Perfect Timing (17 page)

Maxi screamed out her release when she felt him explode inside her, coating her insides with his semen, signifying his own climax as he held her body in place with his. She deliberately squeezed her inner muscles around him, milking him dry.

He released her mouth and stared at her as water ran over both of their faces, knowing what she was making her body do to his, feeling exhilarated that she wanted his seed planted deep within her. He found joy in the fact that Maxine Chandler wanted all of him, especially this, the very thing he had withheld from any other woman. And he was determined to give her as much of him as he could. He grabbed her hips and thrust again, pushing as deeply inside her as possible. He watched her gasp, and her eyes widened when she felt him getting hard inside her all over again.

And then he was starting over.

Thrusting in and out, making love to the woman he had once considered his. A woman he'd thought he wasn't worthy of ever having. He tried to remember how many times he had dreamed of being inside her like this. Making love to her over and over again, touching her in ways that only a lover could.

She came again, screaming his name and with a loud grunt he gave one last thrust when an orgasm hit him hard.

Moments later, barely able to breathe, barely able to stand, his gaze met hers and he leaned toward her and kissed her in a sweet and tender exchange that was different from any kisses they'd shared. When he released her mouth, he relinquished his hold on her and she shimmied downward off his wet body.

He began lathering her all over again, then let her lather him. Moments later, they rinsed off. Emerging from the shower they toweled each other dry then he picked her up and took her into the guest bedroom.

Christopher placed her on the bed and joined her there, gathering her into his arms. Closing his eyes as a serene peace settled within him and holding her securely in his arms, they both slept.

 

Christopher walked Maxi to the gate after she had checked her bags at the terminal. A part of him regretted her leaving. After an entire night of making love they had awakened that morning, eaten the breakfast he had made, and had gone back to bed to make love again. “I enjoyed my weekend with you, Christopher.”

“And I enjoyed my weekend with you as well,” he responded, tightening his hold on her hand. “I'll call you later in the week after I've finalized the plans for Las Vegas, all right?”

She nodded, then looked around at the people coming and going. She wished they were alone again so she could kiss him the way she wanted to.

“I know what you're thinking, Maxi,” Christopher said huskily, putting his hands on her shoulders and then running them down her arms.

She looked up at him, trembling from his touch. “Do you?”

“Yes. It's the same thing I'm thinking, too.”

Maxi sighed. She could believe that. She knew from his actions this weekend that he enjoyed kissing her, especially when he initiated a lot of tongue interaction. “Are you looking forward to this weekend?” she asked, moments later.

“Most definitely.”

She nodded. A few minutes later the airline receptionist called for passengers to begin boarding the plane. “I guess I had better go.” She stretched up and placed a light kiss on his lips. “I'll see you this weekend.” Without waiting for him to respond she turned and walked away.

She had gotten in line to board the plane when she made the mistake of looking back. Christopher was still standing in the same spot watching her. Without any thought to what she was doing, she pushed through the crowd of people trying to board the plane and ran back to him. He captured her in his arms and kissed her the way she wanted to be kissed. Long, hard, deep.

“Bye, Christopher,” she whispered when he released her. Without looking back she ran to board her plane.

M
ya keyed information into her laptop, grateful that her secretary had been able to book her a flight straight to Orlando. The plane would be landing in another hour or so.

She glanced around the cabin at the other passengers, thinking she wasn't the only one who was using a laptop. She then turned her attention back to the information she had pulled up on the screen. After she was satisfied with the figures she had worked up, she turned her attention to reading the information she had gathered on her newest client, Robert Noble, the thirty-five-year-old male wonder.

Noble had graduated with a bachelor's degree in business administration from Howard University and a master's degree from MIT, at the top of his class. After working a couple of years for Microsoft, he had formed his own company, Noble Technology, becoming the largest black-owned computer software company in the United States. For years, the company she worked for, Monahan Investments, had tried wooing him away from Skylark Financial Services, and he hadn't budged. Then, he had contacted Monahan unexpectedly one day and inquired about their services. It seemed that he and Skylark were parting ways. Of course, Mr. Lee had jumped at the chance to do business with the wealthy entrepreneur. And because of her expertise in high-technology as well as her in-depth knowledge of her company's many financial services, she had been not only selected, but had gotten promoted into the position of being Robert Noble's financial adviser.

The plane landed in Orlando a little past noon and, as planned, Mr. Noble had sent a car to meet her at the airport that would take her to the hotel. Their meeting was set for three-thirty.

Once she had gotten settled in her hotel room she called home, speaking briefly with Mrs. Butler making sure everything was okay and leaving her number for Garrett. She was about to remove her jacket when the phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Ms. Rivers?”

“Yes.”

