He gritted his teeth. She was way too fucking spot-on for his liking. “And what do you know about me? It’s been eight years.”
She stepped even closer and ran a hand down his chest. His heart sped up at her featherlight touch. “I know you’ve avoided commitments and seem to love throwing yourself into your work. I know you feel more comfortable overseas in a jungle than you do here, in a hotel lobby. I know the last place you want to be right now is here, with me.” Her hand dropped. “Am I right?”
Damn it all to hell, she was too fucking good. He curled his hands into fists, refusing to touch her even though he couldn’t think of anything else he’d rather be doing right now. “Pretty damn close except for the last part. I’m finding this whole encounter enlightening, to say the least.”
She smiled and bit down on the corner of her lip as if she tried to stop it. It was adorable and sexy all in one. Just like her. “How so?”
“Like I said, you aren’t the same person you were in Mexico.”
Her smile widened. “But I bet you are.”
“Care to find out?” he asked, crossing his arms. “We could—”
“Yeah. I don’t know about that.” She crossed her arms and considered him. “The last performance wasn’t all that great for me to revisit it. Especially the ending.”
Wait. What? He hadn’t been talking about revisiting the bedroom, for God’s sake. He’d been talking about revisiting their friendship. But now she had to go and throw that insult out there? He growled. “The hell it wasn’t.”
“Don’t like the sound of that, Doctor?”
He stepped closer, his heart pounding. “Yeah, because I know you liked it. Don’t lie to me.”
She cocked a haughty brow at him, seeming completely and perfectly composed while he was about to flip his shit. “So now you presume to know my mind better than I do?”
She might get away with talking shit to other men she’d been with, but it wouldn’t fly with him. He backed her up to the wall, boxing her in. Leaning so close that their chests touched, he pressed his hands against the wall on either side of her head. Getting this close to her was dangerous and stupid and delicious all at once.
It felt fucking amazing.
She smelled like vanilla and some sort of flower perfume, just as he remembered. After all this time, she still smelled the same?
Now her scent would drive him insane.
He caught her gaze. “It might have been your first time, but it wasn’t mine. I know for a fact you enjoyed every single thing I did to you that night. Especially when I buried my head between those sweet legs of yours and made you scream my name so loudly you woke up the entire floor. There’s no faking the way your pussy clamped down on my finger when you came, Red.”
She bit down hard on her lower lip, and pink suffused her cheeks. “You talk to your patients that way, Dr. Dresco? That’s not a very professional bedside manner.”
“No,” he said, leaning even closer. His gaze fell to her plump mouth, and his stomach lurched. “I save it all for you.”
“Lucky me,” she replied, her breath coming out unsteadily despite her smooth expression. “You’re going to have to do more than dirty-talk me to get me to fall back into your arms.”
He ran a finger down her cheek, caught her chin, and tipped it up to him. “I bet you’d love it if I kissed you right here. Maybe you’d even like me to take you against the wall, just like I did in Mexico. For old time’s sake.” He pressed his hips against hers, rolling them in a gentle circle, and she let out a tiny moan. The sound went straight to his cock. “You could wrap your legs around my waist, and I could bury myself deep inside of you where you need me. All you have to do is ask me nicely.”
“I’m not asking you for anything,” she breathed, her eyes flashing a challenge at him. “So don’t hold your breath.”
He pressed closer, rolling against her core. “I noticed you haven’t asked me to let go of you yet, either.” He lowered his face to hers. “You want me to kiss you. Touch you. Fuck you. Admit it.”
Another small moan escaped her, and there was no denying the desire in her eyes. “Just do it already, damn it.”
Satisfaction, hard and deep, rushed through him like a storm. He slanted his lips down on hers, catching her moan with his mouth. The second their lips fused…all hell broke loose. Her nails dug into his shoulders, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out if she was pushing him away or pulling him closer. But he knew for damned sure that she kissed him back. Her lips parted, and the sound she made was for him.
He took advantage of the opportunity and slipped his tongue inside, seeking hers. When she curled hers around his, sucking gently, he groaned deep in his throat. He’d forgotten how amazing she tasted. It all came rushing back to him now.
