Sex, Lies And Mistletoe

by Tawny Weber

  Trying to study his body language without being obvious, Pandora bit her lip. Other than the slightly scary look in his eyes, he seemed totally relaxed. Did that mean he was out of a job, or just looking for something else before he left? And did it matter? It wasn’t as if she needed to see his résumé. This was a one-night, prove-the-aphrodisiacs-work and have-great-sex fling.

  So change the subject.

  “Are you going to the big party tomorrow night at your father’s motorcycle shop?” she asked.

  His smile fell away, his shoulders tensed up. His body language had gone from friendly to unfathomable in less than a heartbeat. Her fault. She knew there were issues with him and his father. So she should have known that bringing him up wouldn’t be a great conversation starter.

  Wasn’t she the hostess with the mostest.

  “No.”

  Awkward.

  Crazy with curiosity but not wanting to ruin the evening by asking more uncomfortable questions, Pandora was grateful when the oven timer went off.

  “Please, make yourself comfortable,” she invited as she hurried toward the safety of the food.

  “I thought you’d be staying at Cassiopeia’s place,” Caleb said as he followed her into the kitchen.

  Payback? She gave him an arch look over her shoulder, trying not to grin. Gotta love a guy who knew how to get revenge without drawing blood.

  “Oh, no,” she said, laughing a little at the idea of staying in her mother’s. It would be like staying on a movie set. Nobody who knew Cassiopeia ever had to ask if she believed in the woo-woo. She lived it, right down to the celestial designs on her carpet.

  Pandora pulled the roasted asparagus from the oven and set it on the stove top, then turned back to Caleb.

  “No. My mother’s house is too crowded for me. She collects as much stuff there as she does in the store, plus there are always people in and out when she’s home. Even now, with me just stopping by to collect her mail and water the plants, they pop in hoping for a reading or chat. I think it drives her nearest neighbor, the mayor, a little crazy.”

  Caleb flashed a quick grin as he handed her a bottle of wine. She glanced at the label and raised her brows. Pricey.

  “I forgot my aunt had moved.”

  “Haven’t you been to see her yet? I hear she throws a huge holiday open house. Is that next weekend? Someone was saying that your dad never goes, but you probably will, right?” Busy setting the mushroom caps and oysters Rockefeller on a serving plate, it took her a few seconds to pick up on the sudden tension in Caleb.

  She’d done it again.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable by bringing up your father.” She met his eyes. He didn’t look uncomfortable anymore, though. More like…intrigued.

  “Don’t worry about it. If I had a problem talking about Tobias, I’d say so.”

  “Okay,” she said slowly. Except that he didn’t talk about his father. Or his family at all. Despite the tension and hurt she saw in his face, she had to know more. Was desperate to understand more about Caleb Black. So she quirked a brow and continued, “Although I haven’t seen her since I moved back, or since she became mayor for that matter, I do remember your aunt. I’m not sure she’s a fan of my mother’s, though. Mom said the week after she moved in, Her Honor raised the fence height in her backyard and instructed the gardener to plant a hedge between the houses.”

  Caleb snickered.

  “Aunt Cynthia is a hard-ass all right,” he agreed. “It must drive her insane having a free spirit like your mom next door. Probably afraid people will think she and Cassiopeia are having wild parties in the hot tub after dark.”

  Pandora laughed, her nerves over the evening starting to fade as he pulled out a chair and got comfortable. She held up the bottle of wine in question, and when he nodded, got him a glass from the counter.

  “I guess you’ve worked really hard to distance yourself from your dad,” she said as she poured.

  “It wasn’t hard. I just had to move out of Black Oak and his sphere of influence.”

  “Smart,” she complimented. Then, honesty forced her to admit, “Tobias comes into the store and the café pretty regularly. Having a parent with an, um, forceful personality myself, I can understand how it’d be challenging to live with such a strong person. But I have to admit, I do like him.”

  She didn’t add the bit of gossip she’d heard earlier that day, that Tobias had hooked up with that nasty piece of work, Lilah Gomez. Telling a man his dad was dating someone younger than him was hardly dinnertime conversation.

