“Your specials sold more than any other dish tonight,” he informed her, still holding her foot, though the massage had petered off into a light caress. “People loved them. Especially the barbecued fish tacos.”
“Fish never gets enough play in the barbecue world, but it’s such a mistake because it picks up whatever flavor you stick on it.”
“Have you ever thought of starting your own restaurant?” he asked. “You’re a really good chef.”
“Thanks,” she told him, opening her eyes to meet his. “I’ve thought about it, but tonight reminded me of what it was like. I’m not ready to revisit that life again. It’s why I left the business in the first place. I’m a much better eater than I am a cook.”
He smiled. “That makes two of us.” Then he paused, regarding her again. “You know, I wasn’t kidding about having chefs who work on menus for the restaurants. I know I lost the competition, but I’d be in your debt if you’d contract as a consultant for me. It wouldn’t interfere with the job you already have unless you wanted to help me open new locations, and I’d really like your opinions. Obviously, my sauces could use some work.”
Parker grinned at him because he could be so incredibly nice and not a huge bossy-pants at all when he wanted to be. “I promise to give it full consideration. Either way, I appreciate the offer.”
“Good,” he said with a firm nod of his head. “Now get over here so I can touch something better than your damn foot.”
She laughed but didn’t move, so he reached out and hoisted her into his lap until her legs were straddling his waist and her arms were propped on his shoulders.
“Why did you even bother wearing those shorts?” she asked, annoyed that they’d have to readjust, which was awkward in a hot tub. She was eager to get this show on the road and didn’t want the barrier between them.
He shrugged. “Seemed polite. And it gave me somewhere to put the condoms.” Her gaze went behind him to where he was pointing. Several condoms lay just under a couple of towels. She appreciated the forethought.
Instead of moving her, he gently lifted up and slid the green board shorts off. His cock was already at full mast and she caught his eyes.
“I’ve been nursing a semi ever since I saw you bending over to get something out of the oven.” His hands ran over her ass again, gripping the backs of her thighs as he readjusted her over his length.
Laughing, she leaned into him until their lips met and it was as if she’d never been tired. Her body was immediately energized and ready to go and got even more so when she felt him pulling at the bottom of her suit. Balancing her on his legs, he held her back as he tugged the stretchy fabric off. Satisfied, he returned her to her previous position and instead of removing her swimsuit top, he just pulled the cups to side so that her breasts were framed right in his face for his pleasure.
Greedily taking a nipple into his mouth, he reached behind him and handed her the condom. Bolts of desire lashed at her core, wanting to take him now and tired of waiting. She was needy and hot and far too eager to feel him inside her, already addicted to the rush of that huge, strong body pumping into hers. Ripping open the condom, she rolled it on him as he sucked a little too hard on her nipple, that massive, swarthy hand all but engulfing the white skin of her breasts.
When she had the condom on, she felt his fingers trail down her abdomen and into her folds. He was checking to make sure she was ready and she knew without a doubt she was. When he was satisfied, he placed himself at her entrance and eased her down onto him.
She sighed and let her head fall onto his shoulder. “We’ll just take it easy, baby,” he murmured, rocking her hips gently against him. “I got you.”
The rise and fall was just that, slow and easy, and when it was over he picked her up and carried her into the house, snuggling against her in bed.
CHAPTER EIGHT
THE ROOM WAS dark when Parker woke up. Stretching out her legs against Hugh’s soft sheets, she felt languid but refreshed. Grabbing her phone from the nightstand, she squinted against the bright blue light as she read the time. It was already nine o’clock, which was when she realized that the entire wall of windows had been flanked by blackout shades, so not even the barest hint of sunlight peeked through. A clever idea and just another thoughtful thing Hugh had done for her that was making it harder to keep things casual with him.
Thinking about him, she reached out to the other side of the bed hoping to initiate a lengthier redo of the night before, but instead of a warm Hugh she got a handful of cold sheets. It was a real shame, but the thought that she’d overstayed her welcome propelled her out of bed. She flipped on a lamp and headed to the bathroom, where she brushed her teeth and washed her face before returning to the bedroom just as Hugh was coming in.
He was shirtless again and a pair of gray athletic shorts hung loosely on his hips, highlighting the severe vee cutout at his waist that disappeared beneath the elastic band. Sweat dripped down his chest and his brown hair was damp, pushed straight back from his forehead. He’d clearly been working out already, which made her feel definitely like she should have been out of his house already.
His eyes darkened when he saw her in the pajamas he’d procured, a revealing peach set of silk shorts that barely covered her ass and a camisole that was loose around the waist but choked her breasts. She vaguely remembered putting on the first thing that she grabbed after coming in from the hot tub last night. And she was thankful for the choice because he was looking at her like he wanted to devour her.
“You worked out?” she asked, awkward now and not knowing if she should go back to bed or go change clothes in the bathroom. She should have already changed, but she hadn’t wanted to spend a lot of time in there if he needed to use it. Her knowledge of what a restaurant chain owner did on a daily basis was lacking. For all she knew, he needed to go in to an office somewhere this morning.
