Chadwick's Rare Find (An Intriguing Romance Novel) (16 page)

“I’ve never been engaged and never been married. Over the past ten years I have spent all my time building my business.  The business is a success, but my personal life has been in shambles.”

Brittany was relieved to know that there would be no old commitments jumping out of closets at her.  He was a free man.  It seemed too good to be true, but from what she knew about Chadwick already, it made sense that he had not made promises to women  he couldn’t keep.  All in all she was reassured. 

Their conversation continued with Chadwick talking low and sexy into her ear through the phone.  Brittany told funny stories about her childhood and growing up with Christy and Amber.  Chadwick talked about his college days and some of the stupid things he and his guy friends used to do.  The conversation vacillated between being serious and sexual.  Eventually Brittany’s eyelids felt like lead, but Chadwick talked on.  His sensual baritone voice turned into a lullaby in her ears.  Before she knew it she was asleep.  

#

Brittany awoke the next morning with the cell phone between her head and her pillow.  She was mortified that she had fallen asleep during their conversation.  She tried to call Chadwick back, but got his voice mail.  She left a message apologizing for her rudeness.  

Feeling invigorated even though she couldn’t have gotten more than three hours of sleep, Brittany jumped out of bed, grabbed a robe and left her room.  Amber’s and Christy’s rooms were empty.  Brittany knocked on Vana’s door.  She heard a faint moaning sound.  Pushing the door open, she saw Vana lying across the bed in pajamas.  

“Thanks to you, I hurt everywhere,” Vana said. 

“You didn’t get in some hot water before you went to bed?” Brittany asked with real concern. 

“No, I didn’t.  You guys left me with that horrible little man and he wouldn’t leave.  When he finally did leave all I could do was fall into bed and sleep.”  

“You deserved it Vana.  How could you believe anything he said?  Where are you hurting?” 

“Everywhere --- my arms, legs, and  back.  I didn’t know him well enough to think he had any reason to lie.”  Vana offered as her excuse.  She turned over limply when Brittany nudged her.  Brittany began a deep muscle massage on her back. 

“Well, how could you doubt your brother’s judgment then?  Don’t you think he would have known if I was a bad woman?”  

“Oh, that feels so good.  Please, have mercy.  I think I’ve paid the price for what I did.  Just let me enjoy this massage.  No more questions.”  Vana’s eyes rolled around in her head before she gave up and closed them completely.   She never knew when Brittany finished.  She was fast asleep when Brittany quietly left the room. 

#

Making her way down the stairs, Brittany noticed a beautiful new bouquet of flowers on the side table she and Vana had wrecked during their fight.   There was a white envelope hanging from the vase.  As she neared the table, Brittany picked it up and noticed her name on it.  Upon opening it she read:  I didn’t know you snored.  Again, tonight at 10:00 please.  Love Chadwick.  Holding the envelope close to her chest, Brittany leaned over to smell the flowers. 

“Those flowers can stay right there.  You and Vana should be ashamed.”  Adanna had slipped up on her, catching her by surprise.  

Whirling around Brittany was relieved to see her smiling.  “Oh, so you’ve been told all the sordid details.”  

“Yes, Amber and Christy filled me in this morning.  I am glad it all turned out well.  Now we can plan our party for this weekend.”   It was obvious Adanna loved parties.  Brittany, herself, wasn’t in the mood because Chadwick was away.  

“You know Chadwick will be here for the party?  He is coming in Friday night.”  Adanna had correctly read that detached look on Brittany’s face.  

Brittany was happy to hear this.  She followed Adanna into the kitchen where Christy and Amber were sitting in the booth with paper before them.  They were writing a list of names. 

“Help us add some names to the list.  Don’t you have some friends you could invite to our gala?”  Christy asked.  She and Amber both looked excited. 

“I have a few,” Brittany said smiling as she slid in beside Christy.  

Brittany, her sisters, and Adanna spent the rest of the morning making a list of people to invite.  They hoped at least half of the people would be able to attend on such short notice.  Adanna’s reputation in the Valley for throwing the best parties would certainly be motivation for some to change prior plans in order to attend.  Adanna had no doubt that the party would be a hit with five beautiful and single women as the main attraction.  

