Take Me On

CHAPTER TWO

THE EARLY-MORNING MIAMI sun blazed through the white curtains. Antonio Navedo stirred in his bed. It had been a strange night for him, full of racing thoughts and strange dreams. He usually slept straight through, but last night had been different. He found himself getting up every few hours, taking trips to the bathroom and pacing around his large, professionally-decorated bedroom. He couldn’t figure out what was off. Everything about his bedroom was perfectly in place—the blue-and-gold throw pillows piled neatly on a nearby chair, the glass and pitcher of water he kept next to his bed were filled, and all of his devices were docked and charged. But something still felt off. It probably had to do with his dealings with the self-assured and beautiful New Yorker.

Antonio was used to getting his way—in business and with women. Perhaps that was why his encounter with Kenzie Fox had him so frustrated. He had expected, no, counted on her accepting his business proposal at first offer. The buyout he and his lawyer had drawn up was more than generous. In fact, it was so much in her favor that it bordered on ludicrous.

It was the crack of dawn, the time Antonio usually reserved for a dip in the surf to begin his day. But this particular morning he found himself unable to unravel himself from the twisted sheets of his king-size bed. He always thought that staying in bed, even an extra few minutes, was lazy. He liked that he could start each day with vigor and enthusiasm. He was always ready to meet any challenge, but this morning he sank back into the pillows and let himself daydream.

Thoughts of Kenzie’s long curly hair falling over her perfect breasts, her pert nipples pointing out to him, just begging to be sucked, sent his mind into a daze. That, and the image of her ample ass pushed out toward him back in the hotel room played on a seemingly endless loop in his head. Absentmindedly, his hand traveled down the length of his naked body to the aching hard-on that arose every time he pictured that brief but oh-so-hot encounter.

After the meeting in Melinda’s office yesterday he had needed to relieve himself so badly from the feelings she aroused in him, he had excused himself to the bathroom to take care of business. The fiery look in the brunette beauty’s eyes when she had yelled at him was enough to make him want to come on its own. But that, coupled with how her businesslike yet somewhat tight suit revealed the outline of her very fit but also voluptuous form meant that he had been useless for anything that didn’t involve stroking his own cock for the rest of the day.

Antonio ran his hand up and down the length of his formidable manhood, feeling simultaneously annoyed and titillated by what was turning into a perma-erection ever since he had met the mysterious Ms. Fox. He knew that he could quicken his strokes, increase the pressure, play with himself a little bit rougher until he pictured Kenzie lying back on the bed and the sight of her gorgeous, well-formed body waiting for his touch that would make him come and at least momentarily relieve his constant state of arousal. Instead, Antonio growled and threw back the sheets. The Miami sun was an unforgiving alarm clock to him and he knew there was work to be done. He had to be showered and ready in an hour to meet Kenzie. Thankfully, she had agreed to wait a day to tour the ramshackle Baracoa distillery. The last thing he wanted was to head over there with his whole legal team in tow. Melinda was a shark when it came to looking out for his business interests, but he knew that if he wanted to try and persuade Kenzie to come around to his way of thinking he needed the chance to be alone with her again.

Already naked, Antonio strode into his en suite bathroom, turned on the shower and stepped into the tiled stall. The multiple faucets hit his body from all directions, and he purposefully turned the water toward cold, hoping the spray would lower his blood pressure and cool his heated thoughts.

What did a teetotaling New York City woman want with an ancient rum distillery? Even more frustrating was the fact that he had upset Kenzie, which meant there could be a chance he would never get to feel her body underneath his. There was so much more he wanted to do with her. It was curiosity that had sent him to the hotel lobby that night. He hadn’t planned on doing anything more than possibly checking out this woman who he had Googled immediately upon learning that she was coming down to Miami. Something about her reminded him of Clarissa. But he tried not to think too much about that. A constant parade of different women in and out of his bedroom had been a good enough distraction from his one serious girlfriend’s departure over a year ago. His life was full, he reassured himself. And besides, who wanted to be tied down?

Shutting off the water and grabbing a towel from the rack, Antonio quickly dried himself off and dressed in a pair of expensive gray trousers and white linen shirt with the sleeves rolled up to expose his muscular forearms.

