CUPID'S BOW (MADARIS SERIES Book 2) Read online

  “Let’s dance,” he whispered in her ear after she had introduced him to various friends. Kimara moved into his arms as a slow, seductive melody by Luther Vandross filled the room. He pulled her closer to him. She pressed her cheek to rest against his hard chest as they slowly swayed to the music. The way he was holding her seemed to make every square inch of her body touch every square inch of his. She was so physically charged from the feel of him that she nearly forgot to breathe. He had rested his cheek against the top of her head, and their movements were so slow that at times it appeared neither of them was moving.

  “You’re a beautiful bride,” Kyle murmured against her ear.

  She smiled. “Thanks. And you’re a handsome groom.” She felt his arms tighten around her. Neither spoke again during the remainder of the dance.

  “Nice party,” Kyle said to Kimara an hour or so later, when they found themselves alone.

  She nodded. “Yes, it is.”

  “Why don’t we leave?” he said softly.

  Kimara felt a nervous flutter in the pit of her stomach. She began to panic. “Now?”

  Kyle smiled the sensuous smile that came from him so easily. “Now is just as good a time as any. We’ve been here for a little more than an hour. I’m sure your friends will understand if we left a little early.”

  She took a deep breath. “Are we leaving for Special K tonight?”

  “Yes. My plane is at the airport, waiting. Did my chauffeur come by earlier today for your luggage and all of your other belongings to take to the Garwood estate?”

  “Yes. But I didn’t send everything.”

  A spark of some indefinable emotion flashed in Kyle’s eyes with her statement. “You didn’t? Why not?”

  Kimara’s lips parted in surprise at his question. “Because in six months . . . maybe less . . . I’ll be moving back.”

  A frown settled on Kyle’s features. For some unexplainable reason, he didn’t like her reminding him of that.

  Kyle studied the woman sitting across from him in his private jet. “Is it safe to assume you’re no longer on the pill?”

  Kimara lifted her head from sipping champagne and met Kyle’s gaze with a smile of tightly held anger. Evidently he thought she was sexually active if he asked such a question. She decided not to waste her time telling him that she had never used any type of birth control. There was never a reason to do so.

  Unlike him, she didn’t believe in engaging in casual affairs. Over the years, her mother’s preaching of, first you wed, then you bed, had stuck with her. Instead of replying to Kyle’s question, she decided to ask one of her own. “Can I assume you’re sexually safe? One can’t be too sure, especially since you have such an active sex life.”

  Kyle lifted a brow. “And just what do you know about my sex life?”

  “Only what I read in the papers and magazines like everyone else. If I remember correctly, according to one reporter, you’re one of those rare men who honestly like women. You like them so much that you have the uncanny ability to work them into your busy schedule wherever you go. They are known as Kyle Garwood’s women.”

  Kyle’s jaw tightened. If she would have taken the time to read articles that printed more truth than hearsay, she would have learned that over the past year the wild life he’d been known for had lost most of its appeal. He had begun zeroing his time and energy less on the fast life, and the women that went along with it, and more on Garwood Industries’ numerous corporations. In fact, he’d been finalizing a business deal in Paris when he’d received word of his grandfather’s sudden heart attack, and not in some secluded French chateau with a woman, as one newspaper article had claimed. He didn’t see the need to defend himself to her or anyone. What he’d done before their marriage did not concern her. However, he wasn’t about to let the question of his infidelity hang between them.

  “If what you say about ‘my women’ is to be believed, Kimara, as my wife, don’t you feel threatened with my squalid reputation?”

  Kimara shrugged, and then gave a mirthless little laugh. “Me feel threatened? Not at all. Our relationship is strictly business. Your relationship with those women, I imagine, is purely pleasure. However, I do expect you to put your squalid reputation on hold for the brief period that you are married to me. As I said earlier, I assume that you’re sexually safe, and while we’re sharing a bed, I expect you to remain that way.”

