Chapter Five #2
Damien nodded. “That’s right,” he said. “And speaking of our bargain, there’s a fund-raiser at the Roosevelt Hotel next Saturday night that I’ll need you to attend.”
“The Roosevelt,” she said, her brows arching. “I’m impressed.”
“My wallet isn’t,” Damien said with a laugh. “The banquet is a thousand dollars a couple, but in the past the guest list has been a rundown of who’s who in the city, so I’m hoping it’s worth it.”
April held up a hand. “Wait a minute. Let me get this straight. You’re going to spend a thousand dollars to ask people to give you money? Did I hear this correctly?”
“You know the old saying that you have to spend money to make money? Well, the same goes for finding investors. You’ve got to invest a little of your own before you find people willing to invest in you.”
“Hmm,” April murmured with a nod. “I like that. You know what I think, Mr. Damien?”
He laughed at the mister. “What’s that?”
“I think I might be able to learn a thing or two from you.”
“About finance?”
Her eyes dropped to his mouth and stayed there. “Among other things,” she said, her voice low and warm.
The heat that began to move across Damien’s skin had nothing to do with the temperature in the room, and everything to do with the way April’s eyes continued to stare at his mouth.
They hadn’t discussed last night’s near kiss, but based on the way she was looking at him now, Damien was tempted to bring it up.
He caught her chin and tipped her head up so that he could look her in the eyes. “There’s a lot more I could teach you,” he said.
A slow, sensual smile drew across April’s lips.
“I’ll bet there is,” she said. “Maybe one day I’ll let you.”
* * *
April stared at the cell phone sitting on her coffee table as if the meaning of life would magically appear in a text message. Or as if it would bite her fingers off if she dared touch it.
She threw her hands up in the air. “This is ridiculous. Just call him.”
She picked up the phone then promptly set it right back on the distressed ash oak table. She could not just call him. She needed to think this through, to consider the potential fallout to inviting Damien to her baby niece’s christening party.
On the one hand, it made sense to invite him.
Damien had spent his share of Sunday afternoons studying at the Knight kitchen table, so he was technically a friend of the family.
Even though he was several years younger than her three brothers, Jason, Nicholas and Savion, Damien would often join them for a pickup game of basketball between study sessions.
April doubted anyone would consider it strange that she would invite him to a family gathering.
But what if they did?
Her brothers all knew about her crush on Damien, thanks to Savion sticking his nose where it didn’t belong and reading her journal just before she left for college.
And because her brothers were the worst when it came to teasing their baby sister, they continued to joke about April’s crush for years after.
“Oh, stop it,” April said out loud to the empty room.
That was a long time ago. No one would think there was anything going on between her and Damien just because she brought him along for barbecue.
Before she could chicken out yet again, April picked up the phone and called him.
Damien answered on the first ring. “Hey, what’s up?” His rich voice never failed to cause her skin to pebble.
“Hi,” April said. Why did she have to sound so breathless? “I was, uh, just calling to see if you were free this afternoon.”
There was a slight pause. “Did we have something planned?” he asked.
“No, no. I just... Well, Jason and my sister-in-law, Shelby, are hosting a cookout today. Their baby girl is being christened this morning. I wondered if maybe you wanted to come along. If, you know, you’re not busy.”
The brief hesitation on the other end of the line seemed to go on for ages, even though it was only a few seconds.
“Give me just a minute,” Damien finally said. “I’m skimming through what I have left to review on this contract. I should be able to get it done within the next hour or so. Should I meet you at your house?”
April was happy there wasn’t anyone around to see the ridiculously huge smile that spread across her face. As a grown woman, she should not grin like a schoolgirl just because the man had agreed to join her for barbecue.
“Sounds great,” she said. “I’ll see you in an hour.”
By her third wardrobe change April decided that she’d jumped right over ridiculous and was knee-deep in preposterous territory, but it didn’t stop her from trying on yet another outfit.
If she were going to Jason’s alone she would have thrown on an old pair of jeans and a T-shirt and would have been done with it.
But she wasn’t going alone. Damien would be with her.
