Donetta nodded. She was glad he’d made it to her house safely, but she wanted to know what had happened to him earlier. “Why didn’t you call me? I left you two messages.”
“I’m sorry, Donetta.” He took a few steps, moving closer to her, and reached for her hand. “I took a nap and slept longer than I thought I would.”
“Your hands feel like ice cubes,” she said with gentle concern. “You’re freezing.”
He squeezed her palm. “I’m sure your touch will warm me up in no time.”
She blushed hard and shook her head. “You’re a smooth talker.”
“I’m an honest man. You bring out the best in me.”
His sexy voice and endearing words made her smile. “Okay, Mr. Honesty. Tell me why you didn’t call me back after your nap.”
“By the time I woke up five inches had already fallen. I tried to call you, but my battery had died and I forgot to pack my phone charger. My mom and sister have Androids, so there was no way for me to charge my phone. I would’ve called you from my sister’s phone, but I couldn’t remember your cell number.”
Donetta’s voice became soft with relief. “Oh.”
“You didn’t think I was avoiding you on purpose, did you?”
“I didn’t know what to think. I left you two messages, and each time my call went straight to voice mail, so . . .”
Phillip pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her waist. He held her tightly and gently kissed her lips. “I walked through a snowstorm to get to you. That should tell you all you need to know.”
Donetta enjoyed the way his cool lips felt pressed against her warm ones. After they shared a long, sensual kiss she looked into his eyes. “I missed you,” she whispered.
“I missed you, too.” Phillip inhaled deeply. “You smell good.” He let his eyes roam her body, and he smiled. “Look at you, snowed in and looking all sexy.” He touched her hair, letting his thick fingers glide across her silky waves. “I like your hair like this.”
“Thanks, I washed it.”
His eyes landed on the glass of wine sitting on a crystal-studded coaster atop the coffee table. “I can see you’ve been having a good afternoon.”
“I figured since I was going to be alone, I might as well make the most of my evening.” She paused for a moment, then looked into his eyes again. “I treat myself well, Phillip, and I know how to have a good time all by myself. I’ve learned that I’m the only one who’s gonna take care of me.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way, you know?”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t you think it would be nice to have a companion, a mate . . . um, maybe even a husband, to help take care of you?”
Donetta’s heart started beating fast. Husband was the only word that rang in her ears. Although she’d tried to remain hopeful over the years, one bad relationship after another had soured her faith on finding love, let alone a husband. Now here it was, a handsome man standing in front of her had just hinted of a commitment—which would’ve been a dream come true, except for the larger-than-life detail that Phillip didn’t know about her background. Donetta wondered if he would still be as interested once he found out everything there was to know about who she really was.
“Are you okay?” Phillip asked, drawing her even closer to him.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“You don’t sound convincing. We haven’t known each other long, but I already know you well enough to see that you’re not. What’s wrong, baby?”
She wanted to melt when he called her that. So many things had gone wrong in her life, but this whirlwind romance felt right, and for now she was determined to enjoy every second of it. So instead of fretting and stressing, she decided to live in the moment that was right in front of her. “You’re right. I have something on my mind that I need to tell you.”
“I’m listening.”
“I think you need to get out of those wet clothes and let me take care of you first.”
“Now you’re talking.”
Phillip followed Donetta into her bedroom and undressed while she turned the bronze-colored faucet on her soaker tube. She poured a combination of fragrant sea salts, vanilla-scented bath foam, eucalyptus Epsom salt, and lavender bath oil under the running water. The combination of scents were light, with a hint of musky amber that smelled deliciously inviting. While the water continued to run, Donetta lit several pillar candles scattered throughout the room, and the end result was a warm, sensuous spa-like retreat that was fit for a photo spread in any home décor magazine.
Phillip walked into the bathroom wearing nothing but a smile, and Donetta had to literally contain herself. Damn, this man is fine! She looked at Phillip’s sculpted body and thought his broad chest, well-defined abs, muscular arms, and toned legs were a delight to her eyes. His Adonis-like body was complemented by his ruggedly handsome face, which made his outside package even more alluring. But as Donetta watched him walk into the room with a casual air, she knew that it was what lay inside Phillip that made him so attractive, and in fact, beautiful. He was unpretentious, without an arrogant bone in his body. He was open and honest, making it easy to place her trust in him. He was gentle and kind with a caring spirit. And he was intelligent, with a desire to learn new things. Donetta smiled inside when she thought about how good she felt in this moment.
“Wow,” Phillip said. He was standing in glorious nakedness with his legs spread hips-width apart and his long arms dangling by his side. He looked around the room, taking in the décor, candles, and scent. “You really know how to decorate and set a mood.”
“Thank you. It’s one of my passions.”
“I can see. This is like walking into a spa. Are you going to soak in those bubbles while I shower?”
Donetta shook her head. “No, I took a long, hot shower before you got here. These suds are for you.”
“Me? I haven’t taken a bubble bath since I was ten.”
“Trust me, once you sink down into this tub, you won’t want to come out.”
