Matched For Love (Rocky Mountain Matchmaker Book 3)

by Tamra Baumann

“Thank you.” His hand on the bare part of her back slid lower, and he pulled her closer. “Your beautiful ivory skin contrasts so nicely with your dark hair. And your long neck drives me crazy. I’ve been dying to taste you all night. Right here.” He gently nipped the base of her neck.

  Her engines were already idling fast and ready to go, but that little nip got them revving on full.

  Then he lifted his head and smiled at her as he pulled her even closer. So close his crotch snuggled against her belly. Leaving no doubt about how much he wanted her. It sent a shiver up her spine. It had been so long since she’d been plastered against a hard body. And God, how she missed being wanted by a man.

  His lips moved to her ear, and he whispered, “Was that shiver for me? Or are you cold?”

  He’d felt that? Dammit. She didn’t want to seem so needy. “Just a draft. I’m fine.”

  He took their entwined hands and placed them between them, against her chest. “You are so much more than fine, Lori.” When he traced the backs of his fingers over the exposed swell of her breasts, she let out an involuntary whimper she wished she could take back.

  The gleam in his eyes turned hungry. “You in this dress should be illegal. It’s making me want to do very naughty things to you.”

  Yeah. She knew just how he felt. “Maybe we should go sit down then. Your parents are probably wondering where we went.”

  His fingertip slowly slipped lower, while the back of his hand pressed harder into her breast. When he lightly grazed over her nipple, her spine straightened, pressing her harder against him.

  He said, “Forget them. Tell me how much you need me, inside of you, pleasuring you until you beg me never to stop. That’s what you want, isn’t it, Lori?”

  Her bad-girl side was nodding her head enthusiastically, while the good girl inside was blowing a whistle and calling foul. “Jason, I don’t think—”

  “Don’t think. There’s an empty office just down the hall.”

  What was she going to do? She needed to make a decision, quick. Her body was screaming for release, and here was a handsome man, ready, willing, and clearly able to satisfy her needs.

  It took all her strength to look up at him and shake her head. “I really shouldn’t.”

  He took her arm and started for the door. “Give me one more chance to change your mind once we’re behind closed doors.”

  She tried to dig her heels in, but he was too strong. “No, Jason. Really.” But he continued to tug her toward the door. When he tripped on someone’s foot, it proved he’d had too much to drink. Because of that, she’d give him one more chance before she resorted to kneeing him in the balls. “Jason, stop. Now.”

  He abruptly stopped and faced her, but hadn’t let go of her arm. “What?”

  “I’d like to go back and sit down.”

  He leaned close and whispered, “You don’t mean that.” His eyes left hers and landed on her chest.

  Oh, yes she did. And he’d better start respecting her wishes.

  She was just about to slip a finger under his chin to make him look into her eyes when over Jason’s shoulder, the doors parted, and Deek walked inside, his eyes searching the room.

  When their gazes met, he smiled at her, and suddenly, all her anger ebbed. He was wearing his glasses, and they made her heart do a little flip. He looked adorable in them.

  Deek jogged over and joined them. “Hi, Lori. Is there a problem here?” His gaze dropped to Jason’s hand on her arm.

  Jason plastered on a fake grin and released her. “No. No problem. We were just going to have some fun.” He hitched his brows. “If you get my drift, pal?”

  Lori quickly stood beside Deek. “No, we weren’t. Will you drive me home, Deek?”

  Jason lifted his hands. “Wait. There’s no need for that, Lori. I’m sorry. I’ll take you home.”

  Deek slipped an arm around her shoulder. “Nope. She belongs to me.” He turned and smiled at her. “I was an idiot, Lori. I’d love to marry you if you’ll still have me.” Then he laid his soft lips on hers, and he kissed her.

  Deek had a way of pulling her under his spell so fast that it made her dizzy. Before she could wrap her hand around the back of his neck and deepen the kiss, he ended it.

