Nothing's Sweeter than Candy (6 page)

She fed him grapes, sunshine, laughter, and kisses, and he greedily took all that she offered. He could lie there forever with his head in her lap and her fingers running lightly, lovingly through his hair. They spent the day bathing in joy, whispering of love and wishing for forever after—until a sudden shift in the wind brought the smell of the ocean with the late evening breeze. His heart fluttered as he felt the harbinger of change that drifted in on the wind.

She stood and turned her head, listening to a voice only she could hear that seemed to come from the ocean beyond. He came to his knees and took her hand and placed it on his heart, to keep her with him a while longer. “No. Not yet,” he begged. She smiled sadly and touched her fingers first to her lips then to his, then turned and ran across the meadow toward a stand of trees. Her white wrap flowed and billowed loosely in the breeze. She was a spirit in the wind.

He jumped up to follow, running through the trees to stop her. When he reached the end of the woods, he saw her standing at the edge of an overhanging cliff, facing the waters with her arms held high above her head. She looked like a high priestess. Her voice rose in song and went out across the waters to answer the call. The sound, melodic and magical, held him immobile, frozen in place. She spun and gave him one last look, then turned back to the ocean and jumped off the cliff's edge.

The spell broken, he ran forward to look over into the depths, to only see the white wrap floating on the incoming tide. He dropped to his knees, his face in his hands and his shoulders shuddering from grief and loss, until he heard a loud splash and the siren's musical voice once more. And there she was. Her beautiful hair had thickened and lengthened to cover her now-naked torso. Her arms were wrapped in golden bangles, and her necklace sparkled and glittered with the light of the setting sun. She cupped her hands to her mouth and sent a message on the wind, whispering that she loved him and that she'd see him again.

Then she was gone. The last thing he saw were the beautiful, iridescent blue-green scales of a very large fanned fishtail as it disappeared into the ocean ...

Brice stuffed his face into his pillow and groaned out loud. Too much alcohol and too much imagination equaled one hell of a dream. He rolled over flat on his back and stared up at the ceiling. He was stunned by the detailed memory of color, texture, and emotion—especially the emotion. It was so real he swore he could literally feel an ache in his chest.

“That's the last time I try to drink an entire bottle of tequila all by myself.” He dragged himself out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom and was confronted by his reflection in the mirror. He saw sleep-tangled hair, the darkened shadow of a morning beard, and bloodshot eyes. He was still fully clothed.
What the hell happened last night?

He stripped and got into the shower, hoping the hot water would clear the cobwebs. It helped, some. But his head hurt like hell. Afterward, he wrapped a towel around his waist and put on a pot of coffee.

The first sip of the hot liquid scalded his tongue and throat as it traveled down to his stomach. He didn't care that it hurt. The pain was penance for his stupidity. He took another sip, more cautiously now, and let the black gold warm him inside and ease the thumping in his head. He took his coffee and stumbled over to the breakfast nook and sat down. He lowered the cup with still shaking hands and turning his jumbled thoughts inward, he began to take silent inventory of his life.

At thirty-five, he was still single. It was by choice, not by fate. He enjoyed his life the way it was: free and uncomplicated. He wasn't afraid to settle down, but dammit, he wasn't ready yet. He'd watched as most of his friends took the plunge either into committed relationships or matrimony, David being the most recent to fall. So far he'd managed to sidestep the trap and keep his distance, but it seemed that everywhere he looked, love was in the air.
Like some kind of virus.
And he had a sinking feeling that he was about to be infected. Because no matter how hard he tried to fight it, he knew with every fiber of his being that Candace Brown was every bit the threat he'd first perceived.

“Doctor Jeffers's office, how may I help you?”

“Hi, Candace, it's Brice. How are you doing today?”

“Hello, Brice. This is a surprise.” There was a slightly puzzled note in her voice. “Isn't it customary to give a potential client a couple of days to review the proposal?” Her teasing lyrical lilt poured through his veins.

