* * *
“How are the trees going?” Laurel Grimes asked Allison over the phone at seven o’clock Sunday evening.
“Good,” she fibbed, although that wasn’t quite true, since neither one was entirely finished yet. Worse, she was later than promised, packing up, to go back over to Sarabeth and Shawn’s to help Cade get the girls ready for bed and tucked in. Simultaneously working and babysitting was harder than she’d thought it would be.
“Jennifer Moore has already turned hers in, and I have to tell you, they’re both gorgeous. The one in her loft is eighteen feet tall.”
Allison rubbed at the tension in her temples. “Are you trying to discourage me?”
“No,” Laurel soothed. “I just want to know you’re giving it everything you’ve got.”
“I am.” The doorbell rang. She looked at the door and saw Cade through the glass windows that framed both sides of the portal. “Listen, I’ve got to go, but I promise I’ll have everything posted before nine o’clock tomorrow morning.”
Laurel Grimes paused, as if able to sense how overwhelmed Allison felt. “That’s wonderful to hear, because we’re counting on you.”
Allison rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I know, Laurel, and I appreciate the opportunity to vie for this position. I promise I won’t disappoint.” She hung up as the doorbell rang again.
“Coming!” She raced to get it. Cade stood on the porch. No one on either side of him. He did, however, have a to-go bag from the Cowgirl Café in hand.
Her joy at seeing him was tempered by concern. “Where are the girls?”
He was quick to reassure her. “At their house. Being babysat by my sisters Jillian, Faith and MacKenzie. I thought you might need some help.”
More like the kind of emotional support only he could give. She bit her lip, ushering him in. “I do. And I don’t.”
He slanted her a glance. “What does that mean?”
Suddenly feeling unutterably fragile, she sighed, once again aware how cozy and domestic this all felt. “It means yes, I could use your help, if you were an interior designer. But—” she drew a bolstering breath “—I am supposed to be doing this the way a single woman likely would, which is all by herself.” And not with the help of one very sexy, very attentive man. No matter how much she liked having him here to seduce and distract her.
“Ah.” He came near enough that she could feel his body heat. His gaze roved her face. “Back to the solo feminine perfection you’ve become famous for.”
Ignoring the melting sensation in her tummy, she acknowledged just as sassily, “Yes. Back to that.”
Laugh lines appeared at the corners of his eyes. “Does your brand allow you to eat dinner?”
Generally? “If it’s quick.”
He handed over the bag of takeout, his fingers brushing hers. “Quick as your favorite southwestern chicken salad.”
Her mouth watered.
The problem was, it had been such a long day and eating would make her sleepy. She couldn’t afford to nod off. Not for another four or five hours yet, minimum. “Thank you,” she said, putting it in the fridge. “I’ll eat it later.”
In the meantime, she appreciated his moral support. Not everyone would understand why she was running herself ragged to pursue a career in the big time. But Cade did.
He took in her tree, with its sparkling white lights, light blue glass ornaments, silver snowflakes and stars, and crystal medallions. “Wow. This is pretty.”
Remembering all the times she had cheered him on in his career, happy he was now doing so for her, Allison returned to his side and surveyed the project with a professional eye. She yearned to take a time-out with him. A long, luxurious time-out. “It’s not quite finished yet...”
He seemed stunned by her critique. “What’s lacking?”
Her need to lean on him, just for a little while, increased by leaps and bounds. “A white chiffon tree skirt and a glass star tree topper.” Both of which were nearby.
“I see.”
She warmed at his lazy once-over.
His broad shoulders relaxed. “Well, I like it.”
“Do you?” she bantered back. She would have assumed he would be more traditional.
“Mmm-hmm.” He took her by the hand and drew her against his hard masculine length, so they were pressed up against each other in one long, tensile line. He gazed at her lips. “In fact, I like a lot of things...”
Sensation shimmered through her. His lower half tautened, too. Not sure she would be able to resist him much longer, she gave in to impulse and taunted softly, “Mighty confident, aren’t you?”
He brushed the hair away from her face. The kind of tenderness she’d always had trouble resisting radiating in his gaze, he nodded. “Oh, yeah.”
Even professional athletes took breaks to recharge, midgame. Maybe this moment should be her seventh-inning stretch...
It could be part of her plan. A way to achieve her goal...
They were grown-ups, after all.
They could make love while still refuting the possibility of anything more.
In fact, Allison mused, maybe they’d even prefer it this way.
“The question is,” she whispered, temptation running rampant inside her, “should you be that confident?”
Chapter Ten
Cade studied Allison’s upturned face. Her lips were softly parted; her eyes were a glorious dark green. Her hair had been put into a messy knot on the back of her head, with strands escaping to curve against her pink sculpted cheeks. In that instant, she looked as if she wanted nothing more than to be kissed, and damn it all if he didn’t want to kiss her, too.
His earlier decision to take everything nice and slow abandoned, he wrapped his arms around her waist and tugged her close. “Let’s find out, shall we?” he growled, bending his head.
She rose up on tiptoe and pressed her breasts to his chest. Her eyes dreamy, she lifted her lips to his. “Let’s...”