  He stared into her eyes expectantly, as if waiting for her to say something. When her brain finally cleared from its happy haze, she realized he hadn’t meant what he’d just said; he was just saving her. “Well, it’s about time you figured that out, Deek.” Then she turned to Jason. “Looks like I’m going home with him. Forever. Have a nice life, Jason.”

  Jason’s face clouded with fury. “You’re nothing but a damn tease, Lori. You could have been the perfect woman to satisfy my extremely wealthy parents. You don’t know what you’re throwing away, bitch.” Then he turned and stalked away as curious onlookers began to whisper among themselves.

  There was no need for name-calling. Geez.

  She drew in a deep settling breath as a somber thought occurred. “I have to go back over there and get my purse.”

  Deek gave her shoulder a squeeze. “I’ll get it. Wait right over there for me.” He pointed to an empty table in the rear.

  She slumped in a chair and waited for Deek, her mind tossing around the “perfect wife to satisfy my parents” statement. Seemed any woman would do for him as long as Mommy and Daddy approved. She needed to talk to Shelby in the morning and suggest giving Jason his deposit back. His motives for finding a partner didn’t appear to have anything to do with falling in love. And he was way too aggressive after she’d told him no.

  Deek soon reappeared, weaving through the tables. He stood out like a cactus in the Arctic tundra. He moved about people dressed in formal apparel, while he wore his typical garb of tennis shoes and jeans. His T-shirt said: If life gives you melons—you may be dyslexic.

  Melons. Lemons.

  It made her smile.

  Deek held out her purse. “What’s so funny?”

  “Nothing.” She shook her head and stood. Then she kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you. But what are you doing here? Is everything okay?”

  “It is now. I’ll explain it all on the way home. You look fantastic, by the way.”

  Lori weaved her hand through the crook of his arm as they walked toward the coat check. “You look pretty great, yourself.”

  Looked like it was back to square one in the dating game.

  Deek glanced at Lori as he pulled out of the country club’s parking lot. “I’m sorry about that, but Jason isn’t the man he appears to be.”

  Lori turned and faced him. “In what way?”

  He pushed up his glasses, suddenly remembering he had them on. Dammit. He never went anywhere with them, and he especially didn’t want them tonight. Not when he was going to ask her something so important. But back to Jason first. “After you came home upset on Friday night, I did a deep dig into Jason’s online past. As you probably know, on the surface he looks perfect. But underneath, there’s a ton of dirt. Bad stuff.”

  Lori’s eyes went wide. “How do you know this?”

  Dammit. He didn’t want to upset her any further, but he wouldn’t lie to her. Ever. “I crossed some legal lines based on some of my former tech training. What I tell you can’t go any further than you and me. You can’t even tell Shelby. Okay?”

  Lori chewed her bottom lip for a moment as she considered. “Okay. Spill.”

  She didn’t seem angry at him. Yet. “Based on some deleted online e-mail conversations, those never go away, by the way, the right equipment can find anything, it seems he’s been engaged two times before. And the women were paid off to keep their mouths shut about his dark sexual appetites.”

  “What do you mean by dark sexual appetites?”

  “Weaponry, pain, bleeding, bondage, dominance… That kind of dark stuff. And the women had both started to plan the weddings before he slipped and let them see his true nature. His parents know about him and have told him he’d be cut off if he doesn’t stop. But
I wonder if he can.”

  “Oh my God.” Lori blinked at him. “Is that why you and Rachel were talking about BDSM last night? Were you trying to warn me then?”

  “Yes. I’m sorry I didn’t get the chance to talk to you alone after that.”

  “That might explain his aggression on the dance floor. The guy wouldn’t take no for an answer, and that’s never okay.” Lori slowly shook her head. “But we did a background check. And my brother checked police records. This isn’t good for my business. We need to find a way to access the data that you did.”

  He cringed. “You can’t legally do what I did unless you’re actually in law enforcement and have a valid reason. But I’ll look into how you can be more thorough and get back to you.”

  “Thanks.” Lori’s jaw clenched as she stared out the windshield.

