Heavenly Match Read online

  “I’m straight,” he drawled, as he followed her out of the lingerie department. “I was thinking we could have lunch. Your pick, my treat.”

  Anika stopped to look at him, obviously doubtful.

  At her pause, he threw her his most charming smile, his straight, even teeth flashing brilliantly white against the bronze tint of his skin. It was a smile that had won him his way with many women in the past “Is one lunch date with me going to kill you, gorgeous?”

  Anika turned, continuing forward. “It’s not a date,” she threw over her shoulder. “And I’m ordering lobster.”

  “With or without champagne?” Deshawn countered smugly.

  The restaurant she chose was discreet, but elegant. Chic Soul was a favorite of hers whenever she was in Manhattan. It was also a bit on the costly side, but Deshawn didn’t blink an eye as she ordered steamed lobster with caviar sauce and their best bottle of white wine to accompany it. In fact, he ordered a prime cut of steak, with sautéed mushrooms and garlic bread.

  Quickly Anika checked her wallet for her gold card, just in case he was all talk and couldn’t handle the bill. She’d be a monkey’s uncle if she washed anybody’s dishes to pay for food, especially behind a man who wanted to show off.

  She watched Deshawn over the rim of her glass as he leaned back in his chair. He obviously was comfortable in his environment as he looked around at the decor. He really is handsome, she thought.

  Although she wished she could fight it off, she unquestionably felt a pull of sharp desire for him. She felt constantly aware of his presence and was grateful for the cover of the sweater she wore as she imagined those supple lips kissing, sucking, and pulling on her nipples.

  Anika quickly dropped her eyes from his when he caught her looking at him.

  His grin widened, deepening the dimple in his left cheek and the laugh lines around his eyes. Quickly, Deshawn slid around the table and into the booth to sit next to her, imposing his strong presence. “What were you thinking just now?” he taunted, his clean breath fanning against her neck and chin.

  Anika forced herself not to jump away from him. She was Anika Foxx and she refused to let this country man intimidate her. That didn’t stop her inward flinch of guilt at her erotic thoughts. “Nothing that concerns you,” she finally answered, lying.

  Deshawn pressed his side to hers intimately. “You’re lying. I saw it in your eyes,” he finished, nuzzling his face near the hollow of her neck, getting lost in the scent of apples. “Damn, you smell good . . . like candy.”

  His low growl sent shivers down her spine as he lightly pressed those beautiful lips to her neck.

  Anika wanted to say something smart and catty.

  Anika wanted to deter him.

  Anika wanted to cut him down in his tracks.

  But she couldn’t. Her mind drew a total blank. That was a first for the queen of the comebacks.

  Laughing softly, Deshawn moved back across to his seat as the waitress stepped to their table with a large round tray holding their steaming hot plates.

  “The lobster,” she said, setting it before Anika. “And the steak.”

  Anika’s eyes darted up at the sound of the woman’s suddenly husky voice. Her fork froze in the air above her plate as she watched Deshawn and the waitress exchange a brief look.

  “Thank you, everything looks fine,” he said.

  “We aim to please at Chic Soul,” she said.

  To Anika, the conversation was filled with innu­endos.

  Deshawn looked at Anika and was surprised at the anger he saw in her brandy depths. If he didn’t know better he would think she was jealous.

  “Would either of you like dessert? We have—”

  “No, thanks.” Anika cut her off, hoping to end her stay at their table.

  “Do you know what I would like?” Deshawn asked the waitress, his eyes on Anika as she stiffly ate her meal.

  The waitress nearly swooned on her feet. “Yes?” she asked, barely hiding the eagerness on her face.

  “I want something sweet, warm, and juicy. Something that stimulates me.” Under the table he removed his loafer. “Something fruity, like . . . apples.”

  Anika’s eyes shot up and their gazes locked.

  “We have lots of dessert with apples. There’s—”

  “Oh no, what I want isn’t on your dessert cart,” Deshawn asserted, winking at Anika. “It’s a whole lot closer.”

  Anika jumped as he pressed his foot against the fleshy seat of her pants. She used her hand to knock it away as the waitress took the hint and left. “You’re incorrigible.”

