The Sweetest Taboo

by Alison Kent

  A set of blond brows lifted. “Do you have booze?”

  “Uh, hello? This is a bar.”

  Cali waved a dismissive hand. “Then anything works.”

  “Okay, then,” Erin said, deciding Cali’s attitude better be about whatever had brought her flying in here or she was going to find herself smacked back to reality. “We have black grapes and white pears. Black bean soup with white rice. Peppered roast beef on white bread. Turkey breast on pumpernickel—”

  “So far, so good.” Cali held up a finger. “But I’ll be heading straight for the chocolate, which you had better have in horrific quantities.”

  “Trust me. There will be trays of white, milk and dark chocolate truffles everywhere.” And she would be the next in line behind Cali. Erin flipped to the second page of the proposed menu.

  “Also, toasted marshmallows and chocolate fondue, which works for the fruit, too. Then the obvious devil’s food cake and angel food cake. The black and white cookies…maybe. Chocolate mousse brownies and almond blancmange. White and Black Russians. White grape and blackberry punch.”

  “Spiked?”

  “Of course.” And that was it. She stacked the pages and waited for Cali’s reaction. “So, what do you think?”

  Heaving a sigh, Cali slumped down to sit on her spine in the chair. “The only thing I can think about right now is the morning I spent in bed with Will.”

  Erin blinked, blinked again, shook off her shock and almost shouted, “You did what?”

  “I know, can you believe it?”

  “No. I can’t believe it. You were just whining yesterday about not wanting to screw up your friendship with Will.”

  “I know. This was just one of those spontaneous things and I didn’t have time to think.”

  “Or maybe this was your subconscious’s way of telling you to quit thinking. You’ve really been obsessing over this way too much, you know.”

  “I know, I know. Now all I can do is wait and see what happens.” Cali blew out a long slow sigh. “I had no idea sex could be so invigorating and exhausting at the same time. Well, I mean I knew about the exhausting part but usually that’s more a case of being too tired to even make an effort at orgasm.”

  Erin chuckled. The old cliché of “Been there, done that” seemed to fit. “And this time?”

  Head plopped against the chair back, Cali closed her eyes. “This time is definitely a case of being exhausted from the orgasms.”

  “A sex hangover. I know.”

  One Cali eye opened. “You, too?”

  Erin nodded. “Sebastian. His name is Sebastian.”

  Cali’s second eye opened. Her head came up. “Is that his real name or his Scary Guy name?”

  “Funny,” Erin said, even as she tried not to laugh. “It would be a good Scary Guy name, wouldn’t it?”

  “What’s his last name?”

  “Gallo. Sebastian Gallo.”

  “Oh, that’s even better,” Cali scoffed. “Gallo? As in, ‘Get a rope’?”

  “I don’t know about the gallows part—” Erin’s mouth twisted. She really couldn’t help herself. “—but he’s certainly hung.”

  “Eww. Too much information, Erin. Feel free to keep that to yourself.” Cali paused, then lost the battle with her own prurient grin. “Though, I must say that Will is certainly not lacking in that, uh, area either.”

  Frowning, Erin tapped the end of her pencil against the desktop. “Do you think guys really have size issues?”

  “Not as much as we do, worrying about our own butts and boobs. Actually, I think once they have us naked and writhing they’re more worried they might leave us hanging. And I don’t mean that gallows thing you were just bragging about.”

  Erin sighed. Then Cali sighed. Both slumped back in their respective chairs and took a long, daydreaming moment. Erin had a feeling her best friend was no more in the mood to work than she was. But it was Friday night and only a matter of time before the weekend madness began.

  And then Erin wondered what she would do if Sebastian showed up again tonight when she wouldn’t have but maybe a minute or two to talk. Not that talk had been a big part of their interaction so far…

  “Okay, tell me how bizarre it is that we’ve been whining about having no man in our lives and we both get lucky within the same twenty-four hours.”

  Erin looked at Cali who was obviously way on her way to falling in love. While Erin was on her way to…what? Absolutely fabulous sex? Yes, that was it exactly. Exactly what she’d wanted when she’d hatched this Man To Do plan.

  “I’m thrilled for you and Will. But I don’t think what I’m doing with Sebastian qualifies as having a man in my life. More like having a man in my—” body? “—bed.”

  Cali lifted a brow. “That’s what you wanted, though, isn’t it?” When Erin hesitated, Cali quickly added, “I didn’t have a tape recorder going but I’m quite sure I can quote you verbatim. You’re tired, remember? Of double standards and men having all the fun and going to bed alone. Any of that ring a bell?”

  What Erin was tired of was being reminded of things she’d said then that she wasn’t sure she meant now. “Quite loudly, unfortunately.”

  “Unfortunately? So, you’ve changed your mind after one night?”

