Free Pretty Packages by Mi'Chelle Dodson Page A

dinner.

Chapter Nine
     
    I’m not gonna make it , Kentucky thought after he returned to his home later that evening. How was he going to protect Fabian from others when he wanted to kill the man himself?
    He’d wanted to bash the man’s head in just for even daring to kiss Giada in front of him. How was he going to survive six long weeks of them kissing and hugging and doing more than that right down the hall from him?
    Was Kentucky insane? Or trying to be driven insane?
    I need to terminate my contract immediately, Kentucky decided, ready to save them all a great deal of trouble.
    Yet, when he thought about all those fatherless kids due to come to the Hardy Jones Academy in the fall, he knew he would go through with the Fabian assignment. Kentucky needed the
money . . . for them.
    With his mind firmly made up, Kentucky went upstairs to take a shower. He needed a cold shower at that. Seeing Giada again today had him all hot and bothered on multiple levels.
    Just as Kentucky was toweling off, he heard the doorbell ring. After slipping on a pair of gym shorts, he rushed downstairs to answer it.
    Who can this be? Kentucky thought, looking at the mahogany wood clock on the wall as he descended the stairs. It read 9 p.m.
    One look through the peephole answered his question. It was Giada.
     
    * * * *
     
    “What do you want?” Kentucky demanded as soon as he swung the door open.
    Giada gasped as the sight of his bare chest snatched her breath clean away. “I want . . . I
want . . .” she began, trying to answer his question through the thick fog of desire clouding her brain.
    Although sex was not her original intent when she came here, it was now. Thick lust was all over her. It oozed out of her pores, danced in her eyes as she stared ravenously at Kentucky ’s chest, which he deliberately folded his arms across in order to break her stare.
    “I want answers,” Giada finally squeezed out, dragging her gaze upwards to his scowling face.
    “I want a few of those myself. Like how did you get my address? And does Fabian know you’re here?”
    “I got your address from your resume in Fabian’s office. And no, he doesn’t know I’m here. He thinks I went back to the condo to get a few last-minute things,” Giada replied, looking downward again, this time at his bulging arms. They were even bigger than before. The flames of desire lapped upon her even higher. “Now are you going to let me in or what? Because I have a lot of questions for you, and it might take a while.”
    “I can answer any question you have right here,” Kentucky said, blocking the doorway with his large frame.
    Giada frowned at his deliberate movement. She’d been just about to squeeze past him and boldly enter his home unannounced. Dang. Now she couldn’t make the most of this visit by cornering him unchaperoned behind closed doors. Double dang.
    “As you can see, my front porch is very private,” Kentucky continued, pointing to the tall shrubs aligning both sides and the front of that greeting space. He removed the lock from the door, stepped farther onto the porch, then closed the door behind him.
    Giada narrowed her eyes at him. “Why can’t I come inside, Kenny? Do you have a woman in there?” Hot jealousy made her ears tingle with warmth as she stood akimbo style.
    It gave her great pleasure to see desire instantly flare in Kentucky ’s chocolate pools. Had her jealousy gotten to him? The sound of his nickname upon her lips?
    “That’s none of your business, Giada. I said I can answer any question you may have, not that I would,” Kentucky said after quickly getting himself back under control.
    Giada huffed in frustration. She’d forgotten just that fast that she couldn’t wrap Kentucky around her finger like other men. She’d forgotten that his will was even stronger than his body. Why did that both thrill and irritate her?
    “Why didn’t you tell me that you were rich, Kenny?” Giada asked, continuing her line of