What a Woman Wants

by Brenda Jackson

  He removed his hand from her thigh and placed it back on the steering wheel. “I’ll agree with you on that.”

  “Thank you.”

  When he laughed again moments later, Shannon looked over at him. “What’s so funny?”

  “I was just remembering you helping me work on my car that day.”

  “And that made you laugh?”

  “No, not the work you did, since I’ve never seen the inside of a car so clean, but what happened later in my bathroom.”

  “Oh,” she said, understanding why he’d laughed. She had dashed off to his bathroom to put on her clothes instead of doing so in front of him. Somehow she’d gotten locked in the bathroom. Instead of helping her to get out, he had threatened to hold her hostage unless she let him make love to her one more time. She had countered his offer by agreeing only if they did so without completely removing all their clothes. The end result was creativity at its best.

  She glanced over at him and smiled. “You liked hearing me beg, didn’t you?”

  He shook his head. “Not while you were standing on your feet and three inches of wood stood between us. I prefer hearing you beg when I have you flat on your back beneath me and we’re skin to skin. It’s even better when I’m buried deep inside you to the hilt.”

  “You enjoy talking dirty, don’t you?”

  His hand eased back to her thigh. “Who’s talking dirty? That’s clean. Now if you want to hear dirty, listen up.”

  She barely had time to blink before some god-awful filthy words came tumbling out of his mouth, rolling off his lips and painting one hell of an erotic picture. She felt herself get embarrassed and turned on all at the same time. “You’re a bad influence on me, Adam Corbain.”

  “And you, Shannon Carmichael, are a good influence on me.” A few minutes later he said, “You never did tell me why three women decided to spend their summer together at the beach.”

  “Is that a crime or something?”

  “No. I know women do stuff like that.”

  “Men do, too, when they go on hunting trips and such.”

  “That’s true.”

  She turned and glanced out the window for a second, and then she glanced back at him. “There is a reason we’re here together, though. It used to be four of us, and we would spend every summer on Hilton Head together since we were teens. Me, Cely, Monique, and Faith were as thick as thick could get.”

  He lifted a brow. “Were?”

  “Yes, Cely died earlier this year.” She then slowly added, “She committed suicide.”

  He glanced over at her. “Sorry. Did any of you know she was in that frame of mind, that she was going through some sort of depression?”

  “No. We didn’t have a clue. She was the most together person that we knew. Even now we haven’t completely gotten over what happened. But in her memory, we decided to come back here this summer. We hadn’t been here together in a few years, and although Cely isn’t here in body, I believe she’s here with us this summer in spirit.”

  For some reason Shannon felt good talking to Adam about her friendship with Cely.

  She wasn’t surprised when he reached out and took hold of her hand. “And if you truly believe that, Shannon, then she is here with the three of you.”

  Hours later, Shannon wondered if her ears would ever be the same again with all the loud noise that came from the high-performance cars she’d seen racing that day. It had truly been an educational experience for her.

  Just from conversing with the people sitting around her in the stands, she’d discovered that drag racing originated in the United States and that it had since grown in popularity in other countries.

  All she had to do during any race was to glance over at Adam to see the excitement in his eyes to know that it was a sport he enjoyed. At first she hadn’t seen anything exciting about two modified cars racing against each other over a set distance to see which would cross the finish line first—especially when the driver didn’t have any turns to negotiate or opponents to defend against. Once she got into it, she discovered that what made it exhilarating was the nature of the race, which in essence tested the vehicle in terms of acceleration and top speed. And she had to admit that she’d never seen cars run so fast.

  Adam had been patient in answering her questions and making sure she understood everything about each race, even if she still didn’t fully comprehend what he’d told her about a car’s engine capacity, the number of cylinders, or whether the vehicle in question had either a turbocharger or supercharger installed.

  “You want to grab something to eat before we head back?”

  Shannon shook her head. “No thanks. I’ve eaten too much junk food to think about eating anything else for a while. But if you’re hungry and want to stop and get something, that’s fine. I could always grab a diet soda.”

  “Are you one of those women who assume they can eat whatever they want and wash the calories away by drinking a diet soda?” he asked.

  She teasingly glared up at him. “And what if I am?”

  Adam laughed and wrapped his arms around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him as they walked toward the exit. “Nothing. I personally like the way your body looks both in and out of your clothes,” he leaned over and whispered for her ears only.

  And he had definitely seen it plenty of times without her clothes, she thought, remembering just when and how. She felt a shiver pass through her at all the recollections. “I thought we would be meeting up with some of your friends today here,” she said when they reached the parking lot and moved toward the SUV.

  “I never told you that we would.”

  “No, but I assumed it. Had I not come, you would have been all alone?”

  He smiled down at her. “Possibly.”

  She wondered if that was his way of letting her know that another female would have been glad to have been his date today? Refusing to let him know his response had bothered her, especially when she didn’t understand why it did, she said, “Well, I had fun, and I’m glad I came.”

  “I’m glad you came, too.”