Grabbing the keys to his convertible Lamborghini, he glanced in the hallway mirror to check his appearance: a few days’ worth of stubble worked, he decided, running his hands through his jet-black hair. Grabbing his favorite pair of aviators, he headed out the door, feeling mostly self-assured that he would change Kenzie’s mind about his business proposal—and maybe even calm that New York attitude of hers down long enough to enjoy some of his hot and spicy Miami flavor.

* * *

“Where is he already?” Kenzie questioned the uniformed doorman standing at the entrance to her hotel. She looked at the time on her phone. It was already ten minutes past the time Antonio had agreed to pick her up and she was getting antsy. The doorman shrugged and turned his attention to the hotel’s shuttle bus which was arriving with a full load of guests. Kenzie sighed and blew a curl out of her face and peered down the street, not knowing what car she was looking for but wanting to do something besides stand there like a statue. The longer she waited, the more she regretted her choice of clothing—an off-the-shoulder white cotton top with a matching skirt that showed off her breasts and tiny midriff.

It had been a mistake to agree to let Antonio give her a tour of Baracoa. He would likely try to convince her to sell him her share of the distillery. In truth, that was probably the move that made the most sense, logistically and financially. But she couldn’t bear the thought of giving this arrogant man exactly what he wanted. Besides, maybe the place was a gold mine, or at least a diamond in the rough. It made good sense to at least go see what she would be giving up.

Just as Kenzie reached into her bag for her room card, her mind suddenly set on going back up to the room to change into a business suit, an azure-blue sports car roared into the semicircular driveway of the hotel, causing Kenzie and the busload full of tourists to all stop and stare.

“Buenos dias!” Antonio called to her, flashing her a sexy smile and lowering his shades to unabashedly check her out from head to toe. Damn, Kenzie thought. Her game plan of acting cold and indifferent to the man who had taken her to bed knowing full well that she was a potential colleague was going to be hard to keep up with. Why did he have to be so good-looking? Kenzie flashed back on the moment up in the hotel room when Antonio had pulled her hair, his hard cock inside her, and felt the same shock waves that tingled from the roots of her curls all the way down to the very core of her nether regions as if it were actually happening again.

Cars pulled in and out of the circle in front of the hotel, but Kenzie was focused only on the car in front of her. She wondered where it might take her, and if it was a ride she was really ready for. Glancing at Antonio, who was confidently leaning in her direction, she decided to take a chance.

“You’re late,” Kenzie stated firmly, reaching for the door handle of the insanely showy but somehow elegant car. Her hand was trembling a little and she tried to steady herself by taking a deep breath. Everything around her felt so foreign—not just the expensive vehicle, but the palm trees, the intense heat and the tourists in the colorful dresses and shorts. Back home, the streets were gray and slushy with dirty snow. Here, everything was in Technicolor and it was throwing her off.

Before she could sit down, Antonio was up and walking around to the passenger side. When he was close enough that she could feel the heat coming off his body, she inhaled sharply. It was no wonder the eyes of the other hotel guests were on them—she had to admit that together, they made a striking scene. Antonio was a foot taller than her, but somehow their looks complemented each other. At only five foot two she somehow always found herself dating the tall guys.

“Here,” he said handing her the keys. “You drive.”

Kenzie laughed and looked skeptically at the fast car in front of her. She wasn’t much of a car person and usually when she saw guys in them on the highway she figured they were overcompensating for something. But looking at it up close, she had to admit it was pretty incredible looking. Still, she hoped Antonio wasn’t serious about wanting her to drive. “You do realize the last time I drove was for my driver’s ed test? I was seventeen.”

Antonio gave her a puzzled look.

“I’m a New Yorker,” she explained. “We take the subway.” In truth, it had been years since she’d driven, and she was terrified of crashing this beautiful vehicle that probably cost more than all of her worldly possessions, combined.

“This is more fun than the subway,” Antonio promised, pressing the car key into her hand.

Kenzie reluctantly walked around to the driver’s side, slid her body into the leather seat and turned on the ignition. The car’s powerful engine roared and she felt a quick hit of excitement.

“You can adjust the mirrors over here,” Antonio explained, leaning across her to toggle the side-view mirrors switch. Kenzie involuntarily inhaled Antonio’s clean and masculine scent and the pheromones hit her—hard.

