Just Can't Get Enough Read online

  “But I don’t want her involved. Celina has . . . Never mind.”

  Richard shook his head. “You and Celina need to talk and then you need to find out if Tiffany is playing the role of psycho girl and press charges against her. If my woman gets out of bed to take a late-night phone call, I’m going to think the worst too. And you know women overthink everything.”

  Darius stood up and ran his hand over his face. What Richard said sounded easy enough, but he knew Celina’s trust issues were going to make it hard for him to convince her that he was telling the truth about Tiffany. Darius looked at the bottle of Jack Daniels sitting on his desk, knowing that there were no answers in the bottom of it. He needed his head to be clear. “All right,” Darius said, “I’m going to take off for a little bit.”

  Richard saluted his boss. “I’ll hold things down here,” he said. “Go get that woman.”

  Darius headed home so that he could wait for Celina to return. No matter what it took, he was going to have to convince her that he was telling her the truth about Tiffany’s antics. The last thing he expected to find when he arrived home was the Elmore fire department pulling up to his house. Darius stopped his car, ran up to his front lawn and looked for the fire.

  “What’s going on?” he demanded. Darius didn’t see any smoke or flames. One of the firefighters looked at him and shrugged his shoulders. “Where’s the fire?”

  “We got a call that there was a fire here,” the firefighter said as he put his gear on. “We’re going to check out the structure and see what’s going on.”

  Darius uttered an expletive and headed to his car to grab his cell phone. He’d dialed Tiffany’s telephone number.

  “Hello?” she said sweetly.

  “I’m tired of your games,” he snapped. “Stop it right now.”

  She laughed. “Well, Darius, how are you this afternoon ? I take it that the police have been to see you about my window.”

  “Look, stop this madness,” he demanded. Darius clutched the phone so hard that his knuckles turned white. “You know I didn’t do anything to your window. Now you have the police breathing down my neck. And you have the fire department at my house.”

  “I have nothing to do with the fire department being at your house,” she said unconvincingly. “But if you’re going to continue to blame me for something I didn’t do, then you’re going to get the same treatment. How is your new girlfriend?”

  “That’s none of your damned business. Is this about my relationship? Tiffany, I don’t want you and that isn’t going to change. You can set fires and throw all the bricks you want and I still wouldn’t want anything to do with you. You need help.”

  “Darius, who said I still wanted you? Maybe I just want to watch you squirm. You aren’t going to get away with treating me like I’m a piece of trash you can toss away because you’re done with me. I won’t be ignored.”

  “This isn’t a damned movie. When are you going to realize that we never had anything to begin with, Tiffany? You’re a leech and I don’t need you in my life.” The dial tone sounded in his ear. Darius tossed his cell phone into the ditch.

  The fire chief walked over to Darius. “We didn’t find a fire or anything.”

  “Who called you all?” Darius asked through clenched teeth.

  “We got a call from 9-1-1,” he said. “Must have been some child playing a prank.”

  Darius wanted to tell the fire chief the child was a grown woman with a grudge, but he shook the man’s hand and thanked him for checking. Darius walked into his house as the massive fire engines drove away. He flung himself on the sofa and stared up at the ceiling. Things were going to get worse before they got better. He could feel it.

  Celina smiled at Thomas, who was napping while she drove. She was glad her father was coming home and that they were working toward repairing their tattered relationship. Celina knew it was only going to be a matter of time before she and Thomas had significant roles in each other’s lives and that he’d beat this cancer. He didn’t seem like the same shell of a man that she’d found when she’d first arrived in town.

  Celina’s smile started to fade when she thought about what else was waiting for her in Elmore. Darius. She knew that when she got home Darius was going to be there waiting and she was going to have to make a decision. Was she going to allow him in her life or was she going to just pack up and head back to New York before her heart got broken?