  Kyle’s gaze delved deeply into her, his expression serious. “The only thing you’ll get from me is a bundle of joy, hopefully, in about nine months from now. I give you the Garwood word of honor that as long as we are husband and wife, I’ll make love only to you,” he said in a deep, husky voice.

  Kimara broke eye contact and placed her attention on the objects beyond the plane’s window that glittered below in the darkened sky. She believed him. The same thing had occurred when they had held a joint meeting with their attorneys to draw up a prenuptial agreement. She and Kyle had sat there while the two attorneys bickered back and forth about what should or should not be included in the agreement.

  Each man was determined to protect his client’s interest. She had met Kyle’s gaze from across the table, and strange as it may seem, she had read his thoughts. There had never been a question of trust between a Garwood and a Stafford before now. Trust was one thing that had always existed between the two families.

  That trust had been passed on from generation to generation and had continued with their fathers, who had been the best friends. And now it appeared that the last remaining Garwood and Stafford were about to destroy that trust with a piece of paper.

  She had not been at all surprised when Kyle finally stood, bringing the conversation between the two bickering attorneys to a sudden halt. It was uncanny that her and Kyle’s thoughts had been on the same wavelength. They’d both been thinking that although they hadn’t seen each other in years, and were virtual strangers now, there would always be a certain degree of mutual trust between them on some things. And this was one of them.

  Without letting his gaze leave hers, he said, “There will not be a prenuptial agreement drawn up between me and Kimara. We don’t need one.”

  Kyle’s attorney had looked at him as if he’d lost his mind, and her attorney had swung his gaze to her, fully expecting her to disagree. Instead, she said, “I agree with Kyle.” She knew that on that particular issue, their decision was something no one other than another Garwood or Stafford would understand.

  Feeling Kyle’s gaze on her, Kimara brought her wayward thoughts back to the present. “When will we arrive at Special K?”

  Kyle checked his watch. “We should land at the airport in less than thirty minutes. A chopper will be there to fly us to Special K, and we should arrive there before nine o’clock tonight.”

  She took a deep breath. She didn’t want to think about the night that lay ahead.

  “It will be late.”

  “Yes, late for some things, but right on time for others,” Kyle replied in a soft voice. He regretted his words when he saw just how jittery they made her.

  “Look, Kimara, I know this has been a trying week for you, as well as one hell of a day for the both of us,” he said in a deep voice. “How about if we just relax a little and try getting reacquainted. Until I saw you again last week, I hadn’t seen you since our parents’ funeral eight years ago. What have you been doing over the years? What made you decide to start a catering service?”

  Kimara took a deep breath, grateful for Kyle’s thoughtfulness in trying to get her unruffled. She relaxed back in her seat. “I had been accepted at Howard before my parents’ death, so I continued with those plans.”

  “I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you that day you were exercising. You look different,” he said.

  She nodded. “I took some nutrition classes in my sophomore year and learned how to eat all the right things and how to do without the others. Putting what I learned into practice as well as self- determination, I shed a lot of what my paren
ts always referred to as baby fat.”

  A smile touched her lips. “I painstakingly discovered it wasn’t what you ate but how much of it that you ate. I also found out the importance of exercising.”

  “Your efforts are astounding, Kimara. You’re beautiful,” Kyle said in a husky voice.

  Kimara’s heart lurched at the thought that Kyle thought her beautiful. As a child, she had never thought her weight was a problem because no one around her acted like it was. Her parents had sheltered her and had gone out of their way to make her feel beautiful. It was only when she’d turned sixteen and had experienced her first broken heart did she take a good look at herself, and she began wondering if her weight had been one of the reasons Kyle had never noticed her.

  “After graduation I left D.C. and came home to your grandfather,” she continued. “He was the only family I had, and I think I arrived just in time. He was going through his own living hell not being able to accept our parents’ death. I moved in with him for a while and went to work for Stafford Publishing Company.”

