by Desiree Holt
“All set to select the candies?” She grinned, as if waiting for him to throw up his hands and run. But he also saw a momentary surge of heat in her eyes, suppressed as quickly as it came. Oh, yes, she felt the same thing he did. Getting her to admit it would be another challenge.
“Sure am. Let’s do it.” He still had no idea what the big deal was about candy for a wedding, but he had made a promise and he was game for anything.
A bell tinkled as soon as they opened the door to Sweet Treats, and the aroma of chocolate assailed him, making his mouth water. A row of display cases featuring a large assortment of candies of every size and shape was the first thing that greeted him. Chocolate had always been one of his weaknesses, a fact that had driven him to a full out exercise program when he was younger or he’d look like a blimp. His taste buds were already hollering for attention.
“Hi, Avery.” A smiling woman Tanner guessed to be in her forties came out of the back and greeted Avery.
“Hey, Donna. You got my tweet about Janice’s wedding, right?”
“Uh huh. Many. Three weeks? Is she crazy?”
Avery laughed. “I think she’s doing it just to test me. Donna, this is Tanner Voss. He’s doing all the tasting and choosing with me.”
Donna’s eyebrows took a hike almost to her hairline. “Ohhhhh?” She drew the word out. “Do tell. Is he a special, um, taster?
“Cut it out.” Avery laughed again. “Janice and Will tell me he’ll do just fine. This is his first test so let’s get started, shall we?”
Avery led him to a small table set off to one side while Donna filled a tray with a wide assortment of candies. What we have to decide today is which flavors to use for the candies at each place on the table and which ones for the little pink bags Janice wants to give out at the end.” She grinned at him. “Ready, big guy?”
He nodded. “I am equal to the task.”
In point of fact, he couldn’t seem to get enough of the little confections, even asking to taste some of them three or four times. The candies were so well made the chocolate melted on his tongue as soon as he popped it in his mouth, the distinctive flavor of each one making his taste buds beg for more.
“I definitely vote for the Kahlua flavor,” he said, wiping chocolate from his lips. “And maybe the hazelnut, too.”
“Kahlua and hazelnut, huh?” Avery winked at him. “Good choices. Do you want to give me a description of why?”
“You mean like the burst of flavor on my tongue or the vestiges of it long after I swallow the candy?”
Her eyes widened. “You surprise me, Tanner. I didn’t know you were so well versed in candy.”
Today took him back to the times when he was a child and his mother took him to the candy shop for treats. She was the one who had taught him to appreciate the different flavors of candies. But since it didn’t exactly fit his image as a hotshot litigation attorney it wasn’t something he exactly broadcast.
Instead, he merely lifted one shoulder nonchalantly and let it drop. “I can be a sensitive male, you know, with delicate tastes and habits.”
She burst out laughing. “That’s a really good line. Sometime, you’ll have to tell me the truth. Anyway, you made good choices.” She looked at Donna. “I think we’ll go with the coffee-flavored chocolate also. Hazelnut for the tables and mix up the others in the guest bags.”
He wanted to tell her that he’d like to spread it all over her naked body and slowly lick off every single inch, but of course this wasn’t the time or the place.
Tanner sat there patiently while they turned to wrappers for the candy. Should they have Janice and Will and the date? Just Janice and Will? Just the initials? Cute sayings? They finally decided on the initials and the date, and they were done. Maybe the reason he never considered marriage was because he’d seen so many of his friends go through this and didn’t understand why they put themselves through the torture.
“You’ll get hit one day,” his friend Pete kept promising. “Then you’ll be only too happy to choose favors for the wedding party and if there should be red or orange tablecloths.
No, he wouldn’t be, he’d said vehemently. He’d agreed to do this to help out his best friend. And to be with Avery. Somehow it didn’t seem quite as onerous when he was sharing it with her. He’d tell her that except he was sure she’d figure him for handing her a line.
Donna wrote up the order and told Avery they’d deliver them to the hotel the morning of the wedding, with her name on the boxes.
“You did extremely well in there,” she said when they were outside again. “You surprise me.”
“I can be accommodating when the need arises,” he told her.
“It was more than that. You actually seemed interested in what we were doing.”
“And that surprised you?” He blew out a breath. “Listen, I might not do this on a daily basis, but Janice and Will are as important to me as they are to you. I’ve listened to enough talk about stuff like this that some of it stuck to me, and I want to do a really good job for our friends.”
He hoped that satisfied her.
“Then you’ll get a chance to do a good job at the dinner tasting. That’s very important.”
“I definitely want the dinner to taste good,” he answered in a solemn voice.
She frowned. “Are you putting me on?”
“Never. I’m all ready. Lead the way.”
At The Promenade, they gave their cars to valet parking and made their way into the hotel lobby.
“I need a couple of minutes,” Avery told him. “I have some tweets to reply to.”
“Sure. No problem.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “I’ll just hang out and look like I’m attentively waiting for my wife.”
“Your wife? Are you kidding me?”
He laughed. “You’d be surprised how many women would love to audition for that role. If it was open, that is.”
“Really?” She stared at hm. “Audition? Do you have an application form, too?”
