The Spanish Tycoon's Temptress Page 0,12

to date while they ate their salads and when their main meal came, Elana was excitedly explaining various benefits, offshoots of her work. This research could benefit other plants and possibly even humans, although she didn’t have enough knowledge about human physiology to tackle experiments in that area.

After the waiter set her entrée in front of her, she ate everything on her plate, too hungry and excited to realize that she had eaten so much. When she looked down at her plate and noticed that all of her food was gone, she was surprised. And embarrassed. That had been an enormous amount of food, she thought. It didn’t matter that Gaston had also finished his meal. The man was huge with muscles all over his body that needed the additional fuel.

There was an awkward silence when the waiter took their plates away. She’d expended all her energy on the business side of dinner. Now what were they going to discuss?

“I think I need to go to the ladies room,” she said after a pregnant pause. She stood up and almost fell over, forgetting that she was in heels and not her normal running shoes. But she didn’t fall. In fact, she was caught in very strong arms, her body pressing against Gaston’s hard frame and her breath caught in her throat. Slowly, she looked up into his eyes, the sexual tension undeniable between them.

“Sorry,” she said softly.

“No problem,” he replied, his hands slipping down her arms before he finally released her.

Elana stepped back carefully. Her body was tingling everywhere it had touched his and she was furious with herself for letting that happen. She walked to the bathroom, berating herself for being so stupid, so inept. Imagine, falling because she couldn’t walk in her shoes! How pathetic.

Gaston watched Elana walk away, his body hard and aching now that he’d felt her once again. Perhaps he was going about this whole thing the wrong way. Instead of avoiding all physical touches because of something that was ultimately her fault, maybe he should take advantage of the situation. They were obviously still sexually attracted to each other. The look in her eyes a moment before told him that his need wasn’t one sided. Perhaps he could make this whole thing go much more quickly if they just went to bed with each other, satisfied their lust. By the time he got her to the altar, he would have her out of his system. Maybe that was one of the reasons he’d felt so betrayed the last time. He’d known she’d been a virgin, too young to take the next step so he’d respected her, hadn’t wanted to initiate her until she knew all that was involved. It had infuriated him that she’d betrayed him with another man after all of his restraint but she was older now. He didn’t need to hide his reaction to her like he had in the past.

She was definitely old enough now to handle what he wanted from her. And there was no use denying it any longer when the evidence was so painful. Yes, he wanted Elana. More than before, which seemed almost impossible. There had never been another woman who had enticed him like she had. Not before and not since he’d left her all those years ago.

As she walked back to the table, carefully maneuvering her way in her obviously new shoes, he noticed that her nipples were standing at attention, his eyes taking in all of her this time. Her mouth was slightly open, inviting him to kiss those soft, full lips. Her breasts were beckoning him, begging him for attention.

And he’d never been one to ignore something so obvious. He wanted her. She obviously felt the same way. They were two adults with adult needs and cravings. He could handle it this time, knowing that she shared her body with whoever she pleased. As long as he went into the relationship with that knowledge, he could come out unscathed. He’d have to take things slowly though. She looked worried at the moment, so not scaring her away could be tricky, especially with the lust he was feeling at the moment.

Elana recognized the look on Gaston’s face and her feet faltered. She’d seen that look many times before, but never with such intensity. She almost turned and ran from the restaurant. The only thing stopping her was the challenge that showed up in his eyes when he looked over at her as she