Date With a Diva

by Joanne Rock

  “I realize I’d have a lot to learn but I’m already registered for some on-line business courses this fall, anyway. And in the meantime, I can tell you you’ve got to sell this car ASAP because these things depreciate like crazy as soon as you drive them off the lot. If you want, I can help you find a buyer in town while you’re finishing up your movie.”

  He didn’t need the reminder that he’d be leaving South Beach soon. Not when his emotions were still too close to the surface after a hell of a day. Acting had the power to leave him raw on the best of days, but combined with everything going on between him and Daisy… Damn.

  “And maybe if you couldn’t sell it here, you could always come to L.A. with me and sell it there,” he said.

  Her eyes widened, cartoon style.

  He shrugged, hoping he didn’t sound as if he had too much riding on her decision even though he did. “Because there are a lot of potential buyers in a city like L.A. I just haven’t had time to find them.”

  Her gaze narrowed. “You want me to come all the way to the West Coast with you, just so I can sell your car?”

  “Or so you can take on-line courses at my house. Did I mention I have a high-speed Internet connection? You’ve got to have that.” Braving a glance at her again, he could tell by her pursed lips that he was falling damn short of a hero proclaiming undying love. Unwilling to go back home by himself now that he’d found the right woman, Bram took a deep breath and got ready to bare his soul. “Besides, I really want you there with me.”

  “You do?” The breathless note in Daisy’s voice served as a standard tool for any actress who wanted to show emotion.

  But Daisy was no actress. Had he finally reached her?

  “Yes. I do. I can’t promise you much beyond rice from a box and high-speed Internet, but I can promise that you’ll have a fourth-floor walk-up as long as you want it.” Keep going, chump! Bram’s sense of timing told him he hadn’t made a strong enough argument yet. He needed more weight behind his case. No wonder they paid him to speak other people’s words since he sucked at coming up with the right ones himself. “For that matter, you can always access those on-line courses from my laptop, so you could come with me when I have to travel to shoot films. And it goes without saying, you’d have me for as long as you wanted me, too—”

  Daisy launched herself over the leather console and into his arms before he could finish. And although she seemed to be giggling and crying at once, he gathered that she was saying yes by the way she kept nodding.

  Yes.

  In spite of his bumbling attempts to get the words right, she’d said yes. Bram wrapped his arms around her and hauled her into his lap, already making plans to bring her back to Mississippi so she could meet his sister. As he kissed her, he wondered if maybe he had a career as a scriptwriter ahead of him after all.

  LAINIE DIDN’T KNOW WHAT had changed Nico’s mind after all, but she wasn’t about to question him as she let them into the Roman Retreat.

  Sex loomed in her future—hot and intense—and she refused to do anything that might jeopardize the mind-blowing orgasms she deserved. Thankfully, Nico didn’t seem in the mood to talk as he hooked his finger in the open V of the half-undone zipper at her back.

  Reeling her closer, Nico dragged the zipper the rest of the way down, loosening her blouse until it fell to the plush carpet on the floor. Her bra still unhooked from their encounter on the movie set, Lainie smoothed the skinny straps off her shoulders, allowing the garment to slide off as she sank back against Nico’s chest.

  Delicious.

  She’d be willing to bet more than a few female fans had drooled over his athlete’s body, yet she had the privilege of molding herself to him tonight. He raked his T-shirt up and off as he pulled her deeper into the room with him, his arm belted around her waist to maintain body contact at all times.

  The Italian-inspired suite glowed with the light of electric candles from the sconces on the walls. She purposely hadn’t turned on the overhead lights since the warm cast of the candelabra transformed the suite into a sensual paradise.

  Caught up in her own wants, she didn’t realize where Nico had been steering her until she came face-to-face with herself in an antique mirror hung above the couch. The sight of her half-naked body failed to shock her, since the woman in the mirror looked damn good at the moment. Apparently the promise of sex acted as some kind of beauty potion because the hard angles of her face seemed softened, her cheeks flushed pink as her wanton alter ego tipped her head back against Nico’s impressive chest.