  Running from love wasn’t going to be an option and leaving now would probably undo all the progress that she and her father had made. Besides, Rena was right; she needed to open her heart and let Darius in. She couldn’t run forever. She knew she cared about Darius and leaving him would be one of the hardest things that she would have to do. But the situation with Tiffany worried her. The temptation for Darius to cheat on her was very strong and she didn’t want to be hurt. What man could and would turn down a woman desperate to give him her body? She knew Tiffany was that kind of woman. Lust was all over her face that day Celina saw her leaning over Darius on his front porch.

  Thomas snorted as he sat up in the passenger seat and looked at his daughter. “You all right?” he asked.

  “I’m fine, Daddy. Maybe I should be asking you that, being that you’re the one who just got out of the hospital.”

  Thomas smiled. “I haven’t felt this good in years. Seeing your mother was good, but having you here is the best medicine that I could ever have. I love you, Celina. Now you just have to make yourself as happy as you made me.”

  “How do you suppose I do that?” she asked, even though she knew the answer to that question.

  “With Darius McRae,” he said. “That man loves you and I know you could kiss the ground he walks on, too. Y’all probably been in love with each other since you were born. I remember watching you two play when you were children. I’d always had a sneaking suspicion that you two would end up together.”

  Celina shook her head. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. We just have to make sure that you get well, all right? We’re going to get you a nurse and we’re going to have to make sure you have food in the house and . . .”

  “Don’t start dodging the subject,” he said. “What about you and Darius? You are going to talk to him before you go back to New York, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, Daddy, I’m going to talk to Darius.” Even if it’s just to say good-bye.

  Thomas smiled and nodded. “That’s good.”

  When Celina pulled into the town limits of Elmore, she felt her chest tighten. She was only a few minutes from seeing Darius. What was she going to say to him? Just speak from your heart, she told herself as she turned into the driveway of her home. Celina glanced over at Darius’s house, wondering if he was still at the hardware store. Thomas slowly got out of the car and bent over to retrieve his bags. Celina, however, was quicker, and grabbed them.

  “Daddy, why don’t you go inside and let me get your bags for you? Then I’ll come and fix you something to eat,” she said. Celina heard Darius’s front door close and, from the corner of her eye, she saw him standing on the porch.

  “Hey there, young man,” Thomas called out.

  “Mr. Hart, how are you?” Darius replied.

  “Good, good. Why don’t you come over here and help Celina with my bags and join us for dinner?”

  Celina shook her head at Thomas’s less than subtle matchmaking attempt. Darius walked over to the Hart house and stood next to Celina.

  “How are you today?” he asked.

  “All right,” she said softly.

  Darius took the black bag from her hand. “That’s good to know,” he said.

  Thomas ambled up the front steps and unlocked the front door. He was going to go inside and get into his bed. His plan was to tell Celina that he was too tired to get up for dinner and to eat in his room, forcing her and Darius to eat alone. Maybe then they would fix whatever was wrong between them. He remembered being young and in love; the ups and downs of it all. Thomas
stole one last glance at the couple before walking into the house.

  Celina waved at her father, then turned to Darius. “He’s not slick,” she said as she pushed her hair back.

  “But I like his technique,” Darius said as he gave Celina the once-over.

  “What? Did you lose something?”

  “I don’t know, you tell me.” Darius smiled and walked toward the front door.

  “Darius,” Celina said as she followed him. He kept walking, about two steps in front of her. Celina caught up with him and grabbed his shoulder.

  Darius opened the front door and set Thomas’s bag in the chair next to the door. Then he pulled Celina into his arms. “Celina, I love you so much, I ache for you. The last thing I want to do is cause you a moment of pain. I’m not going to let you walk out of my life. If I have to follow you to New York, I will. If I have to buy every piece of your art to start an art gallery, I will, just to have a part of you next to me.”

  Celina held his face in her hands, stroking his cheeks with her thumbs. “Darius,” she whispered. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Say what’s in there,” he said placing his hand over her heart. “Say what’s resting right here in your heart.”