Phillip walked over to Donetta and kissed her on her forehead. “Thanks, baby.”
She watched him as he carefully lifted one leg into the tub and then the other. Slowly, he eased his body down, submerging himself in the white bubbles. When he closed his eyes, leaned back, and let out a relaxing groan, Donetta knew he was enjoying himself. “I’ll be right back,” she said.
When she returned, she was carrying two glasses in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other. She poured Phillip a glass and handed it to him. “Here, I think you’ll like this.”
Phillip reached for the glass and took a sip. “Thanks, this is good, and this bubble bath is incredible.” He placed his glass on the edge of the large tub and reclined again. “What did you put in the water?”
“It’s my secret potion.”
“This is well worth a two-mile walk in the snow. If I’d known bubble baths felt this good, I would’ve been taking them a long time ago.”
Donetta smiled. “I’ve loved taking bubble baths since I was a small child. They’re so pampering and relaxing. A couple of years ago I was in Atlanta for a hair convention, and on my last night in town I decided to treat myself. I checked into the Ritz-Carlton and ordered champagne and room service. I saw that they had a bath butler service so I ordered it. Let me tell you, that changed my world. It was the most luxurious, soothing bath I’d ever had. I felt like a queen after I got out of that tub. I asked the lady who drew my bath to tell me exactly what she put in it, and I’ve been luxuriating in style ever since.”
“Donetta, this is the most relaxed I’ve felt in a long time.” Phillip opened his eyes and smiled. “Thank you for this.”
“It’s the least I can do for someone who walked through a snowstorm for me.” She winked and walked over the small slipper chair beside the tub and took a seat. She had to sit carefully because she was still sore. “You could’ve stayed in the comfort of your home with your family, but instead you braved
the weather and risked your life on the dangerous roads, just to see me. Why?”
“I was thinking the same thing while I was climbing out of that damn snow drift,” Phillip said with a laugh as Donetta joined him. He looked at her, and his voice became low and serious. “All I could think about was how much I wanted to see you, to just be in your presence.”
Donetta felt as though she was half-dreaming. The self-help books she’d read, and even a few customers she knew, had said that this kind of thing was possible—that you could meet someone and instantly know they were the one. While she couldn’t say that what she now felt for Phillip had been instant, what she absolutely knew was that this was the first time in her life that she’d felt genuinely respected and cared for by a man. As Donetta stared back into Phillip’s deep brown eyes, her heart couldn’t deny that what she was feeling was love.
Donetta and Phillip talked by wine and candlelight, laughing and sharing more insights into each other’s lives. They discussed their likes and dislikes, and she discovered they had more in common than she’d initially thought. She could tell that Phillip was surprised when she told him that she liked sports, and that she could name all the professional teams along with their stats. And she was surprised when she learned that he was a fan of HGTV, and even liked some of the same shows that she did. Then they moved on to more serious subjects, like social issues, and what they wanted for their future, especially in a relationship. This was when Donetta knew she needed to reiterate her point from last night and remind him about what she wanted, flat-out. Even though he’d hinted about a relationship, she wanted to make her position unequivocally clear, and that if he didn’t want the same thing, she wouldn’t waste her time or his. “I’d like to get married someday,” she said plainly.
“Does ‘someday’ mean soon, as in ‘my biological clock is ticking and I need a husband and a baby’? Or ‘someday’ as in ‘when the right man comes along we’ll take our time and see how it goes’?”
Donetta shifted a bit in her seat at the sound of ticking clocks and babies, neither of which applied to her biological makeup, so she addressed what she felt comfortable saying. “ ‘Someday’ means when I find the man I want to spend the rest of my days with, and he feels the same about me. But let me be clear, once that happens, there’s no way in hell I intend to wait till infinity with the promise of marriage.”
Phillip raised his brow. “How long is too long? Would you give him an ultimatum if he didn’t propose to you on the timeline you have in mind?”
“An ultimatum implies a demand, and I’d never want someone to make a commitment to me unless they wanted to of their own free will.”
“Ahh, free will rears its head again. That’s big with you.”
She nodded. “It sure is. It’s something we exercise every day, whether we know it or not. Everything is in our power to either do, or not do. At this point in my life, I know what I want, and I don’t believe in wasting time. Patience is a virtue, but so is discernment.”
“Discernment of knowing how long is too long?” Phillip questioned.
“I don’t want to get hung up on time, but yes. When you apply the wisdom of your intuition to discover what is essential and true, with contemplative vigilance, you gain clarity of the soul.”
“Damn, that’s deep.”
“It should be, I got it off the Internet.”
They shared a long hearty laugh. Donetta loved how easy it was to talk about sensitive subjects with Phillip, who didn’t judge or debate. He questioned what he didn’t know, which showed his willingness to learn, and he stood firm in what he believed, which demonstrated his integrity. She was becoming more and more confident that once she told him her full story, he would be accepting.
“I’d like to get married someday, too,” Phillip said. “And I pretty much agree with everything you said about when the right person comes along.”
