Hot Like Fire (8 page)

"You don't have to do that."

Garcelle shrugged as if he could see her. "Okay.
I just thought I could get you and Kadina and take
you home. That way we could part from your family
at the hospital and not have to worry about clearing them out of your house."

The line went quiet for just a second. "Good
idea," he said quickly. "I'll call you when I'm ready."

Garcelle laughed low and husky. "I thought so."

"Garcelle?"

"Yes, Kade?" she said as she walked back into the
house.

"Thank you," he said warmly.

She ignored the shiver that raced down her spine
and made her bare feet tingle. "No problemo. That's
what friends are for."

Garcelle had just walked through the automatic
doors of Colleton Medical Center when she spotted
Rita and Pita climbing from their white station
wagon. She didn't even break a sweat as she rode the
elevator to the second floor of the three-story hospital. She smiled sweetly at the nurses at their station.

"Hello, I'm Kade Strong's sister," she lied, hoping
none of the women knew the family and caught her.
"Two women are on their way up to visit my brother,
but we would like them barred from his room. Aggravation, you know?"

A petite blonde leaned forward in a conspiratorial fashion. "The women have been in and out of
that room all morning. Even the hospital workers
have been sniffing around like crazy. His room has
got to be cleaner than an operating room."

Garcelle smiled.

"I must admit, he's not even my patient, and I've
been in there twice to check on him," said the blond
nurse.

"I'm glad you understand," Garcelle said, turning away from the station.

"Uh, why are you the only one with a Spanish
accent?" the blond nurse called behind her.

Garcelle's steps slowed, and she turned. "I've
been living in Mexico for a year. I guess you pick up
more than just Montezuma's revenge."

She didn't give the woman a chance to say or ask
anything else as she walked into Kade's room.
Kadina jumped up from her seat by the bed and
threw her arms around Garcelle's waist. Garcelle
tugged on her ponytail playfully as she smiled in
greeting at Kade's parents and then shifted her eyes
to skim Kade's face.

He was sitting up on the side of the bed, in a
black sweatsuit. His face was pensive but bruise
free. "Hola, Kade Strong," she said softly.

Kade rose to his feet with effort. "Am I glad to see
you," he said. "If I get one more flower or tin of cookies or pie or card or visit ... I'm going to scream."

Garcelle looked around the room and thought
she'd never seen so many flowers at a funeral. Some
even lined the floor under his window. "Word sure
travels fast," she said.

"Small-town living at its best," Kael said in that
deep, gruff tone of his.

Garcelle sat down in the chair by Kade's bed. She
looked up at him, with a huge grin. "What is it
about you that's driving all these women crazy?" she
asked in a low voice that was teasing and meant for
his ears only.

"Don't see it, huh?" he asked as he pressed his
hand to his side.

"You're all right," she said flippantly. "I've seen
worse.

Kade laughed and then winced.

"Come on, Kadina. Let's all go see what snacks they have downstairs in the cafe," Lisha said, rising
and reaching her hand out to her granddaughter.
Kael rose as well.

Kade looked over his shoulder at them. "Don't
be long. The nurse said she'll be right back with my
release papers."

They ignored him and filed right on out of the
room.

Kade shook his head. "You know they left us alone
on purpose," he told her.

"No," Garcelle said, with mock disbelief.

"As soon as they see a pretty face, they get to plotting."

Garcelle tilted her head to the side. "Ah. You think
I'm pretty?" she asked, with saccharine sweetness.

K-ide copied her arched eyebrow. "I've seen better."

"I don't get no complaints, baby," she told him,
with Latin spice, before she rose from the chair and
walked back over to the window.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" he asked suddenly.

"I used to," she said, looking out the window at
the cars driving past the hospital. "It ended kind
of bad, you know. So right now I'm just working to
save for nursing school by baby-sitting this pretty
little girl and playing bodyguard for her grouchy
daddy."

Kade reached for one of his pillows and tossed it
at her, with effort.