  Deshawn laughed at her shocked expression. “What?” he asked innocently.

  “That’s why you’ll never get anywhere with a woman like me.”

  “Oh, and why’s that?”

  “You’re an immature horny flirt.”

  Deshawn cut his juicy medium-rare steak. “I wasn’t flirting with her. I was being friendly. You should try it sometimes.”

  “Whatever, Deshawn.”

  “Jealous, Ms. Foxx?” he asked, his mouth now filled with the well-seasoned beef.

  Anika sucked air between her teeth. “Hardly. I’m just pointing out how rude you were being.”

  “Just a little southern hospitality is all,” he teased, with an exaggerated southern accent. “Besides, why do you care? It’s not like we’re on a date, remember?”

  Anika took a sip of her wine. “But “Little Miss We Aim to Please” doesn’t know that though, does she?”

  “Damn, Ms. Foxx. You don’t want me and you don’t want anyone else to want me either.” Deshawn slid back across the booth to her. “Admit it, Anika. You want me just as much as I want you. We’re both grown, so why fight it?”

  Anika pretended to ignore him, continuing to enjoy her meal.

  “Let me make love to you, Anika. I’ll suck you from your lips to your toes and everything in be­tween. I wanna get lost inside you.” Deshawn spoke low in his throat, his words slow and burning up her senses as she again envisioned his head buried between her thick thighs.

  Deshawn moved his hand to grasp her leg with a deep massaging motion. “Say you want me, Anika. Tell me you want me inside you. Say it,” he demanded softly. “Just say it.”

  Anika squirmed in her seat, crossing her legs to halt the heavy pulsating of her core. She deserved an Oscar for never once outwardly showing interest in his words and the steamy visions he evoked.

  “Let me just taste you.”

  Let’s go, her mind screamed.

  “Say you want me, Anika.”

  She lowered her fork to the plate, turning her head to face him. They were just inches apart, their eyes locked. “I want,” she began, nuzzling her nose against his as she breathed deeply.

  His obsidian eyes lit with victory.

  “To finish my meal,” she finished smugly.

  His face filled with surprise, before he laughed. “You’re one stubborn woman, Anika Foxx,” he told her, sliding back over to his side of the table.

  Anika said nothing, but inside she was filled with waves of relief. The charmer was wearing her down and she had barely gotten away . . . this time.

  Chapter 5

  Share My World

  “Girl, will you look at that body on D’Angelo?”

  Devon, Chloe, Deshawn, and Anika were all comfortably situated in the den, watching music videos on the large-plasma TV. The infamous video of the R&B singer for his 1999 hit “How Does It Feel?” was playing. It almost seemed as if he stood before them in all of his nude glory. Sixty full inches of “Oh my God, can you believe how good he looks?”. . . . To the ladies anyway.

  Anika’s eyes were glued to the soulful, sexy singer’s sculptured body as he sang naked against a black backdrop. Her softly spoken question had been barely above a whisper.

  “Y’all better be careful,” Chloe warned playfully, leaning up out of Devon’s arms for a closer look.

  Devon’s supple mouth shaped into a frown.r />
  Deshawn shook his head as his piercing eyes locked on Anika, who sat on the floor opposite the coffee table. “Please, he doesn’t have diddly on me,” he proclaimed with confidence.

  Anika comically snorted in derision. “Yeah . . . okay, Deshawn.”

  “And I suppose you agree?” Devon asked Chloe.

  Right then the camera followed a droplet of sweat that traveled down his chest to his rock-hard abdomen. Chloe and Anika both gasped, “Oooh.”

  “Lawd, quit.” Anika sighed, fanning herself.

  “I never knew you had a thing for D’Angelo,” Devon told Chloe, pushing her back up off his chest when she tried to reclaim her spot. “Ever met him?”

  “Oh, calm down, Dev. You’re so jealous,” Anika said, waving her hand dismissively as she rose from the floor.

  Deshawn looked up to eye her. “First Wesley, now D’Angelo,” he snorted.

  “If Lil’ Kim came strutting on the screen with her little pasties and a thong, both of your tongues would be wagging,” Anika told them.

