Yield to Love (10 page)

Marlowe shook hands with the women, and then
asked Penny to send Roque in. She stood on shaky legs waiting for
him.

Why am I so nervous?

Her heartbeat was still irregular when
Roque’s tall form filled the doorway. Her eyes appraised him from
head to toe. He was immaculately dressed, as usual, in a pinstripe
navy suit. She willed herself to be calm. “Mr. Coleman, to what do
I owe this…visit? I can’t exactly call it a pleasure.”

He closed the door behind him. His crisp
blue eyes bored into her. “Why are you hanging around my
daughter?”

He got right down to business, didn’t he?
“She called me. She needed help.”

“
So, you came running at
her beck and call?”

Marlowe smirked. “Well, I didn’t actually
come running. Jade can be quite persuasive when she wants. But
then, you should know that. You’ve been giving into her demands for
years.”

“
Don’t tell me how to
handle my child. I know her better than you.”

“
Don’t tell me you’re
jealous. Are you the only one who can indulge her?”

He frowned and took two steps closer to her,
making her feel like a caged animal in the small room. “I don’t
think it’s a good idea for you to be around her. Your relationship
with me is business, so let’s keep it that way.”

“
Is that what you call
this? A relationship?” She glared at him. “You try to intimidate me
and get me to give up my property? And I stubbornly
refuse?”

“
You’ve already made it
clear you need more time.”

“
You don’t seem to care
about my needs—only your own.”

“
I knew someone who was a
hoarder. It destroyed her life. I’m trying to keep it from
happening again.”

His nearness was playing havoc with her
senses. She took a step back, attempting to put some distance
between them, but succeeded only in backing herself up against a
nearby wall. “Why must you base everyone’s experience on yours?”
she demanded.

She watched his jaw clench. She knew she was
pushing him, but she didn’t care. “I’m perfectly capable of looking
out for myself, as I told you before. And maybe if your intentions
were genuine, I might actually believe you. The fact is this isn’t
about hoarding at all. It’s about your need to control everyone.
I’ll give up that house when I’m good and ready, and you can’t
stand that. For once, the great and mighty Roque Coleman is
powerless.”

He ground out, “You’re all choked up over
some woman you didn’t even know. Obviously, you didn’t stay
connected, or you would have known your mother lived there.”

“
My relationship with my
mother is none of your business.”

“
Why don’t you stop
playing games and sign these papers? You don’t want that house.
You’re just doing this to keep my attention.”

Her fingers itched to slap that smug look
off his face. She raised a hand to slap him, but he held her and
pinned her arm above her head,

He backed her up against the wall. His hard
body pressed against hers, sending wicked sparks of excitement
through her. She hated her body for betraying her, for throbbing in
anticipation. “Didn’t your mama teach you violence doesn’t solve
anything?” he said. “Good thing I’m an honorable man.”

“
You’re not a man,”
Marlowe argued. “You’re a monster!”

Before Marlowe could react, Roque dipped his
head and forced her lips open with his. She resisted, keeping her
lips pressed together, but he ravaged her mouth, biting her lower
lip and forcing his way in. His tongue plundered the depths of her
mouth, demanding her surrender. His hands came up and boldly
caressed her breasts through the silk blouse she wore. She gasped
with pleasure, making her mouth open wider. He took the opportunity
to slide his tongue deeper inside. He growled against her mouth.
Despite her attempts to rebuff him, she moaned beneath his touch.
When his fingers tweaked the nipple of her breast, a volt of
pleasurable pain coursed through her veins and settled into a ball
of heat between her legs.

He pushed his knee between her legs, forcing
her into a wider stance. He ground his hips against hers. With
nowhere to go, she melted into his hard body.

She felt the rigid line of his erection
against her pussy.

Damn, I want him inside me!

A sharp knock on the door made her jump.

Roque took his time pulling away, savoring
her lips, and nipping the corners. A wicked spark of desire gleamed
in his eyes as his gaze raked across her.

