And before she could catch her next breath, he leaned forward, flattened his hand in the center of her back to draw her closer, and captured her lips in his.
The first thought that came to Courtney’s mind while she was capable of thinking was that she had never been kissed this way before. So indecently wicked, earth-shatteringly hot, and so incredibly passionate. There were kisses—and there were kisses. He was clearly defining the difference. And the moment his tongue entered her mouth, she felt intense heat that fired through her veins. Every bone in her ached, and she actually heard herself moaning in his mouth. Slowly, methodically, thoroughly, he was making love to her mouth, using his tongue to claim every area he stroked.
She thought he had impeccable control while she was standing there losing it, burning up with a hunger she’d known nothing about until now. And just when she thought she couldn’t take any more, he released her mouth and stepped back. But not before taking one last sumptuous lick of her lips.
“I’ll call you.”
His words, a sensuous promise, touched her in areas of her body she preferred they didn’t. She was about to ask where he’d gotten her phone number when she remembered they had exchanged business cards earlier at dinner. “All right.” Those were the only words she was composed enough to say.
He opened the car door for her, and she was too dazed to do anything else but slide inside while he watched her. She started the engine, and he closed the door and stepped back. And when she drove away, she glanced in her rearview mirror and saw him still standing there. She inhaled, thinking she had gotten maximum pleasure from that kiss. But then she really shouldn’t be surprised. Lake Masters was one hell of a man. One who didn’t do anything by half measures. One who got whatever he wanted.
And he’d said that he wanted her.
14
“Peggy, it’s good seeing you again.”
Peggy glanced up at the man towering over her and giving her a warm smile. “It’s good seeing you again, as well, Willie.”
She was trying her best to downplay the pleasure flowing through her. When Toni first told her of the dinner party, she had rebelled and had even considered not coming. But she had wanted to come, had wanted to see him.
Allowing time to get her heartbeat back on track, Peggy glanced around the spacious living room and quickly discovered Toni hadn’t been quite honest with her. She had made it seem this would be a dinner party of more than just four people. It was obvious to Peggy that her friend was up to something.
“And how are things going at the office?”
Peggy looked up at him, and all the feelings she promised herself never to have toward another man were threatening to come out. If only he wasn’t so good looking. There was something about him that made her feel comfortable to the point where she had a tendency to put her guard down. He’d had that sort of an effect on her from the first. “Everything is going fine,” she said, taking another sip of her wine. “Have you been to McDonald’s lately?”
He threw his head back and laughed. “No, unfortunately I haven’t.”
At that moment both Toni and John, who’d declared earlier that preparing dinner was a joint affair, came from the kitchen to announce everything was ready.
Although she felt comfortable around Willie—would even go so far as to admit to the physical attraction she was trying to downplay—she really hadn’t realized just how much she liked him until dinner was over. It was easy to see that both John and Toni liked him, as well, which was a plus, since she valued their opinions. But it was Willie’s personality that constantly won her over.
The man was a class act without even trying. It seemed second nature for him to be kind, caring, and compassionate. And she recalled just what a wonderful conservationist he was.
“So what about it, Peggy?”
It was then that she realized Willie had spoken to her. “I’m sorry, what was the question?” she asked, smiling, feeling foolish for having been caught inattentive.
He returned her smile. “I told John and Toni that I would love to go to Disney World on my next visit to Orlando, and Toni suggested we go as a foursome. What about it?”
It hit Peggy that he was asking her out on a date. She didn’t know whether her heart should dance in joy or cry in despair. She had married Joe right out of college, and they had been married for thirty-two years when he’d asked for a divorce. She remembered that day perfectly, since it had been on their daughter’s thirtieth birthday They had taken Sonya out to dinner to celebrate, and when they’d returned home, Joe had asked her for the divorce. It hadn’t taken her long to find out the other woman was someone younger than their daughter, someone he had hired as a temporary office assistant when his regular assistant had been out for six weeks on medical leave.
“Peggy?”
She met Willie’s gaze and knew that John and Toni were waiting on her response, as well. Fighting back the memories of the pain she’d endured with Joe, she smiled and said, “I think it’s a wonderful idea.”
She quickly looked across the table and caught Toni’s eyes and saw a mixture of relief and happiness shining in their crystalline blue depths. She automatically returned Toni’s smile. They both knew she had taken a huge step forward.
Although it was still fairly early, Courtney booted down her laptop, deciding to call it a night. The pharmaceutical company she worked for was launching a new drug, and there was a ton of information she had to become familiar with. In a few weeks, she would be attending a launch meeting in New York.
Earlier that day, she had dropped by her parents’ home. She’d wanted to see them before they left for their two weeks in Hawaii. Her mother was simply ecstatic about the trip, and to Courtney’s surprise, her father seem to be gung-ho about it, as well. This was the first time they’d planned a trip together in years. She wondered if perhaps she’d made a mistake. Maybe her parents could work out their problems and save their marriage.
