He nipped lightly at her throat. Her body jerked reflexively, startling a laugh out of her. When he shifted his grip from her nape to her spine, his elbow banged the table hard. A wineglass tipped over.
“Damn it,” he muttered.
“It’s empty.” She leaned back and surveyed the damage they’d done. “This really isn’t the opportune place to get carried away like that.”
“No.” Desire shrieked through him, fierce and unquenched. He set his spine against the back of the booth and raked his fingers through his hair. “Damn.”
“Let’s clean all this up.”
“There’ll be a cleaning crew coming by at midnight.” He didn’t want to leave the intimacy of the candlelit booth for the harsh fluorescent starkness of the stainless-steel kitchen.
“Then they’ll have less to do.” Already she was shifting out of the booth and piling up the plates.
He paused a second before moving, taking a moment to survey her high color, mussed hair and the extra bit of skin bared by their sensual tussling. Damn but she was glorious. Graceful and romantic, confident and feminine. If her employees could see her now, would they take her seriously as a businesswoman? They would if they noticed the determination in her stare.
“Come on,” she said, her tone a stern nudge.
“I suppose the faster we put everything away the sooner we can get back to the getting acquainted portion of tonight’s schedule.”
She gave him a we’ll see smile and headed toward the kitchen. Ashton quickly bussed the table and followed her, unconcerned that Harper appeared to be in full retreat. He had a restaurant to open. That meant he wasn’t going anywhere for now. There would be plenty of time to get better acquainted.
Once Harper had deemed the kitchen was organized enough to leave to the cleaners, they shut off the lights and exited the restaurant.
“This has been a nice night,” he told her, lacing his fingers through hers. “I don’t want it to end.”
“If you have in mind a nightcap in your room...” She let the sentence trail off and shook her head.
He couldn’t resist a wicked grin. “So, sex is a no.” He tugged her close and slipped his fingers into her silky hair, captured her gaze with his and let suspense build. The way her breath hitched, she obviously expected him to push his agenda on her. “How about a walk instead?”
Five
The persistent rattle of her smartphone on the nightstand yanked Harper out of a delicious dream. She had been riding behind Ashton on a motorcycle that was speeding along a coastal highway. Each curve had offered different views of the treacherous terrain ahead, and the exhilarating danger had stolen her breath. Heart still pounding in reaction to the dream, Harper threw her arms wide and stretched, enjoying the slide of cool sheets against her bare skin. Glancing at the clock she saw it was almost nine. She should have been in the office an hour ago. No doubt Mary was frantically looking for her.
With a sigh, Harper slid out of bed and headed straight for the shower. No time to work out this morning. Breaking her routine gave Harper a guilty thrill. So did the reason why she’d turned off the alarm before falling into bed the night before. The walk that Ashton had proposed had lasted two hours. They’d meandered all over the three Fontaine hotels, taking time to tour the gardens at Richesse and have a drink at Chic’s chandelier bar.
At first Harper hadn’t said much. Mostly she’d asked for the stories that hadn’t made it onto the show. Apparently there were
hundreds of hours of footage that had gone unseen. Harper would have given a lot to view all of it. She imagined hilarious outtakes and unrehearsed moments of awkwardness. But there would also be bittersweet interviews and breathtaking scenery.
After the walk, they’d ended up at a table in Fontaine Ciel’s coffee shop that overlooked the pool area. Ashton had turned the conversation away from him and gleaned a great deal of Harper’s history, including her parents’ difficult marriage and how she’d coped with finding out about her two half sisters. He’d known she was ambitious, but now he knew the life experiences that had molded her dreams and goals.
It was the most time she’d ever spent with him and by far the least adversarial. Ashton had proven to be an accomplished interviewer and a charming companion. Funny, perceptive and insightful, he’d turned out to be more interesting than she’d expected. And that was saying a lot.
Now a decidedly infatuated woman stared back at Harper when she cleared the steam from the bathroom mirror. Her reflection told her all she needed to know about how much trouble she was in. The last thing she should do was fall for Ashton Croft. Given his track record, he was almost guaranteed to disappoint her in the very near future.
Putting the celebrity chef out of her mind, Harper dressed and picked up her phone. She winced as she read through her emails and texts. A lot of issues needed her attention before noon when she was meeting her sisters. Because Violet hadn’t returned home until late yesterday, they’d decided their weekly breakfast should change to lunch this one time.
Harper had taken advantage of this change in her schedule to spend more time with Ashton the night before. One cup of coffee had become two and then three. By the time she tumbled into bed at four in the morning, she’d been far too wired to sleep despite the fact that she’d been drinking decaf the whole time.
But the reduced amount of sleep she’d gotten didn’t seem to be affecting her energy level, just her mental capacity. Harper was having a hard time concentrating on all the details competing for her attention.
Lost in daydreams featuring the lush scenery of Indonesia where Ashton had most recently been, she exited her hotel suite and headed to the executive floor. What incredible adventures he’d had. And she hadn’t needed to wait another three months to learn about them on his show.
“Harper, are you okay?”
“Hmmm?” She blinked and noticed her assistant was frowning at her. Harper was standing by Mary’s desk, but her mind was thousands of miles away. “Sorry. I was thinking about...” Stumped for an excuse, Harper trailed off. She couldn’t admit she’d been fantasizing about Ashton Croft and the romantic beaches of Bali. “You were saying?”
“It can wait until this afternoon. Are you planning on coming back here after lunch with your sisters?”