Lisha watched her granddaughter select and pay
for a slice of chocolate cake. She thought of her son
and Garcelle upstairs, and her eyes, which were so
like Kade's, lit up.

"Uh oh," said Kael.

Lisha smoothed her hands over her jean slacks as
she glanced over to her handsome husband. "What?"
she asked, with mock innocence.

He shook his head. "Kade already told me that
he and Garcelle are just friends, so just erase the
thought from your mind."

"But didn't you see how comfortable they are
with each other?" Lisha asked, lowering her voice
as Kadina made her way across the cafe.

Kael's eyes rested on her. "Friends usually are
comfortable with each other, Lisha."

She winked just like Kahron. "And sometimes
friends become lovers," she whispered behind her
hand as Kadina reached them.

A sharp dart of pain roused Kade from his nap.
He winced as he smacked his mouth at the taste of
sleep. It wasn't tasty.

Kade was propped up on pillows and in pajama bottoms. Both were a type of torture, because he loved
sleeping on his stomach and in the nude. Releasing a
deep breath, he turned his head on the pillow.

He hated being cooped up in his bedroom-this
bedroom-all day. Everything about it reminded
him of Reema. The brown, khaki, and gold decor.
The wedding portrait on the wall. Even her perfume bottles still sat on the dresser top.

Since he'd moved back into the house, he'd purposely spent little time in the room. He left for
work early and went to bed late. In the morning, he
was dressed and out of the room in no time. At
night he would shower and drop to sleep before he
could even think about being in that room alone.

Now he was looking at at least three days of relaxing for his ribs to heal, and there was no way
he could spend it in this room. No way in hell.

He took his time flinging back the covers and sitting up on the side of the bed. He winced as a sharp
pain vibrated across his side. "Damn," he swore.

"You are so damn hardheaded, Kade Strong."

He turned his head to find Garcelle leaning in
the doorway and looking at him, with a chastising
expression. "Leave me alone, Garcelle," he growled
as he attempted to rise to his feet.

She rushed forward to help him, mumbling something in rapid Spanish under her breath.

"At least cuss me out in English," he grumbled as
he rose to his feet.

Garcelle stood before him, with her hands on
her deeply curved hips. "You get back in that bed,
Kade Strong, or I will call your mama to come and
get on your nerves while I go home."

He looked down into her vibrant eyes. "You do
know that you work for me, and it's not the other
way around," he snapped.

Garcelle licked her lips and looked down at the
floor as she tapped her sandaled foot. She looked
up at him, with a sigh. "What I do know is your
mama's number."

Kade knew he had lost the battle. If he let his
mother in his house, she would continue coming
on the regular. He loved his mother, and he appreciated everything his parents did for him and
Kadina after Reema died, but he needed his space.
Giving Garcelle one last scowl, he eased back down
onto the bed.

"Ha!" she said mockingly as she bent to position
the covers over him.

"When this is over, I can fire you, you know," he
told her.

Garcelle paused, with her body still bent over
him and her nose just inches away from his. "I
could quit before this is over, you know," she countered, her cool and fresh breath lightly fanning his
mouth.

"You . . . " Roses. She smells like roses.

"Yes?" she asked, obviously awaiting his words.

Kade turned his head and looked at the adjoining bathroom. "Nothing. Never mind," he groused.

"Perfecto," Garcelle said as she kicked off her
shoes and walked around to the opposite side of
the bed.

"Where's Kadina?" he asked, his eyes locked on her.

Garcelle reached in her back pocket for a deck
of cards and flung it next to him on the bed. "She
fell asleep watching Maid in Manhattan. We just love
us some Jennifer Lopez."

"What are you doing?" Kade asked as he watched
Garcelle climb onto the bed.

She froze, with one knee pressed into the thick
and plush mattress, as she looked at him with a critical eye. "What do you think I'm doing, Kade
Strong? I know you are not conceited enough to
think I'm jumping in bed to have nookie with you."

"Of course not."

"Good." Garcelle carefully climbed on the bed,
sat cross-legged, and then shuffled the deck of
cards. "I know this room must be driving you crazy,
so I'm here to keep you company until your brothers get here after work."