  How could she explain this without going into graphic detail? “I just never expected one night to be…”

  “To be what?” Cali scooted to the edge of her chair and leaned forward to prop her elbows on Erin’s desk. “I’m all ears here.”

  It would help a lot if Erin knew what she’d expected from those hours with Sebastian. And why the intensity of what they’d shared had blown her so thoroughly away. “Oh. Like I’m going to share details of my private life when you’re over there holding out on me?”

  “Hey, I’m an open book. What do you want to know?”

  “Last I heard you were afraid sleeping with Will would screw up your friendship, and this was just last night, mind you. Since then, you’ve spent the better part of today writhing and naked? You mind telling me how you got from Thursday’s point A to Friday’s point B?”

  “Actually we spent the better part of the day sleeping.” Cali smiled a beatific smile. “It was the best part of the day we spent making love.”

  Making love.

  Those words certainly didn’t apply to the acts in which Erin and Sebastian had engaged, did they? Not only hadn’t they made love, she wondered if they’d even made like. Or if they’d only been two improper strangers screwing themselves senseless. “What a difference a day makes, huh?”

  “Or a night, anyway. I guess in my case it was the difference made by a very innocent kiss that turned things upside down.”

  “What innocent kiss?”

  “It was yesterday, before we closed up last night and left. Will and I were talking and I’d been thinking about your Man To Do plan.” Cali shrugged. “I couldn’t help it. I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.”

  “And then what?”

  “Then I walked away and got back to work.”

  “You

  tease!”

  “I suppose so, but I’d like to think of it more as flirting. It’s not like I was going to say no if he asked.”

  “Which apparently he did.”

  “Several times. To my complete and utter delight.”

  “So, now what? Are you actually going to date a good friend? Or are you just going to sleep with him?”

  “You mean like you and Sebastian?”

  Erin tossed her pencil to the desk and shoved both hands back through her hair.

  “We really are pathetic, you know. Just yesterday you weren’t sure about seducing Will. And now you’re dealing with a possible relationship. All I wanted was sex. Which I got. But now I’m thinking I might want more.”

  “You want more? Or more with Sebastian? What’s he like anyway? You haven’t told me a thing about him. Except for that…gallows thing.”

  “Truthfully?” Erin shrugged. “
There’s not a lot to tell. We didn’t do much talking.”

  “You just rolled around in bed.”

  “No. We never made it out of the shower.” Erin looked at her hands, front and back. “I’m surprised I’m not still a prune. I also want to know what he pays for hot water.”

  “So, he has a thing for being clean. Or else he’s a fish. What else?”

  “He has about a thousand books.”

  “Books?”

  “Books. He has those floor-to-ceiling shelves with a library ladder that rolls. Quite impressive actually.”

  “Hmm,” Cali mumbled. “Literary and intellectual. Maybe even a librarian.”

  This time Erin pushed to her feet to pace. The more she thought about who Sebastian was and all the things she didn’t know, the more frustrated she became. So much for her plan to keep emotions from the equation, to stay uninvolved. She wanted to know everything there was to know about him.

  “Not a librarian, no. The intellectual I might give you. He’s quiet. Doesn’t say a lot though you can tell by his eyes that he never stops thinking. Whatever he does, he makes big bucks. His place is twice the size of mine and built-out like you wouldn’t believe.”

  “Besides his love of books, then. What else did his place tell you?”

  “He loves music, which I already knew. And he has a huge computer station. Totally state-of-the art equipment. Makes me wonder if he’s a consultant of some type.”

  “What sort of consulting, do you think?” Cali was once again bright-eyed and curious. “What about the books? What do they tell you? Medical? Technical?”

  Erin stopped pacing to think. “Actually, he’s a virtual Barnes & Noble. Psychology. Paranormal occurrences. Homer and Shakespeare. Stephen King and Ryder Falco and John Grisham.”

  “So, the guy’s well-read and well-monied. Interesting and intellectual. I guess that leaves you only one option?”

  “Which

  is?”

  “Stop thinking so much and get to work.”

  ERIN WAS STILL WEIGHING the pros and cons of black and white cookies when she glanced up to welcome the customer who’d just settled onto the stool at the bar and found herself looking into the eyes of Sebastian Gallo.

  The most intense experience of her life had been spent with this man and she didn’t even know what to say.

  And so she said, “Hello.”

  He remained silent, his steady focus launching a fleet of nerves into her veins. She held his gaze and her smile, though the longer he sat there unspeaking, the more wooden her expression became.

  Finally, he reached out and took her hand in his, linking their fingers and running his thumb in a caress over the tip of hers. “How’re you doing?”

  Her heart thumped and thudded. “I’m doing good. You?”

  “Still sorta squishy. Leaking. Dripping. But I’ll dry out.” His lips lifted into a slow sultry smile.

