The Savvy Sistahs (6 page)

Damn. Triple Damn
. He shifted his body to brace against his door as he caught hold of her head and held her to him. Sonya Morrison was giving blow jobs a whole new meaning when she dispensed with preliminaries, skipped the licking and stroking, and went straight to sucking, taking as much of him inside her mouth as she could. He was grateful that Sylvester’s had been crowded and the only parking space he’d been able to find was in the back, a good distance from the building and in a darkened spot.

He couldn’t stop the shards of sensations that ripped through him. He was out of his depth with this woman and the only thing he could do was let her have her way with him now. But he would take over later.

When he heard her moan deep in her throat he knew what was about to happen if he didn’t do something. When he came he wanted to be between her legs and not in her mouth. He gave an urgent pull on her hair. “Get in the back. Quick.”

She had barely landed on the back seat when Dalton followed, pulled her dress up, and parted her legs. He ripped off her panties and barely had time to sheath himself with a condom before thrusting into her and beginning to pump in and out.

Oh man, her stuff is better than good
, he thought, feeling her insides clench and pull everything out of him. They were making out like rabbits and were just that out of control.

“Dalton!”

His gaze raked her features and when he felt her muscles tightening around him his rhythm increased. He held her hips in place, giving her what he hoped was the screwing of her life. The sounds of her moans were like an aphrodisiac and his breathing began coming in fast. His senses heightened with each stroke all the way up his spine.

And then it happened. A climax seized the very essence of him and he felt it all the way in his bones. He heard her cry out as his own body exploded. Thrusting hard one final time, he took them over the edge and ripped out a groan that filled the interior of the vehicle.

Fused to her, he buried his face in the curve of her shoulder, weak as water, spent, while trying to catch his breath. He slowly lifted his body and looked down at her. Her expression was just as hungry as it had been inside Sylvester’s, although she was sighing with satisfaction.

He smiled. Sonya Morrison had a relentless sexual appetite that he intended to feed tonight. “Still want to go to my place?” he asked, feeling himself getting hard all over again.

She responded instantly. “Yes, and don’t waste time getting there.”

Brandy inhaled deeply as she walked into the coffee shop at the hotel. There was nothing like the smell of fresh roasted coffee mingling with the scent of something sweet, delicious, and sinfully wicked like a icing-coated cinnamon bun.

She had a sweet tooth tonight and since she, Carla, and Amber had taken a lot of time talking, especially after she had told them about the note, they had skipped dessert.

Brandy stood only a minute or so at the pastry counter before she was given her coffee and a huge cinnamon bun. She made it a habit to stop by the coffee shop at least once or twice a day just to take a break and sit, unwind and think.

Tonight her mind remained on the note. Talking to Carla and Amber had helped. Both had agreed that she should be cautious and until she found out the identity of the person who’d sent the note, she should be careful who she trusted. She wished she could claim that her two friends’ minds were working overtime, but she’d seen enough of those police shows to know that women were often victims of ‘sickos.’ But a part of her believed that Lorenzo was behind this, and it was his way of getting her nervous and scared.

He knew she wouldn’t take it to the police because doing so could hurt the reputation of the hotel. Business was good and she intended for it to stay that way.

An hour or so later she was catching the elevator up to her suite. When she’d taken over the hotel she’d had every stitch of furniture that Lorenzo had owned removed and had bought all new furniture. She loved her new home, which was located on the very top floor of the hotel. The elevator to the fourteenth floor had a special passkey and she was the only one who used it, with the exception of Ida Johnson, the woman who came in daily to clean up. Brandy had found the woman to be very friendly, dependable, and good at what she did.

Brandy stepped off the elevator and felt a sudden prickle of unease. She glanced down the hallway that led to her suite, and an odd, uncomfortable sensation touched her.

She quickened her steps and glanced over her shoulders, looking all around and not seeing anything. When she made it to her suite, she scanned the area while unlocking the door. The odd sensation continued to claim her although she tried shaking it off.

It wasn’t until she was inside her suite with the door closed and locked behind her that she finally breathed a relieved sigh. No matter what, she couldn’t let this thing with the note get to her. There was no doubt in her mind that someone was playing with her. When she heard a sound outside her door, her heart quickened and she leaned up and tried to take a look out of the peephole, but she saw nothing. But she was more than certain that she had heard footsteps.

