by Dana Delamar
Her gaze roamed down my body, a smile playing with her lips. “Really? The pants are the same color. And the shape of the... member... looks the same.”
So she wanted to play, did she? I took Paige’s hand and pressed it against my cock. “What do you think now?”
She squeezed it gently, then licked her lips. “Definitely the item pictured.”
Was it my imagination, or was her voice as desire roughened as mine?
I moved in closer so my chest pressed against her breasts, her hand trapped between our bodies. Cradling her jaw in my palm, I whispered for her ears only, “Now you know what I feel like. Maybe later I can find out what you feel like?”
“Naughty boy,” Paige said, her warm breath brushing my skin. I shivered at the thought of it on my cock.
“Boy? Does my age bother you?” Paige looked to be around her mid-thirties, not that I cared. But she might. I kissed her neck, the line of her jaw, the corner of her mouth.
Paige cleared her throat as she stepped away. “Let’s… uh… go check out those manuscripts.”
PAIGE
All I could think about was the feel of Carter’s hard cock under my palm, his lips caressing my throat, my jaw, the edge of my mouth, his velvety voice whispering in my ear.
I’d been wet and aching for hours, all through the museum, the ride back to the hotel, the walk up to my room. As soon as I was able to shut the door behind me, I dropped onto the nearest chair and plunged my fingers into my panties, frantic to assuage my throbbing clit. I came in less than a minute, imagining it was Carter touching me, Carter’s fingers on my clit, in my pussy, his tongue parting my folds…
I panted, boneless, sprawled on the delicate chair in the sitting room of my hotel room. I almost laughed at myself. When was the last time I’d been so turned on? And he’d barely even touched me. Jesus. I could hardly imagine what it would be like if he did.
When he did.
There was no way I was ending this trip without sleeping with him. It was inevitable.
I scrambled for a quick shower and changed my clothes before heading down to the Grosvenor’s Grand Imperial Restaurant, its beautiful gold walls giving the room a sensual glow. I took a seat at a table for four, my heart pounding in anticipation of seeing Carter again. Maybe I should’ve chosen a larger table, so there’d be less chance of getting too caught up in him?
Oh, who was I kidding? I wasn’t going to stop thinking about him, even if there were fifty people at our table.
Our table. Sheesh!
I had to get a hold of myself. I was the guide on this tour; I was representing Total Indulgence. I needed to act like a professional, not some lovestruck teenager.
I glanced at my watch as a clump of folks from the tour traipsed in. They waved at me, but took their own table, since they’d have to split up if they sat at mine.
I wished I’d brought my book, so I’d have something to distract myself with. Each time someone stepped into the restaurant, my pulse jumped, then fell back to normal when it wasn’t Carter.
Gah! Maybe it was those Riley Kendrick books that had worked me into this state in the first place. They were so deliciously wicked, so… inspiring. And then there was Ari, encouraging me to get laid on this trip.
It was no wonder that a few words, a few touches, and I was ready to explode.
More people filed in, but not the one I wanted. I looked at my watch again. 8:15. Where was Carter?
I fiddled with my water glass, then took a sip of tea from the steaming cup the waiter had poured for me. A delicate jasmine tea. Emma would like it.
Emma! I’d forgotten to call her earlier. I pawed through my purse and pulled out my cell phone. It was 3:15 PM in Miami. I hit the entry for Emma, then listened to the phone ring. And ring. And ring. And then go to voicemail. I left a brief message and said I’d call back in a few hours. After I hung up, I stared at the phone. Was Emma okay? She’d seemed fine when we’d spoken yesterday. And Ari had promised to check in with her every day.
Still… This was the longest I’d ever been away from Emma. And I had the better part of three weeks to go yet.
My phone buzzed with a text. Emma.
Emma: at spa with ant ari cant talk must be quiet!
I smiled at her endearing typos, then answered.
Me: Have fun. I love you. I’ll leave you alone.
Emma: ant ari says stop worrying!
