Another Woman's Man (25 page)

Dawn kissed him back, tentatively at first but then more vigorously, until they were both panting and drinking in one another. She felt herself being pressed against her office wall. Her head grazed one of the paintings' frames. Her shoulder bumped her metal shelf and several books and catalogs tumbled to the floor, but she barely noticed. With his tongue in her mouth and his hands on her body again, the world around her faded.

“Damn, I missed you,” he murmured before hungrily kissing her again. She whimpered in response.

She felt his hand reach up to caress her breast and she shuddered. When he began to fiddle with the buttons of her blouse, she let him, even helping him to undo a few. When her shirt was open and her bra was bared, Xavier lowered his mouth to her collarbone. She loved the dual sensation of his wet tongue and the rough bristles of his chin and cheek on her skin. He switched his focus to the swell of her breasts over her bra, kissing them both and nipping at her.

“Oh, God,” she groaned breathlessly as her eyes fluttered closed. A dampness formed between her thighs.

When he kissed her again, fisting his hands in her hair, she blindly reached for the zipper of his jeans. At that moment, she didn't care that they were in her office and that only a few feet away gallery staff and contractors were preparing the exhibit floor space for tomorrow night's show. She wanted Xavier. She wanted him inside her and she wouldn't feel whole again until he was.

He must have felt the same, because he shimmied up the hem of her pencil skirt until it was around her waist. He shoved his hand into the front of her thong, needing the wetness on his fingers.

“Dawn,” Kevin said as he knocked gently on her office door. “Hey, Dawn,” he said again, pushing the door open, “sorry to interrupt, but you're needed on the—
Oh, shit!
”

At the sound of Kevin's voice, Dawn opened her eyes, popping out of her lust-filled haze. Xavier jumped back from her. She turned toward the doorway, closing her shirt and shoving down her skirt. Meanwhile, Xavier raised the zipper of his jeans.

“Sorry, Dawn!” Kevin's face went beet red. He flapped his arms helplessly. “I didn't mean to . . . you know . . . I thought you said to—”

“Um, no, it's . . . it's OK, Kev.” She reached up to smooth her disheveled hair but then realized that her shirt only popped open again when she did that. She brought down her arms and clenched the front of her blouse closed. “Mr. Hughes and I were just . . . just about done. I'll be out soon.”

“Oh, don't rush on my account!” Kevin said with a grin. “I can take care of everything out here.”

“Th-thanks, Kev.”

He nodded and began to close the door, but paused to give her a saucy wink before shutting the door completely behind him.

“Good Lord, that was embarrassing!” Dawn said, dropping her face into her hands.

Xavier chuckled. “Oh, come on. It wasn't that bad. He seemed to find it amusing!”

She looked up at him, astonished. “
Wasn't that bad?
My assistant caught you with your hand shoved down the front of my crotch. I'm surprised
you're
not embarrassed.” She squinted, eyeing him more carefully. “In fact, why
aren't
you embarrassed? The prim-and-proper Xavier Hughes that I know would go rushing out to apologize.”

He shrugged. “I guess the events of the last couple of months have forced the old Xavier Hughes to pull that stick out of his ass.”

She redid the buttons on her top. “He wasn't
that
bad.”

“I was a self-righteous, judgmental know-it-all. Admit it.”

She held up her index finger and thumb. “Just a little.”

“But I'm not anymore.” He grabbed her shoulders, making her drop her hands to her sides. “I've been humbled and I'm prepared to beg you to take me back . . . to love me again. If it means making an ass out of myself doing it, I will.”

“I don't want you to beg or make an ass out of yourself, Xavier. That's not—”

“I will if it'll work.” He rubbed her shoulders. “This past week without you, not seeing you or hearing from you, has been the shittiest I've had in a long time.”

“It has been for me too,” she admitted softly.

“The way that we met wasn't the greatest. Point taken. But frankly, I don't care anymore. If I had to do it all over again, I would. I want to be with you! Just . . . just give me a second chance, Dawn, I swear I won't—”

She placed a hand on his lips, stopping him midsentence. “So this is what it's like to be with a lawyer. You're really set on pleading your case, aren't you? You think if you keep talking that you're going to convince me?”

He tugged her hand away from his lips and held it against his chest. “I figured if I keep talking, it doesn't give you a chance to say no,” he answered honestly.

She snorted. “And that's where you have me wrong, Xavier.”

He grimaced.

“Because I wasn't going to say no.”

