“Would you like some wine?”
Corinne lifted the clothed napkin to the corner of her lips and dabbed.
“I would,” she said. She was wondering if he might ask since the bottles had been sitting on ice next to their table since they began eating.
“Red or white? Wait, don’t tell me.” He studied her a moment longer. “Red,” he concluded.
Corinne’s eyes arched. “And you would know this because?”
“I’ve studied the ancient art of women, and there are two types of wine drinkers.”
Corinne chuckled. “The ancient art of women?”
Xavier nodded. “For example, most red wine drinkers enjoy dinner by candlelight while white wine drinkers prefer the occasional evening sunset.” Xavier rose to his feet, his massive frame covering the table with a midnight shadow. He lifted the bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon while popping the cork. “Red wine drinkers love romance novels while white wine drinkers prefer film festivals.” He approached her side of the table and poured the red wine halfway into her glass. Red wine drinkers want to help save the world while white wine drinkers are about family first.”
“I think I’d like to be a red and white wine drinker if that’s the case,” she said. “But I do prefer red over white. You must have graduated from your ancient art of women’s studies,” she teased.
“Nah, I was just kidding about that part and hoping whichever one you preferred I’d paint a picture appealing enough for you to feel unique either way.”
Corinne tossed her head and laughed, and Xavier released his own grizzly chuckle.
“Well played,” she said, still smiling.
Xavier smirked then winked. “You think?”
“Yeah.” She lifted the glass to her mouth and took a sip. “You’re a smooth operator.”
“Only with you.”
“Oh, I can hardly believe that.”
“It’s true, you’ll see.”
Corinne didn’t know how to feel about that response, but without trying, the giddiness on the inside pushed forth to her face, causing heat to balloon in her cheeks. Xavier regained his seat and prompted her.
“So, Ms. Thomas, have you thought about my invitation?”
Corinne twisted her lips and peered at him. “Oh no,” she said. “Ms. Thomas makes me feel old.”
Xavier chuckled then nodded. “You’re right, I should call you Bella anima.”
“What does that mean?” she asked, her voice a bit dreamy.
“Beautiful soul. That’s what you are. It fits perfectly.”
Corinne blushed again. “I think I like that.”
“Yeah?”
She nodded, and her cheeks tightened as her blush strengthened.
“Then it’s official,” he said. “Bella Anima, will you travel across the globe with me on an excursion to explore the motherland?”
Hell yeah, I will. Corinne cleared her throat and took a sip of her wine. Placing the glass back on the table, she brought her sultry stare to him.
“I’d love to.” Xavier’s growing smile pulled his sexy lips back in a delicious spread; it made Corinne lick her lips. “When do we leave?”
Xavier nodded. “That’s my girl,” his thick voice cruised.
On the inside, Corinne was enthusiastically excited, and it took everything in her to keep from jumping like a child. Besides, she was a professional that flew across the world just about every day of the week. Even so, she’d never had the pleasure of visiting Africa, and never in a million years did she think it would’ve been a quest shared with Xavier Valentine. But here she was, with no details and feeling like her younger years, down for whatever, with him.
“How soon can you take time off?”
Corinne relaxed in her seat and swept her hair off her shoulders. “Two weeks.”
“One,” he countered.
Corinne’s brow lifted. “I didn’t say two weeks because that’s the time I want, it’s because that’s the standard timeframe for an approval request from Kinship.”
Xavier studied her face. “I’ll make a call,” he said.
Corinne’s eyes bucked. “Just like that?”
“Unless of course, you’d rather wait.”
“It’s not that. I’m just not used to someone stepping in and taking charge so to speak.”
“If I’ve overstepped my boundaries, I apologize.” He paused. “My excuses are selfish.” His gaze traveled over her skin. “I want to be with you, Bella anima, sooner rather than later, and I can’t explain to you why that desire is so strong right now, but... I’m confident that it will reveal itself in due time. However, I will step out of your way, and let you handle your business, and in two weeks…” He lifted his glass to the air, and Corinne met him halfway in a light cheer, “Africa.”
Corinne most certainly wanted to go in one week. But honestly, she needed to wrap her head around what was happening. They sipped their wine, and Xavier sat his glass down and prompted her with another question.
“Tell me, Bella anima, what has been one of the craziest things you’ve ever done?”
“You first,” she responded. “I want to know about your childhood.”
Xavier smirked. “Unfortunately, I grew up under the spotlight of the media.”
“Unfortunately?”
“Yeah. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful so if I do, excuse me. I say unfortunately because I missed out on experiencing a normal childhood. Because of my parents’ media enterprise, going to school came with a flared popularity. We were young and accepted the attention in the beginning, but we quickly figured out just because some said they were friends didn’t mean they really were.”
“Someone betrayed you.” It was more of an acknowledgment than a question.
“Plenty,” he said. “Especially in college. Some guys would get in trouble and try to use our name to get out of it. Rumors began to circulate. Whispers about my brothers and I being involved in whatever coup our friends were a part of.
