“When the owner’s son took over five years ago, he decided he wanted to go after a very exclusive, upscale, female clientele. That’s when the company was rechristened La Belle Femme and started to expand. He knew I worked hard and I had good people skills. Plus, I knew the ropes, so he made me director of retail expansion.”
“Sounds exhausting,” said Josh, grasping her hand just a tiny bit tighter, perhaps in reassurance. “But I’ve found exhausting is okay if you love what you do.”
Dana hesitated. “That’s the problem. I don’t love it. I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it.”
“If you could do whatever you wanted right now, what would it be?”
I’d get married and have a family, Dana thought without hesitation. But there was no way she was going to tell that to a man she’d just met, unless she was a woman who got her kicks watching men sprint away from her.
“I’d have to think about that,” Dana answered in reply to his question.
A slightly more forceful wind swept in off the ocean, giving Dana a chill. Without even asking if she needed it, Josh removed his sports jacket, draping it over her shoulders. It was such a simple, thoughtful gesture, and it somehow made the world around her come into sharper focus: the moon seemed brighter, the sand beneath her feet more grittily delicious. When she broke out into a wide grin, Josh was right there smiling back at her, but his expression was also questioning.
“What’s the big smile about?”
Dana blushed deeply, glad that he probably couldn’t see that in the dark. “It’s nothing.”
“Right.”
“You’ll laugh at me if I tell you.”
“Try me.”
Dana stopped, drawing his jacket closer around her shoulders as if it could protect her from the vulnerability she was about to reveal.
“I was smiling because I’m glad you came to the wedding with Molly. I’ve really been enjoying the past couple of hours.“
“Me, too.” Josh looked around appreciatively. “I feel like we’re in a movie. The setting is just so amazing.”
“I know.”
He turned so he faced her. “If this were a movie, this would be the part where I kiss you.”
“And this would be the part where I let you.”
Josh flashed a slow, seductive smile as he took her in his arms. Dana closed her eyes, waiting for their lips to make contact. The wait seemed to go on forever, even though it couldn’t have been more than a few seconds before his lips brushed against hers. But she screwed it up: she was so happy, her mouth broke into a wide grin beneath his, effectively ending the kiss.
Josh drew back, regarding her with amusement. “What’re you grinning about this time?”
“I just feel really happy. Goofy, almost.”
Josh nodded thoughtfully. “I like that. Goofy is good.”
Dana wrinkled her nose. “Really?”
“Yeah. I don’t think I’ve ever had a woman tell me she felt goofy before. Giddy, yes. Intoxicated by my presence, hell yes. But goofy? No.” Josh studied her face with concern. “You are, aren’t you?”
“What?”
“Intoxicated by my presence.”
Dana responded with another bright grin.
“That’s it,” said Josh, pulling her back into his arms. “No more smiling. It’s getting in the way of my kissing you.”
Dana laughed softly as Josh started out lightly kissing her mouth before moving on to butterfly kisses up and down her neck. But sweetness soon gave way to seductiveness as Josh’s embrace grew tighter and his mouth more demanding. Maybe she was crazy, but Dana couldn’t shake the feeling that he was holding on to her so tightly because he didn’t want her to slip away. I’m not going anywhere, she longed to tell him. Dana was by no means an impulsive person. But something about tonight—the wedding, the moonlight, the steady whisper of the tide, maybe even the heat—had gotten to her. So when Josh gently bit down on her earlobe and asked if she wanted to go back to his place, there was no question in her mind what her answer would be.
CHAPTER NINE
I’ve never done anything like this before. The sentence was an endless loop in Dana’s head as she and Josh drove the short distance to his apartment. Dana decided she would say it when their lovemaking began in earnest. Then she changed her mind: she’d say it before their first kiss at his place.
Driving the road along the beach, Josh had his hand on her knee, his fingers tightly twined through hers. Yes, it was like they were in a movie, the moonlight hitting the car so perfectly it gave it a magical glow. Josh glanced at her with the faintest hint of a smile.
