Yield to Love (9 page)

“
You guys are alike in a
lot of ways,” Jade said.

Marlowe almost choked on her cappuccino. “We
are nothing alike.”

“
Oh, yes you are. You’re
both strong. Both stubborn. Both hot tempered. And you never like
to apologize.”

“
I’m sorry about your
spider. It really was an accident.”

“
I know.” She clasped her
hands around her paper cup. “I can tell you’re not the type of
person to do something like that to be evil or vengeful. You’re
okay.”

That was probably the closest thing to a
compliment Marlowe was going to get from Jade. “Thanks, I
guess.”

“
No problem.” Jade
grinned. “Us spoiled brats gotta stick together. Are you ready to
take me home now? My dad should be home soon.”

Marlowe nodded. “Let’s get you back before
he arrives. Then, he’ll never know you were gone.”

Truthfully, Marlowe didn’t care if Roque
knew his daughter had been shopping with her. She wanted to get
Jade home so she wouldn’t have to run into the man. Every time they
were around each other, all they did was argue—except for the last
time she was at his house. He’d silenced her with his hungry kiss.
And as much as she hated to admit it, she was afraid if she saw him
again, she’d want a repeat performance.

Roque drove his Mercedes down the winding
road leading to the exclusive neighborhood where he lived. A red
Acura whizzed past him. He barely caught a glance at the driver of
the speeding vehicle. For a moment, it looked like Marlowe.

No
, he told himself. It couldn’t be her. He lived in a gated
community patrolled by security guards who knew all of the
residents. There was also a guard shack at the front of the
neighborhood. One of the guards would have had to let Marlowe
in.

He pulled into the circular drive in front
of his large colonial-style home. The sun was setting now. He
couldn’t believe it was so late. He’d meant to get home earlier,
but there was too much to do at the office.

He trotted upstairs and walked down the hall
to Jade’s room. Her door was open, giving him full access to the
jungle that was her room. Besides her numerous animals, she had a
queen-size canopy bed, a forty-two inch flat screen TV mounted on a
massive oak TV stand, a bay window nook for reading, a Mac
computer, a gaming console, and a massive walk-in closet. Yeah,
maybe he did spoil her.

For the past three days, she’d been
depressed, but now her spirits seemed lighter. She was seated
Indian-style on the thick rug in the middle of the hardwood floor.
He joined her, although he damn sure couldn’t manage the
Indian-style. He hadn’t been that flexible since Kindergarten.
Instead, he reclined on his side, leaned on his elbow and stretched
a hand behind his head.

‘
Daddy’s home! Daddy’s
home!’
her parakeet, Simba, squawked,
nearly scaring the shit out of him.

Roque looked around, hoping he wasn’t
squashing a lizard, or hamster, or whatever wild beast was allowed
to roam free today. At least he was safe from the ant farm on
Jade’s desk.

“
We can get another spider
first thing tomorrow,” he offered. He couldn’t believe he was
making the suggestion. Marlowe had driven him to this. In less than
a week, the woman had upset the balance of his life.

“
No, I’m good,” Jade
answered. “Thanks for offering.”

Thank God.

“
How was your
day?”

“
Fine. How was
yours?”

“
Same old stuff. Different
client.” He decided not to mention his visit with Raven. Jade
hardly remembered her anyway. “What’s all this stuff?” he asked,
his gaze zeroing in on the colorful bits of paper in Jade’s
lap.

“
My planes.”

He recognized the dozens
of paper airplanes. He’d made them for her years ago.
When she was younger and he had to fly a lot,
he’d take her with him. To ease her fears, he’d make a paper
airplane out of a cocktail napkin or tear a page out of a
magazine.

“
You’ve kept these old
planes all these years?” he asked.

“
Yeah.” She was sorting
them by size and color.

“
Why?” He chuckled. “It
won’t hurt my feelings if you throw them away.”

