Just Can't Get Enough Page 5

  Before dinner he’d done an Internet search of her work, finding countless sites dedicated to it. Her most popular paintings were of men and women touching, kissing, and being together. The sensuality of her work made him wonder if she was a passionate lover. Darius’s mouth went dry as he watched Celina making long strokes on the paper, as the right strap of her gown slid down her shoulder.

  “Weren’t you taught that it is impolite to stare at people?” Celina asked.

  He’d been spotted and all he could do was smile. “I wasn’t staring,” he replied. “I was just trying to get some rest.”

  “Outside?” She turned to Darius with a sly smile on her face. “I know this is Elmore, but no one sleeps outside on purpose.”

  “I couldn’t sleep and this is what I do when I can’t sleep,” he said, as he stood up and walked to the end of the porch. What he didn’t say was that when he saw her in that skimpy gown, he knew that the only way he’d be able to sleep was if his bed were a block of ice. “What are you drawing?” he asked.

  She shook her head, indicating nothing. Celina focused on Darius as he stood on the end of the porch. “I couldn’t sleep, either, especially after the phone call I got when you left.”

  Darius hoped the call was from her inconsiderate boyfriend, ending their relationship when she needed him most. “Trouble in New York?”

  She stood up, dropping her sketch pad on the porch. “What do you mean by that?”

  “Nothing. I thought maybe your man called you with some bad news or something,” he said, keeping his voice nonchalant. “Or an excuse as to why he isn’t here.”

  “Darius, subtlety isn’t your strong suit, is it?” Celina stood up and walked over to the fence that divided their yards. “I told you at dinner that I was single. Why don’t you believe it?”

  He shrugged his shoulders and placed his hands on the fence. Slow smiles spread across their faces.

  “Remember when we used to climb this fence?” they said in unison, then broke out in laughter.

  “Think you can still do it?” Darius asked.

  Folding her arms across her chest, she gave him her hardest New York B-girl look. “Is that a challenge?”

  “Do you accept?”

  Celina answered him by grabbing the top of the chainlink fence. She stuck her foot through the metal links and climbed over the three-foot fence. As Celina leapt over the top, her gown caught on the fence, causing the back to rip. Darius struggled not to laugh as she tried to hold the gown together.

  “Amused?” she asked, her face burning with embarrassment.

  “Wouldn’t you be? But I’ll give you this, you’ve never backed down from a challenge, even when we were little.”

  Celina placed her hands on her rounded hips, forgetting for a moment that her gown was ripped to shreds. “And what does that mean?”

  Darius smiled. “Do you want a T-shirt to cover your gown—or what’s left of it, anyway?”

  “Please,” she said. “I’m so embarrassed.”

  Darius led Celina into the house, walking just one step behind her so that he could look at what the rip exposed.

  “Red looks good on you,” he said, catching a glimpse of her hi-cut bikini briefs.

  “Darius McRae, you still don’t play fair!”

  “Still?”

  Celina whirled around and held out her arm, pointing to a long faint scar. “Remember this? You just couldn’t stand being beat in a race by moi, a girl. So, what did you do?”

  Darius stifled a laugh. “I don’t recall.” He knew what he’d done, but he had to, since all of the boys in the neighborhood would’ve given him hell if he’d let Celina cross that finish line first.

  Celina hit him in the chest. “You pushed me into old man Johnson’s ditch and I cut my arm on a broken beer bottle. It took thirteen stitches to close this up, plus I had to wear a sling on my arm for two weeks in the heat of the summer,” she said.

  “And I got the spanking of my life,” Darius said, incredulously. “I’ll say we’re even.”

  Celina hit him again, harder. “Am I supposed to feel sorry for you? I went to school that fall with two-toned arms.”

  Darius pulled her into his arms and held her close to him. “What can I do to make it up to you?” He gently stroked her forearm, feeling her body shiver underneath his touch. He knew he was casting a sensual spell on her and he had her at a disadvantage. She was standing before him barefoot in a ripped gown, stripped of her trendy clothes and city attitude. It took every ounce of self control in him not to tear the gown from her body and take her right there on the floor. How many women could look that sexy in a ripped frock? Her breasts pressed against his chest as he pulled her closer to his body. When he saw the flush on her face, Darius knew she felt his arousal through his shorts.

  “Darius,” she whispered. Her voice was a husky whisper. His reply was a tantric kiss on her lips that made her putty in his arms as he scooped her up.

  Celina pushed against his chest, separating their lips. “This is so wrong. Please put me down.”

  Darius did as she asked, even though it was the last thing he wanted to do. “I’m sorry, I just couldn’t help myself.”

  Celina straightened her torn gown as much as she could. “Look, we’re both adults here, so I’m going to be blunt. I don’t want a relationship. No promises of forever and happily ever after, just today and the here and now.”

  “Is that what you really want?”

  “Yes,” she said, “Just sex. And when, where, and how will be my choice. Good night, Darius.”

  Speechless, Darius watched Celina saunter out the door. No woman had ever been so blunt about sex. He was intrigued. Just what are your terms, Ms. Hart? Part of him wanted to follow her next door and find out what those terms were and when she planned to name the time and place. Instead, he decided to let things simmer, temporarily at least.

