“My grandfather taught us to be wary of fortune hunters from an early age.” He kept to the cobblestone path until they reached his driveway. “Said he worked too hard building the company to have it torn apart by that kind of infighting.”
“So is it safe to assume your brothers and grandfather are all reviewing my financial information this week?” She didn’t like the idea of being held up to scrutiny for a fake engagement. She quickened her step as they neared the front door. “Because if a foreign princess rouses suspicion of gold digging, I can only imagine what the Reynauds think of a struggling artist from your old neighborhood.”
“No one questions our relationship when we’ve been friends for more than half my lifetime.” He circled around so he could hold the door open for her. “Every single member of my family knows you’re important to me.”
Some of the frustration eased out of her at the reassurance. She was important to him. But would she remain that way once she was no longer his fiancée?
A ball of panic bounced through her at the thought, but now they were inside and Dempsey’s golden-brown eyes were already alight with desire as he stared down at her in the foyer.
“All through dinner, I was thinking about the moment when that door would close behind us.” He crossed the polished Italian marble floor to eliminate the distance between them. “You know what else I was thinking about?”
“No.” Her heartbeat did a crazy dance, and she was all too willing to let go of her doubts and worries about the future. This time with Dempsey was precious. A chance she’d been awaiting for half a lifetime.
Oh, what this man could do to her. With his hands. His sinful lips. The powerful thrust of his hips. He was better than any fantasy she’d dreamed up in the days when she’d had a crush on him.
“I was obsessed with this.” Reaching behind her, he hooked a finger in the loop of the tie for her dress’s halter top. “Do you have any idea how provocative it is to wear an outfit that allows a man to get you naked with a single tug on a lace?”
Her skin tightened like shrink-wrap.
“I hadn’t known.” Her neck tingled where his knuckles grazed it. “But now that I do, I will put the knowledge to work the next time I want you thinking about me.”
Keeping his finger threaded through the loop, he didn’t pull it free, but simply palmed her bare back and drew her closer.
“I’m thinking about you lately, no matter what you’re wearing.” He breathed the words in the hollow under her ear, right before he kissed her and then licked a trail across her most vulnerable places as he headed lower toward her shoulder.
The rasp of his jaw was a gentle abrasion on her skin, a sexy contrast to the wet heat of his lips and his tongue. She liked knowing that she was on his mind as much as he lingered in hers. Against all reason, she wanted to stay there.
“Are we alone in the house?” she asked, an idea coming to mind to help her stay in Dempsey’s thoughts.
With only three more weeks of working as his assistant remaining, she wanted to fill his home with memories of her. Of them.
“Absolutely.” He lifted his head from his task, eyes flaming with heat. “Why? Afraid of being an exhibitionist?” He tugged on the tie to the halter top of her dress.
“I’d prefer tonight to be for your eyes only,” she admitted, clutching the dress to her breasts before it could fall. “And actually, the reason I wore this dress was just in case dinner by the pool turned into a pool party.”
She let go of the fabric, and it fell away. She wore a simple strapless red bikini beneath.
If Dempsey was disappointed she wasn’t naked under her clothes, he sure didn’t show it. In fact, he stared at her body in a way that felt deliciously flattering.
“Damn.” He whistled softly as he slid a finger beneath the tie in the center of the bandeau top. “You mean I could have been watching you cavort around the pool in this?”
“It’s not too late for a swim.” She backed up a step and then another. “We could head outside—” she clutched the knot between her breasts and tugged it “—and skinny-dip.”
Dempsey made a strangled sound as he came after her. She pivoted on her toes and raced through the kitchen and toward the back door with the hottest man she’d ever met on her heels.
Sprinting through the rear of the house, she found one of the French doors leading out to the pool. Only the underwater light illuminated the surface, although the grounds were decorated with low-wattage bulbs around the trees and bushes. The pool was well hidden from any prying eyes on the other side of the lake, the landscaping planted to provide natural privacy.