  “Most people like Tobias,” Caleb said with a shrug. “He’s got a way with the charm.”

  “Like father like son?” She smiled, handing him the glass of wine.

  “You’re kidding, right?” Caleb shook his head, obviously not seeing himself as a charmer. “I was a disappointment on that score. Maya’s got a way about her, that’s for sure. But Gabriel got the bulk of the charm. Me, I got the short end of that particular stick.”

  Pandora wanted to tell him just how appealing rough edges could be, but took a sip of her wine instead. Then she gathered her nerve and lifted the platter filled with the promise of sexual nirvana.

  “Speaking of sticks and their length,” she said with her naughtiest smile, “I have your proof here. If you’d care to give it a try?”

  Caleb swore he felt the energy in the room shift. Friendly good humor changed to a sexual thrum in the blink of Pandora’s hazel eyes.

  Not that he minded, but there had been something nice in that friendliness. He didn’t think he’d ever been friends with a woman. Coworker, acquaintance, lover. That was about it.

  But, hey. He’d be an idiot to complain about stepping over to the sexy side. And a bigger idiot to regret having her take away something he hadn’t even realized he might want to enjoy a little longer.

  “Proof, huh?” he challenged as he took an appetizer from the tray and inspected it. “Looks like any other stuffed mushroom. How’s this proof?”

  “Mushrooms and sausage together are a strong aphrodisiac,” she assured him before she bit into one herself.

  Caleb had his doubts, but he had just enough of his father’s fabled charm to know better than to call his hostess a liar. Especially when she looked so sexy sitting across from him.

  So he took a mushroom.

  By the end of the meal, Caleb realized two things.

  One, he’d never spent this long with a hard-on, and not done anything about it, in his life.

  And two, he’d never talked-just talked-to a woman before like this. By unspoken agreement, they’d avoided the biggies like family and career. Instead, they’d shared their favorite Christmas memories, discovered they had the same taste in music and movies, and debated the merits of paperbacks versus ebooks.

  It was like an actual date. Caleb had always wondered if that getting-to-know-a-person-on-a-date thing was real or just a myth. But this was, other than the painful pressure against the zipper of his slacks, totally awesome.

  “Dessert?” she offered, noting he’d cleaned his plate for the third time. She’d been a little more delicate in her eating, only having one helping.

  Despite his gluttony, Caleb glanced at the rich, chocolaty mounds of fluff with the caramel topping and sprinkling of nuts and his mouth watered.

  “Sure,” he agreed. Then he realized he’d better clear some stuff up before they got into anything else that made his mouth water.

  “But here’s the thing,” he said once she’d served them both and sat back down at the table. Then she started fiddling with the button, just there at the very center of her cleavage, and he forgot what he’d wanted to say.

  Instead, he focused on the silky smoothness of her pale skin. Unlike most redheads, she was freckle free. At least, she was as far as he could see. Instead, her skin was almost translucent. Delicate.

  “Caleb?” she said.

  He dragged his eyes away from the contrast of the rich bl
ack fabric against the tempting swell of her breasts.

  “Huh?” he asked, meeting her amused gaze. His lips quirked, knowing he deserved that look.

  “The thing?” she prompted.

  “The thing…” He frowned, thinking back. “Yeah, here’s the thing. This meal was delicious.”

  Her smile was slow and sweet, those full lips curving in delight as she reached across the tiny table and rubbed her hand over his. Caleb’s dick reacted as if she’d licked it.

  “Thanks,” she said softly. “I’m so glad you enjoyed it.”

  “I did. And I’m sure I’m going to enjoy this dessert just as much,” he assured her, gesturing with the spoon he’d picked up. “But as great as it all was, I’m not getting how you think this proves that aphrodisiacs work.”

  Pandora gave a slow nod, as if she was agreeing, or at least considering his words. Then instead of picking up her spoon, she swiped her finger through the caramel-drizzled whipped cream.

