She shook her head in disbelief and mumbled, “I knew no good could come from this…this…little escapade…from losing sight of my goals.”
His hand froze and he shot up in the bed. “What the hell do you mean by that?” he asked sharply.
“It’s not…it’s just I don’t want to prolong this. It’s bad enough I did it twice. Bad enough I didn’t wait for my husband like Gran always told me to. Now you want me to be some kind of live-in call girl?”
“So you were saving yourself for your future husband and big bad me ruined it.” His sarcastic tone of voice was not helping the situation.
“That’s not what I said,” she snapped. “But I don’t expect you to get it.” She got up and started feeling around for her clothing. What had started out as the sweetness of one night’s passion had turned into a big mess.
“This conversation isn’t over.”
She sucked her teeth and mumbled, “That’s what you think.” She put on her panties and bra.
“Tonya, we need to figure this out.”
“Can your driver take me home or should I call a cab?” she asked as she pulled on her slacks.
“Neither. You’re not leaving.” He stepped out of bed and walked over to her just as she pulled her shirt over her head. “Please don’t leave.”
Staring at the naked man standing in front of her, Latonya almost lost her train of thought. She swallowed and blinked.
“Well, if you’re so distraught that you weren’t able to save yourself for your husband, you could always marry me.”
She let out a short, sarcastic laugh that sounded more like a snort.
“It would be a perfect arrangement,” Carlton continued. “You wouldn’t have to worry about your job. You wouldn’t have to work at all. I could see to it that your family is taken care of. I’d pay off your grandmother’s mortgage, your sister’s tuition. And I would see to it that your grandmother got the best medical attention available and pay for all of her care.” His voice gained more and more momentum as he went along. “Wouldn’t it be nice not to have to worry about it?”
She couldn’t believe the audacity of the man. He really thought that anything he wanted, even people, could be bought and bartered for. Well, she wasn’t for sale.
“I highly doubt that either my sister or my grandmother would want me to sell myself to you for the cost of their care,” she said bluntly.
“Then fine, don’t do it for them. Do it for yourself. There is something special between us. I know you feel it, too.” He reached out and caressed her cheek.
She looked into his eyes, and what she saw unnerved her. As cocky as his words sounded while he professed his wants, his eyes showed a man who was stepping out on a limb and just as overwhelmed and confused as she was about what was happening between them.
“You said it yourself, Carlton. You haven’t experienced anything like this before. Neither have I. To me, that’s all the more reason to take it slow. We went into this thinking it would be one night of passion to get this out of our systems.”
He traced her lips with his fingers and smiled. “It’s because I’ve never experienced anything like this before that I know it’s special. I don’t want to lose it. I want to start building on it now. I want you, Tonya.”
She rolled her eyes. “This may be a new concept to you, but you can’t have everything you want, especially if your wants interfere with the wills of others. We agreed that one evening would allow us to explore our attraction and then we could move on with our lives.”
“Can you tell me that one night is enough for you?” His eyes pierced into her, and she felt as if he could see inside of her soul.
Averting her own gaze, she knew she couldn’t face his intense stare and answer his question in the way she had to. Yet she couldn’t seem to fix her mouth to say the words.
If she wanted to be free of him and the path of his tenacious will and seductive wants, then she had to tell him that one night was enough for her. She had to lie and make him believe that she would not spend nights in her bed with her arms wrapped tightly around her remembering his touch. She had to say that. But she could not.
All she managed was a mumbled “It doesn’t matter what’s enough for me or you. It’s the right thing to do.”
He pulled her close and brushed her forehead with his lips. “Okay, I won’t push you on this now. But please come back to bed. I can wait for you to realize how wonderful things can be between us.”
Suddenly tired and sufficiently overwhelmed by all of the evening’s events, she did exactly that.
Chapter 7
On Monday morning Latonya went to work still reeling over what had transpired that weekend. She managed to talk herself into believing that she and Carlton would be able to continue working together and soon he would give up the outrageous notion that she should move in with him or the even sillier notion that she should marry him.
While the thought of becoming his wife, having his children and waking up each morning in his arms made her want things she never realized she desired, she did not believe in fairy tales.
Her parents’ tumultuous relationship had taught her to be cautious when it came to matters of the heart. That didn’t mean that she didn’t believe in love; she just didn’t trust it to last. And she definitely wasn’t going to let some spoiled, rich businessman push her into a relationship because he wanted her body. She made up her mind to resist him; it was for the best.
For most of the day, she actually believed that the decision to have sex with Carlton hadn’t been a huge mistake. He was being cordial; he didn’t yell at her or single her out. And at the joint staff meeting, he even complimented the hard work she’d put in on the Biltmore project.
Everything went along smoothly until the end of the day, when Jeff called her into his office. On her way back from the copy machine, she got a dose of reality.
She laughed and joked with Jeff as he flirted with her. It felt good to let down her guard and laugh with a coworker again. She’d been walking on eggshells at work the past few months.
Giggling lightheartedly, she smiled at Jeff. “Now you know that if I one day decided to take you up on your advances you wouldn’t know what to do.”
“Like hell I wouldn’t. I’d call up the pastor and have him book the chapel.” He flashed a dimpled grin as he stood up from his chair and walked around his desk.
“Yeah, right. I’m sure your Mayflower–descendent mother would love that.”
“Wouldn’t matter.” Jeff winked at her in a seductive manner, as he crossed his arms and rested himself on the desk directly in front of the chair she sat in.
She was about to tell Jeff what a riot he was when she noticed his puzzled expression. He was staring over her shoulder. She turned, and there in the doorway stood one very agitated Carlton. His eyes were narrowed and Latonya swore she could see veins throbbing at his temples. He appeared ready to explode.
“In my office, Latonya. Now!” He turned and walked away as if he fully expected her to snap and run behind him.
