Page 3 of Five Midnight Moment
“Whatever you’re thinking, it’s not a good idea.” She tried to take a step back, but ended up against the desk. “I can’t lose this job.”
He angled his head thoughtfully. “Actually, it’s the best idea I’ve had all day and there’s no chance of you losing your job. I promise.” He slid an arm around her waist, lowered his head and kissed her sensually, tangling his tongue with hers. Yeah, this was the best idea he’d had. Dwayne switched their positions so that she was standing between his legs. He deepened the kiss and brought their bodies closer. Her taste was like an aphrodisiac and he couldn’t get enough.
Valencia moaned. Her eyes snapped open and she gasped. She jumped away from him so quickly, she almost lost her balance. “You should go.”
“Probably, because right now I want to strip you naked, lay you on that desk and show you—”
Her eyes widened and she clapped a hand over his mouth. “Go,” she whispered, glancing over her shoulder to the still closed door.
He took her hand and pressed a kiss in the center of her palm. She snatched her hand away and he chuckled. “I’ll talk to you later.” Dwayne held up five fingers. “Five nights.” As he made his way back to his office, he smiled. It was time to put his plan in action.
Chapter 2
Valencia tried to concentrate on finishing up the last test on the new security protocol, but had difficulty. She still couldn’t believe what Dwayne had done. He’d walked out of her office calm and in control, as if nothing had happened. She, on the other hand, had been left in a state of arousal that refused to die down. She briefly toyed with marching over to his office and giving him a taste of his own medicine, but figured they’d already tempted fate enough for one day. It would be just her luck for someone to barge in and find them in the middle of a heated kiss. Or worse—them half naked and her straddling him in his chair.
Shaking off the errant thought, Valencia turned her attention back to the program. By late afternoon, everything ran as expected. Whenever someone logged into a client’s account, it would alert upper management and they would be able to track it and trace it back to the person’s computer. She assumed, with the recent acquisition of two major clients, the company didn’t want to take any chances. She sent Dwayne an email letting him know everything was in place. He replied almost immediately:Thank you. I appreciate your hard work.Impersonal. The part of her that had fallen for him felt a little disappointed. However, the rational part of her said she couldn’t have it both ways.
She checked her emails one last time before preparing to shut down for the day.
“Valencia. Good, you’re still here.”
Valencia turned to find one of the administrative assistants standing in the doorway. Hey, Jenice. You just caught me. Is there something you need?” She really hoped not. It was already after five and Valencia should’ve been gone ten minutes ago.
“You had a delivery.”
Puzzled, she locked her desk and slung her purse over her shoulder. “Since I’m leaving, I’ll just follow you out and pick it up on my way out.” She couldn’t imagine who’d be sending her a delivery at work.
Jenice rounded her desk and pointed to a large vase that held a dozen red roses. “These are yours.” She picked up a small teal gift bag and held it out. “This is a Tiffany’s bag. Whoever he is, he’s a keeper,” she said with a smile.
Valencia gasped softly. It took several seconds for her to find her voice. “Um…yes, he is.” The vase sat in a carrier box, which would make it easier for her to take in the car. She didn’t dare open the card or the gift, even though she could tell by the look on Jenice’s face, the woman was itching for some information. “Thanks. I’m going to take these gorgeous flowers home. See you in the morning.”
“Have a good evening.”
A few minutes later, seated in her car, Valencia opened the card. It only had two words and signed with his initial:Tonight. Midnight. D.“What does that mean?” she mumbled. She mentally went over their earlier conversation for any indication of what the cryptic words meant, but drew a blank. Setting it aside, she dug the small jewelry box out of the gift bag. Her heart raced as she opened. “Oh. My. Goodness.” Inside, she found a diamond tennis bracelet with a diamond-encrusted ‘V’. Leaning back against the seat, Valencia closed her eyes. If she wasn’t already in love with Dwayne, this would have pushed her over the edge. He’d asked for five nights to prove their relationship meant more than a passing fling, that it was worth the risk. Obviously, he planned to go all out. She opened her eyes, started the car and drove off.
As soon as she got home, her cell rang. Valencia hurried over to the coffee table and set the vase down, the dug her phone out of her purse. She smiled when she saw Leah’s name on the display. “Hey, girl.”
“Don’t ‘hey, girl’ me,” Leah said. “You were supposed to call me last night when you got home.”
Laughing, Valencia walked to her bedroom and deposited her purse and the gift bag on her dresser. “I know, and I’m sorry. I had planned to, but D—…um, he stayed around for a while and it was too late to call by the time he left.” She groaned inwardly. Leah’s middle name wasnosy, and one slip and the woman would know everything about Dwayne Albright from his vital statistics to where he went to preschool.
“Mmm hmm. More like y’all got busy.”
She dropped down on the bed, but didn’t comment. As usual, Leah was spot on.
“That silence says I’m right. Did you talk to him about ending things like you mentioned?”
“Yes, but he wasn’t on board with it at all. He wants to prove we can make it work.” She kicked off her shoes.
“Aw, that’s so romantic. Wait. Don’t tell me he expects you two to keep your relationship a secret indefinitely.”
“I don’t know what he expects, but he showed up in my office today. I thought he came to talk work, but he…he kissed me.”
Leah screamed into the phone. “That’s what I’m talking about! Looks like your mystery man is ready to come out of the shadows,” she added with a giggle.
“Or something.” She debated on whether to tell Leah about the gifts, and before she could stop herself, blurted out the words. “He had flowers and a bracelet from Tiffany’s delivered before I left the office this evening.” Her friend was silent for so long, Valencia thought they’d gotten disconnected. “Leah, are you still there?”
“I’m here. Sis, I think you’re going to have to decide real soon what you want to do. Any man sending those kinds of gifts to the office of a woman he’s not supposed to be seeing says he’s serious about you.”