There were over two hundred names on their finished list, but they anticipated no more than one hundred and fifty.  There were more men than women, which was interesting considering the fact that none of them were avid daters.  They all had one thing in common though.  They attracted men in droves and men enjoyed their friendship to say the least.   

All of them were satisfied with the party list and anticipated having a good time. 

Time flies when you’re having fun.   Fun is exactly what the Bradfield sisters and the Jordan sisters were having.  They enjoyed each other and bonded as they made preparations for their big bash.  After hurrying the invitations to the post office, they had gone shopping for their dresses.  Vana had awakened rejuvenated with all vestiges of soreness gone.  She had hugged and warmly thanked Brittany for her help.  She was more than happy to join the group.  They spent the entire afternoon trying on one outfit after another.  

Needless to say with five women, tastes varied in extreme.  Adanna and Amber were much more conservative in their tastes than Vana and Brittany, whereas Christy was in a class all her own.  Brittany and Vana went for scandalously sexy, slinky dresses that were more elegant than gaudy, but definitely attention-getters.  Christy’s style was simple elegance with no sex.  Her dress was elegant, but it did not encourage leering eyes or wandering hands.  Adanna’s and Amber’s dresses were conservative and functional.  They would have no fear of any unwanted exposure in their dresses.  They would be well covered.  

The party would begin at seven o’clock and last until midnight.  A catering service would provide drinks and finger foods, which were to be served continuously throughout the evening.  There would be a dance in the dining room.  The table had already been removed and the floor polished.  Adanna had hired a DJ.  Everything was in order by Thursday.  

#

Brittany tried her dress on several times and she still worried that it was too revealing.  Vana had scoffed at her concern and told her to quit acting like an old maid.  She said the dress was fine.  Amber had only looked at her and raised one eyebrow, which should have been warning enough for Brittany to take the dress back in exchange for something a little more conservative.  The dress was made out of silk.  It was black and strapless.  The hem of the dress wasn’t really a hem; it was more shaggy-edged like someone had torn pieces of material from the bottom of the dress.  It exposed the lower half of Brittany’s thighs.  If she were unfortunate enough to fall at any point during the party, her behind would be on display.  Brittany really wasn’t the conservative type, but she wasn’t exactly flagrant either.  

Brittany had gone along with Vana against her better judgement and kept the dress.  She now had accessories and shoes to go with her outfit.  There would be no changes made at this point.  She had also described the dress to Chadwick, who seemed excited to get home to see her in it.  He was a man after all.  She really hadn’t expected him to have any objections.  She knew that he might if he knew their invited guests consisted of far more males than females, but she had kept that little tidbit of information to herself.  

Friday came upon them all a little too quickly.  They rushed to have pedicures and manicures done.  Time was spent in the spa with a little waxing done.  After coming home from the beautician, most of the day was gone.  The girls met up in the kitchen for supper at around seven o’clock.  Amber had put some steaks on the grill and Adanna was baking potatoes and loading them with cheese, sour cream, butter, bacon bits, and scallions.   

Vana and Brittany were making a salad.  They had gotten over their differences completely.  They were laughing loudly over how inept Vana was at cooking.  Instead of cutting the boiled eggs into round, appealing pieces, she had butchered them.  It looked as if she had an egg-spread before her rather than condiments for the salad.  

Brittany was laughing so hard at Vana, she didn’t realize she had gotten tomato juice on her leg.  Her khaki shorts barely missed being ruined. A big clump of tomato juice with seeds was sliding down her leg.  She reached for a towel on the counter and was bending over to wipe it off when she heard a deep voice say, “Let me do that, please.”  

Brittany jerked upright and screamed.  Standing behind her was none other than Chadwick Jordan in all his glory. She hit Chadwick twice across the chest with the towel. 

“Sneaking up on people!”  She burst out happily.  

Chadwick grabbed her around the waist, pulling her close to him.  At the same time he took the towel from her.  Looking deeply into her eyes, he reached down between them and wiped the tomato off her leg.  Everyone watched this intimate display without a word.  Chadwick had caught everyone off guard.  They watched as Brittany became pudding in Chadwick’s arms.   His face was pressed against the curve of her neck and he was saying something.  They couldn’t hear what he was saying. 

“Speak up.   We can’t hear you.” Vana said. 

Chadwick stepped away from Brittany and turned to look at Vana.  “It’s not for you to hear, Mrs. Nosey.”

