“You look like you’re dressed for a night in,” he said.
“Yep.” She pushed off the door. “And I just opened a bottle of wine. Want to join me?”
His smile was crooked but his eyes sparkled. She took this expression for what it was. He was a little bit embarrassed and a whole lot turned on.
“Oh, yeah.”
He followed closely on her heels as she made her way back to the kitchen.
“Grab yourself a glass,” she said, uncorking the bottle again. “It’s a little sweet, but good for a Saturday night alone.”
“But you’re not alone.” He deftly poured his own glass and raised it in a salute. “Not anymore.”
“True.” She took another sip, and then deliberately set her glass on the counter. “So, is this a bootie call?”
His brows raised. “No.”
He really looked confused and adorable. And as hot as he’d ever looked. He wore dark jeans and one of those Henley shirts she loved with a couple of buttons undone. She couldn’t help teasing him.
Placing her hands on her hips, she tilted her head. Her ponytail swung to one side. “Then you don’t want any of this?”
His eyes darkened in a second. “I would never say that. Not on a bet.”
Didn’t that just make her feel good! She was a mess. Ratty clothes, tangled hair. No makeup. The hunger on his face told her none of that matter.
Hiding the flush she could feel on her cheeks, she drank more of her wine. She set her glass down again, taking a breath.
“So where does this leave us?” she asked him.
“I’m thinking upstairs.” His glass was beside hers as he came closer. “Or downstairs. Or on the stairs. At the moment, I’m not very particular.”
She reached up and pulled out her ponytail holder, shaking her head as she watched him watching her. “I’m not sure, Ben. I’m pretty tired.”
He wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling her neck. “Yeah?”
“Mmm hmm.” She leaned away from his magical mouth and sighed. “I planned a quiet night.”
He growled softly. “Quiet night? Not when I do what I want to you.”
She shivered. “And what’s that, exactly?”
His smile was smooth and sexy. “I’m going to taste you until you scream.”
His hands were on her, cupping her breasts. Her nipples tightened almost painfully as she held on to his arms. “Ben.”
“Hmm?” He was nuzzling her again, his cheeks rough and his mouth hot. “Tell me what you want now.”
“This.” She gasped as he sucked her breast through her thin shirt. “More of this.”
He grabbed her beneath her butt like he had that first night after the wedding, carrying her only far enough to drop her on the couch. Shoving her shirt up and out of the way, he licked and sucked at her flesh until she was sobbing. Her stretchy pants were the next to go and he stopped to kiss her toes.
“Pink.” He licked the sole of her foot. “I like it.”
He had her panties off and his lips and fingers were doing all sorts of things that made her sigh and moan. “Please, Ben.”
He shifted to hold himself up on one arm as he came up to kiss her. “Please, what?”
She sat up and pulled at his shirt until he was deliciously bare-chested. “Please me.”
“I will, Tamara.” His voice was rough and scraped against her in the best way. “I will.”
He toed off his shoes and began to unbutton his jeans. She wanted him all over her. Kissing her. Touching her. Wanted so bad for him to come into her that she was nearly frantic. She took a long minute to catch her breath, though.
He was cut, and she would never get tired of looking at him. She traced those hot little dents on either side of his hips with her fingers, and his butt was firm beneath her hands.
He tipped his head back, his breath coming fast. “Tammy, you’re killing me.”
She pulled him down on top of her, snaking one hand between them to cup him. He was hard. He was hot. He was what she wanted right now.
“Come on, Big Ben.”
He growled again and moved until he was almost inside of her. “This is going to be fast.”
“Fast is good.” She closed her eyes, arching as his hands moved over her breasts and belly down to where she so desperately needed him. “Now,” she gasped. “Please.”
He pushed inside her. Deep. She cried out, her climax teasing just out of reach. Moving as fast as he’d promised, she gripped him as he touched every bit of her. Peeking open one eye, she saw him staring down at her. His expression was intense and his eyes dark. That did it. She lost herself in the next second, coming again and again as she let loose with a scream.