Me: I bet she does.
Emma: she realy means it!
I giggled. I could picture Arianna’s face.
Me: I’m not worrying.
Emma: please dont, mom im fiiiiiine :-)
Me: You’re right. Have fun!
I punched in several goofy smiling emojis, not quite sure what some of them meant.
My phone buzzed again, this time with a text from Arianna.
Ari: Chica, I swear, she’s fine! Stop fretting. We’re about to get our massages. Maybe you need one too.
Me: Point taken. Enjoy!
Ari: Oh I will. Mario has very talented fingers.
Me: I’m not going to ask.
Ari: I’m not going to tell either. (smirking emoji)
“What’s with that big grin on your face?” Carter asked as he took the seat to my right.
“A funny text from my friend.” I wasn’t about to mention Emma. Carter had already hinted that he thought I was bothered by our age difference. No need to pour gas on the fire and talk about my daughter. My adult-but-not-exactly daughter.
“Did you tell her about me?” he asked.
I smiled. “You must think quite highly of yourself.”
He mock winced. “Oh, the burn!” He clutched his chest. “Way to wound a guy.”
“Just teasing.”
He leaned toward me, lowering his voice. “And I deserve it.” His fingers brushed against my bare knee, shooting sparks straight between my legs. “You make that dress look damn good,” he murmured, his gaze dropping to the low-cut front of the little black dress I’d packed on a whim.
“Thank you. You look quite nice yourself.” Carter was wearing a burgundy suit with a charcoal tie, the color of the linen bringing out the deep brown of his eyes.
“Figured I’d dress up for this place.”
A couple of older women on the tour headed our way. “Mind if we join you?” one of them asked.
I started to answer, but Carter beat me to it. “Sorry. We have someone joining us already.”
He must mean Kenji. I was surprised to register some disappointment at the idea. They’d probably start reminiscing about their college years while I nodded and smiled at all the right places. Still, I might learn a thing or two about Carter.
Not that it mattered. This is just a fling. Right?
Right. I had to keep reminding myself of that. There was no way Carter was going to want something long-term with a thirty-six-year-old single mom with a disabled daughter.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked. His fingers caressed my knee again, and I brushed them away.
“Nothing.” I plastered a smile on my face, then picked up my teacup.
“It wasn’t nothing. Tell me.”
When his hand returned to what seemed to be its favorite spot on my leg, I returned it to his own. “I’m too old for you.”
“I’m twenty-eight. You’re what? Thirty-three? Thirty-four? Big deal.”
“Thirty-six.”
“So?”
“Eight years is a long time. Especially when you’re still in your twenties.”
He leaned forward again, his voice low in my ear. “For fuck’s sake, Paige, I don’t care about numbers.” He took my hand and placed it on the bulge at his crotch. “If the fact that just smelling your sexy-as-fuck perfume, just being next to you, does this to me doesn’t convince you that I don’t care how many birthdays you’ve celebrated, I don’t know what will.”
I pulled my hand back, my heart hammering, my stomach fluttering. I opened my mouth to speak, but he held up a finger.
“I’m not finished,” he said. “All I thought about all day is getting you under me. And if that doesn’t happen soon, I’m going to die from an epic case of blue balls. Or I’ll wish I had.”
I let out the breath I’d been holding. “Well, then. Consider me convinced.” And flattered.
Kenji Tamashiro was approaching our table. Tall and lanky, with a tennis player’s build, Kenji was certainly the kind of guy who turned heads. Just like Carter.
A thought occurred to me. Had the two of them ever…?
“May I join you?” Kenji asked.
Before I could say yes, Carter rose. He put an arm around Kenji’s shoulders and dropped his voice, but I could still make it out. “Normally I’d say yes, but I don’t need you, or anybody else, cock-blocking me tonight.”
Kenji laughed. “You were serious this morning.”
“One-hundred percent.”
“Good luck to you then.”
