Provocative Territory

by Altonya Washington

  Clarissa felt a slight pressure behind her eyes and blinked before the happy tears showed themselves. “Thank you for coming to tell me in person.”

  “Well, that’s not the only reason that I’m here.” Leta’s slightly bugged eyes appeared a smidgeon enlarged. She leaned in as though she were about to share a secret. “Have you heard of the Reed House Jazz Supper?”

  “Well, yes, Aunt Jaz and I were—” The memory suddenly unleashed the tears she was trying to hide. “I’m sorry.”

  “Oh, Clarissa, no.” Leta dropped a reassuring arm around Clarissa’s shaking shoulders and squeezed. “I was so sorry to hear of Jazmina’s passing.” She bowed her head and patted Clarissa’s shoulder for a time. “I hope it won’t be callous of me to ask you to attend the supper anyway, dear?”

  At Clarissa’s brief nod, Leta continued. “Each year, in addition to the Humanitarian award, the committee selects a local charity to acknowledge for its efforts. We always ask the Humanitarian award recipient to do the ceremonial presenting of the acknowledgment check.” She turned to look at Clarissa more directly.

  “I apologize for the late notice but with everything that’s happened...we understand if you’re not up to presenting the check in your aunt’s place.”

  “No, Leta.” Clarissa was already shaking her head. “I’d be honored—really. Thank you for this.” She took both the woman’s hands in hers. “Thanks for helping to give my aunt’s name a proud meaning in this town.”

  The bracelet Leta wore dangled beneath the cuff of her blouse when she shook Clarissa’s hand. “This would’ve happened anyway. Jazmina did far too much good for it to never come to light.” She patted Clarissa’s shoulder.

  “If you’re up for it we can speak soon about the particulars, all right?”

  “Oh, yes. Yes, of course.” Clarissa smiled and watched as Leta turned to file though the papers inside the case she’d arrived with. While the woman was occupied, Clarissa cherished a moment to remember her aunt.

  * * *

  Elias shook hands with the three men who made up the architectural firm of Rosen, Bergen and Finley and then he waved them on ahead into his office before turning to his partners who lagged behind.

  “Sorry for the late notice, man,” said Linus who had arranged the meeting. “This was the only other day we could get you four together.” He nodded at the architects who were getting settled at the square conference table in Eli’s office.

  “We tried reaching you on your cell all day yesterday. Where the hell were you?” Tigo asked.

  “Around.” Eli shrugged.

  “Well, did you lose your phone somewhere?” Linus frowned suspiciously while tapping the toe of his black wing tips. “That’s the only reason you wouldn’t have the damn thing plastered to your ear.”

  “Correction, man.” Tigo slapped Linus’s shoulder. “That’s not the only reason with the enticing Ms. David in the picture.”

  “Aah...” Linus slanting gaze twinkled with devilment.

  “Thanks to you both for remembering the person we’re supposed to be working for.” Elias motioned toward his office. “Can we get on with this?”

  “Hold up.” Linus suddenly shifted a stunned look to Tigo and then back to Eli. “That is why we couldn’t get you. You were with her all afternoon?”

  “We’re not doin’ this...” Eli groaned.

  “Man, what? That’s good to hear.” Tigo kept his voice hushed, but his excitement was clear.

  “You’re finally livin’ more than workin’.” Linus’s mouth curled to attest how impressed he was.

  Tigo pressed a hand to his heart in a show of emotion. “We’re proud of you, kid.”

  Elias bowed his head, but couldn’t hide his smile. “Can we go back to work now?” he pleaded finally.

  Linus and Tigo slapped their partner’s back and then urged him to precede them.

  * * *

  “This is gonna confuse a lot of people, ’specially the girls.” Rayelle’s face was a picture of awe.

  “I know.” Clarissa gave a hasty wave and then she sat close to her friend on the love seat in the manager’s office. “But I really think they’ll be excited by the possibilities.”