Xavier suddenly broke into a smile, looking every bit like a boy who had just wandered into his perfect idea of heaven. His elation at having her back made a warmth surge in her chest. He loved her and he wanted her: a straitlaced, no-nonsense guy like him had fallen for a woman like her, and she hadn't used any of the Gibbons family arsenal of wiles to seduce him.

Wonders never cease,
she thought.

He leaned forward to kiss her again.

“No!” she said, shoving her hand against his chest, holding him back. She laughed. “No more of that! This is my office and a place of business, Mr. Hughes. I just started working for this gallery a few weeks ago. I'm not trying to get fired this soon for inappropriate behavior!”

“I see.” He looked a little crestfallen, but quickly recovered. “Well, how about we save that inappropriate behavior for tonight, then? I'll make you dinner at my place and—”

“Have me for dessert?” she finished for him.

“Exactly!” A twinkle returned to his gray eyes. “Are you sure I can't get just one . . . just
one
more kiss before I leave?”

She pursed her lips, pretending to consider his question for several seconds. She sighed dramatically. “Well, all right. I guess you—”

She didn't get a chance to finish. He wrapped her in his arms and kissed her, knocking the breath out of her.

“I
think I'm more anxious tonight than I've
ever
been for any exhibit,” Dawn said as she wrung her hands. She nervously looked around Sawyer Gallery, watching as the throng of people mingled over hors d'oeuvres and champagne while ogling the paintings on the wall.

She then jumped in surprise when she felt someone wrap an arm around her waist. She looked up to find Xavier smiling down at her.

“Calm down,” he urged, turning her around to face him. He kissed her and she felt herself relax a little. “Don't be so worried.”

It was funny that he was the one uttering those words, considering only seven months ago
he
had been the one who looked tense when he set foot in her gallery. Now he looked like the image of cool in his jeans, T-shirt, and fashionable sport coat. She rarely saw him in his staid business suits anymore now that he no longer worked as general counsel at Allen Enterprises and had become the new director at the community center. He had even talked about donating a few of his old getups to Goodwill.

“How can I not be worried?” Dawn asked him, glancing over her shoulder at the room again. “There's a lot riding on tonight.”

Maddie had been kind enough to let Dawn use the space for a fund-raiser for the community center. Dawn had some of the more talented art students at the center contribute pieces to the exhibit. She also had asked (and begged) a few local artists to do the same. She'd even contributed one of her own works. The proceeds from the art sales would go toward getting laptops for a new computer lab for the kids.

A few of those kids were in attendance tonight, mingling with the rest of the exhibit patrons. Tanisha, the girl whom Dawn had coaxed into skating at the ice-skating rink, was here with her mother. For the special occasion, Tanisha wore a purple and black taffeta dress and her braids in ringlets. She stood proudly in front of one of her canvases talking to a curious patron while her mother beamed as she stood at Tanisha's side.

Dawn smiled at Tanisha then squinted as she gazed across the exhibit hall, eyeing what looked like an empty champagne glass sitting on one of the sculpture podiums.

“Are you kidding me? I can't believe some people!” She started to walk toward the offending glass. “I swear if you want something done right, you have to—”

Xavier followed her gaze and grabbed her arm before she could go stomping off. “It's all right,” he said softly. “Look.”

He pointed to one of the waiters, who grabbed the glass and placed it on his silver tray already filled with dirty glasses and used napkins.

“See,” Xavier said, rubbing her shoulders, “everything's covered. It's one of the few times when everything is going as it should. No drama.” He grinned. “Take a deep breath and just enjoy the night.”

Dawn slowly exhaled. Xavier was right. Considering what they had been through in the past several months, she should treasure these blissful moments.

At least she was no longer warring with the Allens, though truth be told, that war had been mostly one-sided. Raquel, who had already been furious at Dawn, went on a rampage when she found out that Xavier had left Constance to run away with Constance's older half sister. Raquel went forward with her smear campaign and pushed even harder to have Dawn prove that she was Herbert's legitimate daughter.

When Raquel started attacking both Dawn
and
Yolanda publicly, Dawn decided she couldn't take it anymore. To attack her was one thing. To attack her mama was something completely different. Gibbons girls didn't go out like that! To keep Xavier out of it, she got a lawyer on her own—the one that Cynthia recommended who could “kick ass and take names.” The lawyer immediately submitted a motion to the court that if Dawn had to prove she was Herbert's legitimate daughter, so did Constance. Dawn would therefore submit to a blood test if her sister
also
did one. Dawn wasn't sure of the purpose of that tactic, since Constance was obviously Herb's daughter, but her lawyer said to trust him.

“I don't get paid this much money to waste your time, sweetheart,” he had proclaimed before propping his Cole Haans up on his office desk.

