A Tropical Rendezvous: A BWWM Interracial Bad Boy Billionaire Multicultural Romance (African American Romance) (29 page)

Two weeks. That’s how long Brandy had been avoiding him, and Christian was damn sick of it. If it wasn’t happening to him, he would be impressed at how she managed to stay away from him inside the same house. “Brandy!” He knew she was home because he’d seen Ken out front with a few other guards. “Brandy!” He climbed up the west wing staircase, and as he drew closer, he heard the sounds of someone vomiting. Violently.

When she heard footsteps, Brandy looked up expecting to see Ken. “What do you want, Christian?”

“What’s wrong with you?” He took a step back, away from the germs.

“None of your damn business! What?” Her morning sickness had only grown worse in the past few weeks, making it impossible to hide.

With his salesman smile fixed on his face, Christian smiled and held up a sheet of paper. “I got our marriage license today!” They only had about five days left to get married, and everything for the wedding was set.

Brandy groaned and slammed the door in his face so she could finish puking her guts out in private. “I’ll meet you downstairs,” she yelled through the door. She needed to strengthen her resolve for the last part of the plan. Ken thought it would be easy, that a man like Christian would never risk dirtying his name by forcing a lawsuit. But she’d seen him at his worse and told Ken to stay close by in case things turned ugly.

After splashing some cold water on her face, Brandy fixed herself and slowly walked the path to Christian as she prepared for the tap dance of her life. “We aren’t getting married, Christian.” Arms crossed, she looked him straight in those clear blue eyes.

He frowned. “Of course, we are. In three days you will be my wife.”

She shook her head. “No, I won’t. I will, however, be your very pregnant ex-fiancé.” She waited for the words to sink in, rubbing her still flat tummy for effect. “Unless you want to the world to know exactly how I came to be pregnant.”

“No, dammit!” He screamed and stood, stalking ever closer to her. “You do that, and your father will lose the company, all those people without jobs.”

“Yeah, well, I find that having been raped changes a girl’s perspective. And just in case you think of holding me or that stupid contract hostage, remember that ripped dress with your
fluids
all over it.”

He looked down at her angry dark eyes and took a step back like he’d been punched. Prison was not an option. Even if he waited until after the baby was born, DNA would prove him to be the father and that dress would condemn him. “I’m your fiancée, and they’ll just think it’s sour grapes.”

She laughed bitterly. “Oh yeah and when I don’t ask for a damn thing from you, they’ll be hard pressed to figure out a motive. But if you want to try your luck, be my guest.” Brandy turned, and she realized her mistake when his hand grabbed her forcefully and spun her around.

“You won’t say anything you bitch because there will be nothing to report!” He lifted his hand and struck her.

Brandy screamed and struggled to break free of his hold when the door burst open and in came several security guys dressed in all black, stunned still at the sight of Christian with a fist wound and ready to hit.

“Bastard!” Ken ran towards him at full speed, knocking him to the ground and punching him in the face.

Brandy watched as they fought, gasping when Ken got on top of Christian and punched him over and over until another guard pulled him off. “That’s enough, Ken.”

He spits at Christian. “I quit.” Taking Brandy by the hand, he pulled her with him. Away from Christian and straight towards a new life together.

~

“You sure you won’t mind being with a doctor? The hours are long and unpredictable. Add a baby and my life is going to be complete chaos.” Brandy didn’t want Ken to feel obligated to be with her because of how everything went down.

He smiled and cupped her face gently. “Are you kidding? I love you Brandy, and I can’t wait to start our crazy, unpredictable life together.”

She felt the first tear fall as a smile spread across her face. “You love me? You mean it?” At his nod, she flung herself into his arms. “Oh Ken, I love you too! I only had the strength do it all because of you and how badly I wanted to be with you.” She pressed a quick kiss to his mouth, still unable to quit smiling.

