Give Me Fever Page 3

  “Don’t worry, Uncle Kaeden, I’ll come stay with you that weekend,” Kadina offered.

  “Oh no, Kaeden, you’re going too,” Kael said around a mouthful of food.

  Kaeden looked up and his eyes fell directly on his mother, who gave a conspiratorial wink. He knew that his mom had a hand in his addition to the camping trip. The thing was, he wasn’t quite sure if that was truly a good or a bad thing.

  Jade stretched her arms high above her head as she walked out onto the wraparound porch of her grandfather’s house. He was sitting on the top step with his elbows on his knees as he looked up at the sky. His naturally wavy jet-black hair was pulled back tightly into a bushy ponytail. Jade smiled softly as she fondly remembered the many hours she’d spent, as a little girl, on this very porch standing behind him brushing his hair as he sat on that same top step.

  “Hey, old man,” Jade teased as she walked across the green painted porch to sit down beside him.

  Esai Rockwell knocked his bony shoulder against hers in greeting. “Peanut?” he asked, motioning toward the cup of boiled peanuts sitting on the step between them.

  “No thanks, Pappy,” Jade said with a shake of her head. “I’m still full of the rabbit stew you cooked.”

  “Your favorite,” he said.

  “Yup,” Jade agreed, leaning over to rest her head on his bony and broad shoulder in the white long-sleeved T-shirt he wore.

  Pappy was a man of very few words. Always had been.

  Jade couldn’t imagine anyone she adored more than him. Her father had recently remarried a twenty-year-old, and her mother was a flight attendant who was hardly ever in town. Since she was three years old, spending the weekends at her grandfather’s had been her greatest joy. Although her parents waited until she was eighteen to divorce, the signs of failed marriage had been there long before.

  “Heard from your mama?” he asked about his ex-daughter-in-law.

  The thought of her mother immediately brought a smile to Jade’s face. “She’s in Los Angeles and then she flies to London.”

  “Ms. Jetsetter,” he mused, tilting his head back to toss a peanut into his open mouth.

  Jade nodded. She missed her mom but completely understood that after the shock of her father leaving her for a younger woman and divorcing her, Deena was finally enjoying her new freedom and her new job. Her mom married early, had her only child early, and divorced early, but she was trying to catch up on a late start of her independence.

  “How’s the business?” he asked.

  “It’s going okay. Mostly because of a lot of local support. Like Darren’s taking Mr. Strong and his sons on a camping trip this weekend.”

  Esai looked surprised. “Those farmers need a guide to go camping?”

  “That’s what I thought, but we’re not looking a gift horse in the mouth.”

  As Jade did give in to dig a handful of the moist and salty boiled peanuts into her hand, she suddenly thought of the nerdy one and how she’d caught him staring at her in church.

  It was a very odd and random thought.

  Chapter 3

  Kaeden shifted his bespectacled eyes away from the flat-screen computer monitor as his secretary Felecia walked into his office after knocking briefly. “Yes?” he asked, his mind really focused on finishing up the weekly payroll for one of his clients who owned a car dealership.

  “I made chicken and dumplings for supper last night. Well, it’s just me, so I had plenty left over and I thought we could have it for lunch…together,” she said.

  Kaeden actually wasn’t ready to take a lunch break when he was so close to being done, but Felecia was already beginning to unpack a picnic basket he’d just noticed she was carrying. His stomach grumbled as she set a steaming bowl in front of him. He had to admit that Felecia was one helluva cook, so he knew the dish was good.

  “Chicken and dumplings on a Tuesday night?” he asked, smiling as he gave in to the call of hunger and cleared the few files piled on his desk.

  Felecia waved her hand dismissively. “Took me no time at all. The dumplings are from scratch too.”

  “It smells good, Felecia,” he told her as she set utensils and napkins in front of him.

  “I know,” she answered with confidence before walking out of the office to return moments later with two glasses filled with ice.

  Moments later one of the glasses was in front of him filled with cold sweet tea from a thermos in her basket of goodies.

  “Enjoy,” she said, rather low and husky in her throat.

