ALL HE DESIRES (Voluptuous Woman Series) (35 page)

He pushed back his chair, stood to his feet, and walked over to the window and glanced out. He could remember clearly the day Vonetta told him she wanted a divorce to be with her lover and that he could have everything except the dog. Jamison drew in a deep breath. She had wanted the dog but not their daughter.

“She’s a daddy’s girl, anyway,” he remembered Vonetta saying. “Besides, with the life I want to live, she’ll cramp my style. And the man I’m leaving you for don’t do kids.” That had been a hell of a way to find out that your wife of five years had been having an affair and that she didn’t think twice about leaving her husband and child for her lover.

He knew Kia was confused about everything, especially Vonetta’s absence. Not because Vonetta had spent a lot of time with their daughter. Quite the contrary. Kia had spent most of her time at the babysitter’s house while Jamison was at work, which gave his ex-wife more time to be with her lover.

Jamison turned back around, his gaze sweeping to Tonya. “Just what are you suggesting that I do?”

Her smile turned serious. “Talk to Kendal. When you think about it for a second, both of you basically need the same thing. She needs a father figure for her niece, and you need a mother figure for your daughter. Kendal is wonderful with kids.”

Tonya waited a few moments before adding, “And there’s something else you need to consider.”

He didn’t like the sound of that. “What?”

“What happens if Vonetta gets tired of the dog and the man gets tired of her and she decides that she wants Kia back? You won’t stand a chance as a single father against a mother who wants her child.”

Jamison knew Tonya was right. The courts tended to look more favorably on single mothers than they did on single fathers.

“I don’t trust Vonetta one bit,” Tonya added.

Jamison released a disgusted breath. Neither did he. He didn’t say anything for a moment and then looked over at Tonya. “You never liked my wife. You saw things I didn’t see. I wish you had warned me.”

Tonya’s smile was gentle. “You don’t know how much I wanted to, but hooking up with her was your decision, and damn it, you were smitten big time. I knew the day you brought her home from college that she was bad news. Sadly, most of us did. You’re pretty astute when it comes to reading people, so I figured that eventually you’d wise up. But when you came home and announced the two of you were getting married, I figured evidently you hadn’t. All you saw was a pretty face and a Coca-Cola bottle figure. Like most men, you were thinking with the wrong head.”

Tonya paused a minute and then said, “Now to get back to that ad…to my way of thinking, getting married might help you all the way around. And it’s not like you don’t know Kendal.”

“It’s been years,” he implored, inwardly telling himself the whole idea of doing such a thing was crazy, ludicrous at best. “She probably doesn’t even remember me.”

Tonya chuckled. “Oh, I think she will.”

“What makes you so sure?”

Tonya smiled again. “No particular reason. Will you at least think about it? It’s temporary, not until death do you part.”

“I don’t know.”

Tonya stood. “Talk to her at least, just to confirm she’s not loony in the head. Trust me, Kendal Fischer has plenty of sense. She’s just in a tight fix right now, and you could help her out while she could help you out.”

She came around his desk and placed a kiss on his cheek. “I’ll see you at Gramma Thelma’s for dinner on Sunday.”

“I’ll be there.”

When he heard the door close behind her, he looked back out the window again. Kendal Fischer. She’d been a cute kid, and he couldn’t help but wonder if she’d gown into a beautiful woman.

Moments later, Jamison moved away from the window and sat back down at his desk with the ad glaring up at him. Temporary position. He wondered how temporary she was looking at? Six months? A year? Two years? There was only one way to find out. Picking up his phone, he called the phone number in the ad.

“Auntie K, do you think if I pray real hard to God to send Mommy and Daddy back that he will?”

Kendal Fischer’s heart almost stopped beating as she paused from putting away the groceries to glance down at the round, pixie, cute-as-a-button face looking back at her. At that moment, Carr looked so much like Conley it was uncanny. There were those dark brown eyes and long, full lashes and her brother’s full lips and short nose. Kendal had often teased Conley and Cynthia that all Cynthia had done was given birth to a miniature version of Conley.

