Heat of Passion

by Pamela Yaye

  “And you shouldn’t worry so much.”

  That was easy for him to say, Robyn thought, annoyed by his laissez-faire attitude. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth; she wasn’t. She needed this job.

  “Since you wouldn’t come to me, I brought dinner to you.”

  Sean moved Robyn aside and opened the door. His hands were on her hips for only a second, but his touch wreaked havoc. Her breath caught in her throat, and her temperature soared at the feel of his gentle caress.

  “I have everything we need right here,” Sean said, holding up a brown wicker basket. “We’re going to have fun tonight. I promise.”

  Robyn sniffed the air, and for the second time in minutes, her mouth watered.

  “I hope you’re hungry, because I made all of your favorites. Roasted lobster tails, linguine carbonara and a dessert guaranteed to knock your socks off.” His gaze captured hers, refused to let her go. Reaching out, he slowly stroked his thumb against her cheek. “I drove all this way for you,” he said, his voice a soft, soothing whisper. “You’re important to me, Robyn, and I feel connected to you. That’s why I’m here. To spend some quality time with my favorite girl.”

  Her heart softened, turned to mush. No one had ever made her feel so special, so cared for. His words moved her, made her forget her doubts and insecurities. For the first time in Robyn’s life, she didn’t want to do the right thing; she wanted to do Sean Parker.

  Chapter 6

  “What do you think?” Sean asked, picking up his wine flute and tasting his chardonnay.

  Robyn glanced up from her plate and met his piercing gaze. I think you’re sweet and caring and thoughtful, and I’m glad you’re here. From the moment they’d sat down at the kitchen table, they’d been talking nonstop, and Robyn couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed so hard. Everything Sean had made tasted delicious, but what she loved most about dinner was reminiscing with him about their teenage years and all the wild, crazy times they’d had at his family’s resort. “Isn’t it obvious? I’ve had three helpings and cleaned my plate each time.”

  Sean released a deep belly chuckle, and the sound warmed Robyn’s heart.

  “The linguine was incredible, but you really outdid yourself with dessert,” she continued, trying not to gush but failing miserably. It wasn’t everyday Sean—or anyone else—surprised her with a home-cooked meal, and his kindness touched her deeply. “The cheesecake was divine, even better than I remembered, and so were the zuccotto cupcakes.”

  A proud grin claimed his face. Handsome didn’t begin to describe how hot Sean looked in his striped shirt, crisp shorts and oxford-style sandals. His style was casual but sexy, and his musky, earthy cologne had a calming effect on her. She felt comfortable, relaxed, and couldn’t stop smiling, didn’t even try. Her feelings were in tumult, vacillating between guilt and excitement, but Robyn was determined not to cross the line. Nothing good could come of her having a summer fling with Sean, and as long as she remembered what was at stake, she wouldn’t have to worry about getting fired.

  “I’m glad you liked everything,” he said smoothly, leaning back comfortably in his chair. “The next time I come over I’ll make you homemade brownies and my new signature cocktail.”

  Next time? Robyn struggled with her words, couldn’t get the truth out. There wasn’t going to be a next time. Dinners at her apartment were out of the question. The risk of getting caught was too great, and Robyn shuddered to think what would happen if Kim spotted Sean leaving her condo after dark. Would Kim give her a chance to explain or fire her on the spot?

  “It’s called California Breeze, and my assistant manager said it’s the best drink she’s ever had.”

  “I believe her,” Robyn said, nodding her head in agreement. “You’re a talented, top-notch chef, and everything you make tastes amazing.”

  Sean flashed a boyish smile that made him look years younger. “Cooking is my passion, what I was born to do, and I couldn’t imagine ever doing anything else.”

  “I know just how you feel. I love being an event planner, and I wake up every morning excited to go to my office and anxious to meet with potential clients.”