“For that reason, we separated ourselves, deciding it was best to stick together. As I told you previously, we were born septuplets, but my youngest brother Trevor didn’t survive.”
“Oh no, I’m so sorry, Xavier.” She reached across the table and covered his brawny hand with hers. Friction slipped through his fingers, but he kept his focus and continued.
“I’d say for the most part I’m good.” He gave her a smile that diminished just as quickly as it took shape. “Only when our birthdays roll around do I imagine what he would’ve looked like and how close we would’ve been. I’d like to blame Hunter for taking up too much space inside the womb, but it’s not a joke I can find myself telling with a whimsical satisfaction.”
Corinne smirked and nodded with understanding. “It would’ve been your way of dealing with it. I’m sure those around you would understand.”
He held an eye on her then produced a small smile. “You’re probably right.”
“Of course, I am,” she teased. His smile stretched, and a flurry of butterflies scattered through her stomach.
“I bet you guys had all of the girls after you,” she said, easily shifting the subject.
“Why do you think that?”
“Because you’re gorgeous.”
His gaze dimmed, and it trailed over her lips.
“You think I’m gorgeous, Bella anima?”
Corinne smirked. “I do.”
That pair of words forced an image of Corinne in a wedding gown so painstakingly beautiful it stole the next few words Xavier was going to say.
Corinne saw his struggle and responded, “You can’t be that surprised.”
Xavier blinked. “Um, no… I mean,” he exhaled. “Not usually.” He revisited his train of thought, trying with urgent haste to shake the images of her at the altar. “My brothers and I were in a b-boy band, so the girls kind of came with the territory.”
Corinne’s face was bright. “You were in a b-boy band for real?”
Xavier chuckled. �
�Yeah. We all play different instruments. I was on the drum set while Hunter occasionally played the sax. Lance was the lead guitarist, and DeAndre’s superpower was with the microphone.”
“He can sing?”
“Better than Maxwell.”
“Very interesting. A band of brothers.”
Surprise registered across Xavier’s face.
“What?” Corinne asked.
“That was our band name.”
“You’re kidding.”
Xavier laughed a hearty guffaw.
“A Band of Brothers.”
Corinne’s mouth hung open, her eyes wide with heat filling her cheeks. Xavier’s million-dollar smile was back, and he reached across the table to drive his fingers down her flushed face.
“Will I ever get to see this in person?” Her excitement boiled over.
“Maybe.” He winked.
“Oh come on now, I’m sure my girl Camilla would love to get some sort of doo-wop from you and Hunter.”
Xavier’s thunderous laugh beat down Corinne’s flesh, making her smile harder with wistful joy.
“I’m being so serious right now.”
“I know,” he said with a grin hanging from his chin. “I’ll speak to my brother and see what he says.”
“What do you think he’ll say?”
“Why the hell did you tell her we were in a b-boy band?” He said, imitating Hunter’s voice.
Corinne couldn’t help but laugh. She fell against her chair and serenaded him with her heavy chortle. “No, he wouldn’t!” she countered. “Hunter’s a sweetheart.”
Xavier’s brows knocked together in a frown. “Hunter is a vile human being. Anyone would be lucky to steer clear of him.”
Corinne shook her head, retaining the smile on her face.
“No, I’m just messing around. He’ll be down.”
Corinne shook her head and pointed at Xavier. “You’ve got a lot of jokes tonight.”
“I just love seeing you smile.”
She blushed. “And I love seeing yours.”
He wiggled his brow. “You’ve told me I was gorgeous, now you’re telling me you love my smile. Jesus, woman, if you keep stroking my ego, I’ll be forced to wrap you up in my arms and kiss you to death.”
His voice stroked her flesh, and Corinne’s cheeks filled with more intense heat. A nervous laugh trickled from her. “You’re silly.”
“Silly serious,” he said.
Corinne lifted her glass and took down the rest of her wine, the liquid courage giving her the strength to move forward.
“Maybe I’ll let you.”
Xavier pulled his bottom lip between his teeth. “A kiss can land us in a dangerous place,” he said. “I’m not sure you want to be there.”
Corinne slid her chair back and rose to her feet. She moved away from the table and sauntered the few steps to approach him.
“Try me.”
Chapter Seven
Xavier’s blood heated and the hairs on his forearms lifted. A vanilla bean fragrance wafted from her, disturbing the natural order of his senses. With his nerves in a frenzy now, he took a gaze from her high heel shoes, up her bare legs, across the valley that remained hidden from him behind her summer dress to her breasts. They puckered high and mighty behind the thin material, boastful in their stance and coated with a brown-layered glaze that was her skin. At her lips, Xavier stopped breathing. Her body was a sight to behold, but her face was so elegantly fashioned that he was certain the creator spun her with molded precision.
A delightful array of passionate energy seized him, rendering Xavier speechless. “Bella Anima… you shouldn’t test this concept. There’s only so many times I can stop myself.”