  “Of what?” Ray blinked, unimpressed. “Clay, all those girls didn’t grow up with aspirations of being prima ballerinas. Jaz thought they could do anything, but the truth is that most of them have no intentions of doing anything other than finding a sugar daddy or a rich, stupid hubby to take care of ’em.”

  “I’ve talked to people who knew she wanted this.”

  “And I don’t doubt that. Miss Jaz was always talkin’ about the changes she wanted to make around here. She wanted to make the place better. That’s where the whole remodeling idea came from.”

  Clarissa leaned back on the mosaic-print love seat. “So why don’t you seem as on board with this as I’d expect?”

  “Clay, Miss J didn’t want this for you.” Ray crossed her legs beneath the hem of her gold pencil-slim skirt and sighed. “Honey, she didn’t want you makin’ a career out of this. She knew she wasn’t goin’ anywhere as long as she was alive and runnin’ things. Don’t you see? That’s why she left you the club. She wanted you to get out and make your own way somewhere. If the club couldn’t become what Miss J wanted, she’d have rather it be nothing at all. I had instructions for taking care of the girls should that happen.”

  “I want to do this for her, Ray.” Clarissa’s voice teetered on the edge of belligerence. “We’ll make sure the girls not interested are taken care of.”

  Ray blinked and straightened where she sat. “You’re serious, aren’t you? Have you talked to Mr. Cole about it?”

  Clarissa picked something invisible from her skirt. “I’ll get around to it. I’d like to have more details in place before I go to him. It’s the only way he’ll take me seriously.” Her velvety brown eyes narrowed in Ray’s direction. “Seems like a good idea considering how hard it is to convince my best friend.”

  Ray shrugged, but joined in when Clarissa laughed.

  * * *

  “Thanks for rearranging to meet us today, guys,” Eli said as he shook hands with the architects.

  “We’d love it if you could work in a visit to each of the sites, man,” Daren Finley was saying.

  Edward Rosen nodded at his partner’s suggestion. “Viewing the work in phases will keep everyone on the same page.”

  “I agree.” Eli stroked his goatee. “Let me see what I can work into my schedule.”

  The men shook hands again and then Tigo and Linus offered to escort the architects out when Eli’s phone rang.

  “When can we get together to look at this list of yours?” Barker asked before Eli finished saying “hello.”

  “Whenever you’re ready to level with me,” Eli bartered.

  “All right then, tell me how you like this. Our fellow Philadelphians on that list have something else in common besides their gender.”

  Eli tugged his tie loose. “You gonna make me guess?”

  Barker had no such intentions. “They’ve all got cops for husbands,” he said.

  Chapter 12

  “Eli?” Clarissa called as she knocked on the open door and stuck her head just inside the office. His assistant was gone so she hesitantly made her way inside the room.

  “Elias...” she called again but didn’t really expect him to answer.

  For a time, she admired the room and its stunning view of downtown. Moving on, Clarissa approached the shelving and the photos of Eli with his friends and family. Correction—his friends and his mother. She noticed that there was no sign of any photos of Eli’s father. That was understandable. Nevertheless, Clarissa couldn’t help but think over what that meant and how her aunt was to blame for it.

  The knock on
the door kept her thoughts from running off too far. Clarissa saw Elias leaning on the wall just inside the room. Hastily, she replaced the photo she’d taken from the wall.

  “Desmond wasn’t at his desk...you asked me to come over.” She saw fit to remind him when he only watched her silently.

  As she spoke, Eli was shortening the distance between them. Then he was kissing her in the way he’d perfected to wipe her mind clear of almost everything except registering his touch.

  “I guess you’re okay with me being here.” Every part of her hummed.

  “I’m very okay with it.” He bent to brush his nose across her earlobe.

  “I, um...I got the feeling this was about business when you called.”

  “Did you?” He was more interested in nuzzling her ear and fingering her clipped hair then.

  Clarissa was working her hands up along the crisp dark fabric of the shirt he’d worn that day. An olive-green tie with flecks of a darker green hung loose about his collar. Her intention was to tug it free. He got serious then.

