A Tempting Proposal (Kimani Romance) (14 page)

Daman grabbed her hips and kept them planted as he met her thrust for thrust. Slowly, he began taking over, pushing them both to a higher level of ecstasy. Seconds later, they had orgasms so strong that Imani was glad Daman hadn’t let her go yet. She screamed louder than she’d thought possible at the power the orgasm had over her. His growls indicated that he’d felt it, too. The joining of their bodies hadn’t felt like one of lust. It had felt like so much more, but she didn’t dare allow herself to believe he felt the same way about her as she did him. She crashed on top of his body, never recalling a time when she felt so alive and unrestrained. Tilting her head toward Daman, she knew the night had just begun for them.

“Are you ready to take this to the bedroom?”

Daman rubbed his hand through her hair and smiled back at her, making her heart skip a beat.

“Lead the way, baby.”

* * *

Staring out the window of his Detroit condo, Daman tried to clear his mind of all the thoughts racing through his head. It was the day before he and Imani would arrive in Atlanta, and Daman was anxious.

He needed to take a warm shower to calm his mind. Showers always relieved his stress, and even though he knew he wouldn’t completely forget about everything, he could try to ease the tension in his body. Stepping into the shower, his thoughts immediately went to Imani. He’d been thinking about her a lot lately, and it seemed like no matter what he did, she was never too far from his mind. They’d made love into the wee hours of the morning the other night, briefly stopping to eat something before continuing their sexual explorations. Any position he wanted to try, she was eager to try, as well. He’d felt more alive than ever, and the thought that he could have fallen for her scared him.

Right before they’d made love, he’d been staring into her eyes, and he saw it. He saw the exact moment when she realized that she’d fallen in love with him. At first, he didn’t know what the look was that he saw in her eyes. When she dropped her head, he took the time to analyze the look he’d seen. He didn’t recall ever seeing a woman look at him the way she did, and something inside him clicked. Something inside him knew that what he was seeing in her eyes was love. When she brought her head back up and met his eyes, he was certain that was what it was, and he could tell she was trying to hide it from him.

The crazy thing was that he knew he should have stopped what they were doing right then and there, put his clothes back on and gotten the hell out of there. Instead, even though the fact that she loved him scared him more than he’d like to admit, he didn’t want to leave her. He couldn’t leave her. Everything they’d done that night had felt like more than just feeding a hunger. There were unspoken promises in their lovemaking, and instead of running, Daman had embraced it.

What happens now? How am I going to walk away from her in a few days?

He couldn’t allow himself to care so much for one person. The world was unpredictable.
What if I lose her like I lost my dad?
More important, he knew that Imani deserved better, and he wasn’t even sure if he could be the man she needed. Mr. Rayne had given him fair warning to leave Imani alone if he couldn’t be the man she deserved.
But how am I supposed to give her up to another man when she’s mine?

He lifted up his head to let the water run over his face.
Mine?
Why do I think she’s mine?
The realization hit him hard on the head. She was his because he’d chosen her to be his, just as she’d chosen him to love. From the day he met her, he knew she wasn’t the typical woman he went for. She was the type you married, and instead of steering clear, he did everything he could to draw her to him. In a way, he felt like he’d made her fall in love with him—probably because he had started falling in love with her before he knew what was happening to him. Imani couldn’t belong to anyone else because he didn’t want her to belong to anyone else. He’d forced her to open up to him and love him, and in turn he had opened up to her...and he loved her.

Man, I love her...

The words echoed in his mind, forcing him to come to terms with his feelings. When she wasn’t around, all he did was miss her, and when she was around, all he wanted to do was keep her with him forever.

Forever?
Could I do forever?
There was a small voice inside of him that was saying
yes, you can do forever, as long as forever is with Imani
.

All his life he’d run from love, and quite frankly, he was tired of running. It was about time he listened to that voice inside him that told him to stop running. Imani was a proud and confident woman. There was no way he could say he loved her and not be prepared for her to be apprehensive. He knew she loved him, but he also knew that when he confessed his feelings, he needed to make it extra special. He needed to convince her that they weren’t just in love...they had that forever kind of love.

