Spontaneous. Brenda Jackson

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      And he proceeded to do just that.

      KIM’S CELL PHONE RANG the moment she was settled in the backseat of the taxi. She flipped open her phone and smiled after seeing the caller. “Yes, Mom, how are you? You missed a great wedding.”

      She glanced over at Duan. He was sitting beside her, leaning back against the seat. He had his hand on her thigh and was staring at her with a look that said it wouldn’t take much for him to push her down and have his way with her.

      She understood. From the moment they’d sneaked out of the wedding reception to make out in that room, something crazy had happened between them. It was like an addiction. One that would hit them with the urge to have sex whenever, wherever and however. The only reason they were controlling themselves now was because they didn’t want to scandalize the cab driver. And there was also the risk of getting arrested.

      Kim shook her head. This was crazy. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before. It was as if their bodies were acting on impulse without any logical thought. That would explain why two adults had made out in an elevator on the way down to catch their cab.

      Sex between them was off the charts, the best she’d ever had. Every orgasm—and there had been plenty—had proven better than the one before. And she appreciated the fact that Duan was such a skillful lover. The past twenty-four hours had been the most pleasure-producing—and memorable—she’d ever had.

      “I’m fine, baby, and I hate I missed the wedding,” her mother was saying, pulling Kim’s attention back to the conversation but not fully away from Duan. She could feel sensations stirring in her belly at his nearness, at the way he was looking at her with all that heat.

      “I’ll give Sherri a call once she returns from her honeymoon,” her mother added. “But now I’m ready to tell you why I wasn’t able to join you in Chicago.”

      “All right.” Kim tried to focus completely on the conversation with her mother … at least as much as she could.

      Each time she glanced over at Duan she would get aroused. With him she’d gained a boldness that was new to her. To make out with a man in an empty room during her best friend’s wedding reception was certainly over the top.

      She forced her attention back to her mother. When she had called a few days ago she had been pretty secretive about the reason she could not make the wedding. After convincing Kim that she was fine, Wynona Cannon-Longleaf-Higgins-Gunter had assured her daughter she would tell her everything later.

      The last time her mother had behaved in such a manner there had been a man involved. Kim didn’t begrudge her mother meeting someone and being happy. At fifty- five Wynona was still attractive, although it had taken Kim a long time to make her mother believe that. Her abusive father had convinced his wife that if she left him, no other man would want her, and where would she be without a man taking care of her.

      Unfortunately, Wynona had remained with her husband, taking his abuse, both physically and mentally. Kim would never forget how in her senior year of high school her mother had landed in the emergency room from one of those beatings, and it was then that Wynona had made up her mind it would be the last whipping any man would give her. She had tearfully told Kim she didn’t want her daughter to assume that physical abuse was something any woman should tolerate.

      While Kim was grateful her mother had finally gotten the strength to leave her dad, the only other thing Wynona needed to rid herself of was the notion that a woman needed a man to survive. That belief was the reason Kim had eventually ended up with three stepfathers. Although none were abusive like her father, the four had lacked substance, and none of the marriages had lasted more than a year or two.

      When her mother didn’t say anything, Kim prompted, “So, why weren’t you able to make it to the wedding, Mom?”

      “I’ve met someone,” her mother said.

      Kim could hear the excitement in her mother’s voice and imagined the giddy smile that must be on her face. Oh, brother, she thought, as she leaned back against her seat. The movement brought her closer to Duan and he automatically placed his arm around her shoulder. Heat swept through her as if he’d pressed some button.

      “And who did you meet?” Kim heard herself asking her mother.

      “His name is Edward Villarosas and he’s nice.”

      They all are in the beginning, Kim thought, remembering the other men her mother had married. First there was Boris Longleaf, whom Wynona had met during her prison ministries. At least he hadn’t been a prisoner but one of the guards. He seemed nice enough until her mother had discovered a year into the marriage that Boris preferred men.

      Then there was Albert Higgins, a maintenance man in the apartment complex her mother had moved into after her divorce from Boris. There was something about Albert that Kim hadn’t trusted and her suspicions were confirmed when he’d been arrested for his part in a car-theft ring.

      And last but not least was Phillip Gunter, the one who’d tried coming on to her. During all her mother’s marriages Kim had been away at college and was only around the men whenever she came home for spring break or the holidays.

      She’d known from the first moment she’d seen Phillip that he would be trouble, and when he tried cornering her in the laundry room, she had used the knee-jab-in-the-groin move that she’d seen on television. When her mother had rushed downstairs after hearing the man howling in pain, he’d had the audacity to tell her that Kim had been the one trying to come on to him. Of course her mother hadn’t believed it and had sent him packing.

      So after four failed marriages, Kim hoped her mother would eventually find someone to make her happy. But with Wynona’s track record, she wasn’t so sure of that happening.

      “Tell me all about nice Edward,” Kim said, trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

      “Edward and I met at the grocery store and things between us began getting serious pretty fast.”

      Kim rolled her eyes. “I bet.”

      “You’re going to like him.”

      I doubt it. That’s what you said about the others. “When can I meet him?”

      “Um, when you come to the wedding in three weeks.”

      “What!” Kim nearly jumped out of her seat.

      “Are you all right, Kim?” Duan asked, leaning close to her in concern. His heated breath against her cheek had sensations stirring within her.

      She nodded quickly and whispered, “Yes, I’m fine.”

      “Kim, who are you with? The man you’re engaged to?”

      Kim rolled her eyes and shook her head. It had been nearly two months since she’d told that lie and now everyone was still waiting to meet her fiancé.

      “Kim?”

      Instead of addressing the issue of her fabricated fiancé, she said, “Mom, you can’t get married in three weeks. What do you know about this guy?”

      “I know enough to believe Edward is a good man. He’s a divorcé like СКАЧАТЬ