Dancing in the Dark Read Online Free PDF Page A

to keep themselves alive and continue the species. One sex’swork was no more important than the other’s. But something went wrong with both men and women over the centuries. We lost that togetherness, that unity. Women have finally found themselves again as equals to men. But men haven’t been able to find their equality. They’ve even lost the ability to fulfill their needs. And they’ve lost it through themselves. The men no longer take the boys and teach them how to be men. My own father left before I was born, and I rarely saw him afterward. I needed that man perspective, that closeness. The only way to recover that is by going back to the ancient ways, by mentoring each other again. That’s why I’ve called a meeting with the men of Wayans, so we can begin the process here.”
    He laughed, obviously seeing her baffled expression. “I’m not crazy, honest. It’s just that this has given me a lot of help through some bad times. I bet your mother understands it exactly. Puritans settling a new land were completely dependent on one another for survival, and they passed on that knowledge to their children for their survival.”
    Charity stared at him, speechless. He was trying to tell her something. She could sense it. It sounded as if he were saying that men had somehow become inferior to women. If he thought that, then he ought to take another look at the upper management of Wayans. The overwhelming majority were men of all colors. Women of any color were a scarcity.
    One thing she did understand was that this related to his Dances with No Clothes On persona. He was getting back to nature in a big way. And he was about to invite the rest of the men at Wayans to do the same. A vision leapt to vivid life of Dave and the others dancing around a big fire singing “Oo, eee,oo, ah-ah.” And all of them were naked, including some who definitely should never be. She promised herself a front-row seat and an oxygen tank to keep from killing herself laughing.
    She cleared her throat. “I’m not sure my mother would see it that way. She’ll go on for hours about how hard it is to restart a fire on the hearth once it goes out, and that the men never help.”
    Jake nodded. “That’s because it was the woman’s job to protect the hearth and a man’s job to protect the family. They did it together. Men are hunters and warriors, Charity. It’s what drove us for thousands of years. We need to pick our prey, stalk it, and capture it. That way we fulfill our promise to the tribe.”
    “But you’re doing it with computers now?” she asked, quickly trying to turn the conversation back to business. She sensed Jake’s stalking was far more personal, and he was knocking on a door she was desperately trying to keep closed. She had to keep the conversation on their project. That was what she was there for.
    “No, that’s the problem …” He blinked, then continued eagerly. “That’s it exactly. I’m the hunter and you’re the gatherer. Together we protect the tribe.”
    “That’s Wayans?” she asked carefully.
    “Everybody in it.”
    He
was
crazy, she thought. And yet his notion had a certain logic. Her senses, too, were somehow caught up in his words. It was exciting to think that they would work together to bring prosperity to Wayans. Heck, one couldn’t be more protecting than that.
    As she absorbed the notion, she found herself looking at his hands. They were strong hands, yet elegantin shape, with long fingers. Knowing hands, capable hands. Were they capable of pleasing a woman? Twinges of excitement skittered along her arms at the question, raising goose bumps. The way he gazed intently at her only added to his overall appeal, his eyes earnest, his face almost rapt with what he was saying.
Together
. That word conjured so much for her, personal visions of man and woman. Of this man …
    She pushed the vision aside by recalling the chatter in the ladies’ room. If he were so amenable to this togetherness,