Not just her taste, but the way she squirmed when he went down on her, offering tiny little pleas the whole time until she came…
This time, he wouldn’t forget a single detail.
Her nails dug deeper into his shoulders, and she slid them behind his neck and yanked him closer, deepening the kiss. Her teeth dug into his lip, but he pushed even more, needing all of her. He trailed his hands down her sides, his thumb brushing the curve of her breast, as he hauled her up against the wall.
She caught on quickly enough, wrapping her legs around his waist so tightly he’d swear he’d died and gone to fucking heaven. He rubbed his straining cock against her warmth, reveling in the broken moan that escaped her, and thrust against her. When she broke the kiss and tilted her head back against the wall, he bit down on her shoulder and slid his hand under her dress, palming her ass through the satin underwear she wore.
When his fingers brushed her inner thigh, he hesitated. She wasn’t a virgin anymore, but he needed to make sure she knew exactly what she was getting from him—hot sex. Nothing more, nothing less. And it wouldn’t be in the fucking foyer, either. It would be in a bed this time. “Do you want me to stop, Red?”
“No,” she moaned, her voice soft and breathy, and moved against him. “God, no.”
“Fucking A,” he growled.
He moved to slip his fingers inside her panties, eager to feel her wetness against him before he led them both upstairs to his room. But just as he was about to touch heaven…she stiffened in his arms. A door opened and a voice echoed in the empty hallway.
She smacked his arm. “Put me down. Your mom’s coming.”
Nothing like the mention of his mother to sour the mood. He pulled back and lowered her to her feet, helping her smooth the skirt over her thighs. Once she stood on her own, he dropped his hands to his side and stepped back. He couldn’t stop staring. She was fucking perfect, with her flushed cheeks and swollen lips and messed-up hair. “This isn’t over.”
She pressed her fingers against her lips and looked at him with wide eyes. “Yeah, it is. This wasn’t on my list.”
“Your list? What list?” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Christine, I—”
“Tyler? Is that you?” his mom called out, her voice creeping closer.
Cursing inwardly, he turned and greeted the interruption with a false smile. “Yeah, Mom. Over here.”
He looked over his shoulder at Christine as he walked away. She stood there watching him, still looking as kissable as she had before he’d touched her.
The whole time he chatted with his mom, he could think of nothing more than ending the conversation so he could finish what he’d started with Christine. The second she headed back inside the bar—with his assurances he would soon follow—he turned back to Christine. “Okay. What list were you—?”
She was gone.
Not again. Why were they always running from each other? His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out. It was from a number he didn’t recognize. He swiped his finger across the screen and scanned it.
That was a mistake and won’t be happening again. I suggest we keep our distance from each other from now on. All my love…to your parents. —Christine
His fingers tightened on his phone. How did you get this number?
I’m a journalist. I can get anything, anywhere. But I’m going to bed. I find myself suddenly exhausted. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. It was…kind of fun, I guess.
He rolled his eyes. Bullshit. Pure and complete bullshit. Three more seconds and you would have been screaming my name while you came, and you know it.
No. I don’t.
She was in denial if she thought she could convince him he hadn’t turned her on just now. He knew the signs of arousal when he saw them. Flared pupils. Soaring pulse. Short breaths. They’d all been there.
She was playing hard to get, plain and simple. She had a plan. Probably that list she’d mentioned. Knowing her, she’d laid out every step of her seduction plan, or something else she’d investigated perfectly before he arrived.
Question was, did she really want to get caught?
He slid his phone back into his pocket without replying to her last text, adjusted his pants—which were now way too tight—and headed back into the lounge. He’d played a few games of seduction a time or two himself, and now?
He had a plan of his own.
Chapter Five
The next afternoon, Christine slammed the flowers that Julie had assigned to her into the vase on the table, muttering under her breath. She was in Spago helping Julie get ready for the event tonight, and her mood was sour. After her kiss-and-run play she’d pulled on Tyler last night, he should have come pounding on her door. Or he should have at least replied to her teasing text, for the love of God. Begged for her to come back down with him so they could talk. Something. Anything. But instead she’d gotten radio silence.