  Dammit. She was mad at him. “Normally, I’d never do that. I respect rules. But I hated seeing you come home so upset the other night. I just had to be sure. For both you and Emily. Can you imagine if he’d fooled you long enough to actually marry him? He comes off as Mr. Perfect, right?”

  Lori finally met his gaze. “On the outside, yes. In looks only. The bad stuff notwithstanding, he’s not the kind of guy I’d ever end up with. I was just…”

  He held up a hand. “I know. Your sister told me. You haven’t had sex in a long time, and you just needed a release.”

  Lori’s jaw fell open and an “Ach,” sound came out. Then she dropped her head into her hands. “I am going to kill Rachel.”

  Then she moaned.

  Like she was in tremendous agony.

  Why would she do that? What would elicit moaning when not really in physical pain?

  Lori finally sat back up, stared out her side window, and shook her head. That went on for a solid minute.

  He needed to fix something, but he wasn’t sure what. “Did I say something wrong?”

  “No.” She blew out a long breath. “I’m just mortified. And feeling a little stupid for even considering sleeping with Jason. But for the record, Mr. Blunt, I told him I wasn’t going to sleep with him before you got there.”

  Mr. Blunt?

  Lori must be really mad. What should his next step be? Maybe best to go with honesty. “I was thinking about your problem on the drive to the country club earlier.”

  “My problem?” Lori slowly turned her head and narrowed her eyes, sort of like an angry cobra might do right before it was about to strike. “Exactly what would my problem be, Deek?”

  Yep. Angry cobra was about right. “Well, Rachel said you hadn’t had sex in a few years, and I was supposed to go save you from your sex-starved self.”

  “So this night can get worse?” Lori threw up her hands. “Who knew?”

  “I thought since we both haven’t had sex for a while, it might be good for us, physically speaking, of course, and since Annie said I could, if maybe you and I should sleep together? Just as friends. I have to marry Annie, if she says yes. But I think it’d be better if you had pointless sex with me rather than some guy like Jason. Not that I can’t be a little adventer—”

  “Stop. Please, Deek.” Lori dropped her head into her hands and did the moaning thing again. But the moan was a little different this time. Not so much in pain but more a whimper.

  He didn’t see the problem. It was a logical solution that they’d both enjoy the hell out of. Why would she be willing to sleep with Jason just for sex and not him? It made no sense.

  And then there was the other thing. “Your sister said something else.”

  Lori let out another long moan. He took that as a sign to go on.

  “Rachel said that you probably wished that I loved you. Is that true? Because I didn’t think a woman like you would ever be interested in a guy like me.” When Lori didn’t answer, he added, “You can just moan once for yes and twice for no, if you’d like.”

  Lori slowly sat up and sighed.

  Still looking straight ahead, she whispered, “I think Annie is the luckiest person in the world to have you, Deek.”

  That didn’t answer the question. “Does that mean you like me too?”

  “Too?” She finally looked at him. “Do you have feelings for me, Deek?”

  He pulled into her driveway and threw the gearshift into Park. Then he turned to her and took her hand. “I have so many confusing feelings about you that I don’t know what to do with them sometimes. I love being with you more than any other woman I know. But I have an obligation to Annie and Asher that has to come before how I feel.”

  She nodded and pulled her hand free. “I know they have to come first. Let’s just be friends and forget this whole entire night ever happened. Literally. Okay?”

  He wanted her to say she had feelings for him too. But apparently, she didn’t. Not like that anyway. “Okay. If that’s what you want.”

  “It is. Night, Deek.” She opened her door and got out.

  He felt like he’d been stabbed in the heart with one of the icicles that hung from Lori’s garage.

  As she walked in front of the hood, he rolled his window down and called out, “Wait. I screwed that up.” He shut down the engine and got out of the car. “What I should’ve said was that I wanted to be the first man you slept with since your husband. Because I care about you, and I want it to be with someone who understands that it might be hard for you to be with someone else. I mean… It was for me. After Annie left us.” He lifted his palms, begging for better words to express what his heart was trying to say, but there were no more in the well. He let his hands fall to his sides again. “I wanted it to be nice for you, Lori. That’s all.”

