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  “Daddy, are you okay?” she asked.

  “Fine,” he grumbled. “I told you, you don’t have to babysit me.”

  Celina entered the room and walked over to his bed, then sat on the edge beside him.

  “I’m not babysitting you. I just want to make sure you’re all right.” Celina gently patted her father’s hand. “Daddy, I love you.” Despite everything, she added silently.

  Thomas smiled and squeezed Celina’s hand. “I love you, too, but I want you to do something tonight other than fret over me. Have you eaten?”

  “I’m going to get something later, but I just wanted to check on you,” she said as she stood up.

  Thomas nodded as if he were giving Celina his blessing to leave the house for a few hours. She walked into the living room, trying to kill the few minutes left before she planned to go over to Darius’s house. And how in the world was she going to calm her raging hormones as she sat outside with him underneath the stars?

  Darius watched the Hart house as if he were staking the place out. He’d already burned his NY strip steak, hoping to catch a glance of Celina as she headed next door. But the last thing he wanted to do was look anxious, no matter how much he was anticipating being with her. So, he was caught off guard when he felt her warm hands on his back. Her breath tickled his ear when she breathed “hello.”

  “Welcome to dinner, Ms. Hart,” he said, stepping aside and leading her to the picnic table. He had covered the wooden picnic table with a red and white checkered cloth. In the center of the table, two candles flickered in the gentle breeze. “I wasn’t sure what kind of wine went with grilled eggplant, so I have beer.”

  Celina laughed. “Beer and eggplant? Not bad,” she said as she sat down, facing him. “Just for future reference, a nice Chardonnay works well with eggplant.”

  “So, are you saying there will be another dinner for us?” he asked calmly, though his heart was racing like a Nascar engine.

  “Well, I might need something to do to pass the time,” Celina quipped, then grabbed a beer.

  Darius watched her take a dainty sip from the green bottle. How he wanted those lips wrapped around his. “How’s your dad?” he asked, never taking his eyes off her lips as they caressed the bottle.

  “As well as can be expected. He worries me, you know. One minute, he’s like a little weak baby and the next minute it’s like he doesn’t need me. I know it’s his pride, but I want to see him beat this thing.”

  Darius sat beside her and stroked her arm, not knowing what to say. If one of his parents had taken ill, he didn’t know how he’d handle it. Despite the miles between them, he remained close to his mother and father. His loyalty to them was part of the reason he’d given up his career in DC to keep the family tradition alive.

  She turned to him and smiled warmly. “I don’t want to lay all of this on you,” she said. “Let’s eat.”

  Darius stood up and began placing the platters of roasted vegetables on the table. He handed her a white paper plate. “Dig in,” he said. “I have to get my dinner off the grill.”

  As he piled the meat on a serving platter, Darius turned and looked at Celina as she gingerly cut into a slice of eggplant. He watched the blissful look on her face as she savored the taste. Darius smiled. His skills had paid off. He walked over to the table and set the meat on the far end of the table. “How is it?”

  “Divine. Where did you learn how to cook like this?”

  Darius grinned. “The best way to a woman’s heart is through her stomach,” he said.

  Celina nodded as she took another bite of eggplant. “So, this is part of a plan? To get to my heart?”

  “I didn’t say that. Are you offering it?” Darius struggled to keep his voice cool like the wind.

  Celina dropped her fork. “There is something I want from you,” she said.

  At that point, Darius would have said yes to anything she asked. He couldn’t speak, though. Her voice had him hypnotized.

  “Strip for me,” she said.

  “What?” She didn’t say what I think she did . . .

  “I want to paint you.”

  Darius shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know about that. I mean, I’m not a model or anything.”

  “That’s why I want to paint you,” she said. “And the background here is so natural, so beautiful.”

  Darius wanted to tell her that the only beautiful things he saw there were her face and her eyes, which twinkled like the stars dotting the sky. When she looked at him, it was as if she could see his soul. Darius shook his head and busied himself with fixing his plate. He was hungry, but not for the food he had cooked; he craved the unknown taste of Celina’s lips. Were they as succulent as they appeared?

