Love Country (BWWM Romance) (2 page)

Chapter 2

Keeara took one more look at herself in the mirror before slipping into her heels and walking from the room. She had decided on a black pencil skirt and a light blue blouse that tucked into the top of the high skirt and accentuated her curves perfectly. It also made her chocolate colored skin stand out and she liked the way it looked. She walked through the house to the kitchen and picked up a cup for coffee.

“Good morning, everyone.”

“Good morning, honey. You look great. Go knock em’ dead, okay?”

“Okay, Daddy.”

***

Keeara pulled up outside the little building that had the name The Gazette engraved on the front of the building. It was a small building but it was just a little local newspaper not like one of the large papers that distributed to the whole state. It was just for the little city of Maryville. It was kind of cute though. She could see herself in a quaint and personal office like this. She stepped from the car and walked to the door. The person on the phone hadn’t introduced themselves. They had only said to come in at 9:00 a.m. for an interview. She walked through the door and saw that there was a huge conference table in the middle of the room. There were a couple of other doors that must have led to offices. There was nobody around and she really didn’t know where she should be going. The place was quiet and she started knocking on doors to the right to see if anyone could help her. There were a total of 3 doors on each side. She was about to turn around and walk back out when someone answered the 5th door she tried.

“Yeah, who is it?”

She slowly opened the door and peeked inside. “I’m here for the interview.”

“Shit. Hold on. Come in please.”

Keeara walked through the door and stopped dead at the picture in front of her. The man who had sounded so gruff wasn’t as old as she had thought. He looked to be in his thirties but that wasn’t what caught her eyes. He was wearing black slacks and a white shirt with cowboy boots and had the most suave cowboy hat on that she had ever seen. His shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbow to show the definition of muscle under the almost see-through thin white material. The front was gaping open to reveal a sprinkle of hair and a well-defined chest as well. He looked up at her and held her with a piercing blue gaze. There was a 5 o’clock shadow on his chin and face and his hair was almost to his ears in dark waves. He looked like he just stepped out of Men’s Fitness magazine.

She looked at his shirt again and saw the brown stain that was soaked through and made the front stick to his skin. He looked at her quietly and didn’t say a word. Finally, he opened his mouth. Her mouth formed a perfect circle when he started removing his shirt.

Craig looked at the woman who just walked through the door. He had been so into the article he was writing that she had shaken him when she knocked on the door, rattling his cup and spilling coffee all over the front of his shirt. He inhaled in shock at the hot liquid that seared his skin. The woman was stunning. She had dark brown hair that was fashioned into a high bun of sorts. She had on a dark skirt that came just below her full breasts and showed the perfect curves of her hips and waist. The blue in her shirt made her features stand out and showed off her full breasts. She had amazing breasts and he imagined cupping them in his hands. Her long neck beckoned his lips and he had to visually shake his head to clear his thoughts. The burn on his chest got hotter and he quickly began to shed the shirt to replace it with another.

“If you give me just a second to switch shirts then we can begin.” He looked up as he pulled the shirt from his arms to see her regarding him with a shocked expression. This might be more fun than he thought. He peeled the shirt off and pulled it from the waist band of his pants as she stood there and watched him. He looked up into her eyes and laughed as her cheeks and face turned a remarkable shade of pink. “I’ll be right back. Make yourself at home please.” He gestured towards a chair that was empty of clutter. She watched as he left the room.

Keeara looked around at the huge office. There were papers everywhere stacked high and strewn across the desk. She realized she was sitting in the only chair that was vacant of paper and looked at the floor of the office around the desk. Over in the corner there was a trashcan that was overflowing with crumpled papers and they were strewn around the floor as well. Just then he walked back in.

“Hello. My name is Craig.” He held his hand out to her.

“Keeara. Here, I brought my resume. I'm here visiting my parents and wanted something to keep me busy.”

“Just visiting? Keeara, this is a position I need filled right away. As you can see, I need the help. It's not a one or two week thing.”

“Oh no. I will be here much longer than that. I took a sabbatical for at least a year and my son wanted to come here.”

“Oh okay. So what does your husband think of you going to work here? Just so he knows, it will be the two of us alone and it can get very late before we leave. You will be spending a lot of time with me. This is why I need someone who knows what they are doing and someone that can deal with my temperamental moods.”

“That won’t be a problem. My husband is deceased and we're staying with my parents. They have pretty much pushed me out the door to come here and know how excited I am. I can deal with the hours and your moods, I’m sure.”

“I'm sorry to hear of your loss, ma'am. I meant no disrespect, I've just dealt with married women before and their husbands have not always been agreeable.”

She looked him over in the tight fitting T-shirt he had changed into and knew exactly why the husbands would not agree to him spending all evening with their wives. He was positively breathtaking to keep it short. “That's fine. I understand completely. But I'm single and do not need to let anyone know where I'm at.”

“Great. You have an excellent work history. How about I give you a tour and we talk about pay and then we can draw up a contract?”

“Okay.” She walked behind him as he took her around the building. Her first impression of it was right. The place was barren of any other human contact but him. There was a small kitchen and multiple offices in the building. All the offices but his were completely bare. He led her to the door beside his and opened it. The office was sparse. There was a large desk with an executive chair behind it and two bare bones chairs in front. There was a large couch against the wall and nothing else. The walls were bare as well. The room needed something.