She got up from her desk and headed for the kitchen. She paused at the huge vase of cut flowers she had set on the dining table yesterday when they arrived from Lake. It had been quite a surprise to receive them. She hadn’t seen or heard from him since their dinner date on Saturday night. Twice she had started to call him to thank him for the flowers, but then she had remembered his promise that he would call her.
She also recalled the comment he’d made about how he preferred being the one who sought out a woman and not the other way around. In no way did she want to send him the wrong message that she was running behind him. The last thing she wanted to do was to give the man any ideas. He had enough already, thank you. If she heard from him again, that was fine, and if she didn’t, that was fine, too.
Frankly, the latter wouldn’t be fine, she thought as she headed toward her bathroom to take a shower. She would only be lying to herself to claim otherwise. Whether she liked it or not, Lake Masters had made an impression on her feminine senses. And every time she thought about the kiss they had shared, a sensuous heat flooded her body.
Moments later she stepped into the shower stall, hoping the warm rush of water that cascaded over her body would wash away all her thoughts of Lake. Fat chance! The only thing washing over her were more memories. She remembered how at dinner he had been so solicitous to her every need, so attentive to her every word.
Now it was her time to find out everything she could about him other than the little facts he had shared with her. She wanted to delve into his life like he’d delved into hers. When she’d gotten the flowers, she’d been tempted to call Brandy to find out what she could about him. Hadn’t he basically done the same thing about her with Devin? But something had held her back. She was satisfied in thinking that she would find out what she needed to know on her own when the time came.
Less than thirty minutes later, she had toweled dry and slipped into the spandex nightshirt her aunt Peggy had given her on her last birthday. She had turned twenty-nine that day and had commented to Sonya that she’d
felt her biological clock beginning to tick. Now here she was looking thirty real close in the face, and there was something else ticking inside her—overworked hormones. At the moment there was nothing to do but ignore them. But she blamed all her newfound lusty thoughts on one man.
She made her rounds, checking to make sure all the doors were locked and that the security alarm system was set when her phone rang. Thinking it was probably Vickie calling her back, she picked up and said, “Yes, and what I can do for you?”
There was a slight pause, and then a masculine voice said, “Is it possible for me to give you a list?”
Lake’s deep voice sent everything woman inside Courtney into overdrive. Shivers touched her, and all she had to do was close her eyes to recall muscular arms and chest, a hard, firm abdomen, and powerful lean hips that looked good in whatever clothes he was wearing.
She paused a second to catch her breath, get a grip, and convince herself that Lake Masters was only a man. But then, what a man. Older. Mature. Sexy. She took a deep breath to calm her achy, racing heart. Exhaling, she tried saying in a teasing tone, “A list, hmm? I hope you know I’ll be checking it twice.”
His chuckle was rich when he said, “If you’re trying to find out if I’m naughty or nice, don’t bother. I’ll admit to being both. I’m naughty and I’m nice.”
Sudden images of a naughty Lake Masters torpedoed through her brain, almost causing her to moan out loud. Something within her stirred, relaxed, and then stirred again. You didn’t have to be the most perceptive person in the world to figure out she was going through one hell of a hormonal meltdown. She had just finished taking a shower, was feeling cool and calm before his call. Now heat radiated off her bare skin, making her nightshirt almost sensitive against it. She’d dated a lot of men in her lifetime, some she could have written off even before her door closed behind them. But she had a feeling Lake Masters wasn’t one she would forget any time soon. If ever.
“Thanks for the flowers,” she decided to say, steering the conversation to safer ground.
“You’re welcome. I saw them and immediately thought of you.”
She glanced over at the beautiful arrangement. “In what way?”
“Colorful, vibrant, and beautiful. And like you I thought they would brighten up an entire room. Do they?”
His words touched her. “Thanks, and yes, they brighten up the room.”
“I’m glad. So, when can I see you again?”
Courtney knew she was playing with fire when she asked, “And when do you want to see me?”
“As soon as I can.”
It was almost on the tip of her tongue to remind him, although he might be eager to see her now, he had let four days pass without bothering to contact her.
As if he had the ability to read her thoughts, he said, “I didn’t call because I wanted to give you space. Didn’t want to crowd you. But I thought about you every single day, minute, hour.”
That was a lot of thinking, she wanted to say. She wanted to believe a man, any man, but particularly this man, could have her on his mind that much. She wanted to believe him, wanted to be convinced he was more than a figment of her imagination and that although he seemed too good to be true, he really was true. But she’d learned to operate on the side of caution. She never took anything at face value. The first real boyfriend she’d had while in college had trampled her pride, broke her heart. It hadn’t left her bitter, just wary.
“Courtney?”
She cleared her throat. “Yes?”
“I want to see you again.”
The fingers holding the phone trembled. And she became starkly aware that if he was a man on the prowl, then she was a woman who wanted to get caught. But … within reason. She needed to get to know him. She wanted to get to know him. “And I want to see you again, too, Lake.”
“Okay, then, how about tomorrow night?”
“Tomorrow night is fine,” she said, almost stumbling over the words from the excitement flooding through her.
“Will it be okay if I come to your home and pick you up?”
