Page 22 of Love Me Carefully
Chapter Five
Dinner with his mother went well, but then Terrell had assured himself that it would. He wined and dined his mother, catering to her every need, not because he wanted her to talk to him more about Donald, but because she deserved it.
He didn’t even care if they talked about Donald again that night. He was going to find out what he needed to know about his mother’s fiancé either way, but tonight he was simply going to enjoy her company. Afterwards, he dropped Rosie off at her house then headed back to his condo.
On the drive home, he contemplated how Leah Graham, the hazel-eyed temptress, fit into his plan, because try as he might, he couldn’t get her out of his mind. When he’d questioned her about her job, those luminescent eyes had turned dark, laced with anger. He’d instantly been turned on by this fiery side of her, and wondered if she transformed like that in the bedroom.
He knew he’d been out of line in pressing her about her job, but hell, he was curious. She made her living from planning weddings, yet she wasn’t married and according to their earlier conversation, had no intentions of ever getting married. That was interesting indeed. Leah Graham was a puzzle he wouldn’t mind finding all the pieces to.
He was supposed to be concentrating on his mother and the upcoming wedding, the one he’d offered to pay for. When his mother refused the offer, he’d settled for buying her dress. Soon he’d walk her down the aisle, giving her to Donald Douglas. A long time ago he’d realized his father was never coming back; a day ago he’d realized his mother had found someone to replace his father. In the span of two short weeks his life had taken some drastic turns, but none as intriguing as bumping into Leah in his mother’s living room, or the coincidence that she was planning his mother’s wedding. They were bound to see each other again…for business purposes, that is.
* * *
Leah was in her office early Monday morning, somewhat recovered from her tumultuous weekend. Her mother’s husband had called her late Sunday night to inform her that, despite Marsha’s threats to leave him, he had no intention of letting her go. Which was very admirable of him, Leah thought. Maybe Marsha had finally met her match.
As for her new client, Leah all but cringed at the thought of future run-ins with Rosie’s son. He was weird and moody. One minute he was asking her about her job, the next he was interrogating her about Donald and Rosie’s relationship. Then he had asked her out to dinner. That had really thrown her. Why on earth would he ask her out? Except for a few really heated looks, he mostly seemed irritated by her.
She couldn’t quite figure him out and, frankly, wasn’t interested in trying. His type she knew well—highly intellectual and unforgiving of anyone who wasn’t just like him. She didn’t care for those characteristics in a man. He’d talked about her job as if it were beneath him, a menial wedding planner, coordinating weddings she didn’t even believe in.
Well, she did believe in them…for everybody else, that is. Marriage just wasn’t her cup of tea. Was that so wrong? Hell no, she was good at her job, and damn proud of it. And if Terrell Pierce had a problem with that, then he could just get a life!
Still, she couldn’t dismiss the other side she’d seen of him. The compassionate, caring son who would clearly do anything for his mother. As feelings go, she’d been impressed by that. And his touch, each time he’d laid his hands on her in his mother’s kitchen, had been so gentle, as if he were touching something very fragile, something special. She shivered with the memory.
The shrill ringing of the phone quickly snapped her out of her reverie. Snatching up the receiver, she answered, “Good morning, The Perfect Day.”
“Good morning. Is this the perfect lady?” Leon’s smooth baritone voice echoed over the line.
He didn’t sound angry anymore, and she was glad. She definitely didn’t feel like arguing with him. “Nope, it’s just me.” Smiling, she settled back into her chair, thoughts of Terrell all but vanishing from her mind.
“I happen to think ‘just me’ is perfect. How are you? I missed you this weekend.”
“I’m good. Listen. About yesterday…I want to apologize.” It was the least she could do for blowing him off. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Leon, she just wasn’t sure she wanted to take things further with him.
“Don’t worry about it. There’ll be more time for us later. Anyway, I met with the guy from the department store chain and he’s going to carry the line in the fall.”
“That’s great! I’m sure Calvin’s pleased.” Calvin Ripley was Leon’s frat brother and the owner of Onyx Apparel.
“Yeah, but you know that means we have to work harder to create better merchandise. Between singers deciding to add to their revenue source and all these little pop-up shops, everybody’s trying to start a clothing line.” He let out a rough chuckle. “I just hope we can compete.”
“Well, you know your target audience and you’ve been steadily building your clientele. You know this business better than most of those pop-up shops,” she told him.
“I guess you’re right. I mean, don’t get me wrong, there’s some good stuff out there. But I think we’ve got something unique at Onyx and I’m ready to take us to the top.”
Leon’s confidence was one of the things that had drawn her to him. She understood his entrepreneurial mindset and thought he was brilliant at marketing. “I think you’ll do fine,” she said and seemed a little incredulous that she actually believed it.
Maybe she should see him. She did need a refresher from the last two days. After a few seconds of debate she replied, “That sounds good. What do you have in mind?”
“Dinner, a movie, a nightcap.” He paused and then added, “Breakfast.”
“Let’s just stick with dinner and a movie.” Steps three and four loomed over her like a dark cloud. Leah knew Leon was more serious about their relationship than she was. So far he’d accepted her limitations, but she knew that the time for her to make the decision about moving to the next step was growing closer.
“I’ll accept that for now,” he told her, laughter evident in his deep voice. “I’ll pick you up about seven, okay?”
“Seven’s fine,” she answered quickly, making a mental note to give step three some serious thought in the very near future.
Hanging up the phone, she pictured Leon sitting behind the massive, paper-cluttered desk in his office. He would have on a shirt and tie, probably a white shirt, laundered with heavy starch, and a slick silk tie. An Onyx exclusive suit jacket would be thrown across one of the chairs, and glossy black tie-up Tom Ford’s would be on his feet. Damn, she was shocked she knew him so well. They’d been dating for about four months now, which computed to be about six times with Leon’s traveling schedule. He was fine, successful and crazy about her. That ought to be enough to proceed to step three, but somehow it just didn’t seem so. Maybe when she saw him tonight she’d get a feeling for what the next step should be.
At ten minutes to five, Leah was grabbing her purse and looking around for her keys when the phone rang. Racing across the office to get to it, she snatched the receiver out of its cradle and answered, “The Perfect Day.”