  And had she thought she needed to diet last week? Ha. With Nico’s thick forearm banded about her waist she looked practically delicate.

  Suddenly aware of her absurd bout of narcissism, Lainie’s eyes searched out Nico’s in the reflective glass. Found his dark gaze fixed on her with even more fascination than hers had been. He ran his tongue along the top of her shoulder and into the curve of her neck, his eyes never leaving her reflection.

  The woman in the mirror shivered along with her, seduced by the sublimely sexy Mediterranean male behind her. Liquid heat swirled through her veins as Nico’s hands skated over her belly and peeled down her long skirt. She reached behind her to finish undressing him, too, ready to see his muscular thighs shadowing her hips in the mirror.

  By tugging down his black track pants, she exposed his legs on either side of her, but she couldn’t see the rest of him because he stood directly behind her. She felt him, though. As he stepped out of his clothes, the velvety length of him nudged her bottom, eliciting a sigh of anticipation from her lips.

  She reached for him, but he caught her hand first, his grip tight around her wrist despite the gentle way he held the rest of her.

  “Just this once, I want it to be all about you.” He held her gaze in the mirror as he moved her hand to cup her breast.

  The soft touch of her own fingers surprised her. Spying the world of want in his eyes, she circled the rosy nipple, her movements guided by her own desires.

  “If it was all about me,” she whispered back, rocking her hips slowly to keep his attention. “Your hands would be doing this right now.”

  She rolled the nipple between her fingers, taking deep delight in his throaty male groan. Sensing the wealth of sensual possibility in this game, she worked her hands over both breasts with slow deliberation, watching him all the time to see what he liked best.

  To make sure she had his complete, undivided attention.

  “You know what else your hands would be doing?” She turned her head sideways to kiss his neck, to flick her tongue over the strong column of his throat.

  He lifted her hair away from her ear and kissed the lobe. “Show me.”

  Skimming her palms down her ribs and over her hips, she inched her fingers beneath her white-lace panties and scooched them down.

  Little. By. Little.

  Nico’s growl came as no surprise, nor did his forceful yank of the delicate lace. She was naked and trembling with want when he spread her thighs wide with his knee, bending her forward to lean on the couch.

  Oh.

  Her fingers bit into the upholstery, her legs quivering beneath her as Nico rolled on a condom and arched his big body over hers. Entered her slick passage in one hot stroke.

  She couldn’t watch the scene before her eyes or she’d fly apart. The view was too vivid, too hot, too blatantly sexual. Instead she lowered her gaze to where her hands gripped the back of the couch, her red nails digging deep into the caramel-colored fabric. And beyond that she could see Nico’s hands on her hips, steadying her for every breath-stealing thrust. Something about those strong hands on her made her weak-kneed. The way he held her tight but never too hard…

  For some reason that small manifestation of his thoughtfulness spoke to her more clearly than his offer to cook dinner for a resort full of guests, or his insistence on watching over her until the kitchen bomber was caught. Nico Cesare was a hundred times the man her ex-husband had been. He was the r
eal deal. A great guy.

  And he cared about her.

  The thought might have sobered her if he hadn’t chosen that moment to turn her around so they could see eye to eye. Her heart pounded from a combination of sex and the voice in her head that told her Nico Cesare had broken down all her barriers.

  She didn’t think she’d ever been so naked before any man.

  “I want you, Lainie.” Hard, unyielding hands cradled her face. “Only you.”

  The backs of her eyes burned until she blinked. Hard. She didn’t want to think about how she’d been duped in the past. And she sure as hell didn’t want to start thinking maybe she could trust another man—Nico—again.

  “You’re not fighting fair.” She whispered the same words he’d said to her a few hours ago, wishing she didn’t have to face the ghosts of old demons tonight.