  Caleb tensed.

  She lifted her cream-covered finger to her mouth, then rubbed it over her lip, licking the sweet confection away with a slow swipe of her tongue.

  Caleb’s eyes narrowed. He tried to swallow, but his throat wasn’t working right.

  Some cream still on her finger, Pandora sucked it into her mouth, her lips closing around the tip just enough so he could still see the pink swirl of her tongue as she licked it away.

  Son of a bitch.

  He swore he could smell the smoke as his brain short-circuited.

  When she reached back into that crystal bowl and scooped up more dessert, this time cream and chocolate both, Caleb held his breath.

  But instead of repeating the tasting show, she leaned forward to reach across the table. The move made her dress, unbuttoned so temptingly, shift to show more of the red lacy fabric of her bra. Before he could groan at the sight, though, she offered that fingerful of temptation to him.

  “Taste?” she said, her words low and husky.

  As hard as it was not to stare at the bounty bound in red lace, his gaze locked on hers. Her eyes were slumberous. Still sweet, he didn’t think anything could change that. But sexier. There was a knowledge in them that said she knew exactly what she was doing to him. And that she planned to do a hell of a lot more.

  Holding her gaze, he wrapped his fingers around her wrist, bringing her hand to his mouth. The chocolate was rich, with a hint of coffee. Her finger tasted even better. He sucked the sweet confection off her flesh, then ran his tongue along the length of her palm, scraping his teeth against the mound at the base of her thumb.

  Pandora gave a little mewl of pleasure.

  Caleb grinned.

  “So…” she said after clearing her throat.

  “So?”

  “So that’s the thing.”

  Caleb frowned.

  “You said you wanted me. And I obviously am attracted to you,” she told him, gently extricating her fingers from his hand.

  “Yeah?”

  “But let’s face it. I’m not your type. I’m what’s usually termed a good girl.”

  “How good are you?”

  “Really, really good,” she promised. “But you don’t do good girls. You’re a quick and painless, love ’em and leave ’em kind of guy. You keep life, and sex, commitment-free and just a little distant.”

  Caleb frowned, not sure he liked how well she read him.

  “So?”

  “So that’s my proof,” she said.

  Before he could point out that it really wasn’t proof, she held out her hand. He took it, getting to his feet. She didn’t move back, though. So his body brushed against her smaller, more delicate figure.

  “Your proof is that we’re not each other’s type?”

  “That,” she agreed, turning to lead the way out of the kitchen. Then she looked over her shoulder and said, “And the fact that you’re not the kind of guy to sleep with a good girl.”

  He couldn’t deny that truth. In the two days since she’d challenged him and tonight, he’d made some inroads, buddying up with one of the drug dealers unhappy with his slow move up the food chain. He’d come to dinner with the idea of finding out more about her little aphrodisiac sideline. He’d planned to subtly grill her about what she might have seen in the alley between her building and Tobias’s.

  Despite the excuse for their date, he’d had no intention, none at all, of getting naked with her. But he still wasn’t giving credence to some crazy food combination. Nope, the credit for that was all Pandora’s.

  Before he could tell her that, she stopped in the middle of the living room and turned to face him. She was so close, he could see the beat of her heart against her throat.

  He could see the nerves in her eyes, there just beneath the desire. The nerves didn’t bother him, though. They were a lot more exciting than acceptance or complacency.

  “We spent the last hour and a half talking,” she told him. “There was no flirting. No innuendo or teasing or sexual promises, right?”

  Caleb frowned as the truth of her words hit him. He’d spent the entire meal horny as hell. Hornier than he’d been with any other woman in his life.

  But again, that was due to Pandora. Not the food.

  “What’s your point?”

  And then those delicate fingers skipped down the row of pearly buttons, unfastening her dress as they went. Caleb had faced strung-out drug dealers shoving guns in his gut and kept his cool. But the minute that dress cleared her belly button, he swore the room did a slow spin.

  Damn, she was incredible.

  She walked toward him, the black dress hanging loose from her shoulders to her belly.

