DANIEL'S GIRL: ROMANCING AN OLDER MAN by Katherine Cachitorie, Mallory Monroe Page B

my friend, Miss Nikki Graham
managed to get herself into a major confrontation with the mayor today.”
    Daniel frowned.   “She did what ?”
    “She got in a confrontation with the
mayor.”
    “What kind of confrontation?”
    “The kind that made him kick her out
of his press conference.   Oh, it was
bad.”
    Daniel tossed the papers in his
briefcase and unbuttoned his suit coat.   He placed his hands on his hips.   He had just flown in from Florida and was all parts exhausted.   And now this.   “What was this confrontation about?” he asked.
    “That road improvement plan of the
mayor’s.   Nikki seems to think there’s
not enough minority contractors involved in the process.   She and Todd Bainbridge went toe to toe about
it.”
    Daniel dismissed Phillip’s description
because he knew of his director’s penchant for hyperbole.   But it was still disconcerting news.   Why the hell should she feel it necessary to
become the spokesperson for rich minority contractors?   They could fight their own battles.  
    “Okay, Phil,” he said to his
director.   “Thanks for letting me know.”
    Phillip’s expression was one of
disappointment.   Was that it?   He’d just given Crane the heads up and all he
got in return was a generic thank-you?   He at least expected some real outpouring of gratitude from the man, or
at least some venting of frustration about that out-there girlfriend of
his.   But just thank-you?   That’s it?   Thank-you?
    Daniel looked sternly at his
director.   He knew what he wanted from
him.   But he wasn’t getting it.   “I’ll talk to you later,” he said, making it
clear, by his eye contact alone, that the matter was over and he was, in fact,
being dismissed.   Daniel never discussed
details about his relationship with Nikki, and he certainly wasn’t about to
start now.  
    Phillip didn’t like it.   But what could he do about it?   Daniel wasn’t just the boss, he was Phillip’s
boss’s boss.
    Phillip left.
    And less than half an hour later,
Daniel was in his Jaguar, driving across the Tatem-Warren Bridge, fighting
anger and exhaustion on his way to Nikki’s house.
     
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
    CHAPTER SIX

 
    Daniel drove his pearl-white Jaguar
onto the narrow driveway of Nikki’s townhouse.   It was late evening in Wakefield, with an overcast sky, and Daniel, too,
was taking it slow.
    He got out of his car, walked across
the sidewalk, and then slowly up the steps to her front door.   His oak-brown, Versace suit, a suit that
fitted his muscular frame with snug perfection, blew wildly in the wind.   His shoes were Italian import, too, shining
brightly as he walked up the steps.   And
with his wavy mane of dark-brown hair and his dazzling hazel eyes, and with his
tanned face stern but undeniably handsome, he struck a mighty pose.   Ever since he arrived in Wakefield, after
resigning his position as a criminal court judge in Florida, every unattached
female had tried to get their hooks in him.   He would date occasionally, including a couple of them he dated more
than a few times, yet it never went beyond a sexual interest for him.
    But it would end up being Nikki, a
young, opinionated black woman, that would turn out to have that lasting
power.   And although their relationship
was one of the most contentious he’d ever had, often with the kind of turmoil
that kept him up nights, it was also the most gratifying relationship he’d ever
experienced.   He loved her, not just
because she had that rare combination of smarts and irresistibility, but mainly
because she was all heart.   She was a
friend to the friendless.   She fought for
those least able to fight for themselves.   And he loved her for that.
    But he was just about ready to
throttle her when he heard the news about her encounter with the mayor.   That was why he didn’t phone her
immediately.   That was why he slowed his
walk even now as he