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Authors: Cheris Hodges

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BOOK: Just Can't Get Enough
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“Good morning, sunshine,” he said.
Celina smiled. “It is, isn't it?”
Darius stroked her hair, then kissed her on the forehead. “Want some breakfast?”
Celina yawned and stretched, then shook her head no. “I have to go check on my father and call the agency about a private duty nurse. I'll come by the store today for lunch. My treat.”
“I like the way that sounds. I need to cut your father's grass anyway. I'll get on that before it gets too hot,” he said.
Neither of them made an effort to move. Celina even squeezed Darius's waist a little tighter. A few moments later, Celina was on her way home and Darius was out in his storage shed getting his lawn mower and weed eater together. All he could think about, though, was being with Celina and building a life with her. He closed his eyes and relived the night before. He could feel her touch, taste her kiss, and smell her feminine scent. When Darius felt a hand on his back, he thought it was Celina. Then he turned around and saw Tiffany. “What in the hell are you doing here?” he demanded as he jerked away from her.
“She's cute,” Tiffany said. “Convenient and easy, from the looks of it. How long have you known her, Darius? Five minutes. You never let me spend the night.”
“Because I never wanted to see you in the morning. Tiffany, when are you going to stop this? You're stalking me.”
She frowned and folded her arms under her breasts. “How long are you going to keep this one? A week? A month?”
“If you don't get off my property, I'm going to call the police,” Darius snapped.
“Whatever, Darius,” she said as she turned to walk out of the yard.
Darius banged his hand against the side of the storage shed. How was he going to get this woman out of his life and out of his relationship with Celina? He had to stop Tiffany from showing up at his house. He didn't want Celina to get the wrong idea, but the reluctance of the police to believe that she was the one wreaking havoc on his life let him know that he was on his own. Tiffany was acting unstable and he feared that it wasn't going to be long before she went too far. He couldn't allow that to happen. Stopping her wasn't going to be easy because she hid her tracks very well.
Darius pulled the lawn mower out of the garage and headed next door. He attacked the grass with fury, using every bit of his muscle strength, but it did little to dissipate his anger. He muttered profanities as he walked up and down the yard, cutting the grass down to half an inch. Tiffany was trying to turn his life into a living hell and he wasn't going to have it.
Darius had finished mowing the backyard in record time because his anger pushed him. Pulling his wet, white T-shirt from his body, he tossed it across the yard. Darius looked toward the house and saw Celina standing on the back porch with a glass of water in her hand. Masking his fury, he smiled and walked over to her. Even in a pair of gray sweat shorts and blue tank top, with her wooly hair braided back in three thick cornrows, she looked sexier than any Victoria's Secret model.
“You're working extremely hard out here,” she said.
Darius took the water she offered. “Well, I needed to get this done,” Darius said.
Celina folded her arms across her chest. “Do you always curse like a sailor when you mow the lawn?”
Darius sighed as he downed the glass of water, then decided that he needed to be honest with her. “No,” he said. “You know everything that's been going on at the store, right?”
Celina nodded. Darius continued, even though he didn't want to. “I know who's behind it.” He walked over to her and tugged at the bottom of her shirt. “Come here.” He pulled her into his arms.
Celina focused her gaze on him. “Have you told the police?” she asked.
“Yes. They're not taking this too seriously. Tiffany hasn't admitted to doing anything, but now she's resorted to stalking me. Everything crazy around me started happening right after I told her that I didn't want anything to do with her. This morning, before I came over here, she was outside my home.”
“She was what?” Celina exclaimed.
Darius nodded. “She must have been outside the house since last night because she saw you leave. She made a veiled threat.”
“What are we going to do about her?”
Darius looked at Celina and wanted to smile. In a way, he was glad to hear her say we. But on the other hand, he didn't want her to get involved with this madness. What if Tiffany tried to do something to hurt Celina? Darius couldn't have her in the middle of this. “Celina, I want you to let me handle this.”
“You know what, if this woman is going to be a problem for you, there's no way I'm going to stay out of this.”
Darius knew it was pointless to argue with her. He could see the New York coming out of her. But more than anything else, he could see the love in her eyes. Darius smiled at her. “All right,” he said. “But I don't want to think about that right now.”
“We have to,” she said. “If that woman is stalking us, she's breaking the law.” Celina moved away from Darius. “The police need to do something and I'm going to call . . .”
