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  Duan paused for a moment before continuing. “Look, Terrence, I didn’t call to lay all this on you. It’s my problem. I just wanted you to know the reason why I won’t be coming to Sherri’s birthday party next weekend. There is no way I can see Kim and not give away how much I want her. How much I love her. And I hope you understand.”

  Tears clouded Kim’s eyes as she began backing away from Terrence’s office door. She returned to the elevator and pressed the button that would take her back down. Her heart began filling with happiness at the thought that Duan loved her. All those times they had been making love and not just having sex. He actually loved her and wasn’t telling her for fear of coming between her and her dream of attending medical school.

  Didn’t he know he was now part of her dream and that she had a chance to have it all with him? Apparently not. So she intended to be the one to tell him and she wouldn’t waste any time doing so.

  “You’re through with your meeting with Terrence already?”

  Kim blinked, realizing the elevator door had opened and Debbie was standing in front of it, staring at her.

  “Oh, no. I just got an emergency that I need to take care of. Let Terrence know I’ll call him later to reschedule our meeting.”

  “All right.”

  Kim quickly headed for the exit door, pulling her car keys out of her purse. She would drive herself to the airport. Destination? Atlanta, Georgia.

  18

  DUAN RECALLED the conversation he’d had with Terrence before leaving the office. Maybe his brother was right and he should let Kim know how he felt.

  To anyone who didn’t know Duan, he probably appeared to be a calm, cool and collected guy. A man defined by his achievements, someone who knew what he wanted and was proud of what he had. A man not willing to show his emotions to too many people. A private person. Definitely not a man who would bare his soul to anyone. And Duan could admit that before he’d met Kim, that image was probably right on the money.

  But now he was also a man who knew how it felt to love a woman, truly love a woman. Now he understood his father’s tears that day. He understood the pain of loving someone and not having that love returned. Although he was certain the depth of his father’s misery was deeper than his because of his wife’s betrayal, the bottom line was that love was love no matter how you looked at it. And he could admit that he was a man in love. And the sad thing was that the woman who had his heart didn’t have a clue.

  He headed toward the kitchen to prepare one of those microwave dinners when his doorbell rang. He pivoted, wondering who the hell it could be. He wasn’t in a good mood and the last thing he wanted was company.

  Without bothering to glance out the peephole, he flung open the door, ready to give the person hell for having the nerve to bother him on a Thursday night.

  His breath caught in his throat and he felt himself stagger back a foot. He blinked, thinking he was seeing things, and when he realized he wasn’t, he asked in a shocked voice, “Kim, what are you doing here?”

  She smiled and that smile did something to him that he couldn’t explain, and all the frustration and anger he’d felt earlier seemed to melt away. “I was wondering, Duan, if you wanted to play.”

  DUAN BLINKED AGAIN, but when he fully realized what she’d asked, he reached out and pulled her into his arms, covering his mouth with hers. He then swept her off her feet and slammed the door shut with his foot.

  He had a vague memory of Kim tossing her purse on his sofa. But what stood out in his mind more than anything was when he carried her into his bedroom and proceeded to strip her naked before tearing off his own clothes, popping buttons in his haste.

  Oh, yeah, they would play. Then afterward they would talk.

  He glanced over at her and almost had an orgasm right then and there. She was propped back on his pillows in that sexy, mouth-watering pose he liked. Her legs were open, showing him everything, and her scent was driving him insane. It was definitely an aphrodisiac moment.

  He moved toward her but thought he needed to make one thing clear right now. “We’re not having sex, Kim.”

  She smiled. “We’re not?”

  “No.”

  “Then what is it that we’re about to do?”

  “Make love,” he quickly replied.

  His knee touched the mattress of the bed and he reached out for her. Pulling her closer to him, he whispered against her lips, “I could never just have sex with the woman I love.”

  There, he’d said it, and he hoped and prayed Terrence was right, that maybe, quite possibly, things could work out between them and that she cared for him, too.

  She rose up on her knees and wrapped her arms around his neck. He dragged in a deep breath at the feel of her hard nipples pressed into his chest. She held his gaze, flicking out her tongue a few times to trace the outline of his lips before saying, “That’s good to hear, Duan, because you’re the man I love.”

  At that moment everything within Duan snapped and he grabbed the back of her neck and lowered his mouth to hers, devouring her in a kiss that only the two of them could share. It was a kiss that let them know beyond a shadow of a doubt that no matter what, they belonged together and they would be together.

  He took his time to cherish every part of her body, loving her, tasting her and transforming her into sexual energy in his arms. And when he lowered his head between her thighs and gently parted her folds with his fingers, he eased his tongue inside and began stroking her all the way to the tip of her clit, darting in and out of her, lapping her with a hunger that was consuming him. She screamed out his name and reached down to grab hold of his head to push his tongue even deeper inside her. Giving him more of her taste. More of her as an orgasm ripped through her body.

