by BETH KERY
“Do you mind?” Esa asked with a friendly smile at the gray-haired lady as she nodded toward the hand that held the cutting tool.
The older lady looked confused by Esa’s request but she held up her hand nevertheless. Esa took the woman’s thin hand and removed the knife. Her fingers expertly massaged and soothed the arthritis pain that was clearly plaguing the elderly lady’s hand while she tried to enjoy a golden afternoon with her granddaughter.
The woman was grinning broadly by the time Esa released her hand a moment later. “Thank you!” She flexed her fingers and her smile widened. “It feels so much better. You have a gift there, young lady.”
Esa returned the woman’s smile. “It was my pleasure. You two ladies have a wonderful day.”
* * * * *
Kitten avoided his puzzled stare and headed quickly down the path away from the pumpkin carvers.
“What was that all about?” Finn asked when he reached her side.
“What? Oh, that? I’m good at massage. I get a lot of practice, you know,” she explained with a sultry look. His return appraisal was frankly suspicious.
“Is that your way of telling me that your bedmates are usually in their seventies and suffering from arthritis?”
“You’d hardly fit the bill if that were true, lover,” she teased.
The red-blooded male in him couldn’t resist the heat in her brandy-colored eyes. He spread his hand on her lower back just above her right butt cheek. When he applied a slight pressure Kitten slowed and came to a halt.
He leaned down and planted a slow, hot kiss on her lush lips. Christ, she tasted good. When he realized that he’d turned her in his arms so that he could reexperience firsthand how well she fit against him, and that his cock had stiffened to full readiness with record-breaking speed, Finn regretfully broke their embrace.
When he lightly urged a dazed-looking Kitten to keep walking, he had to take several deep breaths to regain his equilibrium. He’d have to watch himself. Her taste did strange things to his body chemistry. He was supposed to be having a little fun with a sexy woman to get over Julia and pull him out of the dumps he’d been in since his father’s death. At the rate he was going he was going to become thoroughly addicted to Kitten’s sweet mouth—not to mention the rest of her succulently curvy body.
Whoa, he definitely needed to apply some brakes here. He reluctantly removed his hand from the enticing swell of her upper ass and grasped her hand instead. The dreamy, goofy look on her pretty face as she stared blankly into the distance reeled him back in to her sexy snare quicker than he could blink. Made him feel like a king that his kiss made her look that way—
“It looks like the sails of a ship unfurling,” she murmured dreamily as they walked and she stared at the stainless steel curves of the Pritzker Pavilion, the enormous outdoor band shell that was the centerpiece of Millennium Park.
“That’s a good description, actually,” Finn said as he glanced at the pavilion, glad to focus his attention elsewhere than on Kitten’s big, sexy eyes and lust-flushed pink cheeks. “A ship’s beauty is a consequence of its function. Frank Gehry, the architect, might have pushed the aesthetics a bit to get the effect for the Pritzker Pavilion but everything on that band shell serves a purpose. See that?” he asked as he nodded at the intricate trellis of stainless steel pipe that domed the open air seats and lawn.
“It’s the lighting system, isn’t it?”
“There are lights on it, yes, but the entire structure is primarily a very sophisticated sound system. Gehry designed it to distribute and enhance the sound from the stage across the huge area of this lawn. The audience gets amazing sound from the stage but the entire structure, including the bridge over there,” he nodded at the stainless steel bridge that serpentined across Columbus Drive, “was also designed to keep urban sounds out of the park.”
“Awesome,” Esa muttered as she studied the modern structure. Her speculative glance transferred to Finn. “How come you know so much about it?”
“How does a guy who breaks up concrete at the side of the road know anything about world-class architecture and engineering, you mean?”
“No,” Esa retorted, clearly stung by the sarcasm he hadn’t successfully kept out of his tone. “I didn’t mean it like that at all. I guessed from some of the stuff I saw in your condo that you knew about architecture and design and stuff. I was just wondering where you learned it.”