“Could be.” He winked. He definitely liked pushing her buttons. “Go do your tweets so we can get onto the food tasting.”
“Are you really getting into this, or are you putting on a big show for me?” she asked. “Or worse yet, mocking me.”
He walked over to where she stood, stopping barely two inches from her. “There are a lot of things I’d like to do to you, Avery Kurtz, but I promise you, mocking isn’t one of them. Now, go do your tweets.”
He left her standing there, gaping at him while he walked away, grinning. Oh, yes, he had big plans for Avery Kurtz. Very big plans.
But slowly, Tanner. Take it very slowly.
Chapter Three
Tanner thought he could spend forever looking at Avery’s body, stretched out before him like some primordial feast. Skin like ivory satin flowed over a delicate bone structure, and dark rose nipples with darker yet aureoles were ornaments on plump, ripe breasts. The soft hair on her mound was just a shade darker than the rich sable of her tresses, silken hair he loved to run his fingers through. Her soft lips were kiss-swollen, and tiny flecks of gold glittered in her hazel eyes, a reflection of the heat blooming there.
He had sucked her nipples until they had hardened into pebbled peaks and lapped at her cunt until he drove her to a screaming orgasm. Her taste was exquisite, sharp and spicy, bursting on his tongue like an erotic treat. Why, it certainly was.
They had made love once already tonight, then lay in bed recovering and stroking each other until he moved between her legs again and put his mouth to work on her body. He thought he could taste every inch of her forever, the flavor of her filling his senses.
He watched the pulse beating at the hollow of her throat accelerate as he began to tease her again. He devoted himself to every sensitive area, sucking and licking and stroking with his fingers. Her breathing hitched, and she arched her hips toward him, urging him to do more. Much more.
He had held off as long as he could, teasing himself as
well as her, denying himself the luxury of sliding into her hot, waiting pussy. He’d had to literally drag her head away from his dick in her hot wet mouth. This time he wanted to come inside her, to feel the walls of her cunt convulsing around him, gripping him like a tight wet fist.
He shifted to his knees and leaned over to grab a condom from the nightstand drawer and…
Thunk!
What the fuck?
Tanner opened his eyes and realized he was on the floor, half the bedclothes with him. His shoulder throbbed, and when he touched it, he found a very sore spot. Fuck! He’d apparently hit himself on the edge of the nightstand as he fell out of bed in his sexually-induced frenzy. Fuck! He hadn’t done that since he was eighteen. And to frost the cake, his dick was still harder than concrete.
Damn!
He leaned against the bed, rubbing his shoulder. He’d close his eyes, but the naked image of Avery Kurtz would pop right back up in vivid living color. It wasn’t bad enough that thoughts of her kept teasing him during the day, interfering with his concentration at work. Now, she was invading his dreams and leaving him with a nearly unrelenting woody.
The dinner tasting had been as much torment as it was pleasure. Watching her lick a drop of sauce from her full lips or lick the crumbs from a fork nearly drove him mad. Her tongue swirling around the tines had no doubt given rise to the dreams of her sucking his dick and winding that same tongue around it. It had taken every bit of his slowly eroding self-control to keep from yanking her into his arms in the parking lot and seeing how far down her throat he could thrust his tongue.
Yeah, that would have gone over really well.
Damn!
He’d asked her out several times before, whenever they were in a group together, but she’d shut him down every time. Always politely, never with any hostility, but he just couldn’t get past the first pitch with her.
As he sat there a foghorn blared from his cell, signaling an incoming tweet from Avery. When he’d discovered her “tweet me” syndrome he’d set up a special Twitter account just for her tweets and given this account its own special sound. He unlocked his phone to read her message.
“@eventplanner B sr to meet me at winery at 5 pm”
Of course, he’d meet her at the winery. She had no idea how much he was looking forward to it, or to the big plans he’d made. Plans he hoped would be successful. He’d made sure his admin cleared his schedule so he could leave the office on time. No late arrivals for this event, please.
Montrose Winery was located about ten miles beyond the city limits, producing wine that had an international reputation for excellence. He could see why Will and Janice would choose it for their wedding. The property was located up in the hills, in a stunning setting. Fieldstone buildings housed the offices, the tasting room, and an elegant restaurant that opened to a patio. Tanner knew the owners and had brought clients here occasionally when he wanted to make an exceptional impression.
Now, mindful of his highly erotic dream and the lingering aftermath, he decided he really had nothing to lose if he kicked up his low key campaign to show Avery he wasn’t the high flying playboy she thought he was but a genuine person. At least, he hoped he was. And that they had some serious chemistry between them. He scrolled through his cell for the number of the winery. He needed to check on his own preparations for the evening.
But first, he needed a very, very cold shower. He hoped it would cool his cock down enough to stay hidden behind his fly as soon as he saw Avery.
****
“Just ask the Johnsons to give you three dates they are considering,” Avery told Noelle. “Check our books to see if we’re available, then tweet me the info.”
Noelle laughed. “I’m surprised you didn’t tell me to hang up and just tweet this to you.”
“Please,” Avery protested. “I’m efficient, not stupid. This would take more than 145 characters. So take care of the Johnsons and then send me the date.”
