Chapter8
Cara saw Jamaica coming down the stairs toward the main level of the house one morning and stopped her. She smiled and touched Jamaica’s shoulder, wrapping her arm around Jamaica and seeming to confide in her.
“Good morning! Don’t you look lovely!” Cara began. She leaned in close to Jamaica’s ear and lowered her voice. “Listen, I know you’re really busy, but Henry has a business friend in the library, but he’s running a little late and he won’t be here for a few minutes to meet with him. I know you’re really busy, but if you wouldn’t mind just… stepping inside the library and spending a few minutes with him until Henry can join him, I just know he’d appreciate that so much. Would you mind terribly?” Cara pleaded with her, eyes wide and voice light.
Jamaica saw an opportunity to give Henry some help. She felt that he had already done so much for her, and she wanted to give that back to him at every chance and in just about any way that she could.
She brightened when she heard what Cara told her, and nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, of course! I’d be so glad to help. Should I go in now?” She lifted her eyes to meet Cara’s.
“Yes definitely, go ahead and go in right now!” Cara urged her with a smile and a squeeze of her shoulders.
Jamaica felt her heart pounding in her chest, but she took a deep breath and lifted her chin, and she went full tilt into the library to spend a little time with Henry’s business associate until he could get in there to see the man himself. It was a small way that she could repay Henry for all of his generosity toward her, and she was more than glad to do it.
Cara watched her go, even giving her a little wave of the hand, waggling her fingers at her, when Jamaica glanced once back over her shoulder toward Cara. Jamaica disappeared into the library and Cara stood straight and tall and crossed her arms over her chest, laughing quietly to herself as she eyed the door warily.
She took her time, but slowly she made her way up to Henry’s bedroom on the second floor and she slipped in, closing the door behind her. His bed was rumpled and unmade, but only on one side, and when she saw that, she sighed with relief.
A sultry smile formed on her lips when she heard him turn off the shower as he sang and whistled lightly to himself. She pushed herself from the bedroom door and walked quickly into his large bathroom at the far end of the bedroom, as billows of steam rolled out of it, swirling around her.
He gasped when he lowered the towel from his face and saw her standing there right in front of him. She had a strange look on her face; something like shyness, sweetness, and worry. He hurriedly dropped the towel to his nude waist and wrapped it around himself, covering what she had already seen and appreciated.
“Cara! God… What are you doing in here?” he asked, blinking at her in surprise as she slowly moved toward him and let her eyes move over his fit and tone body, sliding over the wet steamy skin.
“I’m sorry Henry my dear,” she said in a velvety voice. “I just… I had to come to get you. I realize my timing was probably off a little, and I’m kind of sorry about that.” She raised her wide blue eyes to meet his as she tucked a red lock of her hair behind her ear and only stopped a few inches from Henry’s chest. “I just couldn’t wait in good conscience while you are up here and… such a travesty is happening downstairs. I had to come and tell you, to warn you.” She spoke so softly, gazing up and him and staring at his mouth hungrily before looking back up at his eyes.
He felt uncertainty tying itself in knots in his stomach and he tightened the towel around his waist. “What… what are you talking about? What do you mean in good conscience? What’s going on?”
She looked overly pained as she spoke, as if her heart was breaking in her chest as she stood there and there wasn’t anything at all that could be done about it. “Well, Mr. Bailey demanded to be allowed to come and see you this morning, so I told him that he could, and I sent him to the library. He’s so upset Henry, as I’m sure you can imagine. Just… so angry, and right on the brink of leaving everything that you two have talked about and worked on. He’s just really in such a state. Anyway, I asked him to wait for you in there, and when I walked out that woman… that… Jamaica, she saw me and she came up and asked what I was doing in the library, telling me that I had no business in there, and I explained about Mr. Bailey being in there and waiting for you. I said that I was going to come and get you so that you could talk to him because he was so unhappy, and she told me not to bother coming to get you. She told me that she could handle it herself and she went rushing straight in there and closed the door before I could stop her. I did try to stop her, I told her over and over not to go in, that it was a messy business situation and you had to handle it carefully yourself. Well, the only thing I could do was come up here as fast as I could to come and get you!” She reached her hand up and placed it on his chest, palm down, sliding her hand up slowly toward his neck as she stared into his eyes and neared his face with hers.
“I’m so sorry that I wasn’t able to stop her. You know that you are my every priority!” she pointed out passionately.