  The drive back to Hilton Head seemed to go a lot quicker than the drive they’d made to Savannah, and much too soon they were back at the garage.

  “Are you in a hurry to leave?” Adam asked when they got out of the SUV. He closed the driver’s door and walked around the vehicle to where she was standing.

  “Why?” she asked, deciding they should have had enough of each other for one day.

  “I want to show you something.”

  She raised a brow. “What?”

  “Something.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest, wondering if he was running a line on her in an attempt to get her up to his apartment. “Something like what?”

  Adam laughed. “It’s not what you evidently think. In fact, if you wait here, I’ll go and get it.”

  “Yes, you do that,” she said, still not convinced there was anything behind him getting her up to his apartment. She watched as he sprinted up the stairs, thinking that whatever he had to show her, he was certainly excited about it.

  Shannon glanced around the garage and had to admit it was probably a lot cleaner and neater than most, but for the life of her, she couldn’t understand why someone would want to spend their life working in such a place day in and day out. It was obvious to her that Adam had the potential to do more with his life. He was so well versed on a number of things. So what was his problem?

  She shrugged, deciding it was his problem and not hers. At least there was one thing she knew for a fact that he was 100 percent motivated to do, she thought, smiling.

  She then thought about his persona. He had a good attitude and was genuinely friendly with people he met. That was obvious by how he had carried himself that day, chatting with those sitting near them in the stands. And then there was that time when they had passed by a booth a group of women had set up near the ticket gate, asking for a contributions to help build a youth center in the ar
ea. It still amazed her how Adam had reached into his wallet and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill to give to the group. Shannon was certain he didn’t make that much as a mechanic, yet he had willingly shared what he had.

  She glanced up when she heard him returning, and he stopped when he came to stand in front of her. “Here.”

  She took what he was offering her and cast him in a sidelong glance. “Okay, what am I supposed to do with this?”

  He chuckled. “Do you know what it is?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Of course. It’s a toy car,” she responded.

  He leaned back against a work counter, grinning. “No, it’s a miniature replica of a ‘69 Pontiac GTO. What do you think?”

  She glanced down at the item she held in her hand. I think men are boys who still likes to play with toys. But to him she simply said, “I think it’s cute for an older car.”

  He grinned again. “Cute?”

  “Yes, cute. I like the color, since red is one of my favorite colors, and I like the tires. It’s cute.” She then glanced up at him curiously. “Was there a reason you wanted to show me this?”

  “Yes,” he said, smiling brightly. “That car over there will look like this when it’s finished.”

  She glanced over at the car she’d seen him working on many times and back to the miniature replica she held in her hand. Although the car looked in much better condition than it had the first time she’d seen it, she just couldn’t see it. She then tried visualizing it through his eyes and still she couldn’t see it. There was a lot of work yet to do to accomplish that. Didn’t he know there was more to life than fixing or restoring cars? “And after working on cars all day, you still want to work on that car in your spare time?”

  It was on the tip of Adam’s tongue to say his spare time was all his time, but instead he said, “Yes. I get the most work done after the shop closes and then sometimes I’m working on it well after midnight.” At least that much was true. In the daytime when the shop was open, there was usually too much activity going on for him to do his best work.

  “Well, thanks for sharing with me. I can tell pulling this off means a lot to you,” she said.

  “It does.”

  Shannon wasn’t sure how she knew, but somehow she knew it really did. “For some reason, Adam Corbain, I think you can do anything you set your mind to doing.” Then, leaning up on tiptoe, she pressed a kiss against his lips.

  That evidently wasn’t enough for Adam, and he pulled her into his arms and kissed her the way he figured she needed to be kissed. She thought it had to be one of the most erotic exchanges that had ever been performed on her mouth, the way he sucked her lips between his and then took his tongue and tortured her lips until they tingled. He was slowly but thoroughly arousing a deep hunger within her.

  “Stay with me for a little while,” he whispered against her moist lips when he broke off the kiss.

  She was tempted to tell him that yes, she would stay, but she knew a little while would extend to a long time and she would end up spending the night.

  With all the control she could muster, she pulled back and shook her head. “I can’t. I shouldn’t. Besides, on the note I left for Monique and Faith, I told them that I would try getting back for the fireworks.” It was on the tip of her tongue to invite him, too, but she stopped herself from doing so.

  The truth of the matter was that around Adam she tended to get a little crazy and was quick to forget things she should be remembering. She backed up a little, knowing she needed to leave while she had the chance. Her willpower with him wasn’t the strongest.

  “Thanks for taking me to Savannah. I’ve got to go.” She turned to leave.

  “Shannon?”

  She turned back around. “Yes?”

  “When will I see you again?”

  His question made her stand there a moment, thinking of a response. She wished she hadn’t done so when he slowly walked over and gently touched her shoulder, then took that same hand and cupped the side of her face. “I want to see you again soon. I need to see you.”

  She breathed in deeply and then leaned in for his kiss while thinking that she wanted and needed to see him as well. A shudder passed through her body the moment their mouths touched again. The merest brush of his lips against hers set her body aflame.