He nodded, still staring at her, which was incredibly unnerving. “I wanted to let you sleep,” he added. “You were really beat last night.”
“Thanks,” she said. “I was just coming to find you. I guess I’ll get out of your hair now.”
He didn’t respond, just shook his head back and forth, his eyes locked with hers. “You want to leave now?”
“Um, I guess?” she asked. “I thought maybe you had work to do.”
“The only work I want to do right now is on you.”
She looked from left to right, wondering exactly what that meant, but also kind of knowing.
Hugh pulled off his shorts to reveal an already impressive erection; even in the dim light of the lamp there was no mistaking it. Her eyes closed, remembering how he felt inside her, letting the ripples of anticipation wake up her sleepy body.
In response, she pulled off her pajamas so they were standing ten feet apart, completely naked, staring at each other as if they’d never seen anyone naked before. And honestly, she couldn’t remember anyone at this point. Her sex life was already going to be measured by before and after Hugh Matteson.
He nodded to the bed. “Lie down. On top of the covers.”
Assuming he was going to join her there, she followed his directive. Admittedly, she would have done anything he said when he talked in that no-nonsense voice, which sent waves of need clamoring for space all over her skin. However, he didn’t join her, but stayed rooted to the floor, his eyes taking in every inch of her, from toes to head. Maybe in another life she would have felt self-conscious about being on such blatant display, but the way he was looking at her, his eyes dark and his big hand stroking that ruddy, thick erection, was too erotic for those kinds of thoughts to even enter her mind. She was proud of her body anyway, but being watched was different, more intimate, which he knew and was obviously why he was doing this. It was easy to fuck someone; it was something else to share a moment of need with them.
He was drawing it out for both of them,
to strengthen the connection they had. She was kidding herself that this was about just sex because from the moment he’d given that hotel room employee his phone number knowing the possible consequences to himself, she was on her way to being under his spell. After her mom left, she’d gone from being a teenager with a normal, protected life to an adult who had to take care of herself and her dad. After just a few days with Hugh, that protected feeling kept creeping in again, an invitation to lighten her load for a little while. From checking on her at the hotel, to cooling her down in the meat locker, to providing her with a hot tub, to massaging her feet last night. It was the most a man had ever done for her and they’d only known each other for a week.
Her eyes met his, a light of intensity in his, drowning out the good-natured playfulness she’d grown so used to with him.
“Touch yourself,” he commanded, still stroking himself.
Her shoulders twitched with the order, but she knew she was going to do it. If this is how he wanted to start the morning, far be it from her to stand in his way, especially since she was dying to have him.
“I was disappointed you weren’t here when I woke up,” she told him, parting herself with a finger, finding the folds already wet.
“Is that right?” he asked, his voice deeper as his cock grew darker, stiffer in his hand as he stroked lazily, gripping harder every so often.
When she nodded, a corner of his mouth quirked. “So did you already get off?”
“No,” she said, her voice catching as a jolt of pleasure kicked through her. Watching him watch her was short-circuiting her brain.
“Too bad.” He took a step closer to the bed until he was standing right in front of her, and from that angle he could see exactly what she was doing, her entire core on display to him. Her knees were drawn up, and his gaze narrowed on her finger.
Their eyes met again, but she was distracted by the tip of his cock, glistening now with drops of liquid.
“You’re really hot,” she blurted, wanting it to be sexier, but not in any condition to be eloquent. She was so close to the edge, but more than that she wanted him, needed to feel his touch.
“Faster,” he demanded, even as his own hand went slower, became more measured. “You’re really hot, too, Parker. Look at yourself right now, spread out on my bed for me like my own personal feast. You’re the first woman I’ve had here, and it was worth the wait.”
Her eyes flew to his in question but he didn’t elaborate, just pointedly looked to the hand at her core that had stopped moving at his admission. “Faster,” he reminded.
She obeyed, flying over her clit, her back arching as her whole body ached for release. Her skin was on fire, too tight on a body that was struggling to break free, bracing against a tidal wave of desire so acute she could barely breathe. Air entered and exited her lungs on noisy gasps until with a final arch, she let go, falling into a warm pool of euphoria.
When she came to, Hugh was no longer at the foot of the bed but beside her opening the bedside drawer and pulling out an unopened box of condoms. Tearing into them, he had himself sheathed in record time, meeting her eyes as his finger made a crooking motion. He held out a hand and helped her off the bed, only to bend her over it, his hand sliding up the back of her thigh and squeezing one of her ass cheeks.
He kissed a line down her spine, both hands now kneading her behind. “I’ve been waiting to have you like this since we met.”
Then he was pushing into her from behind as her hands curled into the duvet, her insides stretching at his invasion. He was slow this time, too, just like last night when he’d been so gentle with her in the hot tub, but the urgency was there, just contained. Squeezing her ass, he drew a finger down the seam, and her muscles jumped uneasily. Then before she knew what was happening, he laid a firm smack on her right cheek.