He kept it up, moving harder and faster as she nearly cried. It felt so good, losing herself with him. When he came, deep inside of her, she held on tight as she rode every shudder and shake of his big body.
He collapsed with a breathy laugh, his body all ease and release. “Tammy, honey.” He kissed her, still deep inside of her. “That wasn’t very quiet.”
She laughed with him, her arms dropping like stones to her sides as she opened her eyes to stare up at him. “You wore me out.”
He brought his face to hers. “That’s good to know.” He kissed her, so tenderly she felt like crying. “That’s also only the start.”
She blinked her stinging eyes, focusing instead on how good she felt with the weight of him on her.
“Good bye, quiet night,” she said.
He laughed again.
***
“Hey, Ben.”
Ben looked up from his drafting table to see Noah, the new builder, leaning into his office.
“Hey, Noah.”
“I wondered if you wanted to head out to the site with me.”
“Sure. What’s up?”
“They’re marking off the lot for the model. The Craftsman.”
Ben nodded. “Yeah, I saw that in the schedule.”
“Well, I want to walk it and wondered if you wanted to come with me.”
“Sounds good.” Ben kicked off his shoes and stepped into the work boots he kept in the office. “So you’re a hands-on kind of guy, too?”
“I don’t mind getting dirty.”
Noah’s words shouldn’t have made him think about Tammy, but they did. Saturday night had been more fun than he’d had in a long time. He had a hard time getting that bit of fun out of his head over the past five days. She’d look so soft and touchable in her little pink pajamas. And when she’d told him she really didn’t have plans with any other guy, something shifted inside him. Something that made him want to hold her and never let go.
Tying his laces, he refocused. He straightened and took his tablet from his desk, lifting his chin in the direction of the breakroom.
“Let’s grab a couple of waters and head over there,” he said, putting aside Tammy and all they’d done on that not-very-quiet night before he found himself in a bad way today.
He passed her office on the way out and saw her desk was vacant. She must be out on a tour. Since Saturday night, it seemed like they’d turned a corner. She’d stayed home on a Saturday night and he’d admitted he’d been jealous when he thought she hadn’t. So he guessed that meant they were dating. Damn, he’d never really dated before. He hadn’t been kidding when he’d told Tammy that.
He and Noah rode out to the site in one of the golf carts kept charged and ready to go during business hours. Noah drove and Ben held onto the canopy support and leaned back.
“So how do you like Cypress so far?” he asked Noah.
“I really like it,” Noah answered. “The scenery is pretty, and I don’t just mean the landscape.”
Ben tamped down a jab of protectiveness. “Yeah.”
“I know a few of them are taken, but still.” Noah winked. “It doesn’t hurt to look, right?”
Ben eyed him as he steered the golf cart. The guy was good looking, in a surfer kind of way. That was funny, since Ben wa
s a surfer and didn’t look anything like this golden guy.
“No. It doesn’t.”
Noah didn’t seem to catch Ben’s tone, but he did change the subject. “So how is it, working with so much of your family?”
“I like it.” He realized that was more than true. “My brothers are pretty cool.”
“You get to see them a lot, then? Outside of work?”
Ben nodded in answer. Yeah, he did. Not that he behaved as though he liked it Saturday night. He’d brushed off one brother and snapped at another one. He really wasn’t good at this family stuff.
They came to the site of the first model. The ground he’d seen with Tammy was now churned a rich, dark brown and had been rough-graded. There were a few trucks parked along the newly-paved street in front, and Noah’s guys were pacing off the property lines.
Ben knew the infrastructure had been completed a couple of months ago, well before he was brought in on the project. Streetlights, water and utilities. Now, with the streets graded and some of them paved, he could envision the neighborhood even more clearly.
Noah parked the cart and Ben stepped out. As soon as his boots hit the pavement, that excitement gripped him again. This was his project. He could see the Craftsman smack dab in the middle of all that rough dirt. Plantings strategically placed to compliment the structure and still fall in line with what the Cypress Institute preferred. He scratched his chin.
