A Private Affair (10 page)

Joshua laughed, knowing he’d won. “Have fun.”

He wasn’t going to have fun,
Kenric thought that Friday evening as he took his chair at the charity event. Large chandeliers hung above, while the scent of roses floated through the mauve and gold-carpeted ballroom. He flipped through the catalog then stopped at a name he recognized:
Carissa York
. He blinked. No, it couldn’t be
his
Carissa York. She wouldn’t sign up for something like this, would she? There was no picture just a description, but it was enough to identify her. She offered four homemade meals over the weekend: Two lunches and two dinners. One meal was a hot and spicy buffalo chicken salad with a cheese stuffed mushroom appetizer. He licked his lips, feeling his mouth water. He slammed the catalog closed. No, he couldn’t bid on Carissa. His brother wanted him to bid on 563. He took a deep breath then carefully re-opened the catalog and read 563’s profile. It was nice, but his mind kept going back to the promise of a weekend of four hot, home cooked meals. He read the rules.

Damn he could only bid on one. He set the catalog aside and leaned back in his chair. The decision had been made. He wasn’t here for himself, besides it would make things awkward between them. He wasn’t going to bid on 462
.
He’d just enjoy the show then leave as he’d planned to. He listened to the announcer and watched with interest until he heard, “And now we have Bachelorette Package 462
.
Carissa York who…”

But the words fell away and he could only hear the pounding of his heart. The woman who stepped on the stage was not the woman he knew. The woman who’d challenged him at the office, who’d laughed at him in the restaurant. This beautiful vision, with her hair styled on top of her head with a gold ribbon threaded through the twists, looked amazing.

Kenric couldn’t take his eyes off her watching her every move, as she walked across the stage wearing stylish three-inch gold heels and a pair of shimmering black stockings. She looked like nothing he’d ever seen before. A deep shout broke him out of his trance as someone made a bid.

He could only bid on one woman.

Another man bid.

Kenric drummed his fingers. 563 hadn’t come out yet. He was supposed to wait for her.

A third bid.

He rubbed his lip. If he kept stalling, he’d lose his chance. If he wanted an opportunity for her to see a different side of him this was it. This wasn’t personal, this was business. This could improve their working relationship.

A fourth bid.

Kenric leaned forward in his chair, gripping his hands together. No, this wasn’t about work. He couldn’t fool himself. He wanted her.

“And 462 going once…”

He may regret it.

“Going twice…”

But he didn’t care. He lifted up his card and made an offer.

People gasped at the large number, but Carissa nearly cried out. It wasn’t the amount that stunned her, but the man. What was
he
doing there? No one was supposed to know about this. The event was being held in another county. Why was he bidding on her? Didn’t he realize she felt humiliated enough already? Even though she was glad that several men had actually made an offer, compared to the bids for the other five women who had gone ahead of her, their bids were considerably lower. It seemed that four meals with a full figured woman wasn’t all the rage no matter how ‘smoking hot’—as Ashley liked to say—she looked. The auctioneer was ready to accept the final bid when Kenric’s voice rang clear through the room offering more than any man had for the first five women combined.

The announcer repeated the number in awe then said, “Okay that will be 462 going once…”

Another voice cut through with a higher offer.

Carissa looked towards the back of the room and saw Morris! What was he doing there? Did someone tell him about the event? Was this some sort of cruel joke? Was she dreaming? She didn’t know what would be worse to be bought by her ex or her boss. She pinched herself then winced. She wasn’t dreaming. This nightmare was really happening.

“Well gentleman, this is getting exciting,” the announcer said. She looked at Riverton. “Do you have a counter offer?”

Carissa held her breath expecting him to lean back and shake his head, but instead he increased his amount.

Rumblings whispered through the room.

She looked at him, that implacable mask in place. She wanted to mouth ‘what are you doing?’ but instead kept her smile in place. She hoped another man would come in and outbid them both.

Morris countered.

Riverton didn’t even look at him, coolly offering yet a higher amount.

Carissa could feel herself sweating, if Riverton really wanted to win he could, he could outbid Morris. But why would he want to? She offered up a silent prayer. Morris had to win. She couldn’t imagine having to cook for her new boss. At least she knew Morris and two days with him would be awful but tolerable. Riverton, on the other hand, was a complete unknown.

“That is 462 going once….”

Come on Morris say something.

“Going twice…”

You bastard, don’t you have any balls?

“Sold to the gentleman over there!”

No, no she couldn’t be bought by Riverton. She couldn’t be his prize. It had to be a mistake. Carissa stumbled off the stage. Other women swarmed around her.

“You’ve made the most money for the entire evening!” one said.

“Did you hire them?” another asked.

A third chimed in, “Wow, this event really pulled in a large check this time.”

But Carissa blocked out their words, remembering only the burst of applause that had followed Riverton’s success. She was not going to let him get away with this.

***

“What are you doing?” she demanded when she found Riverton handing a check to the organizer after the event had ended.

“I’m not sure yet,” he said sounding in a daze.

Morris marched up to them. “I was willing to give you a second chance. I actually believed you and this is how you repay my trust?”

“What are you even doing here?” Carissa asked.

“My firm is hosting this event. When I saw your name listed, I thought you did it for me.” He reached for her hand.

Riverton casually slapped it away. “Look, but don’t touch.”

“What?”

Riverton sent him a pointed look. “She’s mine for the next two days and I like what belongs to me handled with care.”

“Yours?” Morris said, his eyebrows shooting up. “She used to be my girlfriend and—”

“‘Used to’ being the operative word. If you don’t know the meaning look it up.” He turned.