Knowing she had to answer that type of question for her niece truthfully and tenderly, Kendal placed the jar of spaghetti sauce on the counter and bent her knees to be eye level with Carr. “You might be asking a lot of him, sweetheart, especially since he needed your mom and dad up there with him for a reason.”

“To help him out with all the other people needing wings and robes?”

“Yes, and you know how your mom liked making things.”

Carr smiled while bobbing her head up and down. “Yes. She made my Christmas outfit for the play. It was pretty.”

Kendal grinned. “I bet it was.” And that was no joke. Cynthia Ryan Fischer had a gift when it came to needle, thread, and fabric. No surprise she had a degree in fashion design and had received numerous awards for her designs while working with a well-known firm in New York. She had given all that up when she met Conley. Against her parents’ wishes, she had married Conley six months after their first date and moved with him to Knoxville when he was promoted to executive accountant for a university there. Cynthia had gotten pregnant within months of their marriage and had been satisfied as a stay-at-home mommy who did occasional tailoring on the side. Not because she had to but because she enjoyed doing so.

With her question behind her, Carr skipped off toward the toys she had spread out on Kendal’s living room floor. Kendal’s heart caught each and every time she thought of the promise she’d made to her brother and sister-in-law one night when she had visited them in Knoxville. They’d all been drinking wine while Conley and Kendal amused Cynthia with things that had happened in their childhood when Cynthia and Conley had made Kendal promise that if anything ever happened to them, she would raise their daughter. As far as Cynthia had been concerned, her parents having custody wasn’t even an option. She had felt that Carr would never have a life of her own if they lived in the Ryans’ household. Neither Cynthia nor Conley had known that, less than a year later, Kendal would be making good on her promise to them.

Kendal had resumed putting groceries away when her cell phone rang. She knew from the ring-tone that it was a call coming in on her pre-paid phone, the one she’d specifically purchased for the ad she’d placed in the paper…against her better judgment. All day, she’d gotten nothing but crank calls from men wanting to talk to her about what the position entailed, since she hadn’t mentioned anything about salary or benefits in the ad. Some had even gone so far as to make a few recommendations for perks.

She was about to ignore this call when she decided that it might be legit. Yeah, right. Still, she picked it up and clicked on. “Yes?” she said, slightly agitated and annoyed.

“I’m calling about the ad you placed in the paper.”

“And?” Kendal asked, already rolling her eyes as she waited for the punch line.

“And I might be interested.”

She drew in an irritated breath. “Is that so? Why?”

On the other line, Jamison frowned, hearing the irritation in Kendal’s voice. If she was trying to get a guy to be a temporary husband, she sure wasn’t making a good impression. “Excuse me. Maybe I called you at a bad time, but you did place the ad. Have you filled the position already?”

“No.”

“It’s still available?” he asked, beginning to get a little exasperated with her curt responses.

“It depends.”

He raised a brow. “It depends?”

“Yes, on whether this is a serious call or someone trying to be funny. I’ve been receiving a lot of the second kind today.”

Jamison could imagine. With that kind of ad, she’d probably gotten a lot of calls from a number of kooks. Any normal man wouldn’t have called, which said a lot for him. He relaxed somewhat, now that he understood why she was being so short with him. “Trust me when I say this is a serious call.”

Kendal let out a relieved breath. “I appreciate that.” She would have to admit she liked the sound of his voice, really husky and sexy if that meant anything—and she knew that it shouldn’t. Whomever she married was for business and nothing more.

“I need to introduce myself, although we already know each other.”

She lifted a brow. “Do we?”

“Yes, but I knew Conley better.”

At the mention of her brother’s name, goose bumps began to appear on Kendal’s arms. “Who are you?”

“Jamison. Jamison Savoy.”

At that moment, Kendal’s heart stopped beating. Jamison Savoy! The guy who’d been friends with her brother when she was just a kid? The same guy she used to have a big time crush on ages ago. Conley had known because she’d told her big brother practically everything. And Tonya had known mainly because they had been best friends at the time, and Tonya was Jamison’s cousin.

