“Caden,” she cried just as she quivered.
In another swift move, Caden moved her body around. One minute her hands were on his knees and she was on top of him, the next she faced the cushions of the couch and Caden entered her from behind. His hands cupped her breasts. For a deeper feel, Maggie pushed her behind back. Caden groaned in her ear and nibbled on her shoulder. There was a crash behind them. She pictured the brownies hitting the floor, but right now she didn’t care. She just needed Caden to fill her deeper. Maggie came to her knees and felt his huge cock fill her walls. Coupled with his fingers kneading her breasts, Maggie came again with a steady thrusting session. The wave of moisture coated him. She came to her feet and bent straight over for him.
“Oh my damn,” Caden grunted. His hands gripped her butt, and he pulled all the way out then pushed back in, over and over until it sounded like he stopped breathing. Maggie came once more. A gasp escaped Caden’s throat. Seconds later a warmth spilled on her back side. “Oh shit, Maggie.”
Maggie eased the situation and gave a laugh. “Perfect timing for me to take a shower.”
Caden pulled her hair off her back and kissed the nape of her neck. “Is that an invitation?”
“I think it might be counterproductive, Caden.” Maggie spun around and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “I’ll be right back.”
The small bathroom in her apartment opened from the hall and also her bedroom. Since her bedroom door was closed, she entered from the hallway. Steam still covered the mirrors in her bathroom. Maggie wiped the spot in front of her face and found her cheeks flushed red. Her heart raced, and she couldn’t ignore the smile spreading. Because the water sometimes took a moment to heat up, Maggie turned the knobs on the shower and got the pressure just right. Then she remembered she needed to grab a towel. She knew a fresh batch sat folded in the basket in her bedroom, so she went to get one.
Through her bedroom door she heard voices. One voice in particular.
“Dude, did you find her?” someone asked.
Caden’s voice answered. “I did.”
“And is she coming?”
Caden chuckled and paused for a heartbeat. She wondered if both their minds went in the gutter. “Look, man, I need time. I’ll get her there.”
“Caden,” the other deep voice pleaded, “our company depends on this.”
“You still haven’t convinced me,” said Caden.
“Once we become rightful owners of the Southern Style Glitz Beauty Pageant, we’ll get all the contestants with real talent to sign with us. I’ve been digging around with our producer friends, and they’ve got some projects coming up in the future. If we secure those contracts, we’ll be in like Flynn.”
Caden didn’t answer right away. Maggie prayed for him to hang up with the person on the other line. “Tell me again why we have to have them sign with us?”
“We can keep our other clients who are threatening to boycott if we don’t start representing women,” said the guy. “But what I’m saying is that the pageant is going to be a pond of talent. Women are going to sign up not caring if they win the crown or not—they’ll know we’ll handle them right after the pageant.”
Maggie’s head spun and hands clenched together in a fist. So Caden would get the job? Was it already set in stone? Surely Auntie Bren would have said something about him being a strong possibility for the position. From the way she’d talked, though, it had sounded as if Maggie had the best shot. Caden, however, seemed to be working under the supposition that getting Maggie to the meeting with his family would enhance his chances. Had she been a fool?
“I don’t know, man,” said Caden. “Give me a few days to work on her.”
Work on her or seduce her? Maggie fumed. She needed answers and knew she wouldn’t get them from Caden.
Chapter 6
Caden’s morning did not start off as he’d planned. Backing up his thoughts further, he hated the way he’d had to fall asleep. After Maggie’s shower last night, she wasn’t feeling well. He put her to bed and slept on the couch just in case she needed him.
The shrill tone of his cell phone going off didn’t help his mood. Any time a 912 area code flashed across his screen, he worried something was wrong. Jason at least started off the call stating their mother was okay but that an emergency meeting had been called at their home in Savannah. Caden needed to think fast, because he still hadn’t convinced Maggie to come with him.
Caden hated to leave without her. He’d cracked open her door and found her fast asleep on her bed and decided to leave her a note. She’d worked hard yesterday and needed her rest. If he and Kofi were going to inherit SSGBP, they were going to have to do it on their own merit, not because he brought a dinner guest. The drive out of town began to irritate him further. He wanted to be mad at Maggie.
Who wouldn’t want to do something for Kit? She was the most perfect mother in the world. By the time Caden arrived at the gates of his mother’s Isle of Hope home, he decided he was angry with Maggie. If she’d just said yes to coming here this weekend, things wouldn’t be rushed now. He prayed his mother just wanted to meet with everyone instead of making her retirement announcement.
Caden drove his car past the waiting media outside the wraparound porch. Whatever was planned, it must be good. He noted the media, especially MET, out to cover the announcement with two news trucks—their real news team as well as the colorful purple van for their tabloid show, Gossip with Gigi. MET, Multi-Ethnic Television, had sponsored this year’s draft in Miami and put everyone up in swanky hotels. The company had been around for decades and stood out from competitors by incorporating all nationalities and cultures.
A valet met Caden at the drive and took the car off to the compound. Caden dashed in through the side door that led to the downstairs entrance. The floor-to-ceiling windows of the hallway led to the view of the chaos outside on display for the Freedom River, which most people knew as Runaway Negro Creek. How many dinner functions had his parents hosted to help fundraise to change the name?
His childhood home was like most of his neighbors’. Their house sat back from the water. The brick porch, lined with wrought iron gates, led down in a double staircase on either side to the manicured lawn. Waitstaff scurried around fitting white linens to the extended rectangular table positioned in front of a half dozen eight-seated tables out on the grassy yard. Moss dangled from the cypress trees and framed the property of the massive backyard. Tea lights waited to be lit on the pier. He loved this view and had chosen his town house for the similar windows.
Since before he could walk, Helen Davenport had cooked her hearty meals in this very kitchen. So when Caden spotted her at the sink snapping fresh green beans, he rushed to her side and kissed her cheek before snagging a vegetable.
“Boy,” Helen said in her warning voice, the one she often used just before he got get swatted with a dish towel, wooden spoon or whatever she had on hand, “don’t ruin your appetite.”