Ken headed for another table, and Carter took his seat beside me. Hmm.… “Did you somehow scare everyone off at the museum today?” I asked.
He settled back in his chair. “I might have.”
“Want me all to yourself, do you?”
He leaned in, his hand cupping my knee. “I’m a greedy little shit sometimes.”
“Only sometimes?”
He burst into laughter. “Busted.”
Oh this man was going to be the ruin of me. But I couldn’t seem to resist him. If I was going down in flames, I’d hang on and enjoy the heat.
We ordered a meal for two, the conversation flowing smoothly. At least when the subject was me. When it came to Carter, he’d often clam up or switch the subject back to my job.
As if he had something to hide.
I looked at his hands. No telltale traces of a wedding ring. But that didn’t necessarily mean anything. Lots of men didn’t wear their rings.
A fling was one thing; a fling with a married man?
Not going to happen.
I swallowed hard and patted my lips with a napkin. “Carter, tell me the truth.”
“About what?” His gaze narrowed as he looked at me.
“Are you married?”
The crease between his brows melted away. “No. Never have been either. You?”
“Once. It ended shortly after it began.”
“He was an idiot then.” His hand slid up my thigh, pausing to make circles right below the hemline.
“Yes, he was. But then again, we were young.”
“How young?”
Damn it. I shouldn’t have said anything. “Eighteen.”
He whistled. “You weren’t pregnant, were you?”
Now which one of us was busted? I shook my head. Forgive me, Emma. “Just high-school sweethearts. It was… a mistake.”
Carter grimaced. “I’ve been there. Not that same mistake, but I fell hard for someone who turned out to be… well, too young to reciprocate.”
Interesting. “How old was she? Or he?”
“We met when she was nineteen. And I was twenty-six.”
“Like Riley Kendrick and Amber McCallan.”
Carter’s eyes dropped to the table and a muscle ticked in his jaw. “That’s probably why I was so attracted to those books. It was kind of my story, you know?”
And Riley Kendrick was bi too. No wonder the story resonated with him.
“Is she the reason you can’t write? She broke your heart, and now you can’t write about romance?”
Carter’s jaw worked a bit more, and he played with a pot sticker on his plate. Then he looked up at me. “She ripped my heart out of my chest.”
His voice was low, raw, the words thick with emotion. I placed my hand over his on my thigh and squeezed it. “I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, well, it’s better I found out she didn’t love me before I married her.”
My mouth dropped open. “You were engaged?”
“Not yet. But I’d planned to ask her. I’d started shopping for a ring right before she handed me my ass on a platter.”
“Oh Carter.” I squeezed his hand again.
He shook his head and forced a smile. “If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be sitting here, with you. So it was a good thing, in the end.” His gaze dropped to my lips and he relaxed, his grin turning wolfish, his hand under mine inching higher, grazing the hem of my skirt. A spark of electricity zapped me between the legs, and I shifted restlessly.
Down, Paige! He didn’t mean anything by that.
His fingers slid under the fabric and he leaned closer. “Let’s forget the past and focus on the here and now. On you and me.” His smile was full of wicked promise, and his hand was on the inside of my thigh, the tips of his fingers so very close to where I wanted them to be.
Damn, he did mean something by that.
The waiter brought the check. Thank God the tablecloth was long. Carter surreptitiously withdrew his hand from between my legs and signed his room number on the check before I had a chance to react. All I could think about was almost getting caught.
I reached for the bill. “Wait a minute. I have an expense account.”
He waved the waiter away. “Let me treat you.”
“But…”
“But what?”
“I’m working. I’m supposed to pay for my meals. This isn’t—” I almost said “a date,” but stopped myself.
“I’m going to pretend that the only thing you said was thank you.”
I shook my head in amusement. “We’ll have to add ‘pushy’ to your list of flaws.”
“Right next to ‘greedy.’” His lips brushed the hair beside my ear and his hand went back to where it shouldn’t have been but seemed to belong. “When I want something, I get it. So let’s add ‘spoiled’ to that list too.”