“
Would a monster do that?”
he asked.

He released her, and Marlowe pushed him
away, straightening her blouse as she put distance between
them.

“
Yes!” she hissed, deeply
disturbed by her body’s reaction to him.

Roque’s sarcastic smirk told her what she
needed to know. He knew she wanted more.

When he opened the door, Toye stood on the
other side. Her accusing glance lingered on Roque before settling
on Marlowe.

“
Are you okay?” she asked
Marlowe. “I heard yelling.”

“
I’m fine,” Marlowe
assured her. But she wasn’t okay. She was shaking like a leaf. She
moved to the safety of her desk and sat down. “Mr. Coleman was just
leaving.”

Marlowe refused to look at Roque, but she
did hear the deep timber of his voice announce, “I’ll see myself
out.”

Marlowe listened to his footsteps grow
faint, yet still, she waited with her eyes cast downward, seemingly
preoccupied with a paperweight on her desk.

Toye cleared her
throat.
“That must have been some
kiss.”

Marlowe’s head snapped up, and she locked
eyes with Toye, who stood in front of her desk. “What? How did
you…?”

“
Your lipstick is smudged.
And your blouse is wrinkled.”

“
Oh, God.” Marlowe jumped
up and rushed to the oval mirror on a nearby wall. The reflection
that stared back looked like a woman who had been interrupted from
the throes of passion. Glazed-over eyes. Swollen lips. Red smeared
lipstick.

I’m so embarrassed!

She straightened her blouse, mustered her
dignity, and then sat back down at her desk.

“
Want to talk about it?”
Toye probed.

“
Definitely
not.”

Her cousin shrugged. “If it’s any
consolation, your lipstick was smeared on his lips too. I didn’t
know there was something going on with you two.”

“
There’s nothing going on.
I can’t stand that man.”

“
Uh huh.” One of Toye’s
threaded eyebrows rose. “That’s not what it looked like to
me.”

Marlowe glowered. “Toye, just leave it
alone,” she warned.

“
Okay.” Toye held her
hands up in mock surrender. “I have a lunch appointment at the spa.
Maybe you should come along and get a deep tissue massage. It might
help you relax.”

“
I’ve got a masseur who
makes house calls when I need him.”

“
Oh, yes. I remember.
Gustavo. Maybe you should call him. Soon.”

Marlowe nodded. “Any other suggestions,
cousin? If not, I’ve got a meeting to get to.”

“
Not a suggestion. More of
an observation.”

Right now, Marlowe wanted to tell Toye what
she could do with her suggestion. The woman was working her damn
nerves. “What is it?”

“
I saw the passion in
Roque’s eyes. I bet that man can put it down in the
bedroom.”

“
Well, like I said,
there’s nothing between us, so I’m never going to find
out.”

“
Yeah, but you know you
want to. That fine specimen of a man is worth getting to know
better.”

Marlowe fixed her gaze on Toye, but pointed
to her office door. “Out!”

Toye’s hysterical laughter pissed her off.
Thankfully, she closed the door behind her, so Marlowe had a chance
to sit alone and reflect on what had just happened. She’d learned
quite enough already about Roque Coleman. More than she wanted to
know. The most important thing she’d learned was she could never be
alone with him again. The two of them were too combustible. And she
didn’t trust herself to refuse his advances.

Her cell phone buzzed, giving her what she
believed was a welcome distraction from her thoughts. Then, she saw
the text from Roque.

‘
I’ll come back later with
those papers when you’re in a better mood.’

Marlowe gasped. The nerve of him! Who did he
think he was storming into her personal space, tonguing her down,
and then vowing to come back again? She texted her reply.

‘
If you come back here,
I’ll have security throw you out.’

As soon as she pressed the send button, she
felt bad. She shouldn’t have let her anger get the best of her. It
was childish of her to text that. How did Roque Coleman always
manage to bring out the worst in her?

“
Argh! That man is so
exasperating,” she shouted.

