up on his interest today.
During dinner, he had a hard time concentrating on his food, which was something he’d never had a problem with before. He kept wondering about the conversation Imani had with his mother but knew that neither woman would tell him about it. The dinner had been a little tense, and Imani seemed uncomfortable around him. He thought they’d gotten past that, but apparently, he was wrong.
His mom really liked Imani, and it made him feel good inside. He’d caught his mom staring at Imani from time to time with a wishful look in her eyes. Patricia Barker wouldn’t be happy until he was married with children.
He heard the shower turn on and his bathroom door lock. His body was instantly aroused, knowing Imani stood naked on the other side of the door. Dinner had ended two hours ago, and he thought Imani had gone to sleep. He heard the shower curtain open and close and wondered what type of shower gel she used. His question was instantly answered as the scent of vanilla and jasmine seeped under the door, filling his senses. Just imagining her in the shower lathering her body made him ache all over. He should be the one giving her body a good scrub, instead of the loofah she was probably using.
The minute he’d tasted her in Atlanta, he knew he would taste her again. By some he may be deemed as cocky, but to others he was just being truthful. Two people didn’t share a kiss that amazing and not have seconds.
Her flavor was imprinted on his tongue, and the look of satisfaction on her face was stamped in his mind. Never had a woman’s reaction been so uninhibited with him. She was always so poised, and yet with one flick of his tongue, she became putty in his arms, turning him on in ways that were very new to him.
The water stopped, and he listened to her humming a tune he couldn’t quite make out. It had a medium tempo, and he knew he had heard the song on the radio before. It became imperative that he figure out what song she was humming.
Sliding off the bed, he was careful not to make a sound. When he reached the door, he smiled when he recognized the song. It was the old SWV hit, “Weak.” He wondered if she was thinking about him when she got out the shower or if she just happened to like that song.
Convincing himself that she had to be thinking about him, he smiled as he made his way back to his bed, tripping over his shoes in the process.
He heard Imani gasp before hearing her bathroom door close again. He didn’t mind her quick dash out of the bathroom, but because she had locked his door, he wouldn’t be able to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
Suddenly, I have to go to the bathroom. Daman started to make his way to Imani’s room before giving it a second thought.
He lightly knocked and heard some shuffling around on the other side of the door. He assumed she was trying to put on some decent clothes un
til she opened the door in her towel and motioned for him to come in.
All air gushed out of his lungs as he looked at her. She looked so refreshing and beautiful that for a second, he forgot the excuse he had for bothering her.
“You left my side of the bathroom door locked.”
Her eyes widened. “I’m so sorry. I completely forgot.”
She went into the bathroom and unlocked his bathroom door. Daman took the brief moment to try to regain his composure. Her towel barely reached mid-thigh, and her recently washed hair was a mass of curls clipped on top of her head. She looked sexy as hell, and he knew he looked like an idiot staring at her.
“By any chance were you thinking about me when you were humming that SWV tune?”
Her eyes again widened in shock. “You heard me?”
“As a matter of fact, you woke me up. I was sleeping soundly before I heard your sweet voice float through my room.”
“I’m sorry. I guess I thought I was being quiet.”
He was smiling from ear to ear. She actually believed him. “That’s okay, but don’t let it happen again.”
She put her hands on her hips and adjusted her neck in a way that let him know she was about to rip him a new one. “For your information, I wasn’t thinking about you when I was singing, and I was being extremely quiet. You have good hearing if you heard me, but I think you were never asleep in the first place. You probably pressed your ear to the door to hear what I was humming. I heard you trip over something. Were you trying to make your way back to your bed, perhaps?”
The entire time she was talking she kept her voice low so they didn’t wake up his mother, but Daman couldn’t help it. He laughed a little too loudly when he heard her accurate assessment of the situation.
“I guess we’ll never know, but I do think that you should take your hands off your hips while I’m in here. Regardless, you’re the reason I had to come to your room since you were the one who locked me out of the bathroom.”
“I’ll stand however I want to stand when I’m in the room your mother allowed me to stay in.” This time she rolled her head, keeping one hand on her hip and pointing a finger at him with the other hand. He recognized the moment she realized her mistake in not obeying him. A man could only take so much.
She attempted to take a step back, but it was too late. He grabbed the arm that was extended and pulled her to him. She gasped at the sudden movement.
“Daman,” she said his name as a statement.
“I told you not to stand that way. Now feel what you did.”
He grinded his pelvis against her, wanting her to feel the effect she had on him. He expected a smart remark from her, but all she did was stare at him as if she was feeling something she hadn’t felt before. Daman usually felt in control, but every time Imani looked at him as if she was trying to figure him out, he lost a little of that control. He prided himself on never allowing a woman to have any power over him, but Imani was turning out to be a woman he could not easily dismiss. She was slowly getting in his system, and he wasn’t sure whether he liked that.
He watched her lick her lips as she nodded in understanding.
Had he spoken out loud? He knew he hadn’t, but she knew what he was thinking, anyway.
“This is insane,” he said, this time voicing his thoughts out loud.
“I know,” Imani replied breathlessly.
