Show Me How to Love (Caldwell Family Book 1) (4 page)

But was the job worth facing Ryan daily? The idea made her queasy. Potential promotion or not, no way she could continue working with Ryan.

The idea of giving up everything she’d worked for made her head hurt and her body yearn for a cigarette. She’d started smoking while dating her college boyfriend. She’d tried quitting once he died in a car wreck after graduation, but hadn’t truly given up the practice until a year ago. The cravings refused to go away.

She rose from the couch and shuffled into the bedroom. The king sized bed and flat screen television were all she needed to survive the night. She unzipped the overnight bag and pulled out something to sleep in. Thankfully, she’d packed sensible pajamas along with the sexy scraps of material she’d brought to impress Ryan. Not that the lingerie would have helped. Apparently, a closet was all Ryan needed to make him horny.

Ten minutes later, the shrill ringtone of the cell phone greeted her when she exited the shower. Goose pimples sprouted on her arms when she left the warm, humid air in the bathroom and stepped into the cooler air of the cabin. By the time, she grabbed her phone and dashed to the thermostat to raise the temperature a few notches the ringing had stopped. Renee’s number lit her screen. She cringed. She loved Renee but wasn’t ready to talk to her.

She brought the phone back into the bedroom where she put on pajamas. The cell rang again a few minutes later, and this time Mikayla did not recognize the number.

“Hello.”

“Hey….umm…yeah…this is Andre. I’m coming back in and didn’t want to scare you.”

“Okay.”

She frowned at the phone after the call ended. A few minutes later the door opened and she walked out of the bedroom. Arms folded across her chest, she watched as he carried two large brown paper bags into the kitchen. Her stomach growled as the familiar smells of Chinese food wafted over to her.

“What’s my name?”

He froze in the middle of pulling out containers and turned to her squinting as if trying hard to remember.

“Uhhh…Marcella?”

Her arms dropped to her sides. “I can’t believe you agreed to this and you don’t know my name.”

“I was going to figure it out.” The corner of his mouth lifted. “Or say hey you all night.”

She glared, and his half smile turned into a full blown grin. The first real smile she’d seen. She liked that smile, his relaxed face made his handsome features positively devastating.

“My name is Mikayla.”

“Mikayla.” Her name spoken in his baritone was way too sexy.

“Andre.” She tried to mimic his tone.

Something in his eyes flickered before he blinked and went back to pulling out the food. “Let’s eat.”

“Good idea.”

They settled in at the small table and she watched as he dished out shrimp lo mein, sweet and sour chicken, beef with broccoli, and chicken wings with pork fried rice.

“Were you planning to feed an army?”

“I wasn’t sure what you liked.”

“I like it all. And after the day I’ve had I’m likely to eat it all.”

They ate in silence. Numerous times she opened her mouth to start a conversation only to zip her lips and focus on the food. She wanted to vent, but he wasn’t the right person. She would normally discuss her issues with Renee, but calling Renee’s twin brother a son-of-a-bitch, no matter how deserving, didn’t seem like the right thing to do.

Outside of Renee she had a few other female associates, but not one close enough to reveal what happened. Which left her other confidant, her dad. Mikayla stabbed the food with a fork and inwardly cringed. The thought of going through the dreaded I told you so speech made her throat clench up. Her dad had been right. Getting close to the Caldwell family equaled disaster.

They finished the meal. Andre packed up the leftovers while she wiped crumbs from the table. After the limited cleaning, her gaze bounced around the kitchen. Mikayla’s skin tingled with nervous energy. She stretched her hand then curled it into a fist. She couldn’t talk to anyone. Couldn’t smoke. Her nerves were shot. She needed an outlet for this restlessness.

Andre tapped her shoulder and she jumped. He gave her a wary look. “Do you mind if I take a shower?”

She flexed her fingers again and pushed the craving for nicotine aside. “You don’t have to ask.”

“Actually I do. The only shower is in your room.”

“Oh, I didn’t think about that. Yeah, sure, go ahead. I’ll watch television until you’re done.”

He gave a curt nod and pulled some items from his bag on the couch. Once the bedroom door closed, she paced around the room. Humiliation and restlessness hurrying her steps.