He had to admit that ever since she'd walked into
the room, it hadn't felt quite so claustrophobic.
"You know how to play whist?" he asked.

"No," she said, handing him the deck. "But teach
me. I'm a quick learner."

"Learning how to play whist isn't that easy."

Garcelle shrugged. "My ex told me the same thing
about poker, and now he can hardly beat me."

Kade was surprised. "You play poker?"

Garcelle lifted a brow. "A little something," she
said, with a saucy grin and a wink.

Bianca washed her hands at the small sink in the
tack room of the barn. She dried her hands with
disposable towels as she walked out of the metal
building. Her full and pouty lips curled into a soft
smile as she read the sign on the door:

KING EQUINE SERVICES
BIANCA KING VETERINARY CLINIC

A FULL-SERVICE EQUINE FARM

So far every decision she'd made concerning her
business, her family, and her love life had been a
good one. The equine veterinary practice, which
she'd opened right on her father's horse farm, was
already thriving and showing a profit. That was
mainly because more than a few of her clients from
her old Atlanta practice would drive the distance to
South Carolina or had highly recommended her to
local farmers. The small metal building she erected
on the east portion of the property was smaller
than her old practice, but she was pleased with the
setup and with the fact that she was still able to
work with her father daily.

She had had to travel back to Holtsville to snatch
the family business from ruin because of her father's alcoholism, but every bit of the success was now his
doing. He had been sober for over a year. His divorce to his treacherous wife was finalized. He was in
full control of the business and was delivering that
special Hank King touch with the horses.

And Kahron. Bianca moaned a bit in pleasure as
she thought of her love for her husband. He had
once asked her to trust him, and when she finally
did give in, she found a love that plenty of folks
would give their right hand for.

In fact, she was headed home early for the first
time in weeks so that she could spend some quality
time with her man. She would warm up one of Garcelle's frozen dinners, take a hot bath, slip into
something that was barely there and wait for Kahron
to walk through the door for a helluva surprise.
"Headed home?"

Bianca turned to find her father, a tall, big, barrelshaped man, walking up behind her. She slowed to
a stop and threw her arm around his waist when he
caught up to her.

"Yes. Yes. Yes," she said, with emphasis.

He laughed, and his laughter rumbled like a
thunderstorm in his chest. "You and Kahron have a
special night planned?"

"I'm gonna try my best," she said as they neared
the front porch of her father's home.

"Good. Because I have some plans of my own for
the weekend," he said, with a chuckle that was decidedly boyish.

"Who?" she asked, surprised. Bianca hadn't even
known her father was dating anyone.

"An out-of-town guest," he admitted as they
climbed the stairs together.

"Do I know-"

Honk-honk.

Bianca's curly head whipped around and her
eyes widened as a gold convertible Jaguar came barreling toward the house. It lurched to a stop just in
time to miss hitting the front porch.

"Surprise, surprise, sweetie!"

Bianca forced a smile to her face. "Mimi?" she
said, watching as the petite spitfire hopped out of the
car in a getup that could only be called urban cowgirl. A jean pantsuit, cowboy hat, and a belt buckle
large enough to knock a bull unconscious.

"My daddy's ... dating ... Mimi," Bianca said in
a confused voice before her older friend enveloped
her in a hug that was all Chanel parfum.

Garcelle and Kadina were in the kitchen, making
Kade's favorite double chocolate and walnut brownies. Kadina wanted to do something special for her
father, and Garcelle knew he could use a treat after
the spanking she'd given him in poker earlier that
day. Thank God they'd played for Monopoly money
and not clothes, because Kade Strong would have
been as naked as the day he was born.

Not that she wanted to see Kade nude.

Garcelle's eyebrow rose and her lips pursed as
she envisioned Kade naked and bronzed, with his
muscles oiled and well defined. She already knew
from seeing him without his shirt that the man's
body was sculptured from his long hours of farmwork. He had just the right amount of fine silver
hair on his chest. Just enough for a woman to play
in as she lay in bed with him.