  “Damn right,” Deshawn spouted.

  Chloe twisted to lie atop her husband, kissing his frown away. “Come on, show Mama a smile,” she cooed, imitating baby talk. “Now, that’s my baby.”

  Anika and Deshawn both froze to turn and watch the two share tender, playful kisses. Realizing they were being watched, Devon and Chloe looked up in confusion. “What?” they both asked with innocence.

  “Come up for air,” Anika snapped playfully.

  Just for spite, Chloe deeply kissed Devon with delight. Anika and Deshawn both looked heavenward. Neither was shocked when the couple soon excused themselves to retire early, but not before Anika reminded them about dinner at her parents’ house the next day.

  Feeling the strain of sitting on the floor in her lower back, Anika moved to take the seat Chloe and Devon had vacated. “Turn to the news, Deshawn,” Anika requested, since the remote was closer to him. “Let’s stimulate our minds and see what’s going on in the world.”

  “That’s what turns me on so much about you,” Deshawn told her, as he flipped the digital cable channels. “I’m tired of women who only care about the physical and don’t give a damn about the mental.”

  Here we go. “Oh, really?” she asked aloud, doubt obvious in her voice as she moved to find comfort on the plush seat.

  “Seriously, Anika,” he insisted, turning his head to look at her with those ebony eyes. “Look at how you run that center. You have opinions on any and everything. Hell, I’ve seen for myself how quick you think on your feet. Brains and beauty.”

  Anika looked at him, her face incredulous. “You love me, right?”

  Deshawn laughed. “Okay, no, I don’t . . . but I could see myself falling for someone like you,” he told her with seriousness, surprising himself.

  “Whatever, Deshawn,” Anika answered him wearily, finally settling on the couch.

  “When are you going to let me take you out?” Deshawn asked, caressing her alluring profile with his gaze.

  So now he wants to be a gentleman about it, huh? “You’re not my type, Deshawn. Seriously.”

  “What is your type?”

  “Honest. Faithful. Loyal. Dependable,” she answered with a quickness.

  “You want a man or a dog?”

  Anika looked him straight in the eye. “I want a man who isn’t a dog.”

  “You don’t even know me. How can you say I’m not all of the things you want?”

  “You’re right, I don’t know you, but I’ve heard about you. Certainly one week isn’t going to change my opinion,” she told him, now studying her manicured nails.

  Deshawn bent his knees, placing his arms atop them. “I’m going to try like hell to get to know you, Anika.”

  She couldn’t deny that his words excited her. She was attracted to him, more so than she had been to any man in a long time. Definitely more than she wanted to be. For the life of her, she just couldn’t stop the draw she felt to him sexually. Her awareness of him was so intense that it rattled her usually calm nerves. She got goose bumps just at the sight of him. The hairs on the back of her neck stood at attention whenever he entered a room. It was all wrong but she just couldn’t fight it.

  His past deterred her though. How could she forget all of the things Chloe had innocently told her about his womanizing ways? How could she deny the uncertainty she felt about him seeing her as just another notch on one of his many belts? How could she give in?

  “You live down South, Deshawn. What’s the use?”

  Deshawn’s stomach knotted. Was this finally a break in that armor she kept around herself? Or was it another trap to assault him verbally? Sliding across the floor, he sat by her feet, pulling them onto his lap to massage. “There’s something between us that I can’t ignore, Anika. You’re in my blood.”

  “Deshawn—” she started, as a tingle began in her toes and rose to warm the moist, throbbing spot between her thighs.

  “No, let me finish,” he interrupted, removing her socks to place his warm hands on her feet. “Let’s keep it real. We only have this week, let’s enjoy it.”

  Don’t fall for it, a little voice in her head said, as he nearly lulled her into a zone with his rhythmic massaging motions.

  “You’re begging for something that might get you hooked,” she teased, her voice languid as she closed her eyes.

  “I think you’re scared that I’ll hook you.”

  “Oh, really?” Anika asked, laughing lightly as she removed her feet from his all-too-warm grasp and rose to a sitting position.