“Building viaducts and roads might not be pavilions and bridges but they’re all in the same ballpark.” He glanced once more, longingly, at the ultra-sleek structure. “We can’t all have the high-profile gigs,” he added in a flat tone that didn’t invite further inquiry.
He was glad that Kitten didn’t pursue the matter when he briskly suggested that they go eat their lunch.
* * * * *
The Crown Fountain had quickly become a favorite Chicago landmark, demonstrating interactive art at its finest. Esa chuckled as she watched dozens of children playing in the water that covered the enormous black granite courtyard between the two fifty-foot-tall fountain towers made of tiles of glass. The kids wore everything from swimsuits to rolled-up jeans and t-shirts, their shoes and socks long forgotten next to parents who lolled on the sidelines in the autumn sunshine, secretly envious of their children’s opportunity to cool off in the water.
Their picnic was delicious, especially spiced as it was with Finn’s warm, amused glances as she consumed it with relish.
“It must be at least eighty degrees. I was thinking about…” Finn stilled when Esa reached out and spontaneously wiped a stream of peach juice from his chin. Her eyes snapped up to meet his gaze when she realized what she’d done.
“Giving the fountain a try myself, I’m getting so warm,” he finished huskily.
“Sorry,” Esa said as she removed her fingertip from his skin. She took another sip of wine to calm her nerves.
For the most part, she found Finn to be an easygoing, fun companion. He had a rich supply of entertaining stories, which usually involved some colorful character from his large extended family winding up in some improbable and inevitably hilarious situation. Esa realized that she’d just spent almost two hours with him, however, and wasn’t that much closer to knowing about Finn the man, except that he obviously loved his family like nuts.
It only made him exponentially more attractive to her. Not that he needed the extra help in that arena.
“There’s nothing to apologize for. I grant you free rights to touch me anytime you like.” He grabbed the hand that had just been stroking him, pressed his thumb into the center of her palm so that her fingers uncurled and bent his golden head to plant a warm kiss where his thumb had just been.
Esa shivered despite the heat that flooded her.
“Is that right?” she asked with forced casualness as she firmly extricated her hand from his grasp and leaned back in the grass. She reached into the paper sack and grabbed her peach in order to busy her hands while he studied her through narrowed eyelids. Despite her ease with Finn, her intense sexual attraction to him made her wary. Her body had never responded so wholeheartedly to any of her serious boyfriends in the past. It confused her to the point of feeling downright threatened that a weekend fling evoked such a reaction from her.
Although Esa had never been a very accomplished tease, she found it surprisingly easy to flirt with Finn. Every time she began to do so quite naturally, however, an alarm started blaring in her brain, warning her that she was behaving precisely in the shallow, promiscuous manner that he expected of her. Resentment would inevitably follow.
Why did men always have to be so predictable in the type of woman they wanted?
“Yeah, that’s right,” Finn replied. His handsome mouth twisted into a frown before he took another bite out of his peach, unashamedly letting the juice run down his chin again for a few seconds before he used his napkin to wipe it off. “I’ve never known a woman who runs as hot and cold as you, Kitten.”
“I
don’t know what you mean,” Esa replied airily as she watched the children splash and frolic in the fountain.
“Yes you do. You’re giving me ‘come and get me looks’ one second and throwing poison darts at me with your next glance. Do you want to be here with me or not?”
Esa’s lips fell open at his forceful question. “Yes,” she replied honestly before she had the chance to censor her answer.
“Good.” Finn paused before he resumed chewing a mouthful of peach slowly. “I apologize for that…earlier.”
Esa’s mouth fell open in amazement. “What are you talking about?”
“When I got so defensive about my job.” He set the juicy peach on top of a paper sack and wiped his hands on the grass with an impatient gesture. “My fiancée just recently left me because I decided to sell my shares in the engineering firm I’d started downtown and run the family construction business after my father died. I guess I’m still a little sore about it. Didn’t mean to take it out on you.”