  Kaeden looked up at her before clearing his throat and looking away. He and Felecia briefly dated for a couple of months a few years ago, but Kaeden ended it because there hadn’t been a bit of spark between them. A wet match could generate more of a flicker of flame. She was a beautiful and stylish woman with her caramel complexion and reddish brown hair. She was a sweet churchgoing preacher’s daughter who could cook like an old woman. A true lady. A good girl.

  They just didn’t click to him, and so he moved on.

  Several months ago when she walked into his office wanting to apply for the position of his secretary, she promised him she was there for a much-needed paycheck and that was it. Lately, though, he just wasn’t sure. He would have to be a blind fool to miss the fact that Felecia Craven wanted more from him than a paycheck.

  He focused his attention on enjoying the food as she eased her tall and slender frame into one of the chairs in front of his large cherrywood desk.

  “Your family ready to go camping tomorrow?” she asked as she took a sip of tea from her glass.

  Kaeden nodded as he chewed. “Thank God I was able to talk them out of pressing me to go. Can you imagine me in the woods for four whole days?”

  Felecia laughed. “Yeah, right? You camping. Puh-leeze.”

  Kaeden paused and frowned.

  “It’s good, right?” she asked, changing the subject.

  Kaeden nodded. “You can burn. Reminds me of my mama’s cooking.”

  Felecia smiled sweetly. “Now, you’re not saying I remind you of your mama?” she asked in her lilting Southern accent as she licked the gravy from the fork and crossed her legs slowly.

  Kaeden’s eyes dropped down automatically to take in the move, but instead of enticing him, it made him feel awkward. “Listen, Felecia, it feels like you’re flirting with the whole fork lick and…Sharon Stone leg cross and…everything. We both know that’s in appropriate,” he said in a firm voice that he hoped sounded like an employer talking to an employee.

  Felecia tossed her head back and laughed as she waved her hand at him dismissively. “Kaeden, please stop being paranoid. If I wanted to date you again, I would just ask you out. I don’t play games.”

  Her attitude was so blasé that Kaeden actually felt bad about accusing her. “Felecia, I’m sorry—”

  The bell over the front door jingled. Felecia daintily wiped the corners of her mouth with a napkin before easing up out of her seat. “Duty calls, boss.”

  He watched her cross the carpeted floor and maybe it was just him, but was there an extra jiggle and shake of her hips and shoulders as she walked. He didn’t doubt that she could arouse him and that he could finish the deal, but he would just be using her as a method of release and Kaeden didn’t do booty calls or one-night stands.

  “You’ll have to make an appointment, Jade, Mr. Strong is at lunch—”

  Kaeden nearly choked on the sweet tea he was swallowing. Jade was here! He quickly used napkins to swipe away the splats of tea on the top of his desk before he tossed the napkins and the paper plate of unfinished food into the trash. “Felecia, please show her in,” he called out, already wondering what Jade wanted with him.

  “No,” she stressed in a loud voice. “You’re at lunch and Miss Prince is making an appointment to come back at a more convenient time.”

  Kaeden rose and came around his desk to walk across the room that once served as one of the three bedrooms of the converted town house. He stepped
across the hall into the living room that was converted into the outer office.

  Jade was dressed in a white strapless maxi dress with aviator shades in place on her face. She brightened up the entire room. “Hello, I’m Kaeden Strong,” he said, even as his heart raced in his chest.

  Jade pushed her shades up onto the top of her head as she turned to face him. She extended her hand to him. “I’m Jade Prince—”

  Felecia quickly stepped between them, causing Jade’s hand to dart into her stomach.

  Kaeden’s angular jaw clenched as he placed his hands on Felecia’s shoulders. “Thanks, Felecia, I have it,” he told her. His hands instantly dropped when he felt a shiver go through her body before she moved to take her seat at her desk.

  Jade eyed them both oddly before she extended her hand to him again. “I wanted to speak to you about handling the books for my partner’s and my business, Wild-n-Out Tours.”

  Kaeden grasped Jade’s still-outstretched hand warmly as the scent of her fruity perfume surrounded him. Her grasp was soft and strong all at once. “I’ve heard of it. In fact, my father and brothers are going camping with Darren in the morning,” he told her.

