Tender Touch (19 page)

“We can do good things for Knight and Sons.
I’ve got a dynamite plan to show you—and you know I’m familiar with
your business.” Rachelle spoke up quickly.

Damon laughed at the smooth shift to
business. Rachelle gloried in her ability to influence people. “All
right then. And according to my calendar, I’m free.”

“Excellent. See you then.” Rachelle’s
expression softened. “And Damon, thanks again.” She put a hand on
his arm for a few seconds then left.

* * *

Jade bustled around nervously, determined to
make the first dinner she cooked for Damon go well. She fussed at
herself for letting the chicken get too brown.

“I hope it doesn’t taste burnt,” Jade
mumbled. She gazed at the roasted meat in dismay.

“Jade, honey, relax. It looks just great to
me.” Damon joined her at the toaster oven. “Smells great, too.”

“Oh, I forgot to put in the rolls!” Jade
fumbled with the package.

“Here, let me.” Damon sliced the rolls down
the middle and spread a dab of butter inside. “Now, we pop them in
the toaster over for seven minutes like so, put the oven on warm
for the meat and...” He took her by the hand and led her to the bar
stools set at her breakfast counter near the kitchen. “We take it
easy with a glass of wine.”

“When did you do this?” Jade said. Two
wineglasses were set up and between them lay a beautiful red rose
with a gold ribbon tied around the stem. Beside the rose was a
gift-wrapped box.

“You were so busy fretting about the food,
you didn’t notice. Besides, I kept talking while I worked. Now hush
and open your present.” Damon gazed at her with fondness.

“A gift? But it’s not my birthday.” Jade
enjoyed the anticipation of holding the box. She shook it.

“I know that.” Damon shrugged.

“And Christmas is long gone.” She shook the
box again and then sniffed it.

“Open it and you won’t have to keep
guessing,” Damon said.

Jade un-wrapped the box. “Have mercy.” She
held up a twenty- four-inch gold chain. It held a gold pendant in
the shape of a key. “It’s beautiful. Oh, Damon.”

“When I saw this necklace, it seemed perfect
for you.” Damon stroked her long black hair. “You are the key to my
happiness.” He gazed at her with eyes filled with desire.

“I love it.” Jade gave him a kiss. “Thank
you, babe.”

“You’re welcome. Now one more thing,” Damon
murmured with his lips pressed to her neck.

“Yes?” Jade closed her eyes at the blissful
sensation of his caresses.

“The rolls are ready,” he whispered close to
her ear.

“So am I,” she replied. Jade guided his
hands to her breasts and ran her tongue around his mouth, causing
him to groan. “If you didn’t want them to burn, you shouldn’t have
turned up the heat in here.”

“I’m not all that hungry anyway.” Damon
pulled her closer to him.

Jade slipped out of his grasp. “Oh, no, you
don’t. I’ve been slaving away in the kitchen, and you’re going to
eat this food.” She wagged a forefinger in front of his nose.

Damon grabbed for her. “Come back here,
woman.”

“No way.” Jade eluded him and went to the
oven. “Dinner is served.” She laughed at the theatrical moan of
frustration he let out.

All through the meal, they played a sensual
game of double entendres. Damon commented on the firm breasts and
how tasty they were, while Jade commented how much she preferred
hard rolls. By the time they finished, both were weak from giggling
at the outrageous puns they’d made up.

“We won’t get the dishes done, if you keep
being such a tease,” Jade said. She stood at the kitchen sink.
Damon followed her and put his arms around her waist.

“Me? You bring me to a boil then calmly
insist we have dinner. And you’ve got the nerve to call me a
tease?” He made a pretense of being indignant.

“Help me load the dishwasher, and then I’ll
give you a special treat.” Jade batted her eyelashes at him.

Damon cleared the counter in record time.
Jade had tears in her eyes at the comical sight of his rushing
about. Soon the kitchen was tidy.

“Now I want dessert.” Damon flung the
dishcloth he held aside. He stared at her with fire in his
eyes.

Without speaking, Jade began to undress to
the beat of a blues tune playing on the stereo system. She started
by slowly unbuttoning the blue cashmere sweater she wore. The
matching skirt was pulled off and thrown aside.

