Here Comes Trouble Page 0,96

flew in and surprised me this afternoon. So I invited him over to dinner. I hope you don’t mind.”

“No, I don’t mind.” She thought she might scream from the tension building inside of her. Did he not have any clue how badly he was torturing her at that moment? “Is that what it was you wanted to tell me? Something about Dan?”

“I want you to meet him, but no, there’s other stuff I want to talk about. I had thought a bottle of wine, some Marsala, some conversation. But then Dan was there, so now…”

“Dinner, and company.”

“Right.”

“Are you going back to the hotel with him afterward?”

He shook his head. “I was planning to stay here.”

She didn’t even try to ignore the hot little thrill that sent shivers down her spine. “Should I get another room ready for your friend?”

“I gave him my suite. He’ll enjoy it.” He lifted his hands to her face, pushed her hair back, and then framed her cheeks with his palms. “Not that I was trying to keep a paying guest from being under your roof…but I kind of selfishly wanted you all to myself for tonight.”

“As it happens, I’m feeling a bit selfish myself.” She smiled as he leaned in to kiss her again; then she swatted him across the chest as soon as he straightened.

“What was that for?”

“Taunting me with this big talk you want to have, then telling me I have to wait. Like my patience hasn’t been tested enough over the past two weeks.” As soon as that last part left her mouth she could have kicked herself. There was living in the moment, and there was being clingy and needy. And she was both, no doubt about it, but no need to broadcast it.

But then his eyes lit with that mischievous twinkle and she found she didn’t mind so much when he tugged her hips forward so he could snug himself more tightly between her thighs. “How impatient are you feeling, say, right about now?”

What the hell, she thought. And she grinned right back at him. “How long does it take to make chicken Marsala again?”

“You know, Dan is a bachelor…I’m thinking cream of mushroom soup chicken could be just as popular a menu item this evening.”

“Do you?”

He scooped her up off the counter and wrapped her legs around his waist as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Indeed, I do.”

He didn’t ask his bedroom or hers…but took her up the backstairs to his bed. For which she was privately grateful. Not only because it took her farther away from the phone and her office, but she kind of liked being in his space, in his bed. So to speak.

He followed her down onto the bed, onto her, and she reveled in his weight on top of her. There was that thrill of all their body parts lining up so deliciously right, but even more, there was just a sense of…reassurance? Comfort? It was more complicated than that, but also as simple as that. She’d missed him, too. But rather than say it, she tugged his head down to hers and showed him.

He had his hands buried in her hair a moment later, returning her kiss with every bit the same intensity and enthusiasm. Oh, the wonders of being wanted like he wanted her. She didn’t think she’d ever get to a point where his attention didn’t move her like that. So focused…and so fun.

He was smiling as he lifted his head, and she couldn’t help but smile back at him. “What?” she queried when he simply continued to stare into her eyes.

“I used to think I was one very lucky son of a bitch. And I was. For a very long time.”

“I think that’s great. That kind of success has to feel incredibly rewarding.”

“It does. Or did. But you know what?”

She shook her head but found herself too busy tracing the laugh lines creasing the corners of his mouth with her fingertip to respond verbally. It was far too easy to get caught up in him. And she was so very, very caught.

He traced his own fingertips down the side of her face, and his expression took on a whole new light she’d never seen before. Her fingers paused as she got caught up in looking back.

“What?” she finally said, the word barely more than a whisper.

“My ridiculous good luck is holding,” he said, caressing her bottom lip with one fingertip, then replacing it with his own lips. Only