There had to be some rules somewhere about wedding-planning etiquette... If not, maybe that should be her next book. Rule number one: don’t sleep with anyone who could potentially destroy the wedding.
His free hand rested on her knee below the water and a second later started creeping up on her wet thigh. “Scott...what are you doing?”
“You really are a plan girl, aren’t you? Okay, here’s the plan,” he whispered against her ear before placing several more kisses along her exposed neck.
Her body screamed for more as her mind came up with a million reasons to put an end to things. She couldn’t possibly be doing this with him, yet here she was, waiting to hear his plan.
“First, I’m going to kiss you...just a tempting little kiss to shut off that overactive mind...” He placed a soft kiss on her neck, demonstrating his point. “Then I’m going to lift you out of this tub and carry you into my home over there...” He nodded toward the loft cabin she’d noticed at the other end of the lodge. “Then I’m going to remove this bikini—” he tangled his fingers in the tie on the back “—and then...” He paused, his breath warm against her ear.
She swallowed hard. Then what? A shiver of anticipation danced down her spine, and her body ached with desire, the product of pure stupidity and raw animal instinct. “Scott...” she said when he remained silent. “Then what?”
He tilted her chin upward, forcing her to look into his eyes. “Do you really want to know?”
She was nodding despite her better judgment.
He released her and took a step back. “Too bad. I don’t have mind-blowing sex with women I’m doing business with,” he said, placing his hands on the edge of the tub and climbing out.
Her cheeks flamed as she struggled to calm her thundering pulse and shaky knees. Damn him. “You have no idea what mind-blowing sex even is,” she said, forcing her tone to be cool and distant, desperate to hide the effect he’d had on her—a little too late.
“Guess you’ll never know. Have a good evening, Ms. Hartley,” he said, grabbing his clothes and a towel as he walked away in his underwear.
* * *
DAMN. WHAT THE HELL had he done? Hiding his hard-on beneath his towel, he made his way to his cabin and hurried inside. His teasing had been meant to further irritate Kate, not torture the shit out of himself.
But damn, she was the sexiest woman he’d ever wanted to dislike. His initial attraction to her in his truck had been put on ice when he’d discovered who she was and what she wanted, but seeing her in the hot tub, all business complications had gone out the window...until that smart mouth of hers had egged him on. She was getting what she wanted.
And what did he get? A semi-hard-on and a view of her climbing out of the hot tub in that too-small bikini that put her perfect, voluptuous curves on display. He couldn’t look away as she wrapped a towel around her body, blocking his view, and slid her feet into a pair of spa flip-flops.
He ran a hand through his hair as she disappeared inside the lodge.
He’d been messing with her, and she’d actually shocked him with her cautious willingness. She hadn’t slapped him for the advance or tried to drown him when he’d kissed her neck.
That beautiful, long neck...
His thickness grew in his wet boxer briefs.
Would she have allowed him to follow through with what he’d told her? She’d certainly been interested in hearing more...
Well, damn, if the woman wanted more—he’d give her more. Show her that he knew exactly what mind-blowing sex was.
He pulled on a clean shirt and left his room through the interior door. Heading for the front desk, he was relieved to see Cameron wasn’t there as he checked the reservation system. Kate Hartley—room 305. Straight on to the elevators, he stabbed the button, and less than a minute later, he was outside her door.
He hesitated, but his cock refused to allow him to turn away now. He knocked on the door.
The look of shock he’d anticipated wasn’t on her face when she opened it a second later. No, the look on her face was desire, lust, relief and something else he couldn’t quite determine. “Took you long enough,” she said.
Damn her. Stalking into the room, he kicked the door closed and gripped her waist, pulling her into his chest. Her towel fell to the floor, revealing that she’d removed the bikini.
And was now naked. He took a step back as his eyes skimmed her body. He loved the fact that she didn’t try to reach for the towel, made no move to cover herself up. Just stood there within his grasp, fully exposed and sexy as hell. “You really are infuriating,” he grumbled, bending to scoop her into his arms.
“And you’re a pain in the ass,” she said.
Dropping her onto the plush duvet on her bed, he fell on top of her and crushed that smart mouth with his. His damp clothes stuck to him as he traced his tongue along her bottom lip. Her lips parted, allowing him entry.
Her lack of hesitancy, her confidence in herself and what she wanted made his desire for her grow. She was beautiful, smart, fiery and sexy as hell...and lying there completely naked, waiting for him to deliver on his promise.
His body tensed as he broke their kiss. Suddenly his own confidence waned. Could he deliver? To her standard? Obviously, Kate Hartley accepted only the best...
She reached for his shirt and struggled to lift it over his head. The look in her eyes when she saw his bare chest and stomach increased his confidence a little. Standing, he quickly removed his wet shorts and tossed them aside, knowing his already hard cock wouldn’t disappoint, either.
She grinned as she crawled backward, higher onto the bed, lying back against the pillows. She crooked a finger toward him, and he covered her body with his once more. “You really don’t see a problem with this?” he asked, kicking himself for possibly putting doubt in her mind.
