Sultry Escapes: Waking Up to You

Their lips parted, the kiss hot, sensuous and wet. There was nothing tentative about it, no hesitation, no regret. He simply devoured her and she let him, tilting her head, loving the feel of his tongue in her mouth. Their bodies were pressed together, his hands at her waist, hers tangled in his thick hair, and the kiss went on and on, deep and hungry. She had sensed this man’s mouth had been made for kissing, and now she knew. He dined on her, sipped from her, swallowed her exhalations as if he needed her breaths to expand his lungs and fuel his cells.

Against her groin, she again felt the rigid heat that proclaimed his desire for her more than words ever could. Clad only in the robe, with his body slammed against hers, she couldn’t help but notice the rock-hard strength of him. She moaned, low in her throat, and rocked toward it, so filled with need she thought her legs would give out.

He suddenly tensed, as if realizing they were one step away from too-far-to-stop. Dropping his hands, he ended the kiss and pulled away, staggering back a step to punctuate the end of their embrace.

The sound of their ragged breaths filled the silent air. Candace felt certain every ounce of blood in her body had pooled in her most intimate places, which now throbbed and boiled with demand. Her breasts hurt, the nipples so sensitive that the scrape of the silk robe was almost unbearable, and she knew nothing would make them feel better but his hands, his tongue, his lips.

But the look on his face said she wasn’t going to get any of those things. His hands were shoved in his pockets, his tongue was back in his mouth, his lips were sealed tight and turned down in a frown.

He was trying to pretend he regretted the kiss.

She knew he didn’t.

“That was…unexpected,” she admitted, hearing the weakness of her voice.

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“Oh, of course you meant to. Just as I meant to.”

“Maybe you’re right. But that doesn’t mean it can happen again, or go any further.”

She opened her mouth to argue.

“You’re only here for a short time, you’re my boss’s granddaughter and he trusted me to look after you.”

“I think he was sort of hoping you would romance me,” she said, her tone dry.

“Yeah, but not bang you up against the front door.”

“Is that where we would have ended up? Gee, and the sofa is right in the next room.”

“Damn it, Candace.”

She held a hand up, palm out, stopping him from saying anything more. “Forget it. I know you’re right. I have reasons of my own for not insisting you rip off your clothes and do me until I can’t remember my own name.”

He coughed and laughed, both at the same time. Then, as if the laughter—and her saucy words—had snapped some kind of spell, he reached out, put his hands on her shoulders and spun her around so she faced the staircase. Gently pushing her, he ordered, “Go.”

She spun back around. “I can’t.”

His jaw turned into granite. “You’re being ridiculous.”

All because he needed her to be the one who walked away and ended this before it really began? As if he had no free will? As if he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from doing to her exactly what she’d practically dared him to do unless she removed herself from his presence?

You don’t want him to do it, either, remember? You know you can’t do this.

Her grandfather was being moved to a rehab facility today. He’d be there for about a week, and then he would be coming home. But coming home to what? Her having an affair with his groundskeeper, then the descent of the paparazzi once her engagement was announced? Did he really need that while he recovered? Did Oliver, who was obviously here for reasons he hadn’t yet revealed to her? Did she need the scandal? Did Tommy?

No. She might want Oliver, and having sex with him might even be worth what she would go through afterward if people found out. But nobody else deserved it. She needed to cool this, here and now. She had to be the one who walked away.

Which still wasn’t going to be easy.

“I’m telling you, you really don’t want to watch me walking up those stairs.”

“Yes. I really do.”

“And you’re honestly not going to get out of here until I do?”

“No.”

“You’ll regret it.”

“Hell, I already regret it,” he said, tunneling both his hands through his hair this time, leaving it more tousled than before.

“Not as much as you’re about to.”

A helping of anger had been heaped upon her sexual frustration. Yes, she’d decided she couldn’t have him, but did he have to be so damned insistent about it?

She hadn’t been kidding that he was going to regret it. Because she was ready to give him what he was asking for…and wondered if he was ready for what came along with it.