“
Dad, nothing hurts your
feelings. You have tough skin.” She shrugged. “Besides, I don’t
keep them because I’m worried about not hurting your feelings. I
keep them because they remind me of you and all the special times
we had together.”

He nodded. “I had no idea.”

“
Whenever I’m feeling
alone, I take these out and look at them. They make me feel
better.”

He nodded again, not sure of what to
say.

“
Don’t worry,” she told
him. “I’m not becoming a hoarder like Aunt Raven.”

He tensed. “I never said…”

“
You were thinking it. I
know you.” She looked into his eyes. “I did some research on
hoarding, and it’s usually prompted by some type of tragic life
event.”

“
Her son died
unexpectedly.”

“
That’s
tragic.”

“
So is the death of a
pet.”

“
I’m not on the verge of
hoarding, Dad. Although, if you died, I can’t promise what I’d
do.”

He frowned. “Don’t talk about death. I’m not
going anywhere.”

In a rare display of affection, she leaned
over and hugged him. “I know.”

Roque was never vulnerable with anyone
except his daughter. He never let his guard down. He didn’t know
what possessed him to say it, but he did anyway. “Marlowe’s mother
was a hoarder. She died when Marlowe was younger than you. Now,
she’s going through all of her mother’s stuff.”

“
That could take weeks,
months even.”

“
So, I’m finding
out.”

“
It’s kind of like
therapy, Dad. Marlowe needs time to go through all that stuff. I
can totally understand.”

He cocked his head to the side. “Hey, don’t
tell me you’re feeling sorry for her.”

“
I feel sorry for anyone
who doesn’t have a wonderful dad like me.”

He scoffed. “I’m sure Marlowe would disagree
with you about me being wonderful.”

“
Well, she doesn’t know
you like I do. Maybe you should show her your softer
side.”

He smirked. “I don’t have a softer side,
Jade.”

“
This is exactly why you
don’t have a girlfriend.”

“
Not that again. Don’t
want one, or need one.”

Whenever he wanted his needs met, he
contacted one of the many women willing to jump in his bed. He let
off steam, and then the world was right again. Marlowe Jones was
not the woman to let off steam with. She seemed like a prude who
couldn’t handle one fourth of the freaky things he was capable
of.

“
You and Marlowe have a
lot in common,” his daughter said, almost reading his
mind.

“
Excuse you?” He reached
over and placed a palm over her forehead. “You don’t feel sick, but
obviously you’re delirious with fever.”

She giggled. “I spent some time with her
today, and I saw a lot of similarities between you two.”

He sat up. “Whoa. Did I hear you right?
Where did you see her?”

Roque listened as his daughter gave him a
long version of events that transpired earlier that day,
culminating with Marlowe helping her pick out a bra.

“
Why didn’t you tell me
you needed a…bra?” he asked.

“
You can barely say the
word, Dad. And what would you have done? Sent Brett to take care of
it? I needed a woman, and there are clearly none
around.”

She was right. Damn Natalyn. The woman
should be here for her daughter. “You could have called your
mom.”

Jade shook her head, her dark curls bouncing
with the movement. “We both know that’s a joke. She’s too busy with
Ebenezer.”

“
C’mon, he’s not that
old.”

“
Yeah, that’s what Marlowe
said.”

His jaw dropped. “You told her about your
mother?”

“
Sometimes I need someone
to talk to. Marlowe is a good listener.”

Shit, Marlowe was so busy going off on him,
she never had a chance to listen to anything he had to say. “So,
what are you two, BFFs now?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m just saying, she’s
misunderstood—like you.”

He was tired of comparisons of him and
Marlowe. The only thing they had in common was the mutual enjoyment
of that kiss they’d shared. A kiss that had him thinking about her
more than he should. She was already getting under his skin. He
couldn’t have her hanging around his daughter, invading his
personal space. He realized that must have been her car he saw on
the road earlier. What if she started spending time with Jade? He
didn’t trust her in his house. Worse, he didn’t trust himself
around her.

Irritated, he stood. “I want you to refrain
from any further contact with Ms. Jones,” he told Jade.