“What?” Dana asked.
“Nothing.”
“There must be something,” she persisted.
“Your hand is so tense. Relax. In the movies, the woman’s hand is never tense. Unless it’s with anticipation.”
“How do you know it’s not anticipation?” Dana answered with uncharacteristic boldness.
“Actually, I don’t.” He untangled their fingers, his free hand now languidly sliding up and down her thigh.
“Am I allowed to do this?” he asked.
“Do they do it in the movies?” Dana replied, surprised to hear herself flirting. Josh made it easy.
“I think it depends on what the movie is rated.”
“In that case, I vote we keep it PG for now so you don’t crash your car.”
Josh laughed.
Dana looked out the window. Maybe she wouldn’t say, “I’ve never done anything like this before.” Maybe she’d keep that tidbit her delicious secret. He probably knew it anyway: any woman who would accommodate her grandmother by wearing an epaulet-trimmed blouse was not the type to hook up with someone she’d just met.
Still, he hadn’t seemed surprised when she’d accepted his offer to go back to his place. Dana had always been skeptical about the notion of fate. But for some reason, her path had crossed Josh Green’s, and they were both smart enough to know that the ease and mutual attraction they felt wasn’t something that happened every day. It would be foolish not to act on it.
“This is breathtaking.”
Dana gazed at the ocean from Josh’s tenth-floor terrace. To get to the beach from his building, all you needed to do was walk down a discreet path cut through tall beach grass. Between the whisper of a breeze and the moon showing off, glistening like ice across the top of the ocean, Dana couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so overwhelmed by the world’s simple beauty. Her job rarely allowed her to slow down and take sights like this in.
Josh joined her at the railing, putting his arm around her as if it were the most natural thing in the world. So handsome, Dana thought. The perfect leading man.
“You like it?”
“What’s not to like?” Dana felt embarrassed. “That sounds exactly like something my grandmother would say.”
“Or my aunt.”
“Must be in the drinking water.”
“Speaking of which, can I get you anything to drink?”
Dana smiled contentedly. “No, I’m fine, thank you.”
“Me, too.”
Dana rested her head on his shoulder. She liked this movie. A lot.
“You smell great,” Josh murmured, nuzzling his nose in her hair.
“Thank you.” Dana looked up at him, smiling shyly. “If this were a movie,” she said quietly, “what would happen next?”
“What’s the movie rated now?”
Dana suddenly felt shy. “You decide.”
“NC-17?”
Josh held out his hand to her, leading her back inside. Comfortable as she felt, Dana did begin to feel a flutter of nerves ripple through her body. I’ve never done anything like this before.
The wall of his bedroom that faced the sea was made entirely of glass, allowing the sunlight to pour in during the day and the moonlight at night.
“I have to admit something,” Josh whispered as he took her into his arms.
“What’s that?”<
br />
“I’ve been fantasizing about you ever since I walked into your grandmother’s kitchen.”
The tiny hairs on the back of Dana’s neck stood up. It was thrilling, the idea that he’d already pictured making love to her. Dana, rarely the aggressive one, put her hand on the back of his neck and hungrily pulled his mouth down to hers. It was her way of telling him that his fantasy was about to come true. She could feel the atmosphere in the room charge, its sleek quietness turning into something more kinetic.
Josh tore his mouth from hers. The look in his eyes ... Dana could see it wasn’t just her lips he wanted to kiss. He wanted it all and he took it: Her cheeks. Her forehead. And her neck, where he treated her to seductive nips and bites. Teasing, but with a small sting of pain that aroused.
Dana’s heartbeat was beginning to quicken when Josh lifted his head to again gaze at her, his smile unmistakably mischievous.
“Much as I love your epaulets,” he murmured as he slowly began unbuttoning her blouse, “I’m afraid they’re going to have to go.”