“Why not?  Nobody likes silent movies.  Watching you guys is like looking at a movie. You two should just go on and get married,” Vana challenged. 

Chadwick was in full agreement, but he knew better than to push Brittany.  Even though they had known each other for two months, most of the time had been filled with contentions of one sort of another.   They needed more time.  Well, Brittany needed more time.  Chadwick’s mind was already made up.  He would marry her.  That was the one thing in life that he was unequivocally sure about.  Brittany Bradfield would be his wife.  

“Well, I see everyone is still alive.  I’m proud.”  Chadwick announced with just enough arrogance to be irritating.  Maybe this would get Vana’s mind on something else. Sometimes being the only guy in a world full of sisters and their friends was a wonderful thing.  It made him feel manly.  All of their beautiful eyes were on him and he loved it.    

“Chadwick go away.  Go take a shower and change.  Supper will be ready shortly.” Adanna and Amber went through the sliding doors beside the kitchen booth.  Chadwick could smell the steaks simmering on the grill.  He decided he would hurry and change.  He was hungry for food and Brittany.  

“Brittany you want to come upstairs with me?”  Chadwick turned around and put his cheek against hers.  

Brittany was quivering, but she wasn’t senseless. She knew better than to go anywhere near those stairs with Chadwick.  First of all, she wanted him in her arms too badly.  She wasn’t  sure she could control herself.   Second of all, Amber would be raising her eyebrows and glaring steel darts into her already damaged conscience.   Putting her arms around his neck she turned her mouth onto his cheek and kissed him.  

“No, Chadwick.  That doesn’t sound like a good idea.  Would you please behave?”  

Chadwick let her go and left the room laughing.  He was glad to be back.  He had missed seeing Brittany.  He stood in the doorway of the kitchen for several minutes just watching her before he had made his presence known.  She was beautiful with her hair swooped across her forehead and up with ringlets dangling everywhere.  She would be the prettiest woman at the party tomorrow.  He was glad it was a girlie party.   He didn’t know if he could take other men looking at Brittany and dancing with her.  He was so on edge with wanting her.  The thought of another guy touching her raised his hackles.  He knew there would be mostly women considering the list consisted of Brittany and her sister’s friends along with a few of Adanna’s.

Chaos was the only word Chadwick could use to describe the scene before him.  The girls had gone crazy.  They were running, literally running through the house.  Chadwick didn’t share their sense of expectation and wondered if he had somehow missed out on key facts concerning this party.  He had never seen Adanna so out of sorts.  She was screaming and demanding that everything be perfect.  The most worrisome thing was the fact that everything was perfect.  

Chadwick had awakened to find Adanna’s home filled with people.  The caterer literally had an army of employees.  The employees ranged from gorgeous young girls to dapper young guys.  A man who announced to everyone upon arrival that he was the DJ, was hauling in huge speakers and boxes and boxes or DVDs, as if the dancing would last months instead of one evening.  Chadwick wondered how much money Adanna was spending on this shindig.   It was beginning to look like a pretty darn extravagant event.  

The girls were perfect as well.  Chadwick had always been proud of his sisters appearance.  He was more proud of their personalities though.  People gravitated to them.  Adanna attracted a totally different group of people than Vana, but their friends loved them.  Standing on the stairwell and feeling a little in the way, Chadwick watched Adanna, who was normally docile and sweet, commandeering the help.  She was dressed for business in a pants suit and heels.  Everything about her demanded respect.  Her hair was not pinned up as she normally wore it, but instead it hung loosely around her shoulders.  Her hair had been flat ironed and Chadwick thought she looked beautiful.   

He watched with interest as Adanna and Vana conferred in the foyer over something.  Adanna’s face lit up at whatever Vana was saying.  He heard a faint, “Ooh, girl that’s a good idea!”  Then Adanna whirled away, rushing into the dining room.   Brittany and Christy came walking swiftly around the corner from the direction of the kitchen.  Chadwick’s eyes narrowed when he noticed one of the young waiters staring.  Brittany’s shorts were very short.  As a matter of fact, he was almost sure they were what she slept in.  It was still early.  He and Adanna were the only ones dressed.  Christy and Vana had on pajamas, but Brittany wore a t-shirt and short-shorts. She was barefoot too.  Chadwick headed towards the staircase.  Brittany drew him like a magnet.