Seduced by Moonlight Page 6

  Cherisse had to admit to a touch of awe upon stepping onto the golden marble floor of the lobby. And she’d been here before. She looked at Danielle’s animated face and knew her daughter was impressed. “Oh, my God,” Danielle breathed reverently. “I feel like Princess Mia.” The Princess Diaries had been one of her favorite books when she was younger, and in it an ordinary girl learned she was royalty.

  Cherisse laughed softly. Even then, she felt as if her voice echoed in the cavernous lobby. “Well, you’re my princess,” she said.

  She stepped up to the desk. The woman behind it, a tall, attractive African-American in her late twenties, smiled at her. “Welcome to the Karibu Resort. I’m Rochelle. How can I be of service?”

  “I’m Cherisse Washington and this is my daughter, Danielle. We have an appointment with Mr. Payne. Would you please let him know we’re here?”

  “Of course,” said Rochelle. “I was told to expect you at one. Mr. Payne will be in a meeting until then, I’m afraid. He wanted to be the one to show you to your suite. Would you and your daughter like to have lunch on us while you wait? I would be happy to show you to Millie’s Place. It’s our cafeteria-style restaurant.”

  They were more than thirty minutes early. Cherisse supposed Harry Payne’s schedule didn’t leave room for surprises. “That would be nice of you, thank you.”

  Rochelle let one of her co-workers in the office directly behind the front desk know she was leaving for a few moments. Then she came around the desk and said, “It’s only a short walk in this direction.”

  On the way to Millie’s Place they passed a smart boutique and a sunny atrium that led outside to a lush garden, and encountered dozens of guests on the move between activities, no doubt. They were dressed in golfing clothes, hiking gear, ski togs and other athletic clothing, as well as casual clothing.

  Cherisse had read that Karibu Resort catered to African-American skiers and was recommended by many AA ski clubs across the nation, but the guests weren’t predominately black, they were from various ethnic backgrounds. She overheard at least three different languages en route to the restaurant: Spanish, German and French. French from a black couple on their way out the door with skis carried across their shoulders.

  In the restaurant, Rochelle told the hostess that Cherisse and Danielle were Mr. Payne’s guests. Then she said, “Enjoy your meal,” and left.

  Cherisse and Danielle thanked her and were told by the hostess that they could sit anywhere they liked. This was a relaxed restaurant where diners walked through the line and chose their entrees, after which they went to the register. At the register, the hostess said, Cherisse was to simply tell the cashier that they were guests of the owner.

  Cherisse didn’t have much of an appetite. She got a salad and a bottle of water. However Danielle appeared to be ravenous. She ordered the turkey cheeseburger with the works, thick fries and a salad, plus chocolate milk.

  Danielle ate heartily. Cherisse picked at her food.

  After a while, Danielle, who was sensitive to her mother’s moods, remarked, “Don’t tell me you’re nervous about seeing Mr. Payne again.”

  “Well, don’t you think this is a strange coincidence?” Cherisse asked reasonably. “We met as strangers and the next time I turn up I’m the mother of the skier he’s sponsoring. Yes, I’m nervous.”

  “Don’t be,” said Danielle, shoving more fries into her mouth. She chewed and swallowed. She consumed her food just like her father did, quickly and with relish. Cherisse wondered if eating habits were genetic instead of learned. Danielle had spent much more time around her and her mother, both of whom were slow eaters.

  “What are you most afraid of?” asked Danielle. “That he won’t remember you, or he will and since that night he hasn’t been able to get you out of his mind?”

  Cherisse snorted. “Yeah, that’ll never happen.”

  “It could happen,” said her daughter, after which she opened her mouth wide to accommodate the huge burger and chomped down on it. She moaned softly.

  Cherisse smiled. Her daughter definitely enjoyed her food. Fortunately, she was so active she had never had a weight problem. Her tall frame was exceptionally fit.

  Putting down her burger, Danielle regarded her mother with a serious expression. “Let’s change the subject, okay? Obviously talking about Harry Payne has ruined your appetite. Remember Dad phoned me on Thanksgiving day?”