  “Actually Darren—my business partner—can’t make it, so I’m leading the tour,” she said as the silver cell phone in her hand vibrated and she looked down at it. “I have to take this. Excuse me.”

  She walked a few feet away and Kaeden’s gut clenched like a bowling ball had connected. Jade was leading the camping trip.

  “A woman going camping. What, is she gay? Well excuse me, K.D. Degeneres,” Felecia drawled under her breath sarcastically.

  Kaeden ignored her as Jade closed her phone and walked back to him. The way that cotton was clinging to her thighs was truly distracting, and Kaeden had to force his eyes to stay locked on her face.

  “I actually have to go, something came up, but either myself or Darren will call and make an appointment to meet with you,” she said, a smile on her full lips.

  Kaeden nodded. “Sounds like a plan,” he said.

  Jade gave Felecia a smile and turned to leave.

  “I guess I’ll see you in the morning,” he called out behind her.

  Jade paused in the doorway.

  Felecia jumped up to her feet.

  “You’re going?” they both asked.

  Am I crazy, he thought. “Oh yes, I wouldn’t miss it for anything,” Kaeden said, sounding far more confident than he felt.

  Jade sighed as she sank lower beneath the steamy and sudsy depths of the cast iron claw-foot tub. The lights were off and the scented candles of various shapes and sizes were lit. The soft sounds of her favorite mix of R&B played softly. A frosted goblet of white sangria sat on a small stool by the tub waiting to be sipped, right alongside her cordless phone, which was ready to be ignored. It was the complete scene for relaxation for one.

  This was Jade’s routine the night before she did a tour and the night after she returned from the tour. It was great for relaxing her physically and mentally.

  She slid one leg down the length of the other, enjoying the silky feel of the almond-scented oil she added to the water. The movement caused the lips of her core to connect and she felt a delicious thrill of awareness shimmy over her body.

  “At least I know my punany still works,” she mumbled to herself as she draped one of her legs over the side of the tub.

  Jade hadn’t indulged in the opposite sex in at least a year and although she enjoyed going out on dates with Darren, she hadn’t discovered the little “do me” urge with him yet. She was far from a prude and she would have never guessed she would slip into the role of the born-again virgin.

  It was sad to admit that her mama was getting more than she was. Jade smirked as she reached over to pick up her goblet of white sangria with slices of green apples, oranges, pears, and peaches. Just one glass to help relax her.

  Jade tilted her head back and used her tongue to wrangle a peach slice into her mouth. “Hmmmm,” she moaned in pure satisfaction.

  Her cordless phone rang, completely breaking her peace and serenity. Opening just one eye, she looked at it sitting up straight on top of the stool. Darren’s cell phone number displayed on the screen. “Not to-night,” she sang, before she closed her eyes and sunk lower into the water.

  Darren flipped his cell phone as he sat in his pickup with his green eyes locked on the soft glow of light from the small window on the side of Jade’s small cottage.

  She was in the bath. He knew it.

  Darren smiled as he reversed his truck out of the yard from behind her parked Wrangler. Ever since he first laid eyes on Jade Prince walking into the factory where he worked, he had been determined to get to know her and to claim her.

  They went from coworkers to friends to business partners over the years. As far as they had progressed in the last three years was “dating.”

  With one last look back at her house, Darren made his way home well aware that patience was a virtue.

  The entire Strong clan was spending the night at the ranch since the men had to be up by three in the morning for Jade to pick them up. Kaeden had to admit he was enjoying everyone being under one roof, especially since there was no chance of getting a spanking for the things they did. The entire clan was lounging over drinks on the porch, but Kaeden had sought the company of his niece and nephew.

  Kaeden smiled broadly as his nephew giggled in glee when he tossed him up into the air and caught him.

  “Did you used to toss me up like that when I was a baby, Uncle Kaeden?” Kadina asked loudly, the earphones from her iPod snugly in place as she lay on the floor also watching television.