  “Doing what?”

  A smile touched Kimara’s lips. “A little bit of everything. I wanted to learn all there was to know about the publishing industry from the bottom up. But it became apparent that my presence was causing a lot of undue problems around the office. Some of the employees could not reconcile with the idea of the president of the corporation doing clerical duties or getting dirty by helping in the printing room. And I really wasn’t happy working there. So after six months, I left.”

  Kyle laughed, a rich, deep, throaty sound. “I can see how your being there and doing those types of jobs could cause somewhat of a problem.”

  Kimara was suddenly filled with that warm feeling of two old friends chitchatting. “I knew I wanted to do something else with my life, but at the time I didn’t have a clue as to what. By then Poppa Garwood had begun to get his life back in order, and one day he approached me with an idea. He had noticed how much I liked spending my time in his kitchen, working alongside his cook, trying out different recipes. He asked if I would be interested in going to New Orleans to study under the renowned Chef LaFranco DePetionne. It just so happened that one of his executives at Garwood Industries had a daughter who was also interested in going.”

  “Nicky?”

  “Yes, Nicky. She and I hit it off immediately, packed our bags, and spent a year and a half in New Orleans at The DePetionne Cooking School. We both graduated with honors and returned to Atlanta ready to take on the world.”

  “And from what I understand, the two of you have done just that. According to Mason, the Golden Flame is doing exceptionally well.”

  She smiled proudly. “Yes, it is, but we can always use new business, so be sure to keep us in mind if you’re ever in need of catering services.”

  Kyle chuckled. “I will.”

  Kimara took another sip of champagne. “And how are you coming along with the list I gave you?”

  He met her gaze. “I’d like you to know that my part in your Valentine’s Day ball is completed. I’ve gotten a firm commitment or a decline from each and every person.”

  She smiled brightly. “You did? Oh, Kyle, that’s wonderful.”

  “The ones that can’t make it send their regrets. They will either be out of the country that night or there was a conflict with some other event they were attending. This week my secretary will be sending your committee the names of those who will be coming to the ball.”

  “Thanks for all your help, Kyle. You accomplished in one week what I hadn’t been able to do in three months. Do you know if Sterling Hamilton will be coming?

  Kyle shook his head. “No, he won’t be able to attend. He’ll be out of the country filming his latest movie. Why?”

  “Of all the people on that list, he’s the one I was hoping would come. A survey taken among the students indicated he’s their favorite of all the celebrities, and the one person most of them wanted to meet.”

  Kyle leaned back in his seat. “I see.”

  “Oh, well, I guess nothing can ever really be perfect, can it?”

  It was on the tip of Kyle’s tongue to tell her that he was beginning to think she was, but he stopped himself. “Would you like some more champagne?”

  “Yes, thank you.”

  He poured Kimara some more of the bubbly drink that had been a wedding gift from his flight crew. He wasn’t sure how he was going to pose his next question, but all during her narrative of what had been going on in her life, she hadn’t once mentioned an involvement with a man. A deep inner part of him wanted to ask her directly and not depend on the secondhand information he’d obtained.

  “What about the guys who’ve been knocking the door down to get to you since I last saw you?”

  To Kyle’s relief, she didn’t catch the underlying questions lurking behind his inquiry. She gave him a cute little giggle. “There weren’t many guys, and those who did come calling were screened thoroughly by Poppa Garwood, which made any serious relationship close to impossible. He frightened off any potential suitors. Too bad he wasn’t in New Orleans when I met Adam Coffer.”

  His stomach lurched nervously. “Who’s Adam Coffer?”

  Creases lined Kimara’s forehead as if giving his question considerable thought. It seemed like an eternity before she answered. “Adam lived in New Orleans and owned an engineering firm there. By the time our relationship ended, I learned three valuable lessons in life.”

  Kyle shifted uneasily in his seat. “What were they?”

