by Lori Foster
“No. If everyone’s present, and I suspect by the low roar that they are, there’s ten, maybe twelve total. It only seems like more because a portion of them are kids. Noisy kids.” She dropped her hands and glared at him. She seemed totally oblivious to the fact that her body was bared. Tony, still retaining a death grip on the doorknob in case anyone tried to open it, reached over to cup her with his free hand. She jerked.
“Tony.”
How her voice could change from cold and angry to soft and pleading so quickly, he didn’t know. “One small taste, Olivia, okay? Then I can sort the rest of this out.”
She didn’t appear to understand, which was probably the only reason she didn’t protest.
Tony shook his head, then bent down and slowly drew his tongue around her nipple. She gasped, and he gently sucked her into his mouth, holding her captive with his teeth. Her flesh was hot and sweet and her nipple was so taut it pained him. He licked his tongue over her, flicking, teasing, making her nipple strain even more. When she moaned, he suckled, holding her close to his body.
Olivia’s hands settled in his hair just as a discreet knock sounded on the door. “You might as well come in, Tony. I sent the kids into the kitchen for some punch.”
Tony cursed, dropped his forehead to Olivia’s chest, then felt himself rudely pushed aside as she frantically tried to right her bra and button herself up. “Calm down, Olivia, it’s all right.”
From the other side of the door, he heard his brother say, “Yeah, Olivia. It’s all right. We’re glad you’re here for the party.”
Tony growled. “Go away, John!”
“All right. But I’ll be back in two minutes if you don’t present yourself. Both of you.”
Now that she was decently covered, Olivia sent her gaze searching around the garage, and Tony realized she was hoping to find a means of escape. “Forget it. They won’t let me leave, therefore, you’re stuck, too.”
“But you don’t want this,” she wailed, her hands twisting together at her waist. “This is your family, Tony, part of your private life, and I don’t want to intrude. We both agreed I wouldn’t intrude.”
Tony sighed, knowing she was right, but also accepting the inevitable. “I’ll find some way to throw my family off the scent. Just play it cool. As far as they need to know, we’re business associates and nothing more.”
Olivia’s look told him how stupid she thought that idea was. “Play it cool? After what they saw us doing?” She shook her head. “No. I’m not going in there.”
“Olivia…”
“They saw us!”
He shrugged. “It’s none of their damn business. If anyone gets impertinent with you, tell them to bug off. Or better still, just tell me, and I’ll handle them.”
She didn’t look at all convinced, and Tony touched her face. “I’ve seen you at work, lady. You can easily handle a few curious relatives. You’re a shark, remember? Now pull yourself together.”
She drew a deep breath and gave an uncertain nod. Tony dropped his gaze to her mouth, then had to swallow a curse. His fingertips slid over her lower lip. “Do you have any idea how frustrated I am right now? How badly I’m hurting?”
Olivia seemed to regain some of her aplomb. “No more than I am, I assume. After all, this was my idea. You, as I recall, were very reluctant to agree.”
“I was an idiot.” He turned to the door again. “I suppose I can suffer through a few hours. How long can a family birthday party last anyway?”
*
OLIVIA TRIED FOR a serene smile as Tony’s family lined up to meet her. Tony waited until he had everyone’s attention, then said with astounding sincerity, “Everyone, this is Olivia Anderson. She’s a business associate. She owns the lingerie shops Sugar and Spice in the hotels, and today we were working on finalizing the placement of one more.”
Olivia held her breath, but no one called him on the obvious cover-up. Then Tony began pointing out people, too many of them for Olivia to keep straight, though she was usually very good with names and faces. The men seemed inclined to leave her be, their interest caught by a football game someone had turned on. Other than a wave in her direction when Tony introduced her, and a few ribald comments to Tony and the kind of business he conducted, they stayed on or near the family-room couch and the large-screen television.
The women, however, hovered. They were anxious to talk to her, and Tony, with little more than an apologetic glance, abandoned her when the men called him to watch a play. Sue, Tony’s mother, invited her to join the women and children in the kitchen.