“Yeah, I know it's ridiculously early to be calling, but I guess I'm feeling a bit anxious. What did your boss think of my proposal?” He was stalling. For the first time in his life, he didn't know what to say to a woman.

“To be honest, I haven't brought it to her yet. She's been busy. But I promise I'll get with her today, even if I have to tie her to her chair.”

“Yeah, okay. That's great, Candace.” He paused and took a big breath.
Get to the point, you idiot, before you lose your nerve.
“But I think I should come clean about the real reason I called.”

“There's another reason?”

“Yeah, there is. To be honest, I didn't call to ask about the proposal at all.”

“You didn't?”

“No. I called to ask if you'd have dinner with me.”

“Excuse me?”

“I'm inviting you to have dinner with me.”

“Yes, I'm sorry. Of course you are.” She sounded confused. “I heard you the first time. You just took me by surprise, that's all. Why are you asking me out to dinner? You don't even know me.”

“That's why I'm asking you out. I want to get to know you.” He contemplated all of ten seconds before making up his mind. He'd gone this far; he might as well take the plunge. “Look, Candace, I'm going to be honest with you. I've been trying to avoid this very thing since the first time I saw you, and I don't mean yesterday. We both know we were in the same place at the same time four days ago. I was attracted to you then and it grew even more after our meeting. And, at the risk of blowing the possibility of your saying yes to my out of left field invitation, I may as well confess that I engineered the entire security meeting just to meet you face-to-face.
And
before you get the wrong idea, I'm not a stalker or a psycho, because believe me, I really tried to ignore the attraction. But I figured the best way to get you out of my system was to ask you out, and try to find something about you that I couldn't possibly like.”

• • •

Although taken completely by surprise, Candace found his self-proclaimed predicament endearing and she couldn't help but interject a bit of humor into the moment. “I'm sorry to hear I've been the source of such irritation. I can't help but feel that I'm an innocent party in this, um, situation. However, I'd like to point out that we have a pending contract proposal between our two businesses. Now, in my mind, that presents a problem that falls somewhere between personal influence and professional ethics. For all I know, you may be trying to wine and dine me for the sake of a signature on a contract.”

“No problem, I'll withdraw the proposal. Consider it null and void, and you can shred it.”

“Wait a minute.” She laughed. “I like the proposal, and my boss needs what you have to offer.”

“Then make up your mind, woman,” he teased. “What'll it be? Are you going to let a small thing like ‘ethics' stand between doing the right thing and saving a man's reputation?”

“Reputation? What sort of reputation are we talking about?”

“I'll tell you all about it over dinner when you say yes.”

“How about I let you know later? I need time to think this over.”

“Sure, Candace, no problem. But to give you some peace of mind, we can meet anywhere you want, and I'll leave you with all my personal info. I don't want you to feel pressured or uncomfortable. I want you to feel safe.”

She smiled at his thoughtfulness. She'd been on plenty of dates, but never with a guy who'd ever
been so concerned about her state of mind. That alone was pushing the odds in his favor. “Okay, Brice, I'll take your invitation into consideration and get back to you later today.” After taking down his personal information, they talked for a little while longer. He cracked jokes as he plead his case and had her laughing out loud.

She was still glowing over the call when Joyce arrived at the office.

“Good morning,” Joyce delivered her normal cheerful greeting, then immediately became suspicious upon seeing the look on Candace's face. “Okay, spill it, right now. What's put that ear-to-ear grin on your face this early in the day? Because whatever it is, I want some of it.”

“Oh Joyce, you'll never guess what happened,” she said, excited. “But I think I need your advice.”

“All right.” Joyce quickly put her things down and came around to lean against the edge of her desk. “Ask away. I can't wait to hear what has you so giddy.”

“Mr. Coleman called and asked me out to dinner.” Candace recounted Brice's confession about how he'd engineered the whole affair, ending the story with a question in her eyes. “So, what do you think? Should I or shouldn't I?”

