“We have a few minutes before they start the awards presentation. And I know this quiet spot by the pond where we can take a breather.” He guided her over a couple of stepping-stones that cut through a row of hedges. A small sign had been staked in the garden: Private Property: No Visitors Beyond This Point.
She glanced over at him with a conspiratorial smile as they made their way from the crowded lawn into a more secluded part of the property. “Breaking the rules, huh? You sure you’re not just trying to get a girl alone, Mr. Waters? I’ve heard you’ve got a bit of a reputation.”
“Oh, is that right?” he asked, releasing her hand once they were obviously alone and giving her ass a swift pinch.
She rewarded him with a little squeal and a flash of lust in her eyes. She picked up her pace and got a few steps out of his reach, peeking back over her shoulder at him.
“I wouldn’t run from me,” he warned. “That’s like flashing a cape in front of a bull.”
The eyebrow arch and head tilt she gave him were pure mischief. Before he could blink, she took off toward the water glimmering in the distance.
He launched into pursuit. “Oh, now that’s your ass, freckles.”
His dress shoes were slippery against the grass, but Charli wasn’t exactly wearing sneakers either. So before long he was only a stride or two behind her. She dared a glance behind her, her smile wide, before she unexpectedly veered right and left him skidding past her. He grabbed onto a tree to slow himself, then changed direction.
Charli ran along the edge of the pond, but her steps faltered when she saw the thicket of trees on the far side of it. Grant grinned in triumph. She only had two choices—surrender or risk traipsing through the wilds surrounding the property in the dark. Before she could act, Grant reached her, capturing her by the waist and spinning her off her feet.
She shrieked and he dragged her to the ground, pulling her down on top of him in the grass. “Gotcha now, darlin’.”
“You’re going to get your suit dirty.” She made a halfhearted attempt to escape, writhing against him and inadvertently making his cock stir to life. But when his arms didn’t budge, she sighed and sagged against him, her forehead against his. “Man, I hate to lose.”
He chuckled and slid his hands from her waist down to the curve of her butt, fitting her pelvis against his thickening erection. “Yes, but you make such a sexy little captive.”
She groaned. “Down, boy. We’re at a fancy-schmancy party, remember?”
“And those fancy-schmancy people are two hundred yards on the other side of those trees getting into their seats for a ceremony that starts in five minutes.” He tucked his hand beneath the hem of her dress, dragging a finger along the lacy line of her thong. “But I can play nice. If you’re not wet, I’ll let you free right now.”
“That’s not fair,” she protested.
“Ah, so you are ready for me then,” he murmured as he slipped a finger beneath the lace. The silky heat of her arousal greeted him. Fucking beautiful. She wasn’t just wet; she was soaked. “Well, well, someone likes being captured.”
She made a soft sound and closed her eyes as he touched her. “I may or may not have entertained the idea before. How do you feel about pirate outfits?”
He laughed. “Not a chance.” But maybe he’d have to play this cat-and-mouse game with her at The Ranch, where no one would blink an eye if he caught her, stripped her down, and tied her to a tree.r: Roni Loren
She shifted in her seat, the quiet becoming suffocating. It was a long ride into the city. Broody silence was only going to make her more nervous about the event tonight. She scrounged her mind for some neutral topic. “So who’s getting married?”
He gave her a sidelong glance. “What are you talking about?”
“You had an invitation on your kitchen counter. I didn’t read it, but I could tell what it was for.”
That little muscle in his jaw twitched. “My mother, apparently.”
“Oh,” she said, sensing that she’d picked anything but a safe topic. “I didn’t realize your parents weren’t together.”
He kept his eyes on the road, but his grip on the steering wheel seemed to tighten. “My dad passed away a few years back.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, knowing that was the pat response, but truly meaning it. Losing her father had been one of the hardest things she’d ever faced. She still had trouble thinking about him without getting teary. “Were you close?”
“Very. Talked every day until…well, until I lost my wife. I went into the army after that and didn’t really want to talk to anyone,” he said, regret tingeing his voice. “He died after I joined the CIA. My family owns a dairy farm, and Dad always insisted on being hands-on. He had a heart attack while checking on the herd one morning.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said again, wanting to reach out and give his hand a squeeze but sensing the sympathy wouldn’t be welcome. “I didn’t mean to bring up sad memories.”
He shrugged, though the move seemed stiff. “It is what it is. The truth is, I should’ve been there. I should’ve been home running the farm so he could retire. But I was too caught up in my own shit to take on the responsibility.”
She frowned. “You were serving our country. That isn’t exactly shirking responsibility.”
He glanced over at her, then back at the road. “Yeah, that’s what I told myself, too. It sounds so brave and noble. But all I was doing was running—running fast and far. I let my family down.”