“Well, that’s good because I plan to be with you forever. I want to watch our kid grow up and play with his or her brothers and sisters.” He couldn’t wait to start their life together. “And the new CEO of Sweeney Global hired me to be head of security, so I’ll have a steady nine to five while you’re off saving lives.”

Brandy smiled. Her father had been pleased to learn she was free and clear of Christian while he became CEO. He’d been less pleased to learn she was pregnant and unmarried, but one look at them together and he hadn’t been able to build much resistance. “Oooh, my very own house husband. Cool.”

Ken laughed and pulled her close, kissing her fingers while deftly sliding a ring on her finger. “Not yet, but soon. Say you want nothing more than to be my wife forever, Brandy.”

She smiled and hugged him tight as tears fell down her face and onto his standard black tee. “Forever and ever, Ken. Until the end of forever,” she whispered.

He held her tight and closed his eyes, vowing in that moment that he would die before he let anything happen to Brandy or their children. She was his love, his life. His everything.

Forever.

The End

If you like what you read, you can find  complete list of books by Dina Marie at Amazon.com.

I kept my eyes on the paper as the door opened. I didn’t dare look up.

“So, you’re… looking to find someone special.”

“Yes.” Annoyance laced his voice. “That
is
why I’m here.”

Alright, I knew it was a stupid question, I mean really why else would anyone come to a matchmaking service.

“Well, you’ve come to the right place. We’re very well known because of our high success rates.”

“So I’ve heard.”

Finally I forced myself to look up, as much as I didn’t want to.

Jason Keen was gorgeous. That’s all there was to it. He had short black hair that he slicked back, and I couldn’t help but wonder if that had been the style he’d worn when he was younger- and normal.

I swallowed dryly as his blue eyes stared at me unblinkingly. He wore a black work shirt with stars one either side above his chest, but even with his sleeves rolled down I could see his muscles flex as he bent his arm and rested his chin on his hand.

“Well, I see you’ve been very… detailed with your application.” He’d all but included what breast size he liked, even stating that he liked exotic women with curves .
Gee, I wonder what means by that.
A smirk spread over my lips at my own thought, then I remembered I had a client in the room. I cleared my throat. “I’m sure there is someone in our database that will fit your needs. We’re hosting a get together this evening, why don’t you attend; I would love to introduce you to a couple people.” I already had one girl in mind for him, they both seemed shallow and vain, it would probably work out between them.

A smile touched his lips. “Thank you.” He stood. “And please, this is of importance. It will need to be quick.”

Yes, yes. True love was always expected to fall quickly into place. Sadly even in the paranormal world people believed in fate, maybe even more so.

My eyes roamed over his body- purely for work of course. I needed to know his body type; and of course some men tried to say they were muscular when… well they very obviously weren’t. I was sure Jason Keen wasn’t lying…
But a girl’s gotta do her job.

“Before you go.” He froze as I stared at him. “I just need to make sure you fit the profile you described on the application. It will be my head if I market a client less than accurately. Please take your shirt off.”

He raised an eyebrow. “For the sake of your work?” He smirked.

“Yes.”

I looked him straight in the eye. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my job. I got to see some of the hottest men and women take their clothes off. I got to verify that they were telling the truth about themselves, and unlike most people in the line of work I didn’t have a paranormal bone in my body.

He chuckled. “Well, if it’s for the sake of your job.” His eyes locked on mine and for the first time in months I felt my cheeks turn warm.

I was used to seeing attractive men and women get naked. I’d long since gotten over reacting, so why was I getting hot?

He unbuttoned his shirt slowly. I resisted the urge to bite my lip, or show any sign of it affecting me as I watched him undress slowly. A tattoo came into view as he removed his shirt. The ink flowed down his ribs. I couldn’t read the words but I could see the dagger that was tattooed, surrounded by the stem of a rose circling its way to the top of the hilt.

“You have a tattoo.”

“Yes.” He looked down at it, then back at me. “Is that okay with you?” He smirked. “Or do you
like
it?”