  Cherisse immediately steeled herself for dire news. Charlie was an inveterate gambler who had lost his house to foreclosure five years ago, and that was when he was a highly paid professional football player. He was retired from the game now. She imagined he was in even greater financial straits.

  “Yes?” she croaked.

  Danielle smiled. “It’s nothing horrible. Dad told me that since he retired he’s been going to Gamblers Anonymous. He has his gambling under control, and he was recently offered a recruiting job with the University of Colorado at Denver. You know, his being a hometown boy and all. He accepted. Dad’s moving back to Denver!”

  Cherisse couldn’t help it, her eyes stretched in horror. “Denver! Charlie?! What would possess him to do that?”

  Danielle laughed. “Grandma was right, you’re not happy about Dad moving back home.”

  “You told Ma about this before you told me?” Cherisse said incredulously.

  “I was trying to find the right time,” Danielle explained.

  “And you chose now?”

  “It made you stop obsessing about Harry Payne,” Danielle pointed out after which she took another bite of her burger. Chewing and talking out of the corner of her mouth, she said, “Grandma also said you wouldn’t agree to Dad staying with us until he found a place.”

  “Staying with us?” Cherisse shouted and immediately lowered her voice. “That man has some nerve.”

  “He didn’t suggest it, I did,” said Danielle. She wiped the smile off her face and sighed. “He hasn’t got anybody else in Denver, just you and me.”

  “You,” Cherisse corrected her. “He’s got you.”

  Danielle acknowledged her mother’s comment with a nod. “Okay, he’s got only me. And I wanted to spend some time with him before I started going away practically every weekend to compete in the preliminary rounds for the Olympics. I missed him a lot while I was growing up.”

  Cherisse couldn’t help feeling a twinge of guilt at her daughter’s statement. It wasn’t that she had tried to keep Danielle and Charlie apart after the divorce. Charlie had his priorities: football, gambling and women. Cherisse got tired of reminding him to send Danielle a gift on her birthday, or to phone her on major holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving if he were not able to come see her.

  She looked Danielle straight in the eyes. “You and I have had this talk before. I never did anything to prevent Charlie from seeing you. Never! Now, all of a sudden, I’m supposed to bend over backwards to accommodate him because he has seen the light and wants to be in your life more? You’re seventeen, practically a woman. Now he wants to be a father?”

  “You told me when Granddaddy died four years ago that a woman will always need her father. Remember that?”

  Chagrined, Cherisse had to think quickly to get out of this one. She could say that her father had been a loving, responsible parent, unlike Charlie, who visited Danielle once or twice a year and sent her checks whenever he won big at the gaming tables.

  That wasn’t parenting!

  However, looking into her daughter’s face, which held a hangdog expression, Cherisse was unable to utter those words without feeling extremely selfish. Danielle wanted to be closer to her father. How could she fault her for that?

  Living with Charlie was quite another matter, though. “How long?” she asked.

  Danielle immediately brightened. “Not long, a few weeks at the most. He’s going to look for a place near the university.”

  Cherisse shook her head in astonishment. “I can’t believe Ma is okay with this.”

  “She
said you and Dad got married too young and that’s why your marriage didn’t work out. She said you were always more mature than Dad. But now that he’s trying to get himself together and do what’s right, she didn’t want to stand in his way.”

  Cherisse had to admit that sounded just like her mother, always willing to give somebody a second chance.

  “When is he supposed to move to Denver?” she asked cautiously.

  “Next week,” said Danielle. She visibly winced in anticipation of her mother’s reaction.

  Cherisse surprised her and laughed. “I’d just as well give in since it’s obvious I’ve been outvoted, two against one. All right, your Dad can stay with us no longer than two months. Eight weeks ought to be long enough for anybody to find a place to live.”

  Danielle screeched with delight and, like her mother earlier, immediately lowered her voice. They’d already gotten some odd looks from their fellow diners.

