Spontaneous - Brenda Jackson [65]
3 DUAN WASN’T SURE he’d heard her correctly. “Your mother has been married four times?” “Yes.” He found that simply incredible since his own mother had been married that many times, as well. He shifted in his seat and Kim’s body automatically moved with his. He’d done one-night stands before but none had stretched into breakfast the next morning or a cab ride to the airport the next day. When it was over, it was over. There hadn’t been any exchange of business cards or promises to follow up. But he knew that he and Kim would see each other again. This weekend hadn’t been enough. “I told you a little about my father being the ugly in my life this morning and how he abused my mother. What I didn’t tell you was that they split while I was in high school. I counted it as one of the happiest days of my life. He was a bully of the worse kind.” “And your mom stayed with him all those years?” “Yes. She was always convinced he would get better. He was smart enough to move us to New Orleans, awa
4 KIM WOKE UP MONDAY morning in her own bed with her hormones overacting. And all because of last night’s dream, which basically reenacted those moments she’d spent in bed with Duan over the weekend. There had been something about his touch that was different from any other man’s. She chuckled when she recalled Dr. Allen Perry, one of the hospital’s prized surgeons, who thought his hands, both in and out of the operating room, were extraordinary. But those hands had nothing on Duan’s. The way his fingers had glided across her skin, stroking her in certain areas, especially between her legs, stirring longings in her that she’d never felt before. She squeezed her eyes shut. Since she was off work today, she could grab another hour or so of sleep, to relive those naughty moments in Duan’s arms. She wasn’t due back at the hospital until tomorrow, and then she needed to clear her calendar for next week to go home to Shreveport. She smiled as she remembered growing up in Shreveport among fam
5 LIKE CLOCKWORK KIM’S doorbell rang at eight o’clock on Saturday morning. She glanced down at herself as she headed for the door. The weather forecast indicated it would be a beautiful day for boating and she was wearing a new outfit for the occasion. She opened the door and a blade of sunlight came through, nearly blinding her, but not before she took stock of the man standing on her doorstep. She angled her head and squinted to look up at him. He flashed a sexy smile and immediately she felt weak in the knees. It was going to be one of those days when she would find it almost impossible to keep her hands off him. He had just that kind of an effect on women. Her in particular. Standing there in a pair of jeans that tapered down muscular thighs, a T-shirt covering his broad shoulders, he looked every bit of sexy and that wasn’t helping matters any. For a split second, all she could do was stand there and drool. “Good morning, Kim.” It took her a moment to find her voice and respond. B
6 DUAN PULLED INTO the airport parking lot and then into the space his car would occupy for the next ten days. He patted the pocket of his shirt to make sure the ring he’d slid inside was still there. He had volunteered to come up with an engagement ring and thought the one he already had in his possession was perfect. It was the ring his grandmother had left him to present to the woman he would one day marry. When he’d mentioned it to Kim, she’d thought using that ring was a good idea, as well. He had to remind himself that the ring’s purpose was twofold. First, it was personal since he was helping out a woman he’d come to consider a friend. It was also business, in that he hoped to determine if Edward Villarosas was guilty of murder. The Atlanta police department had agreed to reopen the two cases and was putting together a list of family and friends that would be interviewed again.