“This will be your office. It's next to mine, that way we can communicate easily. You can decorate it as you wish. If you'll follow me, we'll talk pay and sit down to arrange a contract.”

She followed him back to his office and sat in the same chair again. She sat through all the instructions of what was to be expected of her and when they finally agreed on a correct pay for her talent and how many columns she would be writing, he asked her if she would be willing to sign a six-month contract. When she agreed, he told her that he would have it drawn up that night. She was to report in the next morning by 8:00 a.m. to sign it and then they could start right away. She found out that The Gazette was only distributed once a week now that it was down to him.

Chapter 3

When Keeara got home she explained everything to her parents, including the contract. They were excited to have her and Lewis there for such a long time. When she tried to tell them that she and Lewis could get an apartment, they refused. They told her there was no reason for her to waste money when they could stay there and that way they could watch Lewis when she was working. She finally agreed and they enjoyed a cook out with the rest of the family that evening. Lewis was happy as could be and told his cousins how they would be staying for a while and how he was so excited about starting school in Tennessee.

***

Keeara decided on pants the next morning because she didn’t know what she would be doing that day. She had a simple maroon shirt with black slacks. She paired the ensemble with her black stilettos and walked out the front door.

When she walked into her office, she set down her purse and eased back into the huge, plush office chair. This was much nicer than back home. Getting up from the chair, she walked to the door that she knew led to his office.

She knocked softly on the door and opened it at his command. He was again in a white dress shirt that had the sleeves rolled to his elbows and the front gaping open. He looked up at her and smiled. The smile lit his face and accentuated the dimples on the left side of his mouth. He gestured to the chair and she quickly took her seat. He handed her the contract and she quickly read through it. At the end it had two places to sign.

“If it looks okay with you, then you can sign it. If not, we can talk through any of it that you need to.”

“No, it looks fine.” She quickly signed the document and handed it back to him and watched as he signed the bottom line.

“Great, Mrs. Murray. Then we can get started.”

The day was spent rearranging her office the way she wanted it. When evening came, she walked into his office. His hands were in his hair as he looked at the computer screen and cursed. She walked over to him.

“Can I help with anything?”

“I just can’t get this one part right.”

She leaned over his shoulder and read the paragraph he was working on. She smelled his scent which was a mixture of spice and musk. It was delicious. She felt him stiffen and wondered if he was offended by her nearness. Maybe he was gay or something. That would explain why he was so damn good looking. All the good looking ones were either taken or gay.

Craig nodded and sat still as she leaned over him. He smelled the scent of lavender wafting from her and felt the brush of her breast against his shoulder. It was torture to sit still while she kept brushing against him. All he wanted to do was turn in the chair and sit her on his lap while he buried his face in her chest and felt those long legs wrapped around him, sinking himself deep inside her.

“Hello? Are you there?” He realized she was waving her hand in front of his face.

“Sorry what was that?” He smiled up at her.

“Mind if I take a crack at it? You need more sleep.”

“No. Go ahead.” He backed up to let her pull a chair from the other side up to the desk. “Hey wait a minute do I look that bad?”

She looked him over and he could have sworn he saw a flash of desire before she murmured. “No. You don’t look bad at all.” She leaned over to push her chair up to the desk and he groaned at the image of her bending over it. She looked back at him questioningly. She must have understood because she quickly stood up straight and then walked around to sit in the chair. He grinned as she averted her gaze quickly.

“Thank you for the compliment. ”

“Now if we can work on this.” He sat back and watched her work. She looked back at him and smiled gesturing to the computer. “Tell me what you think.”

He quickly read over the contents and smiled. “Amazing. You really are good. Are you hungry?”

She looked at him and felt her pulse quicken; if only he knew what she was hungry for. She could imagine wrapping her hands around his arms and pulling him close. Her eyes dropped to his lips. They looked so soft and inviting, she wondered what they would feel like on her own. She quickly shook herself mentally. “Yes.” The voice felt foreign. It was so deep.

“What would you like?” He was suddenly close to her and regarded her with a heated look.

“What is there?” He looked down at her mouth and then back up into her eyes before quickly scooting back in his chair.

Craig shook himself. He needed to put some space between them or he was going to kiss her and he didn’t know if he could stop until they were both naked and he had her on top of his desk buried inside her. He shifted through the drawer on the side of the desk and pulled out numerous menus.

“Let’s see… pizza, subs, Chinese, Japanese, the deli and Grammy’s kitchen?” He held up an array of menus.

“What would you like?”

“I could go for pizza and wings and I think there are a few beers in the fridge.”

“Sounds perfect to me.” They ordered the pizza and wings and she headed back to her office. She ran out to her car and was carrying in the pictures she had picked up at the store and her boxes of personal stuff for the office. Suddenly, she felt two arms come up behind her.

“Here you go, let me help you with that.” She turned to see a man with sandy blonde hair to his shoulders. He was wearing a cowboy hat and a plaid shirt that was gaping open completely, showing a solid expanse of muscle. She thanked him as she picked up the last box and walked into the building with him trailing behind her into her office. He sat the stuff down and looked at her with a crooked smile. He held out his hand. “Names James but everyone calls me Jester.”