  Harry strode into Millie’s Place two minutes after one o’clock. He wore a dark gray suit with a white shirt, a striped maroon tie and black wingtips. Gold cuff links twinkled at his wrists, but aside from his watch that was the only jewelry he wore.

  Going over to the hostess, a petite brunette with brown eyes and ample hips, he said, “Hello, Alice, I’m looking for Cherisse and Danielle Washington. Rochelle told me she escorted them here.”

  Alice blushed. She tried her best to control the girlish reaction she got to Harry’s nearness but in three years of working there she had never been able to do so. “They’re the two attractive ladies over there,” she said with a nod of her head.

  Harry smiled at her. “Thanks.”

  As soon as he turned his back, Alice fanned her face. “Lord, that man is fine,” she said under her breath.

  Harry took his time walking across the restaurant. For one moment, his legs had gone weak under him when he saw Cherisse Washington. It was Cheri. He was sure of it. That glorious, thick, wavy black hair was a dead giveaway, to say nothing of her beautiful clear skin and warm brown eyes. He was standing less than twelve feet away from her and her daughter. Cherisse wore a classic navy blue dress whose hem fell a few inches above her shapely knees. She wore a pair of navy sling-backs with it. And as he recalled, her legs were gorgeous. A woman with legs like that—long, with slender ankles, lovely calves and exquisite knees—should never wear slacks.

  She was smiling at her daughter, a cute kid in jeans, a red sweater and white athletic shoes. The kid resembled her mom a great deal except her skin tone was a few shades darker.

  The daughter looked up and saw his approach. She said something to her mother and Cherisse Washington glanced up and the expression on her lovely face was priceless. He had no doubt she recognized him from last Saturday night. Now here they were a week later.

  Harry silently thanked God for his good fortune. He felt like grinning but pushed away the impulse. He didn’t want Cherisse to get the idea that he was especially glad to see her. He smiled his “pleased to meet you” business smile as he got closer—all lips, no teeth. “Hello, Mrs. Washington, Danielle,” he greeted them.

  Both mother and daughter went to get up but he gestured for them to remain seated. “Please don’t get up. I’ll join you.” And he sat down between them. He offered Cherisse his hand. As they shook, he said, “Do you remember me from Saturday night? We chatted a while on the balcony.”

  Cherisse blushed. Her hand trembled a little in his grasp. She withdrew it and said with a smile, “Yes, I do. And I’m really embarrassed, now, that I didn’t recognize you.”

  “Don’t be,” he said. “It’s kind of nice not being recognized.” He turned to Danielle, who was riveted by their conversation. They shook hands also. “Good to meet you, Danielle.”

  “Thanks, likewise,” she told him with a huge grin. “You look even better in person than you do in photos.”

  “Danielle!” exclaimed her mother.

  Harry thought she was probably mortified by her daughter’s candid remark. He was not in the least. He saw an opportunity to glean some information about her mother, since it was obvious the daughter was much less willing to be restrained by social etiquette.

  He smiled. “At forty-two,” he said, “I’m lucky to get any sort of compliment. Thank you, Danielle.” He regarded Cherisse. “How was your drive up?”

  Cherisse relaxed. “Very nice, the conditions were perfect for driving.”

  “Good,” said Harry. His eyes raked over her face. She had a mole on the left corner of her full, sensual mouth. Harry thought it made her mouth all the more kissable.

  He cleared his throat and sat up straighter in his chair. He couldn’t let himself get turned on by Cherisse Washington while her daughter was sitting two feet away.

  So he turned to Danielle. “I’m impressed by your skills on the slopes, young lady. John Santiago gave me a tape of your last race. You’re amazing. How did you get interested in skiing?”

  “Mr. Santiago came to our school to introduce us to his program. I was on the basketball team then. He invited anyone who was interested to go on a field trip to the Sonnenalp Resort here in Vail.”

  “A great resort,” Harry said.

  Danielle smiled her agreement. “Yeah, and I’ve been hooked ever since.”

