Do Me Baby (The Beaumont Series) (2 page)

He shook his head, then moved beside the flat-chested beauty. “Debra, I’m sorry that you had to find out this way, but this is my fiancée, Morgan.”

“Fian—” she stopped because it wasn’t even worth getting loud about. And the last thing she wanted to do was allow another woman to see her fall apart over a man who was clearly not even worth the time of day. “Ain’t this a...”

“Here is the key to the storage unit where I put your stuff.” He said, completely ignoring the hard glare she fired at him. He reached inside his pocket and pulled out a key and gave it to her. “Sorry, Deb.”

“Sorry!” Debra shot back. His cold words were like a fist to the chest, squeezing her air supply. “Is that all you have to say?” She could feel heat sweeping through her, threatening to consume her. After everything they’d shared, didn’t she at least deserve an ounce of respect?

The chick gave her a sympathetic look. The last thing she wanted was pity. Debra took a confrontational step forward and Morgan quickly retreated into the bathroom.

Sony cleared his throat. “Well, thanks for dropping by, but there isn’t anything left in this house that’s yours.”

No, he didn’t just flick his wrist toward the door.
He was so damn controlling. She guessed it came natural for a man who was used to having his way. A man accustomed to getting what he wanted. Well, not any more.

She forced a grin. “I don’t know why I’m even tripping. You’re right. This relationship’s been dead for a long time. Thanks for moving my stuff. You saved me the trouble.” She reached inside her purse for her cell phone and made a show of dialing numbers.

He nodded like he had done her a favor. “No problem. I was trying to make this transition as easy as possible.”

Debra held his gaze before she finally relented with another saccharine smile. “I appreciate that more than you know,” she replied, then brought the phone to her ear as she heard the other line pick up. “Hey, Jaden, this is Debra. Can you send a tow truck around to my apartment and pick up the white Avalanche out front?”

“No problem. I’ll send somebody right over,” he informed her.

“White Avalanche?” Sony repeated as Debra ended the call. “That’s my truck!”

She brought a hand to her hip. “No, boo-boo, that’s
my
truck,” she pointed out. “Remember, you couldn’t finance the truck in your name? So I did it for you.”

He eyed her incredulously. “And I’ve been paying you ever since.” He made a strangled sound of frustration as he added, “On the first of every damn month!”

Her arched brow furrowed in confusion. “Really? I don’t seem to have any memory of that.”

Debra had to resist a laugh. Oh, the look was priceless as he stared at her, his face hard, his eyes wide. Debra snatched the keychain off the dresser, slipped the Chevrolet key off the ring, then headed toward the door with Sony desperately calling after her.

First time, shame on him.

Second time, shame on me.

She stormed out the door, her heart pounding violently against her ribs.

Never would she allow another man to get that close to her again.

Chapter 2

Rance Beaumont parked the BMW to the back of the parking lot, then climbed out, standing to his full seven-two height. He glanced around at all the other people rolling suitcases toward the air-conditioned coach buses and grinned for the first time in days.

Vacation time.

He grabbed his duffle bag from the back seat, then swung it over his shoulder and hit the button on the key ring, locking the car.

His iPhone vibrated at his waist. He reached down, grinned when he realized it was his older brother Reese, and brought the phone to his ear.

“Hey, bro.”

“What’s good with you?” he said.

“I don’t know. You tell me. How was the honeymoon?” The couple had spent fourteen days touring Europe.

“Dude,” he began with a long breath. “It was relaxing. The last thing I wanted to do was come back to the states.”

“I bet. That’s why I’m getting ready to take a little trip myself.”

“Yeah, Mama said something about you taking a weekend cruise. Which one of your chicks you got with you this time?”

“None. I’m learning to be by myself,” Rance replied and thought his brother would be pleased to hear he was taking a little time off from relationships, since he was always in the tabloid with one beauty on his arm after another. Instead, Reese sounded concerned.

“Really? What’s up with that? What did the doctors say about your knee?”

Inwardly, Rance groaned. He was so tired of people asking that same question. Hell if he knew.

Their team had been up six points when Rance—also known as Dr. Dribble—stole the ball, dribbled, dunked, and came down hard on someone’s foot, tearing his ACL. He was out for the rest of the year. Since the start of the new season he’d been back, practicing and running drills when he wasn’t undergoing extensive physical therapy. He thought he was ready, both physically and mentally, but so far no one else agreed.