His eyes flew wide open and he groaned loudly. “Oh no! No…” he dropped the towel that he’d been holding around his body and rushed into the bedroom without a stitch on. Cara smiled as she let her eyes wander over his skin while he hurried to get dressed as quickly as he could.
In what only seemed like a few moments, he was fully dressed and raking a comb through his wet hair. He ran out of his bedroom and flew down the stairs as Cara walked slowly behind him, laughing to herself, running her hand over the crumpled sheets on his side of his bed, feeling them where he had slept, and then letting herself out of his room with a catlike grin on her face before she went to the top of the stairs and took her time descending them.
Henry burst into the library breathless with pink cheeks and was stunned by what he saw, stopping short in place while the library door closed behind him. Sitting on one of the sofas in the library was Mr. Bailey, his business associate and a man with whom he had been trying to complete an in-depth business transaction that was teetering on monumental disaster, and Jamaica. They were laughing together and it almost looked as if they were having the time of their lives.
He froze in place and eyed them carefully and then began to walk toward them with uncertainty as their mirth lightened, and they both turned to look toward him. The smile on Mr. Bailey’s face stayed as Henry approached them in wonder.
“Good morning both of you, I’m so sorry that I’m late Mr. Bailey; I just found out that you were here and I came right down. I wish I had known that you were coming over. I’d never have kept you waiting,” Henry said with a genuine tone of regret.
Mr. Bailey lifted his old hand and waved dismissively at Henry. “Oh, don’t worry too much about it. Luckily this young lady here came in to check on me and make sure that I was all right,” he began, looking back over at Jamaica and giving her a big smile.
Jamaica grinned back at him and he looked back over at Henry, who had reached them and was watching them with fascination. “As a matter of fact, you couldn’t be luckier that she came in to talk to me. I will admit, I was pretty angry when I got here, and I was ready to call off the whole deal on the Scinter product we’ve been creating, but Jamaica has really saved the day for all of us. You know what it is, it’s her artistic mind. I’ve never seen anyone do what she just did here for us in mere minutes. She’s amazing!”
He bent over to pick up some of the papers on the table near them and Henry’s gaze shot over to Jamaica, sharing a glance with her as she grinned at him and she shook his head subtly. “Amazing… Yes,” he repeated in a quiet voice.
Mr. Bailey stood up and handed the papers to Henry. “Here now, take a look at that design that she created, and in next to no time at all I might add. She’s a sheer genius!” He thrust the papers at Henry and Henry took them and let his gaze sweep over them as his eyes widened. He couldn’t believe what he was looking at. Everything that she had done on the paperwork: fast notes, quickly drawn adjustments to the design of the product, all of it, was just exactly as Mr. Bailey had said. It was genius.
He stared at it as Mr. Bailey watched him, chuckling with delicious delight at Henry’s reaction. “Isn’t that something! Now, can you do that? Can we do that and build the Scinter product that way? Because if we can, I’ll sign that contract right now and we can go forward with the whole thing immediately.”
Henry began to nod his head slowly as he wrapped his thoughts around the concepts that were drawn out before him on the paperwork. Jamaica’s concepts on his designs. He began to grin and nod as he checked it all out carefully and then raised his eyes to meet Mr. Bailey’s. “Yes, we can definitely build it this way with this design!” he exclaimed in surprise and relief mixed with joy. He almost felt as if his heart was going to burst right through his chest from surprise and happiness.
“Well then,” Mr. Bailey grinned blissfully. “Let’s get that contract signed right now, and get busy on this! This is going to save us so much money in production and reproduction, and make us a fortune. I don’t know where you found this young lady, but you’d better not let her out of your sight! She’s a gem!”
“Yes, she is…” Henry agreed quietly as he looked over at her with a growing smile. His heart felt as if it was so full that it was going to spill over, and he realized that she made him feel that way often. Henry went to his desk and pulled the contract out of a drawer, then brought it to Mr. Bailey and the two men sat down. Jamaica silently moved toward the door as she was going to leave, but Mr. Bailey called out to her and stopped her.
“Oh no, young lady, you need to come back here and sit with us, you see, there’s only one caveat I have to signing this deal, and that is that you have to be hired on to the project in an advisory position for the entire project, and I want you here for the signing of the contract. This is an historic event, and you made it happen. You have to be here for it. This almost didn’t happen and you saved it. You must be here for that.” He beamed at her.
She came back and sat with them, watching and waiting as they went over the contract quickly and signed it together, and then stood up grinning at one another. The two men shook hands and Mr. Bailey left a few moments later, so happy that he almost seemed to dance right out of the door.