Chapter 20

T
he day of the First Annual Performance and Achievement Awards Gala had finally arrived, and it seemed everything was running smoothly, despite how busy the volunteers were. Daman had been running around all day finalizing everything on his to-do list. He knew Imani had called her partners and asked them to come a day early and work their magic for the pre-gala events and after party. Since everyone had been so busy, Daman had barely gotten a chance to see Imani. He missed her like crazy, and even though he would steal kisses from her every now and then, he wanted to be alone with her. The only time they’d been together was during a quick group meeting.

In an hour, the gala would begin, and people were already walking down the red carpet and being seated. It seemed everybody who’s anybody had shown up to the awards gala, and he knew the team’s hard work and dedication would pay off. He’d even seen the Simses, who’d expressed how proud they were of everyone’s work. His mom and James had agreed.

Seeing Taheim and Jaleen, Daman quickly made his way over to them. “Glad to see you both got the backstage passes. Everyone else had already been here to see me, so I was hoping nothing was wrong.”

Taheim looked at Jaleen before setting his eyes back on Daman.

“No, nothing was wrong. But we did come across something that we wanted to discuss with you. Is there anywhere private we could talk real quick?”

Daman could tell by the looks in his friends’ eyes that it was serious, so he led them to a nearby office that he’d been using for the past couple of days.

“Okay, spill it. What do you need to talk to me about?”

Not wasting any time, Jaleen took out a manila envelope that he’d stuffed in the back of his tux. “We know what’s going on with you. I was looking for a client folder and came across this envelope that you had locked in a drawer. I wasn’t trying to snoop, but our keys all work for our file drawers, and I thought the file might be in there. We know about everything, D, and even though it seems like Malik has everything in order, we can’t figure out why you didn’t tell us about your uncle.”

Daman stared at the men who were like brothers to him and knew he’d probably made the wrong decision by not telling them what was going on with Barker Architecture.

“I didn’t want to worry you guys with my problems. You allowed me to be a partner in the firm, and the last thing I wanted to do was give you a reason to regret your decision.”

Taheim shook his head, disagreeing with what Daman was saying. “D, we’re your boys. We made you a partner because you’re good at what you do, and we have always dreamed of starting our own company together, even though we knew we still had to run our family businesses. You should have known you could trust us.”

“And we can worry about ourselves,” Jaleen added. “We’re a team, so when one of us is in trouble, we all step up and handle it together.”

Looking at his friends, Daman knew he was lucky. Not many men would have read everything that was in that file and still trust him as they did.

“There were some things I went along with that I’m not proud of. I should have questioned him more. After my father died, I looked up to my uncle so it was hard to think he was capable of embezzling money.”

Jaleen and Taheim nodded their heads in understanding.

“Malik was able to gather enough evidence against my uncle for me to turn him in. Fortunately, I didn’t even need to do that. My uncle met with me and told me everything...he explained why he did it. Why he felt he couldn’t stop embezzling money. Yesterday, I went with him to turn himself in. I still have a lot I need to work out so I’m going to get our lawyers and executive team together to come up with a plan.”

“That’s good, D,” Taheim said as the three men walked back out of the office.

“Have you told Imani?” Jaleen asked.

“We talked about my uncle, but she doesn’t know the details. I plan on telling her soon, though.”

Right after he answered, he heard Imani’s laugh and turned to see her, her parents, grandfather and partners headed in their direction.

“And since I’m being honest with you guys now, yes, something more is going on between us.”

Imani looked stunning in her navy blue evening gown. She’d changed out of her pre-gala dress, and he’d never seen her look more gorgeous.

“That beautiful woman coming toward us, gentlemen, is the woman I love and the future Mrs. Barker. She just doesn’t know it yet.”

Both Taheim and Jaleen shared a laugh, each slapping Daman on the back.

“Your secret’s safe with us, man,” Jaleen responded before Imani and the group made it to them.