Josh’s gaze was arresting as he slid the blouse off her shoulders, running his fingers up and down her bare arms, giving her goose bumps, but not the kind that you want to go away. Dana closed her eyes, smiling with sweet pleasure.
“Someone likes that,” Josh murmured seductively as his hands moved to the back of her bra. “Maybe we should get rid of this, too.”
His look became demanding as he unfastened her bra in one swift move and tossed it to the floor. Dana inhaled sharply, watching as he took her breasts in his hands, caressing them, before his index finger and thumb began gently squeezing her nipples.
Dana’s eyes fluttered closed again. Her head dropped back as she reveled in the sensation of his hands on her, feeling her. Excitement surged through her when Josh knelt in front of her and began to taste her: a soft flick of his tongue against her nipple, a hard suckle, and all the while, those large, rough hands fondling her.
So good ... Whimpers and moans escaped Dana’s throat. She’d crossed over the line to lust. “You’re driving me crazy,” Dana whispered, unashamed of the urgency in her voice.
“That’s the general idea.”
Josh rose, his expression as greedy as she was feeling inside as he pushed her back on the bed. Dana found she couldn’t escape the wicked thrumming between her legs that was making itself more and more insistent as she watched Josh unzip her pants and pull them down in one swift motion.
Josh groaned as he crawled back up her body to once again nip her neck and suckle her breast. His mouth was more demanding this time, more urgent. Dana’s whole body was now pulsing with so much excitement she could barely contain it. Unable to stop herself, she began rubbing herself against him, gasping when she felt his cock straining through his pants.
“Josh ...”
Words flew away as Josh reached down and slowly, with great deliberateness, began brushing his fingers across the wet fabric of her panties.
“I want you,” Dana whispered fiercely.
“Patience,” Josh whispered. “You need to learn patience.”
Dana took a deep breath, but it was no good: Josh tortured her with a few more caresses before abruptly yanking her panties down. He lay beside her as his hand returned to its place between her legs, exploring her wetness. More and more, Dana was beginning to feel herself crack into pieces as her bucking hips met every thrust of his fingers.
Josh nipped her earlobe. “Do you have any idea how hard I’m gonna make you come?”
Dana wondered if he knew how close she was right now, how she thought she’d split out of her own skin when his fingers found her clit and began rubbing it slowly. She pushed against his hand, desperation racing through her. Josh quickened the dance of his fingers. She wasn’t sure how much more she could take.
“Josh, please.”
It was growing unbearable, the need of her body to release its passion. And Josh seemed to know it as he slipped two thick fingers inside her, moving them in and out while the pad of his thumb still teased her. Dana suddenly felt the heat of her body punch through her senses, erasing who and where she was. When she returned to herself, the breathtaking sight of Josh smiling beside her greeted her.
“Was that okay?” he asked, kissing her shoulder.
“Yes,” Dana managed in a voice barely above a whisper. There were still aftershocks rippling through her body, and her own heartbeat was still swooshing loudly in her ears. Dana couldn’t stop staring at her lover. She could see how happy he was to have pleased her, but behind his look of satisfaction, there was primitive desire in his eyes.
Dana reached down, pressing the palm of her hand against the bulge in Josh’s trousers. She could see him fighting with himself as she began moving her hand up and down. “Do it,” she whispered.
Josh reared up and rolled her onto her back while he hastily stripped off his pants, pausing only to reach into his night table drawer for protection. All the while, his eyes were devouring her body.
“You are so goddamn beautiful.”
Dana moaned as Josh slid on top of her, pushing her legs farther apart with his knee until finally, Dana felt his cock inside her. He held still.
“Jesus, stop torturing me,” Dana begged. “Please.”
Laughing wickedly, Josh pulled back, thrusting back inside her slowly. Dana wrapped her legs around his waist, trying to savor the deliberateness with which he was moving, but she was finding it difficult.
“Faster,” she pleaded. “Please.”