  When she reached him, Caleb’s hand automatically gripped her hips. She smiled, then leaned even closer so her body pressed tight against his. She reached between them and slid her palm over the hard length of his erection, making his dick jump desperately against the constraining fabric of his slacks.

  He groaned in delight.

  “And that’s the proof that the aphrodisiacs work,” Pandora told him just before she pressed her mouth to his.

  7

  WHEN NERVES MADE HER WANT to turn around and run, Pandora reminded herself that the best things in life were worth fighting for. Even if that meant fighting her own fears.

  When her fingers trembled, she just dug them tighter into the deliciously muscled expanse of Caleb’s shoulders. He felt so good. Strong and solid and real.

  She wasn’t going to chicken out, dammit. This was her one and only opportunity for awesome, aphrodisiac-inspired sexual bliss. The experience of a lifetime with a man reputed to be incredible.

  So when her knees wobbled, she leaned forward, resting her hips against his for support.

  Yeah, baby. There it was.

  A whole lot of long, hard, throbbing nirvana.

  He wanted her, just as much as she wanted him. Proof was right there, pressing insistently against her belly.

  Hello, baby, her body sighed.

  “More,” she demanded against Caleb’s lips.

  He gave her the more she asked for, then even more than she’d dreamed. He made her feel like the only woman in his world.

  Caleb’s mouth slid over hers, taking the kiss from soft, wet heat to intense, raging passion with a slip of his tongue. His hands settled on the curve of her waist, pulling her tighter against that promising ridge pressing against his zipper.

  Pandora melted.

  She twined her arms around the back of his neck, holding tight as their tongues danced a wild tango. Anticipation coiled tighter in her belly when his fingers slipped up her side, from her waist to the curve of her breast. Her nipples ached with the need to feel his fingers, to know how he’d touch her.

  Would he be gentle and sweet? Or wild and demanding?

  Wanting desperately to know, she eased back. Not her mouth. Oh, no, she wasn’t giving up one second of this delicious kiss. And her hips were fused, as if of their own volition, to his. Although s
he was pretty sure she could ease back a few inches and still feel the thick heat of his erection pressing in temptation against her stomach.

  Instead, she eased her shoulders back. Just a little.

  And purred in delight when he proved to be as clever as he was gorgeous, taking the invitation and curving his fingers over the heavy, aching weight of her breast. Her nipple beaded tighter against the erotically scratchy lace of her bra as he circled his hand in a slow, tempting spiral.

  Had she ever been this turned on? Heat swirled through her body like a whirlwind. Building, twisting, teasing. Higher and higher, tighter and tighter.

  He squeezed. She gasped, moaning and leaning into his hand.

  “More,” she demanded again.

  His hand didn’t leave her breast, but the other moved higher up her back. She felt a tiny snap as the hooks gave way. The straps of her bra sagged, slipping down her shoulders.

  Before she could decide if this was good or bad, his fingers skimmed under the fabric and flicked her nipple. Like an electric shock, the sensation shot through her body with a zinging awareness. Pandora whimpered, shifting left, then right, as her favorite sexy panties dampened with evidence of her need.

  “I like how you follow directions,” she said against his lips, her laugh only a little bit nervous.

  “Let’s see how you do,” he returned, leaning back so he could see the bounty he’d released. “Take it off.”

  “I beg your-”

  “Off,” he demanded. To emphasize his command, he took those amazing hands off her and stepped backward. Pandora wanted to whimper. She wasn’t sure if it was over the loss of his magic fingers, the denial of his body. Or if it was pure embarrassment of having him this focused on her body. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t centerfold quality, either.

  Blushing, Pandora twitched the sides of her dress inward. She didn’t pull it closed. She didn’t want to send a message that playtime was over. But, still, she wasn’t sure she wanted to play peekaboo like this.

  “C’mon, Pandora. I want to see.” His words were husky. His vivid gold eyes were intense and just a little needy.

  “Wouldn’t you rather taste?” she asked with her most wicked sexy look.