  And she laughed, never wanting to let go of his hand but knowing she couldn’t draw a draft telepathically. And one of her customers had just flagged her down.

  She pulled her fingers from Sebastian’s but made sure to keep the visual connection. She needed that much—she needed more—but that would do for now. “Do you want a beer? Glass of wine? It’s on the house.”

  “I was thinking more along the lines of champagne.”

  A brow went up. She reached for a clean mug and made quick work of the customer’s refill. “Celebrating?”

  “I am, as a matter of fact,” he said and leaned against the back of the stool, hooking his elbows over the railing, his knees spread wide and his feet braced on the lowest rung. “I thought you might join me.”

  Tonight he wore a wine-colored shirt in rich linen tucked into neat black wool pants. His glossy black hair picked up glints of the bar’s lighting and his eyes were clear and attentive and bright.

  Erin wanted to gobble him up. “I would. If I wasn’t working.” Two steps down the bar to deliver the beer. Two steps back. “Can I have a rain check?”

  “You can have anything you want,” he said and Erin’s world went still.

  “You might want to be careful what you’re offering.” Her voice hadn’t even wavered once. Amazing when she was shaking all the way to the roots of her hair. “I’m liable to take you up on it.”

  “I intend for you to.”

  Whew, but he played the game well. This one was going to keep her on her toes.

  “You have a preference for your champagne?”

  He kept his gaze on her as he considered. “Tell you what. Give me a beer. The champagne can wait until later.”

  Later? What did he have in mind for later? And was she included in his plans?

  “Great. I’ll pick out a good one.”

  “Pick out the best. My treat.”

  She’d have to see what she could do. If expense was no issue, as he’d seemed to imply… Her interest was definitely piqued. “I’ll keep that in mind. I’m sure I can come up with a suitable vintage. Unless you have a preference?”

  One that tastes best sipped from bare skin, perhaps?

  “Only that it’s one you’ll enjoy.”

  “That won’t be a problem,” she said because she knew that it wouldn’t. She had a bit of a champagne fetish. She just wished she had a better handle on where to take this conversation because she found herself searching for wit instead of relaxing and enjoying his company.

  She supposed that was what happened when two people skipped several of the natural steps to intimacy and went straight to bed. Might not hurt to read up on Desmond Morris….

  “So, other than the fabulous atmosphere and the fabulous drinks and my fabulous company, what brings you here?” There. That ought to do to get things going. She opened the bottle of ale she’d chosen for him and poured.

  “I’d say you covered all of it.”

  Exactly what she’d wanted to hear. Even knowing his response was nothing more than upping the tension strung high-wire taut, it was exactly what she’d wanted to hear.

  “You don’t have the notebook you had with you last night.”

  “Last night I was working.” He reached for the mug of ale, lifting it in a toast before drinking.

  Working on what, she wanted to scream because this was like the worst sort of fingernail-pulling torture. Instead, she said, “And now it’s Friday and you’re done for the week.”

  He laughed, returning the mug to the bar. “Unfortunately, I’m never done.”

  He didn’t elaborate but Erin seized the opening. “Tell me about it. This entrepreneurial business isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Or, actually, it’s more. More than I don’t remember signing on for.”

  “You’re obviously handling that more pretty damn well.” He glanced around the bar, leaning forward and wrapping his hand around the mug. “You’ve always got a crowd in here.”

  “I do, yeah, but how would you know that?” He’d been here exactly twice in the year she’d run the bar. Last night and now. If he’d been here before, when Paddington’s belonged to Rory, well, she hadn’t been here often enough then to have noticed, had she?

  Grimacing, she added, “You’re not exactly a regular.”

  “You have windows.”

  “And you’re a Peeping Tom?”

  He grinned. “Nope. Just a moth drawn to the flame.”

  Oh, but she loved the way that sounded. The way tiny wings fluttered in her belly.

  “How do you figure that?”

  He shrugged one shoulder, twisted his mug back and forth on the cork coaster. “I think best when in motion, when on my feet. And I can only pace the loft for so long.”

  “So you walk the streets.”

  He nodded, drank again. “A regular creature of the night.”

  Which brought to mind vampires, not moths. No, not moths at all, but hunger and darkness and needs satisfied only at night. She forced back a shiver as she pictured him striding with purpose in black boots and a long black duster, moving in
the shadows, stalking his prey.

  Stalking

  her.

  The noise of the bar became nothing but a hum, a background drone swarming around her while Sebastian’s gaze compelled her forward. She found herself leaning against the bar and into his personal space, space she wanted to crawl into as desperately as she wanted to pull him into her body.

  Thank goodness Cali’s timing was what it was because she came to the rescue, sliding to a stop beside Erin and banging her serving tray down on the bar. “I’ve had it with those two. I’ve totally had it. I swear, Erin. You’re going to have to get another server to cover that table.”