Everyone exchanged hugs and continued saying what a great job the volunteer team had done to pull off such a huge event. Daman pulled Imani aside to make sure everything on her end of the planning was going smoothly.

They only had forty minutes before the gala was going to start and Daman had a few other things he needed to accomplish beforehand. He pulled Mr. Burrstone aside to get confirmation from him that it was okay to go forth with his plan. Daman really respected Mr. Burrstone so he’d called him yesterday to tell him what he planned to do.

“I think it’s time, son,” Ed said, clasping Daman’s shoulders.

“Can I have everyone’s attention,” Daman said to his partners, Imani’s parents and her partners. “Can you all follow me, please? I only need ten minutes of your time.”

“Daman, what’s this about?” Imani asked.

Daman walked over to her and grabbed her arm. “Just follow me,” he said as he led her down the hall with everyone following behind. He stopped at a conference room and walked inside. As discussed, his mother was sitting in the room awaiting their arrival.

“Hello, Mrs. Barker,” Imani said, giving her a soft hug.

“Hello, sweetie,” Patricia replied as she returned the hug.

Daman made introductions before asking everyone to sit at the table.

“I know you all are wondering why I asked you to meet in here before the gala,” Daman said to the group. “I recently learned some information a couple days ago and felt like now was the perfect time to disclose this information. Secrets tend to destroy relationships and since this secret affects Imani and myself, I felt it best to reveal the secret in front of the people we love most.”

The look of confusion was evident on Imani’s face.

“Mom, you want to take the lead?”

“Okay, son,” Patricia said as she stood to talk.

“When my husband, Stan, died, I was devastated. It took me a long time to accept the fact that although my husband was gone, that didn’t mean I had to stop living my life. I pushed away so many people I loved and broke so many great friendships, that I didn’t know how to mend the bonds I’d broken. That includes my friendship with Edward and Faith Burrstone.”

Imani gasped, clearly surprised by the news. So were her partners and Daman’s partners. But Imani’s parents only smiled, leading Daman to believe they’d known all along.

Patricia glanced at Imani. “I should have told you, too, Imani. You are so much like your grandmother that it felt like I was seeing a ghost when you came to my house.”

“And Daman,” Patricia said as she turned to Daman. “I should have told you that I knew Imani as soon as you got to my house. I just couldn’t deal with you being disappointed in me. I’d turned away from so many people who tried to help me get over your father.”

“Mom, you don’t owe me an apology,” Daman responded as he pulled his mom into a hug. “I know what you went through when we lost Dad.”

Patricia sobbed as Daman consoled her. “Yes, I do,” Patricia said, breaking their hug and walking over to Ed.

“Faith tried to be there for me so many times,” Patricia said to Ed. “I am so sorry I let the despair I was feeling from losing Stan affect my relationship with Faith. I exiled all my friends and family from my life, but she was the only one who continued to be there for me. I received every Christmas and birthday card that she ever sent me, but I was too embarrassed to ask for forgiveness. So on behalf of Faith, I’ll ask for your forgiveness, instead.”

Ed draped his arms over Patricia and pulled her into a hug.

“Patricia, Faith knew you loved her, and she knew one day you’d realize that you have friends and family who love you and want to be there for you. Ever since Stan’s death, you haven’t really been living your life. We’re getting old, woman. Now, don’t you think it’s time to start living again?”

Laughing, Patricia playfully slapped Ed on the arm. “I think that sounds like a great idea.”

Yesterday, when Daman had talked to Ed, he’d told him that Uncle Frank was always jealous of the closeness Stan and he shared. When he heard Barker Architecture was in trouble, he wanted to help, but figured Frank wouldn’t be receptive, so he used a fake name.

Daman looked over at Imani and saw her dabbing tears out of her eyes. She stared back at him with that adorable look he loved so much. He was glad to see the love still shining in her eyes. After all this drama, the only thing he could think about doing was taking her back to his hotel room and locking themselves away from the outside world for a couple of days. She winked at him and smiled a smile that promised in due time, she’d make his wish come true.