Without another word, she spun around again, squared her shoulders, stiffened her spine and ascended the stairs. He stood below, watching her, and when she reached the fourth one, she couldn’t help pausing to glance over her shoulder at him.

“Oh, Oliver, do you want to know why I didn’t want to walk up the stairs until you left?”

He didn’t reply, just gave her an inscrutable look.

She told him anyway. “Because of this.”

Candace took another step, knowing she’d reached the point of no return. Knowing full well he could now see what she was not wearing beneath her robe.

She wished she could say his strangled, guttural cry of helpless frustration made her feel better about walking away from what she sensed could be the best sex of her life.

But she just couldn’t.

5

EVER SINCE HE’D started getting involved with females, Oliver had known how to handle them. Maybe it was because he’d had sisters, lots of girl cousins and parents with an honest, loving marriage in which nobody held the upper hand. Maybe because he’d had girls after him since he hit puberty. Maybe he’d just been born with the gene.

The point was, he’d always been sure of himself when it came to women. He’d always known when one was interested and when she wasn’t, been able to gauge how soon was too soon, or when it was too late and he’d missed his shot. He’d set the pace, led the dance, taken the right steps at the right time.

Until now. Until her. Until Candace.

She had him twisted inside out and upside down, not knowing what to do or say next. He didn’t know whether to resist or keep on fighting. Part of him wished she’d never shown up at Buddy’s house, and another part dreaded the day she would leave.

“God, what a mess,” he muttered that evening as he finished taking inventory in the wine cellar. He hadn’t even realized there was one in the house until today, when he’d gone to visit Buddy in the rehab center. He’d watched for Candace to leave the room, heading to the cafeteria for lunch, and then stopped by, not wanting to run into her after what had happened this morning. Coming face-to-face with her would have been more than his heart could have taken, even a couple of hours after she’d marched her bare little fanny up the stairs.

No, not little. Round, supple, perfect.

Just right for cupping in his hands, or pounding against as he took her from behind, the way he’d been dying to as he’d watched her sashay back to her room.

He swallowed hard, wishing he hadn’t allowed himself to go back there in his mind. He’d managed to avoid thinking about her most of the day, but now the images came washing in. He was again overwhelmed by the memory of the gorgeous, naked ass she’d flashed at him as she’d ascended the stairs. He suspected he would keep seeing that vision for a long while, every time he closed his eyes. “You’re a complete idiot,” he muttered to himself. “You’re the one who insisted she walk up the stairs while you stood there like Pavlov’s dog, drowning in your own drool.”

To give her credit, she had tried to warn him. No, she hadn’t come right out and told him what would happen—that he was about to be given a free peep show that would drive a grown man to his knees. and he suspected his own stubbornness had inspired hers. Still, he wasn’t sure he could ever forgive her for showing him what he could have had, if not for his own foul temper and his need to keep punishing himself by not taking anything he truly wanted. Being noble was all well and good, but if it came with blue balls, he’d far prefer being selfish.

“Enough,” he reminded himself, trying to return his focus to the task at hand. The wine cellar. He still couldn’t believe it was here, or that it held so much.

Buddy had found a treasure trove in the basement right before his accident, one he hadn’t even realized was there until he’d started trying out keys to locked rooms. That’s what had sent him hurrying down the porch steps to find Oliver. He’d intended to show it to Oliver and ask him to help inventory it.

Now that it looked like Buddy wouldn’t be doing any stair-climbing for a while, Oliver had promised he’d get started. Buddy had agreed gratefully, telling him to help himself to anything he found…unless it was worth a king’s ransom, in which case he would need it for his medical bills.

He hadn’t even thought about that, but now that his employer had brought it up, Oliver couldn’t help worrying about it. Buddy had sunk his life savings into this place. God, he hoped this accident didn’t bankrupt the man.

Caught up in the old man’s excitement, he’d stopped by the store to pick up reference books with grades, rankings and values of old wine. Once he’d found the room and gotten started, he’d been shocked by the sheer quantity of bottles. Obviously, his own great-uncle, who’d bought out his siblings, including Oliver’s grandmother, hadn’t even realized what he had in his possession. He’d been from back East and never done a proper inventory on the place. The group that had bought the estate from him had intended to get investors to renovate it into some corporate retreat, but had never fully investigated, either.