“This is Robert Noble. I'm just calling to make sure you arrived okay and that you like the accommodations that were made for you.”

Mya lifted a brow. She hadn't expected him to call to check on such matters himself. Usually businessmen of his caliber left that task to their secretaries. “Yes, everything is fine, Mr. Noble, and thanks for sending a car for me at the airport.”

“You're welcome, and I look forward to our meeting, however, I'm sorry to say there will be a slight delay. I'm still tied up in a meeting that should have ended hours ago and it seems there's no end in sight, at least not before our three-thirty appointment. Is there anyway we can change our meeting time to later?”

“That will be fine,” she replied, keeping the disappointment out of her voice. She had hoped they would cover as much business as they could beginning today, then possibly she could fly home a day earlier than planned.

“I appreciate your flexibility. How about if I pick you up at the hotel at five? I'm sure we'll both be hungry by then. Let's plan on a business dinner.”

“All right.”

“I'll meet you in the hotel lobby at five.”

After they hung up the phone she took off her jacket and tossed it across the back of a chair. She then opened her laptop to e-mail Garrett, knowing he would get on-line after putting the boys to bed. Things were still pretty tense between them and knew when she returned to Dallas, they would need to sit down and resolve the problems plaguing their marriage.

Shutting her laptop down she then decided to undress and lie across the bed and rest. Her last thought before closing her eyes was that Robert Noble had a nice sounding voice.

 

Impeccably dressed, wearing a navy blue linen business suit, matching navy pumps, pearl earrings, and carrying her leather briefcase, Mya arrived in the hotel lobby a few minutes before five. She didn't wait long before the man she recognized from photographs as Robert Noble, walked through the revolving doors. Dressed in what she saw to be a very expensive business suit, there was something about him that demanded attention.

And he was getting it.

She noticed a number of people's gazes, especially females, turned his way and she could see why. He had a walk of a man who was self-assured, comfortable with his surroundings and with anything else he came into contact with. He was tall, well built, and handsome. She mentally compared him with Garrett and decided where her good-looking husband had an athletic air about him, Robert Noble seemed to be all about business.

She was glad for that, because so was she.

“Ms. Rivers?” he asked extending his hand to her as a broad smile touched his lips and male appreciation shone in his eyes.

She smiled. He may be all about business but she could tell that the man in him had noticed her a woman. She didn't have a problem with that since she had definitely noticed him as a man. There was nothing wrong with appreciating the opposite sex as long as it went no further than mere appreciation. She couldn't help but note he had walked directly over to her like he'd known just who she was although the two of them had never met. “Yes, Mr. Noble, it's nice meeting you and I'm looking forward to working with you.”

“Likewise,” he said easily. “I suggest we leave now. Traffic this time of the day is crazy, but I promise to get you to the restaurant in one piece.”

She laughed. “Thanks, I would appreciate that.”

During the drive to the restaurant, they talked about where her company wanted to take him and precisely just where he wanted to go. He made sure she understood that although he enjoyed working, he wanted to retire before he reached fifty.

She chuckled. “Trust me, Mr. Noble. I'll have you retired long before then.”

“It's Robert,” he said, once again giving her a mega-watt smile that was sexy as sin. “I still think of Mr. Noble as my father. And I hope you don't mind if I call you Mya.”

She shook her head. “No, not at all.”

“Good.”

Dinner was pleasant and she was able to cover a lot of information with him that he seemed receptive to. It was quite obvious that he was highly intelligent and knew just what questions to ask.

“I'm sure you're aware that I'm thinking about taking my company public,” he said smoothly, after the remains of their dinner had been taken away and they were enjoying coffee.

“Yes, I'm aware of that.”

“That's the reason I need you to spend the next two days here, working closely with my Vice President, Simon Prentice. He has a lot of concerns. He wasn't too happy when I severed my ties with Skylark.”

Mya nodded. She wasn't clear on the details of what had ended the relationship. “Well, I hope to convince him that you made the right decision in coming to us.”

After dinner he had taken her back to the hotel. Letting the valet park his car he walked her into the lobby. “After studying the information I gave you tonight, call me if you have any questions. I'll be up rather late going over items for my meeting tomorrow with Mr. Prentice,” she said.

“I hope you don't plan to be up too late. I don't want to be the cause of your exhaustion tomorrow.”

She chuckled. “Trust me, I'll be very alert tomorrow. For some reason I think I'll have to be, with Mr. Prentice.”

He laughed good-naturedly. “Don't let Simon intimidate you, which I'm warning you he will try to do. Just be as thorough with him as you were with me tonight and he'll buy into anything you say.” His eyes turned a darker shade of brown when he added. “You're a very persuasive woman, Mya, and definitely an asset to Monahan Investments.”