  When Celina entered her bedroom, she pulled her ripped gown off and plopped down on the bed. What had gotten into her? She couldn’t believe that she had said those things to Darius about having sex with him. Celina was so tempted to let him take her into his bedroom and have his way with her. The way he kissed, she knew that he would handle her body like no one else had. Closing her eyes, she imagined Darius ripping her already torn gown off and kissing her breasts until her nipples hardened against his lips. And with one hand between her thighs, he’d stroke her womanly center to near climax because it’s been so long since she’d been touched and stroked there.

  Lost in her fantasy, Celina didn’t realized it was her own hand bringing her pleasure until she called out Darius’s name and opened her eyes. Rising from the bed, Celina grabbed her robe, wrapped it around her body and headed into the bathroom to take a long cold shower. But she knew there was only one thing that was going to calm the fire raging inside her and that was Darius McRae.

  But Celina wasn’t really in the market for a fling. She had to make sure her father got the care that he needed to begin fighting his cancer. Still, Darius was a temptation that she wasn’t sure she’d be able to resist. Closing her eyes, she imagined his hands roaming her body and making every nerve come alive with desire. Stop it! she thought. This isn’t why you’re in South Carolina and since you’ve laid down the just sex edict, you’re going to have to avoid that man at all costs.

  Groaning, she turned the shower on and regretted every word that she’d said to Darius. How was she going to handle it when he came to collect on what she’d offered?

  You’re an adult and you want him just as much as he wants you. It doesn’t have to go any further than the bedroom. Sex, Celina could handle, but she wasn’t trying to fall in love. Love, as her mother said twenty years ago, wasn’t enough. Besides, she had no plans to stay in Elmore once her father was on the road to recovery.

  Celina shut the water off and stepped out of the shower. As she dried her body, she decided that her best course of action would be to avoid Darius all together.

  “T
his is lust. What we have here is sexual heat and when and if we give in to it, things will change,” she said to her reflection.

  CHAPTER 6

  By Monday, Celina had traded her thoughts of Darius for concern about her father as they made the one-hour drive to Columbia for an appointment at the Palmetto Health Cancer Center, one of the premiere cancer treatment agencies in the southeast. The center, which pooled its resources with other major health centers in the state, had recently added former St. John’s University cancer expert, Dr. Lewis Russell, to its staff.

  Dr. Russell had a reputation for “curing cancer.” He used the latest in cancer treatments to treat lung and throat cancer and he also adapted eastern medical tactics like using herbs and acupuncture. Celina was excited that her father was to see Dr. Russell and prayed that he would recover from his cancer or that the disease would go into remission.

  Celina and Thomas walked into the doctor’s office. She glanced over at her father, who didn’t look as frail in his khaki pants and lime-green golf shirt, but he did seem nervous. “Are you all right?” she asked.

  He nodded. “I don’t like doctors, that’s all. Every time I come to see one, I seem to get sicker.”

  The door to the office opened and Celina and Thomas whirled around and looked at the man walking through the door. He didn’t look like much of a doctor, with his Albert Einstein afro, colorful Hawaiian-style shirt, and a pair of lavender slacks. Celina thought his outfit was better suited for a Halloween costume or he at least deserved a citation from the fashion police.

  “Good morning, folks,” he said with a huge smile plastered on his face. “Mr. Hart, I just finished reading your file. I believe I can help you.”

  Thomas grunted. “I’ve heard that before.”

  Celina shot him a cautioning look. She wanted her father to keep an open mind about this treatment. Dr. Russell ran his hand through his wooly hair. His olive skin seemed to glow as he turned on his desk lamp. He continued laying out a course of treatment for Thomas.

  “There’s one thing,” he said as he cleared his throat. “I want to admit you for at least a week. Your right lung has a number of cancer cells and before we suggest surgery, I want to try a different course of action.”

  “What do you mean?” Thomas asked. “Surgery?”

  Dr. Russell opened a manila folder sitting on his desk and pulled out a sheet of white paper. “This is the course of treatment that I would like to start you on.”

  Thomas ignored it, but Celina took the paper from the doctor. “Acupuncture?” she asked. “What will this do to the cancer?”

  Dr. Russell explained how acupuncture treats the entire patient, not just the illness. “The acupuncture relieves pain without the use of drugs, although, because Thomas’s cancer is so advanced, we will probably have to use drugs and radiation as a part of his treatment.”

  “What are the risks with this type of treatment?” she asked.

  Before the doctor could answer, Thomas banged his hand against the desk. “Now wait a minute. I never agreed to any of this crap.”

  “Daddy, we’re just talking,” Celina said, placing her arm on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. Thomas picked up the paper.

  “I’m not a human pin cushion and I ain’t staying here. I have a good doctor in Elmore who can take care of me.”

  Celina pouted. “When’s the last time you saw your doctor, Daddy? I thought you called me to come home because you wanted me take care of you?”

  “Do you two need some time to talk?” Dr. Russell asked. “I understand if you do. This is a big decision.”