“Got it,” she said, and pulled out of the drop-off area fast, sending Antonio back against the passenger seat. “Buckle up,” she cautioned him with a smile.

Kenzie made good time getting them to Alligator Alley, and soon the road opened up to reveal the greenery of the Everglades. It was such a contrast, going from the colorful buildings of downtown to this otherworldly swamp region. The grass was greener than anything Kenzie had seen in months in New York and the sun beat down on them as she drove a straight shot, picking up speed as she got more comfortable in the powerful ride.

“It’s stunning,” she commented, momentarily taking her eyes off the road to take in the lush scenery. For a second, she even thought she saw an actual alligator. She had heard that they were all over the place down here, and the thought freaked her out. New York City subway rats she could deal with—giant reptiles were something else. She appreciated nature but was definitely not looking to get up close and personal with it.

“I agree, it’s beautiful,” Antonio said. Instead of looking for wildlife, his gaze was firmly planted on her. His unabashed stare made her blush. She wasn’t used to being looked at so intensely, especially by someone she was so attracted to. Suddenly, she had the overwhelming impulse to turn the steering wheel sharply to the right and pull off to the side of the road.

She saw herself hiking up her skirt and straddling Antonio right there in the car, not caring if anyone else would see. Her panties got wet with the idea of his manly fingers moving her undies to the side and exploring the soft folds of her most intimate area. She looked over at Antonio and guessed that he was thinking of a similar scenario, too. But instead, she floored it, eager to reach Baracoa before she found herself doing something equally as reckless as two nights before.

When they pulled off the highway, Antonio directed her through the side streets until they came to a series of buildings in an open field that looked more like ancient ruins than a working rum distillery.

“This is it,” Antonio announced, stepping out of the car and gesturing toward—well, to be honest, Kenzie wasn’t a hundred percent sure what she was looking at.

“Is it still operational?” she asked in a more sheepish voice than she normally used. She was definitely out of her territory here. Her domain consisted of yoga mats, asanas, breathing techniques and meditation. The rum business was as far from her own business as she could possibly imagine.

“It’s a working distillery, yes,” Antonio answered, “but on a very small scale. Here,” he said gesturing toward what looked like the main building. “Let me show you around.”

Kenzie’s thin white outfit was already sticking to her skin as the hot sun beat down on them. “Okay,” she said, following right behind Antonio, which gave her a chance to wipe some of the perspiration on her face and chest with the back of her hand. How did Antonio manage to look so cool and collected? She wondered. She definitely wasn’t used to such intense heat.

Inside the main building there were a few huge metal fermentation tanks where Antonio explained that sugar cane was turned into molasses. They walked past the distillery tanks and into a huge, cool open area where the barrels were stored.

“Some of these are aged,” Antonio explained, “which affects how dark the rum will be.”

Antonio waved at a worker driving a utility vehicle who was transporting barrels which were presumably ready to be stacked and aged. Apart from him, Kenzie saw no other people and it seemed like there was very little activity going on.

“They’ve been doing things the same way here for a long time,” Antonio explained. “We have a much more intricate process at our Little Havana locations. Our master blender is always coming up with new flavors, new processes.”

Little Havana—Kenzie knew the name from some quick internet research she had done on Antonio after, ahem, they had gotten acquainted, so to speak. Apparently, his family was the owner of the largest rum distillery outside the Caribbean, and also had a hand in several smaller operations. Judging by a “Millionaires under 40” article she had come across in Forbes, this little distillery was definitely off his radar.

“We would have fully acquired this distillery a long time ago, and absorbed it into our main businesses, but the previous co-owner held on.”

Aunt Lilly. Kenzie still wasn’t exactly sure who she was, and why or how she had become involved in the liquor business.

“Some people like holding onto things,” Kenzie whispered. Suddenly her thoughts shot back to Cole—to the last time she had seen him alive, barely breathing in a sterile hospital room. It was liquor that had destroyed their relationship, destroyed both of their lives. Kenzie suddenly felt queasy, and her breath was short.

“Excuse me, I need some air,” she apologized, and darted out the double doors straight ahead of her.