“Okay. Lead on.”
His eyes sparkle as he raises our joined hands to his mouth, brushing his lips over my knuckles. The action leaves me slightly breathless as I feel another piece of my heart being taken hostage by him.
“Thank you.”
“For what?” I ask, my voice humming with need. I know he hears it—he would have to be stupid not to. And I realize I don’t care.
“For spending the day with me.”
Warmth spreads through me, leaving me slightly lightheaded. I nod as he pulls my hand and settles it in the crook of his arm. Sexy Harry was dangerous. This warm and sexy Harry…he might just be the death of my resistance.
Chapter Nine
After taking our time to walk through the public areas of the winery, we opt to go to a local restaurant Bree suggested. It’s just a fifteen-minute drive from the winery itself. On our way there, EJ changes out of her tennis shoes and slips on her sandals again. It’s a simple task, but kind of intimate. And, I can see her toes again. Which makes me think I might be a little sicker than I thought previously. I’ve never been the kind of guy who was into feet. But apparently, if it is a body part attached to EJ, I’m into it. That should send up alarms, but it doesn’t.
“Harry?”
I glance up at her. “Huh?”
“The light’s green.”
I look up just as the car behind me blares a horn. I thank god I grew my beard so she can’t see me blush. I hit the gas and drive through the intersection. Then it hits me, she came prepared.
“So, you had an idea we might walk around the winery?”
She shrugged and I wish I could see her eyes. She had put her sunglasses on again and I miss making eye contact.
“I like to be prepared.”
“You sound like you’re embarrassed by that,” I say as the restaurant comes into view on our right.
“No, it’s just that while your sister is good at being a nurse, she sort of just bops through life. Same thing for Savannah, although, I think for her it’s a waste of time to plan anything.”
“How do you mean?”
“She has no personal time. Other than Austin, the rest of her family sees her as some kind of workhorse.”
EJ was probably right about that. The youngest and most talented of the family, Savannah ran not only their most popular restaurant, La Trinidad, but also oversaw all the other restaurants the family owned.
“But you like to plan?”
She nods. “I hate being caught unprepared.”
I pull into a parking space and turn the car off. I glance over at her. “I hate to say it, but I think that’s another thing we have in common.”
She sighs. “I know we have some things in common, Harry. It’s…you like to control things.”
I do, to a point. But that’s what I was trying to show her today. I can let the lady lead me around, especially when that woman is EJ. I find her utterly fascinating.
She slips out of the car and I follow her. It’s crowded but we get seated right away in a small booth that overlooks the farm behind it. After we place our orders, I sit back and stare at her. I don’t think I’ve ever been this into a woman before. It’s one of the reasons I feel off kilter, but I’m learning to go along for the ride.
“So, to continue, I want to know about this control you say I need.”
She chuckled. “You’re proving my point.”
I frown. “Really. I just want to know if this is insurmountable.” She says nothing but plays with the stem of her water glass. “Please.”
Her gaze shoots to mine. “It’s not every day things I worry about, Harry. It’s in the bedroom.”
The moment she says it, I get the image of her hands tied to my headboard, her legs spread, her need dripping from her pussy and the scent of it filling the air around us. I’m instantly harder than a fucking rock, going from easy arousal to having not one ounce of blood in my brain.
The stupid waiter shows up with our wine and some bread. I can’t even thank the guy because of that whole no blood in my brain thing. EJ thanks him though and gives the man a smile.
“Harry, are you okay?”
I swallow, trying to get my body back under control. Fuck me. I grab my water—not sure if I can handle wine right now—and down the entire glass. I’m sitting in a crowded restaurant with a hard-on to end all hard-ons. I don’t know what about EJ makes me this insane, but…she just does.
She’s still looking at me with concern in her bluish-green gaze. “No, not really.”
“Do we need to go?”
I draw in a long, deep breath, then release it slowly as I try to think of things to get my dick under control. “Give me a second.”
She rolls her eyes. “There you go, trying to control things.”’
I lean forward and even that hurts. I curl my finger. She hesitates—she is always going to test me, and I know that—and finally leans forward. I lower my voice before I talk.
“You better be happy for my control right now because it’s the only thing keeping me from dragging you from the booth and out of this restaurant so I can fuck you until we both forget our names.”
She blinks, then her cheeks turn the most delicious shade of pink. “Harry.”
“Yeah? Tell me you want to go, and we will go. Or you can give me a second to get myself back in check.”
For a second, I wonder if she is thinking about taking me up on my offer. She closes her eyes and draws in a deep breath, causing her breasts to rise above the fabric of her dress. Then, she opens them again, the fire back under control.
“I’ll behave.”
“Oh, I don’t mind misbehaving, Elliana. Just…I’ve only gotten a taste of these lips,” I say, dragging my thumb over her lower lip. When another blush steals over her cheeks, I know she understands what other lips I am talking about.
She nods and pulls back, as I do. It takes a couple minutes as I pull myself back from the edge. I draw in a deep breath and look at her.