“Oh, yeah, this complicates the hell out of things,” she said, pulling him down on top of her and trailing her nails down his back. “But only if we let it.”
He nodded. She was right. It was just sex. They could be professional after this. Go back to fulfilling their own agendas. Sex didn’t have to make things awkward between two people...
So he was justifying. His body was screaming to be inside this woman, and the way she pressed her breasts against him and opened her legs wide to wrap around him told him she was feeling the same way.
“But this is just sex, right?” He had to be sure they were on the same page.
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry. I promise I won’t fall in love with you.”
Good enough.
Placing his forearms on the pillow beside her head, he deepened the kiss, his tongue tangling with hers, his lips pressed against her soft, delicious mouth. The scents of eucalyptus and jasmine lingered on her damp skin and in the wet strands of hair on the pillow. She clutched his shoulders, answering his passion with her own, and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been caught in a whirlwind make-out session with a stranger.
Too long.
He felt dizzy when he broke away and rolled them so that she was on top. He wanted to appreciate the view of her body as she straddled him. Her slim, toned, amazingly enticing body. Trailing his hands down from her shoulders, he cupped her breasts as she rocked back and forth against his cock. Her eagerness for him and the unconcealed pleasure she was getting from grinding against him brought him so close to the edge. She moaned softly as she pressed herself ever harder against him, the friction causing him to thicken even more. “You are far too sexy to be so irritating,” he said, digging his fingers into her ass.
She laughed. “I hear that a lot.”
Her laugh echoed in his heart, and he moved his hands to her waist, forcing her even harder onto him, increasing her back-and-forth pace against his throbbing cock. Why was he finding it so hard to resist her? He h
ad sex. A lot.
Okay, maybe not as often as he had before the plane crash, but he certainly wasn’t living a celibate life. Yet his body ached for her in a way he hadn’t felt in a long time. The desire to be inside her was overwhelming. “Do you have a condom?”
She paused, staring down at him. “I didn’t even pack clothes. I jumped in my SUV and headed straight here after you hung up on me.”
“Always so impulsive?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Isn’t it obvious?” she asked.
“Well, I didn’t think to bring one.” Honestly, even in his Tarzan plight to claim her, he hadn’t actually thought they’d be going through with this.
She rested her hands against his chest as she swung her leg over him and sat next to him on the bed. “Gift shop?” she asked, slightly out of breath, her eyes taking in the effect her gyration had had on him.
“Too far away,” he said sitting up and pulling her knees out from under her. Spreading her legs on the bed, he lowered his body between them. Placing his hands on her inner thighs, he ran them upward to touch her. She was wet and welcoming. So ready for him. Damn. Maybe they needed to start stocking the resort rooms with condoms.
Kissing the inside of her right thigh, he forced slow, deep breaths. Kissing her left thigh, he forced himself to think about anything other than her gorgeous body in front of him. Baseball stats. Football plays...anything to try to slow the blood racing to the lower half of his body, but when his mouth found her folds and he tasted the slightly salty wetness there, he nearly came on the spot.
She moaned and repeated his name as he slid a finger inside her. Continuing to lick and tease her clit, he circled his finger, applying pressure in all the right places. Pleasing a woman had never been hard for him. He loved the sounds they made when things felt just right. Craved the feeling of their thighs clenching and their interior muscles tightening around him.
He was going to come just from the feel of the blankets beneath his cock.
He squeezed her upper thigh with his free hand as he plunged two more fingers into her body and sucked on her clit, resisting the temptation to bite the arousing bud.
“Oh, Scott, I’m coming,” Kate said, bending her knees and placing her hands on the back of his head, holding his mouth in place.
She didn’t need to worry. He wasn’t stopping until he felt her throb with pleasure and heard the moan of release escape her lips.
A second later, he was rewarded with both. Her legs trembled on either side of him as he gently eased his mouth away from her and removed his fingers. “Mind-blowing enough for you?” he asked, wiping his lips as he climbed higher on the bed.
She reached up to cup his face and pulled him in for a kiss. Then, breaking away, she grinned as she pushed him back onto the bed. “Let me show you mind-blowing,” she said, tossing her hair to one side and straddling him so that he had a perfect view of her naked ass as she lowered her mouth to his erect cock, pulsating with anticipation of her warm, wet mouth.
He tangled his hands in the sheets as her tongue gently flicked across the top of him, then circled the length of him. Up and down. Up and down. Torturously slow. She wasn’t touching any other part of him, and his body was going wild with the need to feel her hands on his balls and her mouth wrapped around him, swallowing his full erection. “Kate, touch me,” he croaked, taking her right hand and placing it around the base of his cock.
The moment she squeezed, he could feel precome escape the top, and she quickly suckled it away.
He swallowed hard as her mouth finally closed down over him and she began sucking slow, deep, purposeful while her hand slid up and down, following the motion of her mouth.
Opening his eyes, he leaned his head forward to stare between her thighs, watching her take him in her mouth. So fucking sexy. She was smiling and embracing the act hungrily, eagerly.
Holy shit, it was a turn-on.