  “The architects want us to come out and visit some of the sites.” The beckoning blue of his gaze followed the flip of her hair when he twirled it around his fingers. “They want us to see the work while it’s in progress. Make sure we’re all on the same page.”

  Clarissa’s voluminous eyes followed the movement of her hand on the tie. “Are all the decisions, um...is everything finalized now?”

  “Pretty much.” Curious, he bent his knees just slightly to bring himself more level with her gaze. “They’ve got the plans done. What’s up?”

  She shook her head quickly. His finger beneath her chin stifled the movement. “What is it?”

  “I—”

  “Tell me the truth.”

  She grimaced at his prediction that she’d lie. “Is it too late to scrap the plans? I’m thinking of going in a different direction but it’s still way up in the air.” She inhaled as though the words had consumed her.

  “We can do whatever you want.”

  “But not without a lot of problems, right?”

  “Did you hear me?” He braced his index finger along her jaw and encouraged her head up. “Whatever you want. Understood?” He waited on her nod and smiled when she complied.

  “We should arrange another sit-down with the architects before any trips are planned. You’ll need to be there, give us your ideas—no holding back, okay?”

  She nodded, eased by the weight of worrying being lifted. “’Kay,” she whispered a millisecond before his tongue reengaged hers.

  They were in the depths of a lusty splendid kiss when a knock on the open office door turned their attention to Desmond. Clarissa bowed her head and smiled when a frustrated groan rumbled in Eli’s chest.

  “Sorry, boss,” Desmond whispered when Elias met him at the door.

  “You can make it up by takin’ off for the day.”

  “No problem.” Desmond grinned in the face of the grimly delivered instruction. “Just wanted to drop off the info you asked for on those names.”

  “Anything good?” Eli took the folder.

  “It’s not complete but I was able to get full location material.”

  “Get out of here.” Eli dismissed his assistant and closed the door on Desmond’s still-grinning face. At his desk, he dropped the file to the desk as an afterthought.

  More interested in picking up where he left off with Clarissa, he hauled her curvy body high and subjected her to more kissing and caressing.

  The buzzing phone interrupted them that time. Eli was content to let it buzz.

  “Could be the architects.”

  “It’s not.”

  Clarissa laughed at the agitated growl of his voice. “Sooner you answer, sooner you can get back.” She spoke through their kiss, giggling when he grumbled and went to take care of the call.

  “Don’t you even do it,” he ordered when she made a move to straighten her clothes.

  Elias went to snatch up the phone. When he handled the call, Clarissa studied the baseball paperweight on the desk. The file from Desmond had fallen open next to it. Clarissa studied the contents idly while she fidgeted with the paperweight.

  “Sorry about that. What?” Eli noticed the strange smile she wore.

  “It’s funny.” She shrugged.

  “What?”

  Clarissa glanced toward the open folder. “All these people live in cities where there are Jazzy B’s. Are we meeting with them when we head out?”

  Elias spent little time focusing on the file. His attention and gaze was being held captive by the line of Clarissa’s thigh visible behind the front split in her skirt.

  “It’s something Des is working on. Will you let me take you out to dinner?” he asked in the same breath.

  “I’m supposed to meet Ray.” She leaned over the desk to tug his tie. “We don’t have plans for dessert, though.”

  He cuffed her neck in his hand. “Cake or ice cream?”

  “Surprise me.”

  More kissing was a given following the exchange. Clarissa was in no hurry to bring an end to it, but Eli knew he’d have her on the desk in nothing flat if he didn’t.

  “I’ll see you later,” he promised and dropped a short simple peck to her kiss-swollen lips. He released her, watching while she grabbed her stuff and waved before disappearing through the door.

  Alone, Elias turned his focus back to the open folder.

  * * *

  “Ms. Keats, we’re so sorry. This is very embarrassing but the table isn’t ready just yet.” The hostess for the Grill Moon was clutching and releasing her hands so tightly they were almost as red as her hair.

