Kale whistled. “Go-getters with shrewd vision,” he said to Davia.
“Well, we can’t take all the credit.” Wilhelmina looked to Davia then, too. “We only thought of it when Davia told us about the pub in Iowa—the possibility that they’d be interested in carrying the brew on tap. We couldn’t realistically secure exclusivity at a bar or restaurant,” she went on, “but for an out-of-the-box venue like a movie theater, our chances of securing something like that are much better.”
“And since you’re the only theater mogul we know who’s practically family—” Jill’s expression was playfully innocent as she let her statement hang “—we thought we’d give it a shot and bring the deal to you first.”
“Excuse me.” Davia pushed back her chair and left the table.
Audrey rolled her eyes in Jilly’s direction. “You could’ve kept that part to yourself.”
Jilly winced. “Sorry, Kale.”
He was already waving a hand to dismiss any sleight. “Don’t worry about it. You’ve got me interested. Put something in writing that I can take back to my people and we’ll go from there.” Kale spoke decidedly, but his gaze made a continuous shift toward Davia who was making her way to the back of the restaurant.
“Don’t worry, Kale,” Audrey said as she leaned over to squeeze his wrist. “We’ll take care of business. You take care of our friend.”
“That’s all I want.” His eyes were still on Davia. “Would you guys excuse me?” He didn’t wait for a response and left the table.
* * *
“I like your friends.”
Davia smiled when she heard Kale’s voice behind her on the restaurant balcony. “So do I.” She sighed and then snorted a laugh. “Despite their big noses that always seem to find their way into my business.”
Kale smiled then, too. “I’m sure they mean well.”
“Oh, I know they do. Doesn’t make it any easier though—and it gives me no choice but to look into the mirror and be reminded of what a fool I’m being.”
“How do you figure?”
Davia smirked at his question. “I believe you know. I’ll even bet you guessed it while I was telling myself this was about me not stepping up to the plate with Tella when it was really about me being afraid of myself...of screwing up again. This time the lives at stake are mine and yours.”
“You think that standing still ensures nothing changes—that no decisions have to be made?” He sounded certain of his guess.
“Half right.” Davia turned and leaned against the balcony rail. “I thought I was...protecting myself by not making a decision, but things are definitely changing anyway.” She gave him the full benefit of her gaze. “You were all right with this before—all right with the distance—but you aren’t so okay with it anymore. That’s changing us, isn’t it?”
Kale moved closer then, not stopping until he was near enough to cup her face. “I love you.” His thumbs brushed her high cheekbones as he smiled and shook his head. “That part’s not changing.”
Davia reached up to squeeze his wrist. “I love you, too.” She moved to the toes of her riding boots and initiated a kiss.
“Prove it,” Kale challenged when their kiss ended and he put distance back between them. “Marry me.”
Chapter 20
Davia checked her watch for the third time since getting everything in place for the conference call she and Kale were scheduled to have with Barrett and Estelle Waverly. The call was supposed to have been a three-way from Iowa to San Francisco and Miami, but Kale’s unexpected visit required a last-minute tweak of the chat logistics.
Kale had yet to arrive and Davia hoped that having the call at her place hadn’t discouraged him from attending. She’d hoped he would’ve been early as she’d been walking around in a daze since the night before.
She’d heard that some men conjured all sorts of wildly creative ways to propose. Never had she heard of one popping the big question and then not sticking around to hear his intended’s reply.
What was that about? She’d asked herself that question since Kale had turned on his heel and left her alone and devastated on that restaurant balcony. He hadn’t made another stop by the table where they’d been having lunch with her partners. Instead, he’d instructed the waiter to charge him, not Wilhelmina, for whatever they ordered and then he’d taken his leave.
Her friends were understandably curious about what had been said between them, but Davia didn’t know where to begin. With that being the case, she’d opted not to share any details.
Maybe he’d guessed she’d turned him down and had hightailed it out of there before he got his feelings hurt. Maybe he’d regretted ever asking the question at all.
The doorbell rang, successfully jerking Davia from her disruptive thoughts. Quickly she ordered herself to calm down and then went to answer it.
Kale waiting outside her door brought on a sense of déjà vu, sending Davia back to the first time she found him standing in her offices. It seemed like a lifetime had passed between them since that day. A lifetime hadn’t passed, though. A lifetime was what he wanted from her now. She was opening her mouth to greet him, but he didn’t give her the chance.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said as he walked past her into the foyer. “Have you guys gotten started yet?”
Davia had to give herself a mental kick, lest she remain standing there speechless. “We, uh—You’re not late. We still have a few minutes.” She watched him interestedly, trying to get a bead on his mood, but he offered no clues. It was just as well, for the phone was ringing. Davia resented the relief springing to life inside her when the call interrupted her attempt. She greeted the Waverlys enthusiastically.
“How’s the weather, guys?” Kale asked once he, too, had greeted the innkeepers. “Have you had the chance to meet with either of the crew chiefs or staff yet?”
“That’s the, uh, main thing we wanted to talk to you guys about,” Barrett confessed after a brief hesitation followed Kale’s question.
Kale and Davia traded a look.