Buddy had bought the whole place—and its contents—out of bankruptcy and was legally entitled to everything here. Including this treasure trove. If the previous owners had realized what they’d had, this stuff would have been on auction blocks around the world, not still stored in this secure room, created solely for keeping wines in pristine condition.

Okay, there was dust. A few cobwebs—Candace would hate the spiders. But for the most part, the setup was ideal and the bottles—more than one hundred of them, possibly close to two—looked sealed and correctly colored. It was very likely many of them were aged to perfection.

This collection could be the answer to Buddy’s financial problems. Some of the bottles weren’t easily cataloged and an appraiser would have to do it. Many, though, had been listed in the books he’d brought with him as being worth thousands of dollars. There was a small fortune within these walls, and, frankly, Oliver couldn’t think of anyone who deserved it more.

They weren’t all gems. He had found a few broken ones, dry corks or just plain duds according to the books. Some that were good wines still weren’t worth much, even if in mint condition. Those included vintages that had been bottled during a surplus production year and just weren’t collectible.

It was one of those he was eyeing now. A 1971 burgundy from one of his favorite vintners that was still around today. Buddy had told him to feel free to help himself to anything that wasn’t too valuable, and this one wasn’t worth more than about a hundred bucks.

He deserved a hundred bucks worth of wine, especially after putting up with Buddy’s sexy, infuriating granddaughter.

“How’s it going?”

Said sexy, infuriating granddaughter who almost startled him into dropping the bottle. He spun around, seeing her eyeing him from the doorway. “Oh. You’re back.”

Obviously he had lost track of time down here. It was probably a good thing she’d come looking for him—fully, if sexily, dressed in a pair of slim-fitting jeans and a lightweight pink sweater. With his luck, he’d have consumed the bottle of wine and headed upstairs after she was home and ready for bed, wearing that flimsy little bathrobe and nothing else.

His horny-man brain quickly rebelled at the idea that that would have been bad luck. But he shut that part of his brain down.

“Visiting hours are over. It’s after eight. I saw the lights were on upstairs and thought you might still be here. Grandpa told me where to look for you.”

She looked like she wanted to come in, but was carefully eyeing the cobwebs and shadowy corners.

“All clear,” he told her with a smile, knowing what she was looking for. “I think the mutant spider from outer space is still trying to find his way home.”

That was a lie—there were enough webs down here to house the spiders from Harry Potter’s Dark Forest. But he wasn’t about to tell her that.

She managed a weak smile and slowly entered, her attention focused on shelf after shelf of bottles. She whistled as she walked around the twelve-by-twelve chamber. “Wow. He wasn’t exaggerating, was he?”

“Definitely not.”

“Amazing!”

“You have no idea.”

He quickly filled her in on what he’d discovered, and saw her eyes light up with hope as she realized her grandfather might have actually stumbled into a treasure to help him make this old house into the showplace he envisioned.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m no expert,” he told her. “I can only judge by what the books say. Buddy will have to get an appraiser out here. And of course it depends on whether the wine is any good, or if it’s gone over.” Then he lifted the bottle, holding it up against the milky light coming from the overhead bulb. “I was just about to crack open a bottle of the cheaper stuff and check it out.”

She nodded anxiously, looking like a kid agreeing to a dare. “Oh, yes, let’s!”

“Are you a wine fan?”

“I’m a woman. Of course I’m a wine fan.”

Reaching into his pocket, Oliver drew out a multifunction tool that had a wine opener on it and almost held his breath as he uncorked the bottle. He was careful not to shake it in case of sediment and immediately smelled the air for any scent of vinegar.

Nothing. So far, so good.

Testing the cork and finding it completely moist and not at all crumbly, he began to hope they weren’t about to drink a bottle of salad dressing in the making. “This really should be decanted so it can breathe.”

Her face fell.

“But there’s no point in going upstairs to find a decanter and glasses until we know whether it’s worth drinking.” He lifted the bottle and extended it to her. “Ladies first.”