“Celina, let's just sit on this for a minute. The police aren't going to do anything until something else happens.”
Celina untwisted the end of one of her braids. “If you think that's best,” she said. “But, this woman has to be stopped.” Darius agreed with Celina 100 percent, but he remembered what the chief said when he was last in his office. Tiffany had him just where she wanted him. He was vulnerable.
“Darius,” Celina said, “don't worry about her. We'll get through this. Besides, I was thinking about your gallery idea.”
Darius's eyes brightened. “Really?”
“Now, keep in mind, I'm just thinking about it. A lot of artists have galleries in their hometowns, why can't Celina Hart? Then I could split my time between here and New York,” she said. “More importantly, we'll be spending more time together.”
Darius hid his disappointment. He didn't want her part-time, he needed her all the time. “That sounds like a plan,” he said finally, not wanting to give his disappointment away. Darius handed her the empty glass. “Let me finish up the yard.”
Celina smiled and turned toward the back door. “Darius, I love you,” she said.
“I love you, too,” he said then started the lawn mower again.
Do you love me enough to leave New York?
Darius wondered as Celina disappeared inside the house.
CHAPTER 15
As the weeks passed, Celina felt less and less like returning to New York. It wasn't like she was missing anything there and she obviously wasn't missed because she hadn't received any calls about work. Then again, most people in the art community thought she was still in Paris. “Why not stay?” she thought aloud as she washed the pots she'd used to cook breakfast. Thomas walked down the hall and smiled at his daughter at the sink.
“Celina,” he said. “When is the nurse coming?”
“She should be here in about an hour,” Celina said as she placed the last dish in the cupboard. “Is everything all right?”
Thomas nodded. “I was just wondering when Velma was going to get here.”
Celina looked at her father, who was starting to look like himself again. He was gaining some weight and his face was no longer gaunt. His daily breathing treatments made him talk without wheezing. Celina prayed that the cancer was in remission.
“Are you sweet on Ms. Velma?” Celina asked as she dried her hands on the dish towel.
Thomas smiled. “Maybe Nurse Velma is sweet on me. Look at me. Who wouldn't be?” He spun around as if he were a model on the runway.
Celina broke out into laughter. This was the Thomas she remembered. Cocky, sure of himself, and in control. Celina walked over to Thomas and hugged him tightly. “I love you, Daddy,” she said. Thomas hugged her back and Celina felt hot tears on her shoulder.
“Daddy, what's wrong?” she asked.
“Baby, it's what's right. You came here and saved my life. I know I can't make up for the twenty years I wasn't there for you, but I'm going to try.”
Celina shook her head, “Daddy, you don't have to do that. The past is the past and there's nothing we can do to change that. Maybe we should just concentrate on our future.”
Thomas tweaked her chin the way he did when she was a child. “Your mother did a fine job with you.”
Celina smiled. “I'm going to go to the lake and paint for a while. Are you sure that I don't need to stay here and chaperone you and Ms. Velma?”
“Are you going back to Paris?” Thomas asked as she walked down the hall. Celina shrugged her shoulders. She knew what a great opportunity it was to have a chance to be a part of the Guimard project in Paris, but she didn't want to leave Darius. Would Darius go to Paris with her? Did he even like Paris?
Maybe on our honeymoon,
she thought. The words in her head shocked her. Celina wasn't the kind of woman who dreamed of marriage and babies, but Darius made her want all of those things. Walking into her bedroom, she grabbed her sketch pad and pencil set. She knew Darius was working this morning and she would have a few hours to work. Celina dressed in a pair of lavender flood pants and a pink tank top, then stuck her sunglasses on her head. Celina was walking out the door when Velma walked in.
“Good morning, Miss Velma,” Celina said.
“Morning, Celina. Just look at that hair,” she said as she stroked Celina's hair. “Where are you headed this morning?”
“Down to the lake. I'm going to draw for a while. We don't have this kind of nature in the city,” she said.
Velma smiled. “Well, have fun,” she said as Celina headed out the door. “I'll take good care of your daddy while you're gone.”
Celina got in her car and headed for the lake, not paying any attention to the car following her down the road.