* * *

The gala was a huge success, and Imani was glad that everything had gone perfectly. Business owners and entrepreneurs from around the United States were present and men and women came dressed to impress. A lot of awards were given out to individual entrepreneurs and business owners, but the awards that received the most media buzz were the businesses that won the lifetime achievement, excellent community service and outstanding performance awards. Imani was eager to see what new technology product would develop from the tech company that won the award for having the best innovative ideas and products.

Black Enterprise was extremely pleased with the way everything turned out and thanked Imani and Daman at the end of the ceremony. Attendees were requesting her business card left and right when they found out Elite Events helped plan the amazing event. She and her partners had to get a game plan together as soon as they got back to Chicago.

Making her way to the room where the after party was taking place, she couldn’t help but reflect on the revelations that were disclosed earlier. Imani still couldn’t believe their families knew each other!

During the conversation between her grandfather and Patricia, Cyd had whispered to Imani to look at their parents’ reactions. One look and she knew that the Barkers and the Burrstones had been longtime friends. She’d gotten a chance to talk to Patricia and her mom a few minutes before the gala began. Patricia confessed that most of the furniture in her home was made up of pieces she and Gamine found together. On one of those shopping days, Imani and Daman had actually been with them. The picture of her and Gamine that sat over her fireplace was taken by Daman’s mom outside of one of the stores. To think that she and Daman had actually met before baffled her, but it was comforting at the same time.

Closing her eyes, she remembered a time when she went shopping with Gamine and became friends with the son of one of Gamine’s friends. Back then, boys were disgusting, and she didn’t initially want to play with him. But he convinced her to play hide-and-seek outside the furniture store, and they’d had so much fun that she’d made Gamine promise to bring her back to play with him again.

During the entire story, Hope had been smiling at Imani. Her mom confessed that Ed had decided to tell her and her father everything a couple weeks ago but made them promise not to say anything and to let everything work out on its own. She knew she loved Daman, and knowing about his relationship with his uncle and his struggle to right a wrong only made her love him more. She wanted a future with him. She wanted her fairy-tale ending. But he didn’t love her; he only lusted after her, and in her book, that was a big difference.

During intermission, she told Daman the story Patricia had told her about them meeting before. He just smiled, kissed her and told her that they had to get the show on the road. She hoped that hadn’t meant that he was already trying to figure out how he would let her down gently. He probably figured that since their families seemed to have rekindled a friendship, he needed to break this thing off fast before he hurt her. Newsflash, Daman: her heart was already in it, and later, she planned on telling him just that.

Walking into the room where the after party was being held, she was surprised to see her family and friends there. Daman had told her to arrive thirty minutes before the party started to make sure everything was set up properly. No one had noticed she’d entered the room until the door shut behind her, causing everyone to turn around.

“Why are you all in here already?”

“They’re here because I asked them to be,” Daman said as he emerged from behind her.

“I realized that almost everyone in this room has had a hand in getting us together.”

She didn’t dare hope he was doing what she wished he was doing, so she let him continue without asking another question.

“Since meeting you, my entire life has changed for the better. When my father died, I swore I would never allow myself to love someone so hard, only to have that person taken away from me. I knew the minute you walked into the Simses’ office, you were unlike any woman I’d ever met. Over the course of our partnership, I completely forgot we were vying for the same estate. I don’t know exactly when I fell in love with you because if I think about it, I can’t remember a time in these past few months when I wasn’t in love with you. When we were younger and Gamine and my mom took us shopping, I remember playing outside with you and having the time of my life. I told my mom that for a girl, you were okay, and I wouldn’t mind playing with you again. I didn’t realize many years later, that same little girl would be the woman I’d want to spend the rest of my life with. You make me want to strive to be a better man, and I’ve found myself opening up to you in ways that I’ve never opened up with anyone else. I think both of us had our hearts guarded when we first met. But somewhere along the way, you broke the guard around my heart. I would love nothing more than for you to make me the happiest man in the world and be my wife.”