“Noah, have you spoken with Harmony about the plants?”
Noah nodded. “Yep. The landscape at her and Rick’s house is a great example of what we can do with native plants.”
“Yeah. Tammy’s townhouse, too. I couldn’t name the plants out front but they go really well with the façade.”
Noah’s brows shot up. “You’ve been to Tammy’s townhouse?”
Ben wouldn’t make light of what he and Tammy were, even if he didn’t really know right now. He sure wouldn’t brush off Noah’s question when the guy was already talking about the “scenery” at the office.
“Yes,” he said.
Noah stilled, and then gave a slow nod. “Message received.”
Ben shrugged. “I thought everyone knew we were dating.”
“I think that Lettie woman might have said something.” Noah chuckled. “Actually, what she said I’m a little embarrassed to repeat. Not about you, though. About me.”
Ben rolled his eyes. “Yeah, she’s something else. Did she squeeze your arm?”
Noah’s eyes went round. “Yes.”
Ben grinned. “Be careful, man. She’ll be trying to fix you up with somebody soon.”
“If I could get as lucky as you? I just might let her.”
Ben didn’t say anything more. What he had with Tammy was so different from anything he’d ever experienced. They were dating. He’d admitted that to himself and, finally, to other people. Lucky? He was that. He was one lucky bastard to have her want him as much as he wanted her.
One of Noah’s guys called out, waving them over. Ben put thoughts of luck and Tammy out of his head and followed the builder over the sandy ground. He would just enjoy what he and Tammy shared right now. That was all she wanted. He’d be a moron if he let himself think they were anything more.
Again, he thought about how sweet and vulnerable she’d looked there on the couch Saturday night. After he’d sent her to the vaulted ceilings and brought her back down in his arms.
Stopping with Noah at one of the stakes marking the southeast corner of the lot, he nodded as Noah made introductions all around. Then he turned and faced where the house itself would be. Once the lot lines were marked, the next would be to plot out the concrete slab foundation for the house itself. That was what Ben was waiting for. To work with Noah and make sure all the materials he’d specified would be utilized. The Institute had signed off on Ben’s selections and Noah seemed to be as dedicated to the spirit of the project as Ben was.
This wasn’t the biggest or most important house he’d ever designed. It wasn’t the most expensive or the most influential. No. It was a house that would be a home. An environmentally-conscious, state-of-the-art home with all the conveniences prospective homeowners look for when they come to Cypress, true. But it would also be a home where a family could grow in a place where they could learn and play and just be.
He nodded at something one of Noah’s guys was saying, his mind on the fictional family and the not-yet-built Craftsman. Thick, squared-off columns holding a deep roof over the front porch. Recycled planking for the decking and stone facing created out of repurposed materials.
He suddenly pictured Tammy on the front porch, maybe sipping iced tea or reading a book. Relaxing after work in a swing like the one on his brother Rick’s front porch. God, he wanted to join her in that swing. Just chill and talk about the day as the late-afternoon light waned.
He froze. What the hell? He was picturing himself in that scene? Among all that domestic bliss he’d seen but never, ever wanted?
Christ. He had to get his head back in the game and play by her rules. Their rules, really. Before he started wanting more than she was prepared give. The thing was, he was tired of playing the game. He had to tread carefully, though. Tammy was as relationship-phobic as he’d ever been.
He knew one thing for sure as he stood there, picturing that future. He wanted more.
He wanted it all.
Chapter 19
Tammy drove slowly up the Arrivals ramp at the Orlando International Airport, bracing herself for the whirlwind that was Rosa Donato. She’d told Ben her mother was coming to town, but that was it. He had to know she wasn’t going to be available for playdates for a while. Sneaking out wasn’t an option under her mother’s eagle eye. And sneaking Ben in wasn’t going to happen, either.