 
 
Darius tried to focus on the inventory count, but his mind kept wandering to Celina and the day that he'd have to watch her walk out of his life. She made it clear that she was going back to New York. Maybe he could let Richard run the store and he could go with her and return to practicing law. Certainly some of the firms that had wooed him when he was in Washington would love to have him on their staffs. Then again, with as much time as had passed, he probably wasn't even a blip on their radars anymore. Darius dropped a box of nails, causing the sharp tacks to fall all over the floor. Swearing under his breath, he kneeled down to clean up the mess. He needed to get his head back into business, but with all that had been going on lately, he couldn't focus on one thing for too long.
Richard rushed over to help pick up the nails. “Darius, what's going on with you?” he asked.
A grunt was the only reply Darius gave the older man.
“Is Tiffany still giving you problems?”
Darius nodded and closed his eyes. “That's the least of my worries right now. I think Celina's going to be leaving soon and I'm wondering if I should go with her.”
Richard ran his hand over his face. “What about this place? You came here to keep your family's legacy alive. Love is grand and all of that, but shutting this place down would be like a slap in the face to your parents. They trusted you with this place.”
“I know, but I love that woman,” he said. “I can't see my life without Celina in it.”
Richard nodded and looked at his young boss. “How does Celina feel about this? Has she asked you to give up everything for her?”
“We haven't really talked about it. I do know I'm not going to let her walk out of my life.”
“You really love her, don't you?”
Darius nodded. “More than I've ever loved any other woman.”
Richard smiled. “Then, youngblood, you need to tell Celina how you feel and let her know that you want to move to New York with her. If she loves you as much as I think she does, she's not going to want to give this up.” Richard stood up and looked at Darius. “So, I guess this place is going to close down after all?”
Darius shook his head. “No, not if you agree to run it for me. I mean, you're just like family.”
Richard smiled. “I would be honored. Are you sure this is what you want? You said you wanted to get away from the big city and New York is as big as it gets.”
Darius sighed. Richard was right, he'd had his fill of the fast lane; but if he couldn't get Celina to stay, then he was going to have to go with her. Darius's cell phone rang before he could reply to Richard. He looked down to see who was calling, but the number was blocked.
“Hello?” he said.
“She's not cute,” Tiffany said. “She's not attractive at all. All of that nappy hair. Is that what you want, Darius? I mean she can't hold a candle to me.”
“What are you talking about and why are you still calling me?”
“I'm talking about your new woman,” she replied. “Wouldn't it be a shame if she fell in the lake and drowned?” Tiffany laughed and Darius's blood ran cold.
“Tiffany, don't do anything foolish. Leave Celina alone.”
“Celina. That's her name?” Tiffany said. “Wonder how it will look on a slate stone?”
“Tiffany,” he said. There was no response. Darius looked at his phone and it said call ended. Rushing to his car, he had to get to Celina before Tiffany did something to hurt her. Richard called his name, but Darius didn't hear him because his single focus was getting to the lake and stopping Tiffany's bullshit. If anything happened to Celina, he'd never be able to live with himself and would more than likely spend the rest of his life in jail because he'd kill Tiffany if she hurt the woman he loved.
Darius drove like a maniac to the lake, running through stop signs, turning down alleys, and driving across empty fields. Once he arrived, he saw Celina's rental car parked on the side of the road. He pulled his car behind hers and dashed out of the car and scanned the area for her along the banks. When he didn't see her, his heart plummeted to the bottom of his stomach. Was he too late? Had Tiffany done something? Darius ran through the gate leading to the lake.
“Celina!! Celina, where are you?”
He heard a rustling in the bushes. Darius whirled around and looked to see what was making the noise. A small rabbit came hopping out of the bushes. Darius swore and continued walking along the bank of the lake. “Celina!” Darius looked down on the ground and saw her sketch pad. Darius picked it up and looked at the drawing. It was of the lake and it looked as if she was drawing a man and woman coming out of the center of the lake. Darius was really worried now. He looked down in the water and saw a pencil floating in the water. Darius started taking his shoes and shirt off so that he could dive into the water and search for Celina. Then he heard a splash. He looked up and saw Celina swimming to the shore. She stood up when she reached the shallow water, revealing her black lace bra and matching panties.
“Darius, what are you doing here?” she asked.
“Looking for you,” he said, unable to take his eyes off her wet body. “Have you seen anyone around here?”
“How did you even know I was here? I thought you were working at the store today?” she asked.
Darius looked at Celina, trying to make sure she wasn't hurt.
“Darius,” she said, touching him on the shoulder. “What's going on, baby?”