She disconnected, then pulled up her twitter feed, which had been sending her chimes as she drove up the winding approach to the winery. Her clients now seemed to embrace her “tweet me” philosophy, although it often meant she got ten times as many tweets as she would have with texts. Still, it allowed her to read far more messages and answer with an economy of words. She thought it amazing how much you could actually say in one hundred and forty five characters once you learned the Twitter shorthand.
She answered the most important ones, flagged others for later then shoved her cell in the pocket of her slacks and climbed out of her SUV. She was a few minutes early, but it gave her time to collect her thoughts. Maybe collecting wasn’t the right word where Tanner Voss was concerned. Submerging, maybe.
God, why had she gotten herself into this? The man intruded on her thoughts nearly every hour of the day, not to mention into her dreams at night. How was it possible she was having more sex while she was asleep than she ever had while she was awake? And why did it have to be with a man who was such a big risk in the heart department? Somehow, she’d make it through the next couple of weeks. Then maybe she’d take a week off and go someplace to take the Tanner Voss cure.
And speak of the devil, here he came now. He parked next to her and unfolded himself from his car. The navy suit he wore was obviously custom tailored, as were all his suits, befitting a successful litigator. Funny, but on him it didn’t look pretentious. In fact, while his legal reputation had five stars next to it, he didn’t seem to have developed an ego from it. Confident but not egotistical. Nor, if she was honest with herself, did he look like the manwhore she assumed him to be.
Quit it, Avery. Next thing, you’ll be telling yourself it’s okay to take a chance with him.
Maybe she should tweet herself to get a brain here. If only she could find a way to get rid of those incredibly erotic dreams that were making her think about things she shouldn’t do with a man she shouldn’t want.
A heavy sigh escaped her, but then she pasted on her public smile as he stepped close to her.
“Ready for this?” she asked.
“You keep asking me,” he pointed out with a tiny smile. “Do you think I’m going to flake out when we still have so much to accomplish?”
“As a matter of fact, I have to admit you surprise me. I didn’t expect such a level of participation.”
A grin teased his lips. “I’m sorry you have such a low opinion of me. I’m actually enjoying this. Unexpectedly,” he added.
“I believe you are.” And wasn’t she just surprised about that. “By the way, the invitations were ready this morning. The printer tweeted me, I ran over and checked them out, then called the messenger service to pick them up for delivery.”
“I have to admit that was a great idea.” He waved toward the winery. “Shall we?”
Avery always loved the interior of the main winery building. Visitors walked into a tasting room with slate flooring and oak paneling, discreet wine-related art on the walls, wine-themed merchandise here and there, and a long bowed counter for tasting. There were also small patio tables and chairs scattered throughout the room for those visitors who bought wine and decided to consume some on the premises.
A wide archway to the left opened into an equally elegant dining room, with a menu created by a chef cordon bleu. The Montroses had spared nothing when they created this place, and the business they drew was a testament to their taste and hard work.
“Avery. We’ve been watching for you.”
Avery turned to see Johanna Montrose enter the tasting room from the offices behind it. She hurried over to the woman who gave her a quick hug.
“I love coming here,” Avery told the other woman. “And you always take such good care of me.” She motioned for Tanner to move up to them. “Do you know Tanner Voss?”
“Of course!” Her face lit up, and she held out her arms to give him a hug. “It’s so good to see you.”
Avery wondered if there was a woman in the world who was immune to Tanner’s char
ms. It shocked her to realize, as she watched the two people next to her, that this really wasn’t an act with Tanner. He truly liked the woman, and there was nothing false about either his expression or his body language. Was it possible she—No, no, no. She couldn’t afford to go there.
Johanna turned back to her. “You’ll have to tell me sometime how you roped him into this.”
“Since both the bride and groom decided to leave town after dumping this accelerated wedding date in my lap, Tanner’s been good enough to stand in for them in making the necessary choices.”
“Why, Tanner”—Johanna winked at him—“what a nice thing for you to do. Well.” She turned back to Avery. “Shall we get started? Based on what you said, I have some suggestions.”
She led them over to the tasting bar where Avery and Tanner took adjoining stools.
For the next hour, they discussed the fine points of the wines Johanna had selected. She explained the particular flavor and essence of each one and poured them a taste. In between, they cleaned their palates with oyster crackers. When the wines had been selected, Tanner agreeing with all her selections, they turned to the champagne. They took their time with everything, discussing the pros and cons of each selection until finally all the choices had been made and Johanna had entered the information into her tablet.
“I’ll email you the official order tomorrow,” she told Avery. “Tweet me when you know what time you want everything delivered. Remember the whites have to be iced.”
Avery nodded. “Will do.”
Tanner chuckled. “Do you have everyone on your Twitter feed?”
“Only the important people,” she joked. “Thanks, Johanna. I’ll double check the schedule in the morning.”
“Excellent. Tanner, your table will be ready shortly. Would the two of you like a glass of wine to take out to the patio in the meantime? The sun is just setting, and it’s beautiful out there this time of day.”
Table? What table? Had he made a date with someone for after their meeting? She had vaguely entertained the notion of having coffee with him, but apparently his social calendar was full.