Simply Amazing Read online

  “What about lunch?” A sly grin moved across her face.

  “Food is not what I want to eat right now.”

  “Oh my, listen to you.”

  He stood up letting her half-naked form slide down his body. “Get dressed, and we’ll get out of here.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Three hours later Donia lay naked in between his cool sheets, sedate and incredibly satisfied. She felt his body against her back and his arm hung loosely over her waist. When she tried to move, his grip tightened. She smiled against his pillow. Who would have guessed Blake would turn out to be such a worthy mate in bed? The thought of his hands on her body made her clit vibrate with pleasure. She turned her body slightly and kissed at his lips. “Hey, are you sleeping?”

  “Mmm-hmm,” he moaned, and she smiled.

  She kissed at him loving the way they melted and molded together. “Could you let me go for a minute? I have to pee.”

  “No,” he responded, causing her to chuckle.

  “Blake, I have to go. I promise to come right back.”

  “Don’t be long. I like the feel of your naked body against mine.”

  She blushed. “You have such a way with words.”

  * * * *

  She looked in the mirror. Nips and hickies tattooed her breasts and stomach. She smiled at the signs of time in bed with Blake. She ran gentle fingertips over one of the red marks. Mmm. This she could used to. She opened the door to his en suite bathroom and reentered his bedroom. The bed was empty and she turned her head and caught sight of him rummaging through a drawer. “What’s wrong?”

  “The doorbell,” he groaned.

  “What?”

  “Someone is ringing the damn bell.”

  She looked at the clock on the bedside table. “It’s five o’clock. Do you think it’s our friends?”

  “Shit, I have no clue.” He pulled on a pair of sweatpants.

  “Hey,” she said.

  He turned to look at her.

  “Look what you did,” she said pointing at the marks on her naked breasts.

  The growl that came to his lips made her smile. “Yeah, that was all you, crazy man.”

  He closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. “I will kiss it and make it better, later. I promise.”

  “I can hardly wait.” She melted in his arms and his hands moved over her body. The bell sounded again.

  “Damn it, okay, I’m coming.”

  She snagged his T-shirt off the chair and tossed it to him. “No one needs to see that hot bod but me.”

  “Likewise,” he said, running his gaze over her naked form.

  “I’ll get dressed.”

  He frowned.

  She laughed. “Oh, go get the door already!”

  She waited until he left the room before changing into the red dress she wore earlier. Her panties were no good after the afternoon they spent so she stuffed them in her purse. She felt like a college student walking around with rumpled clothing and no panties. She did the best she could with her hair, but she knew if Lana was downstairs she would know immediately how she spent her afternoon.

  She slid out of his bedroom and peered down his steps just in time to see a rather curvaceous blonde throw her arms around Blake. “Happy Birthday, hotness.” She cooed. “I’ve been thinking about you all day.” She ran a hand down his chest. The same chest Donia spent the better part of the last two days running her hands over, kissing, and licking…

  Who is this bitch? The words ran through her mind, and she immediately saw red. Jealously reared its ugly little head. She really had no claim on Blake. A sexy man like him was bound to have a girlfriend in Baltimore. He had been here for a month now.

  She tried to keep the green monster under wraps as she descended the steps. The woman kissed at Blake, shoving her voluptuous body into his. Thankfully the stairs were carpeted, it muted her stomping down the stairs like a spoiled child sharing her favorite toy when she didn’t want to.

  “Oh, Blake!” She made a big production. “Your house is just lovely. Looks like you really are settling here in Baltimore.”

  The woman stepped back and narrowed her eyes at Donia. “Oh, I’m sorry, Blake. I didn’t know you had company.” The blonde moved back from him and looked over Donia’s attire. Any woman in her right mind knew that look, dreamed about it, and wanted it. That I just got fucked up against a wall and I loved every minute of it rumpled look. Donia stuck out her hand. “Hello, I’m Donia Parks, one of Blake’s friends from Cherry Hill.” The woman looked at Donia’s hand like it had germs on it.