“Go on, B,” Kale urged.
“Are you guys leaving it up to me and Este on who gets the final bid?”
Again, Kale looked to Davia, who nodded. “Well, uh, we were hoping you guys could act as the second opinions in this...”
“That’s where I think we’ve got a problem,” Barrett said. “See, me and Este...well, we kind of want both of the crews.”
A third set of looks passed between Kale and Davia.
“We’re sorry about this, guys.” Estelle’s voice chimed through the speaker. “We know you were looking to use our knowledge of the area to decide which crew would be the better fit.”
“It’s just that we think both teams have a great understanding and respect for what Lyle envisions in his plans. Though they’re different understandings, we think they’d complement each other,” Barrett noted.
“They’re all getting along great and with two crews on the job we’d get all this done faster, right?” Estelle added.
“Estelle? Is everything okay?” Though the reasoning was sound, Davia couldn’t help but feel concerned. “Is there a reason for the urgency? Are folks starting to have second thoughts?”
“Oh, no, no!” the Waverlys chimed in at once.
“That’s not it at all. On the contrary, actually,” Barrett said. “Everyone’s impatient to see it done, ready to enjoy a movie without having to drive almost forty miles to see it.”
“We’ve come a long way.” Kale sighed.
“So do you guys think a town’s impatience for something it once fought diligently against is enough to justify the extra expense to have two crews on the job?”
Davia was already nodding in response to Barrett’s query.
Kale grinned. “It’s enough to justify it to us. We’ll send
word to our people and get things in motion for a move forward.”
“So can we expect you two back for the groundbreaking ceremony?” Estelle asked with excitement in her voice. “It’s sure to be quite the event. Mitch can’t stop boasting. He’s already planning the next big throw-down to celebrate all this getting under way after so many years.”
“What? Does he already have the diamond-studded invitations made up?” Kale teased.
Barrett laughed. “Close!”
“So?” Estelle probed once the laughter had eased. “Can we expect you guys for the groundbreaking once a date’s been set?”
“We’ll be there,” Kale promised.
“And, uh, will you be arriving together?”
“Este...” Barrett Waverly groaned his wife’s name.
Kale laughed, apparently taking the probe in stride. “It’s doubtful Davia will trust my pilot not to take her back to Miami.” His playful tone belied the tension in his expression. “We’ll be there as soon as you guys have a date.”
“You’ll have it ASAP,” Barrett assured him.
The call ended and the Waverlys took whatever energy and excitement there’d been with them. Suddenly the room felt quiet.
“It was a good idea talking with them together,” Kale finally said.
Davia nodded, pushing her house phone back to the corner of the coffee table. “Judging from where things stood not so long ago, I wouldn’t have thought we could’ve hoped to put one construction crew in Mullins, let alone two.”
Kale’s smile was brief and then he was pushing to his feet. “I should get going.”
“Can you stay for a while?” Davia stood, as well. “I thought we could talk.”
Kale gave a slow shake of his head. “You know what, Davia? I’m about talked out.”
“Kale—”
“And if this talk you want to have is about yesterday, forget it.”
“Kale, please—”
“I’ll stay, but not to talk.”
Davia understood his intentions a second after he grabbed her. “Kale, wait—”
“I’m about all waited out, too.” He crushed her mouth with his and began tearing her out of her clothes in the process.
Davia made a few valiant attempts to sway the approaching storm, but she quickly lost her desire to do so. Arousal peaked at a steady rate inside her until she had no care for talking or even for understanding the motives for his behavior the day before.
Kale had made it more than clear that he had no interest in talking. His hands were everywhere. Strong fingers gripped and tugged the fabric of her clothing, exposing her bare skin along the way. His mouth set ablaze the slender line of her neck, gliding lower until his tongue skimmed her collarbone.
Next, he was retracing the path to suckle her parted lips and then her earlobe. One he pampered with his mouth, the other with his fingers that massaged the plump, tender flesh. While he tended her lobe with his teeth and tongue, his fingers trailed down to explore the moist, dark depths of her mouth.
Desperately, Davia performed her own sensuous suckle of the digits plundering her mouth. The motion set her on fire and she pulled at his shirt. He had her half out of her clothes and she sought to render him into the same state.
Kale soon had Davia in his preferred spot hoisted high against his chest. With her so positioned, he buried his face between her lace-clad breasts to inhale the fresh, sweet scent of cucumber that infused her skin. He carried her to the sofa they’d shared for their business conversation. Now he needed its cushioned softness for more carnal endeavors.
With Davia straddling his lap, Kale began to feast on the nipples that were firming beneath the cream-toned bra cups.
Davia moved to shed the scrap of lingerie to bare her chest to a more thorough exploration, but Kale prevented her efforts. He held her fast—a hand shackling her wrists and keeping them secure at the small of her back.
Kale was settled for a time, content in the pleasure her breasts provided him. Soon, though, he hungered for more and used the hand cupping her breast to ease around and undo the hooks of her bra.
Davia shuddered out her gratitude when she felt the air brushing her skin. Subconsciously, she arched her back, eager to have him at her breasts again.
