Winning Dawn (2 page)

Catherine rolled her eyes, but she smiled in a good natured manner. “That sounds like a good idea. I’ll treat.”

Kayla’s mouth dropped open. “Now I’ve heard everything.”

“We’ve got so much planning to do,” Dawn enthused. “I need paper.” They spent the rest of breakfast discussing wedding plans. Afterwards, they went shopping. Most of it was window shopping. She’d already purchased lingerie for her own honeymoon. It had been the first thing she purchased and that had been at Reggie’s urging. But the fervor for shopping for her wedding or making any type of plans had sort of fizzled. Not that the lingerie would get much use, she thought with a frown. She couldn’t recall the last time she and Reggie had made love. Was it last month? Was that why she’d reacted so passionately to Evan’s touch?

She thought back over Evan’s kisses and felt herself growing warm and wet all over again. She blushed. She glanced around quickly and dropped the lacy black sleeve of the robe she’d been fingering.

“Think Josh will like me in this?” Kayla asked, holding up a purple lace teddy.

Aunt Catherine choked. Dawn laughed. “I think he’ll like you in anything and absolutely nothing.” She knew she was right. Not so very long ago when she thought that Reggie was cheating on her, she’d stayed at Kayla’s house for a couple of days. Turns out that it was his cousin’s number she’d found in his pocket while cleaning out his pants before doing the laundry. His cousin was a jeweler and he’d commissioned a ring for her. It was lovely and simple. A one carat diamond sat in the center of two sapphire baguettes. Dawn was so afraid of losing it that she didn’t wear it most days. She wasn’t wearing it now.

It was while she was at Kayla’s house that she’d witnessed a bit of the passion that she and Josh shared. If she hadn’t walked into the room, she knew they would have made love at the door. She’d been so envious. She wondered if Evan was a demanding lover. The way he’d kissed her and held her seemed to indicate he might be somewhat domineering. She could see him holding her down and—No! She was engaged to Reggie. They had a history. He was her future.

She inhaled and tried to focus as they went from shop to shop.

* * * *

Evan woke up sweaty and hard, his hips grinding into his mattress with enough force to make the bed squeak. He flipped over with a muffled curse once he realized what he was doing. HThis was the third time this week e’d dreamt of having Dawn pinned beneath him, crying out as he rammed his cock deeper and deeper into her tight cunt.

It was just a kiss. He hadn’t even intended to do it. One moment she’d been about to strike him, looking adorable and furious, and the next he’d captured her lips with his own. And she’d responded to him. She’d looked surprised. Surprised and hot. If she hadn’t stopped him, he would have claimed her right there in the hallway where anyone from the party could have easily seen them.

He had only been in her presence a handful of times. Dawn tended to be honest and outspoken. Those were traits he had himself and admired in his friends. He would have thought she would have been grateful for his honesty when he told her that her boyfriend was an ass. His ex-wife Sylvia had told him that he was socially dense. In this instance, she would have been right. He should have kept his mouth shut and his opinion to himself.

Dawn was lovely with big chocolate eyes and smooth, creamy skin. She had a figure to die for, voluptuous in all the right places. His palms grew sweaty at the thought of her full breasts. Her bottom was perfectly rounded. He now knew from experience that it fit his hands as though it was made solely for him.

Evan swore. What a mess. He reminded himself that she was engaged. What he needed was an end to his dry spell. It had been more than six months since he last had sex. He hadn’t felt up to the effort of putting up a front of bullshit to get through the torture that was dating. If he found someone else, he could get over this inconvenient fixation. He didn’t want to cause trouble between Kayla and Josh. If he fucked Kayla’s cousin, he would definitely bring about some bad blood because he wasn’t interested in a commitment. He’d had that and it had been nothing but a sham. Breaking up Dawn’s engagement so that he could get his fill of her wouldn’t endear him to Kayla any. She and Josh had waited long enough to find happiness together. He wouldn’t do anything to endanger that.

He slid out of bed and went to take a cold shower. She was probably fucking that dickhead fiancé of hers right now, Evan reminded himself. The thought made him unaccountably angry.