  “First, a man who is skillful at conducting whirlwind courtships probably has had a lot of practice. Secondly, some relationships just aren’t meant to be. Thirdly, the words ‘I love you’ don’t roll as easily or quickly off the tongue of a sincere man as they will an insincere one.”

  Kyle looked down into the golden liquid swirling around in his glass. So she had been involved with someone. He felt a deep tightening in his chest. Why did the thought of her wrapped in some other man’s arms cause his heart to ache? He lifted his eyes to meet hers, and was about to tell her he was glad things hadn’t worked out for her and the other man, when the sound of his pilot’s voice came through the intercom system, instructing them to fasten their seatbelts for landing.

  • • •

  It was past midnight when the newlyweds arrived at Special K.

  When Kyle’s jet landed at the airport, he discovered that due to miscommunication, the chopper was not there for them. It was an additional hour or so before they had gotten a rental car, and it took another hour to travel the dark, mountainous roads to the luxurious two-story cabin that was situated in the heart of the Carolina Mountains.

  By the time Kyle drove through the gates of Special K, he noticed his bride of six hours had passed out from a combination of exhaustion and champagne. She sat slumped down in her seat. He reached out to nudge her awake. “Kimara, we’re here.”

  She opened one eye wearily and gazed up at him. “I want to sleep,” she said drowsily.

  “I know, and you will just as soon as I can get you inside.” He got out of the car, went to the front door of the house, and unlocked it. Stepping over the threshold he flipped on the lights. Leaving the door ajar, he returned to the car and opened the passenger door. At the gentle touch he placed on her shoulder, Kimara turned trustingly and wrapped her arms around his neck. He kissed her cheek.

  “Kimara?”

  She opened both her sleep-filled eyes and peered up at him questioningly. “Hmm?”

  “Welcome to Special K as my wife, and it’s my honor to carry you over the threshold as Mrs. Kyle Harrison Garwood the Fifth.” The phrase was a tradition that all Garwood men said to their wives the first time they brought them to Special K.

  Somehow Kyle felt sincere in saying it to Kimara. “Thanks, Kyle,” she mumbled, tightening her arms around his neck and closing her eyes once more. With tenderness and long strides, he carried the sleeping woman inside the house, trying to remember the layout of th
e huge mountain cabin. He recalled two separate master bedrooms, one on the main floor, the Stafford suite, and one upstairs, the Garwood suite.

  Making a quick decision, he made his way to the bedroom up the stairs. With great effort he tried ignoring the warm breath on his cheek from Kimara’s breathing. By the time he reached the Garwood suite, his body had become alive with want and desire.

  Walking over to the king-size bed, he gently placed her down on the printed comforter. He glanced around the room. Dozens and dozens of red roses were everywhere, and filled the room with a sweet fragrance. He also noticed an ice bucket containing a bottle of champagne.

  Remembering that he’d left the front door open, Kyle quickly left the room and went downstairs. When he returned minutes later, he stood in the doorway and watched Kimara asleep in the bed. Rubbing the back of his neck, he couldn’t help but take a close look at her outfit. Before leaving the reception, she had changed into a short split skirt and jacket.

  The outfit exposed her long, beautiful legs and wreaked havoc on his senses. He strode into the room, moving closer to the bed. Reluctantly, he bent over to begin the job of undressing his wife. With expert hands, it took no time at all to remove the top layer of clothing, leaving her body clothed in white satin and lace. Somehow, he managed to move the bed covering aside, place her beneath the top sheet, and flip the comforter over her. Stifling a groan, he took his eyes off the totally desirable woman and left the room to bring in their luggage. It was close to an hour later before Kyle began removing his clothing and joined Kimara in bed. Knowing consummating their marriage tonight was out of the question, he pulled her into his arms, loving the feel of her hips and legs close to his. Her hand, soft and warm, absently came to rest on the soft, hairy cushion of his chest.