  “Go,” he murmured softly moments later, taking a step back. “Go while I have the mind to let you.”

  39

  “Lyle’s a cutie,” Faith whispered to Monique when Lyle had walked off to get them some bottled water.

  Monique smiled. “Thanks, I think so, too.”

  Faith didn’t have to ask if the two of them were intimate. The glow on Monique’s face said it all. “Shannon should be here soon. She left a note saying she decided to go to Savannah with her mechanic.”

  Monique then studied Faith. “What about you and your tennis guy?

  Faith sighed deeply. “Shane left town to spend time with his brother’s family in Orlando. He’ll be back Sunday night, but it doesn’t matter. I think I blew things.”

  Monique lifted a brow. “Why do you think that?”

  “Because I did. He’s tried getting something going with me and I balked him at every turn, even when I told him I would give him a chance. I ended up telling him about Virgil, though.”

  “Really? What did he say?”

  “Not much, but it felt funny telling him.”

  “You know what that means, don’t you?”

  Faith shook her head. “No, what do you think it means?”

  “You trust him.”

  Faith shrugged. “I told him I did, but I don’t think he believed me.

  “Then when he gets back, you’re going to have to prove it to him,” Monique said.

  “Hey, everyone, am I late for all the fun?”

  They turned when Shannon walked up. “No, you’re just in time,” Faith said. “I was hoping you were bringing your guy. Monique and I want to meet him.”

  Shannon narrowed her eyes. “He’s not my guy. He’s someone I’m having an affair with, no biggie.” Shannon nearly swallowed her lie. It was a biggie and was turning into an even bigger biggie all the time. “So where is your Dr. Montgomery?”

  “There he is, coming back with our bottled water.”

  Shannon glanced over in the direction where Monique was looking. She let out a low whistle. “He’s gorgeous. You did good.”

  Monique couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. “Thanks, and like I said, I plan to keep him.”

  Faith had just gotten into bed when her cell phone rang. She glanced at it and didn’t recognize the caller but decided to take the call anyway. “Hello.”

  “Did you enjoy your day?”

  Faith distinguished Shane’s sexy voice immediately. She couldn’t believe he had bothered to call her. She snuggled deeper in the bed. “Yes, it was nice. How about you?”

  “It was good seeing family again but I missed you.”

  “Really?” His words sent a warm feeling through her.

  “Really. Had I known I would miss you this way, I would have asked you to come with me.” When she didn’t say anything, he asked, “So, did you go to the fireworks display?”

  “Yes. It was nice.”

  “I went to the one here in Orlando, but I missed seeing them shoot out toward the ocean like they do in Hilton Head, so it wasn’t the same.”

  “Yeah, I can imagine.”

  “Well, I don’t want to hold you. I just wanted to let you know that I was thinking about you.”

  “Thanks, Shane. That means a lot.”

  “Does it, Faith?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m glad. Good night.”

  “Good night, Shane.”

  40

  “How soon can we get married?”

  Anna’s laugh was warm as Zach wrapped his arms around her and brought her close to his side. That morning at breakfast they had made the announcement to everyone, and then when Zach�
�s parents and sister arrived later that day, they’d told them the news as well. Everyone was so happy for them.

  Anna smiled, remembering how Zach had barely let her out of his sight all that day. They had walked around the island making plans. She would have to put in a transfer at work for her move to D.C. One good thing was that she had enjoyed working at the hospital where she’d worked before.

  They also talked about the media and how they would handle them. Zach assured her again that she would make a good politician’s wife and that he would be proud to have her by his side.

  They had grilled ribs and steaks and a number of delicious treats, and when everyone had sat down for dinner, her uncle Randolph had told the history of the Gullah people, which made her proud of her heritage all over again. Then later they all sat on the porch and watched the fireworks display from both Hilton Head and Savannah. It was beautiful how the explosion of lights seem to erupt into a beautiful ball of shimmering fire over the ocean.

  “I talked to Grandmother Julia before the fireworks started,” Anna finally said, smiling. “And she made me promise not to set a date until she can contact a wedding planner. I have a feeling she wants to go all out for our wedding.”

  Zach nodded. “And how do you feel about that?” he asked, bringing her closer to his side.

  Anna shrugged. “All I want is to be married to you, Zach. How we go about doing it really isn’t all that important to me. I was to have a big wedding with Todd and it never happened and—”

  “I’m not Todd, and it will happen for you this time, sweetheart. And maybe a big wedding isn’t a bad idea. I’ll stand before the entire nation if I could and let them know how much I love you.”

  She turned and rested her head on his shoulder. “Oh, Zach, that’s so sweet.”

  He leaned over to kiss her when there was a polite clearing of someone’s throat. They turned to find his father and her uncle standing there. “Sorry to interrupt things,” Randolph Fuller said, smiling. “But Noah and I wanted to talk to the both of you about something.”

  Anna heard the seriousness in her uncle’s voice and glanced at Zach. He merely looked at the two men and nodded. “All right.”