Morris shoved his hands in his pockets. “I can’t believe you tried to convince me that he’s your boss.”

“But he is—”

Riverton spun her to him, pressed his mouth to hers—making her senses reel—then sent Morris a look that was both a challenge and a threat. “The new man in her life.” He looped Carissa’s arm through his and led her out of the room. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

She nearly had to run to maintain his pace, her lips still hot from the touch of his. Once they were in the hall, he released her. “Sorry about that,” he said, his voice deeper than she remembered, his tone making her skin tingle.

She stared at him baffled by both his action and her response to him. “Which part?”

“The kiss. I had to do it, I couldn’t have you telling him I was your boss. The fewer people know about this the better.”

“Agreed, but—”

“Good.”

Carissa grabbed his sleeve before he could turn. “Why did you do this? What were you thinking?”

His gaze fell to her hand then rose to meet her eyes. “I still don’t know,” he said in a voice that sounded both awestruck and confused. He turned and left.

Carissa watched him leave. Why was he pretending that he didn’t know what he was doing? Then why did he look so convincing? He seriously looked like a man who was surprised by his own action, a little dazed, stunned. But that couldn’t be. Riverton was a precise man. A man who was always ten steps ahead of everyone, at least that was how he appeared in the office. This man was a stranger. And now she had to cook for him.

She turned around to go get her things. She saw Sara staring at her wide-eyed. She held out Carissa’s jacket and handbag. “You were sensational!” She clapped her hands together. “You must be thrilled!”

Carissa shook her head, wishing Sara would stop talking in exclamation points. “No I—”

“And that kiss.” She fanned herself with her hand, as if trying to overcome a sudden heat wave. “My report for this case is going to be stellar.”

“Report?”

“Pretend I didn’t say that,” she said then mimed zipping her mouth closed.

“You may be happy about this, but I am devastated.”

Sara mimed unzipping her mouth. “Why?”

“You don’t know what Riverton is like.”

“All I know is that he made you one of the highest ticket items at the auction. And kissed you like you were one of the sexiest women in the room. You should have seen the sudden interest on the other men’s faces. They all wondered what they were missing.”

Carissa lifted her chin, flattered by her words. “Other men were interested?”

“Oh, yes.”

Carissa had to admit that hearing that bit of news felt good, but she was still wary. What was he up to?

“But we don’t have time to think about that,” Sara said heading to the exit. “You’ve got to get back and prepare to go shopping for the four meals you plan to prepare next weekend. Maybe five.”

“Five?”

She winked at her. “Breakfast may be included.”

“I can tell you this with certainty. I will not be making him breakfast.”

***

His brother was still laughing. He’d been laughing for the last three minutes. Every time he stopped and paused, Kenric would say something and then his brother would start laughing again.

“It’s not that funny,” Kenric said, pouring milk on his cereal. The morning sun was bright but he still had the blinds closed. Last night felt like a dream and that brief kiss like heaven, he didn’t want to wake up yet.

“I know I asked for your help, but I didn’t expect you to go this far.”

“I just wanted you to know I didn’t bid on 563,” he said. That was the only reason he’d called him. He’d hoped to just leave a message. He hadn’t expected his brother to answer the phone, especially this early.

“Who cares? Jackie’s so happy with how much money they raised she plans to personally thank me next week.”

“What about what’s-her-name?”

“Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about her.”

“Did you finally remember her name?”

“Oh yea…it’s uh…” He swore. “It will come back to me. You just shocked me that’s all.”

Kenric grabbed a spoon and carried his bowl to the table. “I shocked myself.”

“I know what happened.”

Kenric paused with the spoon halfway to his mouth. He set it back down. “You do?”

“Jackie told me that 462 was only getting low bids. You felt sorry for her, didn’t you?”

Kenric picked up his spoon again. “No. I wanted her.”

“Are you serious?”

“Would I spend that kind of money if I wasn’t serious?”

“I would,” Joshua said. “I like to have fun, especially with plain girls. They’re always so easy to please.”

“Oh…we’re talking about you right now? I didn’t think we were.”

“Okay, point taken. We’re not alike. What’s that crunching noise?”

“I’m eating breakfast.”

“It sounds like cereal.”

“Because it is cereal,” Kenric grumbled taking another spoonful.

“You hate cereal.”

“I don’t have time to get a big breakfast. Besides, I want to be prepared for when she shows up.” He didn’t want to tell his brother that in a few minutes he was going to have someone come in to clean his apartment and make sure the kitchen was spotless.

“She’s not coming until next weekend.”

“I’m considering this a trial run.”

“I can’t believe she’s got you eating cereal. Are you hoping to get lucky?”

“Nothing’s going to happen. I’m her—” He stopped before he said ‘her boss’. His brother didn’t need to know that. “I just want to taste her cooking and if you start laughing again I’ll strangle you.”

“Then I’d better hang up,” he said then did.

Kenric disconnected then swore. His brother was right, this wasn’t like him. But he was serious, it was just lunch and dinner for two days nothing more. Nothing to worry about.

***

She hadn’t seen him all week. Carissa still didn’t know how he’d managed it, but she was grateful, because she didn’t know how she’d respond when she saw him again. It was embarrassing enough that Ed hadn’t recognized her at first when she’d gone to talk to him and that her assistant made a playful whistle when Carissa had walked in that Monday morning after spending a weekend with Sara—getting a full body massage and facial. What had altered her appearance the most was the seventy-year-old Nigerian tailor, Sara had invited to drop by her apartment and go through Carissa’s closet. Although she was an older woman, she carried herself like a dancer. When she opened Carissa’s closet, she stared at Carissa’s wardrobe as if she’d stumbled upon a tragedy.