  “Really.”

  Anika looked at him and their eyes locked.

  Deshawn moved to his knees on the floor to kneel between her open legs. “Believe me, I’m good. Damn good.”

  Anika forced herself not to press back against the couch for some distance, as her heart pounded wildly. “So am I,” she countered blatantly, not about to let him outdo her. “I’d have you speaking in tongues.”

  Deshawn smiled wolfishly. “Hell, let’s be good together,” he urged, his voice low and deep.

  And she knew a sexual encounter between them would be good. Just the thought of his large manly hands on her body gave her more sexual awareness than she had in months.

  Almost as if in a trance, with their eyes locked, Deshawn lowered his head toward hers.

  Curious as to how a real kiss between them would be, Anika raised her head to meet his lips with her own, her eyes drifting closed as well.

  The first touch of their lips was heated, moist, and slow. They both moaned deep in the back of their throats as they consumed each other hungrily, deepening the kiss with heated ease. Intensely they took turns sucking the lengths of each other’s tongue, tasting, feasting, and pleasuring each other. Their hearts pounding furiously in unison as they pressed their upper bodies together with a fevered urgency.

  With a growl, Deshawn brought his hands around to grasp her deeply curvaceous hips. With one swift pull he dragged her body forward on the couch, pressing her pulsing feminine mound against the stiff length of his manhood with a jolt.

  Surrendering, Anika wrapped her velvety long legs around his waist, her hands sliding up the strong contours of his back to massage the back of his head. The taste and feel of him were driving her wild. Her nipples ached, her heart pounded, and her feminine core was soaked with such intense arousal. It was like nothing she had ever experienced. It was everything she had ever wanted. A seemingly simple kiss that made her yearn to have him planted deeply inside her throbbing walls.

  Anika! her mind screamed. You don’t even know him and you’re ready to give it up so easily?

  Reality broke through to her thoroughly overwhelmed senses. She wanted him . . . badly. She wanted to please him and be pleased by him, but she couldn’t . . . she wouldn’t.

  No! She could not do this.

  Lawd, quit, she begged silently, after she broke the kiss and his heated grasp with an urgent wrench. She scrambled to stand on
the couch and then quickly climbed over it, looking for distance . . . space . . . relief.

  Deshawn’s eyes were dazed with lust, before they filled with confusion. He looked around, disoriented. “What? What’s wrong?” he asked, obviously surprised by her sudden departure from their passion.

  Breathing raggedly, Anika wrapped her arms around herself to try to replace the heat he had infused through her body. She now felt cold . . . and stupid. “What’s wrong is... that... that... I’m horny, and I almost let that lead me to make a major mistake.”

  “Damn!” Deshawn swore, rising to his feet, his awkward erection pressing formidably against the zipper of his jeans. “You were just as hot for me as I am for you. What happened just now?”

  “I just remembered that you were an opportunist.”

  Deshawn threw his hands up in the air, exasperated.

  “Good night, Deshawn,” Anika told him, before turning to leave the den.

  “Are you just going to leave me like this?” he asked, looking pointedly down at his stiff erection before looking up in her direction again.

  Anika turned around to face him and bit back a laugh at the sight of him standing there like that. “I can’t help you but perhaps Ms. Palm and her five daughters could be of assistance.”

  Deshawn look confused. “Who?” he asked, obviously irritated.

  Anika bit her full bottom lip, now devoid of lipgloss from his ravishing kiss. She raised her hand with her fingers splayed. “Ms. Palm,” she said, pointing with her other hand to her palm. “And her five daughters.” She wiggled her five fingers before making a fist.

  “Cute, very cute, Ms. Foxx,” he told her dryly, as her husky laughter surrounded him.

  Soon the sound of her bedroom door closing echoed through the house. With a growl of pure sex­ual frustration, Deshawn stalked into his guest bedroom, lying down on the bed as he waited for his erection to ease.

  He had almost had her in his bed, and three days before he planned. The taste of her had over­whelmed his senses, trapping him, hooking him like a fiend wanting more of his drug. Her touch had scorched his skin; the feel of her soft, warm body had sent his pulses thundering.