His moan to her mouth as he did so, his hand at the tie of her dress, told Candy there was no way they would be making the movie.
It was evening, not even semi-dark, and that was seriously uncharted territory for her. End-of-evening sex was all she was used to.
But this wasn’t, oh, okay, then, it had been a week after all. This was, let me get this shirt open and this zipper down because I need you to take me now.
Her dress was open, his shirt too, and his fingers were at the back of her bra, ready to undo it, and Candy could barely breathe at the thought of their naked chests pressed together and his hot hands roaming her. She’d never had sex standing, never considered it, because she wasn’t the tall, leggy version that a good Candy should be. She was a shorter, chunkier one, who any second now was going to scale Steele’s body with the grace of a feline. It was that essential, that natural, that...
‘Ignore it...’ Steele said as there was a loud rap on the door.
‘No...’ She could barely breathe now but for a different reason. It was her father’s very loud knock and she froze for a second.
‘It’s my parents.’
‘Just ignore it,’ he said again.
‘They’ll let themselves in.’
That her parents had a key came a close second to a bucket of water—actually, it beat the bucket of water because Steele was dressing her and himself with his hands as Candy stood there.
Then he chose to concentrate solely on her for now.
He did up her dress, a little loosely, and wiped off some lipstick and wished the flush on her cheeks would fade by the time she got to the front door. She looked as if she’d just come, or had just been about to. Her nipples were like the dials on his washing machine. Even her lips were swollen.
‘Breathe,’ Steele said.
‘If they find you here...’ Candy shivered as he knelt down and changed her heels to flats as there was another knock on the door.
‘Will they have us married?’
‘You have no idea.’
‘Where do you want me?’ Steele smiled.
‘On my bed.’
‘That’s what I like to hear,’ Steele said, then stopped joking. ‘Are they likely to come in here?’
‘I hope not.’ Candy let out a breath. ‘Probably not.’
‘Relax,’ he said as she closed the bedroom door on him and went to greet her parents. He checked under her bed and he could possibly fit there but first he smiled as he saw the scissors and labels from her brand-new underwear.
She was seriously gorgeous, Steele thought as he did up his shirt and wiped lipstick off. He was unused to thinking seriously anything about his dates yet she was so lovely, so focused on fighting for her independence and living her life and yet so kind.
Actually, right now, as Candy opened the front door all she was was stressed!
There were her parents buckling under the weight of jars filled with home-made tomato sauce.
‘I said I’d pick them up next week,’ she said.
‘Why are you all dressed up?’ her mother asked, instantly accusing.
‘Because I’m just about to go out,’
‘You need to wear a top under that dress!’ Her mother warned.
They walked through and put the jars of tomato sauce on the bench and Candy got out the coffee machine. There was no such thing as her parents coming over and them not having a coffee, though her father’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree when he saw the bottle of wine on the bench and Candy poured him a glass.
‘Where are you going tonight?’ her father asked.
‘To the movies with a friend.’
‘What friend?’ her mother checked.
‘Kelly.’ Candy glanced at the clock. ‘Ma, I really do need to get going soon.’
‘We’ve barely seen you these last few weeks.’
They chatted in Italian for twenty minutes or so. Candy had promised herself that the next time she saw them she’d tell them about her trip to Hawaii, but with Steele hiding in the bedroom she chose not to. It was not a conversation that would take twenty minutes—it would be an entire evening of tears and threats and shouting.
Her dad’s wineglass was empty, her mum’s coffee was gone and though they looked settled in for the evening and her father would no doubt love another glass of wine, Candy stood. ‘I’m already late for Kelly,’ she said. ‘I really am going to have to get ready.’