  “It’s fine,” Rayelle promised and lifted the portfolio she carried. “I’ve got plenty to read until my date gets here.” She referred to Clarissa.

  The young redhead still appeared uncertain. “The bar’s practically full and I hate to ask you to stand here when this is our fault.” She bit her lip and gazed frantically about the packed lobby and bar. “Just one sec, Ms. Keats,” she said suddenly and speed walked into the mesh of bodies. She made a beeline for the gentleman who appeared to be the only occupant at the small round table for two.

  “Excuse me, Mr. G?”

  Barker Grant looked up from the work he’d brought in. “What’s up, Holly?”

  “I’m so sorry about this, Mr. G, but would you mind sharing your table with a lady until we have her ready to be seated in the dining room?”

  “Is the lady cute?”

  Holly blinked more profusely when she smiled. “Most of the waiters think she’s beyond it.”

  “Well, then, what are you waiting for?” Barker pushed aside his work. He watched Holly wave until she’d caught the eye of the tall honey-toned beauty near the front of the crowded space.

  “Barker Grant, this is Ms. Rayelle Keats.”

  Barker motioned toward the empty chair at the table. “Ms. Keats.”

  “Rayelle, please,” she urged once Holly had walked off. She tucked her portfolio into her lap and appeared exasperated. “I’m sorry about this.”

  “I don’t know why. Holly just made my day.”

  Rayelle smiled, instantly at ease around the dark intense-looking man. “My girlfriend shouldn’t be long.”

  Barker rarely smiled but, when he did, the effect on his already appealing features was truly flattering. “Is she the jealous type?”

  Caught off guard by the query, Rayelle broke into a wave of laughter that actually made her eyes tear. “It’s business,” she was finally able to explain. “Maybe I should have referred to her as my best friend.”

  Barker pretended to cringe. “And how well do best friends mix with business?”

  Ray shrugged and caused the gold herringbone necklace t
o glint against the light. “So far, so good,” she said.

  Barker studied Rayelle closely for a while and it was obvious that he enjoyed what he saw. Soon though, his gaze shifted and he offered a slight nod. “Looks like our time’s up.”

  Ray turned in her seat and saw Clarissa near the front of the bar along with the waving hostess. Sighing, she turned back to Barker. “Thanks for sharing your table.”

  “I’ll have to give Holly a very good tip for this.”

  “Good night.” Ray spoke through more laughter.

  * * *

  “Are you sure about this, Clay?” Ray was asking some ten minutes later while she and Clarissa enjoyed appetizers at their booth.

  Clarissa was thumbing through Jazmina’s mysterious notebook and paying little if any attention to the potato skins Rayelle was massacring.

  “I’m as sure of this as I am of the fact that you’re a little pissed that I interrupted your chat earlier,” Clarissa said.

  Ray appeared stumped for only a moment and then she kicked a heel on Clarissa’s boot where her legs were crossed under the table. “It wasn’t even like that.”

  “Yet.”

  “Anyway.” Ray shook her hair out of her face. “Are you sure about involving the police in this? I mean, are you even certain something illegal’s going on?”

  “I think that Sophie can tell us that and she’s the only one I agreed to draw into this. Besides—” Clarissa set down the notebook and folded her hands atop it “—Aunt Jaz was already talking to her about this anyway. Something had her on edge and she was pretty sure it was something fishy about this book.” She tapped a round French-tipped nail to the cover. “Can’t hurt to let her have a look at it and tell us if we’re wrong.”

  “And what happens if we aren’t wrong?” Ray folded her arms across the draping neckline of her charcoal-brown sweater. “Have you thought about what that would mean and who’d be affected most by it?”

  “I won’t let anything happen to the girls, Ray.”

  “I’m not talking about the girls, Clay.” Ray’s gaze dropped briefly to the notebook. “If Miss Jaz figured out something, why wouldn’t she find someone to bounce her suspicions off of before going to the cops?”