Corinne realized this kiss would go beyond a mere smooch on the lips, but damn if she didn’t want it. Because she did. Corinne licked her mouth and took a few steps backward until her derriere bumped against the railing. Xavier seized that opportunity to stand, and on his feet, he strolled up to her, bringing an intense heat that paralyzed her thoughts. Leaning forward, he locked each hand on both sides of the railing, sealing Corrine in.
“Never mind what I said before,” he said. Xavier dipped to her mouth and captured her lips in a kiss so profound that it rocked them both. Corinne’s legs weakened, and she nearly collapsed, but Xavier caught her fall with an arm that glided around her waist and pulled her flank against the ridges of his chest. The kiss was heavenly, like some sort of enchanted supremacy that cast an incantation she had no power of pulling from. He tasted her full mouth, trailing his tongue over her lips and dancing in a fox-trot with her tongue. Heat ballooned in them both, and just when Xavier began to melt into her skin, he withdrew; breaths bated and chests rising and falling.
“I don’t know if we should do that too many more times. It’s becoming my addiction,” he announced.
Corinne couldn’t agree or disagree. She could only hold steady while she fought interactively to breathe in and out. She was dizzy, and though Xavier was right, she didn’t want him to be.
“Are you all right?”
Corinne nodded, still refusing to use her voice. Xavier regarded her.
“Certain?”
Corinne nodded again. “I’ve got to be honest here, Xavier,” she started, “I don’t know how we can keep our hands off of each other. There seems to be something that overpowers me when we’re together.”
“So I’m not the only one then.”
She shook her head. “No.”
“How long have you felt this way?”
Corinne swallowed, and they both responded at the same time.
“From the day we met.”
Their gazes held firm, and their breathing tingled each other’s mouths. They were too close, and both fighting temptation. Corinne was trying to talk herself out of jumping him again. He’d already been the one to stop their lovemaking the first time, but if she did it again, he might not. That wasn’t the problem. Would she regret it? Corinne wanted to see this thing through. She was desperate to know if their close friendship would turn into a real relationship. It wasn’t impossible, but if they had sex he might not be as attracted to her as he was now.
Her thoughts went back and forth as she stared, watching his gaze tour over the elements of her face. Xavier was going through much of the same battle, except he felt the need to hold off until he heard her say those words. I trust you. It would be the only thing that would break his fortitude. He kissed her lips softly then pulled upright and took a step back.
Corinne blinked then glanced around as if coming out of her own dream.
“It’s getting late,” she said, looking for a reason to leave his presence, so she could hide.
“You’re right,” he agreed.
“I should probably get going, and we’ll reconvene in the morning.”
“I’ll walk you to your door.”
Corinne nodded and pushed off the railing. Xavier slipped to her side, allowing her to walk past him back into his suite. As she meandered through, she couldn’t help but notice the door against the wall. She paused then turned to him.
“Adjoining rooms?”
“Yes, you’re okay with that, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, I just heard you talking earlier after I’d gotten out of the shower, so I thought I would ask.”
Xavier’s mind assaulted him with images of Corinne nude and wet. His dick bounced in his pants, and he almost cursed up a storm at his unfiltered thoughts.
“Hmmm,” was all he said.
Corinne continued to the door with Xavier pacing her steps. He reached around and opened it, and they took the short walk to her room.
“If you need anything, you don’t have to bear the journey of coming to this door or knocking on the other, just come,” he said.
Corinne’s chest swelled. She knew what he meant. Xavier was talking in reference to the adjoining door, and she nodded and smiled.
“Thank you for dinner, and taking time out of your busy schedul
e to hang out with me. I know that isn’t easy with how in demand you are.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Bella anima, there’s no place else I’d rather be.” He pulled his sexy lip in with his teeth, and Corinne turned from him quickly and fumbled out her key. She entered the door fast in her last attempt to not escape Xavier but escape her own wrestling. Being around him was uncanny, and until she could get a hold of herself, she should probably stay away. Yeah, like that’s going to happen.
Corinne leaned a shoulder against the door and dropped her head. Her nerves had been shaken up so many times in one day she felt she would burst at any moment. She lifted her head and peered out the peephole to see if he was still there, but the only thing she saw was the door across the hall.
“Thank God,” she whispered. Had Xavier actually been there, Corinne would’ve said fuck it.
“This is so ridiculous,” she said.
The last time Corinne felt this horny around a man was, was… she tossed her hands up; she couldn’t put a mark on that either.
Feeling completely unraveled and frustrated, Corinne stalked from the door, and with every step she took, she removed an item. Her shoes were the first to go, then her dress, bra, and panties. Before she could stop herself, she was on her back splayed out across the bed with her fingers pressed against her clitoris.
“Aaaaaah,” she crooned at the stimulating sweep against her sensitive flesh. Her fingers flipped and flickered her clit, and her feet dug into the bed as her hips rotated.
A Risqué Engagement Page 5