Her cell phone buzzed again, and she took a
deep breath, almost afraid to look. What did he want now?

She glanced at her phone and saw a text from
Vic’s sister, Andrea, telling her that Jovan had broken his wrist
in a football accident at school. Andrea was driving him to the
emergency room. Marlowe sighed. Her poor nephew. He’d almost made
it incident-free for an entire week. She grabbed her purse and
rushed from the office. All thoughts of Roque Coleman were
forgotten for now.

Roque didn’t need to look
at his calendar to know it had been exactly seven days since he’d
run into to Marlowe Jones at her sisters’ weddings. He felt he’d
given her ample time to sort out her mother’s belongings. He
understood, thanks to his daughter, what the woman was going
through, but he also had a deadline. He’d just hung up with
Leonidas
, who’d called
to inquire about the status of the project. Crowne Industries had a
deadline too, and they wanted some reassurance that Roque would
have the property ready in six months as he’d promised.

He’d already taken the liberty of beginning
construction on the project this morning. He was convinced Marlowe
would come to her senses and sell her plot of land along with the
house, which was in danger of falling in on itself.

He’d called her twice, but she hadn’t
answered. He guessed she was still pissed off about the text that
he sent yesterday after their lip-locking session in her office.
She’d brought it on herself by calling him a monster. Oh, he could
be a monster when he wanted. Marlowe had yet to see that side of
him. She didn’t know the Roque Coleman who’d scratched his way to
the top. All she saw was the end result. He’d only meant to shut
her up, to quiet that nagging mouth of hers. But in the end, he’d
been the one stunned into silence. He’d fallen under her spell,
caught in giving her a punishing kiss that only served to turn him
on.

He had to do something about her quick. The
longer he tangled with Marlowe, the more he risked losing control.
He didn’t like the way she made him feel when he was around her. He
didn’t like the way his body responded to her kiss. He was the one
who was supposed to be schooling her. Yet, every time he tried to
teach her a lesson, she turned the tables on him. The two of them
definitely had a love-hate relationship. That all ended today. He
was determined to get her signature on these papers so he could
move forward with his project. Right now, that was the only thing
that mattered. He stood to make a shit load of money on this, and
he was not letting his raging libido get in the way of him making a
lot of money.

He’d already tried her office. He was met
with resistance by Olivia, the same platinum blonde he’d seen at
the wedding. She seemed happy to inform him that Marlowe Jones
requested security to be called if he set foot on the premises
again. Roque knew enough lawyers and legislators to get him out of
a sticky situation, but it wasn’t worth the trouble right now.
There was more than one way to skin the cat. He would wait until
this evening when he knew Marlowe was at home, and go over there
with the papers. He was done playing the waiting game.

###

Marlowe took her seat at the long dinner
table in Candace and Gabe’s elegant Tudor-style home. Their dining
room was cozy, yet tastefully furnished with seating for twelve.
The way the family was growing, her sister would need every inch of
this space. Tonight, the entire family was over for a good
home-cooked meal. Ronnie and Vic had returned yesterday. They sat
across from Marlowe, while Jovan took the seat next to her,
sporting a blue cast on his right wrist. Andrea sat on the other
side of Jovan. Toye took the seat next to her. Yeah, they were all
one big happy family.

Marlow was happy to have her sisters back.
They’d only been gone a week, but she’d missed them terribly.
Tonight, Candace served a huge dinner of fried chicken, mashed
potatoes, broccoli casserole, and fresh salad. Marlowe was
impressed with her sister’s growing culinary skills, which were
practically non-existent before she met Gabe. She often joked that
the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach. But Candace was
doing things backwards. She’d already had Gabe’s proposal long
before she could make a decent meal.

She watched the lovey-dovey looks that
passed between Candace and Gabe. It was obvious for anyone to see
those two were a couple deeply in love. He wiped his mouth with a
napkin before giving Candace a tender kiss on the lips.

Then suddenly, he stood. “I have an
announcement to make,” he said. “We’re having a baby.”