“This is the one,” she said, looking herself over in the mirror. She’d finally settled on a flowing skirt and silk tank top with lace trimming around the bust area. She tied her favorite scarf around her waist to act as a belt, and brushed her hair, leaving it flowing around her shoulders.
She decided that subtlety was the best option when it came to makeup. If she showed up at her sister-in-law’s with a fully made-up face, Shelby would definitely take notice. She hounded April on a regular basis about her tendency to downplay her looks.
A car door slammed closed outside, and moments later came the rap of knuckles on her front door. April’s heartbeat ramped up to twice its usual speed.
“Stop being so thirsty for his attention,” April chastised herself in the mirror.
She gave her hair a final fluff and then rushed over to answer the door. She nearly swallowed her tongue at the sight that greeted her.
Even in plain army-green deck shorts and a yellow polo shirt, Damien was simply divine. His muscular biceps tested the limits of his sleeves, and April just knew the designer sunglasses tucked in the front of his shirt would look sexy as hell covering his eyes.
“Hi,” she greeted, unable to stop the smile that stretched across her lips.
She must look like an idiot, but God knew she couldn’t help it.
Just the knowledge that he was willing to join her at a gathering that didn’t include a group of wealthy investors made her so ridiculously happy that April figured she’d smile for the rest of the day.
“Ready?” Damien asked.
She nodded and followed him out to his car.
When they arrived at her brother’s house in Metairie, there were already at least a dozen cars parked in their short driveway and along the curb surrounding the house.
They parked two houses down, in front of a bi-level-style structure that was repeated every fourth home.
“When did Jason move to Metairie?” Damien asked as he helped her out of the car.
“After Katrina,” April answered. “Their house in New Orleans East flooded. He realized the commute was about the same for both him and Shelby, so they moved out this way.”
“Do they enjoy living in the suburbs?”
“According to Jason it’s better, especially now that they have kids. Even though the houses are all pretty cookie-cutter, he likes having a bigger house and backyard for less money.”
“That’s interesting,” Damien said with a nod. “That’s something I’ll have to take into consideration when it comes to the project I’m working on, although I never really pictured families with young children living there.”
“Really?” April asked. “I would have thought they would be your ideal resident. We need families with young children back in the Ninth Ward.”
“Yeah, but—”
“Is that D-Dawg Alexander?”
She and Damien both turned at the sound of Savion’s loud voice carrying from the front door. He jogged up the walkway and reached out to Damien, bringing him in for a one-armed hug.
“What’s up with you, man?” Savion greeted. “It’s been a minute since I’ve seen you around here. Well, except on the covers of magazines, Mr. Bachelor of the Year.”
“Top Ten Bachelor,” April corrected.
“Oh. Excuse me,” her brother said. He squeezed her in a too-tight hug, kissing the crown of her head. “If I’d known you were coming I would have brought you a couple of bottles of my new beer,” Savion said.
Damien’s forehead creased in a frown. “I wanted to ask you about the beer since I noticed it in your fridge the other day. Since when did you start drinking beer?” he asked April.
“She drinks my beer,” Savion said.
“My brother fancies himself a craft-beer maker,” April explained. “I bought him a home-brewery kit for Christmas and now he has all these ideas about opening up his own fancy sports bar that only serves craft beer.”
“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” Damien said. “Something like that would fit right in with the type of places I want occupying the retail space of the property I’m planning to build in the Ninth Ward.”
April swung around to face him, her brows dipping in confusion. “It does? But I thought—”
“We can talk business later,” Savion interrupted. “Right now, both of y’all need to grab a plate of the barbecue the Knight brothers are cooking up. It’s off the chain.”
They bypassed the house, heading straight for the gate that led to the backyard.
There were at least two dozen people seated around the folding tables that Jason had set up in the backyard.
April walked over to the one underneath the awning stretching out over the rear patio.
Covered with a plastic pink tablecloth and trimmed with garland made up of paper crosses, it held a cake in the shape of the Holy Bible with a picture of her two-month-old niece, Naomi, airbrushed in sugar.
Her sister-in-law came up to her, followed closely by Jason, who held the swaddled baby in his arms.
“Hey there,” April greeted. “How did the christening go?”
“She cried. As usual.”
“Oh, hush,” her sister-in-law said. “She’s a baby. Of course she cried.”