Wrapped in Pleasure Read Online Free Page B

thirty-one. Chase owns a soul-food restaurant and Storm is a fireman.”
    “With such busy professions, how can they find the time to keep tabs on you?”
    She chuckled. “Oh, you would be surprised. They somehow seem to manage.”
    “Are your parents still living?”
    “Yes. They have been together for over thirty-seven years and have a good marriage. However, my mother bought into my father’s philosophy that she was supposed to stay home and take care of him and the kids. But after I left home she found herself with plenty of spare time on her hands and decided to go back to school. Dad wasn’t too crazy with the idea but decided to indulge her, anyway, thinking she’d only last a few months. I’m proud to say that she graduated three years ago with a graduate degree in education.”
    Jamal set his empty coffee cup aside. “For some reason I have a feeling that you influenced your mother’s sudden need to educate herself.”
    Delaney chuckled. “Of course. I’ve always known she had a brilliant mind—a mind that was being wasted doing nothing but running a house and taking care of her family. You know what they say. A mind is a terrible thing to waste. And why should men have all the advantages while women get stuck at home, barefoot and pregnant?”
    Jamal shook his head. He hoped to Allah that Delaney Westmoreland never had the opportunity to visit his country for an extended period of time. She would probably cause a women’s rights revolution with her way of thinking.
    He stretched his body, tired of the conversation. It was evident that somewhere along the way Delaney had been given too much freedom. What she needed was some man’s firm hand of control.
    And what he needed was to have his head examined .
    Even now his nostrils were absorbing her feminine scent, and it was nearly driving him insane. As she sat on the steps, her drawn-up knees exposed a lot of bare thigh that the shorts she was wearing didn’t hide.
    “Do you have female doctors in your country?”
    He looked at her when her question pulled him back into the conversation. It was the same conversation he had convinced himself a few moments ago that he no longer wanted to indulge in. “Yes, we have women that deliver babies.”
    “That’s all they do?” she asked annoyed.
    He thought for a second. “Basically, yes.”
    She glared at him as she pursed her lips. “Your country is worse off than I thought.”
    “Only you would think so. The people in my country are happy.”
    She shook her head. “That’s sad.”
    He lifted a brow. “What’s sad?”
    She drew his gaze. “That you would think they are happy.”
    Jamal frowned, feeling inordinately annoyed. Had she given him the opportunity, he would have told her that thanks to Fatimah, a highly educated woman herself, things had begun to change. The women in his country were now encouraged to pursue higher education, and several universities had been established for that purpose. And if they so desired, women could seek careers outside of the home. Fatimah was a strong supporter of women enjoying political and social rights in their country, but she was not radical in her push for reform. She simply used her influence over his father to accomplish the changes she supported.
    He moved from the rail. It was time to practice his kickboxing, but first he needed to take a walk to relieve the anger consuming his mind and the intense ache that was gripping the lower part of his body. “I’m going down to the lake for a while. I’ll see you later.”
    Delaney scooted aside to let him walk down the steps, tempted to tell him to take his time coming back. She watched as he walked off, appreciating how he filled out his jeans from the back. There was nothing like a man with a nice-looking butt.
    She pulled in a deep breath and let it out again. Every time he looked at her, directly in her eyes, sparks of desire would go off inside of her. Now she fully understood what Ellen Draper, her