no more than thirty seconds in which he set aside his own glass, leaned in to tell his cousins something, then wrapped his arm around my waist.
His hand was on the small of my back, guiding me carefully as I stepped down the stairs in my heels. It felt comforting and made my insides quiver a little with anticipation. It wasn’t a short walk back, and he was carrying my shoes once we hit the small sidewalk because no way was I doing that walk in my heels. Despite all of this, we said practically nothing to each other, basking in anticipation.
I was aware of his breath, of each brush of our limbs, the backs of our hands as we walked. Each touch sparking a new point of heat between us. The only sound other than the night around us were his footsteps. And when we hit the edge of the lawn in front of our villa, he scooped me up and carried me that last little way.
I wrapped one arm around his neck as he steadied me against his chest and held me like I weighed no more than a bag of fast food. “Why Mr. Walker,” I drawled in my best southern belle accent. “I might be in danger of falling for you if you keep this up.”
He laughed as we reached the doorstep and he fumbled to try to open it while his arms were full of me. I ended up summoning help by knocking loudly. Deleon’s replacement butler showed up in a minute to let us in. By then, Lucas had set me down, but I still stood pressed very close to him.
“Everything’s ready for you upstairs, Mr. Lucas,” he said with a nod.
I turned to Lucas who was studiously removing his cufflinks. He smiled and nodded at the butler. “Thank you. And you can have the night off now. Thank Deleon for me.”
He smiled. “Certainly. You have my number if you need anything.”
I waited until he was gone before turning back to Lucas, who had a very smug smile on his face. He finished undoing his cufflinks, plunking them loudly into a glass dish, then took off his jacket and began rolling up his sleeves.
I raised a brow at him. “What was that all about?”
He grinned even wider. “You’ll see.”
I frowned at him. “I’m not used to you smiling this much. I think I need to be afraid, very afraid.”
He slipped off his own shoes, setting them beside mine and then removed his bow tie. He still had on the white vest and shirt and his black pants, complete with satin stripe down the sides of his legs. Now he’d rolled up his sleeves, showing off the strong muscles in his forearms.
The panty melting process had officially begun. I licked my lips and thought about how we’d never been able to complete our unfinished business yesterday. He was undoubtedly even less happy about that than I was.
Now he was pulling off his tie and unbuttoning the top two buttons of his collar. Then he reached out toward me, his hand open. “Come.”
I arched a brow at him and took his hand. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I really want to.”
He laughed and tugged me toward the stairs. We went up to the bedroom level, and I pulled off my long satin gloves and threw them on the bed. Then Lucas tugged me up another flight of stairs and we were in the private rooftop garden. One side was dominated by small but beautifully tiled infinity pool that abutted the edge of the roof. It allowed for a swimmer to look over the edge from inside the pool. And around three sides were large wooden pergolas draped with gauzy fabrics and festooned with gorgeous hanging flower baskets and vines. They were backed with low walls to afford privacy, though no other buildings this height were nearby.
Several fountains contributed to the otherworldly effect, complete with Greek goddess upending a bottomless jug of water into the pool. And one involving concentric steel bowls that sang in low tones as they filled up. The constant sound of trickling water relaxed me almost immediately.
Damn I could live up here. It would be no hardship at all.
Lounge chairs bordered the pool but Lucas led us to an area that couldn’t be seen from anywhere below or around us. A thick soft futon mat had been laid down under the stars and covered with blankets and pillows. A nearby food and