A Tempting Proposal (Kimani Romance) (9 page)

“No wonder why the woman’s exhausted,” Daman said aloud to himself.

“I agree, my grandbaby works too hard,” Mr. Burrstone said as he approached Daman. “Mind if I join you?”

“Not at all, sir,” Daman answered as he pondered how Mr. Burrstone knew he was talking about Imani. He’d been introduced to Imani’s grandfather earlier, but they hadn’t talked much.

“I keep telling Imani that she needs to slow down. Then I see how much the family relies on her, and I know it’s not possible.”

“Why isn’t it possible?” Daman asked. To him, it appeared to be an easy fix. Everyone needed to start relying on someone else other than Imani.

Mr. Burrstone glanced at Daman before responding. “You know, Imani’s a lot like her grandmother was at her age. And her mother. Vibrant. Full of life. Women like my wife, daughter and granddaughter take on the weight of their family in exchange for nothing at all. Feisty as all get out, but don’t let them fool you.” Mr. Burrstone laughed as he crossed his arms over his chest. “You see, son, the reason I say it isn’t possible is because it’s in her blood. Imani was programmed that way. It may not be fair and she may not always be able to handle her responsibilities, whether they are her responsibilities or others’. But she will never stop caring or being so involved because she was meant to be just who she is.”

Mr. Burrstone’s views were very old school, yet they made sense to Daman. But he still didn’t think the responsibilities and burdens of a family should fall on one person.

“I still think there is a way she could balance everything without getting so exhausted.”

Mr. Burrstone laughed again. “I agree with you, Daman. And maybe one day, she’ll figure that out.”

With that said, Mr. Burrstone got up and walked away. As Daman stayed seated on that bench, thinking about what Mr. Burrstone had said, he wondered if there was a way he could help her figure out how to balance everything.

“Hey, man, where are you?” Jaleen asked as he waved his hand in front of Daman’s face. “You’re thinking about Imani, aren’t you?” Jaleen sat on the bench next to Daman.

“Yeah, man. I don’t know what it is about that woman that has me so twisted. Today, she was a different person than I’d seen before. I liked seeing her around her family.”

“I knew she would stay on your mind from the minute you first mentioned her name. So did Taheim.”

“Yeah, I know. She could be a real problem for me.”

“Yes, she could. Imani is the type you marry, not the type you bed, and a lot of us are pretty protective of her. She’s been through a lot over the years, and no one wants to see her get hurt. Get it?”

Daman hadn’t missed the tone in his friend’s voice. It was obvious he was looking out for her best interest. “Yeah, I get it, and that’s the main reason why I wouldn’t try anything with her.”

Jaleen gave him a look of disbelief, and Daman ’fessed up.

“Okay, so I have tried something, but what I mean is that I would never intentionally hurt her. Truthfully though, I want that estate, and the only thing standing in my way is Imani.”

“Why is that estate so important to you, anyway?”

“I promised my dad I would buy the estate when the Simses decided to sell. If it was important enough for him to ask me to do that, I want to make sure I follow his wishes. That’s all.”

Jaleen nodded his head in understanding, but Daman felt he had to go a little further with his explanation. “Man, Jay, trust me. I wish I weren’t competing against Imani. It’s hard to control myself around her sometimes. It’s cool when we’re talking business about the gala. And even then, I’m completely aware of everything about her. But it’s even worse when we’re alone. I purposely don’t get to know a lot about any female I mess with, but from the first day I met Imani, I learned more about her than I wanted to. Now, after meeting her family, and Imani meeting my mom, I still want to learn more about her.”

Daman stopped talking when he felt Jaleen watching him closely. Jaleen knew a lot about Daman’s history with women, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that he didn’t have a clue about how to handle Imani.

“D, we can’t always control who we fall for or why we fall for that person.”

“I’m not falling for her. I’m just a little curious...that’s all.”

Jaleen laughed, and Daman couldn’t help but laugh along.

“Whatever, man. All I’m saying is that you got some thinking to do. And now that you’ve met the Burrstones, you know you have to go to their annual barbecue—especially since Mrs. Rayne personally invited you.”

“Yeah, I know. And I don’t mind going to the barbecue. But as far as Imani’s concerned, I’ll just wait and see what happens. You know me, man. I’m not putting that much thought into my feelings.” He’d already told Jaleen way more than he’d planned on telling him.

“Anyway, what happened in the office while I was out?”

Daman had a lot of thinking to do, and luckily, Jaleen picked up on his clues and dropped the subject. He hadn’t made any plans with Imani in the coming weeks, so he’d use that time to get his head on straight.

Chapter 14

I
mani weaved through occupied tables as she made her way to an empty spot in the corner of her favorite coffee shop.