He was throbbing so hard, he wasn’t going to last. Gripping her sexy ass cheeks, he held on tight as he pushed his hips higher, forcing himself deeper into her mouth. “Kate, I’m going to come.” Like, now. It was a late warning, but she didn’t back off. Instead, she sucked harder and twirled her tongue frantically around his tip as he felt himself explode.
The bed swirled beneath him as his body shuddered in release. “Fuck, Kate.”
She climbed off him and lay next to him on the bed. “See? That’s how you do it.”
He reached for her and immediately crushed her sexy little mouth with his own, still enjoying the sensations of release.
That’s how you do it, indeed.
* * *
HER SEXIEST REGRET still lay sprawled across the hotel room bed, snoring softly, as she put on her boots. The man could obviously sleep through anything. She’d showered, dressed and dried her hair, and yet he hadn’t stirred. She’d been surprised when he’d stayed the night, especially since they hadn’t repeated the mistake. Instead, he’d held her and instantly fallen into a deep sleep.
She stared at him now, knowing she should feel relief that she wouldn’t have to face him the next morning, but she’d been hoping for...what?
She sighed. She’d get another round with him soon enough, if he insisted on being her contact for the wedding planning. She hoped most of the arrangements wouldn’t involve him. And she’d be doing just about everything from her office in LA. So she wouldn’t have to see him again for at least a month.
Of course she’d see him at the wedding. And all the prewedding lead-up...and while overseeing the decorating and setup.
Heat rushed through her at the thought of him in a tuxedo. Maybe they could bookend their affair with another—better prepared—all-night sex session.
Sliding her arms into her jacket, she lifted her hair over the collar and peeked outside. The bright, early morning sun shone over the mountains and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Frost still covered everything on the deck, but at least it wasn’t snow. She’d take her time and make her way carefully back to safe, dry roads.
Pausing by the bed, she looked at Scott. Should she wake him? She glanced at the clock. She didn’t have to rush back to LA.
She shook her head. The night before had been impulsive, spontaneous and exactly what she’d needed. There would be no way to recapture the same intense, caution-to-the-wind experience with him again that morning.
Instead, she picked up a piece of paper and a resort pen and left him a note. Then, grinning, she slipped out of the room quietly, wishing she could be a fly on the wall once he woke up and read it.
5
“KATE, YOU HAVE a call on line one,” Janet said over the intercom the following afternoon.
“Please take a message.” She paused. “Unless it’s one of the Kardashians...”
“It’s not.”
“Well, then I’m busy,” she said, hating to ignore the call. She needed all the business she could get, but this last-minute wedding from hell was going to demand all of her time that month if she had any hope of pulling off a five-star wedding for the A-list couple.
While dealing with their arrogant, cocky roadblock of a relative.
Who’d given her the best orgasm she’d had...probably forever. The way his mouth and hands had expertly explored her body, making her shiver with anticipation and desire, had been exactly what she’d needed to ease the tension of the day. Of course, he’d never know that.
“It’s Hayley,” Janet said.
Kate still hesitated. A week before, she’d been hounding her future sister-in-law—four months engaged and happily in love—to make a decision about her own wedding plans, encouraging her to do it soon. Kate was desperate to plan her brother’s wedding and be done with it. Every time she saw her brother and Hayley, the reminder of how they’d met in Maui the week of her own wedding taunted her. At lea
st something good had come out of that disaster, she reminded herself, reaching for the phone. “Hi, Hayley.”
The sound of wind in the background was a dead giveaway that she was on speakerphone in Hayley’s convertible. “Good news. Chase and I set a date.”
Kate held her breath. Say next year, say next year... A Christmas wedding could work, even...nothing sooner.
“We want a fall wedding,” she said.
Crap. Early December was still technically fall, right? “Like November, Decemberish?”
Hayley laughed. “No one gets married in November. No, we were thinking late September, once the weather starts to get cooler.”
Five months. They’d need to decide on invites and a guest list that week to make that timeline work. Looking at her long to-do list for the Sheffield-Dillon wedding, she shook her head. “No way...sorry, Hayley, that’s too soon. I just landed that big account I told you about, and they want a Memorial Day wedding in Big Bear.” She rested her head in her hand on the desk, ignoring the voice saying she was never going to pull this off. She forced a breath. They had a venue. That was the biggest hurdle.
An image of Scott’s naked body flashed in her mind. A big, sexy hurdle, one she’d crossed...straddled...kissed... She swallowed hard.
“Brr—Big Bear? Really?”
“Tell me about it. Anyway, can we maybe think about a winter wedding?”
“No problem at all,” Hayley answered quickly and a little too chirpily.
Kate sighed. What was she doing? There was no way she could ask Hayley and Chase to push back their wedding. They were family. Besides, her brother was already panicking that Hayley would pull a Cooper at the last minute. After all, she was a divorce attorney whose own parents’ divorce had wrecked her dreams of happily-ever-after. She’d never wanted to get married until she’d met Chase. Her quick agreement to delaying the wedding wasn’t promising. “Actually, no, you know what—we can make this happen. September, it is...”
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