A vision of Ryan and Angelica falling out of the closet flashed through her mind.

Pulling in a deep breath, then out, she sat on the couch, closed her eyes, and concentrated on breathing. Several minutes later her body relaxed somewhat. She grabbed the remote and turned on the television. Instead of Lifetime she turned to cartoons on a retro station. No need to further weaken her emotional stability with a dramatic movie.

Andre entered the living room after two episodes of Tom and Jerry, along with the fresh smell of soap. He’d changed out of dark jeans and a sweater into a pair of grey sweat pants and a loose fitting t-shirt. Despite the baggy clothes, her eye was drawn to the outline of broad shoulders and the thick rope of muscles in his arms. He was barefoot, his short hair still damp from the shower. Her eyes strayed to the bulge in the front of his sweats, jerked away, then crept back for another peak. Impressive! As if that mattered at all.

She squirmed in her seat and her gaze wandered to the television. The intimacy of the moment made her uncomfortable. She hadn’t been alone with a man who wasn’t family or Ryan in years.

Andre moved his bag and sat beside her on the couch. The scent of his body wash put her body on high alert. Crisp and masculine…it had to be one of those attraction enhancing kind. That was the only way she’d be excited by the smell of soap. Not like he needed the help.

“What are you watching?” He popped open a bottle of lotion, thankfully unscented considering her reaction to his body wash and rubbed some on his arms.

“Umm…Tom and Jerry.”

“One of my favorites.”

She tried to laugh easily as if his nearness wasn’t sending heat across her skin. Instead, it sounded like a nervous school girl cackle. “Yeah, most guys I know like this cartoon.”

“Even pretty boy Ryan?”

Her smile withered away. “I wasn’t talking about Ryan.”

He lifted one shoulder and quirked a brow. “Your tight expression during dinner made me wonder if you were thinking about him.”

“More like wondering if you were capable of talking,” Was her clipped reply.

His eyes widened and she focused on the television. Crap, what happened to not rocking the boat? No need to pick a fight with him tonight. Surviving until morning and going home was more important.

“I’d rather not get too deep with Ryan’s girlfriend.” He continued rubbing lotion into his arms.

Her head snapped around. For a second, she watched the fluid movement of his hands as they smoothed lotion into the firm muscles of his arm before her eyes narrowed in on him. “Ex-girlfriend. Though I hate to even call myself that.”

He put the bottle of lotion on the coffee table, then turned to study her. His gaze slowly raking across her features. It was clear from the questioning look in his eye he didn’t believe her. His doubt rattled her nerves and woke up the frustration she’d learned to ignore whenever people tried to get a rise out of her.

“Are you sure you two are through?”

Her anger revved up. The humiliation, hurt and disappointment from earlier seeking an outlet. What she had with Ryan, a relationship and a friendship, ended today.

“I’m positive it ended today,” she said in a slow deep voice.

Andre leaned back on the couch. He shook his head as if her words were meaningless. “That’s what all you women say. No matter how badly a man treats you, after you get mad and curse his name, you’re right back in bed with him after an apology.”

She jumped up from the couch and faced him with hands on her hips. Andre thinking she would easily go back to Ryan pissed her off as much as finding Ryan in the closet. She wanted the glamorous life but not enough to sacrifice her pride.

“I don’t know who you think you’re talking about, but I’m not some simple-minded female. Do you think it was easy for me to believe he was ready for a monogamous relationship after watching his string of one night stands? Ryan didn’t just lose some woman he was toying with tonight. He lost a friend. He can come crawling on a bed of glass, promise me the moon, and I’ll throw it in his face. It took too long for me to realize I’m worth more. I deserve more. Ryan Caldwell damn sure isn’t going to steal that from me.”

Andre’s prolonged stared added speed to her already racing heart. He held up his hand. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I won’t bring it up again.”

Doubt still lingered in his eyes. She clenched her teeth at his almost mechanical apology. If she were in his place, she wouldn’t believe her either. She’d witnessed plenty of Ryan’s exes come back after he flashed a smile and said sorry. Disgust churned her stomach. Despite all of her good intentions and beliefs that Ryan would treat their relationship with more respect than his others, he’d behaved no better. And worse, humiliated her beyond redemption.

