He watched her collect the denim jacket. She’d added gloss to her mouth, and there was something dark and sultry smudged around her eyes. Beaded sandals, a vivid pink scarf tied round her shoulder-length hair and a thin gold ankle chain completed the outfit. She looked chic and sexy and cute enough to eat.
But it wasn’t until they’d climbed into the car, and he got a lungful of her scent, that the hunger really started to eat at him.
‘So where do you want to go?’ He laid his arm across the back of her seat, and played with the curl that had escaped from her scarf.
‘You decide? I’m easy.’
He laughed. ‘I certainly hope so. I’ve been in agony for the last three days.’
She giggled; the light flirtatious sound had the heat twisting and turning. ‘Haven’t you ever heard of deferred gratification?’
‘I’ve heard of it,’ he said as he backed out of the drive. ‘I’ve discovered I’m not real wild about it.’
Her smoky laugh drifted on the wind but when he stopped the car to lean across the console, ready to suggest they give in to instant gratification—and leave the drive till later—his cell phone buzzed.
Iona touched her finger to his lips. ‘Uh-oh, saved by the bell.’
‘Not really.’ He nipped her finger. ‘I’m gonna give the caller some deferred gratification. See how they like it.’
But when he touched his lips to hers, she wriggled out from under him. ‘You should answer it. It might be important.’
He sent her a long-suffering look, but lifted the phone off the dash, stabbed the caller ID. Seeing his mother’s number, he sighed. Maria rarely called him, and, although it was unlikely to be life or death, if she wanted to speak with him she’d only call back—better to get this over with.
‘Hold that thought,’ he said as he took the call.
It was only when his mother’s voice rang out in his ear at top volume that he realised he’d forgotten to take the cell off speaker phone. ‘Zane, where are you? The quinceañera started two hours ago. You promised you’d come this time.’
He stabbed the button to turn down the volume, but one glance at Iona told him the damage had already been done. She’d heard that loud and clear.
‘I can’t make it. I’m sorry.’
‘Why not?’ his mother asked in her typically pragmatic way.
‘Something came up at the last minute.’ He shifted, stupidly embarrassed by the double entendre he hadn’t intended—and had to bite down on the flicker of annoyance when Maria continued to harass him about the party. She knew he didn’t like spending time with her family. Why couldn’t she let this drop?
‘How about if I get Maricruz a present, make it up to her later?’ he asked, trying to get out of the situation gracefully. He would do pretty much anything for his mother, but not this.
‘It’s not enough. You need to come. Why is it so hard for you to be a part of this family?’ He flinched at the accusation—and the knowledge that he could never tell her the reason why.
He felt the light touch of fingers on his arm, and turned to find Iona looking at him, her eyes bright with sympathy. She mouthed something to him.
‘Just a minute, Maria,’ he said, and covered the handset.
‘Is this your cousin’s party? You should go,’ she said as soon as he turned his attention to her. ‘You can come back afterwards,’ she said, the sincerity in her eyes crucifying him. ‘I’ll still be here.’
No way.
Everything inside him rebelled against the idea of leaving her alone for the evening. After waiting three days to see her, it wasn’t just the sex he’d been anticipating.
But then she said, ‘I don’t feel right about keeping you away from your family,’ and he knew he was sunk.
‘Okay, great,’ he said grudgingly. ‘I’ll go, but you’re coming with me.’ If she was going to guilt him into this, he didn’t plan to be the only one suffering.
‘Don’t be silly. I can’t go, I hardly know…’
Ignoring her protests, he put the phone back to his ear. ‘We’re on our way,’ he added, blanking the gasp of annoyance from the passenger seat.
‘We? Who’s we? Are you bringing a date?’ His mother sounded so surprised, and pleased, it suddenly occurred to him all the ways in which this could go wrong.