His warm breath washed over my skin and made me shiver. “How about ‘wicked’?” I asked.
“Oh yes. That certainly belongs on the list.”
“Incorrigible?”
He smirked. “Of course.”
“Arrogant?”
“In spades.” His fingertips brushed against the crotch of my panties, and I barely stifled a moan.
“Presumptuous?” My voice was ridiculously breathy.
“Mm-hmm.” He took a sip from his water glass. “Now let’s get out of here before we add ‘arrested for public indecency’ to that list.”
He withdrew his hand from between my legs and placed it on the small of my back. I really shouldn’t be letting him touch me like that in front of the other guests. Or walk me to my room.
I rose. “Good night. Thank you for the lovely company and the meal.”
He rose as well. “I’ll say goodnight to Ken. That’ll give you a head start. But don’t think the night is through.”
I waved to the other tables, not trusting myself to say anything intelligent over the pounding of my heart.
Was I really going to do this? After knowing him for what? A day and a half?
I fought to keep my strides purposeful, without seeming hurried. I felt like a rabbit that had been spotted by a hawk. I needed to take a breath, gather my wits. Slow things down.
He caught up to me at the elevator, and again he placed his hand on the curve of my back. How I wanted to melt into that touch, say “Screw it,” and do what I wanted.
But that just wasn’t wise.
The elevator opened and we stepped inside. We were both on the same floor, and I pressed the number, my mouth suddenly so dry I craved a glass of water.
“What’s wrong?” Carter asked.
“It’s so early. Too early.”
He glanced at his watch. “It’s after ten.”
“No, I mean—”
He chuckled. “I know what you mean. And maybe it is.” He brushed the hair from my shoulder, then kissed the skin he’d bared. “And maybe it’s not.” He licked the spot he’d kissed, and my knees turned to jelly.
The elevator dinged, and I bolted forward.
Carter grabbed my wri
st. “Whoa there. You’ve gone all skittish all of a sudden.”
I tugged at my wrist. He didn’t release it, but he did follow me when I started toward my room. “I don’t do this kind of thing.”
“Until now.”
I stopped at my door and fumbled around in my bag for the key card. “There you go again, being presumptuous.”
I found the card and slid it into the slot, my haste making me pull on the knob before the mechanism unlatched. The light turned red. “Fuck,” I mumbled.
“Yes. Let’s do.” He placed his hand over mine. “Here. Allow me.”
My fingers tightened on the key card, but I let him take it and open the door. He herded me inside. “Carter, I can’t do this.”
“Not now, or not ever?” He touched my cheek, made me look up at him. His eyes held mine, intense and serious.
“Not now. Not yet.”
“You’re killing me, Paige. But I want you to be ready.” He leaned down, his lips hovering over mine. “A kiss isn’t too much to ask?”
I shivered, looking into those eyes, so dark with promise. Then I rose up on tiptoe and pressed my lips to his, a muffled whimper escaping me as I did so.
“Christ,” he mumbled against my lips. “You will be the death of me.” Then he took control of the kiss, his tongue running along my lower lip, coaxing my mouth open, allowing him to invade. He slid an arm around my waist, his left hand on the side of my throat, his thumb caressing my jaw, and I melted against him.
Had I ever been kissed before? It didn’t seem like it now. Carter’s mouth moved on mine like I was a feast he couldn’t get enough of. Dear God, I needed to stop this…
He pulled back and grinned. “Stop thinking so damn hard.”
“I’m sorr—”
He pressed a finger to my lips. “Don’t apologize. We’ll do this at your pace, not mine.” Then he released me. “I’d better say goodnight before we add ‘liar’ to that list.”
I smiled. “Thanks for understanding.”
He shook his head. “I don’t understand it, actually. But I respect it.”
“See you tomorrow.”
“Hopefully all of me.” He stepped into the hall.
I winked at him. “Hopefully.”
“I will happily make that wish come true.”