  Kaeden straddled chubby KJ on his knees before he reached down and flicked one of the earphones from her ear. “No, because you would cry, but you did like when I would bite your neck.”

  “Bite my neck!” she squealed before she giggled.

  KJ laughed as well before he clapped his hands and leaned forward to press his forehead against Kaeden’s mouth—his signal that he wanted to be kissed there. Kaeden immediately obliged.

  “Thank you, Un-cle Kae-den.”

  Kaeden loved his niece and nephew. In fact, he was usually the one to spoil them (a la Kadina’s iPod). Any time he could spend with them was time well spent as far as he was concerned—especially since Kadina was growing up so quickly before their eyes. Gone was the cute little kid with the curly afro puffs to suddenly be replaced by a blossoming preteen with bangs and a long ponytail who liked boys more than dolls.

  Kadina sat up and removed her other earphone. “Uncle Kaeden, are…you…sure you should go camping?” she asked, her face clouded with doubt.

  He his back a smile as he let a squirming KJ climb down off his lap to the polished hardwood floors. “I’m sure. Why?”

  “Because if you’re bitten by the wrong thing you’ll swell up like a tick about to pop,” Kadina told him, her tone completely dry as she gave him a “you know I’m right” look.

  He definitely been there and done that before. There was the bee sting of 1986, the ant bite of 1992, and the wasp incident in 2001. Kaeden shook his head at the memories. “I’ll be careful,” he promised her.

  Kadina fell silent with her bright eyes locked on him closely, even as KJ waddled over to her and then unceremoniously plopped down onto her lap. “Jade Prince sure is pretty,” Kadina said slyly.

  Kaeden tensed and then forced himself to relax. “Yeah…I guess. She a’ight.”

  “Pee-pee, Dina. Pee,” KJ said, jumping up to his sneakered feet.

  “Kadina, you better get him to the bathroom,” Kaeden warned.

  She sat her iPod on the leather ottoman in front of the big-screen television as she hopped to her feet. She grabbed KJ’s hand. “No chance you like Miss Jade, is it, Uncle Kaeden?” she asked with a twinkle in her eyes.

  “Un-cle Kae-den and Jade,” KJ said, even as he pinched at his zipper and squirmed.

  Kaeden leaned back in the chair to look up at his
far too wise—and nosy—niece. “Curiosity killed the cat, little girl,” he told her.

  Kadina swung her little cousin up onto her hip. “Don’t worry, Unc, your secret is safe with me,” she promised with an impish smile before she rushed KJ to the bathroom.

  Felecia bit the gloss from her bottom lip as she hung up her phone and dramatically flung it to the foot of her four-poster bed. Kaeden wasn’t home and his cell phone was going straight to voice mail. “Good heaven,” she said aloud to herself, knowing her scheme to trick Kaeden into skipping the camping trip had just scored a big fail since she couldn’t reach him.

  “What woman in their right mind would send their man in the woods with Jade Prince?” Felecia wrung her hands anxiously. They would be gone from early Thursday and not returning until late Sunday night. There was no way on God’s green earth that she wanted her Kaeden to go, that’s for sure, but what could she do about it now?

  When Kaeden had ended their relationship before it even really began, Felecia had been disappointed, but she never harbored any ill will for the man because of his honesty. In fact, it made her like and appreciate him more. When she was flipping through the newspaper and happened upon his ad in The Post & Courier for a secretary, she took it as a sign from the Lord that Kaeden was the man for her after all. She wasn’t looking for a job; she was paid a nice salary serving as the secretary for her father’s church in Charleston.

  Felecia hopped up from the bed to her feet. She was a woman on a definite mission. Her life’s plan had been mapped out since she was in high school. Stay out of trouble. Get good grades. Graduate from a good college.

  So far so good.

  The only two things left were to get married and then have some babies.

  Felecia released a heavy breath and slowly walked to her closet. She focused her eyes on the ebony chest sitting pushed back against the wall. She stooped down to slowly open it. Inside lay stacks of bridal magazines, fabric swatches, sample invitations, and party favors. Every detail of her wedding was planned to the littlest detail—even her dream rings. The entire bridal works.