She looked feminine in a sleeveless pink wraparound top and gray slacks and pink peep-toe pumps. Glittering silver earrings adorned her ears and only emphasized her beautiful face, on which she wore very little makeup other than a touch of blush, mascara and pink lipstick.
When she was done and had handed her business card to one of the customers, he applauded her.
She turned, and when she saw him, her smile faded. “Lucius.”
“Good morning,” he responded, not allowing her lackluster response to faze him. “I missed you this morning.”
“Duty calls.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“One of my salespeople came down with a bad case of food poisoning and is currently in their room praying to the porcelain god, so I’m here in their stead.”
“So it wasn’t my charming personality that kept you away?”
“You wish.” Naomi bent down and retrieved several cellophane-wrapped Brooks and Johnson products from underneath her display table.
“I was actually hoping I could steal you away and talk about how Brooks and Johnson might benefit from being part of Knight International.”
“Changing tactics, I see,” Naomi stated. She began stacking the promotional items on the table. “I have executives that handle that kind of stuff for me. Besides I’m needed here.”
“Don’t hide behind your work,” Lucius responded, glancing around him. “The trade show is going to slow down for lunch anyway, and you have to eat.”
Naomi let out a long, beleaguered sigh. “Fine. If it’ll get you off my back.” She turned and whispered something to her staff.
Lunch at a nearby bistro was not only delicious, but the conversation was less charged than their previous encounters. The change of flow seemed to please Naomi immensely, and she became more at ease during the course of the meal. They talked about politics. The Lakers. Even some charity work she’d started doing. Until eventually the conversation turned to business and the purpose for the lunch.
Lucius explained the reach of Knight International and how having a distribution arm like his would allow Brooks and Johnson to not only be a national phenomenon but an international success. “We could sell B and J products in stores abroad.”
“That’s all fine and good, Lucius,” Naomi responded, “but I’m happy with where the company is right now.”
“C’mon, don’t tell me you don’t have big dreams.”
“I do, but I also want to be approachable. I can’t do that overseas. I do want a family someday.”
Lucius frowned. Family. There was a dirty word in his vocabulary, and one he wasn’t altogether fond of. If it wasn’t for his grandma Ruby, he wouldn’t have any to speak of.
Naomi caught his frown, because she asked, “Are you not close with your family?”
His sat upright in his chair, his shoulders stiff. “No, I’m not.”
She must have detected his body language and the note of finality in his tone, which said he didn’t wish to continue on the subject, because she dropped it. “I have to get back.” Naomi used the napkin in her lap to wipe her mouth.
“So that’s it?” Lucius asked. “You’re not going to give my proposal any more thought?”
Naomi’s eyes narrowed. “I did. I gave you the benefit of lunch and you didn’t convince me that the company I started, I nurtured since infancy, belongs with someone who doesn’t even believe in the word family. Good day, Lucius.”
Lucius stared at Naomi’s retreating figure as she went through the revolving doors of the bistro. How had their lunch gone so horribly wrong? He’d been certain he could convince her that Knight International was the next logical step in the evolution of Brooks and Johnson. But not only had he failed at that, he’d also struck a nerve with Naomi when he’d cut down her attempt to open up about his family.
Had he killed any hope that Naomi Brooks would ever give him the time of day again?
* * *
“You won’t believe who was at the conference,” Naomi told Kelsey the next day when she made it back to Long Beach and phoned her friend from her three-bedroom craftsman-style bungalow in Belmont Heights’ historic district.
“Who?” Kelsey asked from the other end of the line.
“Lucius Knight,” Naomi replied, placing the teakettle on the stove.
“Lucius. Now there’s a blast from the past,” Kelsey responded. “You haven’t spoken of him since college, when you told me about the monumental crush you had on him.”
“Yeah, well, that ship has sailed,” Naomi responded, turning on the burner. “He’s not the bad boy of every teenage girl’s fantasy anymore. Instead, he’s a pompous, arrogant, conceited jerk.”
“Wow!” Kelsey laughed. “I’ve never heard you speak that way about someone. He must have really gotten your goat.”
“He did.”
“What happened? Do tell—married women such as myself have to entertain ourselves with sexy single girl stories.”
“Wh-what? There’s no sex in this story.”
“Naomi, chill. I was just kidding. What’s gotten into you?” Kelsey inquired. “Did seeing Lucius again really upset you that much?”
Naomi sighed. “Yes—I mean, no.”
“Which is it?”
“He was just so smug and confident, saying that I’m attracted to him and that we would eventually sleep together.”
Kelsey perked up. “Oh, really? And why would he think that? Did you give him fodder to think he’d have the time of day?”
“No...”
“Hmm...it sounds like you’re not being one hundred with me, Naomi. Give up the goods. What happened between you two?”
“All right, all right. We kissed,” Naomi answered in a rush as she leaned back against the counter to wait for the teakettle to boil. “Are you happy now?”
“I would be if you were happy about it. Was he a terribly bad kisser? You know, the ones that slobber all over you, or their tongue is like a lizard darting in and out of your mouth. I used to hate that when I dated. If a man didn’t know how to kiss, he got the boot.”
Naomi chuckled. “I wish that was the case, but Lucius is far from being a bad kisser. In fact, he’s the best kisser I’ve ever had.”
“Is that a fact?”
“It is. And that’s also why I have to stay away from him.”
“Why? What’s wrong with having a little fun? If his reputation is anything to go by, Lucius knows how to treat—or should I say please—a woman. Perhaps Lucius, with his exceptional expertise, is exactly what you need to light your fire.”
“Kelsey.”
“I’m just being honest. When was your last date? Or relationship?”
“Lucius Knight isn’t interested in a relationship with me. He’s interested in sleeping with me and buying my company, and not necessarily in that order.”
“That’s true.”
Naomi stood upright. “Why are you agreeing? Did something happen while I was away?”
“His attorney Adam Powell came to see me.”
“And why would he do that?” Once the kettle began