“
Why?”

“
Because I’m your father
and I said so.” He ignored her pouting lips. “And how did you get
her number anyway?”

“
I looked it up in your
contacts on your computer.”

He scowled. “I don’t mess with your
computer. Don’t mess with mine. Thanks for the heads up. I’m
changing my password.”

“
Fine!” She narrowed her
eyes.

He walked toward the door.

“
Oh, Dad.” She jumped up.
“You can have this back too.” She opened the top drawer of her
bureau and she handed him a small square of plastic. “Your credit
card,” she said simply. “Don’t worry, I didn’t charge too much. I
kept it under five hundred.”

“
Five hundred dollars!” he
thundered. “On a bra?”

Jade didn’t flinch. “Several bras, plus
underwear, socks, and pajamas. Marlowe says every young woman
should have suitable undergarments she can be proud of. What you
put on beneath your clothes is just as important as the clothes
themselves.”

Roque pocketed his credit card and stalked
from the room.

That does it. I’m going to have a talk with
Ms. Jones!

###

Marlowe sat in the conference room at Three
Sister’s Construction trying to focus on what the representatives
from Relay for Life were saying. This was the first day she hadn’t
gone directly to her mother’s house. Well, it was her house now.
Every time she thought about wading through the mass of Reesa’s
personal belongings, she almost had a panic attack. Within the span
of a few days, this task had gone from exciting to overwhelming.
She had half a mind to call Juan and his crew and have them gut the
entire house. Then, she’d be done with this mess once and for
all.

She hadn’t slept at all last night. She’d
tossed and turned, and when slumber finally claimed her, she’d
dreamed she was stranded on a desert island with Roque. When the
Coast Guard rescued her, they refused to allow her to get on the
ship unless she kissed Roque. She shook her head. It seemed she
couldn’t escape the Coleman family, even in her dreams. This
morning, Jade had texted her thanking her for helping her find a
bra yesterday. Marlowe wondered how the sassy little girl was
doing.

“
So, you’re looking for a
team of four?” Marlowe heard Toye ask the president and organizer
of Relay for Life.

“
Yes, that’s for the
morning portion,” the petite brunette answered. “We have an
eight-hour relay with teams of eight participants. You’ll walk for
one hour each. We already have four. We just need four more.
Relay
For Life teams
camp out overnight and take turns walking or running around a track
or path at a local high school, park, or fairground.”

A pretty woman with a
close-cropped Afro sat next to the brunette at the conference
table. She looked at Marlowe and added, “
Events are up to twenty-four hours long, and as we like to
say, ‘because cancer never sleeps,’ each team is asked to have at
least one participant on the track at all times.
We’re really hoping to get the support of Three
Sisters Construction. Your company is a symbol of female
empowerment.”

Ever since Candace won the Small Business
Woman of the year award, people had been coming out the woodwork to
partner with Three Sisters. Marlowe was a sucker for charities. She
found it hard to resist helping people.

“
My sisters and I, along
with my cousin, Toye, would be honored to be the remaining four,”
Marlowe offered. “We could make up the morning relay
team.”

“
That would be
great.”

“
Thank you so much,” the
brunette replied.

“
Then it’s settled,”
Marlowe said, bestowing a smile upon them. “My sisters are both on
their honeymoons, but they’ll be back in a few days. I’m sure they
would love nothing more than to participate in this.” She stood.
“If you’ll excuse me, my morning is jam-packed. I’ve got another
meeting to attend.”

At that moment, Marlowe’s Administrative
Assistant, Penny, peeked her head in the conference room. Her wide
brown eyes found Marlowe’s. “Sorry to interrupt,” she apologized.
“Roque Coleman is here to see you.”

Marlowe’s heartbeat quickened at the mention
of his name. Her eyes flew to Toye.

Toye nodded before addressing the other two
women. “Ladies, follow me. I’ll show you out, and I’ll make sure
you get the proper paperwork so we get the relay set up.”