  “I love you,” she blurted out. “I didn’t mean to fall in love with you and I didn’t even want to. But I did. Darius . . .” He silenced her with a kiss, leaning into her, pressing his body against hers and she melted against him. Darius buried his hand in Celina’s hair, pulling her mouth closer to his. Celina savored the taste of his tongue, nearly devouring it as he probed the sweet crevices of her mouth. His kiss seemed to fill her with the essence of his love and she was lost in it, forgetting that her father was just down the hall, that she needed to be preparing dinner, and that she’d spent the better part of her day trying to convince herself that she didn’t love him. Darius broke the kiss off. “Your father is going to come after me with a shotgun if he sees us.”

  Celina raised her right eyebrow at him. “I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you. He thinks you’re good for me.”

  Darius smiled. “I’ve always liked your dad. He’s a smart man, you should listen to him.”

  “Listen, I’ve got to cook my dad something to eat, but we need to talk.”

  “You seem to forget I was invited for dinner.”

  Celina opened the door and held it open. “Then I’m going to put you to work, grill master.”

  As they walked into the house, neither of them noticed the angry glare that followed them.

  Darius sat at the bar with Celina, watching her as she chopped celery and carrots. “Are you going to help me or just watch me do all the work?” she asked as she dropped the knife.

  “I like the view,” he said, then rose to his feet. “What do you need me to do?”

  “If you don’t put that chicken breast on the grill, my poor father is going to starve,” she said.

  Darius took the meat from the counter and placed it on the small indoor grill after seasoning it with a little salt, red pepper, and onion powder.

  “That smells good,” Celina said. “It almost makes me want to eat chicken again.”

  Darius playfully smacked Celina on the bottom with the dish towel he had draped over his shoulder. “Come on back to your roots. You were raised on this. How does one survive without eating meat?”

  “And I was raised on breast milk, but you don’t see me putting it in my coffee,” she ribbed. “Besides, does this body look or feel as if it’s been deprived of any nourishment?”

  Darius dropped his head and chuckled low. “You’re wild, baby,” he said.

  After dinner was done, Celina fixed a plate of chicken breast, wild rice, and steamed broccoli for her father. Darius set the table for him and Celina. He looked up as he set a pair of plates on the table and watched Celina walk down the hall. The sway of her hips put him in a trance. He had a vision of her naked body lying beside him, her fuzzy hair fanned out over the pillow. Darius licked his lips as he thought about kissing her regal neck, moving down her svelte body using his tongue as a guide, tasting the tangy essence of her womanhood. Darius felt his sex growing against the zipper of jeans. No woman had ever aroused him the way Celina did. Just the thought of her filled him with lust, love, and desire. Darius walked over to the refrigerator and fixed himself a glass of water, hoping that it would cool him. Somehow, he had to get her to stay in Elmore, in his life and in his heart, no matter what it took.

  “Is everything all right?” Celina asked when she returned to the kitchen.

  Darius set his glass on the edge of the bar. “Yeah. Let’s eat.” Darius walked over to the table and, in a chivalrous move, pulled out Celina’s chair. Then he brought over a bowl of rice and the roasted vegetables she had prepared. Celina looked up at him and smiled.

  “Darius,” she said. “I was going to run away. I was going to go back to New York and not look back.”

  He nodded. “I felt as if that was your plan, but I wasn’t going to let you get away with that.”

  Celina smirked. “And just how were you going to stop me?”

  Darius turned her chair around, then knelt down in front of her. “By any means necessary,” he said.

  Celina wrapped her arms around his neck and brushed her lips against his. “I need details.”

  Darius ran his hand between her thighs. Her skin felt like silk against his fingers. “Meet me outside when the sun goes down and I’ll show you,” he said, in a low, sexy growl.

  Celina cleared her throat. “Let’s eat,” she said.

  “I’d love to,” he said as he ran his finger down her thigh.

  Celina smiled and shook her head. “You’re so bad, but I was talking about food.”

  Darius stood up and smiled. He walked over to his chair and started eating, never taking his eyes off Celina. He couldn’t wait for the sunset.