Checking her door again to make certain it was locked and the security chain was in place, she crossed the room and paused by the phone, thinking that maybe she should call security. But it was late and Perry Hall, her security manager, had left to go home hours ago; she didn’t want to deal with his assistant.

She wrapped her arms around herself, thinking that she wouldn’t be getting much sleep tonight.

Chapter 5

A
s she had expected, Brandy lay awake that night unable to sleep. Each time she closed her eyes she swore she heard something and each time she got out of her bed to investigate she found nothing there.

She had tried doing everything including counting sheep, and here it was nearly two in the morning and her eyes were still open like she didn’t have a busy day tomorrow. Before going to bed she had reread the note again, and like before a creepy feeling had escalated up and down her spine.

And she didn’t like it. She didn’t like it one damn bit.

A few months ago, at one of the their sistah-circle dinner meetings, Carla had brought to the table the principle that fear would steal your livelihood, so the thing to do was to make your courage bigger and stronger than your fear. Well, tonight while quivering in bed Brandy was doing a piss-poor job of following that principle, mainly because she’d never had to encounter anything like this before.

Even after her decision to take over the running of the hotel, Kathie had warned her of the challenges she would face as a female hotel manager and that at all times she needed to walk a straight line with her male employees, not ever letting them make the assumption that she would cross over the line in her role as their boss.

Brandy sighed. She felt she had done a good job of keeping things strictly business. Oh, she was certain a number of her male employees found her attractive, since she’d caught a few of them checking her out from time to time, but she’d always maintained a high degree of professionalism between them. She had no intention of getting involved with anyone who worked for her and had sent out that message real quick. Kathie had commented to her once that she’d heard through the grapevine that some of them considered Brandy an ice princess and a couple of them had even questioned if she was gay since she never dated. But Brandy knew that most had heard the scandalous story of her and Lorenzo’s wedding and brief marriage, and felt the reason she wasn’t dating was because she was licking her wounds. She couldn’t help wondering if that’s what the person who called himself “The Man” thought? In his sick mind did he somehow think she needed him?

Brandy rolled over in bed. Tomorrow she would meet with her secretary, Donna Fields, to find out who had dropped by her office to deliver the rose. The older woman in her late fifties was sharp as a tack and her eyes didn’t miss much. Until this mystery was solved, Carla and Amber were right. Brandy needed to watch her back.

Brandy was at her office before Mrs. Fields arrived. Her heartbeat escalated and she stopped when she saw her office door open. She distinctly remembered closing and locking it the night before.

Passing her secretary’s desk, she took a deep breath and silently walked to the door and looked inside. Her security manager, Perry Hall, was standing at her desk with his back to her as he lifted the single rose to his nose to take a sniff.

She knew from reviewing his employment record a while back that Perry Hall was in his late forties, married for over fifteen years with two teenage boys. He was active in a number of athletic organizations that his sons were involved in and was a die-hard Orlando Magic fan. He was also active in his church and was vice president of the PTA at the school his sons attended. He had been employed at the St. Laurent during the five years that Lorenzo had run things and for a good ten years before that under the former owners, the Rawlins Group. He had been promoted to security manager after the former security manager left to go work for a Disney hotel a few years ago. Hall had been one of Lorenzo’s right-hand men, but for some reason after meeting him she’d felt he would do right by her and hadn’t seen a reason not to keep him on. So far he had proven to be a highly skilled and competent individual who knew his job and kept her abreast of things she needed to know.

She’d never had a reason to suspect him of anything…until now. She then quickly reminded herself that a person was innocent until proven guilty.

Brandy straightened her spine and entered her office. “Mr. Hall, what are you doing here?”

He turned around, quickly putting the rose back down on her desk. “Ms. Bennett, sorry, I didn’t hear you enter.”

She nodded as she placed her briefcase in a chair. “I see you like that rose, Mr. Hall.”

He smiled sheepishly. “Yes, I couldn’t help but admire it. My wife has a fetish for roses and this one is rather unique. The petals look so soft and the color is so deep it seemed more burgundy than red.”