She took a sip of her caramel macchiato, savoring the sweet taste as she waited for Cyd, Mya and Lex to arrive. She was meeting with the girls for a much-needed shopping trip and was the first to arrive.

The annual barbecue was slowly approaching, and she hadn’t seen Daman for a few weeks. Earlier that day, her mother had informed her that she invited Daman to the barbecue. Even though they hadn’t spoken to each other since returning from Florida, they had both talked to Vicky and the volunteers for the gala on conference calls at least three times a week. Everything was running smoothly, and Imani wondered why the Simses even needed their help when Vicky, Pete and the students were apparently very capable of planning the gala without them.

As she took a sip of her warm drink, she tried to push Daman out of her mind. She hated the fact that she allowed him to dominate so many of her thoughts. She couldn’t deny that she missed being around him. The proposition he gave her at his mother’s house seemed reasonable, considering their strong attraction to each other. She had thought that all she would need was a couple of weeks to reprocess the situation and decide that an affair with Daman wasn’t worth it. That didn’t work. The longer they were apart, the more she wanted to say yes to him. The only thing she confirmed in their time apart was that an affair with a man like Daman was exactly what she needed. She had to get him out of her system no matter how short their affair would be. He’d proved that he could definitely deliver in the bedroom...if given the chance.

Her iPhone rang, disrupting her thoughts. She quickly glanced at her screen before answering.

“Hello, Vicky. Is everything okay?”

“I’m afraid that I have some last-minute news that needs immediate attention. I received a phone call from one of our biggest sponsors for the gala, Mr. and Mrs. Walsh. In this economy, everyone is suffering and the Walshes sound unsure about sponsoring any events this year. They are good people, but they like to have their butts kissed every now and then. I need you and Daman to go visit them at their home in St. Simons Island, Georgia. They’re having a brunch with some of Atlanta’s finest so it would really be great if you both could attend on behalf of the staff.”

Imani instantly felt a little excited by the thought of seeing Daman again.

“Sure. Have you talked to Daman?”

“No, I called you first. The brunch is this Saturday. Would that be a problem?”

Imani promptly searched through her planner. “No, that won’t be a problem.”

“Great, I’ll call Daman now.”

“Thanks, Vicky. I’ll give Daman a call in about ten minutes, after you tell him about the meeting.”

As Imani hung up the phone, her thoughts drifted back to Daman. She knew he would be receptive to the affair, but that fact didn’t make her any less nervous about approaching the subject. Her phone rang again. She answered without glancing at the screen, figuring it was Cyd, Mya, or Lex.

“Are you close by?”

“Well, that depends. Where are you? If you want me close by, I can make it happen.”

Imani froze at the sound of the deep, enticing voice on the other end of the line.

“Hi, Daman. Sorry, I thought you were someone else. Did you talk to Vicky?”

“Actually, I did. That’s why I’m calling. I didn’t mean to catch you at a bad time. Vicky told me that you were free to meet with Mr. and Mrs. Walsh, as well.”

“Yes, I’m free. So I guess we better book our flights.”

“No need. We can take my jet, if that’s okay with you.”

“Yes, that’s fine with me. It will give us a chance to discuss the gala more.”

Imani saw the ladies enter the coffee shop and make their way to the front counter to order. She continued to discuss the weekend plans with Daman for a few more minutes until the ladies had their pastries and coffee in hand.

“Sorry to cut this conversation short, but I have to wrap up a few things before tomorrow, and my company just got here. Thanks for calling.”

“No problem.”

As the women approached, Cyd and Lex gave Imani a quick hug. Mya just looked at Imani questioningly. “Why do you look so anxious? Was that phone call bad news?”

“Nope.”

Imani knew she had answered Mya’s question a little too quickly.

“Oh, really? That wouldn’t happen to have been Daman, would it? I heard he was coming to the barbecue.”

“Don’t you all have anything better to do than get in my business?”

Mya and Lex glanced at Cyd before they all answered with a solid no.

Imani shook her head. “Anyway, Daman and I have to leave for Georgia soon on business regarding the gala. We’ll only be gone this weekend.”

The look on Cyd’s face was one of doubt.

“I’m serious, Cyd. It’s only business.”

“If you say so, sis.”

“Okay, let’s get this day moving,” Lex chimed in. “I’m ready for some shopping.”

As the ladies ate and discussed the stores they would check out, Imani tried her best to get Daman out of her mind. Unfortunately, the more she tried, the more her head hurt. She closed her eyes tightly and tilted her head sideways so that the sun from the window could beam on her face. She was definitely in for a long day.

* * *

Daman returned to his home office after ending his call with Imani. He looked over at Malik, the private investigator, who was patiently waiting for all the information he had given Daman to sink in.