The moment the library door closed, Henry closed his eyes, laughing and shaking his head, and when he opened them back up again, all he could see was Jamaica standing before him: beautiful, sweet, and glorious.
He reached for her and grabbed her up into a tight hug, holding her close to him and rocking her in his embrace. “You are the best! The best! You saved that whole deal. I don’t even know how you did that! Mr. Bailey was coming here today to call the whole thing off! You saved me millions of dollars and enabled both he and I to make millions instead! You’re an angel! You’re a beautiful, incredible, amazing angel!”
With that he gazed down at her and feeling as if he was so overjoyed that he didn’t quite know what to do, he brought his mouth to hers and kissed her, holding her gently in his arms, but kissing her softly.
She was stunned at his reaction, but the feel of his mouth against hers sparked a sudden fire in her that seemed to catch like wildfire, spreading from her lips to other parts of her body even faster than her blood moved through her.
There was a brief moment when both of them were surprised by the kiss they were sharing, but also in that moment, they both discovered that they were becoming immediately lost in the kiss, and they began to move their lips slowly and sweetly together, tasting and feeling each other’s mouths a little more as the kiss grew deeper.
She slid her arms around his neck and felt him tighten his own arms around her back as he parted her lips with his ever so slightly, teasing the tip of her tongue with his before he began to taste her and really kiss her with a growing desire and hunger.
The door to the library was flung open and Cara came in with her head held high and a kind of victorious look on her face, which melted away like snow on a summer’s day when she saw Henry and Jamaica locked in each other’s arms and kissing.
She gasped, and both Henry and Jamaica were startled by the noise of the door and the gasp that sounded from Cara. They broke apart from their embrace, both of them breathless and embarrassed at having been caught, both of them realizing that they never should have kissed, especially the way that they did.
Cara glared hotly at Henry. “What in the world is going on in here?” she demanded with an intense tone. Henry’s face flushed and he looked over at her.
“I’m sorry, we didn’t mean to… We shouldn’t have… We were just… We were celebrating I guess, probably overly excited. You see, Mr. Bailey just signed the contract and the whole Scinter project is a go.” He grinned again as he thought of it. It had easily been one of the most significant and profound moments of his entire business career to that point. He knew that he would always remember it happily.
Cara stared at him in disbelief as she walked slowly toward him. “It’s… it’s signed? Are you serious?”
He nodded emphatically and bent over, reaching down to the table to pick up the papers and hold them out to her. “It’s done and signed. This is all of it. Complete with new designs by our Miss Jamaica here!” He glowed, looking over at her and feeling his own heart skip a few beats. Kissing her had been just as exciting as the meeting had been, and he knew that if Cara hadn’t walked in, he would definitely still be kissing her, with no intention of stopping anytime soon.
“We never would have had a success with him if it hadn’t been for her. I’m so pleased, so proud of her and excited that it all worked out. Thank goodness she came in here to see him. If she hadn’t come in here, none of this would have happened, and we’d have lost every bit of business with him, and we’d have lost a small fortune. She saved us millions and made us even more money that she will have saved us. I’m so glad that she came in here and talked to him. It’s like a real-life miracle. There is just nothing but good in her wake.” His eyes were shining at her and she felt her cheeks warm as she looked downward and felt a little shyness creeping up inside her.
Cara looked over at her and narrowed her eyes into near slits. “Is that so? Well, we certainly owe you a debt of gratitude, don’t we Miss Franklin? You’re just too good to be true, it seems.” Her voice was cool and her tone was even, but her eyes gave her away, although neither Jamaica nor Henry saw it, because they were so busy looking at each other.
***
David and Marina came by the house the next afternoon to see the babies and visit with Henry, checking to see how everyone was getting on. When they had visited for a brief while, they decided to invite Henry and Jamaica out to dinner with them that night.
Henry and Jamaica accepted happily, and Georgia was only too glad to babysit for them and give them a night off from their parenting duties. Marina and Jamaica discovered that they had a great deal in common as artists, though Marina’s art was music.
She told Jamaica about the instruments that she played and the way that she sang, and how she did shows now and then around the Seattle area. She loved singing and art and theatre, and she was only too glad to talk with Jamaica about her artwork; her paintings and sculptures and all of the work she did at the school. Marina told her that she absolutely admired Jamaica for the job she had taken on of teaching art to little ones. Jamaica told her about her star pupil Annalee, and how hard she was working and what great potential she had. Marina said she would love to see Jamaica’s work sometime, and that she should let her know if it happened that she ever had an art show.