  “Just think about it,” Celina said, misreading Darius’s silence. “It’s not as hard as you think.”

  “I will consider it,” he said.

  “Thanks. And you have to give me this recipe,” Celina said.

  “Nope.”

  “Why not? Family secret?”

  “You could say that. And the next time you want this grilled eggplant, this will be the only place you can get it,” he joked.

  Celina rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

  Darius cut into his steak thoughtfully, trying to figure out how he’d ask her about her life back in New York and if there was someone special in her heart. He felt jealousy creeping up his back as he thought about the man sharing her life in Harlem. Was he an artist too? Probably a poet, but definitely not Mr. Wall Street. Then again, opposites do attract. Did they live together? Was he making love to her every night and modeling for her paintings as she’d asked him to do? Why wasn’t he in Elmore to help with Thomas?

  “Choking on all of that animal flesh over there?” Celina asked jokingly.

  Darius chuckled. “Why didn’t your man come with you?” he said, as he placed his knife on the table.

  “Because I don’t have one,” she said before sticking a piece of eggplant in her mouth.

  Darius smiled knowingly. “Now, I find that hard to believe. Celina, you’re a beautiful woman. I know you have men beating down your door.”

  “That doesn’t mean I answer,” she mumbled. “Darius, why do you assume that I want a relationship? Maybe I like my freedom too much to be tied down to one thing, one place, or one person.”

  This was definitely a switch for him because most of the women he knew wanted that exact thing—a house, a husband, and a settled life. Was Celina really that different? “Wow,” was all he could say.

  Celina looked at him and smiled. “Don’t get the wrong idea. I don’t hate men. But as an artist, I travel a lot and I don’t want to argue and fuss with a boyfriend when I tell him that I’m going to Paris for a year. But what about you? You seem to have the more interesting story, anyway. You gave up the city to come back here. Why?”

  Darius looked away from her. He had a story that he told about why he’d moved home for a simpler life. But it wasn’t the truth. When anyone else asked, Darius would say that watching part of the Pentagon burn in 2001 made him rethink his life. Especially since he had been scheduled to have a meeting there that morning, but his car wouldn’t start, and he’d waited for his emergency car service to come and give him a boost as the attacks happened.

  He’d been on the phone with a paralegal when she released a bone-chilling scream as the plane hit the west side of the building. Hanging up the phone, he’d rushed into the house and turned on the TV to see if what his paralegal had said was true. Seeing the pictures sobered him. He wanted to do something to help, but he didn’t know what. Like most everyone else who’d witnessed those attacks, he’d felt powerless, afraid, and angry all at the same time.

  Then the phone calls had come pouring in, first from his mother, then several concerned friends. He’d heard from everyone close to him, except Renita—the woman he’d planned to marry. All sorts of crazy thoughts had run though his mind as he dialed her number, since she did work for the Dep
artment of Defense in the Pentagon. What if the plane had hit her office? What if she had been killed and he’d never gotten a chance to tell her just how much he loved her? He got the voice mail when he called her office, adding to his hysterics. Darius had pulled himself together enough to try her cell phone, but all of the networks were down and the call hadn’t gone through. Finally, as he prayed for her to be all right, he called her at home.

  “Hello?” she said breathlessly.

  “Babe, I’m glad to hear your voice. Do you have any idea of what’s going on right now?”

  “Um, Darius, I’m late for w-work,” she said.

  That’s when he’d heard the sound of another man asking her to come back to bed.

  “Who’s there?” he snapped, unable to believe what he was hearing.

  She’d hung up the phone, leaving Darius seething with anger. He’d gone from thinking his girlfriend might be dead to wanting to wring her neck. After the passionate night of lovemaking that they’d shared, how could she be in bed with another man?

  For the next few months, Darius had tried to go about his regular life, but he was heartbroken and angry. When he saw Renita, all kinds of evil thoughts danced in his mind and he’d been tempted to act on them. So, when his father had started talking about retiring and selling the hardware store, Darius had made the decision to return to Elmore and run the store. He bought the family’s house and decided to settle in his childhood home.