“Embezzlement! Are you sure that this is correct? Are all these accounts false?” Daman asked as he flipped through a couple pages. He refused to believe that his uncle would set up false customer accounts so he could pocket the money they’d received from several investors and top clients.

“Yes, I’m sure. My inside source proved that your uncle falsified your signature on plenty of dirty documents for these accounts.”

Daman rubbed his temple and let out a long and ragged breath. “How is that possible? I wasn’t vice president when Barker Architecture reached out to our investors in 2008.”

Malik grew quiet and took out several more documents. “Frank still continues to gather money from a couple investors. Gathering from the timeline, it seems that he started covering his tracks more when you began questioning him about misleading financial documents. That’s where the trail gets fuzzy.”

Daman was having a hard time accepting his uncle’s actions. After his father’s death, his uncle took on his role as father. How could his uncle jeopardize the company and steal from trusted investors and clients?

“That’s not all,” Malik said as he pulled out one more packet of documents from his briefcase. “I have a list of people that I’m investigating who invested money in Barker Architecture. I have a feeling your uncle is acting alone, but just in case he isn’t, I need to rule out other options.”

Malik handed Daman the first few sheets of the packet. Daman scanned over the list noticing a few familiar names, shareholders and clients. His eyes stopped short when he got to a name he definitely didn’t expect to see on the list.

“Edward Burrstone?” Daman asked Malik. “That’s Imani’s grandfather. Why is his name on this list?”

“He’s an investor, but it took me a while to find him. He isn’t listed as Edward Burrstone on any of the paperwork.” Malik handed him the last part of the packet. “After a lot of digging, I found out that the name he used when investing in Barker Architecture was Paul John Taylor.”

Daman shook his head in acknowledgment. “I’ve seen that name before.” He handed the paperwork back to Malik. “What does all this mean?”

“It means the case is going well and I’m gathering enough evidence to prove that your uncle is guilty of investment fraud. As far as the shareholders, I see no reason for you to worry or believe that they were aware of your uncle embezzling money.”

“I hope not,” Daman replied, still reeling over the idea that Edward Burrstone was a key investor in the company.

Malik placed his paperwork in his briefcase as he stood to leave. Gripping Daman’s shoulders, Malik gave his best pep talk to ensure that Daman understood he was doing the right thing.

* * *

Daman had spent most of Thursday night bothered by the possibility that his uncle was facing some serious jail time when everything came to light. He’d barely slept and had only worked a half day at R&W because of his flight to Georgia. He glanced at the clock in his hotel room and hurried to hop in the shower because he was due to pick up Imani in an hour. Although he was looking forward to seeing her again, he was worried that his bad mood might affect their time together.

As he stepped out of the shower and into his adjoining bedroom, he briefly wondered what Imani was doing, and if she was just getting out of the shower, too. He wondered who she had met with the day before and instantly tensed when he thought about it being another man. He’d spent the past few weeks wondering how, after all this time, he’d found a woman who made him think about her even when she wasn’t around. He wasn’t sure if he liked that. He knew he couldn’t treat her like the other women he dated, which was easy because he respected her too much. But there was something in the way she looked at him that made him want to open up and tell her everything. He’d already shared more with her than any woman in his past.

He was quickly regretting the promise he made to her that he wouldn’t make the next move without her permission. He cursed under his breath at his stupidity. He knew she wanted him as badly as he wanted her, but Imani thought too much about the consequences of her actions. He felt like it was his job to help push her toward making the right decision. And in this case, the right decision was engaging in an explosive affair with yours truly.

His doorbell rang, signifying that his driver was there to take him to pick up Imani. They made it to her condo in record time, considering that Chicago traffic was always congested.

As Daman entered the complex, the guard told him Imani was expecting him and let him go up. He’d barely knocked when she opened the door.

“Good morning, Daman. I’m ready.”

“Great. The car is downstairs. Let me get your luggage.”

“Thank you.”

As Daman reached out for Imani’s luggage, he noticed how casual she looked in her black-and-pink jogging outfit and gym shoes. She looked calm and relaxed. Her face was free of makeup and her hair was pulled into a high ponytail. She looked a lot younger, almost innocent, with her hair styled that way.

She glanced up at him and smiled that sexy smile of hers as if she knew he needed to see it to forget about his hellish evening. Seeing her, his good mood was instantly restored. Strangely enough, he wished she did hold all the answers. Hell, it would definitely make his life a whole lot easier. Unfortunately, his phone vibrated, disrupting the moment. It was a text message from Malik:

My inside source received new information. We’ll be able to close this case soon. We can talk more when you get back to Chicago.

Daman quickly replied,
“Okay,”
and turned back toward Imani. Just like that, his bad mood was back.

“Let’s get this show on the road,” he said, not caring if his voice sounded aggravated.