Brandy nodded. He had yet to answer her question. “What are you doing here, Mr. Hall?”

He raised a brow after hearing the bluntness of her question. “We had a meeting this morning. I arrived a few minutes ago and thought I’d wait for you here.”

“Inside my office?”

He lifted a bushy brow. “Yes, is that a problem? Mr. Ballentine always preferred that we come directly to his office instead of waiting in the lobby area where his secretary worked unless his office door was closed.”

Brandy tilted her head back and looked at him. “And wasn’t my office door closed when you arrived?”

Perry Hall shook his head. “It was closed but unlocked.”

Brandy frowned. “I don’t see how that’s possible when I locked it myself before leaving yesterday.”

Perry shrugged. “The maintenance crew may have inadvertently left it open after cleaning around in here last night.”

She nodded. “I would appreciate if you made sure that my door is closed and locked each night, and that one specific individual is responsible for the tidying up in here. I prefer to know who’s coming in and going out of here.”

Perry nodded. “That can easily be arranged.” He then frowned. “Is there some sort of problem you’d like to tell me about?”

Until I find out who sent that note I can’t fully trust anyone
.Brandy shook her head. “No, there’s nothing I need to discuss with you. There are times I’ll have confidential papers in my office and I prefer if my door is kept locked.”

Perry nodded again. “All right. Now would you like to discuss that issue that came up yesterday about the housekeeper we had to let go because she was caught stealing?”

Brandy sighed. He had made her aware of the incident yesterday. A missing ring from one of the guest rooms had been found in the woman’s locker. “And she admitted to taking it?”

“Yes, after she was questioned further.”

Brandy rubbed her temple, feeling a headache coming on. This was the second person she’d had to terminate for thievery since taking over the management of the hotel. But she had made it clear from the beginning that dishonesty would not be tolerated. “All right then, is there anything else we need to discuss?”

“No, that about covers it.”

Brandy took the chair behind her desk. “On your way out, if you notice that Donna has arrived, please tell her that I’d like to see her immediately.” She then glanced down at the flower on her desk. “And since you’re so taken with that rose you may keep it. I was going to toss it out anyway.”

He looked at her strangely and said, “All right, I’d love to have it. I’ll take it home to my wife.”

Brandy leaned back in her chair as she watched Perry Hall leave her office with the rose, closing the door behind him.

Carla picked up the phone on the first ring. “Yes, Michelle?”

“I was finally able to reach Ms. Morrison for you, Ms. Osborne. Please hold on while I put her through.”

Carla tossed the papers she’d been reading aside. She had been trying to reach Sonya all morning to confirm their dinner and movie date. She had tried calling Sonya late last night and into the wee hours of the morning. When she hadn’t been able to reach her, she could only assume that Sonya hadn’t come home last night.

“Yeah, Carla, what is it?” a very sluggish voice said on the other end of the line.

“Sonya? Hey, what’s going on? I tried calling you several times last night and early this morning. Where have you been?”

“Out.”

Carla lifted a brow. “All night?”

“Yes. And why are you trippin’? I’m not a sixteen-year-old, Carla. I’m a thirty-two-year-old woman, for Pete’s sake. How about cutting me some slack here.”

Carla was quiet for the longest while. Then she said, “All right. I was just concerned about you.”

“Don’t bother.”

Again Carla didn’t say anything. It was apparent that Sonya was going through some things and more than ever Carla wanted to see her and be there for her. “Look, I just wanted to check to make sure tonight is still on.”

“Yeah, if you’re sure you can fit me into your schedule.”

Carla gritted her teeth and forced a smile. Sonya was determined to be difficult. “Hey, girlfriend, tonight belongs to us. Do you have a place you prefer going to grab a bite to eat?”

“No, you choose. Anywhere is fine with me as long as they serve seafood.”

Carla couldn’t help but smile. For a moment Sonya sounded like her old self. She knew that over the past year and a half their relationship had been strained but she was determined to get things back right. They had too much history to do otherwise. “Okay, I think I know just the place. How about Letos? We haven’t been there in a while. Then afterwards we can catch that new Queen Latifah movie. How’s that?”