“I want this to last,” Josh replied hoarsely, his face buried in her neck as he began moving his hips against hers. “Fuck ...”
Dana dug her nails deep into his back, their moans and groans the only sounds she needed to hear. The heat inside her was beginning to spike again as Josh pumped in and out of her. He lowered his head to suckle again, and that’s when she exploded, strong and sweet. The sound of her coming incited Josh: he began pounding into her with all his strength, harder and faster than she thought a man ever could, until he cried out her name, his orgasm overtaking him in a series of violent shudders that Dana wished could go on forever.
CHAPTER TEN
Dana inhaled slowly, trying to regain her breath. She had hoped their lovemaking would be good; little did she know how great it would be.
Josh rolled off her with a smile, scrambling to pull back the bedcovers so he and Dana could sleep beneath the sheets. Dana thought he looked adorable, his tousled curls a mess. She wouldn’t tell him that, though. You didn’t tell men they were adorable, especially not right after you’d slept with them.
The ice-cold sheets momentarily shocked Dana’s naked skin, but then Josh pulled her against him and warmth returned, the best kind there was.
“Thank you,” Josh said, propping himself up on an elbow to look at her. Dana hadn’t noticed it before, but his nakedness revealed just how darkly tanned his skin really was, those parts of his body kept from sunlight pale in comparison to the deep cocoa brown of his skin. Dana, not really having had a chance to appreciate his chest, ran her fingers over it now, pushing her palms against the solid wall of skin. She could feel his heart beating beneath her spread fingers. It was still a little fast.
Dana grinned at him, her goofy feeling beginning to return. “What are you thanking me for?”
“Letting me make love to you.”
Dana was touched. “Don’t be silly.”
“I’m not being silly.” Josh’s tone, though casual, was heartfelt. “I don’t do this kind of thing all the time.”
Dana narrowed her eyes, unable to hold back her skepticism. “Yeah, right. A good-looking guy like you doesn’t just snap his fingers whenever he’s in the mood.”
“My finger-snapping days are long over,” Josh replied matter-of-factly.
“And why’s that?”
“It gets kind of boring sleeping with women just for the sake of sleeping with them. And at the end of the day, I’m usually too tired to snap my finge
rs, never mind performing in the sack.”
“I must be pretty special, then,” Dana joked.
Josh reached out to caress her cheek. “I think so.”
Dana tensed slightly, beginning to feel a little overwhelmed. “I don’t do this all the time, either.”
“I didn’t think so.”
“What does that mean?” Dana wasn’t sure if it was a compliment or an insult.
Josh looked perplexed. “You look upset.”
“Because I don’t know how you mean it.”
“How do you think I meant it? You’ve got to learn to relax, Miss Fine.”
“I’m relaxed right now.”
“Then get more relaxed.”
Dana clamped her eyes shut. “Okay, I’m more relaxed. Now tell me what you meant.”
“I don’t think people who are looking to settle down go around having random sex.”
“Who says I want to settle down?”
Josh looked amused. “Your grandmother was practically screaming it at me across the table, remember?”
Dana groaned. “I’d blocked that out. Sorry about that.”
“Don’t apologize,” said Josh, sweeping her hair back from her shoulder.
“I guess you’re right: there’s no need to,” Dana agreed. “It’s not like this is a relationship or anything, and she’s trying to pressure you.”
“Right.”
They both fell quiet.
Dana could tell he wanted to say something to her, but was mulling it over. Finally he asked, “How long are you here for?”
“Three weeks.”
Josh looked disappointed as he brushed his lips against hers. “I like you, Dana. I don’t want this to be a one night stand.”
“Neither do I.”
“How do you feel about spending more time together until you have to leave?”
“I’d like that,” Dana replied, but she couldn’t hide her uncertainty. “But I’ve never been involved with someone when I knew the clock was ticking.”
“Neither have I.” Josh sighed deeply. “But we’ve got three whole weeks. Why not enjoy it?”
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