Shockingly, the lawyer had been right. Raquel immediately withdrew her challenge to the will and her request that Dawn submit to a blood test. That only left folks to wonder whether Yolanda was the only one who “got around” and whether Beautiful Constance was really an Allen after all.

“What's that old saying? Mama's baby, daddy's maybe,” the lawyer had said over the phone with a chuckle when he told Dawn that the will would proceed according to Herb's wishes.

After all creditors were paid, the lawyers took their cut, and money was bequeathed to the charities that Herb requested, his surviving relatives—Raquel, Constance, and Dawn—would split the remaining fortune. Though Dawn now stood a strong chance of being a millionaire thanks to her father's death, she would much rather her father be alive than have his money. She wondered if her half sister Constance felt the same.

Speaking of Constance, the last Dawn and Xavier had heard was that she had moved out of Windhill Downs . . . and moved in with that self-entitled asshole Byron Lattisaw. Now that Byron was going through a nasty divorce from his wife since his affair with Monique Spencer had come to light, the two formerly secret lovers were free to come out into the open. Despite finding out that Constance had been cheating on him with Byron during their entire relationship, Xavier no longer held malice toward them.

“I refuse to carry around that baggage with me,” Xavier had confessed to Dawn one night while they lay in bed. “I want to focus on what I have going on now . . . on us.”

Though he had to admit, he openly speculated how rosy a future Constance and Byron faced now that Byron might have to dole out a big divorce settlement to his wife and pay a lot of child support to his baby mama. But word around town was that he and Constance were engaged.

While their engagement was on, it looked like Yolanda's engagement to Reginald was officially off. Their relationship had never really recovered after that near shooting at the almost-wedding in March.

Beatrice was behind bars, but Yolanda said she didn't want to have to worry about another one of Reginald's old girlfriends or side pieces coming after her with a pistol or any other weapon. Reginald seemed heartbroken, but accepted the breakup.

Dawn secretly suspected that her mother calling off the engagement had less to do with fear for her life and more to do with the fact that her mortgage was paid off and almost all her outstanding debts were settled. She could afford, emotionally and financially, to let Reginald go. But Dawn didn't feel too sorry for Reginald. She doubted a rich widower like him would stay single for long.

As for finding her own rich man, Dawn had officially retired from the hustle, to Cynthia's great disappointment.

“Another one bites the dust,” Cynthia had muttered with a droll roll of her eyes when Xavier came to his first Saturday Gibbons family brunch.

But it wasn't just her inheritance that influenced her decision. She was truly in love with Xavier. Plus, after thirty-seven years, two husbands, and numerous rich boyfriends, she wasn't interested in the chase anymore.

“Are you OK now?” Xavier asked, breaking into the bubble of her thoughts.

Dawn dropped her head to his broad shoulder and smiled. “Yeah, I'm fine. Taking a deep breath helped a lot. Thanks.”

“No problem,” he said, rubbing her back again. His gaze drifted over her shoulder as he looked around the hall. “It's amazing that you did this. The kids will really appreciate it.”

“No, what they'll appreciate is those damn laptops.” She laughed. “But if we don't raise enough money tonight, I've got a few millions coming my way. I'll be happy to spend some of it on computers.”

“Herb would be proud of what you're doing,” he whispered in her ear, making her eyes glisten. She instantly choked up.

“Damn it!” She slapped his arm then flapped her hands in front of her eyes. “Don't get me started! I'm going to mess up my mascara.”

“Well, he
would
be proud. Doing stuff like this is a good way to continue his legacy. He was definitely a giver.”

She nodded sadly. “He was, wasn't he? I hope I can do his legacy justice.”

“You can . . . in more ways than one,” Xavier said cryptically as he brushed back a lock of her hair, making her frown.

“What do you mean?”

He tilted his head and slyly pursed his lips. “Well, I'd bet he'd love for the Allen genes to go on another generation.”

Dawn cocked a finely arched eyebrow.

“And you keep reminding me how old you are . . . and frankly, you aren't getting any younger,” he continued.

She yanked his arm from around her waist. “Neither is my uterus, which practically needs a walker at my age, by the way.”

“Oh, come on, Dawn, your uterus isn't geriatric! And you're great with kids! Wouldn't you like one of your own?”

“What I'd like is a drink,” she said as she walked away from him toward the waiting arms of a martini.

“I can see it now,” he shouted after her with laughter in his voice, drawing amused stares from those around him. “You waddling through the gallery. Pudding stains on the exhibits!”

“Shut up,” she mouthed. She then gave one last menacing glare at him before turning back around and grinning ear to ear.