“Thank you, Robert. I'm glad you think so. Will you also be at tomorrow's meeting?” she inquired politely.

“Unfortunately, no. I have an important meeting in Miami tomorrow. I'm flying out in the morning but will return before you leave on Thursday. Let's get together again on Wednesday evening when I return and you can bring me up to date.”

“That will be fine,” she said quietly. It didn't look like she would make it back home early after all.

“Thanks again for coming,” he said shaking her hand again.

“And thank you for doing business with my company.” She then watched as he left, walking back through the revolving doors.

As soon as she was back in her hotel room she placed a call to Garrett. She was surprised when Mrs. Butler answered. “Mrs. Butler? Is Garrett available?”

“No, Ms. Rivers. He called earlier and said he would be delayed and to go ahead and feed the boys and put them in bed.” Mya could tell by the sound of Mrs. Butler's voice that she was as surprised as she was. Garret always made it a point to come straight home from practice each day, no matter what. “The boys are okay?”

“Yes, ma'am, they are fine. Of course they miss you.”

Mya nodded. Her first day away was usually the hardest on the boys. “And I miss them too. Well, I had better go. Don't forget to let Garrett know that I called.”

“Yes, ma'am.

“Goodnight, Mrs. Butler.”

“Goodnight, Ms. Rivers.”

After ending her conversation with Mrs. Butler, Mya went into the bathroom to take a shower. Afterwards, she sat at the desk in the room and worked, preparing for her meeting with Simon Prentice tomorrow. It was close to eleven when her phone rang. Thinking it was Garrett she picked up on the first ring. “Hi, sweetheart.”

There was a chuckle on the other end. Then a deep voice said. “I've been called a number of things lately, but sweetheart isn't one of them.”

Mya smiled in embarrassment when she realized the caller wasn't Garrett but was Robert Noble. “Sorry, Mr. Noble, I thought you were my husband. I was expecting his call.”

“Then I won't hold you. I was wondering if you could look over some papers that I'm leaving with Simon. They're a summary of all the services I had with Skylark. I just want you to review them to make sure we're on target with your company.”

“Yes, I'll be glad to look at them.”

“Good. Well, goodnight, and I'll see you Wednesday.”

“Yes. Goodnight.”

Mya yawned after hanging up the phone. She was about to shut down her laptop for the night when the phone rang again. Deciding not to take any chances as to who the caller might be, she answered in her professional voice. “Mya Rivers.”

“Mya?”

She relaxed when she recognized Garrett's voice. “Garrett, hi, I thought you had forgotten me.”

“No, I didn't forget you. I hung out at Mark's house tonight. I guess you heard, since it's been all over the news, that he got cut from the team.”

Mya's heart jumped. “No, I hadn't heard. I haven't been watching television.” She sat down in the desk chair remembering her conversation with Mark's wife, Danielle, two weeks ago. “How is he taking it?”

“Not good. So some of the guys and I went over there after practice.”

“I'm sure he appreciates everyone's support.”

“Yeah, he would prefer having his job back but we all know that isn't going to happen.”

Mya nodded. “Has any other team called him yet?” Sometime a player would get a call within hours of being cut from a team.

“No. You know Mark's temper. Some coaches see him as a liability.”

“You can't blame them with the number of penalties he usually gets each season.”

“But still, he was a damn good player.”

Mya heard the irritation in Garrett's voice and knew he was upset. “How are you handling things?” she asked. He and Mark shared a close friendship.

“Okay, I guess. A lot of us are still in shock. Mark did a hell of a job on the team—penalties or no penalties.” After a slight pause he asked. “Will you be coming home early?”

“I had hoped so but now it doesn't seem like I'll be able to.”

“Oh.”

Even with that single word, she heard the disappointment in his voice. “But I hope to be back early on Thursday hopefully before lunch.”

“It would be nice to come home and find you here.”

Mya flinched, knowing he hadn't meant it as a compliment but was being sarcastic. “I'll call you tomorrow,” she said quietly, not wanting to fight with him tonight.

“Yeah, right. Goodnight, Mya.”

“Goodnight, Garrett. I love you.”

They hung up then. Mya was a little hurt that Garrett hadn't taken the time to tell her that he loved her, too, before hanging up but she decided not to let it bother her.

Her thoughts moved to Danielle and Mark. She wanted to call Danielle but it was too late to do so tonight and made a mental note to do so first thing in the morning. Shutting down her laptop she called the front desk for a wake-up call in the morning. Moments later she got into bed wondering what Mark and Danielle would do now that Mark didn't have a job, and from what Garrett had said, he didn't have any prospects. A short while later after saying a prayer for the Hughes family, Mya dozed off to sleep.