She didn’t put on any fussy airs or complain about drinking out of an old, dusty bottle. Wiping the rim with her hand, she lifted it to her mouth and took a tiny sip.

Her eyes closed. She remained very still. Then she sipped again.

When she opened her eyes, they were sparkling with delight. “Unbelievable. That is the best wine I have tasted in my life! If that’s the cheap stuff, I think the really good wine would bring on an instant orgasm.”

She immediately caught her bottom lip between her teeth, obviously regretting making that remark.

He regretted it, too. Mainly because, as he took the bottle from her extended hand, and lifted it to his mouth, all he could think about was giving her that instant orgasm.

He could. Of that he had no doubt.

Trouble was, he knew he shouldn’t. He didn’t have that right. He was in no place to offer her anything and in no condition to take anything. Having sex with her would be about one thing and one thing only—instant gratification. And she just didn’t seem like the one-night-stand type. Nor was that what he suspected his matchmaking boss had in mind for them.

He placed his lips right where hers had been, tasting her lipstick, wishing it wasn’t via second degree of separation. Then he sipped, and felt the most delightful burst of flavor in his mouth. He caught smoky undertones, but the tannins were light, unobtrusive. There was also a hint of cherry, or plum. Not sweet, just rich and full-bodied. It went down smooth, the finish just as perfect as the opening, and he couldn’t resist taking another healthy sip.

“Fantastic,” he said when he lowered the bottle. “Should we go for the decanter?”

“Absolutely!”

She spun around and hurried out the door, leading him up the stairs to Buddy’s living room. They were like a pair of kids who’d been given their favorite candy and could hardly wait to dig in.

And they definitely dug.

An hour later, they’d finished off the first bottle, and most of a second one he’d gone down to grab. The second hadn’t been quite as perfect as the first, even after a fifteen-minute decant, but it beat anything he’d ever ordered at a fancy California restaurant, hands down. And the book only valued it at forty bucks. Something about age definitely made all the difference.

Dividing what was left between their two glasses, he listened as she went over a list of things they needed to check and do tomorrow. That included finding the closest expert who could come out and do an appraisal. By their own unscientific research, Buddy should come out of this at least two hundred thousand dollars richer. One bottle in particular, a 1945 Château Mouton Rothschild, could very well bring in fifty thousand on its own.

Fifty. Thousand. Dollars. For a freaking bottle of wine.

Damn, he was glad he’d bought the reference books and hadn’t dared to just grab a bottle and open it!

Candace sat beside him on the couch. She’d been bouncing with excitement every time he flipped a page and spied a familiar name, pointing to its corresponding mention on his list of Buddy’s wine cellar. Her excitement had been infectious. It had also been so spontaneous that, once, she grabbed his thigh and squeezed.

He’d managed to hide a groan, wondering if she was really clueless about the effect she was having on him. And it wasn’t just a wine-inspired reaction. Oh, no. Everything about her simply called to something inside him. Her soft scent filled his every breath; her long hair brushed his bare forearm. Their legs touched, hips, too. She filled his every sense, and if he’d thought the attraction was dangerous when they’d first met, he knew he was really in trouble now that he liked her so much.

She was delightful, smart, funny and so sexy it hurt to look at her. Their nearness—and, okay, maybe the wine—made the idea of never having this woman seem not only a shame but a crime against humanity.

“I am thrilled for Grandpa,” she said when they’d finally reached the end of the list. She tucked one bent leg beneath her and turned toward him on the couch. “This is going to help him make all his dreams come true.”

He nodded, unable to take his eyes off her burgundydrenched lips, feeling the thrum of excitement that reverberated from her. She was relaxed and happy and he’d never seen her looking so beautiful.

“Thank you,” she said, reaching out to grab his hand and squeeze it.

He couldn’t resist. Twining his fingers in hers, he lifted her hand to brush a kiss on her palm.

She sucked in an audible breath and edged closer. He continued to kiss his way across her palm, until he reached her wrist. Pressing his lips there, he noted the frantic thumping of her pulse and realized her heart was racing.

He dropped her hand. “I didn’t mean to go there.”