To Olivia’s surprise, no one was the least bit unpleasant, despite what had happened. “I’m sorry if we’ve upset your plans,” Sue said. “Tony, of course, didn’t know we’d planned a party. And we didn’t know Tony had made other arrangements.”
Tony’s sister, Kate, and sister-in-law, Lisa, both chuckled. Kate said, “If you could have seen his face! Well, we certainly did surprise him.”
Olivia couldn’t help but smile. Both women were very adept at keeping busy in the kitchen, and dodging the kids who ran in and out. “It was rather awkward.”
Lisa laughed. “For us, too. Of course, John is just like Tony, and never lets a chance go by to goad his brother.”
“And they both goad me. Endlessly!” Kate shook her head. “But now I have enough ammunition to twit Tony for a good month.”
Olivia decided, even though their comments weren’t malicious, it was time to change the subject. She didn’t want to have to explain her business with Tony. “Could I help you do something?”
Sue was arranging ham slices on a platter, Kate was putting glasses and napkins on a tray, and Lisa was trying to balance a tiny infant in one arm and dish up potato salad with the other. She turned with a relieved smile when Olivia made her offer.
“If you wouldn’t mind holding the baby, that would be a big help.”
Olivia balked. “I, uh, how about I help with the food instead? I’ve never held an infant before.”
“Piece of cake, believe me. And he’s such a good baby, he won’t give you any problems.”
Before Olivia could form another denial, the baby was nestled in her arms. His mother had wrapped him in a soft blue blanket, and other than one tiny hand and a small, pink face, the child was completely covered. Olivia cuddled him carefully when he squirmed, settling himself with a small sigh that parted his pursed lips and made Olivia smile.
She felt a pain in her chest that had nothing to do with physical ailments and everything to do with a breaking heart.
One by one, the women left the kitchen to carry the trays into the dining room, and Olivia welcomed the privacy. She couldn’t recall ever holding such a small baby before, and her curiosity was extreme. She carefully pushed the blanket back from the baby’s head, then rubbed her cheek against his crown. So soft, she thought, wondering at the silky cap of hair. And the scents. Never had she smelled anything so sweet, so touching, as a baby. She wanted to breathe his scent all day. She had her nose close to him, gently nuzzling him, when Tony walked in.
“What are you doing?”
Olivia jerked at the alarm in his tone. She didn’t have time to answer him, though, not that she would have told him she was smelling the baby. Lisa came back in then and thanked her. “I’ll put him in his crib now that the other kids are all sitting down to eat. I worry when they’re all running around that they’ll wake him up. You know how kids are.”
Olivia didn’t know, but she could see Tony hadn’t liked her holding the baby. Lisa left the room, and Tony whispered, “Do you think it’s a good idea for you to do that?”
Olivia knew exactly what he meant. He was concerned she’d start wanting a baby herself if she held one. She could have told him it was too late for that worry, that it didn’t matter. She could want forever and never get what she wished. At least, she couldn’t get a baby. Now passion, it seemed Tony was ready to give her that in huge doses. What she’d felt during the ride and in his garage�
�� It was almost everything she’d ever wanted with a man. Everything but the real emotion. Everything but love.
It angered her that he was pushing her and worrying about something that would never be, but she held in her words of resentment and instead, she shrugged. “Would you have rather I’d refused? What excuse would I give?”
He tunneled his fingers through his hair, then looked toward the dining room. “Come on. They’re waiting for me to eat.”
“This is going to be impossible, isn’t it, Tony?”
“No. Everything’s fine.”
He didn’t sound at all convincing, and Olivia had to wonder if John or Kate had already been teasing him. When they entered the dining room, Olivia looked around. She hadn’t had the chance to actually see the inside of Tony’s house, but now that she could look, she wasn’t at all surprised. Everything, every dish, every piece of furniture, the wallpaper, all showed excellent taste, but without the blatant stamp of wealth. Tony never flaunted his financial success, and other than the size of the sprawling house, it showed only a sense of comfort and functional ease.