Donetta couldn’t hide the smile that had formed deep in her insides and had spread to her lips. “Great minds think alike.”
“I definitely want kids,” Phillip said. “I’d like the chance to be a better father to my child than mine was to me.”
“I can’t have children,” Donetta said quietly. There was a brief pause filled with silence that hovered over them.
Phillip cleared his throat. “Does it have anything to do with your bleeding this morning?”
“Yes, it does . . . and it’s, um, complicated.”
She could tell that Phillip was thinking, and she was scared to ask him what was on his mind. He leaned forward, drank the last sip of his wine, and spoke. “There are lots of children on adoption lists who need loving homes. Family doesn’t mean blood, it means love, and as long as I have a partner I can build love with, I’m cool.”
“So it doesn’t matter to you if you don’t plant your biological seed?”
“What matters to me is that I can raise a son or daughter, maybe both, with love. I don’t even speak to my biological father, and I’m closer to my college mentor than I’ve ever been to the man I’m connected to only through DNA. So no, it’s not a big deal.”
Donetta noticed that every time Phillip spoke of his father, it was with disdain, and she wondered what kind of terrible thing the man had done to make Phillip dislike him so much. Unlike him, she hadn’t grown up with her parents because they’d both abandoned her when she was a child, and she’d never been close enough to either of them to feel like or dislike. She made a mental note that she wanted to talk more with Phillip about his family. As a matter of fact, she just realized that she knew what he did for a living, where he lived, and what his favorite color was, but she didn’t even know his last name. She was about to ask when he leaned forward in the tub and stood up.
“This bath has been great, but the water’s getting cold.” He reached for the towel Donetta had draped on the side of the tub. “Let’s continue this conversation over that delicious-smelling roast that’s been calling my name since I walked through the door.”
Chapter 26
PHILLIP
Phillip was full, not only from the fork-tender, perfectly seasoned pot roast and noodles that Donetta had cooked and he’d eagerly devoured, but from the satisfying knowledge of realizing that he’d somehow found “the one” without even looking for her.
As he sat next to Donetta at her dining room table, which was decorated with cream-colored candles, elegant plates, and shiny stemware, he once again thought about his mother’s words, and how she’d talked about having someone to come home to. He knew that coming home to a beautiful, independent, kindhearted woman who could cook, decorate a house into a home, and completely satisfy him in bed, was something he now desired. He’d had a lot of women over the years, and he’d sown more oats than Quaker. And now he was ready to take everything in his life to another level.
“This meal was delicious,” Phillip said. “Who taught you how to cook like this?”
“Thank you. My grandmother used let me help her in the kitchen, and because I love to eat, I learned real fast about what to do to make food taste good.”
“Is there anything you can’t do well?”
Donetta put her hand to her head, as if she was in deep thought. “The list is way too long to name.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“Flattery will get you anything you want from me.” She laughed and set her cloth napkin on the table. “I really am glad you enjoyed your meal, and I’m especially glad that you’re here.”
“Me too.”
“I hope you won’t get sick of me, because from the looks of it, you’re gonna be here awhile.”
Phillip looked out of the dining room window at the snow that was still falling just as heavily as it had been when he’d been walking in it. “Let’s turn on the news and see what they’re saying now.”
They sat close together on her couch, with his arm wrapped around her shoulder, as they listened to the weather announcer tell them of the reports of ten inches in some
areas of Amber, with snow drifts of up to several feet. His thoughts drew his mind to his mother, and the fact that he needed to call her because she was probably worried about him. “I need to call my mother and let her know I didn’t end up in a ditch or one of those snowdrifts,” he said.
“Your phone should be charged by now.”
Phillip stood and walked over to the accent table where his phone had been charging since shortly after he’d arrived. When he pressed the button to bring his screen to life it remained black. He plugged it back in again, but nothing happened. “My phone’s still dead.”
Donetta walked over to where he was standing. “Let me take a look and see what’s wrong.” She jiggled the cord and then plugged it in again, just as Phillip had done. But the screen was still black, and each time she pushed the On button nothing happened.
“There must be something wrong with your charger.” He unplugged and then plugged it in again, but the result was the same.
“I haven’t used it in ages,” Donetta said, “because after I switched from Apple to Android, I really had no need to.”
“Can I use your phone?”
“Sure.” Donetta walked over to the coffee table and handed it to him.
“Thanks.” Phillip dialed his mother’s cell phone and watched Donetta walk over to the fireplace. She lifted two logs—one at a time—and gently placed them in the fire. He was aroused by the visual image of her smooth, mocha-colored skin draped in brightly colored lingerie. She’d just made a manual task look sexy, and it convinced him that despite her earlier claim, there was nothing she didn’t do well. He continued to watch her, enjoying the way her body swayed as she stoked the fire with the poker. He was lost in the moment, until he heard his mother’s voice on the other end.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Mom, it’s me.” He walked over to the couch and took a seat because he knew he might be in for a mild interrogation.
“Phillip?”
Deadly Satisfaction Page 21