“You still there?”

His words interrupted her thoughts, and she said, “Yes, I’m still here. It’s been a long time, Jamison. I’d heard you moved back to Alexandria. But why would you be calling me about the ad?” She couldn’t help asking because right now, she was clearly confused. All she had to do was close her eyes to remember the drop-dead gorgeous Jamison Savoy. He’d been every girl’s fantasy, and he had definitely been hers.

His soft chuckle brought her back to the present. “Because I’m applying for the job. You have a little girl who needs a temporary father…at least during the time you’re trying to get custody of her. And I have a little girl, about the same age, who needs a temporary mother until I can get myself together with my work schedule, so I—”

“Are you serious?”

“I thought we’d gotten past that already, Kendal. But just to make sure there’s no doubt in your mind, then I’ll repeat myself. Yes, I am serious. In fact, I suggest we meet and discuss this further. The more I think about it, the more it doesn’t seem like a bad idea after all. Tonya was right. It just might work.”

“Tonya?”

“Yes, my cousin Tonya. She’s the one who showed me your ad.”

“Did she?” Kendal asked, already thinking of a thousand ways she intended to murder her friend.

“Yes. So when can we meet?”

Kendal swallowed. “I need to check my schedule and get back with you.”

“All right. Was my number recorded on your phone?”

“Yes,” she said, still in shock.

“Good. I’ll look forward to the call back. It was good talking to you again, Kendal,” he said in a voice that made her stomach clench at the sound.

“Same here, Jamison. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.”

She clicked off the phone with shaky hands, hoping she didn’t melt into a puddle on the floor. Instead, she pulled herself together and crossed the room to grab her cell phone off the counter. Tonya had a lot of explaining to do.

Instead of Tonya, Kendal got the voice mail for Tonya’s Temptations, Tonya’s online lingerie company that catered to full-figured women. So she left a message. “Tonya, this is Kendal. I’m going to kill you, and I’m sure you know why. If you want your life spared, you had better call me as soon as you get this message.”

She clicked off the phone and replayed the earlier call in her mind. Jamison Savoy wanted to be her temporary husband? Now that was a laugh, and she figured he would die of laughter once he saw her and noted that nothing about her had really changed over the years. Oh, she’d gotten older, but that was about it. She’d been chubby then and was still chubby now. Men like Jamison married women who looked like supermodels, even if the marriage was temporary. She’d seen photographs of Jamison and his wife whenever she visited Ms. Thelma, since they sat framed on the fireplace mantle. The woman he’d married had been fashion-model slender, so why would he want a woman who wore a size sixteen instead of one who wore a size six like his wife had?

She nearly jumped when her cell phone rang and saw it was Tonya returning her call. She turned around so Carr, who was still busy with her building blocks, wouldn’t overhear the conversation. “Tonya Savoy Manning, you’d better get your tail over here now. You have a lot of explaining to do.”

“I really don’t know why you’re so upset,” Tonya said, dropping down on Kendal’s sofa with a huge smile on her face and with her hazel eyes sparkling. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s a great idea.”

Kendal frowned as she crossed her arms over her chest. “A great idea? You can’t seriously think that. Putting that ad in the paper was a bad idea. You even said so yourself.”

“Yes, but that was before I figured Jamison would be perfect for the position.”

Kendal rolled her eyes. “And just when did this bright light go off inside your head?”

“After talking with you on the phone that night and seeing how serious and desperate you were. I could just imagine the type of guys who would answer that ad…guys you don’t know, and no telling what kind of past they had or what their intentions might have been. Pedophiles are known to seek out women with small children,” she said, shivering at the thought. “And then while I was considering all that, Jamison called, asking if I could pick Kia up from daycare because he would be working late. I told him I could, but then I got to thinking, what if I couldn’t? What if it had been one of those days I had a lingerie party planned? Granted, we’re a big family, but we’re all professionals with busy schedules. And the last thing we want is Gramma Thelma driving too far from home. So yes, a bright light did go off in my head.”