The house was very open. Each room seemed to flow into the next, and there were windows everywhere. The furniture was all highly polished mahogany. As little Maggie, who Olivia guessed to be around three, walked to her seat with one hand on the buffet, she left small smudge marks in her wake. Tony only scooped her up and tossed her in the air. The little girl giggled, wrapped her pudgy arms around Tony’s neck and planted a very wet kiss on the side of his nose. He pretended to chew on her belly, then sat her in her booster seat and took his own chair next to Olivia. The rest of the children yelled for his attention.
The pain in her chest intensified.
She so desperately wanted this one sumptuous, sensuous affair. The whole purpose was to help her fill a void, because her life was destined to be a lonely one, without children and without a man who loved her. But she was getting more than she bargained for. She hadn’t wanted to be shown all she was missing, to find more voids, to have firsthand knowledge of what could never be hers.
As she watched Tony laugh and play with the children, she knew it was too late for her. Perhaps this would yet turn out to be the wild fling she’d anticipated, but it would also leave her lonelier than ever before.
Dinner was a wonderful, riotous affair with children laughing, grown-ups talking and food being continuously resupplied. The kids quickly realized Olivia was a new face and, therefore, easy to entertain. Despite her growing melancholy, she laughed at their antics, listened to their stories, and when one child came over and tugged on her skirt, she didn’t even flinch over the stain left behind. The child wanted to be lifted, and Olivia obliged. But the small hand was still holding her skirt, and when the child went up, so did her hem.
She hurried to right herself, pushing her skirt back down. But it was obvious everyone had seen the top of her stocking and the paler strip of flesh on her upper thigh. John grinned, Lisa gave him a playful smack to keep him from speaking, and Sue quickly began talking about Christmas shopping.
Olivia glanced at Tony and saw he had his eyes closed, looking close to prayer. Despite his brother’s chuckles, it took him a few moments to collect his control. And then he sent Olivia a smile that made promises and threats at the same time.
After that, Tony did his best to deflect the kids from her. Olivia understood his reasoning, but no one else did. And all in all, everyone accepted her. They attempted to make her a part of their family, and for the short while it could last, Olivia loved it. Every few minutes, someone stood to check on the sleeping infant, whose crib they could see in the family room through the archway. The men took more turns than the women did, and Olivia saw that Tony, more than anyone, was interested in peeking in on the little one.
Olivia was being smothered by the sense of familial camaraderie. As welcoming as they all were, she felt like an interloper. And when she spied the pile of gaily wrapped birthday presents in the corner, she knew she couldn’t stay.
She excused herself, asking directions to the powder room, then quickly located a phone. It happened to be in Tony’s bedroom, or so she assumed judging from the open closet door and the lingering scent of his cologne…and his body. Again, she found herself breathing deeply, then shook her head and forced her mind to clear. She perched on the side of the bed to call for a cab.
She was still sitting there minutes later when Tony found her.
CHAPTER FOUR
TONY SLIPPED INTO the room and quietly closed the door. Olivia looked up and their gazes touched, hers wide, his narrowed. He crossed his arms over his chest and kept his voice very low. “Hiding?”
“What do you think?”
“No. I don’t think you’d hide. So what are you doing?”
Olivia came to her feet, feeling like a fool, like a sneaky fool. But she refused to be intimidated. “I called a cab. I think it’s past time I went home.”
Tony didn’t say anything at first, just leaned back against the door. Then he closed his eyes and groaned. “You’re going to make me wait another day, aren’t you, Olivia?”
Her heartbeat jumped at the husky way he said that, and at the restrained hunger she heard in his tone. “This…this isn’t the right time, Tony. You know that. Right now, I feel equal parts ridiculous and embarrassed.”
His gaze pinned her, hot and intent. “I could make you forget your hesitation real fast, honey.”