“It landed on top of the refrigerator,”
Damon said in a strangled voice. He stood riveted by her
performance.

“I’ll get it later.” Jade stood before him
in nothing but a bra and sheer pantyhose. “Now it’s your turn.”

Damon gasped when she opened his shirt and
began to nibble at the smooth brown flesh. He began to help her by
unbuckling his belt. Soon clothes were scattered from the kitchen
down the hall. By the time they were in the bedroom, nothing was
between them as they embraced. A slow dance of passion began. First
Damon held still while Jade caressed him until he was dazed. Then
Jade closed her eyes as he used his hands and mouth to bring her to
the edge of ecstasy only to pull back. Damon stood up to kiss her
face. Jade moved toward the bed, but he stopped her. He kneeled,
lifted her and held her against the wall.

“I want you like this,” Damon whispered.

Jade let out a shuddering moan as he entered
her. With each powerful stroke, a bolt of sexual excitement coursed
through him. When she wrapped her legs around him, Damon let
himself go beyond consciousness to where there were no boundaries
between them. There was nothing else in the world, no one else in
the world, but the two of them. They joined in a magical world of
pleasure and love. Damon felt a frantic need to be inside her more
deeply than he had ever dreamed possible. He was suspended for a
luscious eternity in the sensation of velvet heat. As their matched
rhythmic motion reached a crescendo, they seemed to lose all
reason. They gripped each other, crying out for more. Jade climaxed
first, and the force of it left her panting. She clutched him.
Damon moaned her name over and over with each thrust. Somehow they
stumbled to the bed and collapsed, still holding each other. Jade
rested her head on his shoulder with a contented sigh.

“Just a few months ago, I’d have sworn this
kind of happiness was found only in fairy tales,” Jade said in a
voice soft with emotion. She looked up at Damon. “Is this a
dream?”

Damon threaded his long fingers through a
lock of her hair. “If you mean am I for real, the answer is
yes.”

He thought of the lies, machinations and
half-truths that had marked his marriage. Now he had a sense of
freedom from the past. Seeing Rachelle had only convinced him to
let go of the past. Damon cradled her to his body.

“But you know what my new philosophy is?” He
spoke in a serious voice.

“What?” Jade grew very still. A flutter
started in her stomach.

“Love makes the world to ’round,” Damon
said. A deep rumble of a laugh shook his chest.

Jade gave him a small poke in his side.
“Very deep, Socrates. But really, you’re not afraid we’re getting
involved too fast?”

Damon stopped laughing and stared into her
eyes. “I couldn’t stop this feeling even if I wanted to...and I
don’t. Are you unsure?”

“No,” Jade said without hesitation. No fears
or doubts could withstand the force of her craving to be with
him.

“Good. Now that’s settled, let’s move on to
a more difficult decision.” Damon grew serious again.

This time Jade was not fooled. She nestled
down next to him and closed her eyes. “Which is?”

“Are we going out for breakfast, or will we
eat in?”

* * *

“Who was that on the phone?” Oliver Knight
frowned slightly at the noise distracting him from the newspaper
article on the state of business in Louisiana.

“Rachelle. She’s having lunch with Damon in
a couple of days.” Marlene tapped a manicured fingernail on the
hardcover novel she held.

“Hope you know what you’re doing.” Oliver
stared at her for a few seconds. “Interfering this way could do
more harm than good.”

“Nonsense. I intend to stop that Pellerin
girl from worming her way into this family. Clarice no doubt passed
on her social ambitions to her daughters.” Marlene wore a sour
look.

Oliver lowered the newspaper and stared
ahead. “Not all poor girls are mercenary,” he said in a quiet
voice.

There was a long silence as Oliver seemed to
slip into a reverie of his own. Marlene put the novel down on the
end table at her elbow. The loud thump made Oliver blink as though
awakened from a dream.

“I know the type, Oliver. Remember?”
Marlene’s voice was laced with acid.

He avoided her gaze. “Damon thinks she’s
nice.”

“Nice? Oh, please spare me from nice girls
of humble origin,” Marlene snapped.

“Marlene, please don’t start on—”

“Don’t worry. I’m talking about the Pellerin
girl.” Marlene wore a look of contempt.

Oliver sighed. “Fine. Then let Damon make
his own choices.”