He was scheduled to play basketball with some friends today. His buddy Lucas had wanted to set him up with his girlfriend’s friend for some time now. Maybe he’d finally take him up on his offer.

Chapter 2

The weeks slipped by and before she knew it, it was time for Kayla’s wedding rehearsal. Her cousin and Joshua were eager to get married. Despite the fact that Christmas was still over a month away, they would have a holiday themed wedding. It had been Kayla’s dream since childhood.

Reggie wanted to save up money for their wedding and honeymoon. He was working extra hours at his uncle’s garage. She’d even agreed to some overtime at the law office where she worked as an administrative assistant. As a result, she and Reggie weren’t spending much time together.  

Dawn attempted to keep up a cheerful façade as she assisted Kayla with her wedding plans. Even as she pretended to be excited by the idea of male strippers for Kayla’s bachelorette party, inside she was riddled with doubt about her own engagement. She and Reggie still had not discussed a wedding date. They both worked so many hours that they barely crossed paths.

Then there was Evan. She hadn’t seen him since that night, but she couldn’t forget him or the “Incident,” as she had come to think of it. How could she? It made her question her feelings for Reggie despite the fact that she’d loved him for what seemed forever.

The truth was she and Reggie didn’t have much in common. They didn’t share the same interests. His were centered on gaming, cars, poker, and hanging out with his cousins. Her interests were more broad and varied, but games and vehicles were not amongst them.

Their goals were disparate. Reggie was fine with their current townhouse, their current jobs. No change at all was fine by him. Dawn had hopes of going back to school, completing her business degree, and finding a better job.

She was beginning to fear that she wasn’t in love with Reggie anymore. Even thinking it made her short of breath. She’d devoted so much of her life and her time to him that she couldn’t imagine her life without him. Prior to the “Incident,” she had never even imagined not being with him forever.

Yet at night, she was having hot, wicked dreams about Evan. She willed them to go away, but her subconscious was stubborn and suddenly fixated on that outspoken white boy despite the fact that it had been two months since their encounter.

She’d never dated interracially. It was anathema to her. Now all she could think of was his tanned hands on her brown body. Maybe it was the subtle taboo of race mixing that excited her, but she didn’t think so. No, it was the man himself. She’d be in bed or in the shower and suddenly she’d be assailed with the memory of the clean scent of him. Or she’d recall his minty taste. Or her nipples tingled at the remembered feel of his hard, toned muscles pressing into hers.

The one time Reggie had tried to make love to her in the last two months, she’d turned him down, claiming to have a headache. But the horrifying truth was that she hadn’t wanted him. She hadn’t wanted his wet kisses or fumbling caresses. 

She felt guilty about her fantasies about Evan. Especially so when she used those fantasies to achieve an orgasm. She felt it would have been wrong to sleep with Reggie while she fantasized about another man she knew. It wasn’t the same as pretending he was Lance Gross or Jesse Williams. She had no chance of ever meeting either of those actors.

The rehearsal dinner was being held a week before the wedding. If Dawn didn’t love her cousin so much, she’d have been eaten up with envy. Her aunt Catherine was footing the bill for the wedding of Kayla’s dreams. Throughout the rehearsal, Josh looked at her cousin as though she were the only woman in the world.

At the dinner afterwards, she was seated across from Evan. Throughout the proceedings, they had managed to avoid acknowledging each other. Evan gave her a terse nod of greeting as he seated his date. Dawn returned it with a cool nod of her own as she seated herself. Reggie was already seated to her right. She eyed Evan’s date surreptitiously. The woman was as thin as she was pale and she was whiter than milk. Dawn didn’t doubt that the woman was a natural blonde because of her ghostly complexion, but her hair was bleached to an unnatural degree. There was also the telling fact that her brows were a darker shade. Her eyes were a light sky blue.

Well, she thought, this ought to put an end to the dreams she was having of Evan. If this skinny woman was his type, then he couldn’t possibly be harboring any amorous intentions toward her generous caramel curves. She thought she might have caught his gaze on her occasionally, but decided it was wishful thinking. Besides, she was with Reggie.

* * * *

Later that night, Dawn punched her pillow to make a comfortable dent for her head. Reggie slid into bed behind her. His arm curved around her waist. He toyed with the string on her pajama bottoms.