  Never did he imagine finding out that the girl next door had turned into a goddess.

  “I ran away from a broken heart and decided to claim my legacy,” he said, then told her the unedited version of why he left Washington. Celina reached out and stroked his hand.

  “She was a fool,” Celina said. “You’re better off without her. Anyone who would cheat on their partner deserves to be alone.”

  I’d be a lot better with you in my bed, he thought, wanting to reach over and kiss her with everything inside of him. But Darius knew it wasn’t the right time. Soon, though, he would taste her lips and feel her supple body pressed against his, tangled in his sheets.

  For the rest of the evening, Darius and Celina kept their conversation light and jovial. She talked about her art, the time she spent in Paris, and how she was going to paint a mural on the side of her father’s house. Darius told Celina how he planned to expand the hardware store and add a garden center. Celina glanced down at her watch.

  “I didn’t realize it was so late,” she said. The evening air had turned cooler, but it was still comfortable.

  Darius noticed that she was cool because her nipples peeked through her shirt and he couldn’t help staring. Turning away, he said, “So, this is how the night ends?”

  “And just what were you expecting, Darius McRae?” she asked, her voice like a midnight tease.

  He stood up and walked over to her. He towered over her as she sat there looking up at him. He didn’t care if it was too soon. He had to taste her lips. “This,” he said as he captured her mouth with his.

  Darius’s swift move caught her off guard. But what surprised her more than anything was the way she responded to his kiss, melting against him as she rose to her feet to fully lose herself in it. She parted her lips and welcomed his tongue into her mouth. It was as if his kiss had awakened every repressed desire she’d ever had. No one had ever made her knees quake or her heart shiver the way Darius had with one kiss. It took every ounce of strength she had to push Darius away, despite the fact that her panties had grown damp with desire. Without saying a word, she ran from the yard.

  When Celina got inside the house, she touched her lips with the tip of her tongue, still able to taste him. It was as if Darius had branded her lips and they would never be the same again. Celina liked his kiss a little more than she wanted to or should have. Shaking her head, she walked away from the door. She came to Elmore with a single focus and that was to care for her father. Nothing could change that and hopping into Darius’s bed wasn’t a part of the plan.

  Celina tore down the hall to check on Thomas, hoping that seeing him would reorganize her priorities. She was happy to see that he was sleeping peacefully. That wasn’t going to be the case for her tonight, she sighed, as she walked toward the kitchen. Not only could she taste Darius; his scent lingered on her skin, making it impossible to stop thinking about him. She inhaled deeply, letting the scent infect her nostrils and take her mind into his bedroom with her body pressed against his and those lips touching her in places that made her tingle all over.

  The knock at the door startled her, but Celina didn’t have to look out the window to know it was Darius. As she opened the door and Darius walked in, she tried to clear her mind of all of the erotic thoughts that he conjured. He stood inches away from her and she wanted to kiss him again and do more, feel more.

  “Why did you leave?” he asked.

  “Because you were out of line. I came to have dinner with someone I thought was a friend. Obviously you had other intentions.” She figured if she turned her passion into anger that she could push Darius away.

  “Celina, I didn’t do anything you didn’t want me to do. You kissed me back, as I recall. We’re not children playing house. I know you wanted that kiss as much as I did.”

  “Animal instinct. Maybe I should have slapped you, then left.”

  Darius moved his head closer to her. “But you know you didn’t want to do that,” he said huskily. His lips were dangerously close to hers. Celina was afraid to move, because she knew their lips would touch and, despite her bravado, she would be powerless to resist him.

  “Right now,” Darius continued in a low, sexy voice. “You want to kiss me. But you’re afraid you’re going to like it too much. Just like the first time we kissed a few moments ago.”

  Celina stepped back and Darius stepped forward, closing the space between them and forcing her to face him. She sighed, resigning herself to the fact that he was going to kiss her again. He didn’t, though. Instead, he took a step back.

