and he laughed. “You made the right choice, because he may be able to cook fancy-schmancy bite-size portions that’ll probably leave you hungry, but can he make a good dahl?”
“I’ve yet to taste your fabled dahl.”
“But you will, and I promise you, you’ll be blown away.”
A coy smile curved her lips, reminding him of how badly he wanted to kiss her again. “We’re still talking about lentils, yeah?”
“Yeah,” he said, though the thought of her lush mouth being anywhere near him made him hard in an instant.
“What are you doing down here anyway?”
“I knocked on your door, and when you weren’t there I came looking for you.”
A knowing glint lit her eyes. “Why did you knock on my door?”
Because he couldn’t wait until tomorrow to see her.
Because he wanted to have her in his arms and see how far they could take this attraction sizzling between them.
Because he was a patient man usually, but she made him a little crazy.
But he couldn’t say any of that, so he settled for, “I felt like a nightcap, thought you might like one too.”
“Nightcap . . . right . . .” she drawled, making a mockery of his excuse, her smirk alerting him to the fact she knew exactly what he was thinking.
“I’ve got a whole range of those little booze bottles ready and waiting in my room.”
She widened her eyes in faux innocence and pointed at the bar over his shoulder. “But we’ve got a smorgasbord of big booze bottles waiting for us. Why would we need to drink in your room?”
Damn, he loved her sparring.
“You want me to spell it out?”
Defiant, she eyeballed him. “Yeah.”
They’d flirted long enough. Time to up the ante.
Manny stood, moved next to her chair, and crouched down so he could murmur in her ear.
“I want you. Naked. Panting. Hot. Writhing for wanting me as bad as I want you. Splayed on my bed so I can go down on you. Before we fuck all night.”
She pulled back from him, her mouth a shocked O.
“Too much?”
She took a moment to respond, but the wicked smile curving her lips told him he’d like what she had to say.
“Not enough. All talk and no action.” She stood and held out her hand. “Time to show me.”
23
Harper pulsed with heat from the tips of her toes to the top of her head, the throb between her legs surprising her as much as Manny’s bluntness.
Until now he’d been flirtatious but not overtly blunt, and hearing him say what he’d like to do with her . . . big turn-on. Huge.
She clung to his hand as they took the stairs two at a time to the third floor. They hadn’t wanted to wait for the lift. They didn’t speak, didn’t need to, the speed with which they ran down the corridor toward his room enough of an indication how much they wanted this.
His key card didn’t work the first time, and he muttered a curse before trying it again. When the green light above the handle lit up, he all but wrenched it open. His ankle clunked against the door and he cursed again, but then they were inside and the door had barely closed before he had her up against it. His mouth ravaging hers. His hands everywhere.
Harper combusted. There was no other word to describe how she came alight, pushing against him, her hands plucking at his clothes, desperate to clamber all over him.
His tongue tangled with hers, masterful and challenging, and she groaned with the sheer pleasure of his kiss. He palmed her ass, half lifting her off the ground, and she snaked a leg around his hip. The position suited her just fine, the friction of his erection escalating her from turned-on to oh-my-god in a second.
A delicious vibration between their bodies almost sent her over the edge before she realized what it was. Her cell. She’d turned it to silent before her meeting with the head chef, and while she intended on ignoring it Manny wrenched his mouth from hers and eased back.
“Do you need to get that?”
“No,” she said, but the sudden chill between their bodies allowed her common sense to override her blinding lust. The call could be about the shoot tomorrow. Hell, it could be Wayne Storr, and she couldn’t let it go through to voicemail.
He stepped back, giving her more room, and she sighed. “Why do you have to be so damn sensible?” she muttered, as she slid the cell from her pocket