An Offer He Cant Refuse - By Christie Ridgway Page 0,93
between overdone and overwrought.
Tea let out an inward groan. Her mother hadn't mentioned that Melissa Banyon and pouting boyfriend were in residence, but then her mother never did mention the names in her registration book. Complete discretion was one of the prime attractions the Kona Kai offered. Guests, particularly celebrity guests, were able to be as private as they liked, and most would gnaw off their right arms before striking up conversation with near strangers -
"Where's your handsome friend?"
- unless they had a gorgeous, sexy provocation like Johnny Magee.
Fiance Raphael shot Melissa Banyon a sharp look and his smolder jumped several more degrees. Tea stifled another groan. All she didn't need was dealing with this couple's troubles too.
"Tea's friend is right here." Johnny emerged from the French doors leading to the bar, carrying a glass of wine in one hand and a martini in the other.
She swiveled to watch him cross the patio. In a blue silk shirt, open at the neck, tan slacks, and distressed-leather loafers, he looked like Palm Springs had been made for him. His sleeves were rolled up, and as he set the glasses on the table beside her, the waning rays of sunlight glinted off the golden hair at his wrists.
He bent to catch her mouth with his. "Contessa," he murmured against it, "I missed you."
That one kiss had her forgetting everything. He stretched toward the potted gardenia and picked a perfect bloom, then leaned close again to tuck the flower behind Tea's ear. Tingles burst from curve to lobe and goose bumps sprinted down her neck.
A "distraction" wasn't supposed to make her forget! A
"distraction" wasn't supposed to make her feel so desired and so... enjoyed, she thought with a sense of panic. This was just another reason why she had to cool things between them - starting tonight.
And Melissa Banyon appeared ready to help, Tea could see, as the other woman fiddled with the lapels of her robe so that the inner curves of her sili-cones were exposed. "So good to see you again," she said to Johnny in her annoying, little-girl voice. "Would you mind if we joined you?"
Raphael looked from his fiancee to Johnny, and though Tea would have sworn the desert air couldn't get any drier, it crackled. Then the actor's eyes flicked to Tea's face, and lingered there.
"Oui," he said slowly, his body shifting in her direction. "I see. Yes. It could be fun to join with you."
Tea couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Or she couldn't believe the double meaning she was reading into what she'd just heard. Was the actor really suggesting a menage-a-quatre?
Johnny's hand stroked the top of her hair. She looked up.
One of his eyebrows rose and she caught a hint of that wicked dimple in his cheek. It's up to you, Contessa.
Heat rushed up her face and she stared into her glass of wine. "We - " Her voice squeaked, and she had to clear her mind and then her throat before starting again. "We'd rather be alone, if you don't mind."
She didn't look back up until she heard Melissa and Raphael move off and Johnny's chair legs scrape against the patio. Through her lashes, she tried to gauge his expression.
"I see you peeking at me," he said, grinning. "I'm disappointed in you, Tea. I thought for a minute you were going to agree."
"I was not even tempted."
"Liar," Johnny said softly.
She laughed. Amazing. Even after her chat with Nino, even after an almost-foursome with a famous Hollywood couple, she was laughing. Johnny made it so frighteningly easy to feel happy. "If I said I was tempted, then I'd have to admit you're not keeping me satisfied, now, wouldn't I?"
His eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared. "Is that the way it is?" He found her bare skin beneath the hem of her straight skirt and cupped his hand along her inner thigh. "Go in the bathroom, take off your panties, and I'll satisfy you right here, right now."
The lightning that had been in the air a few minutes earlier flashed over Tea's skin. Talk about being tempted...
But no, no! She was supposed to be pulling back from him. Starting tonight. Starting now.
Remember Nino and the Loanshark book and how quickly happiness could die. Remember why she hadn't wanted to meet in private with him. She couldn't afford to get too intimate.
Taking a breath, she opened her mouth to make clear they were having this drink together, and that was it. "Johnny - "