“I immediately called that reporter, the one from the Miami Herald I told you about?”
“Right.”
“I saw Tassie at Eli’s funeral. She seemed very cozy with a man by her side. I know she’s got some skeletons in her closet. I was hoping the reporter could help me dig them up.”
“And?”
I frowned. “And I haven’t heard from her yet. I called her again today and got her voice mail. I’m starting to think there’s nothing Cynthia can tell me. Well, at least nothing that she could find. I think it’s time I hire my own investigator.”
“Now you’re talking,” Lewis said. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.”
“If I could get pictures of Tassie with someone else, establish some sort of proof that she was definitely involved with another man while Eli was in Miami, maybe I can use that evidence to get her to back down. She’s made a name for herself as the ‘victim’ in the media. I don’t think she’d want anyone to know that she was really crying in some other man’s arms.” I paused, remembering the hot stud beside Tassie at the funeral. I was certain he was her lover.
“And the way she didn’t let Eli see his kids,” I went on. “The way she threatened to cry child abuse if he didn’t do what she demanded…A person should be put up on charges for that kind of behavior, not rewarded with more material possessions.”
“Or get the shit beaten out of them,” Lewis offered. Then smiled.
“Wouldn’t that be nice,” I commented. If the law allowed it, maybe I’d ask for five minutes alone in a room with Tassie—and one of Eli’s favorite bats that he’d used when he played for the Braves. “I’ve thought about suing her for pain and suffering, but I don’t know. Although this is America. Anyone with seventy-five bucks can fill out the forms to sue someone at the courthouse. Of course, you need the money to keep the suit going—something she has and I don’t.”
“You don’t need to get into an ugly lawsuit situation. It’s too time-consuming. What you need is for Tassie to back down. Immediately. I know an investigator. He can dig up some dirt.”
“You do?”
“Baby, I’m a well-connected man.”
That I believed. I didn’t know the extent of Lewis’s contacts, but I did know that with him being a real estate investor and developer, he knew a lot of people. Six degrees of separation and all that, he would certainly know someone who knew someone who could provide the help I needed.
“Now,” Lewis said, his eyes brightening while his voice deepened, “let’s talk about us.”
I glanced away, suddenly uncomfortable. With Lewis, it would always come back to “us,” I realized. We’d had some serious sexual chemistry that sizzled like eggs in a hot skillet.
“How late can you stay out?” Lewis asked me, the deep timbre of his voice making it clear exactly what was on his mind.
But still I asked, “Why?”
He reached for my hand. Ran his tongue along his bottom lip. “I was thinking…maybe we could go to my place for a few hours. Or, I can go up to yours.”
I started to ease my hand out from under Lewis’s, but he tightened his fingers, keeping my hand in place. “Lewis…”
“Would it be so wrong?” he asked me.
“I didn’t say it was wrong—”
“Good, because I want to make love to you, baby.”
I swallowed. “I know. But you remember what I said, don’t you?”
“Yes, I remember. But come on, what’s the point in waiting?” Lewis leveled one of his charming smiles on me. “It’s not like we haven’t been intimate many, many times before.”
My face flushed, and I admit I felt something. How could I not? The times Lewis and I had been together had been electric.
“I was hoping I could change your mind,” Lewis said, running the pad of his thumb over my inner wrist.
I pulled my hand away while returning Lewis’s smile. “Oh, no you don’t. You’re not going to charm the pants off of me.”
“No?”
“No.”
Lewis reached for my hand again. Lifted it. Pressed his lips to the inside of my wrist. “Well, I’m going to have fun trying.”
I felt another tingle then. Lust. I reached for my glass of water and took a sip.
“You want it, too,” he said with his trademark confidence that had always turned me on. “You know you do.”
I stared at him, checking out his handsome face. Could I fall into bed with Lewis? Sure. Could I fall into bed with Lewis as a way to try and forget about Chaz? Absolutely. It was the kind of thing I would have done in the past.
Lewis was guaranteed to perform in the bedroom, and he knew exactly how to please me.
But I couldn’t—and wouldn’t—sleep with him while Chaz was still in my heart. Not until I’d made the definite decision to put Chaz behind me and move on.
“What I want,” I began slowly and smiling sweetly, “is to wait until we’re married.”
“Are you sure about that?” Lewis challenged.
“Yes, I’m sure. It’ll be easy for us to fall into bed together, but—”
“And fun,” Lewis supplied. “A lot of fun.”
I flashed a mock-scowl his way. “But,” I continued, picking up my point where I’d left off, “if we wait until we’re married, then I’ll know for sure that your heart is in the right place.”
“You still don’t believe me?”
“It’s not that I don’t believe you,” I quickly went on. “But come on, Lewis. You know me and you when it comes to sex.”
Lewis wriggled his eyebrows. “How could I forget?”
“My whole point about waiting until we’re married—instead of falling into bed together—is that we’ll both know that we’re getting married for the right reasons.” I took a moment to let my words settle over Lewis. “Our sexual chemistry was never the problem. But a marriage has to be based on more than that.”
Lewis nodded slowly, his lips pulling downward in a small frown. I knew he didn’t like my position, but like the last time when we’d discussed this, he seemed to accept my terms without a fuss.
Two women in barely there bikinis strolled by the table. I watched Lewis, waiting to see his gaze follow the women as they passed.
Instead, he raised my hand to his mouth and kissed it. “You’re worth the wait.”
My lips