  “This is Veronica. She is a colleague from work,” Blake said.

  Veronica finally offered her hand. “Blake and I have been dating since he’s been in Baltimore.”

  Donia didn’t care for the woman’s tone, and had it been another place, or time, she may have told her about it. But fighting over a man she had no claim on was ridiculous.

  “Well,” she said turning to Blake. “Thanks for the tour and letting me use the little girls room,” she lied, not wanting to get Blake in trouble with his girlfriend. “I’ll see you tonight at dinner?”

  “Dinner, Blake?” Veronica piped in.

  “Friends of mine from Cherry Hill are having a get-together for me tonight.”

  “That sounds like fun. I’m hurt you didn’t tell me.” She ran long, manicured fingers down his broad chest.

  “Okay, so I’m going to head back to the hotel,” Donia said, pushing past Blake to the door. “We will talk about this,” she heard him say to Veronica. “I’m going to walk her out, okay?”

  Donia didn’t wait to hear Veronica’s reply. She heard the door shut behind her. “Doni, wait…damn it, please.” She stood perfectly still not turning around. She didn’t want him to see any of the emotion she knew was raging in her eyes.

  * * * *

  Of all the times Veronica could show up at my house, she picks right now? Right when he was spending the best afternoon of his life with Donia—really? He saw it written all over her face when she came down his stairs. She wouldn’t say anything about it. She was too classy for that. Instead she made up the story about the tour of his house and tried to get the hell out of there before she said anything else.

  Now, chilling him out and refusing to look at him, he stood behind her worried. Damn it. How can I fix this? “Hey, can you at least turn around and look at me?”

  “Your…friend is in there waiting for you.”

  “I don’t care.”

  “She really is lovely, Blake. I’m sure she doesn’t want to be kept waiting.”

  “Again, I don’t care.”

  She turned around to look at him. He saw the hurt in her eyes and it killed him. “Veronica and I… Donia, we were casually dating. It is nothing. It was before any of this…with you… You have to know… there is no one else—”

  “You don’t owe me an explanation about what she is to you,” she said softly.

  He took a step toward her. “Spending the last two days between your legs makes you deserving of an explanation.” He saw her cheeks grow red. “Especially with the way I feel about you. I want you to have an explanation.” He reached out to take her hand.

  “Your girlfriend is looking out the window,” she said, ignoring his hand.

  “Damn it, she is not my girlfriend.”

  “I think she would disagree, lover,” she mimicked Veronica.

  Blake bit back the relay of curses he wanted to spit out of his mouth but saved them. “Look, this conversation is not over,” he said. “I’ll see you tonight at dinner.”

  “I don’t think Veronica is going to let you out of her sight.”

  “She isn’t coming.”

  He winced when Donia chuckled. “She may have something to say about that.” He watched her wave at the woman peeking through the window. She slid into her rental car and backed out of his drive. He watched her drive off before he turned to reenter h
is house and deal with Veronica.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Donia looked in the large mirror in the hotel bathroom. After crying like a pathetic baby the whole way home from Blake’s house, she scolded herself for caring so much. This was a man who, a month ago, she hadn’t given the time of day. How many men did you flaunt in front of him? He has every right to find a woman to date and make love to. She winced at the thought of Blake inside another woman. This is just horrible.

  He assured her nothing was going on, but that woman came in his house like she was familiar with it and familiar with him. She wasn’t going to come in between whatever he wanted in his life. He deserved to be happy. She touched up her make up as best she could and pinned her hair on top of her head. The purple strapless dress she wore flared at her waist and fell just below her knee. She strapped up her high-heel shoes and grabbed her matching bag. She would muddle through this evening, somehow.