The single softly spoken word was all the encouragement he needed. He lowered his mouth to hers. She smelled like an intoxicating blend of wintergreen, jasmine and woman. And she tasted just as sweet, her soft kiss as compelling as he remembered. Her body yielding. Not quite in surrender, but in something...
Wanting to make her his again, he slid a hand down her spine and back up again. He felt her melt against him a little more. Satisfaction roared through him, mingling with the excitement and the anticipation. Tunneling his hands through her hair, he worked to deepen the kiss. Again and again, until she leaned all the way in and ardently explored his lips in return.
Resolving to make her realize just how much they could have, if she gave him the opportunity, he slipped his hands beneath her shirt. Then, running his thumbs over the crests of her breasts, savoring the feel of her in his arms, he let her know with every kiss and caress how much he wanted to be there for her now. How much he cared.
Determined to give her all the pleasure she deserved, he backed her purposefully to the wall, unbuttoning and unzipping as they went. His palms and fingertips eased beneath the cloth and made a leisurely tour of her delectable body. “Damn, but I’ve missed you, Allison,” he rasped.
“Right back at you, slugger,” she moaned with a soft sigh of acquiescence, trembling when he found the sensitive place between her thighs. Desire shot through him, and he moved his mouth to her breasts, nibbling and sucking through the lace of her bra. Her skin grew hot, and her eyes darkened with lust, as lower still, the satin of her panties grew damp.
He loved her like this. All soft and womanly. Rocking against him. So restless and open to everything, so willing to let him take the lead.
Wedging his knee between her legs, he brought one leg up, so she could ride his thigh. She writhed against him, rubbing, seeking, her tongue tangling with his. Her breath caught even more as he found her cen
ter, remembering all too well exactly what she liked, stroking her and finding the wet, velvety heat. Quivering, her hands found the waistband of his jeans, his zipper, then slid inside to cup him. Another thing he loved about her. She wasn’t shy about letting him know how much she wanted him, too. “Upstairs?” he murmured, wary that if they stayed where they were, doing what they were, it might all go by too fast.
Her eyes glimmered as she regarded him breathlessly. Seeming to remember that when he was with her, he liked to really take his time.
The flush of excitement in her cheeks deepened. She smiled mischievously. “Bed sounds really good about now...”
He chuckled and let her take him by the hand and go up to the second floor. Half the size of the first, it was divided into three large rooms. A bedroom with a queen-sized bed and gorgeous silk chaise. An en suite bathroom with a luxurious shower, claw-foot soaking tub, mirrored sink and sit-down vanity. And, last but not least, a closet decked out to resemble a small high-end boutique.
“Wow,” he said. She had done well for herself. Better than he could have imagined.
Allison had wanted to impress Cade. Wanted him to know just how well she had done on her own. That, unlike before, when she’d thought the only way they could ever be together was if they were madly in love and destined for a forever future with each other, she knew now she could live in the moment. At least with him.
Because the moment was safer.
It had no heavy implications.
And could carry them both through the otherwise incredibly lonesome holidays...
“Think of it as my lab,” she quipped, determined to keep this light and easy, no matter what her still-humming body craved. Wanting to make it clear she knew exactly what she was doing here, she guided him back to her bedroom and over to her bed.
He regarded her like a man who always got what he wanted. And what he wanted right now was her.
“I could go for that.”
Heart pounding and nipples tightening, she reached for the buttons on his shirt. The trouble was, she wanted him, too. Had from the first moment he had shown up and teased her into paying attention to him again. “I knew it wouldn’t be long before you got into the game,” she taunted him right back, resolved to stay in full control of the passion flowing unchecked between them.
“Ah. Baseball metaphors.” He stripped down to just his boxer briefs. And there was no doubt how much he desired her. “Darlin’, you do aim to please.”
Allison kept her gaze high and ignored the racing of her heart. Wow, he sure looked good. All hard sinew and satiny skin.
“And be pleased in return.” Remembering how much he liked her hair loose and sexy, she released it from the knot on the back of her head.
He grinned as she let it fall about her shoulders. Sauntered closer still. And then his lips were on hers, drawing her in, and she was as lost in him as she had ever been.
Allison knew passion alone couldn’t hold a couple together. But tonight, the red-hot lust they felt was what was bringing her and Cade back to each other, at least as friends with occasional benefits, and right now, she needed that.
Needed him.
No one had ever made her feel the way he did. Or ever would. So why not give herself an early Christmas present and let down her guard? Forget all the reasons that had been keeping them apart. And still might. And just go for the real happiness that had been eluding her during the eight long years they’d been apart...
Together, they tumbled down onto her bed. She gasped as he tugged her to the edge of the mattress and dropped down between her spread knees. He eased off her jeans. Hooked his thumbs in her panties, drew them down, then off, burying his face in the most feminine part of her.
“Cade...” She caught his head, quivering now.
“Shh...” he whispered, running his thumb along the delicate seam. “I have a lot to finish here.”
She laughed softly as he dropped gentle kisses, determined to help her find the release she sought. Unable to help herself, she gave him full rein, her body responding with a tidal wave of lust, all her inhibitions and worries floating away. And still he stroked the silky nub and eased inside her, letting the fluttering of his tongue entice her to open for him even more. Until there was no more pretending that she wasn’t falling for him all over again, no more holding back, and she came apart in his hands.