“Tiffany called. She was out here watching you.” Darius saw Celina shiver. “I don't want you traveling alone,” he continued. “I don't know what kind of games Tiffany's playing or what she might do. I don't want to take that risk.”
“Darius, wait, I understand what you're trying to do, but I'm not going to become a prisoner in my own hometown because of this woman. I live in New York. I can take care of myself.”
“Celina, you didn't even know she was here. How can you take care of yourself when you don't know what the threat is? You shouldn't swim alone, anyway.”
“You know what the threat is? This woman is crazy and nothing is going to stop her unless she gets what she wants or one of us stands up to her. I'm not going to let that woman rule my life,” Celina said.
“I don't want to see you hurt. If anything ever happened to you I would never . . .”
She flung her hair back and faced Darius. “Nothing's going to happen to me and I won't hide from that woman.” Celina pulled her shirt over her head. “You will not run my life!” she yelled out across the lake. “You may play crazy, Tiffany, but you don't scare me.”
Darius pulled Celina into his arms. “I'm not going to let her and I'm not going to lose you, either,” he said. A rustling in the bushes made Darius and Celina turn around. The same white rabbit came hopping into the clearning. Neither of them noticed the crouching figure in the bushes. Celina gathered her clothes and sketch pad. Then she and Darius walked to their cars.
“Why did you take a swim without a towel?” he asked.
“Well, I hadn't been in Lake Elmore in so long, I couldn't resist. Besides,” she said as she popped the trunk. “I was a Girl Scout, I'm always prepared.” She pulled out a bath towel and dried her legs before slipping into her pants. Darius leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.
“All right, Girl Scout.”
“Darius, I've been giving some more thought to your idea about an art gallery.”
His heartbeat sped up. Was she going to stay in Elmore? “I like the idea,” she continued. “I really like it and I think we should start planning it.”
Darius wanted to scream at the top of lungs. She was staying. “Yeah, we can start scouting some places and everything.”
Celina hugged Darius. “I love you,” she said. “Thank you for doing this for me.”
“I haven't done anything yet,” he said.
Celina shook her head. “You have,” she said, kissing him on the cheek. “I've got to get home and finish this painting. Maybe we can come back here tonight and do a little skinny-dipping.”
Darius smirked. “You're a bad girl, aren't you? Under all that sugar, there's a lot of spice.”
Celina winked at him as she got into the car. “Meet me here at nine and I'm going to redefine spicy,” she said. “And if Tiffany's still watching us, she's going to get quite a show.”
“How about I drive you here tonight?” Darius said, still a little wary about Tiffany stalking Celina.
“Fine,” she said. “But Tiffany isn't going to be a problem for us. I won't let her.”
“I hope you're right,” he said as he watched the white bunny hop across the road.
 
 
When Celina got home, she dashed into the house to get her painting supplies before heading outside to start on her painting. Thomas and Velma were sitting on the sofa when she walked in. Thomas dropped his arm from around her shoulder when Celina walked in. “Don't mind me,” she said as she headed for the bedroom. Celina wanted her father to be as happy as she was and since she knew her parents would never be a couple again, she didn't mind his budding romance with Velma. It was cute to see them together.
She changed out of her damp clothes and put on her paint-stained overalls, then grabbed her easel and headed outside with her canvas, her paint set, and her sketch pad. She set up her easel and then started painting. She began painting the powder-blue background to mimic the Carolina sky. She used a darker blue to paint Lake Elmore. Celina took out her felt-tip pen and began drawing the figures of the man and woman jutting from the middle of the lake. As she created the man's face, she couldn't help but think of Darius. She began drawing his features on the man, captured his eyes, including the twinkle in his eyes when he smiled, his dark wavy hair, thick eyebrows, luscious lips, and smooth skin. Celina decided to have the woman's face turned to the man's chest. Celina filled out her body and gave the woman long, flowing hair that looked wind-blown. At the last minute, she decided to turn the woman's legs into a fish tail. Celina began filling in the color of the man and the woman. She captured Darius's cocoa complexion by mixing burnt sienna oil paint with a hint of yellow to create his coloring. She colored the woman's hair midnight black and gave her a complexion about two shades lighter than Darius's. She then colored the fish tail blue-green. With a fine brush, she used a white paint to add the scales to the tail. Celina was so engrossed in her work that she didn't hear Darius walk up behind her. “Wow,” he said. Celina turned around and dropped her paintbrush.
BOOK: Just Can't Get Enough
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