Esa swallowed and set down her own peach. Something about the flat, emotionless quality of his voice made her want to reach out and touch him, comfort him. Jeez, he was fresh out of a breakup from a serious relationship with a woman who sounded like a real loser. How could she have left him during such a difficult time in his life?
And this all explained why he wasn’t interested in anything but a fun, no-strings-attached fling. Finn undoubtedly was looking for an escape from the recent-breakup-blues. Esa herself had engaged in a few similar, short-lasted euphoric affairs in her past. Sex could be a terrific balm to a scarred heart and wounded self-esteem, especially great sex.
Even though the realization that Finn was definitely unavailable in any emotional sense made Esa feel a little sad, she caught his eye and gave him a reassuring smile. “It’s okay. You don’t owe me any apologies.”
He grinned. “My mother would disagree. She drilled it in to me to apologize for my occasional rudeness.” He suddenly stood. “Come on, take off your shoes and let’s go for a wade in the water. My hands are all sticky. I want to rinse them off.”
Esa was doubtful about his order but she was grinning hugely by the time she walked into the shallow water of the fountain. “It didn’t think it would be so cold,” she told Finn between irrepressible giggles as she stood in the midst of dozens of capering children.
He paused in the action of rolling up the pant legs of his jeans and just stared at her for a second. Before she could guess what he was thinking he walked into the water with a determined expression on his face. He turned her around so that her back was pressed into his chest and forced her toward one of the two transparent fifty foot tower-fountains. Behind the glass bricks an enormous video screen scrolled through thousands of Chicagoan faces. Every five minutes or so one of the faces would purse its lips and a thick fountain of water would shoot from its mouth at the same time that sheets of water would flood down the towers.
Which, given the evidence of the shouting, jumping children that surrounded Finn and her, was about to happen at any second.
“No, Finn, it’s about to—”
The fountain gushed with water, sheets of it pounding off the glass sides of the tower and splashing onto Esa’s face.
Splashing onto Esa’s everywhere.
“Oh!” she wailed as she clenched her eyes closed and water soaked her. When the fountain stopped cascading torrents a few moments later she opened her mouth to shriek a reprimand at Finn, but he stopped her by pressing his mouth to her ear.
“Sorry. I go a little nuts when I hear you laugh.”
Her eyes went wide at that sweet, sexy comment being whispered in her ear. She inhaled his scent. She forced herself to ignore the effect that he always had on her but she wasn’t very successful.
“I-I’m soaking wet,” she moaned. As miserable as she knew she should be by her predicament, she still couldn’t seem to focus on it with Finn’s long, hard body pressed against her backside.
“I know,” he said softly as he opened one large hand over her abdomen and pressed her back into his length. Even though Esa was drenched in cold water, heat flooded her cheeks. She clenched her thighs together tightly against a growing ache between them when he encircled her ribs, cradling the undersides of her breasts on his forearm.
“You don’t know anything,” she pouted halfheartedly. “You used me to block you from the water. You’re almost completely dry. That’s not fair.”
“You want to play fair?” he asked as he transferred his mouth to her neck. Esa leaned her head over to give him better access. He moved his forearm ever-so-subtly, stroking the tender, sensitive skin of her lower breasts. Her nipples pulled tight inside her bra. She turned her head, instinctively seeking out his warm, supple lips, wanting…no, craving them against her own.
“Yes,” she managed to say when he began to place warm, beguiling kisses on her lips. “But I want you to play fair too.”
“Fine,” Finn whispered. His blue eyes gleamed as he watched her and deliberately bit her lower lip with his white front teeth. Esa groaned and squirmed against him but he held her firmly. “Then come back with me to my condo so I can finish what you never let me start last night. We’ll both feel relieved afterward. Don’t you think?”
“Yes,” Esa admitted before they came together in a quick, scorching kiss.