He held her until the aftershocks passed. Pausing only long enough to grab the condom he carried in his wallet, he claimed her once again. Sliding between her thighs. Lifting her hips. Kissing her even as he eased inside her. Making her realize just how badly she had wanted to make love with him again.
Lost in the pleasure, she shut her eyes and let him kiss her senseless. Going deeper, slower still. His hips pressing down on hers, he took her masterfully and the climax she’d felt earlier came roaring back. She rose to meet him, savoring his heat and his hardness. Trembled and clenched around him. He dived deep. A cry of exultation rose in her throat. And then there was no more holding back. She surrendered to him the way she always had. With fierce abandon and incredible need, they catapulted into mind-bending pleasure.
Afterward, they lay wrapped in each other’s arms. As much as Allison wanted to pretend they could stay locked in this erotic fantasy forever, she knew they couldn’t. Aware she wasn’t anywhere near as in control of this situation as she’d wanted to be, she forced herself to shake off the delicious sense of well-being that came from such an earth-shattering release. Looked at the clock beside her bed. Groaned. “Nine o’clock. I’ve got to get moving.”
He rose, too. All confident male. “What can I do to help?”
Mischief glimmering in her eyes, she gestured at his abundant sex and shimmied into her red satin panties and matching lace-trimmed bra. “Not distract me?”
“Seriously.” He sighed, his body as ready for more as hers was.
“I am serious.” She reached for her corduroy shirt and slid her arms through the sleeves. “If you stay here, all half-naked, I’m not going to want to do anything but climb right back in bed with you.” An act that would tempt her to make this into more than the strictly physical release it had been.
She had done that once with him.
Entered into a relationship that was ill-fated from the beginning. She was not doing it again. No matter how sentimental she felt during the Christmas holidays.
* * *
Cade had sensed Allison’s emotional withdrawal coming, long before she eased from the bed and began to dress. Even when they’d been together, she’d had a wall around her heart. Kept in place for all sorts of reasons, the least of which was her refusal to truly let herself depend on anyone.
“And I still have so much to do,” she continued with a brisk smile.
Wanting this to end well, he began to dress, too. “I thought you just had two things to add to the tree downstairs,” he said companionably.
She surreptitiously watched him pull on his boxer briefs. When he caught her admiring his physique, a faint blush highlighted her cheeks. “But I haven’t done the short explanatory video that goes with every post yet.” She went into the bathroom and emerged, still blushing as she ran a brush through her hair.
Glad she wasn’t as immune to what had just transpired between them as she pretended to be, he pulled on his jeans. “I thought those were only a couple of minutes.”
She handed him his shirt. “Yes, but I have to look perfect.”
He let his gaze rove her love-tousled state. “Trust me, there is nothing not to like about you right now.” From her glowing skin, bright eyes and rosy lips...she was gorgeous.
She studied him incredulously. “You want me to do the video just like this?”
“I do.” It would be one more way to remember this night.
Her eyes were dark and unwavering on his. “Okay. Sure.” She put on the jeans and w
ool socks she’d been wearing when he arrived. “Let’s go.” She tugged on her boots and he followed her downstairs.
Abruptly all business, she added the tree topper and skirt, then switched on the video camera with a timer that had already been set up on a tripod. While he watched, she went through the basics of tree decorating for single women. Finishing with, “The most important thing to remember here is the only person you have to please is you. Until next time, merry holiday season!” She smiled into the camera a long moment, then made a slashing motion in front of her face. “Cut.”
“That was great,” he said admiringly. “Absolutely perfect in one take.” She looked amazing, too. Not so much like the uptight perfectionist from My Cottage Life, but the Allison of old. The Allison he had fallen hard for. And kept right on wanting, for the last eight years...
Oblivious to his thoughts, she said, “I’ve been doing how-to videos a long time.”
“How many have you made?” he asked curiously.
“Over a thousand.”
She really was ambitious. “Are they all available on your website?”
“No. I edited out the ones that weren’t perfect.”
Of course she had.
She looked yearningly at the fridge, where she’d put the grilled chicken salad he’d picked up for her.
He crossed to her side. “Want to take a dinner break?”
She splayed her hands across his chest, holding him at bay. “Um. Not yet.”
He wondered when she would allow herself to eat. “You want to head for Sarabeth and Shawn’s to finish the other tree?”
Looking thoughtful, Allison nodded. “I need to pack up my video camera and stuff first, though. So why don’t you go ahead and I’ll meet you there?”
* * *
Although Allison had said she was good with their lovemaking, Cade could see the inner conflict reflected on her face. She might not want to say it, but she was probably already wondering if their return to physical intimacy had been a step in the wrong direction. He was wondering that, too. He had wanted her to be sure of his feelings for her before they made love again, so she would know deep in her heart and her soul that she could trust him not to hurt or neglect her this time around. But she’d wanted him and he’d wanted her, and it had felt right, so they’d gone with it. And now, predictably, she was having second thoughts about the wisdom of their actions.
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