They talked about the babies, and Marina and David were happy to announce that they were trying for a baby, wanting to start a family, and were sure that it was going to happen soon. Henry called for the best wine in the restaurant to celebrate, and together they toasted and drank, and then drank some more, and then called for a second bottle.
By the time Henry and Jamaica got home, it was quite late, and they were both a little tipsy. He walked her to her bedroom and stopped outside of her door, staring at her and giving her a sweet smile.
“I’m so glad that you’re here. I can’t begin to tell you. You just seem to make everything better and brighter just by being here. It’s amazing. I didn’t expect it at all. You saved the deal with Mr. Bailey, you get along so well with my friends… In fact, I’d go so far as to say that they are just as much your friends now as mine. There could be no denying that!” He laughed lightly and gazed deeper at her.
“You looked like an angel when you came into the welcome party for the babies… Wearing that white gown and seeming to have just stepped out of heaven, and I kind of felt like I was a little lost in you when I saw you, and I think I have been getting lost in you a little more every day as you’ve been here.” His voice softened and he locked his eyes on hers. “Does it feel like that to you?”
She nodded. “Yes, it does,” she admitted, wondering if it was the wine or her heart that was making her so lightheaded. “Except… the other way around. I feel lost in you a little more every day.” She giggled softly and he raised his hands to hold her face gently in them.
Without a word, he drew near to her and brushed his lips softly against hers, taking his time, savoring the moment, the feel of her so close to him, and the taste of her against his mouth. She responded to him right away, kissing him in return, opening her lips to him and drinking him in as he did the same with her, wrapping their arms around one another and sighing softly as the kisses enveloped them in bliss.
They kissed deeply and for a long, long few moments before he caught himself and pushed away from her breathlessly. “I’m so sorry… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I wanted to… God I wanted to, but I shouldn’t have. I don’t want to compromise you at all,” he told her honestly. “You have a situation living here with the children, and I don’t have any business getting in the way of that. I’m sorry. Have a good night, and don’t worry about that. That kiss was on me. You just… you just enjoy yourself and be happy living here.”
He backed away from her, wishing that he hadn’t kissed her because he didn’t want to compromise her and have any awkward developments arise in the form of romantic relations between them. He wanted to make sure that she was comfortable and happy there in her home, and not bothered by his actions, or worried about them.
She laughed and smiled as he turned to go, waving at her and smiling back, and as he disappeared on the way to his own room, she touched her lips where he had kissed her and closed her eyes, savoring the feeling of his mouth against hers, and how truly delicious it had been. There were butterflies floating around in her in places where there had never been butterflies, and she loved feeling every one of them flutter through her and make her feel as if she was floating off the ground.
He took her out shopping for clothes and spoiled her with an entire new wardrobe, which he stated flatly that she needed, and which he insisted that he was more than glad to give to her. He also had a room redesigned close to her quarters in the house that became her art studio.
Henry surprised her with it one afternoon when it was ready for her. He walked her into it with his hands over her eyes, and when he let his hands fall away from her face, she looked around stunned at the beautiful studio that he had built for her, and fully furnished not only with tables and chairs and stations all around it, as well as a large sink area and a full bathroom, but with products to create art as well. It was a tremendous gift, and she was overwhelmed, hugging him tightly in gratitude. Both of them were careful not to kiss each other then, but Georgia was with them, there to see the new addition to the house, and she watched closely as she saw the two of them interacting with one another, and she smiled happily.
He told her that he loved her artwork, and he wanted her to fill their home with it, and that the studio was one of the ways that she could do that. She promised to try.
Later that night when they were putting the babies to bed, they stood together in the doorway of the nursery, gazing at the cribs where the babies were sleeping and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and held her close to his chest. They sighed contentedly together, but as she turned to leave, she looked up at him, and they could feel each other’s breath upon their faces, and the closeness between them drew them in even more, and they closed their eyes and kissed softly a few times before he told her good night and let her go, walking alone to his own room and closing the door behind him.
She tried not to think too much on it, telling herself that the closeness between them was because of the babies, because they were living together in the house, and possibly because of all the hormones that were raging through her so much because of the pregnancy and nursing she was doing.
They were both drawn to each other, closer and closer, and the more they tried to keep themselves apart from one another, the more they seemed to want to be together, to share sweet moments, to hold hands or hold each other, and to kiss now and then in quiet moments when no one could see them.
Neither one of them was sure what was happening, but as the days passed, neither one of them was much interested in keeping apart or stopping what was changing, though they weren’t exactly sure what it was that was evolving between them.