  “I only wanted—”

  Sex? His body? Mind-numbing release?

  All of it sounded trite in the face of what his eyes were offering her right now. Wholeness. Healing. A second chance.

  If only she wasn’t too scared to take it…

  14

  HOW COULD A WOMAN so fearless in business be so scared when it came to matters of the heart?

  Nico recognized the retreat in Lainie’s eyes even while her hands reached for him, her whole body on fire from his touch. Frustration kicked through him along with renewed determination to make her feel what he was feeling. To reach past all those old hurts of hers and show her what they could have together if she was only willing to try.

  Pulling her close, he kissed her. Communicated with her in the one way he knew she’d listen. His hands threaded through her silky hair, cupping the back of her scalp as he angled her head beneath his. She sighed into him with her whole body, her curves molding against him as if she’d been made to fit him. Couldn’t she tell how perfect they were together?

  He wanted the hot sex, too, but he’d known as soon as they’d touched one another outside on her balcony that there was more going on between them than that. His arms around her, Nico walked them backward toward the couch. Lifting her up, he laid her down on the soft upholstery.

  She was so perfect for him. She reached up to pull him on top of her and he marveled how a woman so conscious of how she appeared in public could be so perfectly uninhibited with him in private.

  Surely that was a good sign for their future together. A future she didn’t want to give him, but one he was determined to have.

  He whispered words of praise in her ear, stroking his hand up the inside of her leg. He teased one finger along the juncture of her thighs, felt the coiled tension in her as he spread her wide.

  So hot. So wet. And all for him.

  Lining himself up against the sultry center of her, he sank deep inside, reveling in her soft cry of fulfillment as she pulsed around him with her release. He caught her moan with his kiss, savoring the vibrations of her throaty hum against his tongue.

  He held himself back, concentrating on that kiss of hers so he didn’t lose himself in the exquisite squeeze of her orgasm around his cock. In his logical mind, he knew that giving Lainie multiple orgasms wouldn’t make her fall in love with him.

  But it couldn’t hurt his case, either.

  After the last lush muscle contraction subsided, Nico started the slow build again. Taking his pace down a notch, he moved inside her with deep, thorough strokes. He cupped her breasts and drew on the hard peaks with his mouth until her breathing picked up again, coming harder and faster with each swirl of his tongue around the taut nipples.

  Her fingers scratched lightly across his back, her ankles locking around his waist to keep him close. Blood pounded relentlessly in his head and all through his veins until he didn’t stand a chance in hell of holding back any longer.

  Pressing his thumb into the patch of damp curls between her thighs, he found the swollen peak he sought. He circled. Paused. Circled again.

  And he didn’t have a prayer of containing her cries this time. Lainie screamed with the force of her release, locking her arms around his neck as her body bowed with the force of those sensual spasms.

  He came with a force that left him light-headed, his every sensation focused and concentrated on the powerful exchange between them. The heat they generated seemed to fuse them together, binding their bodies the way he wanted to bind their hearts.

  And to hell with caution, he blurted out the lone thought in his head.

  “I know you won’t believe me, but I love you, Lainie Reynolds.”

  He knew as soon as he put the words out there that it had been a mistake. He should have waited. Should have exercised more caution before laying himself on the line with a woman who’d been burned before. Her initial shell-shocked expression told him all that and more, but it didn’t compare to the slow skepticism that took its place.

  “You couldn’t possibly.” She smoothed an errant strand of hair from her face, and although he’d come to recognize that unconscious gesture of hers as a common occurrence, tonight marked the first time he could remember actually seeing a hair out of place.

  For once, Lainie was tousled and messy as she lay sprawled on the couch in the Roman Retreat, her perfectly groomed facade erased by the beauty beneath that attracted him even more.

