Just Deserts - Brenda Jackson [29]
For years Shipping Source had been their rival. It had expanded from the East Coast to the West and had even picked up a few Northern states in the process. The company had been doing extremely well until the owner suddenly passed away. His only son, a professional football player, had no desire to step into his father’s shoes and had made the decision to sell the company.
Danielle and Tristan had discussed the possibility of a merger, but news of Marc’s death had placed it on the back burner. During the days following Marc’s funeral when tension between her, Alex and Renée was high, Renée had threatened to freeze Danielle and Alex’s assets until the matter of which of them was Marc’s legal wife was settled.
“What do you think, Tris?”
Tristan didn’t want to tell her, but he’d thought a lot about it and was glad she was taking the initiative to move on in her life by once again considering such a measure. Buying Shipping Source would be the first step and would show that she was in the business for the long haul. He would be the first to admit that he sometimes wondered if she would want to pursue another profession. He was pretty convinced that she wouldn’t return to modeling, but a woman with Dani’s looks, personality and brains would be a valuable asset to any business. She was sharp as a tack when it came to business matters. She knew their shipping company inside and out, mainly because Paul had always included her. While she was in college she’d worked for them over the summers, and then later, she would take time off from her modeling career to pitch in during the Christmas holidays, their busiest time.
Those had been some of the best days of Tristan’s life. Paul had been with them and they had made one hell of a team. At the end of the day they would retire to their favorite bar-and-grill, and while drinking beer and eating pretzels, Dani would bring them up-to-date on her life as a high-fashion model.
Everyone in the Port St. Lucie community loved her and was proud of her achievements. This was because each time she returned home to them, she was Danielle Timmons, the unaffected local girl who’d made it good but never thought herself better than anyone else.
“What you’re suggesting will take up a lot of our time, Dani,” he decided to say. “It will be one hell of a commitment to make.”
She met his gaze beseechingly. “I know, but I believe we can do it, Tris.”
He believed they could do it, as well, and it would definitely give her something else besides her phony marriage to Marc to focus on. “Okay, then, I’ll contact our attorney when we get back.”
As they continued walking through the department store, he couldn’t help but remember what had transpired between them last night and this morning. He had wanted her with a passion and had taken her that way. They had been good together and he was convinced even she knew it.
When Tristan suddenly noticed they were in the ladies’ department of the store, he knew what he was in for. He had gone shopping with Danielle too many times not to know the routine. “I prefer that if you start taking your clothes off, we go back to the hotel.”
Her lips twitched. “Yeah, but I won’t have a full rack of clothes to try on,” she said as if to reason with him.
He studied her for a moment, from the top of her head to her feet. She was wearing a printed V-neck stretched T with an embroidered scalloped-hem skirt of ocean blue, and a pair of taupe strappy sandals on her feet. Without even trying she looked liked a model, someone who should grace the covers of any fashion magazine.
“You don’t need a rack of clothes to try on.” He leaned closer and whispered, “You can always try me on. I promise you can wear me well.”
A sensation suddenly got lodged in his chest as he remembered how many times over the past twelve hours her body had been plastered skin to skin to his. He had been inside her so much that a part of him was thinking it had found a permanent home. He wondered if she thought that once they returned to Port St. Lucie, things