  Before her climax could ease away, he slid between those same open thighs and entered her, throwing his head back in a guttural groan at how good it felt being back inside her. And when he felt himself all the way to the hilt, he began moving in long, deep strokes, delving in and out, back and forth, mating with her, making love to her, making both their bodies tremble in what had to be the most precious pleasure any two individuals could share.

  And when she screamed his name again, he knew he was about to follow her lead, and as everything erupted inside him, exploded to the nth degree, he shot his semen all the way to her womb.

  “Kim!”

  He screamed out the name of the woman he loved. The woman who had made him whole. The only woman he ever wanted to belong to. This woman. His woman. And then he busted another nut when an orgasm slammed into him again. He felt her inner muscles clench him, taking everything he had.

  And when he had nothing left to give, he slumped down on her in mindless ecstatic pleasure and contentment.

  “TELL ME, KIM. You knew, didn’t you?”

  A very drained Kim glanced up at the eyes staring down at her, the eyes of the man she loved. “Yes, but only recently,” she responded in a strained whisper.

  She saw the confusion enter his eyes. “But how …?”

  “I had an appointment with Terrence after work today to go over his plans for Sherri’s party, and when I stepped off the elevator I heard him talking to you. He had placed you on the speakerphone and I overheard what you said.”

  More confusion flashed in the dark depths of his eyes. “But that was just a couple of hours ago.”

  She smiled. “I know. Once I heard you say you loved me, but that you weren’t sure I loved you, I knew I had to come here and tell you in person. So, without Terrence even knowing I’d been there, I left and drove directly to the airport.”

  A look of incredulity shone on Duan’s face. “Without a ticket?”

  Kim managed a chuckle. “A ticket was the least of my problems. I had to call to let the hospital know I wouldn’t be in tomorrow. Luckily I was scheduled to be off this weekend anyway. But the biggest goof of all was when I discovered I didn’t have a house address for you until I got in the cab and the driver asked where
I was going. I had to call Sherri to get it.”

  Duan threw his head back and laughed.

  She couldn’t help but join in when she thought about it, although it hadn’t been funny at the time. “So, I guess you can say that my visit here was rather spontaneous.”

  Duan grinned from ear to ear. “Yes, I think it would be safe to say that. Spontaneous is definitely the word of the day, and it seems the norm for us.”

  “And if you noticed, I was wearing my nurse’s uniform, which means unless you plan to have me walking around nude all weekend, I’ll need more clothes. And a few toiletries.”

  “You walking around naked won’t be a problem for me,” Duan informed her. “In fact I rather like the idea. And as for the toiletries, just make a list of everything you need and I’ll go out and get them.”

  He reached out and rubbed the tip of his finger across her chin. “I meant what I said to Terrence, Kim. I won’t stand in the way of your dream. You are going to med school.”

  The corners of her lips tilted into a smile. “Yes, I am going to medical school. But Terrence was right, Duan. You and I can work out anything because we love each other. I will go to med school, and on the flight here I decided which one, since I’ve received several offers. I’m going to accept the offer from Emory University here in Atlanta. That means you’re going to have a roommate for a while, Duan Jeffries.”

  Kim scrutinized his face to see how the thought of her moving in with him would go over, especially when she would be unemployed and going to school full-time. From the smile on his face, she knew he was fine with the idea.

  “I would love for you to share this place with me, Kim,” he said, leaning closer to her. “But only as a short-term roommate.”

  He reached in the drawer to the nightstand behind him and pulled out a small box. Kim recognized it immediately. It was his grandmother’s ring. The ring she had returned to him a few weeks ago. The ring she had grown used to wearing. The one she’d fallen in love with. The ring that looked perfect on her hand.

  Tears filled her eyes as he took her hand in his. “I’d rather have you as my wife instead of a roommate. Kim, will you marry me? Be the mother of our babies? Trust me to make you happy? And know that on the day you become Dr. Kimani Cannon Jeffries, I will be just as happy as you, and that I will cherish you, honor you and forever love you.”

  Kim smiled and raised her eyebrows. “And will you play with me anytime I want?”

  He chuckled. “Yes, sweetheart, I will play with you anytime you want.”

  “In that case, yes, I will marry you.” Duan slid the ring on her finger and leaned down and kissed her with all the longing and hunger of a man in love. When he finally pulled back she smiled up at him, placed her arms around his neck, and said, “I’m ready to play some more.” And they did.

  *****

  All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.

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  First published in Great Britain 2011

  Harlequin Mills & Boon Limited,

  Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR

  © Brenda Streater Jackson 2010

  ISBN: 978-1-408-92184-5

  14-0111