I’ll just bet you could. It wasn’t easy, but Olivia shook her head. “If I leave now, they might not suspect anything—”
“Olivia, they saw me kissing your breast. I think they’re already a bit suspicious.”
She felt the blood pound in her veins, but kept her gaze steady. “You weren’t kissing my breast.”
“I wanted to be.”
Olivia curled her hands into fists and tried to calm her breathing. “They might decide that was just a temporary loss of control if I leave now. If I stay until they’re all gone, they’ll assume we’re spending the night together, and that’s what we wanted to avoid.” She gentled her tone and asked, “No speculation, no gossip. No scandals. Remember?”
“Yeah, but—”
A knock sounded at the door, and John’s jovial voice called out, “Everything okay in there?”
Tony closed his eyes, a look of annoyance etched in his features. “I’m going to kill him.”
Olivia thought she might help.
“We’ll be out in just a second, John. And if you dare knock on the damn door again, I’m going to knock on you.”
“Hey! I just wanted to tell you they’re ready to cut the cake.”
“So you told me. Now disappear, will you?”
Olivia rubbed her forehead, knowing she’d fumbled again, that she’d only made matters worse. Good grief, Tony’s brother was fetching them from the bedroom. “How that man produced such a beautiful, sweet baby, I don’t know.”
To her surprise, Tony laughed. “John’s all right. Believe me, if he understood the situation, he wouldn’t be hassling me.”
“No?”
Tony slowly shook his head, then went to her and pulled her against his chest. “No. He’d be sympathetic as hell.” He tilted her head back and growled, “I want you, Olivia.”
Her stomach curled at his words. “Tomorrow?”
Tony placed damp kisses across her cheek, her throat. He touched the corner of her mouth with his tongue. “Early? You’re not going to make me wait until evening, are you?”
Olivia thought she might agree to anything with him stroking her back and kissing her so softly. “Where?”
“Hell, I don’t know. But I’ll think of something before morning, okay? I’ll pick you up. About ten o’clock?”
“That’ll be fine.” She forced herself to forget how sensual and romantic everything seemed with Tony, and to concentrate on their purpose. She had to keep in mind that this was temporary, that Tony didn’t really want her, not for keeps. He only wanted to use her, jus
t as she would use him. “I don’t want you to worry, Tony. We still have time. I’m supposed to be very fertile for the next couple of days.”
She’d barely finished with the words before he was giving her a real kiss, his tongue moving against her own, his teeth nipping. It was a kiss meant to last her through the night. Unfortunately she could still feel the heat in her cheeks when she was forced to walk back into the dining room. She was grateful that the lights had been turned out, and the candles on the cake were lit. She saw John standing by the light switch and knew he was responsible for the darkness. John gave Tony a wink, and Olivia decided he might not be so bad after all.
Kate’s two girls, Angie and Allison, ages four and five, fought over who could sing the loudest during the requisite “Happy Birthday,” and John’s son, six-year-old Luke, wanted to cut and serve the cake. Though Olivia explained that she had to leave, they all insisted she eat a piece of cake first and enjoy a scoop of ice cream. Olivia couldn’t remember the last time she’d had, or attended, a birthday party. It might have been fun today if she’d actually been a part of it, rather than a reluctant intruder.
She didn’t want anyone to know she’d called a cab. She thought it might seem less awkward if everyone thought she was driving herself home, so she had her coat on and her purse in her hand when she saw the cab’s lights coming down the long driveway. To her surprise, the kids all wanted to give her hugs goodbye, the parents all uttered enthusiastic wishes to see her again soon, and to her chagrin, Tony’s mother invited her to Thanksgiving dinner. Olivia muttered a lame, “Thank you, but I’ll have to see,” along with something about a busy schedule, and then she rushed out the door, wanting only to escape the onslaught of emotions. Tony caught her on the last step of the porch.
“I’m sorry, Olivia. I know this wasn’t easy for you.” He glanced at the cab and cursed. “I should be driving you home.”
“I don’t mind the cab, Tony, and you can’t very well leave your own birthday party.”