  Robyn forked the last bite of cheesecake into her mouth and washed it down with the rest of her wine. Her gaze returned to Sean’s face, zeroed in on his lips. They were moving, but Robyn was so busy staring at him she missed what he’d said. Her confusion must have been clear for him to see, because he frowned and cocked his head to the right.

  “You’re thinking about work again, aren’t you? About your never-ending to-do list.”

  No, I was thinking about how inviting your mouth looks.

  “I hate seeing you like this,” he said.

  “Like what?”

  He appraised her as if she was an exhibit in an art gallery, then reached across the table and took her hand in his. “You’ve been distracted and jumpy all night.”

  My frazzled nerves have nothing to do with work and everything to do with you.

  At his touch along the inside of her wrist, her body quivered. Robyn couldn’t remember ever being so enamored with a man, and wanted to do something wild and spontaneous—with Sean. She wanted to kiss him, to stroke and caress him. Somehow she resisted the desires of her flesh.

  “What time should I pick you up tomorrow?” he asked good-naturedly. “I have a fun-filled day planned for us.”

  “Why don’t you hang out with one of your model girlfriends?”

  “The only woman I want is you.”

  “Then you’re fresh out of luck, because I have to finish planning Kim’s wedding.”

  A scowl bruised his lips. “These days all you do is work.”

  “I love my job. Sue me.”

  “You’re a workaholic, and you don’t even realize it.”

  “Takes one to know one,” she shot back. “I appreciate your concern, but you’re definitely in no position to judge. Back when you were head chef of The Pearl, you routinely put in twelve-hour days and once worked fifteen days in a row.”

  “I work hard, but I also know how to play hard. Can you say the same?”

  “If someone has a reason to throw a party, then they have a reason to hire the Belleza Resort,” Robyn said, repeating her personal motto, the one she’d been preaching to her staff for the past three years. “I take great pride in what I do, and I want to make Kim proud. If not for your sister, I’d still be an assistant program coordinator at a chain hotel.”

  “You got hired because of your outstanding CV, not because of Kim.” Sean shook his head, as if he was profoundly disappointed in her. “My sister’s got you and everyone else at this resort completely brainwashed, and it’s sickening.”

  Robyn was taken aback by his harsh, bitter tone. She’d never heard Sean bad-mouth anyone, let alone his kid sister, and was surprised by his outburst. Robyn started to speak, to set him straight, but he interrupted her.

  “Kim’s gone too far this time.” He released her hand, took his cell out of his back pocket and tapped his index finger on the screen. “You deserve a day off, just like everybody else, and I’m going to see that you get it.”

  “What are you doing?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “Who are you calling?”

  “The Iron Lady.”

  “Who’s the Iron Lady?”

  “The Belleza Resort’s new general manager, of course.” Sean put his cell phone to his ear. “You’re running yourself ragged planning Kim’s wedding while she’s off playing kissy face with her fiancé, and that’s not fair. She’s lucky I don’t call the labor board and report her ass for violating the employment standards act.”

  “No!” Robyn surged to her feet, grabbed Sean’s cell phone and pressed the end button. Crisis averted. Releasing a deep sigh, she sank against the kitchen counter, her chest heaving, her
heart pounding hard and fast. “Sean, you’re wrong about Kim. She works harder than anyone else at the resort, and she’s also a fantastic boss, the best I’ve ever had.”

  “She paid you to say that, didn’t she?”

  “Of course not.” Robyn had to force herself not to roll her eyes. She pushed his phone out of reach.

  “Fine. Keep my cell,” he said with a shrug. “I’ll just call her from my car.”

  To keep the peace and avoid Kim finding out about her dinner date with Sean, she said, “Okay, fine, we’ll spend the day together.”

  Triumph gleamed in his eyes. “I thought you’d see things my way.”

  “Sometimes you’re a real pain in the ass, you know that?”

  “That’s why I’m here. I need a strong woman like you to keep me in line.”

  “You better keep looking, because the next time you come sniffing around my condo, I’m not opening my door,” she joked.

  “Yes, you will,” he said confidently. “You love having me here, and you know it.”

