from talking so loud. She knew by the way his eyes kept darting to the bartender and the few other guests who sat at tables only a few feet away from them.
“Nothing?” she coaxed. “A little role play, maybe. Sex tape?”
He shook his head vigorously.
Point taken. His family didn’t have the best track record with sex tapes.
His legs were scissored with hers. She wondered if he realized his finger continued to caress her center. But if she just scooted forward, she could lock his knee between her legs. Rub out the ache, prove that she wanted this badly. But he just stared at her blankly. He was too controlled to voice his needs.
“What about handcuffs?”
“Christ, Penn. Would you lower your voice?” He looked around her to where the bartender stood, but he was oblivious.
“No one’s listening.” She bent forward and whispered, “Besides, the fact that you have your hand between my legs tells them everything they need to know.” She opened her legs a little more, giving him greater access to the scorching heat that now radiated all over her body.
A rumble sounded from his chest as he graduated from a gentle caress to grabbing the crotch of her panties, the backs of his fingers pressing against her slit. He made a fist and jerked her forward by the sturdy lace.
She lightly licked his earlobe and whispered, “What if I told you I want you to take me back to my room and fuck me?”
He gulped. “You…like talking like that?”
“You mean talking dirty?” She hadn’t moved away from his ear, but he didn’t have to answer. “Mmm-hmm. It turns me on.”
His breath was warm against her neck. She was slowly breaking down his resolve. He was getting closer to her, his back moving farther from the chair with every word she whispered into his ear. But she wasn’t there yet.
“What turns you on, Cole?” She flicked out her tongue again and licked his ear. “Would it turn you on if I said you’d be the first to conquer my tight little ass?”
His back hit his chair in a sharp movement, but he was smiling. The tiny vein that throbbed in his neck, and the way he squirmed in his seat, confirmed his desire for her. He was going to say yes. He just needed a little more coaxing.
She placed her hand on his thigh and traveled north until her fingers touched his pelvis. Looking up into the chocolate depths of his eyes, eyes almost black—as black as the cloud of sadness he carried around with him—she wished she could change that. To soften him somehow.
She squeezed her thighs, trapping the hand that still gripped her panties between her legs.
Through a heavy breath, he whispered, “You’re a tease.”
Dating a coworker was never a good idea. But sex wasn’t exactly dating. One time in the sack couldn’t ruin her chances for being appointed to the board, could it?
Besides, she needed to feel like herself. Being with Cole brought out the best in her. And her family was nowhere to be found, nowhere to question her motives.
With a tilt of her head and long, languid swipe of her tongue across her bottom lip, she whispered, “I’m not exactly teasing, am I?”
Chapter Five
Cole knew if he said yes, it would be a mistake. A big, risky, potentially-monumental-disaster mistake.
But that didn’t stop him from sliding his fingers against her slit. It didn’t stop him from pushing his knuckle between her folds. She shivered when he groaned, reveling in the wetness that greeted him.
“I’m going to kiss you.” The words came out on a choked breath. He didn’t have any dirty words or actions. But he knew what he wanted.
Penn.
She leaned forward, close enough that her lips grazed his ear. “Then what are you waiting for?”
They had tried this before, and it had been a disaster. His nerves and his conscience told him it was wrong.
But there was nothing wrong about this.
How could there be when his entire body was aching, throbbing, to bring every fantasy he’d ever had about Penn to life? And that was a lot of damn fantasies.
She was right. No one would know but the two of them. And when the vacation was over, they’d go back to their regularly scheduled bickering.
Do you really believe that?
With one last, lingering look, a look he hoped revealed all the pent-up sexual tension and attraction he’d been harboring for the last three years, he kissed her.
Her mouth worked with his in perfect unison, and the