  * * * *

  “Happy birthday, sweetie,” Lana said, coming up to him in the lobby of the restaurant. He was greeted in kind by ten of his other close friends from Cherry Hill. He pulled at his tie and shoved his hands in his pockets. He was not at all in a good mood. Donia was right, Veronica insisted on coming as his date. Without being downright rude, there was no real way to get rid of her. She hung on his arm in a tight-fitting halter dress. To any red-blooded male she was hot. He’d received several appreciative nods from his friends and even some patrons in the restaurant, but all he could think about was Donia. She hadn’t arrived yet. He hoped she would still come. He looked over at the entrance again, and then at his watch.

  “Hey, Veronica, can I steal this guy for a minute?” Lana asked.

  “Oh sure,” she said, loosening her grip on his arm.

  Lana pulled Blake aside out of earshot of Veronica. “I assume you are looking for Donia?”

  “What are you talking about,” he asked shocked Lana noticed him eyeing the door.

  “Sweetie, please. A blind person can see how many times you’ve checked your watch and checked that door. Everyone is here but her. Who else would you be waiting for?”

  “She should be here by now,” he answered.

  “You’ve spoken to her?” Lana eyed him suspiciously. He looked away knowing he was giving himself away.

  “You’re hiding something, Blake, and I don’t like it one bit.” Lana stomped her foot. “What is going on?”

  He cleared his throat and adjusted his tie. “Donia has been here since Wednesday,” he said.

  He watched as Lana’s mouth dropped open. “She told me she met a new guy and they’ve been shagging like bunnies.”

  He could feel his face warming.

  “Blake!”

  “Okay, okay get off my back. She came down and we spoke and we hooked up a couple of times. It was good. It was really good.” He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “It was amazing .”

  “Okay, so what happened?”

  “Veronica showed up at my house today while Donia was there.”

  “Shit,” Lana said, echoing his sentiment.

  “Exactly. I haven’t heard from her since she left my house this afternoon.”

  “How was she when she left?”

  “Cold and distant. Like nothing we shared over the last two days meant anything.”

  “Trust me, sweetie, they meant something to her.”

  Lana’s reassuring words calmed his scattered nerves. “Then where is she?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m sure she’ll be here soon.”

  * * * *

  Donia entered the crowded seafood restaurant twenty minutes late. She stopped at the hotel bar to have a glass of wine or two to calm her already frazzled nerves. She was falling for a man that always wanted her, but she pushed him away, into the arms of another woman. Now she had to put on a happy face, when she was feeling anything but, and celebrate his birthday, when she knew that other woman would be there.

  “Hi, honey!” Lana’s voice was the first to greet her. She heard her friend, but her eyes immediately landed on him—tall and handsome. A look of concern washed over his face and she tried to offer a lame attempt at a smile.

  “Hey, you.” She hugged Lana. “Sorry I’m late.” She didn’t offer a reason. She would just apologize and hope that would be good enough. “We didn’t even get our seat yet,” Lana reassured.

  “Blake, honey, our room will be ready in just a minute for the party.” Veronica sashayed into the waiting area.

  Donia knew Veronica would be there tonight, but just the sight of her made her want to vomit.

  “Oh, hello, Donia,” she said with a sugary-sweet tone. Donia wanted to smack her. “Come on, Blake. Let’s go to the bar over here.”

  Donia could feel Lana squeeze her arm. “It’s not worth it.”

  “Lana, can I talk to you a minute?” Donia asked not wanting to hear Blake’s answer to Veronica’s request.

  “Sure sweetie, how about we go out on the deck. Could you use a drink?”

  “Yes, please,” she said turning her back on the sight of Blake and Veronica together.

  * * * *

  She sat in the chair and let the cold drink cool her temper. “Ugh!” She gritted her teeth, and ran a frustrated hand over her face.

  “Are you okay?” Lana asked touching her arm.

  “Did he tell you?” Donia asked.

  “He told me you’ve been down here the last two days, you little sneak.” She laughed.

  “Yes, I had to come down and talk to him and get things right. One thing led to another…”

  “I believe you said he’s amazing ?”