I looked down at the paper hoping he wouldn’t notice I was staring. “It’s got nothing to do with me.” I said quickly. “I need to know these kinds of things.” I scribbled a note about his tattoo and risked looking up from under my eyelashes. Oh god.

I stared at his abs, each one chiselled perfectly. I swallowed and made another note.

“Alright, you can put your shirt back on.”

“But you didn’t even look.” He mocked. “I thought you wanted to see me naked.”

I took a deep breath hearing the challenge in his voice. I wasn’t some shy little girl. I forced myself to look up, my eyes locked on his for a fraction of a second then flicked up and down his body and our gaze locked again. “Alright.” I forced my voice to come out in a monotone. “You can put your shirt back on Mr. Keen. And leave my office whenever you’re ready.”

He stared at me shortly, then smirked buttoning his shirt back up. “Of course. That thing you mentioned, what time was it?”

“It starts at 7:00. The sooner you arrive the sooner I’ll be able to introduce you to some potential partners.” I watched as he turned and headed towards the door. “One more thing.” He paused. “Your application says you are only interested in women, correct?” He turned to look at me, a grin spread over his face. “I’m only interested in women, yes. Women with
curves
.” His eyes roamed over my body, then rested on the ring on my hand.

I stared at him, waiting for him to turn around and leave my office.

It felt like forever before he did, though it was probably only a minute at most. As soon as he left I let out a sigh and took the fake wedding ring off resting my head against the desk. What the hell was it about him? Why had I reacted that way to him?

I’d had lots of men flirt with me, that was why I wore the ring, but I never really understood why they would bother flirting with me if they were paying for my services to find them a girlfriend. Normally they ring kept them away.

A warm shiver ran down my spine as I thought about his words. Obviously he was talking about me. 
But why do I care?

~

When the part finally arrived I was ready to go. I’d been walking around the room for two hours making sure everything looked just right. Why hadn’t they bothered to hire a party planner? I wasn’t sure myself.

“Jess!” Hank made his way towards me. Than handsome owner of the matchmaking services. I honestly thought most of the girls joined up so they could try to get set up with him. Of course he would never get into a relationship, but everyone who worked here knew that he loved his job. “It looks wonderful.” He touched my arm gently as he looked around the room. “As usual of course.”

“Thanks.”

I’d been ignoring what I thought were his advances for months now, of course he hadn’t actually come out and made a move since we only ever saw each other during work hours, and of course office fraternization was definitely not allowed. Which was almost a shame, Hank was gorgeous, and rich and funny. Every girl in their right mind would want to date him.

“I’m sure the event tonight will be wonderful! Have you got your matches picked out for the night, or do you still have work to do?”

“I’ve got everything sorted out.”

“That’s my girl!” and with that he walked away. Leaving me half an hour to make sure everything was alright, and change into an outfit for the night.

As I stared down at the five outfits I kept around my office I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face as I thought about Jason’s application. I reached for the skirt, remembering that he’d said he liked them. I knew it was silly, after all he’d be out chatting with the ladies all night but the urge to tease overwhelmed me.

I slipped my stocking on, and then pulled the knee length skirt up to my hips. It paired well with a blue silk top and my brown skin stood out nicely against it. I applied a smoky eye, with some gloss and then slipped into a pair of black heels before reaching for the clutch I always used for these kinds of events. All my index cards fit nicely in there, along with my cell phone and everything else I would need for the night. I glanced at the clock.

I had 5 minutes to get to the main room and make sure everything was perfect. Thankfully the walk wasn’t too far, I hurried.

“Jess, there you are!” Hayley gave me a smile. “So, you have a partner for my client? The one… with the fake nose.” She whispered the last bit.

“Yes. He’s a mage.”

Her eyes widened a little. “A mage? Those are hard to pair… you’re sure they will get along well?”

No. “Yes.” I forced a smile. Mages were normally picky, and most other paranormal didn’t want to be with them, after all  you never knew if a mage was fucking with you in some way or not.
Maybe that’s why I was acting like that when I met with him. He was probably pulling a spell on me.