  He stared at her, waiting for a response. But she just stood there with a major frown on her face. He’d screwed that up too, dammit. He’d be better off leaving before he made things any worse. “Good night, Lori.”

  He started back for the car, but before he could open the door, she called out, “Maybe you’d better come inside.”

  His heart soared as he turned to face her. “Really?”

  She nodded. “I assume Asher is here. Probably sound asleep by now.”

  His heart sank to his tennis shoes. “Right. Of course. I can’t believe I almost forgot my son.”

  He walked beside her to the front door, feeling like he’d lost his best friend. After Lori had punched in the code to release the lock, she opened the door, then shut it behind them. The house was dark and silent. Everyone must be asleep.

  Without turning on any lights, she shrugged out of her coat, and then turned and started unbuttoning his.

  “Am I staying?” he whispered.

  “Yes, please. I’d very much like you to be my first since Joe too.” Lori leaned on her tip toes and kissed him. “But you can’t stay all night. I don’t want the kids to know. And we’re just doing this as friends, to end our celibate streaks, nothing more.”

  “Deal.” His heart nearly burst out of his chest as she took his hand and led him toward her bedroom. He’d dreamed of making love to Lori for so long that it’d be hard to take his time, but he would.

  He’d use everything he learned to make it the best sex she’d ever had.

  10

  DOING RESEARCH CAN REALLY PAY OFF IN THE END.

  Lori dragged Deek inside her darkened bedroom and then quietly closed the door behind them. She was going to end her celibate streak and sleep with him. Her heart pounded with anticipation. She’d been mortified that Rachel had told Deek the personal things she had, but when Deek said he’d just wanted the first time to be nice, her heart had melted a little.

  As soon as the door closed, Deek took right over and pressed her back against the wood. He hadn’t had sex in a while either, so he probably wanted it as hard and quick as she did.

  He laid his mouth on hers and kissed her until she didn’t have a working brain cell left as he quickly tugged down her zipper. When her dress pooled at her feet, she stepped out of it and then stopped kissing him just long enough to lift his T-shirt over his
head. There was enough moonlight to cast sexy shadows on all the hard planes of his sculptured chest. The man must work out every day. Her fingers traced along each bump of his six-pack abs as she continued their kiss.

  He opened the clasp on her pushup bra, removing it in record time, in their race to get each other naked. When she reached for the zipper on his jeans, his hand covered hers. He lifted his mouth just enough to whisper, “Not yet. It’s all about you first.” His large hands cupped both her bared breasts and gave a gentle squeeze. “Besides, I want to take my time exploring. I just love your body, Lori.”

  His mouth joined in with his hands pleasuring her chest and making her knees grow weak, so she held on to his broad shoulders, closed her eyes, and enjoyed. Lost herself in the sensations pulsing through her body with each stroke of his tongue across her needy breasts. Her head dropped back against the door with a thunk as she let herself drown in the sweet pleasure he gave her.

  Her hands explored all the hard ridges on his upper back and shoulders while he slowly slipped her panties aside and slid a fingertip right where she ached most for him to touch.

  He whispered, “Just let go, Lori.”

  She shook her head. She wanted to wait for him to join her. “I can—”

  Then he plunged two fingers inside her, slowly stroking her until she considered changing her mind about waiting for him. “Maybe I—” Her back arched, and she moaned as a wave of pent-up need overcame her, made her body throb around his fingers, matching his rhythm with her hips as he moved in and out of her in long steady strokes. His thumb still teasing her, circling and pressing at the same time drove her insane with need. It was like no experience her battery-operated lover had ever given her. Like no experience any man had ever given her, and it pushed her straight to the edge. She had no choice; she couldn’t wait. “Deek, I—” Before she could finish her sentence, the dam filled with years of unbridled lust broke, and she came so hard, and with such breath-stealing relief she hadn’t had in so long, it made her want to weep with joy.

  She laid her head on his shoulder while she caught her breath. “Thank you for the research, Deek. So far, it’s spot-on.”