Kale obliged. He released her wrists to cup and squeeze the dark, plump mounds. His mouth took possession of one as his thumb worked the ignored nipple into a more rigid nub.
Davia released unabashed sobs of delight into the room. Her hips undulated on Kale’s lap, seeking an unnamed but obvious fulfillment. By then, she was clad only in a wisp of lacy fabric that matched her bra. The sheer material was no real barrier and she could feel him growing harder, longer, and insistently nudging the part of her in the direst need of his attention. With her hands freed, she tried her luck once more with taking him out of his clothes.
Kale seemed more open to the idea that time and allowed Davia to help him out of the denim shirt he’d worn outside of a pair of crisp, dark brown trousers. A white T-shirt showed beneath and it only took a few more seconds for her to drag it over his head once the shirt was a distant memory.
Hungrily, Davia let her nails scour the broad, rich caramel surface of his pecs and shoulders and abs. Her hips worked over his lap with greater intensity; she so wanted him inside her. She went to undo his pants, hoping he wouldn’t stop her.
Kale had no plans to do any such thing. He’d reached his limit of resistance, as well. He wanted nothing more than to have the proof of that wanting clenched tightly inside her walls. Davia had already removed his belt and she was at work on the fastening and zipper of his pants. He remembered the protection he’d stuffed into a side pocket of the trousers and grabbed for it while Davia tugged them from his hips.
Their movements were a flurry of activity as they worked to fully relieve themselves of clothing. All the while, Davia maintained her spot astride Kale’s lap.
Once he was naked, Kale expertly set the protection in place, even as he licked and sucked at Davia’s breasts that were perfectly positioned in front of his face. Davia threaded shaking fingers through his hair. She was smoothing her cheek across the sleek curls crowning his head when Kale grasped her hips and settled her slowly onto his filling erection.
Davia’s moans transformed into rhythmic gasps that kept time to the tempo Kale set as he lifted her and lowered her to accept and release him. When her gasps took form and she was able to speak his name, he kissed her appreciatively. It seemed he was still in no mood to hear anything remotely resembling conversation.
Davia wasn’t complaining. Weakly, she moaned while taking his deep and branding kiss. Kale halted the kiss to return his focus to her breasts. Soon, he was back to favoring them with an intense array of sensual assaults that targeted the glistening, pebbled nipples.
Their moans hit the air in simultaneous, heated fashion. Kale cradled her ass in his palms, squeezing and cupping the globes as he lifted and settled her to his delight, his tempo increasing, faster and more powerful until he took them both to the pinnacle. The moment was explosive, echoing with shudders and groans. The climax pummeled them both, ebbing and flowing through them in endless waves.
It seemed hours had passed. The only sounds were their heavily labored breaths. Then Kale finally moved. He gathered Davia in his arms and took her up from the sofa. He didn’t put her down until he’d carried her up the winding staircase to tuck them into the first bedroom he could find.
* * *
“Yes.”
Kale was leaving the bed to go hunt down his clothes, hours later, when he heard her. Davia said nothing more but he knew she understood there was no need for more words. His heart beat so wildly against his ribs that he wondered whether she could hear it, and issued silent orders for the muscle to cool it. He grimaced then, taking stock of where they
were.
“It’s the sex talking,” he said.
“You know that’s not true.”
“Do I, Davia?” He partly turned to her. “Do I really?”
She averted her gaze to the tangle of linens and pillows strewed across her bed. “You’ve got every right to be pissed.” Silently, she acknowledged the fact that she’d let her own anxieties and fears bring them to a point where the words of love they’d shared had given way to insecurity. Shaking off what was, Davia focused on what she wanted to be. “You’d have known it wasn’t the sex talking if you’d let me give you an answer yesterday. Why didn’t you stick around to hear it?”
“Maybe I was afraid of what I’d hear.”
Surprise robbed her of speech for several moments. “You thought I’d say no? Just no and that’s it? Even after I told you I love you? Did you not believe me then?”
Kale turned his deep stare toward the tangled linens, as well. “I believed you at first because it was what I wanted to hear.” He ran a hand over his head in a jerky, frustrated manner.
“Then, I began to think your reason for saying it may’ve been because you weren’t ready to give up what we shared.” Again, he cast a meaningful look upon the bed.
Davia wanted to touch him, but she reconsidered. Instead, she sat up, keeping the sheet tucked beneath her arms as she moved. “Given where we are right now, I know it’s hard for you to believe this, but when I told you I was falling in love with you, I meant it. When I told you I loved you, I meant that, too.
“I love you, Kale. I love you despite the fact that a serious relationship wasn’t even on my radar and then...there it was as big as day and with you, of all people—a man I’d despised, misjudged. It was a lot to deal with especially when...other things came into play.” She cast another of her pointed looks to the bed then, too.
“You were right when you said I was...standing still, hoping that would keep things from changing. I’d gotten past all that and didn’t want to do anything else that might...rock the boat. Outside of my parents’ marriage, other relationships have always seemed so complicated—ones I’ve seen from the outside looking in. I think that’s partly why I shied away from my own. But this...us... It’s been ten months of bliss, much more than I ever thought I’d be capable of.”
Silver Screen Romance Page 16
