Read Online Man at Work by Chanta Jefferson Rand - Free Book Online

were from
him.
    She boldly stared back, challenging him.
“So, there is a special someone?” she asked.
    “ Coulda been.
Unfortunately, she said I’m too much of a distraction for
her.”
    Candace’s heart pirouetted in her chest. Oh
God! She hoped her family didn’t make the connection.
    “ So, you’re ready to
settle down?” Marlowe asked.
    Gabe swallowed the last bite of his
cheesecake. “A man can only sow his oats for so long. Then, it’s
time to grow up.”
    Candace smirked. “Have you sowed many oats,
Mr. Hunt?”
    Their gazes locked again. “Let’s just say I
know how to keep a woman happy.”
    “ Ooh!” Ronnie burst out,
“This conversation is taking a turn for the worse.”
    Marlowe smiled. “Or the better, depending on
how you look at it.”
    They all laughed,
including Candace, despite the throbbing between her legs. She’d
been the recipient of Gabe’s kisses. She knew exactly how happy he could make
someone.
    Toye saved the day when she replied, “Well,
I think I speak for all of us when I say you’ve made us happy by
turning tragedy into triumph, Gabe. And I know you’ll make some
needy family happy when they’re able to move in.”
    Gabe flashed a devastating smile. “Yes,
indeed. I’ll toast to that.” He held up his glass of water and
clinked it against the raised glasses of the ladies at the
table.
    “ Sorry, guys,” Ronnie
said, glancing at her wristwatch. “I’ve gotta run. Jovan is with
the babysitter. I told her I’d only be gone a few
hours.”
    They all decided to call it a night. Gabe
escorted the ladies back to the hotel’s posh entrance where the
valet drivers bought their cars around. Candace was still waiting
for her Lexus long after Toye and her sisters had departed. Gabe
stood with her near the glass doors at the front of the hotel.
    “ I wonder what’s taking so
long,” she murmured. “I hope they haven’t lost my car.”
    When Gabe stood beside her, she felt the
warmth of his body. He pointed to the sky. “Look at those stars.
Diamonds in the sky.”
    She stared heavenward and her breath caught
at the dazzling display of stars. “Beautiful.”
    “ Y’know, when I was a boy,
I wanted to be an astronomer.”
    Candace couldn’t stop the giggle that
escaped her lips. “Really?”
    “ Yeah. Is that so
crazy?”
    “ I can’t see you as a
nerdy kid with your eyes glued to a telescope. Most boys want to be
police officers or firefighters.”
    “ Well, what did you want
to be when you were little? I know you didn’t say to
yourself, ‘When I grow up, I wanna flip
houses’ .”
    She laughed again. “No, but I was constantly
redecorating my Barbie Dream House.”
    Gabe’s chuckle echoed in the air. “Now,
you’re making others’ dreams come true.”
    “ I hope to be—if we can
meet this deadline.”
    He stroked her cheek. “We’ll make the
deadline. You worry too much.”
    “ I’ve had a lot to worry
about in life.”
    “ Not tonight. Tonight,
you’re hanging with me.”
    “ Excuse me?”
    “ C’mon.” He grabbed her
hand as the valet pulled up in a sleek, black Ford truck. “My Lady,
your chariot awaits,” he said.
    Her mouth dropped. “What happened to the
Sanford & Son truck?”
    He cocked his head to the side. “What was
that?”
    Damn, I can’t believe I said that aloud!
    “ Um, I mean your red
truck. What happened to it?”
    “ I gave it the night
off.”
    Candace paused as a man in a black valet
uniform held the passenger side door open for her. “I can’t,” she
protested. “My car is still parked here.”
    Gabe tipped the valet. “I’ll drop you back
here to get your car.”
    “ I don’t
think…”
    His fingertips stroked her languidly from
elbow to shoulder, sending a spark of desire through her. “Candy,
I’ve enjoyed myself more with you tonight than I can remember doing
in a long time. I’m not ready for it to end. And neither are you.
Let me take care of you tonight. I promise I’m worth it.”
    “