“Yes, that will be okay,” she said, thinking of his bigger-than-life persona and fine-as-a-dime body standing in her living room, sitting on her sofa … lying in her bed.
“What’s the address?”
She rattled off her address, while everything feminine rattled off inside her. She swore she could smell his warm, masculine scent over the phone lines.
“Where would you like to go?”
She appreciated him asking, but she didn’t have a clue. “Doesn’t matter.” And truly it didn’t, just as long as she was with him, enjoying his company, ogling his body.
“We’ll do dinner then take in a movie, perhaps.”
Perhaps. She had a feeling she would enjoy any movie with him a lot better than she had enjoyed one with Solomon Wise. “That sounds nice.”
“And I’m going to make sure that it is. You’ll get the nice side of me tomorrow. I’ll save the naughty side until later.”
She took that as a promise. “All right.”
“Good night, Courtney.”
“Good night, Lake.”
“Pleasant dreams.”
He’d said the words almost in a whisper, making the knot that had formed in her stomach tighten. She wanted to end the call, but then she didn’t want to end the call. His voice alone had the ability to seduce her. She knew he wouldn’t hang up until she did, so she fought back temptation to stay on the line and proceeded to slip the phone back into its cradle.
She sighed deeply while pushing her hands through her hair, frowning thoughtfully. No matter how much sex appeal Lake had, she had to keep her guard up. She couldn’t let him tear it down. There was still a lot about him she didn’t know, and she refused to assume anything. She knew he claimed to want to be a part of her future, but as far as she was concerned, it was just another line until she was convinced he was the real deal.
And more than anything, she hoped to God that he was.
15
“Good evening, Courtney. You look great.”
Courtney could barely pay attention to Lake’s compliment, too busy thinking of one she could give him. Standing in her doorway, he looked even more handsome than before, oozing sexiness from every angle. She quickly remembered how she had struggled through the evening the last time they were together, trying to keep her mind off him and all the ways he was making her feel. But just from looking at him now, she knew she would have another fight on her hands tonight. Her gaze immediately latched on to his mouth and saw the fullness of his lips curve into a smile. It was a smile that was already doing things to her. A smile that had her pulse jumping erratically.
She drew in a deep breath and forced herself to say, “Thank you, and you look nice, too.” And that, she thought, was putting it mildly. “Would you like to come in and have a drink before we leave?”
“Yes, thanks.”
She stepped back as Lake moved forward. When he reached the middle of the room, he stopped and glanced around, and she couldn’t help wondering what he was thinking.
The thought that was running through Lake’s mind at that moment was that instead of them going out, he would much prefer if they stayed in and got to know each other up close and as personal as a couple can get. He wished he would have suggested that but knew it would not have been a good idea for a second date. He had to work his way up to reaching that goal, only after proving his worthiness. And he would.
“Like you, your home is beautiful,” he said, meaning every word. He once described her as colorful, vibrant, and beautiful, and he felt the same would extend to everything she owned. This particular room was no exception. He had been in advertising long enough to know top quality when he saw it. And it was here, surrounding him, in the richness of her mahogany furniture. Her taste, it appeared, leaned more on the modern and traditional, with a couple of Queen Anne pieces thrown into the mix to provide a different style. One of grace and elegance.
&
nbsp; “Thanks for the compliment. What would you like to drink?” she asked, coming to stand in front of him.
“A glass of wine would be nice,” he said, as his gaze drifted over her black printed skirt, off-white colored blouse, and sandals. She looked hot. Sexy. Today her hair was up, away from her face, which only gave him more of her beautiful features to look at.
“Then a glass of wine is what you’ll get,” she said, smiling. “Excuse me for a moment. Feel free to take a tour if you’d like. This place is small but is perfect for my needs.”
And then she walked off and he watched, feeling a fiery tingle stirring in his gut with every step she took. Her back view was astounding. The shape of her rear end almost had his hands getting clammy. And then there were those long shapely legs, her small waist, and those nice sensuous curves.
Damn. The explosive chemistry between them was back. In truth, it had never left. He was getting aroused and thought the best thing to do was to move. She had invited him to take a tour of her home, and now was the time to do it. He needed something other than taking Courtney to bed to weigh on his mind.
He moved around her condo, going from room to room, and the more he saw, the more he liked. He could tell that she wasn’t a person who liked clutter. Neither was he. He liked order. Even in his life. Especially in his life. He didn’t like chaos. Detested drama and preferred staying away from it.
He headed back toward her living room, thinking that his hardest moment had been when he’d walked into her bedroom, seen her huge bed, and pictured her sleeping in it alone. And then he had imagined her sleeping in it with him. His body had ignited, as if lit by a torch, at the mere thought of tangling with her between the sheets, making love to her in a way a man made love to the woman who he considered his soul mate. The flowers he’d sent were in her bedroom on a table not far from her bed. She had mentioned earlier that she had moved them from the dining room to take full advantage of the sun coming through a bedroom window. Did she think of him whenever she saw them? He hoped so.
Her Little Black Book Page 12