“He’s not… controlling, is he?”

“He didn’t say he was.” What she meant was that her client was a werecat, and we couldn’t risk having a mage who wanted to control her. I forced a smile over my lips. “Anyways, I’ve got a couple other girls lined up for him to meet, so if it doesn’t sound good to your client don’t worry about it.”

“Alright.” I glanced down at my watch. “Alright everyone!” I called. “Let’s open the door and get started!”

I watched as two people made their way over to the door and opened it. My heart skipped a beat as his eyes locked on me. He’d changed into a suit but I could still see his muscles.

My brain screamed to look away, my body screamed to go over there. Instead I just stood there. I knew I should move. I knew I should look away, pretend to be busy with something else and make him wait for me. But I couldn’t.

He came to a stop right in front of me, his eyes roamed over my body. “You look nice.”

“Well I know how much you like skirts. I wanted to impress.” I said dryly. I wasn’t going to admit there was truth behind my statement. I wasn’t going to admit I’d thought about him while picking the outfit out.

He smirked. “Trust me; you’re doing a wonderful job at it.” He fell silent as he looked me up and down once more. My body froze as he stood in front of me. I cleared my throat trying to bring my attention back to him the job. “So, there are four girls here I thought might be a good fit for you.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I only see one.”

“What?” I snapped unable to process what he was saying. I mentally shook myself not wanting to wait for the answer.
This is all some sort of trick
. I reminded myself. “Nichole is a werecat-”

“No.”

“Uh, okay.” That ruled that out. “Well Jasmine is a vampire who is from early England. She’s lived quite the interesting life,
and
she’s wearing a skirt.” I pointed to her quickly before Jason could rule her out too. He turned, looking her up and down and shrugged.

“I’m sure two would get along well.” I said quickly. “But if she doesn’t interest you there is Kail,” I pointed to another girl. “She’s a jinni.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I think I’ll go talk to her.”

I let out a breath of relief. “Alright, just find me if you have any questions.” I took a deep breath and looked around.

“You don’t normally wear skirts.” Hank spoke from behind me.

I jumped turning to face him. “Oh, I um… thought I’d change it up a little.” He was right; I normally wore nice pants, or a dress. I felt myself get warm from embarrassment.

“How are you doing with your clients so far?”

“I’m alright, actually… I have to go find a couple, excuse me.”

“Of course, but come see me when you’re done please. I have something I’d like to speak to you about.” His eyes sparkled.

I nodded and rushed off to find my other clients.

The entire night was pretty much spent with me trying to track down clients and introduce them to other clients and I soon forgot about Jason. When he didn’t come back to me within half an hour I figured he’d found someone to interest him, whether it was one of the girls I suggested or not I didn’t care much; I’d still get a commission if they got together.

I grabbed a glass of wine from a passing server. Jason might be enjoying the night on his own but I had three other clients who were more than in my face. I’d finally managed to find them all someone who might be a good match and it was time for me to relax for a couple seconds; before making sure that the food serving was going well.

“There you are.” His voice sent a shiver down my spine. I turned to face him and suppressed a groan. How was I supposed to make sure the event was running right if clients kept coming back to me?

“How are you enjoying yourself?” I asked putting on my best smile and pretending I wasn’t ready to die.

“I’m fine… you said I should come find you if the girls I met weren’t…”

“Yes.” I nodded cutting him off. “Come with me and we can try to find you a new match.” Most of the time I did need to do this, but it usually wasn’t
this
hard. A lot of people said they didn’t want a mage in their application.

So I led the way into the back rooms where all the offices are and made my way to the back, where my office was.

“I have to admit, it might be a bit of a hard time finding someone for you.” I said. “It’s probably best if we do a search together.” I pushed my office door open and flicked on the light before heading over to my desk. I heard the door close behind me and his footsteps follow me to the desk as I started up my computer and logged onto our database.