Dawn stiffened.

“Wanna?” he murmured against her neck. He thrust his hips at her. He was already erect.

She couldn’t recall the last time they were intimate. His wet lips hit her neck. Dawn grimaced. Reggie’s kisses were perpetually too wet. She’d told him a dozen times as gently as she could to no avail. He started doing circles with his hips, rubbing his erection into her backside. She closed her eyes and tried to get into the mood. She should want this, this closeness between them. Yet she felt . . . repulsed.

Was Evan in bed with the blonde string bean now? The thought made her angry and she pushed it aside. Why should she be angry? He was nothing to her.

Reggie tugged at her arm to roll her over. His mouth covered hers with one of his signature sloppy kisses. She shoved at his shoulder until he released her lips and began kissing her neck again. He bit her, making her wince. She was so not feeling this right now. “Reggie, I’m not in the mood.”

“Come on. I did what you wanted—dressed up in a monkey suit and played nice with the rich folks. Now it’s your turn to do something I want to do.”

His words irritated her. Dawn sat up and scooted away from him. “You’re such an ass sometimes.”

He narrowed his eyes. “And you’re such a snobby bitch after you hang with that cousin of yours. What is she, too good to marry a brother?”

Dawn’s jaw dropped. She didn’t know which insult to respond to first. She leveled a finger at his chest. “Stop talking about my cousin that way. And since that’s your attitude, consider yourself uninvited to the wedding.”

He threw his hands up in the air. “Hallelujah!”

“You should want to go. It’ll give us ideas for our own wedding.”

“We’ll never be able to afford the lavish wedding your aunt is going to give your cuz. Wake up and realize that. We’ve both been working and saving and it just ain’t happening.”

While Aunt Catherine was footing the bill for Kayla’s wedding, the couple could have easily paid for it themselves. Joshua and Kayla owned a custom design firm. The business was really beginning to take off as of late. They were comfortably well off, but the way Reggie talked about them one would think they were rolling in millions.

“Reggie, we haven’t made any plans for our wedding. We haven’t even set a date.”

He rolled his eyes. “You’ve got the ring. Stop sweating the date.”

She narrowed her eyes as an ugly suspicion took root. “Reggie, did you propose to get me back?” She’d thought his proposal had meant he was finally growing up. She’d believed that it was a sign that as a couple, they were ready to move past the drama. But now, it seemed like all she was getting were delays from him.

He fluffed his pillow and turned on his side. “Course not.”

“Look at me when you say that.”

He gave an exasperated sigh and flipped back over. His eyes didn’t quite meet hers. “Of course not.”

Dawn grabbed her pillow and hit him with it. “You bastard! You have no intention of marrying me, do you?”

“I said, you have the ring. What more do you—” He was interrupted as she whacked him again.

“I want someone who is as committed to me as I am to them. I’ve wasted fourteen years of my life on you!”

Reggie swore hotly before shoving the covers back and getting out of bed. “I’ve been there for all fourteen of those years. I’ve suffered through your snooty crap. I put up with you smothering me. We live together. Damn. Why do you always want more?”

Dawn shook her head. She couldn’t keep beating her head against the same brick wall. She couldn’t stay with Reggie anymore because of what they used to mean to each other or because of what she hoped might develop. He was happy living together. Marriage didn’t mean anything to him. She slid out of bed and went to the jewelry box on the bureau. She took out her engagement ring and handed it back to Reggie. “You’re right. I need to wake up.” She bit her lip, her eyes filling with tears for all the good times they had shared. “And this isn’t going to work.”

“Don’t be dramatic.” He held the ring out to her. “You might as well keep it. It’s not like I don’t always want to be with you.”

Sweet words like those used to encourage her to hold on, to believe that he truly loved her. Not anymore. His actions had killed her love little by little. She didn’t have anything left to give him. “But I don’t want to be with you anymore.”

“Dawn, you’re talking crazy.”

She shook her head and wiped away her tears. “You’ll always be special to me, Reggie.”

“Okay, damn, we’ll get married. Get the calendar. Let’s pick out a date.”

“No.”

“You made your point. Don’t be stubborn.”