  There was no denying it. Sean was right. He was great company and the sweetest guy she’d ever met. They exchanged a heated look, and his stare was so provocative her sex tingled. If the circumstances were different I would have had Sean for dessert instead of cheesecake.

  “I’d better start busting some suds.” He stood, put the dirty silverware in a pile and carried the utensils into the kitchen. “I’ll wash the dishes, then make popcorn for the movie.”

  “Sean, it’s almost midnight.”

  Mischief gleamed in his eyes. “I don’t have a curfew. Do you?”

  “No, wise guy, but I do have a 6:00 a.m. workout class tomorrow morning.”

  “Pilates with Kim and Gabby, right?”

  “Yeah,” she replied, raising an eyebrow. “How did you know?”

  “You guys took the same class last summer, and I remember you telling me how much you liked it, especially the cute instructor with the Magic Mike body.”

  Feigning anger, she snatched a butter roll from the bread basket and chucked it at his head. It bounced off the stove, fell to the floor, and Sean chuckled heartily.

  “Liar!” she thundered, struggling to keep a straight face. “I never said that, and you know it. Stop putting words in my mouth, or you’ll be sorry.”

  “That’s right. I forgot. You’re too busy chasing the almighty dollar to date.”

  It was the last thing Robyn had expected Sean to say, and for some reason, his words hurt her feelings. Was that what he thought? That she cared only about money?

  His words made her stop and reflect on her life. Three years ago, when she’d been hired at the Belleza, she’d put in long days and had still had the energy to paint the town red with Kim and Gabby, but her active social life had come to a screeching halt ever since the incident with Erik. Then, just as she was starting to feel like her old self again, her best friends had gone off and found love. These days they’d rather hang out with their fiancés than go dancing at the hottest clubs, which left Robyn stuck at home, watching reality TV. It would be nice to have someone to hang out with, but she’d been burned before, disappointed so many times by the opposite sex that she had given up all hope of ever finding Mr. Right. Her college sweetheart had betrayed her trust, and Robyn didn’t know if she’d ever be whole again. But she had to admit. Sean had a way of making her forget everything, and when he was around she couldn’t think of anyone but him.

  “I think I’ll pass on the movie,” she said, returning the condiments to the fridge. “You like thrillers, but I’m not a big fan.”

  “I know. That’s why I brought Enter the Dragon.”

  “The Bruce Lee movie?” Robyn felt her eyes widen. “No way. I love that movie.”

  Sean chuckled. “Yeah, I know, you mentioned it yesterday during lunch.”

  “I can’t help it. It’s considered the greatest martial-arts film of all time.” Robyn tried not to let her emotions get the best of her, and decided to open up to Sean about her personal life. Maybe if she did, he wouldn’t be so hard on his family. He had it good—better than most—and hearing him bad-mouth Kim annoyed the hell out of her. “My dad and I used to watch Enter the Dragon every Sunday afternoon. It was our weekly ritual, and I’ll never forget sitting on his lap eating chips and drinking soda.

  “I’ve never heard you talk about your dad.”

  “There’s not much to say.”

  Sean wore a sympathetic expression on his face. “I’ve opened up to you about my problems, and I hope you’ll feel comfortable enough to do the same.”

  “We used to be close, but...” Robyn faltered over her words and broke off speaking.

  Needing a moment to gather her thoughts, she grabbed a towel off the stove and dried the utensils in the dish rack. “My father got remarried when I was sixteen and basically dropped off the face of the earth. He stopped calling and made excuses for why he couldn’t come visit,” she said quietly. “Our relationship deteriorated further when I was in college. I made a lot of mistakes my junior year, and he’s still holding them against me.”

  “I know how you feel. It’s tough not having your father’s support, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, but I chose to focus on the positives in my life, not the negatives,” she said, faking a bright smile. “I have a job I love, amazing friends and family, and—”

  “Me.” His gaze probed her face. “You’ll always have me. You know that. Right, Robyn?”