“He certainly is resourceful, I'll give him that. And at least he was honest enough to fess up. But I think that the real question is, do you
want
to go out with the man or not?”

“Yes. But I don't want to feel like it's a crazy
thing to do. Considering he practically admitted to stalking me.”

“Do you have his phone number?”

“Yes.”

“Give it to me.”

Candace warily handed over the number and watched Joyce punch it into the phone. Joyce was a consummate professional and an expert at handling tense circumstances, knowing exactly how to defuse a situation. But there were also times like now, when she could be brash and unpredictable. There was no telling what was about to come out of her mouth.

“May I speak with Mr. Brice Coleman, please? Mr. Coleman? Hi, this is Dr. Joyce Jeffers, Candace's boss. Yes, hello. I'm fine, thank you. No, I'm not calling about the proposal; it's about another matter entirely. Candace tells me you've asked her out on a date, but she has concerns, considering the circumstances behind your invitation. So here's what's going to happen.
I
will retain possession of your personal information. I will expect a call when she arrives for the date and another when it's over. I'm her backup plan, just in case you turn out to be some kind of psycho nut job who wines and dines and abducts his dates. If I do not hear from her at those designated intervals, I will call the authorities to report a kidnapping. And believe me, one call is all it will take. Do I make myself clear? Good. Now, here's Candace. You two can hash out the details. Enjoy your date.”

Joyce grinned and winked at Candace as she handed over the phone and then picked up her things and went into her office, closing the door behind her.

Candace stared after Joyce in shock as she put the phone to her ear. “Brice. I'm so sorry. I had no idea she'd say those things. It's okay if you've changed your mind; I'll understand completely.” To her surprise, on the other end of the phone was loud, irrepressible laughter.

“Wow,” he said when he'd finally caught his breath. “That is one cool lady. I like her.”

“You mean you're not upset?”

“Of course not. She's just looking out for you. I can't fault her for that. You're lucky to have someone who cares that much. Just give her everything she needs, and I'll be sure that you make those calls. I want to go out with you, Candace, but I don't want to end up in jail.”

They made dinner plans for Saturday evening, and Brice was still chuckling when he said goodbye.

They agreed to meet on Saturday evening at a popular restaurant in the downtown district. Brice made reservations for seven o'clock and was now standing in the lobby waiting impatiently for her arrival. He couldn't believe how anxious he was to see her again. When at last he saw her walking toward him, beautiful and serene, all the feelings of anxiety and impatience miraculously melted away. She smiled and held out her hand to greet him, which he raised to brush against his lips and then placed in the crook of his arm.

They followed the maître d' to a table in the middle of the large room and were seated amid the quiet din of laughter and conversation. The room was dimly lit with recessed lighting in the ceiling and along the walls, and flickering tea lights were placed inside crystal sconces on every table. Soft music playing quietly from an unknown source provided a romantic ambiance. When the waiter arrived, they ordered drinks and settled back to relax and enjoy the atmosphere.

“So, Brice, I'm dying to hear why you orchestrated such an elaborate scheme to find me. I'm flattered, but I can't imagine what it must have taken to pull it off, especially since we'd never even spoken to one another.”

“It wasn't as difficult as you might think. After all, it's my business to know how people and corporations tick. I search for their vulnerabilities and exploit them in order to make them safe against an attack. I simply applied the same skills to find you. In other words, I lied my ass off.”

She chuckled. “But why did you do it?”

“Because,” he responded without hesitation, “I couldn't get you out of my head. You were a puzzle, and you presented a challenge with way too many questions. I needed answers.” He paused and gave her a direct, meaningful look. “I need to know if you're as dangerous as I think you are.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means,” he said as he leaned forward and put his elbows on the table, “that I'd like to get to know you better. You fascinate me, Candace, and I'm not easily fascinated by women.” Her eyebrows rose, and she crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side.