“They haven’t released me yet to play,” he replied, and was sure Reese heard the frustration in his voice.

“Damn, bro! Does that mean you’re gonna miss the rest of the Eastern Conference?”

“Yep. It appears I’ll be watching from the bench.”

After ten seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, this would be the first time he’d be unable to participate in the excitement. Nothing worse for a starting player than to be replaced by a younger, faster player, although he was certain Thaddeus Young would do an awesome job.

“Damn, sorry to hear that.” His family knew how hard he had been working to rebuild his knee.

“‘Preciate it.”

While chatting with his brother about his therapy program, Rance’s eyes drifted over to a woman standing in front of the trunk of a silver Jetta. As he walked he took a moment to admire her perfectly round ass. She was wearing a striped sundress that stopped right above her ankles, but the form-fitting material left very little to the imagination. As she reached inside the trunk, he noticed the heavy swell of her breasts and succulent hips that were just perfect for a man to hold onto. Bending over, she was assuming the perfect position for her lover to come up from behind and latch on to her waist while pounding them both into sexual bliss.

With a scowl, Rance forced his gaze away. The last thing he needed to be doing was fantasizing about making love to a woman. He had enough problems as it was. And another woman meant nothing but more trouble than he had the energy to handle. The sole purpose of the trip was to get some rest, away from the constant ringing of his phone, and get his head on right so he could focus on his future with the NBA.

“Remember, it ain’t over yet. You still got time to make the playoffs. Although, man, I gotta say, Miami is out for another ring.”

“Not if we can help it,” Rance growled. “Now that the Sixers have drafted a few new players we have more strength to the inside of the game and a better chance at winning the Eastern conference.”

Rance was just passing the Jetta when he heard the woman groan. His head whipped to the right and he noticed her struggling to remove an oversized suitcase from her trunk.

Women
, he thought with a sigh, then headed toward her car. “Reese, I’ll holla at you on Sunday. Tell Dominique I said hello.”

“Will do.”

Rance ended the call and returned the phone to his waist. Without giving it a second thought, he strolled over to the shapely female. “Here, let me help you with that,” he offered.

She jerked around and appeared almost startled by his offer. “No, I’m fine,” she insisted.

“No you’re not.” Without hesitation, Rance reached inside and effortlessly removed the large red suitcase, lowering it onto its wheels in front of her.

“Thank you.”

For the first time Rance lowered his gaze, and the moment he stared down at her face he felt a surge of heat zap his chest. He couldn’t stop looking at her. Beautiful was an understatement. She had a light butterscotch complexion and the greenest eyes he had ever seen on any black woman other than Vanessa L. Williams. A round face was surrounded by long, wavy, honey-brown hair that had been swept up into a perfect ponytail, exposing the long column of her throat and the gold hoops dangling from her ears. Her lips were pouty and pink, perfect for a man’s kiss. Just thinking about leaning in and taking a sample had him stirring in his jeans.

His eyes skimmed her shapely dress again. Love he wanted no part of, but lust was blazing hot and heavy at his loins.

Don’t go there,
he warned himself, but his imagination didn’t want to listen. Feeling frustrated, Rance forced his eyes away and stared down into her trunk, then back up at her again. “Where the hell are you going with all those bags?”

* * *

“Excuse me?” Drawing back, Debra blinked in surprised at the man towering over her. His outburst had caught her completely off guard. How dare he speak to her that way? Sure, he was fine as hell, but that gave him no right to talk to her like she was a child.

“I asked why do you have so many bags for a two-day cruise?”

Lifting her chin, she narrowed her eyes on his gaze. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I need all these things.” Ignoring him, she reached inside the trunk and removed two small totes and swung them on one shoulder, her purse on the other.

“Need all these things for what?” he muttered with a snort. “Let me guess.
That
bag is make-up,
this
one is shoes, and the other is filled with things girls
think
they can’t leave home without.” His voice was teasing, but she didn’t think he was the least bit funny.

Her body stiffened in response. “Listen, I appreciate your help, but the last thing I’m going to do is stand here and let you insult me.”

“I’m not insulting you. C’mon, let’s go before we miss our ride.”

Before she could protest he’d grabbed the handle of her large suitcase and headed toward the bus.

“Wait a minute!” she cried. Debra shut her trunk, armed her alarm, and hurried after him. “I don’t need your help,” she insisted as she moved beside him and tried to retrieve her suitcase.