  “I enjoyed our dinner and I want to know if I can see you again,” he said. “And if that means I have to stop kissing you, then that’s what I’ll do. So, will you see me again if I promise to be on my best behavior?”

  The word “yes” floated from her lips before her head had a chance to remind her that Darius was a distraction, an extremely sexy distraction, that she didn’t need or want.

  “Tomorrow, I’m off all day. Let’s go to the lake and maybe you can get some inspiration for another painting,” he suggested, with a cunning smile on his lips.

  Celina shook her head. “That isn’t going to stop you from modeling for me. I don’t care how beautiful the scenery might be.”

  “Why do I get the feeling that you are a hard woman to resist?” He tugged at her chin gently.

  She turned her head away to hide the flush that colored her cheeks. “Well,” she said, “I think I’m going to go to bed.”

  Darius took his cue to leave. Celina watched him walk away and released a sigh of relief. Or was it frustration? A few more seconds in his presence, and she might have invited him to join her in bed. Closing her eyes, she thought of Darius taking her into his strong arms and holding her against his hard body. The ripple of desire that tore through her body told her that she was going to have to fight those feelings. But did she really want to?

  The telephone rang, interrupting her thoughts. “Hello?”

  “Hey baby, it’s Mom. How is everything?”

  “Okay, I guess.”

  “And Thomas?” Rena asked. Concern poured from her voice.

  “We’re going to Columbia next week to have a battery of tests run on him.”

  Rena uttered a prayer. “I don’t want anything to happen to that man.”

  Rena’s concern surprised Celina. Had her mother forgotten the pain Thomas caused her? Maybe this is what forgiveness is all about, Celina thought.

  “Tell Thomas he’s in my prayers,” Rena said. “And you are too, baby. I kno
w you’ve had a hard time forgiving Thomas. Promise me you’ll make peace with him before it’s too late.”

  “I’ll try.”

  “Do more than try. I’m going to go now. I love you.”

  “Love you, too.” Celina hung up the phone with her mother’s words echoing in her head.

  CHAPTER 5

  Darius climbed out of the ice-cold shower, but he didn’t feel any better. Celina had lit a fire in his soul that water couldn’t cool. Hell, ice wouldn’t be able to put it out. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Celina’s face. When he licked his lips, he tasted her kiss. Darius had never longed for or ached for a woman the way he did for Celina. She was so damned sexy. Their kiss left him hungry to taste every inch of her body. Any woman who kissed with such fire had to be great in bed.

  Darius knew he wasn’t going to sleep a wink because his fantasies would keep him awake. Pulling a pair of cotton boxers onto his damp body, he headed out the front door to enjoy the clear night sky and pray for a cool wind that would rock him to sleep. As he stretched out on the hammock on the end of the porch, Darius noticed for the first time that his favorite relaxation spot looked directly onto the Hart porch.

  He watched the door, hoping that Celina would walk outside because she couldn’t sleep, either. Darius wondered if he had gotten under her skin the same way she had gotten under his. For all he knew, she was in the house having a conversation with her man in New York, because he didn’t believe for one second that she was single. Jealousy surged through his nervous system, making him want to rush over there and snatch the phone from her hand. She didn’t need him—a man who allowed her to face her dying father alone. Celina needed someone who would be a strong shoulder for her to lean on as she helped her father through his illness. If Mr. New York was too busy and too self-centered to provide that, then Darius would make sure he did.

  Just as he closed his eyes, he heard the Hart’s front door open. Celina stepped out into the silver moonlight. It bounced off her flawless skin, which was covered with a simple white cotton nightgown. It stopped midthigh. Darius’s gaze traveled up her body, stopping at her ripe breasts, which protruded underneath the thin gown. Darius wanted to take them in his mouth and taste them and then travel down her taut body, sampling all of her treats and delights. Not wanting to frighten her, Darius continued to watch Celina in silence, letting his lusty thoughts heat him up all over again. He noticed that she had a sketch pad underneath her arm as she took a seat on the top step of the porch and turned her eyes upward. Darius wondered what inspired her art. Celina’s paintings were very sensual and romantic.