His lips touched hers softly at first, allowing her to get used to the feel of their lips connecting again. He had every intention of controlling the kiss, but once he let go of Imani’s arm, she locked her hands across the back of his neck, pulling his tongue deeper into her mouth. The smell of vanilla jasmine mixing with Imani’s natural scent was causing Daman’s body to react even more intensely than it had the last time they were together.
His hands expertly roamed her body as she molded herself against him. He wanted to rid her of her towel, but he knew his mom was in the next room, and there was no way he could do the things he wanted to do to her in his mother’s house.
He slowly sucked and tugged at her tongue the same way he’d done to her body the last time they were alone. What began as a soft purr turned into an even louder moan as their kiss deepened, taking them to an even higher level of ecstasy. Daman’s index finger found its way underneath Imani’s towel and touched her sweetness with the perfect amount of pressure for her to let out a soft cry into his mouth. She was slick and wet, and Daman grew even more aroused knowing that he was the cause of her pleasure.
He knew he had to stop while he still had a little sense. When he pulled away, she looked at him with expectant eyes. It was a look he hadn’t seen from her before, and all he wanted to do was take her in his arms and hold her. But his desire prevented him from pulling her back to him, knowing that if he did, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself again. When he made love to her, he wanted them to be in an unoccupied location, so his mother’s home was definitely not an option. The kiss had been explosive. He felt it. She felt it. And the passion never seemed to subside between them. Daman was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he barely registered that Imani had spoken.
“I didn’t want this.”
He rubbed her cheek with the back of his hand. “Neither did I, but it happened anyway.” At least that answer was partially true. From the start, he’d wanted to seduce her. What he hadn’t counted on was his need for her growing to such an intense level.
They both fell silent until Imani spoke again.
“This could be disastrous, Daman. As partners in the planning of the gala, we’ll only see each other more and more, and what’s worse is that we both want something that neither of us is willing to give up.”
The real reason they were partners was always looming in the air, but it seemed nothing was very clear to either of them anymore.
“I understand. But it won’t go away until we fix the problem. I have a suggestion.”
Daman had to choose his next words carefully. He’d never wanted a woman so badly. All they needed was to feed their sexual hunger and ease their curiosity.
“I’ve known since the moment I met you that I wanted you. I’ve never had such a strong attraction to a woman before, and I’m man enough to admit that it’s your body and mind that have me mesmerized. I think if we feed our sexual hunger, we will solve our problem.”
In response to the unbroken silence, he continued to talk. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but there’s a sexual prowess inside you that is dying to break free. I feel it every time we’re together. I don’t believe the men in your life have handled you the way they should have. They may have satisfied you, but I can fulfill your desires in ways you never imagined. We have chemistry that was evident from the first time we met, so all I’m saying is that it’s about time we did something about it. I won’t kiss or touch you again until you make the decision. Honestly, the next time we get this intimate, I won’t be able to stop.”
Daman rubbed his hands over his face before he moved toward the door.
“Daman.”
He glanced back at her to see why she’d called his name, and the look he saw in her eyes shocked him. It wasn’t anger or fear or apprehension. In her eyes, he saw unreserved lust and a silent understanding that she agreed with everything he said.
“You said you want me, and well, when the time is right, you can have me—all of me. No strings, no obligations and no reservations. You see things in me that no man has ever taken the time to figure out. So yes, I will give you what you want if you promise me one thing.”
She stood there facing him, searching his eyes for something. He wasn’t sure what she was looking for, so he stood there and let her search. While she searched, he admired the delicate structure of her nose, the adorable way the curls framed her face and the endearing way she crinkled her nose in concentration.
“What do you want me to promise?” he asked when he realized he hadn’t responded.
Her eyes suddenly lit, then dimmed. If he hadn’t been
standing so close to her, he would have missed the flash of acknowledgment in her eyes. He wondered if she’d found what she was searching for.
“Promise me that once the gala is over and the ownership of the estate is settled, we will go our separate ways. We’ll look back on this time as a good memory and nothing else.”
There was something about the finality of the promise that made him hesitate, but her request seemed simple enough. “Okay. I promise.”
Chapter 13
By early Sunday morning, Imani and Daman were finally leaving Florida after canceling their trip to Georgia. Yesterday, Mrs. Barker’s power came back on, but the aftermath of the storm was still very much present.
“I’m so glad you both spent this weekend with me,” said Mrs. Barker, hugging Daman before turning to Imani. “Imani, you’ve been an absolute pleasure.”
Imani returned her kind words before hugging the older woman she had instantly taken a liking to.
Before she got into the rental car, Imani pulled a feather out of her purse and said a short prayer to Gamine before releasing the feather into the sky. When she sat down in the car, she realized that Daman had watched her release the feather. Surprisingly, he didn’t ask her what she was doing.
Imani adjusted herself in the seat so that they could get comfortable. They were meeting James and the crew at a smaller airport an hour away from the neighborhoods affected by the storm.
“All set?” Daman asked when Imani stopped fidgeting in her seat.
“Yes, I’m ready.”
They waved goodbye to Mrs. Barker as the car pulled away from her house. A few minutes into the drive, Imani got a text from Cyd.
“I’ve been gone all weekend and conveniently, on the day I return, the family decides to have Sunday lunch at my grandfather’s house,” Imani said with a laugh.
A Tempting Proposal (Kimani Romance) Page 8