“Sorry about that.”
Her mouth twitches. “Really? I’m not.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Is there a woman alive who would be upset with that? I mean…” her voice trails off.
“What?”
She glances around the restaurant, then her gaze rests on me. “Let’s just talk about this later, okay?”
“That might be a good idea.”
She nods.
“Then, tell me your plans for the Day of the Dead celebration.”
“I want to do a celebration of Hispanic writers and stories with Hispanic characters.”
Of course, she does. Other people would do something paranormal, but EJ knows that there is more to the Día de La Muertos celebration than dead people and ghosts. It celebrates the lives of loved ones and their impact in everyone’s life. Remembering them, more like a Memorial Day for your ancestors. And EJ would get that. She would want to honor the true meaning of the holiday.
“What’s that look?” she asks as she eyes me with suspicion.
“Nothing. I should have known you’d do something like that.”
“What?”
I shake my head.
“Tell me.”
“You’re just amazing. I know that you see it as part of your job, but you know how to honor others. I’ve seen it when you do other holiday celebrations.”
The sweetest blush steals over her and this time, it warms my heart.
“Harry.”
“Elliana.”
She chuckles as the waiter returns with our entrees. Once we have a chance to dig into our food, I start feeling a little better. I guess part of my problem was the lack of protein. The steak in my salad is cooked perfectly and gives me a boost I didn’t realize I needed.
“So, what kind of treats did you want to offer?”
“I was thinking of the tres leches cupcake Ed makes. Oh, and the margarita cupcake.”
I know that’s her favorite. “He should just name t
hat one the EJ. Or better, the Elliana.”
She rolls her eyes. “Ed only named the Allison because he was in love with her.”
I open my mouth, then snap it shut. What was I about to say? That it made sense since I was falling in love with Elliana?
Shit. Too fast. She’s a sexy woman I’ve wanted for months. That’s all. I can’t be falling in love with her. I never even slept with the woman. It’s just been that kiss the other night…
Fuck me. Am I falling in love with her? I’ve never really been in love so I’m not sure how it should feel. Well, not in love in this stage of my life. There was puppy love, and a few dalliances while I was in the military, but I know that I have never been in that over-my-head kind of love. If this is it, I don’t ever want to deal with it. I feel…out of control. That’s unacceptable.
“Harry, are you okay?”
Her voice pulls me back from the edge. I blink and she comes into focus. I should run the other way, just take off and not look back. She’s a ripple in my perfectly calm world. Fuck me. Wait, did I already say that?
“You’re scaring me, Bradley.”
I blink again and get myself under control. The concern in her eyes softens any thoughts of running the other direction. It leaves me feeling warm…comforted. That’s something I never thought I’d feel with EJ. But it’s there, sliding through me, washing away all that anxiety that had just been taking over my entire body.
I shake my head. “No worries. Why don’t you tell me about some of your other plans?”
She gave me another long look before she starts talking about her ideas for the events.
* * *
It’s after six by the time we make it back to her apartment. I walk her to her door, trying to come up with a reason to extend this date. It’s been a long day, but it seems to have gone by in a blur. A happy blur, but it feels like it just started. We get to her door and she unlocks it. After opening the door, she walks in and then looks over her shoulder at me.
“You coming in for a drink?”
I can’t answer her because right now, she’s looking over her shoulder at me, her hair is a little bit messed up from the strong Texas winds, and lord, she’s stunning. From the top of her red head all the way down to her purple toenails.
“Harry?”
“Yeah,” I say, stepping into her apartment and closing the door behind me.
“I can put together a little something to snack on. I know we had lunch but that was several hours ago.”
I nod, just to go along with her. She smiles and sets her purse down. She’s already taken off her shoes and she’s barefoot. She has the most beautiful feet. Arched. Her toe nails are always painted. I don’t have a foot fetish, but damn her feet are pretty.
“Is there something wrong?” she asks.
I shake my head and let my gaze roam up her body. How have I not lost consciousness from lack of blood in my brain?
“Not really.”
She cocks an eyebrow. “Really? You’re standing there staring at my feet and you’ve barely said a word in the last ten minutes. Actually, closer to twenty.”
I draw in a deep breath and take in her scent. It’s insane because she’s halfway across the room from me, but I can smell her. That sweet magnolia scent that clings to her flesh no matter what. That and musky, sexy woman. It’s unique to her.
“I’ve been trying to keep from saying some things that might have you running the other direction.”
“I’m not a wilting flower.”
“Yeah, I know that.” I’ve never met a stronger woman, other than maybe my sister and mother. EJ is a different kind of strong. Steel backbone wrapped in velvet, covered in sugar. The woman can take anyone down if she wants to, but she does it with sass and dignity. And I want that. Well, not to be taken down, but I want to have a woman like her. To know what it’s like to channel that strength.
“What have you been thinking about? More along the lines of what you said at lunch?”
“I wish it were that simple.”
“It is.”
“It’s complicated.”
