The Secret Mistress Arrangement

When Matt’s eyes widened appreciatively at her outfit, she had a momentary surge of girl power. He’d removed his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, and Ella hoped that meant he planned to stay for a little while. She really was enjoying his company, and the ego boost wasn’t bad, either. He offered her one of the glasses with a smile.

“Thanks.” She sipped at the Merlot before setting it aside, and kneeled on the floor next to some boxes to strap tape across their tops. In a conspiratorial tone she asked, “If I tell you something, will you promise not to tell Mel or Brian?”

Matt joined her on the floor. “Of course.”

“I hate this china.” She laughed. “Mel fell in love with it at first sight and registered for every piece they made. I didn’t have the heart to tell her it was the ugliest thing I’d ever seen.” She pulled out one of the overly colorful and flowery plates to show him. “What do you think?”

“Yikes. I can’t believe Brian agreed to this.” He took the plate from her hand, and his hand brushed hers. Again her senses jumped to red alert. Had the touch been accidental or intentional?

“As far as I know.” She frowned in mock dismay. “It’s sad. Melanie has such good taste in everything else.” He passed the ugly china back to her before leaning back against the couch and loosening his tie. Another good sign he plans to stay for a while.

“I promise your secret is safe with me. I just hope Mel never invites me to a fancy dinner party. I don’t know if I can eat off that and keep it down.”

Ella also leaned back against the couch. “Unless she calls in a caterer for the event, you have nothing to fear in that arena. I love her, but Mel is a lousy cook. About the only things she can make are scrambled eggs and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The last thing that girl needed was dishes.”

“Uh-oh, better watch out. I may tell on you.”

“That’s an empty threat. God knows I’ve told her the same thing hundreds of times. I think one of the reasons she lived with me was because I could cook. I’ve tried to teach her over the years, but she’s just a bit hopeless in the kitchen.”

Matt tugged his tie the rest of the way off and placed it behind him on the couch. As he leaned forward, those chocolate eyes captured hers. “And you? What are you a bit hopeless at?”

Suddenly, the air felt thick, and her voice didn’t seem to work very well. She cleared her throat and tried for a light, flirtatious tone. “A lady never admits her shortcomings.”

“Come on. Tell me.” His voice dropped, and Ella’s temperature rose several degrees.

She swallowed hard around the knot in her throat. “That’s a rather personal question, don’t you think?”

He reached out to touch a lock of hair that had escaped her ponytail and trailed down the side of her face. Curling it around his finger, he said, “I don’t think so. We all have small things we’re just hopeless at. Me, I can’t get my TiVo to stop taping Brady Bunch reruns. It’s ridiculous.”

The mood shifted the moment Matt touched her. Light flirtation was over. This was serious stuff. Ella tried to ignore his hand as he tucked the wayward strand behind her ear, but couldn’t. He was stroking her earlobe, for heaven’s sake. A shiver ran down her spine, and she couldn’t stop herself from leaning, just slightly, into his hand.

“You, Ella, are beautiful, smart, and can singlehandedly organize large weddings.” He brushed her bangs back off her face. His hand slid down so that he cupped her cheek. His eyes locked with hers. “That’s impressive.”

He was so close Ella could feel his breath and the warmth radiating off his body. His voice and the gentleness of his hand hypnotized her. He had called her beautiful. This unbelievably gorgeous man had called her beautiful. Her mouth went dry, and she swallowed hard—again—but still couldn’t get her voice above a whisper. “I’d say you were the impressive one.”

To illustrate her point, she laid one hand on Matt’s broad shoulder, slid it down to where his biceps bulged under his shirt and squeezed the hard muscle. She had meant to simply emphasize his size, but, at her touch, Matt’s breath caught, and his hand reflexively curled around the nape of her neck to pull her closer to him.

“Glad to hear it,” Matt whispered, and then his lips met hers. His first touch was gentle, almost hesitant, barely catching her bottom lip, but Ella leaned in to him. That small encouragement seemed to be all he needed, because his second kiss wasn’t at all hesitant. His mouth moved over hers, forcefully seeking, and she put her arms around his neck. When her lips parted, Matt’s tongue swept inside, sending bolts of pure desire to Ella’s core.

She’d never felt anything like this before, the undiluted sensation of total lust that sent her senses spinning and chased all rational thought out of her head. All she knew was what she felt: the soft thickness of his hair as she held his head to keep him from moving away, the pressure of his body as he lowered her back onto the floor, the hardness of his body as he lay down next to her and pulled her firmly against him.

Bliss.

He was huge, solid muscle all over; she could feel the movement of the bunched muscles of his back and chest under her hands and the hard pressure of his thighs as his legs entwined with hers. His hands roamed restlessly down her back and over the curve of her hip as his lips moved across her jawline and down her neck to her shoulder. Heat rushed to each place his lips touched, causing her to shiver when his mouth moved away and air cooled the moisture left behind. As Matt’s hand finally slid up to gently cup her breast, she gasped and arched into him.

It was the gasp that focused Matt’s attention. His response to Ella amazed him and left him shaken. He’d wanted to taste her all evening, but he hadn’t been prepared for the desire that had slammed through him the moment her tongue touched his. He hadn’t been able to focus on anything but the feel of her since then. He wanted to touch her everywhere, all at once, and his hands slid across her body, learning her. But her gasp had snapped his attention back to Ella’s face. It was his turn to catch his breath.

Ella’s head was thrown back, her eyes closed. A flush spread across her cheeks, and she was breathing shallowly through her mouth. He now knew what lust looked like and was shocked by the same feeling rocketing through him. Carefully he squeezed the breast nestled in his hand, and he was rewarded when her teeth caught her lower lip in response.

She wasn’t wearing a bra beneath her thin T-shirt, and her nipples were hard against the fabric. Caressing the soft curve of her, he leaned down to take her nipple between his lips, sucking her through the soft cotton. She arched again, this time more forcefully, as if electricity had shot through her. Her fingers tangled in his hair, holding him against her breast and encouraging him as the tip of his tongue flicked against the hard nub. His hand came up to cover her other breast, kneading gently as he brought his thigh up between her legs to press against her.

Tugging on his head, Ella brought his mouth up to hers and kissed him as she moved restlessly against his thigh. Her tongue wrestled with his, and her hands pulled insistently at his shirt, tugging it out of the waistband of his slacks, and moving beneath to explore his skin.

The feel of her rocking against him was too arousing, and Matt slowly slid his thigh away from her. Something like a whimper escaped Ella at the loss, but was replaced with a sigh as his hand slid down to where his thigh had recently been. He could feel the heat of her through the thin pants she was wearing. With the heel of his hand, he pressed in hard, wringing a moan of pleasure from her lips.

The phone rang, jarring them both with the interruption.

Ella’s eyes flew open, and he watched as the world came back into focus and reality forced the haze from her vision. Matt cursed and dropped his forehead to rest on hers. His own vision clearing, he met her gaze. Ella was stiff and still beneath him, and the location of his hand seemed wildly inappropriate all of a sudden. Her eyes were wide, filled with an emotion he couldn’t identify. Whatever it was, it sure as hell wasn’t passion.

Another loud ring, and he whispered, “Ignore it.” He heard the machine pick up, then Melanie’s voice filled the room.

“El? It’s me. Pick up if you’re there.” Even he could hear the tears in her voice. Something was wrong.

The sound of Melanie’s tears galvanized Ella into action. Scrambling, she managed to slide out from under him, and hurried across the room to grab the phone. “Mel, I’m here. What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”

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