  Robyn melted, could actually feel her heart soften. No words came. She couldn’t think of anything to say and stood in silence for a moment, staring at him. His cologne wafted over her, tickling her senses and arousing her body. She wanted Sean, craved his touch, and in her mind’s eye, she imagined them making love. The thought shocked her, made her realize just how bad she had it for her best friend’s brother. Robyn hadn’t had sex in years, not since her college sweetheart had broken her heart, and she wondered if she even had what it took to please Sean.

  Turning away from him and her thoughts, she busied herself with wiping down the granite counters. Sean was suave, more charismatic than any world leader, and Robyn feared if she didn’t ask him to leave she’d lose the battle with her flesh and end up sexing him on the kitchen counter. Her feelings were that strong, that intense.

  “Thanks for dinner,” she said, not looking at him, “and for sticking around to help me clean up, but it’s probably best that you go.”

  “Why? Things are just getting interesting.”

  Robyn paused, considered what to say in response and decided on the truth. It was time to deal with their attraction head-on. Sean was the ultimate lady-killer—smooth, polished, sexy as sin—and she was drawn to him, desperate for him, despite her fears and misgivings. But she’d never do anything to hurt Kim. Not after everything they’d been through over the last fourteen years. She turned to him. “Sean, I like you, but we could never be more than friends.”

  “Why? Because of what happened with Erik?”

  Her heart stopped dead in her chest. Robyn’s knees threatened to give way, so she leaned against the breakfast bar.

  Seconds passed before she spoke, and when she did, her voice sounded foreign to her ears. It was small, weak, nothing like her easy, breezy tone. “Who told you?” she asked. “Was it your old friends from the kitchen staff?”

  “No, I ran into Erik this afternoon at the mall, and he had a lot to say about you and Kim.”

  She’d bet on it, she thought sourly. Erik had got what was coming to him, and she didn’t regret anything she’d done that night. Annoyed with Sean for bringing up their former colleague—a man who had zero respect for women—she folded her arms across her chest and returned his penetrating stare. “You shouldn’t believe everything you hear.”

  “And you shouldn’t put yourself in com
promising situations.”

  His self-righteous tone grated on her nerves, rubbed her the wrong way. “Please leave.”

  “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what happened. I heard Erik’s side of the story, and now I want to hear yours.”

  “It’s none of your business.”

  “Yes, it is,” he argued. “We have something special, and I don’t want a hard-ass like Erik Cutler coming between us.”

  “I have questions for you, too, then.”

  “What do you want to know? I’m an open book. I have nothing to hide.”

  Her home phone rang, and Robyn knew without even looking at the caller ID that it was her mom. Every night, her mother, Laverne, called to check up on her, but since Robyn was dying to get the scoop on Sean’s love life, she ignored the phone and asked the question circling her thoughts. “Why did you dump Trina on her birthday?”

  “You make it sound so cold and calculated.”

  “If the shoe fits...” she quipped, trailing off into silence to emphasize her point.

  “It wasn’t like that.”

  “Then explain. I’m all ears.”

  Sean hung his head. He looked pained, as if he’d stubbed his toe, but his voice was surprisingly strong. “We got into an argument during dinner, and when Trina demanded I propose by Christmas, I decided to call it quits.”

  Silently she applauded Sean. Trina was a self-righteous snob with a funky attitude, and he could do better.

  With you, right? her conscience asked. Tell him how you feel. How much you want him.

  “Erik told me you had him fired,” Sean said. “Any truth to that?”

  “He’s lying. His overinflated ego led to his demise, not me.”

  “Were you lovers?”

  “Hell to the no!” Robyn shrieked, dismissing his question with a flick of her hands. “Erik invited me to his high school reunion, and I said yes.”

  “Why?” Sean wore an incredulous expression on his face, stared at her as if she’d just confessed to moonlighting as an exotic dancer. “You guys used to butt heads constantly during the staff meetings, and you once called him a six-foot-two crybaby.”