  CHAPTER 14

  After dinner, Darius headed back to his place, allowing Celina to spend some time with her father. She told him that she was worried about Thomas because he hadn’t come to dinner. She walked into his bedroom and found him sitting up in bed watching an old western. His empty plate sat on the foot of bed. Celina picked up the plate and took its place. “Daddy, are you all right?” she asked.

  Thomas nodded, turning his head to look at his daughter. “I just needed a little rest. I wanted to feel my own mattress under my butt.”

  “Do I need to call your doctor?” she asked, placing her hand on her father’s forehead, checking for a temperature.

  Thomas patted Celina’s knee and shook his head. “Why don’t you quit worrying about me and enjoy your life.”

  “Meaning go find Darius?” she said with a smile on her face.

  Thomas nodded. “But I don’t think he’s lost. Did you two enjoy dinner? Have you offered him some dessert?”

  “Daddy!” Her face flushed with embarrassment. “I didn’t make any dessert.”

  Thomas smiled knowingly. “I’m sure the Dairy Queen is open and you two could share an ice cream cone or a milk shake.”

  Her blush faded. If she and Darius were going to share dessert tonight, it wasn’t going to come from the Dairy Queen. “I’m going to wash the dishes and then visit Darius,” she said as she headed for the kitchen with the plate. While washing the dishes, she glanced out the window at Darius, watching him as he set a citronella candle in the middle of the picnic table. What is he planning? she thought as she dried the dishes. Celina couldn’t wait to find out, so she dried her hands on the dish towel and headed out the door. Creeping up behind Darius, moving like a sleek cat, Celina covered his eyes with her hands. “Boo.”

  Darius whirled around, taking Celina into his arms. “I knew it was you,” he said, dipping her as if they were ballroom dancing. “I could smell you.”

  “Should I be offended by that?” Celina pushed Darius away.

  He grabbed her delicate hand. “No,” he said, kissing her on the cheek. “You just smell like the bigges
t and sweetest honeysuckle bush in Elmore. That’s one of the many things I love about you.”

  Celina relaxed in his arms. “And,” Darius continued. “I was watching you in the window. I saw you when you left.”

  “I forgot, you don’t play fair.”

  Darius groaned and released Celina, nearly causing her to fall. “When are you going to let that go? You’re going to keep punishing me for what happened twenty years ago?””

  She pointed to the faint scar on her arm. “When this disappears, I’ll forgive you,” she joked.

  Darius walked over to her and drew her face into his hands. He gently kissed the smooth skin on the bottom of her chin. “What if I kiss you every time you remind me that I made you fall? Will that make you feel better?”

  Celina nodded and motioned for Darius to move down lower. His lips danced against her neck, slowly moving down to her collarbone. Darius wrapped his arms around Celina’s waist, lifting her up onto the picnic table. A soft moan escaped her throat as Darius’s fingers grazed the top of her waist. He unzipped her shorts with one motion. Celina closed her eyes as Darius began to pour hot kisses over her body. Celina’s body came alive underneath the heat from his mouth and tongue as he suckled her breasts through her halter top. Celina wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him closer to her body. She wanted him inside of her. Darius had awakened her sleeping desire, making her come alive. She tugged at his white tank top and pulled it off his sexy body. Celina stared at his chest. It was better than any work of art she had seen in Paris or New York. He was quickly becoming the inspiration for her art and her life. She never knew love felt like this because she’d always thought love equaled pain and sadness. Darius showed her instead that love was tender, sweet, and kind.

  “Wait, wait,” he said as she pulled at the waistband of his shorts. “I have to protect us and I want to take you inside. I have something special for you.”

  Celina stroked his hard penis. “I know.”

  Darius smiled and caressed Celina’s arm. “It’s not just that, although that is a big part of it.” He took her hand in his and led her inside through the back door. Celina was greeted by flickering candlelight and a pathway of pink, white, and red rose petals. A dozen yellow, pink, and white roses sat in the middle of the oak coffee table in the living room. Beside the roses were a bowl of ice and a tray of fresh summer fruits, blocks of sweet melon, strawberries dripping with chocolate, whipped cream, and cherries.