“Yes, you do.”

“No, I don’t,” she said stubbornly, then hurried around and stood in front of him with her arms crossed just beneath her breasts, forcing him to either stop or walk around her. He chose the latter. She called after him. “Did you hear what I said?”

He stopped, dragged a hand down his face, then looked over his shoulder and said, “Woman, just come on before I lose my patience with you.”

“I don’t need your help,” she repeated, her tone stubborn and challenging as she closed the distance between them and grabbed onto the handle. Their hands collided on contact, and an electric charge ricocheted up her arm.

His grip tightened and he looked directly down at her. As soon as their eyes met Debra drew in a slow, shaky breath. She hadn’t realized just how tall he was until he was towering over her. Seven feet, maybe more, and he had the darkest sable brown eyes she had ever seen in her life.

The handsome stranger gave her a final once-over before meeting her gaze again. He shrugged. “Clearly, you got it figured out.” He released the handle, pushed the suitcase to a halt in front of her, and headed toward the buses. Debra took a deep breath, shaking off the effects of his presence, then reached for the handle and rolled the suitcase alongside her. Unfortunately, with the other bags on her arms she had a hard time pulling the suitcase without bumping into the smaller ones she was already carrying on her shoulders. She made several clumsy attempts at maneuvering between two parked cars before she opted to take the long way by going down to the end of the row of cars and taking the path up to the front of the parking lot. But even that was hard to manage.

“Are you ready to admit you need my help?”

She startled. She had been so busy trying to maneuver her bags, she hadn’t seen Mr. Tall and Sexy standing a few feet away with his arms crossed and his large duffle bag slung across a wide, broad chest. As she stared up at him she suddenly noticed there was something familiar about him. She wasn’t sure where she’d seen him before, but he had that type of face a woman just didn’t forget.

“Okay, I need help,” she admitted tightly.

Chuckling, he walked over and retrieved the rolling suitcase and accidently brushed her shoulder. Again her entire body jittered with heat.

He whistled while he walked away and she hurried to catch up with his wide strides, growing increasingly frustrated with every step.

“What do you do, stalk parking lots looking for damsels in distress?” she blurted.’

He looked over at her, brow drawn. “Not at all. You just looked like you needed my help.”

Debra blew out a long breath. The last thing she wanted was to need a man, especially after that fiasco with Sony. She’d never forgotten how he’d crammed all her belongings so tightly into the small ten-by-ten storage container, several of her items had been either scratched or damaged.

But the biggest flaw had been the damage done to her heart. As a result, she hadn’t needed or wanted a man, even the sexy one standing beside her.

As they walked she tried to ignore the smell of his cologne, a subtle smell that made her want to bury her nose right at the base of his neck and shoulder and inhale. She released a sigh of relief when they finally reached the bus where a porter was waiting to take their bags.

“See you later,” he said, then rolled her suitcase over toward the porter so it could be loaded at the bottom of the bus. He walked over to the stairs to board.

“Thanks again,” Debra mumbled under her breath. She was sure she’d see him all weekend long, but considering the way he made her feel, the best thing to do would be to stay as far away from him as possible.

Debra waited until he had boarded before she walked to the porter and handed him one of her two bags. One held her toiletries and the other held her laptop and camera. She didn’t want to take a chance at either getting broken, so she had packed them separately. Debra got in line. While waiting to board she reached inside her purse for her phone and quickly checked her messages. Of course her best friend had texted her.

Have a great trip!

She couldn’t resist a smile. Bianca always knew how to make her feel good. The two-day cruise to nowhere was just what she needed to take her mind off work and her nonexistent love life.

She had driven down to Norfolk the night before and had hung out with her cousin Jena, whom she hadn’t seen in over a year. Debra sighed. She had been so busy growing her business that she had barely taken time off for herself. But the cruise had been a birthday present from Bianca. Her friend knew she couldn’t afford to take off for a seven-day cruise like the one Bianca had recently taken with her husband for their fifth anniversary, but when Bianca told Debra she had booked her onto a weekend getaway, Debra had no excuse but to close the shop, pack her bags and go. Otherwise she would never have heard the end of it. Last night she and Jena had camped in the living room in pajamas on sleeping bags, and shared stories about their failed relationships. However, nothing Jena shared topped Debra’s encounter with Sony and his fiancée.