  She chuckled, remembering her words. “Yes, he has been…much more than I thought, or imagined. Seeing him in there with her…”

  “He doesn’t want her, Doni. You know how he feels about you. Now we can sit here and talk about this or you can go to him and claim what is yours.”

  Donia laughed out loud. “Claim what is mine? Yeah, right. I’m going to enjoy this birthday dinner for a friend and take my butt back to Cherry Hill and let him enjoy his life.”

  “I think that is a crock of shit.” Lana put her hand to her hip. “You need to talk to him.”

  “Not tonight. It’s his birthday. All of you are here…she’s here. You know, it will just be a mess—”

  “Shut up,” Lana ordered. “You will talk to him. I’ve watched the two of you dance around each other for far too long and frankly I’m tired of it. I’m going to pull him away and the two of you are going to talk about this, right now.”

  “What about Veronica?”

  “I’ll deal with her.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Blake sat at the bar with Veronica practically sitting in his lap. “Baby, what is wrong with you?” She whined. “You haven’t been yourself. You’re such a broody brood.” Her attempt at a cute nickname pissed him off.

  The woman he loved was outside and not next to him where he wanted her. Veronica was a constant reminder of that. “I’m just not in the mood for that right now, Veronica. Could you please back off a little,” he asked. He took a shot of his whiskey and put the glass on the bar.

  She moved away from him with a pout on her face. “I’m not sure I like this side of you, Blake. I haven’t seen you in two days. I show up at your house only to find that woman there.”

  “That woman’s name is Donia.”

  “I don’t care what her name is! What is she to you?”

  Blake rubbed at his temple already feeling a perfect headache setting in. “She is a very good friend of mine.”

  “A friend? I think she is a lot more than that.”

  Blake motioned for the bar tender to come back over and fill his glass up.

  “Will you answer me?” Veronica pleaded.

  “Veronica, honey, how about we give Blake a minute,” Lana said coming up and assessing the scene. “He obviously doesn’t want to talk about this right now.”

  “I bet he’ll talk to her ,”
Veronica said.

  “Look, how about I buy you a drink, and you and I talk for a minute.” Lana tried to help. She slid into the bar seat next to Veronica.

  Blake downed his whiskey and slid off the bar seat sending Lana a thank you glance. If Lana was in here, then Donia was somewhere alone and free to talk to him. He had to go find her.

  “Hey,” Lana called out to him. She handed him a folded bar napkin. “You go somewhere and cool down. Our table will be ready in a few. I’ll keep this lady company while you get some air.” He cast a glance in Veronica’s direction before walking toward the exit. He looked down at the napkin.

  She’s down by the pier.

  * * * *

  She stood on the pier, not far from the restaurant, looking at the water. She felt him before she saw him. “Our table is almost ready. I thought you were going to come back in,” he said softly leaning next to her.

  “I’ll be in. I’m just getting some air.”

  “I’m glad you came tonight. I was getting worried.”

  “I’m sorry I’m late, but I told you I’d be here.” She turned to look at him. Tall broad shoulders, gorgeous face with sexy green eyes. Her heart was melting for this man. Why hadn’t she seen it before? Why did he have to hold her and kiss her before she could see this is what she wanted? She could have saved them this grief and the whole Veronica situation. Hell, he may even still be living in Cherry Hill. This is all my fault.

  “Tell me what you are thinking.” He stepped closer to her.

  “It’s chilly out today. I’m freezing,” she said rubbing her hands up her arms. He slid off his sports jacket and slipped it around her shoulders. The warmth of his jacket and the scent of him cause her body to react. An inadvertent whimper left her lips and he stopped his movement with his arm still around her.

  “Donia,” he whispered. “Talk to me.”

  She turned to face him. She reached up and touched the side of his face with a timid hand. Knowing how she felt, but not knowing how to say it. She was falling for him. Everything about him. “You look really handsome tonight.” She rubbed her thumb lightly across his jaw.