  “What do you mean, I can’t possibly? That’s like me telling you that you couldn’t have possibly felt either of those rocking orgasms just now. You can’t refute someone else’s feelings.” And just how he became the sensitivity expert in this relationship, he had no idea. The guys on his team would laugh their asses off at the thought of their maniac goalie coach preaching to his girlfriend about getting in touch with her emotions.

  “I’m sorry.” She skimmed her hands over his chest in a fluttery gesture that sent a shiver up his spine. “I’m just a little caught off guard.”

  “And scared as hell.” He hadn’t meant to say it, but the words jumped out of his mouth as he rolled to one side of her, balancing himself on the edge of the couch so they could face each other.

  “You have to admit I have good reason to be scared.” She drew circles on his chest with one red fingernail, her gaze focused on the motion. “I know you’re nothing like my ex, but I can’t see myself making a big leap of faith and trusting another man after what he put me through.” The hand on his chest curled into a fist. “And he wasn’t even a professional athlete complete with groupies. I can’t imagine how many women flock to your team during hockey season, and I would hate being jealous of every female fan just because some slimeball screwed me over in the past.”

  “You think I haven’t been screwed over in the past? Damn it, Lainie, it hurt like hell when Ashley turned out to be interested only in the fame and fortune. But more importantly, do you know how many fans I’ve slept with over the course of my career?” He covered her tightened fist with his palm, closing his hand over hers.

  “I don’t want to know that.” Her eyes widened in obvious horror.

  “I’ll tell you how many.”

  She shook her head and hummed loudly as if to cover up anything he might say.

  “One.” He shouted to be sure she could hear him.

  She stopped humming. “One?”

  “Yes. And that happened to be the same woman I was going out with when my career ended. The same woman who didn’t give a rat’s ass about me when push came to shove. Want to know how many women I’ve slept with my whole life?”

  “Please let’s not share numbers like this. Every woman’s magazine ever published says it’s a bad idea to share too many specifics about past bed partners.”

  “In your case it’s necessary because of extenuating circumstances in your past. But how about if I just tell you that, even including you, I can still count every intimate relationship on one hand.”

  “Really?”

  “I’m not some player out to score as often as possible, and if you knew anything about my family or how I was raised, you’d understand why. I have too mu
ch respect for women.” His father would have pounded his butt if he’d chased a woman just to get her in bed.

  “I do remember Giselle bemoaning how overly respected she was, now that you mention it.” Lainie smiled, her fingers relaxing against his. “I think that’s why she ran away to Club Paradise. So she could put a little sizzle in her life.”

  “Right. And now that she’s found it, we’re just waiting for the news that she’s going to get married and live happily ever after with this guy. I’m giving her three more months to live with this guy overseas and then I damn well better hear some engagement news.”

  “That’s incredibly old-fashioned. And chauvinistic.”

  “But it’s the same standard I hold myself to. I wouldn’t mess around with anybody I didn’t care about. Deeply.” He pressed his suit with the same relentless approach that had always given him an edge out on the ice. “But it goes even deeper than that with you. I lo—”

  Lainie shushed him with a finger over his lips, her eyes pleading for him not to repeat the sentiment she wasn’t ready for. “Please wait. I just don’t know how I feel about everything, and it wouldn’t be fair to rush into something unless I’m certain.”

  Wait? “And it wouldn’t be fair to you if I didn’t let you know that I suck at being patient. The best I can do is try, but I don’t know how successful I’ll be when all I want to do is make love to you for the rest of the night and know that you feel it in here—” he smoothed a hand across her chest, just above her heart “—as much as you feel it everywhere else.”

  He had the whole night in front of him, and he planned to use every minute of it reminding this woman just how good they could be together.

  LAINIE HAD FORGOTTEN what it felt like to wake up next to a man.

  Even before she opened her eyes she was aware of the warm thigh slung over hers, the bristly arm curved protectively around her waist, the scent of Nico’s aftershave on her pillow. Then again, she’d never awoken to find her ex-husband still holding her in the morning—she and Robert had both brought serious space issues to their marriage.