That’s exactly what she needed—relief from this raging fever that Finn had ignited in her body. She felt as if she’d never had much of a choice in the matter. What Finn did to her was like encountering a force of nature. Better just to let the fire blaze until it fizzled out of its own accord.
“Kitten…how come you taste so damn good?” he mumbled gruffly when he released her mouth a moment later.
“Uh, Finn?” she asked dazedly as she looked up at him.
“Umm hmm,” he murmured, his gaze still glued on her lips in a manner that made it difficult for Esa to concentrate. But this was too important to let pass.
“My-my real name is Esa. Kitten is—a professional name.”
He stared at her for a long moment, making her wonder if his piercing blue eyes were dredging the depths of her lying soul.
“Esa. That’s a pretty name,” he finally said softly. He grabbed her hand and led her out of the fountain.
Esa followed him eagerly. Now was all that mattered, she told herself. Didn’t she deserve a night of guilt-free, fantastic sex?
She’d deal with the inevitable damage come morning.
Chapter Seven
Her teeth were chattering by the time they reached Finn’s air-conditioned building. Despite all the heat they’d generated in the park—and even in the backseat of the cab on the way to his condo—it struck Finn as he turned to face her after shutting his front door that Esa looked cold, wet and miserable as she stood there in his foyer.
And was that anxiety he saw shadowing her features? If he didn’t keep an eye on her constantly she was going to bolt again, he realized grimly. He opened his lips to ask her what, precisely, she had against him for a bed partner when she suddenly spoke.
“You’re the one who got me all wet,” she said defensively, her brandy-colored eyes flashing fire.
Finn paused in surprise, mouth hanging open. She was such a damn fickle creature—purring one second and hissing at him the next.
“You were staring at me like you think I look like a drowned rat,” she prevaricated when he shook his head in disgust.
“I was admiring your charms in a wet t-shirt actually. Has anybody ever told you you’ve got a mile-wide chip on your shoulder?” he demanded as he came toward her.
She mumbled something waspishly under her breath but the only thing he caught was mostly just get that…stifling bore.
“What did you say?” he asked as he stepped next to her and his arms encircled her waist.
She looked up…and just like that she switched on him again. Her eyes smoldered in invitation. Despite being witness to one of many of her bewildering flip-flops i
n mood, Finn felt his body responding to that sultry stare.
He’d be damned if she didn’t possess the sexiest eyes he’d ever seen in his life. Her silky pale skin, long shapely legs, curvy hips, round ass, luminous smile—not to mention a chest that made him want to spend a solid week in bed with her—had Finn’s cock twitching pretty much constantly when he was with her.
But her eyes were the stuff out of a man’s dream.
He bent his knees and his arms tightened around her, bringing their groins and bellies flush against each other. He spread both hands over her round, damp fanny and rocked her against him.
“Why is it that I feel like the important things about you are the things you say under your breath, Esa?”
“Why is it that I feel the things you don’t say at all are the things that are most important about you?” she countered quickly. “How much do you really need to know about me?”
He caressed her witchy grin with his lips. “The only thing I need to know at the moment is how your naked skin feels against mine.”
“That sounds like a promising place to begin,” she agreed before she delicately licked his lower lip. He let her play with him for a few seconds but when her taste fully registered in his awareness he sank his tongue into her sweetness.
He lifted his head a steam-filled twenty seconds later. “Let’s go,” he said before he urged her ahead of him in the direction of his bedroom. He unglued his eyes from her swaying ass, tightly covered in damp denim, when he realized that she was heading for the bed.
“Uh uh.” He tugged on her hand. “You’re cold and wet. I’m putting you in a hot bath.”
“Oh? What are you going to do while I’m bathing?” she asked doubtfully. Her gaze flickered down to where his cock was practically bursting to get free of his button-fly.
He laughed. Obviously she didn’t think the available evidence indicated that he’d be able to wait for long. He hoped she wasn’t right, because he wanted to take his time with her. Finn couldn’t remember being this aroused by a woman in a long time…maybe ever.