  “Where did you get your drive, your ambition?” Harry asked. With him, he had always been a big kid and the high school coach saw his potential and asked him to try out for the team. Harry’s incentive had been to become a success by any means necessary, and his talents had always been physical. Today, he was an avid reader and enjoyed learning new things. But in school he had had little interest in books and had squeaked by with a C average. Luckily, back then that was all you needed to be on the football team. In college, he had learned to apply himself more.

  But he was truly fascinated by Danielle’s drive at such a young age. At seventeen, he’d been happy to be on the football team and have a girlfriend. Danielle already had her sights on the Olympics.

  “Mom always told me I could do anything I wanted to,” Danielle told him, her eyes downcast as if she were too shy or modest to meet his gaze. She looked up at her mother and Harry could see the love she had for Cherisse reflected in her eyes.

  “Mom was a fierce basketball player when she was my age,” she said with a smile. “When I was growing up I always saw her doing something physical practically every day. She jogged, played tennis, even ran a few marathons. She inspired me. And my dad used to play for the Philadelphia Eagles. Charlie Washington.”

  Harry did grin this time. “Your father was a great defensive back. What is he doing nowadays?”

  “He was just hired by the University of Colorado at Denver as a recruiter,” Danielle said proudly.

  Cherisse could do nothing but smile. Danielle loved her father. Even when she was little she never blamed him for not seeing her more often. She never heaped recriminations on him for not helping to support her financially over the years, either. Whenever she saw him, she was simply happy to be in his presence.

  “So he’s moving to Denver?” Harry asked. Here, he had to school his expression because he definitely didn’t like the sound of that. Was Cherisse’s ex-husband returning to reconnect with his daughter perhaps, or with Cherisse?

  It wasn’t an unreasonable concern, especially since he felt more drawn to Cherisse than ever. Over the years he’d known several divorced couples who reconciled after many years apart.

  Harry was happy when Cherisse spoke up. “Yes, now that he’s retired, Charlie wants to spend more time with his daughter.”

  “That’s great,” Harry said. “If I had a daughter I would definitely want to be there for her.”

  “You’re not married with children at your age?” asked Danielle incredulously.

  Once again, her mother looked mortified.

  Harry just chuckled. “You sound like my mother. No, I’ve never met the right woman, I guess.” He looked Cherisse straight in the eyes when he said that.

>   She blushed again.

  “Well, maybe you and your girlfriend will get married and have children,” Danielle said, obviously fishing.

  Cherisse gave Harry a look that said “I can’t take her anywhere!”

  Still laughing softly, Harry said, “I’m afraid we just broke up.”

  Danielle gave him a huge grin.

  Cherisse’s expression was sympathetic. “I’m so sorry, Ha—Mr. Payne.”

  Harry placed his hand atop hers. “Please call me Harry.” He quickly withdrew his hand but not before Danielle saw the gesture and started calculating how she was going to get her mother and Harry Payne alone together.

  If she let this golden opportunity pass her by she would never forgive herself.

  Harry Payne was coming on to her mother!

  A few minutes later, Harry was ushering them into the suite they would be spending the night in. It was a loft-style suite with exposed beams. Cherisse immediately fell in love with it.

  There was a bedroom with two beds in it and a living room, all fitted with custom-made Bavarian furnishings. A gas-log fireplace was in the living room, and the bathroom had a large sunken tub, a separate walk-in shower and heated tile floors.

  Cherisse and Danielle declared that everything was beautiful and thanked Harry profusely. Harry looked faintly embarrassed by their thanks and praise.

  “I’m glad you like it. Danielle, this is where you’ll stay whenever you come up here to use the facilities. And your mother and grandmother—John told me you and your mother live with your grandmother—are welcome to stay with you. Feel free to order anything from room service and if you need anything else we have a concierge who is very good at satisfying any whim of our guests. Make use of him when you want something that’s not on the room service menu, or you awake in the middle of the night with an urge for ice cream.”

  “Don’t tell her that,” Cherisse joked. “She’ll work the poor man to death.”

  They all laughed, after which Danielle asked, “May I go for a trial run?”