Eternally Yours - Brenda Jackson [97]
“Extremely fattening since they’re filled with oil. I know how hard it is to lose weight and how it’s even harder to keep it off. You’ve done an excellent job, and I admire you for it.”
Syneda smiled at him. “Thanks, but you must have me confused with someone else. I’ve never had a weight problem. I can eat like a horse and never gain a pound.”
He raised a brow at her before turning to frown at Clayton. The sly smile Clayton gave him let him know he’d been had. “And I guess you are not wearing colored eye contacts,” Bernard said drily.
Syneda grinned, wondering why he would think she was. “No, I’m not. Why would you think I was?”
“Because I was deliberately led to believe you were. In fact, I was led to believe a number of things about you that evidently aren’t true.”
“Really? And who would tell you untrue things about me?”
Bernard laughed, shaking his head. “Someone who evidently felt a need to protect his interest.”
Syneda raised an arched brow, then realization dawned. She turned to Clayton and glared at him. “Would you like to tell me what’s going on?”
As if on cue, Justin and Dex stood and, turning to their wives, suddenly suggested they use that time to select their ornament for the Christmas tree. Felicia and Bernard quickly decided to do the same.
When the table had cleared, Syneda asked Clayton again. “Would you like to explain what’s going on? What did you tell Bernard about me?”
Dark eyes looked at her. “He had plans to hit on you that night, so I decided to take action.”
“By telling him I had a weight problem and wore contacts? And just what else did you tell him?”
Clayton shrugged. “I told him that wasn’t your natural hair color.”
“You did what! I don’t believe you did such a thing.” Syneda glared at him. “Why all the lies? I could have handled the likes of Bernard Wilson that night.”
“I’m sure you could have. I just didn’t want him near you, that’s all.”
Syneda shook her head at Clayton’s admission. It was hard to believe he had been jealous. She then remembered his behavior in Florida. At the time it hadn’t made sense. Now considering everything, it did.
After a few minutes, she couldn’t help the smile that stole across her lips. She should be furious with him but wasn’t. He was at times her nemesis, but mostly her friend. He was her lover and soon, in seven months, he would be her husband.
“What am I going to do with you, Clayton Madaris?”
“Love me.”
She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Heaven help me but I do that already.” She took his hand in hers. “Come on, let’s go purchase our ornaments and help decorate the tree.”
Clayton’s alarm went off at six o’clock Monday morning. He missed Syneda already. It had been hard putting her back on the plane for New York yesterday afternoon.
He got out of bed and went into the bathroom. He returned to the bedroom moments later when the sound of the phone interrupted his shower.
“Hello.”
“I hear congratulations are in order.”
Clayton chuckled. “Good morning, Alex. I see news travels fast.”
“Yes, especially when a fellow bachelor defects. Trask called last night and I told him the news. He asked me if you had gone crazy or something.”
Clayton laughed. “The next time you talk to Trask, tell him I said I’m not crazy. I just happen to be a man very much in love. His time will come one day, so will yours.”
“I hope not. Besides, speaking for myself, I promised your kid sister on her thirteenth birthday I’d wait for her to grow up,” he teased. “Congratulations, anyway. The only saving grace for you is I happen to think the woman you’re marrying is first class. It’s about time you noticed it.”
Clayton couldn’t help but agree.
“The reason I’m calling so bright and early is because I have that information you wanted. I have the names of the other two investigating agencies, as well as the identity of Syneda’s father.”
For some reason, Clayton felt uneasy. “And?”
“I’ve located him, Clayton, and you won’t believe in a million years just who he is. And I prefer not having this conversation over the