She yelped, her body jolting in surprise, seating him deeper inside her. Her skin smarted but he rubbed it gently away until the throb turned into pleasure, all the disparate sensations he was perpetrating on her body coalescing into a divine madness. Nothing he did was enough. She wanted more of him. She couldn’t see him, didn’t know what he was thinking, only knew the thick slide of him in and out of her, the softness of the cotton she was clenching in between her fingers like a lifeline. None of it was him.
“That’s payment for lying to me the first night,” he growled, still rubbing the spot he’d slapped.
He pushed in, hitting that magic spot inside her.
“Or rather your reward, since I know you liked it.”
She whimpered as he left her almost completely, the big broad tip of him poised at her entrance.
“You want it again?” he prodded, that big hand kneading the other ass cheek.
Her eyes closed, she didn’t respond, just arched against him, wanting him to move, to smack her behind, to do anything just so he was closer to her. That’s all she wanted, was the connection to the only man she’d ever felt this good with.
“Is that a yes, sir, I’d like to be punished?” he prodded, and she could hear the smile in his voice as he pushed back into her with enough force to make her sigh with pleasure.
“Words, Parker,” he reminded, pulling her hips up to adjust his angle of entry as if she were weightless.
“Yes,” she finally choked out, her orgasm building by rapid degrees. Her muscles were tensed, eyes squeezed shut, and her hips were moving without any rhyme or reason in an effort to find release.
Just as she was nearing the top, her inner muscles clenching around his invading cock, his hand found her other cheek, this time a little harder, and the sting was bliss. He laid a featherlight kiss over the abraded area and she went over the edge, grasping at the duvet like she might literally fall into an abyss without something to hold on to.
Spent and delirious, she felt him grip her hips, his broad fingers digging into her sides as he let loose, fighting for his own release when he reached around to her clit to fire her back up again. In what seemed like an instant she was careering over the cliff again, only this time he was there with her, bowed over her back, his hot breath on her shoulder as he growled his own explosion.
A final kiss on the middle of her back, then he pulled out of her, running a hand over what she had to imagine were red marks on her ass, and then disappeared into the bathroom. When he returned, she still hadn’t moved and his weight compressed the bed as he lay against the headboard and pulled her up into his arms.
“That was next-level,” he murmured, placing a soft kiss on her forehead.
She nodded against him, gliding a hand down his chest. “I liked it.”
That made him laugh and they fell into an easy silence.
Lying on top of the duvet, an industrial steel ceiling fan moving the air slowly across their bodies, Parker felt completely mindless except that she couldn’t stop thinking about how she was the first woman he’d had in his bed. That had to be just a throwaway comment to make her hot because she knew his track record with women; he’d done nothing to hide the fact that he was in demand and had taken what was on offer. Statistically, he would have needed to bring at least one or two back to his house. It just didn’t make any sense.
The room was dark and quiet and she was draped across Hugh’s chest as he played with her hair, twirling it around his finger as if they had all the time in the world instead of a few short weeks until she went back to Chicago. She could spend all day here in his room without a moment of regret. She was in that deep already. It wasn’t good news.
Her phone went off and she grabbed it from the dark wood nightstand. A text from her boss that read, READ YOUR EMAIL.
Parker sighed. Her days might be spent eating and writing, but she still very much had people to answer to. Propping back up on Hugh again, she opened her email and read the one from her boss. Apparently, the barbecue contest with Hugh was a hit with readers and she wanted Park
er to write her own story about it coupled with a profile on Hugh.
Frowning, she tapped out a response, hoping that Hugh wouldn’t have a problem with it. It felt like taking advantage of him now that they were sleeping together. Most concerning, though, was that if he agreed, it meant she’d have to spend more time with him, which wasn’t good for her already-in-jeopardy quest to keep things casual between them.
“What was that sigh about?” Hugh asked, his hand drifting from her hair to trace a line down her back.
“My boss wants an article about the contest and for me to do a profile on you for the magazine.”
Hugh’s eyes grew ornery. “An entire article just about me? Written by you?” When she just rolled her eyes, his arm tightened around her. “That’ll be fun. Maybe too X-rated for Gastronomic, but I’m up for it.”
She playfully bit his pec. “You don’t mind?” she asked. “I don’t want it to look like I’m using our relationship for access. I can say you aren’t interested, it’s not a big deal. I mean, you did lose the contest, so that will already be in the magazine.”
“You’re asking me if I’d like free press on one of the most-read food sites in the country? Consider yourself in possession of a Hugh Matteson all-access pass,” he teased, waggling his eyebrows like the goofball he was.
She face-planted on his chest and she felt it rumble underneath her with laughter. “I’m all nervous now. I’ve been reading your articles and you’ve already ripped a couple of my favorite places to eat. I can only imagine what you’ll write about me as a person.”
She laughed and kissed his shoulder, noting how tense it had gotten. Could he actually be nervous? It seemed impossible that he could have any insecurities at all. “You’ve been reading my stuff?”
“Of course,” he told her. “I read basically your entire archive the day I found out about your review. By the way, what’s your deal with pickling anyway?”
She propped herself up on an elbow, peering down into his face. His hair was a mess and he smelled like a man who’d worked out, rich and musky.
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