“Everything is, depending on how you look at it.”
I study her for a long time and take a step closer. “And how do you look at us, Elliana?”
She takes a step closer and she’s now within grabbing distance. I slip an arm around her waist and pull her closer to me.
“Can’t we just enjoy each other, Harry?”
“Yeah…if you want that.”
“I do. But, first, I want you to tell me what you’ve been thinking about.”
Her hands are on my chest, her pussy is against my groin, and I can do nothing else but tell her the truth. I dip my head closer and nibble on her earlobe.
“I want to take you to bed,” I say, my voice just above a whisper. “I want to strip all those clothes off you, then I want to taste every loving inch of your body. I want to lick your nipples, tease them, tempt you. Then, I want to bury my face between your legs and eat that sweet little pussy of yours. After that, I want to sink my dick so far inside you, we lose track of time. I want to spend a week doing that, nothing but that, but I would settle for just tonight to start off with.”
I pull back. Her eyes are dilated and she’s breathing faster. Her pulse hammers in her throat and every time she takes a breath, her breasts press into my chest.
“So, Elliana, what do you say?”
Chapter Ten
My brain sputters, my heart almost explodes, and my entire body is a burning mass of lust. It didn’t take much. Just Harry talking dirty to me is my trigger switch. I would have never pegged him as a dirty talker—and I do like a dirty talker. So, when a man who never has a hair out of place, always seems to do the right thing, and seems so strait-laced, talks like that, it sounds dirtier. God. And now that I’ve heard those things, I can’t stop thinking about them and how I want him to do them to me. Because hearing them makes me want things that I just shouldn’t have. Can’t have. He’s a man who would require too much of me.
“Harry,” I say, my brain finally able to send the messages to my mouth. Not great because that’s the only word I could come up with. This close I can see the golden rim around each of his irises, and God, I can smell him. The night air still clings to him but that is understandable. If I had the pleasure of encompassing his body, I would definitely be ready to get on board for as long as possible.
That thought has me pulling back. Mentally and physically. As I said, I would know what he would want, and I am not willing to give him that.
“What’s that look?” he asks. The timber of his voice rolls over the words and sends a shiver down my spine. For a woman who grew up in the south, I’ve never really been into the accent. Give me a New Yorker any day of the week and I melt. At least that’s before Harry entered my life again. His slow Texas twang has me curling my toes against the carpet. I’ve been imagining how it would sound when he came, the way he would groan my name.
Bless the sweet Baby Jesus.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to mix business and pleasure.”
He cups my face with both hands so I can’t look away from the intense focus of his gaze. He sees too much. I’m not shallow, but I like my men easy and definitely ready for a good time. And when it’s over, we have fond memories. Harry would want too much. I can see it there in the depths of his gaze. He would demand more—more than I would ever willingly hand over to a man.
“I think you need to try another excuse, Elliana. That one would mean more if need didn’t drip from every word.”
Dammit. I hate that when he says my first name I want to dissolve into a puddle of goo on the floor. He made it sound like some kind of order like he just did, my panties always end up damp. I hate bossy men, but with Harry, it’s different. I want to do anything he tells me to do—as long as it ends up with his cock in my pussy.
“What do you mean?” I ask. Lord, what happened to my voice? My accent has deepened, my tone is throatier
.
He still has my face in his hands, and it should be awkward, but it isn’t. Instead, it’s kind of sexy…fuck. I shouldn’t be this turned on by a man telling me what to do, directing the conversation.
“I mean I know you slept with one of your distributors.”
I blink thinking back to the super sexy Dennis. He had been charming and utterly impossible to resist. Unfortunately, I’ve found myself bored with men the last few months and did not take him up on his offer. “I did not.”
His lips flattened and his eyes grew dark. “I know you went out with him.”
I need to step back, away from him…away from temptation. I do that, shaking myself free of his hold.
“Just because I go out with a man doesn’t mean I sleep with him. You should know that better than anyone. I’m not as easy as you seem to think I am.”
His face flushes in anger, or is it embarrassment? Maybe both. I don’t know but what I do know is if I don’t get him out of my apartment, I will lose the fight for sanity. Then, we will both have to deal with the consequences.
“I…” He settles his hands on his hips and takes in a deep breath.
“What?”
He takes another deep breath and releases it before he looks at me. There in his expression I see it. The stark need I feel in my soul. It’s hard to explain to anyone—hell, I don’t understand why I would want this man when I shouldn’t. He’s bossy and all encompassing. I don’t like that. Letting a man control your life left you ruined when he eventually left. And one thing all James women understood was that men always leave.
“I can’t stop thinking about you. Every day. Every night. I’ve given up dating because every time I go out with a woman, I’m worried the same thing is going to happen that happened with Tara. I can’t keep doing that to women.”
I know he’s talking about calling out my name. “Why not? Other guys do shit like that all the time.”
His frown darkens. “That would make me an asshole. I might be a lot of other things, but I don’t treat women like that. My mother raised me better than that.”
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