“I thought you and your friends went to the movies last night.”

Carla ignored the sneer in Sonya’s voice. “We had planned to go after dinner but changed our minds. But even if I had gone last night there’s nothing wrong with going again is there? I remember a time when we spent a lot of our evenings at the movies, sometimes seeing the same one over and over again, especially if it was one Denzel Washington starred in.”

Sonya couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yeah, I remember that.” Then there was a long silence before Sonya let out a deep sigh. “Well, I’ll see you later. I need to get some sleep.”

Carla nodded. “And you’re sure you’re all right?”

She could hear Sonya’s slight moan on the other end. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just got a hell of a hangover, but I’ll be fine when I see you later. I’ll meet you at the restaurant.”

“All right.” After Carla hung up the phone she decided that when she saw Sonya they would have a long talk. The two of them were best friends, always had been and always would be, and she couldn’t understand Sonya’s insecurities about their friendship.

She sighed deeply. Yes, they needed to have a long talk.

Amber placed the last book in the shelf, then stood back and admired her handiwork. She had color coordinated the books in the section of her store she called the “Kid’s Corner” so they could be easily recognized. Thursdays were her light days and Eileen’s day off. Jennifer wouldn’t be in until noon to help with the lunch traffic. Last week Amber had hired a part-time worker, a male student from one of the local high schools, to work three days a week, mostly to unload and help put away stock. Already she found that Keith was a hard worker and the money he earned was helping to prepare him for college.

Amber looked up when she heard the bell that signaled that a customer had entered her shop. She arched her neck. From where she stood she could see the man but he couldn’t see her behind the planter and Humpty-Dumpty’s brick wall. His back was to her but then he slipped his hands into his pockets and slowly turned around as he studied his surroundings.

The woman in her immediately liked what she saw as her gaze slid over his face and body in one fluid sweep, and then another for good measure. His coloring was dark—a deep dark chocolate, her favorite. He was dressed casually, in a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, and a pair of high-priced Nikes were on his feet, but from the way her body was reacting, he could have been stark naked.

A slight frown tilted her lips. Boy, she had it bad. The last thing she needed was for sexual urges to consume her mind and lead her astray, no matter how good the brother looked. But still, she couldn’t help but continue to check him out, for the moment not able to control her body’s response to him.

The tight fit of his jeans, the way his sweatshirt hung loosely over those jeans, not to mention the way that sweatshirt fit those muscled arms and shoulders were enough to give any woman, especially one who hadn’t had sex in a long time, a reason to feel intense heat between her legs. He was a man whose bones you’d want to jump any day of the week, any time of the day. A man who could make you forget all those principles of emotion and spirit fulfillment that were discussed at the sistah-circle meetings, especially the one that said, “Everything you need to be happy is inside of you.”

At the moment, in her opinion, if the man standing across the room ever got inside of her she would be more than happy, she would be thrilled right out of her bones. Just the thought of those firm, molded thighs wrapped around her, holding her in place when he made love to her was enough to make her forget that she was a woman who didn’t need a man, a woman determined not to want one. But then, there was something about him that was so basic, yet at the same time so complementary. Everything about him made her think of sex, sex, and more sex.

And that wasn’t good.

Amber blew her bangs out of her eyes. The room suddenly felt unbearably hot. She had to take a minute to catch her breath and to regain control of her senses. Something, probably the sound of her heavy breathing, caught his attention and he glanced her way. Their gazes met, connected, and held. She felt her heart thump against her chest and then her pulse began acting weird. His deep, dark eyes were definitely doing things to her—more specifically, doing things to her body. There was no doubt about it. Her panties were completely drenched by now.

Damn, I am simply pathetic.

“I take it that you’re open.”

That’s not all I am
, she was tempted to say. Instead she came from behind the huge planter and Humpty’s wall and smiled, mainly to hide her misery. “Yes, we’re open. Were you looking for anything in particular or did you come in to browse?”

He smiled and her body went bonkers again. “I came in for a little bit of both. I want to read something for pleasure. Do you have anything to suggest other than those?” he said of the huge display of romance novels that stood in the middle of the floor. “They’re big sellers I assume?”