“Family interests come first.” She gave him
a heated look. When Oliver did not respond, she gave a short laugh.
“Damon is sensible. He’ll see Ms. Pellerin for what she really
is.”

Chapter 8

Jade tried hard not to fidget under the
hostile scrutiny of Kathy Lang. “Bill is still tied up with those
legislators. He could be in there until lunchtime.”

Kathy bared even white teeth. “I’ll wait a
little longer. It will give us a chance to chat. It’s fascinating
to see a young African- American woman so close to power. You must
be exceptional in many ways.”

“Thank you,” Jade said in a controlled
voice. She swore once again not to assume everything Kathy said had
a double meaning that hinted at an insult. “I’ve worked hard to
understand how the department operates.”

“Don’t you find this work dry and boring?”
Kathy cast a glance at the bookshelf filled with huge policy
manual. “My goodness, pages and pages of tiny print. Some
bureaucrat had a field day coming up with it all.”

Jade relaxed a bit. Kathy’s comment seemed
to confirm that she wanted only to pass the time. She was simply
restless and maybe more than a little lonesome. “But that’s the
challenge, making the system work to help people even with all the
red tape.”

Kathy seemed to become interested. “Like
what?”

“Hmm, let’s see. There are a ton of rules
about getting disabled people into a program to keep them at home
and out of institutions. With input from families and the people
who get the services, we’ve begun a process to change the
rules.”

“But that takes a long time. Even I know
that from listening to Bill complain.”

“Usually it does, but we can publish an
emergency declaration that there are people at risk. That way we
can start a much shorter process than the usual way.”

“So being in the system can be helpful
sometimes. I never thought of bureaucrats in such a light.” Kathy
raised a shapely eyebrow in amusement.

“We have our moments.” Jade gave a short
laugh.

“Jade, you seem nicer than my husband’s
other assistants. You actually can hold a conversation with complex
sentences,” Kathy said. Her pretty face twisted with a trace of
bitterness.

“Oh, come on.” Jade couldn’t help but
chuckle. “I’ve had male bosses before. And people always gossip if
he’s nice to you or tries to help you advance. Maybe you’re being
too hard on them.”

Kathy shook her heard. “No, and I’m not
mistaken, either.” She studied Jade for several seconds. “So you
pretty much know your way around all these regulations and such?”
She nodded at the mounds of paper around them.

“Sure. After over ten years, I should.” Jade
glanced around then back at Kathy.

“Then you know the requirements to do things
according to laws and other stuff like that?” Kathy tapped a
perfect lacquered nail on the arm of the chair she sat in.

“Well...yes.”

“Did you know Bill before he came to this
job?”

“No, not really. Of course I’d heard of
him.” Jade was curious about the direction of this
conversation.

Kathy seemed to come to some decision.
“Listen, I feel like we could get along. Be very careful. Bill
doesn’t always follow rules.”

“Most people who make things happen don’t.
Radical for us bureaucrats.” Jade smiled. “But he knows that change
sometimes has to come from within a system.”

“No, I mean—”

“Kathy, what are you doing here?” Lang stood
in the door, wearing a frown of displeasure. “I’ve got a very full
day and so has my assistant.”

“I was just nearby and...Kathy’s voice
trailed off at the look of disbelief on his face. “I thought we
could have lunch.”

“Impossible. Mike expects me to have lunch
with him in the capitol dining room. We have to discuss several
issues before our next meeting.” Lang looked at Jade. “Did you get
the file from Chester Howard’s office?”

“Nothing was in the morning mail.”

“See if Chester Howard’s assistant has it.
They promised we’d have it by eleven, and it’s almost eleven
forty-five.” He seemed to have dismissed his wife.

“I’ll do it right now.” Jade flipped through
her Rolodex for the number.

“Thanks, Jade. You’re priceless,” Lang said.
He stood next to Jade with a hand on the back of her chair. He
reached across to retrieve a sheet of paper. “Oh, here’s that memo
from Secretary Chauvin. I was looking for it.”

Jade looked up to find the cold glare of
dislike back in Kathy’s light brown eyes. “Uh, I have to go up to
the eighth floor for something else anyway, so I’ll stop by and get
it.” She rose from her chair and moved away from Lang.