She’d left the subject of a dinner party over the weekend completely out of their conversation. Why drag him into her family dynamic? And yes, even though it was only her mother who was visiting, the woman brought the whole Donato dynamic with her in her carry-on luggage.
The airport was just about the closest thing to Cypress Corners, sitting about a half hour or so to the northwest of the property. She could count on traffic heading into the airport to be heavy on a Friday afternoon, though. Today she didn’t consider this a big problem as she followed the crawling line up to the long and winding curbside.
She spotted her mother in front of one of the wide glass doors in the Arrivals lane, standing under a different number than she’d texted but that wasn’t surprising. Her mother probably came out under the number five liked she’d indicated but had seen someone to talk to under the seven. In fact, an older couple stood with her now. Their smiles were evident even as Tammy approached, a testament to her mother’s warmth and way with people. Tammy had to give it to her. She might be a nudge with her family, and Tammy in particular, but everyone who met her fell instantly in love.
Pulling her convertible to a stop right next to the little group, she left the engine running and stepped out. “Hey, Mom.”
Her mother turned, her face wreathed with a bright smile. “Tamara!”
Looking at her was like looking at a mirror set on twenty years in the future. Rosa wore her hair scraped back from her face with a wide hairband and her makeup was perfectly applied. Her mouth was a little wide and her eyes tilted up at the corners, and the combination made her still turn heads at fifty-five. That gave Tammy a sense of security. Her older sister might look like Dad but Tammy was the spit and image of Rosa.
Her mother hugged her tight, planting loud kisses on her cheek. Tammy welcomed the warm greeting, feeling a shift in her chest. She’d missed her mother. Who knew?
Rosa turned back to the couple. “This is my daughter. She’s single.”
“She’s as pretty as you said, Rosa,” the woman said.
Tammy gave them a tight smile. “Thank you. Mom, I can’t leave the car here.”
Her mother waved a hand. “I know, I know. I just wanted to introduce you to Paula and Stan
Berkowitz. Their son Steven works in Orlando.”
“He’s a lawyer,” Steven’s proud mother declared.
Tammy wasn’t impressed. Florida had over one hundred thousand attorneys, and Orlando had the lion’s share of them if all the commercials that ran on TV were any indication.
“Nice to meet you.” Tammy turned to her mother and grabbed her bright pink polka-dotted hard-shelled suitcase.
She fit it easily into her car’s small trunk. At least her mother traveled light in the luggage department. Guilt and pressure were a whole other issue.
“Let’s head to Cypress, Mom.”
Her mother clasped her hands together. “Cypress! Paula, my daughter is the top salesperson at Cypress Corners. The place is just lovely. You have to come out to see it.”
Paula and Stan exchanged a look of interest. “Maybe we will.”
“Look for my Tamara at the Sales Center.”
“Okay, let’s go.” Tammy smiled at the couple again and urged her mother into the car.
“Yes, yes. Good bye, Paula. Stan. Look me up on the Facebook!”
Tammy closed her eyes with a sigh and got back behind the wheel. She’d left the air on but she suddenly felt very hot. A wave a nausea struck her. Holding tight to the wheel, she slowly took in a breath and blew it out.
“What’s wrong?” her mother asked.
Tammy turned to her as the feeling left as quickly as it had come. “Nothing.”
She shifted and pulled out into the ever-present procession of cars through the Arrival lane. She could feel her mother’s eyes on her as they left the congestion of the airport and headed past ranches and farms on their way toward Cypress.
“I’m fine, Mom,” she assured her.
“Pff.” Her mother’s usual sound of disagreement met Tammy’s ears. “Something’s wrong.”
Tammy just shook her head. She’d eaten the fish sandwich special at the tavern for lunch today, but it hadn’t seemed off. She felt pretty okay at the moment, too. Maybe her stomach was queasy because of the intrusive woman seated next to her.
“So what would you like to do while you’re here, Mom?”
“We’re having a dinner party.”
“I know. That’s one evening. What about the other three days?”
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