“Don’t stop.”

“It’s a bad idea, Candace.”

“What is? You kissing my hand?” She licked her lips and lowered her voice to a sultry whisper. “Or my mouth?”

Or any other part of her? Every other part of her?

“Kiss me, Oliver,” she dared. “One real kiss to celebrate. What do you say?”

Intriguing. “Only one?”

“Yes. Just one. I promise I won’t ask for more.”

He stared into her deep green eyes, wondering whether she was telling him that one would really be enough, or that it would do for a start. Nor could he be sure what he wanted her answer to be.

Not until he spied the list on the table, with Buddy’s name scrawled across the top. He was in his friend’s home, a little high on his prized wine, contemplating kissing his granddaughter. That alone was enough to convince him he couldn’t take any more than the single kiss she’d asked for.

“All right, Candace. Just one.”

“You’re sure that will be enough?”

Hell, no, it wouldn’t be enough. But it was all he was going to allow himself. Period. At least until he didn’t feel like the biggest heel in the world for taking advantage of his boss’s granddaughter…and for letting himself get close to a woman when he knew he had absolutely nothing to offer her.

He didn’t just mean financially. It wasn’t just his lack of a career or a house or even his own car, all of which he’d left behind in L.A. He meant himself. He didn’t have any emotions to offer any woman. He’d felt adrift for months, and it would take more than a hot flirtation with a beautiful brunette to change that. So he wasn’t about to allow himself any more than one small glimpse of the physical pleasure he knew he wasn’t entitled to and didn’t deserve.

“I’m sure,” he finally told her. “One. And then we say good-night.”

“If you’re sure. I mean, remember what we talked about the other night, if you give a mouse a cookie…”

“He’s going to say thank-you and walk out the door.”

She studied him, gauging his seriousness, and nodded. “All right, Oliver. One kiss, and then we say good-night.”

They might have shaken hands given the serious way they made their deal. And a deal was all it was.

One kiss. One and done.

God help him.

ONE KISS? Yeah. Sure. Right.

She couldn’t believe he’d really be able to do that, but just in case, Candace was determined to make it a kiss for the ages. She knew from this morning that the man’s mouth was ambrosia, and knowing she was going to taste it again was enough to make her whole body shiver and quake in anticipation.

He noticed, and let go of her hand. “Are you cold?”

She shook her head slowly, inching closer to him on the sofa. Untucking one leg, she didn’t hesitate to make sure he couldn’t change his mind and get up. Giving him a look that was half demand, half plea, she rose onto her knees and slid one leg over his thighs, straddling him.

“Candace…”

“I want my kiss,” she insisted as she hovered over his lap. Maybe the wine was making her bold, but she suspected it was pure physical attraction. If she’d been stonecold sober, she still would have wanted this kiss. This wicked, stolen moment.

“This is a little more than I bargained for,” he admitted.

“You’re not a very good bargainer,” she replied, licking her lips. “You didn’t even try to negotiate any ground rules.”

“Should I have?”

She smiled wickedly. “Probably.”

“I’m guessing it’s too late for that?”

“Much too late.”

He sighed deeply, but she’d swear his eyes gleamed with excitement and amusement.

“Just one,” he reminded her.

“Oh, all right.”

She moved down, lowering herself onto him. Her knees rested on the couch on either side of him, the position very intimate. She could feel the heat and power between her thighs and knew he was already aroused. He probably had been for quite a while, judging by the undeniable hardness straining against his zipper.

Yet he wanted only one kiss? The man obviously had an iron will to go along with that iron shaft.

Her blood pulsed and pooled in her groin. She was unable to resist rubbing against him, just a little, taking the heat, the strength and that hardness, and pleasing herself with it. Their clothes were in the way, of course, but she still felt waves of delight pulsing through her as they ground together.

His flexing jaw indicated he was gritting his teeth, as if striving for control, and she made a promise to herself: someday, she’d make him lose it. That control would be long gone before the day they said goodbye. Maybe it wouldn’t be tonight. Maybe they would just have one single kiss, as he insisted. But someday, she’d have the rest of him, even if she had to wait five years.