“You know, the next time you decide to become such a chatterbox go for polite conversation over dinner. Don’t sucker punch me with this type of foolishness out of the blue.” Her voice wavered with pain.

She rushed into the bedroom and slammed the door. The tears refused to be suppressed any longer and streamed down her cheeks before she fell onto the bed.

CHAPTER 4

Andre stood at Mikayla’s bedroom door listening to the quiet sobs. Each hiccup a kick to his conscience. He shouldn’t have taken his anger and frustration out on her. They were both victims in Ryan’s stupid game. The look of disgust on her face when she’d listed the reasons why she wouldn’t go back to Ryan nearly convinced him she meant what she said. But he’d seen women forgive men for a lot worse. His mom still slept with his father after all of the hell Curtis put her through.

Apologizing to Mikayla was a given, but not while she cried. Tears in a woman’s eyes rendered him useless.

Stepping away from the bedroom door, he headed outside. Thick snowflakes and icy wind met him as he hurried to the car. Andre grabbed the pack of clove cigarettes from the glove compartment and sprinted back into the cabin. Bypassing the closed bedroom door, he opted for the balcony. One day he’d give up smoking, but today qualified as bad enough to fall back on the habit. Digging the lighter out of his pocket, he lit a cigarette. The sweet smell of tobacco immediately melted the tension from his shoulders. The smoke drifted to the closed balcony door connected to Mikayla’s room. He huddled in a corner away from the door.

A rush of other emotions replaced his tension. A knot formed in his stomach. How could he have been so fooled by Angelica? His mom’s warnings that she was a gold digger echoed in his brain. But since her divorce, his mom believed most young and beautiful women were gold diggers.

Angelica waltzed into his life with her five nine height, supermodel looks, amazing sex, and a slight Parisian accent was the cherry on top. She played his body and ego, like a violin in the hands of a professional violinist. That’s all it took to keep him happy. Love wasn’t real. He’d seen that long before his parents split up. But a wife, and eventually children, would go a long way to securing the future of C.E.S.

Marriage was just another business arrangement. Angelica wouldn’t have brought any real connections to the family, but the moment she batted cat like eyes, the blood in his brain rushed to his dick and decided on the trophy wife. Andre strutted like a peacock with her on his arm and accepted the praise and envious looks from other guys with pride.

He took another drag of the cigarette. Bullshit built their relationship and he deserved to lose her. He wasn’t hurt by their split. Pissed off, yes, but not hurt. Luckily she’d revealed her true colors before he’d given her the ring in his bag. A cynical laugh escaped him and echoed in the night. That could have been his wife in the closet instead of his girlfriend.

His nose tingled from the cold. He took one last drag of the cigarette when the curtains along the door leading to the bedroom twitched. Mikayla slid the dark blue fabric back. Her glare was fierce but not as fierce as the halo of her body in the lamplight from the room. His breathing hitched. She may not have Angelica’s exotic looks, but she more than made up for the lack of glamor with down home southern girl attraction. The curves he’d wondered about were on full display in her pajamas: thick thighs, round ass, small waist, and full breasts. He blew out a lungful of smoke and tugged on the front of his sweatpants.

The easiest way to forget a woman is between the legs of another. The thought whispered in his brain, but he dismissed it. Or tried to anyway. She seemed like a nice woman, so for once, he’d play the nice guy.

“I smelled smoke.” She said after sliding back the glass door.

“If the smoke bothers you I’ll put the cigarette out.” He leaned down to snuff the tip when she rushed over.

“Don’t.”

He straightened and watched her. Mikayla’s arms crossed full breasts to protect against the cold, and her hands ran frantically up and down her arms. The sleeveless pajama top was useless against the breeze, even with the purple flannel pants and matching slippers she wore. He’d never been around a woman in real lounging pajamas. Surprisingly, he liked the comfortable look more than the silks and satins he was accustomed to seeing. An overwhelming urge to reach out and pull her curvy body into his arms and protect against the chill made him shift his stance. Instead, he took another drag.

Her eyes followed his movements. He recognized the look of someone who hadn’t quite kicked the habit.

“I have another in my car.”

She shook her head. “I quit.”

“So did I,” he said with a lift of one shoulder.