  “I’m not staying here more than a week,” Thomas said. “I know I’m going to die. And sticking pins in me isn’t going to change a damned thing.”

  Celina’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. “Daddy, don’t say that,” she whispered.

  “Mr. Hart, I want to make sure that doesn’t happen, but you have to want it as well,” Dr. Russell said.

  Thomas looked at the tears in Celina’s eyes. “I want that,” he said.

  Celina reached over and hugged her father.

  Darius sat at his breakfast table picking at the banana nut muffin he should’ve been eating. He hadn’t seen Celina since Saturday night, though he’d caught a glimpse of her walking to her rental car Sunday morning dressed as if she were going to church.

  Maybe she was just all talk. I wouldn’t be lucky enough to find a woman who can separate sex and emotions, he thought as he looked out of the window, hoping he would see her rental car in Mr. Hart’s driveway. When he didn’t see it, he remembered that she was going to take her father to the cancer center in Columbia.

  The telephone rang, interrupting his thoughts of Celina. “Yeah?”

  “Darius, I know you said you were coming in late, but we have a problem,” Richard said.

  “What kind of problem?” he asked.

  “Vandalism. Someone broke the front window out last night,” he said.

  Darius swore under his breath. “Was anything taken? Who would do this? Damn it! I’ll be there in a few minutes,” he said as he pushed his chair back from the table, knocking over his coffee cup. No one had ever broken into the hardware store. Things like this just didn’t happen in Elmore. After mopping up his mess, Darius threw on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, then dashed out the door to go survey the damage.

  When Darius got to the store, Richard was standing outside, sweeping up shards of glass. Darius looked at the front window. The glass had been completely broken out.

  “Did you call the police?” he asked, rubbing his hand across his face.

  The older man nodded. “It was probably some rowdy kids messing around and things went too far.”

  “I don’t give a damn. This little joke is going to cost us hundreds of dollars that we can ill afford to pay out. Have you checked the inventory? If those little . . .”

  “It doesn’t look as if anything is missing. Darius, we have insurance for things like this. Calm down, boss.” Richard paused, leaning on the broom.

  “Things like this don’t happen in downtown Elmore and I want to make sure a message is sent. If some bored kids want to throw bricks into businesses, they need to know there will be consequences.” Anger flickered in his dark eyes. Richard backed off. Darius was nothing like his father. He had a quick temper and Darius blew up at things that David would have laughed off. Richard chalked it up to the time Darius spent in Washington. “Big-city residue,” he’d named it, though he’d never say that to Darius.

  “Rich,” Darius said making an attempt to soften his tone. “I’m not upset with you. It’s just the situation has me on edge.”

  “Are you sure that’s all it is?” Richard started sweeping again.

  Darius nodded, but he had more on his mind than a broken window and insurance claim forms. Celina. He’d much rather spend his time planning his seduction than dealing with this. “I’m going to go in and call the insurance company.”

  “All right,” Richard said, not looking up from his sweeping.

  Darius stalked into his office and picked up the phone to call his insurance agent. As he dialed the number, his cell phone began to ring. “What?”

  “Grouchy this morning?” Tiffany said.

  “I don’t have time for you today.”

  “Trouble at the store? I saw the damage while I was on my way to work. Who knew a little brick could do that?”

  “You’re behind this, aren’t you?” Darius snapped.

  “What are you talking about? I wouldn’t stoop to something that juvenile.”

  Rather than argue with her, Darius snapped his cell phone shut and continued his call to his insurance agent. He knew Tiffany had something to do with the vandalism and as soon as he could prove it, she was going to jail. He really wished she would grow up.

  The hardware store didn’t open until noon. Darius and Richard covered the front window with a piece of plywood. Customers chattered about what happened to the window and
voiced their concerns about crime in Elmore. Darius wanted to scream that this wasn’t the start of a crime wave, but a scorned woman acting her shoe size and not her age.

  “Darius,” Richard called out from behind the register. “Mayor Hamilton’s office is on the phone.”

  Darius looked away from his customer. “Take a message,” he growled. “Better yet, tell them the donation for the festival is on the way.” The last thing he felt like doing was being jovial. That woman was spiraling out of control and she needed to be stopped.

  Richard shook his head, then relayed the message to the mayor’s secretary. Darius handed his customer the drill bits he’d requested, then busied himself, straightening the items on the shelf in order to keep himself from being drawn into another conversation about the broken window.

  By the end of the day, Darius was worn out. Between filing a police report, the business in the store, and the insurance paperwork, he felt as if he had been in a dogfight and had come out on the losing end. But his smile and energy returned when he pulled into his driveway and spotted Celina sitting on her father’s porch. She seemed to be engrossed in her drawing. Darius wondered what she was furiously capturing on paper. Her head was bent over the pad, her curly locks spilling over its spiral edge. Darius wanted to bury his face in her hair and inhale its scent. He knew she smelled like roses and jasmine. Darius had her fragrance memorized. It haunted him at night when a cool breeze floated through his bedroom window. He wished she was standing outside his window when he smelled it so that he could invite her in.