How to Win a Guy in 10 Dates (12 page)

‘HEY, that went well, don’t you think?’ Millie tossed a smile in Ed’s direction as they arrived back in the cottage kitchen, knowing how hollow those too-bright words sounded.

Insincere, or another shining example of her glossing over the truth?

She had stretched the evening as far as she could, talking to everyone in sight, for as long as humanly possible. Safety in numbers, surround yourself with a crowd, she’d played every card in the book to avoid being alone with Ed, and having to face the inevitable inquisition about her background, and why she hadn’t come clean about it. It served her right for being less than straight, and she knew she had to face the music at some point. As Ed tossed down his jacket and ripped off his tie, she knew now it was completely unavoidable, and she’d rather get it over sooner than later

‘How the evening went depends on who you are and where you were standing. At least you and my Mother appeared to be having a ball.’ Ed threw two tumblers onto the kitchen island, grappled the top of a whisky bottle, and fixed her with a penetrating stare as he sloshed out two ridiculously large measures and pulled up a stool. ‘Take this, sit down, we need to talk.’

Ominous, but expected, and her stomach plummeting like a stone as she took in the deep furrows on his forehead and eased onto the seat next to his. A smart girl would grab the advantage and get in first. Snatching a hurried breath she launched her defense.

‘Yep, about the Amelia thing, I’m a hundred percent sorry, I didn’t mean to be misleading but … ’ Scrutinising his face to gauge his reaction, she realised her nervous babbling was meeting puzzled incomprehension.

‘What?’ He rubbed a thumb across his eyebrows, distractedly, as if he’d barely heard.

‘I’m talking about my Brunswick Brown alter-ego thing? Me not quite being a hundred percent who I actually said I was?’

‘Oh that.’ He rolled his eyes and gave a dismissive grimace. ‘Neither of us has been entirely honest about where we come from, so I guess that makes us even. End of.’

End of? That took the wind right out of her sails.

‘Okay.’ The thing she’d been stressing over like crazy all evening, he’d dismissed with a shrug. So what the hell did he want to talk about? The stone in her stomach expanded to boulder size. Men never asked to talk, did they? Not if they could possibly avoid it. Not unless they were in the tightest of corners, the rock and a hard place scenario.

‘Millie, I’ve made it clear all along I’m not available haven’t I?’

‘Yes.’ She narrowed her eyes, calculating where the heck he was going with this.

‘But I’m worried, because I have reason to believe you’re maybe getting too, er … ’ he hesitated, ‘ … attached.’

Reason to believe? He was talking like a courtroom lawyer here.

‘Holding on tight when we were crossing the cobbles on our way back doesn’t necessarily mean I’m getting clingy.’ True, a night’s worth of alcohol had rushed to her erogenous zones with the fresh air, and yes, she had been seriously reconsidering her no-sex decision at that point. Blame the champagne, blame how edible he was wearing a suit, any girl would have been the same. But attachment? That was something else entirely, somewhere she would never go.

‘Not clingy. More that perhaps you’re falling for me.’

‘Excuse me?’ She heard herself shriek with incredulity. ‘I’m totally not falling for anyone, believe me!’

‘Okay, put it another way.’ He drew in a long breath. ‘Getting too involved perhaps? I’m a pretty attractive package, after all.’

Arrogance like that, and the peppering of anger in her chest exploded.

‘And what the hell gave you that idea?’ She watched him open his mouth and close it. Obvious then, he wasn’t going to tell her what he really thought.

‘This and that.’ He gave a sheepish shrug. ‘Okay, I’ll come clean – when you opted out of more sex, I assumed you were pulling back because you were starting to care.’

She bowled him an accusing scowl, watching the bump of his Adam’s apple move as he swallowed, and wished it didn’t make her tummy turn the way it did.

‘Putting two and two together and making five?’ She let out what she hoped was a derisory laugh. ‘You of all people should know I’d never get involved. The whole point of this weekend is the temporary part.’

Calling a halt because it was too mind-blowing was a whole different story she wasn’t going to expand on here, because he’d only twist it around and use it against her. As for caring – she definitely didn’t care, did she? The tiniest niggle of doubt needled somewhere deep inside her, but she couldn’t, on any level, allow herself to admit that, not even to herself.

‘Sure about that?’ His dark eyes under even darker brows drilling into her now, turning her insides to hot toffee.

What more assurance did the darned man need, what more could she give?

‘Ed, I came here for fun, I came for the bonk-fest you promised, simply to prove to myself that I could. I already explained that, and you agreed to play the guinea pig, if you remember? I’m sorry to disappoint your huge ego, but you personally have very little to do with it, apart from the obvious bonking bit, obviously.’ There, that told him, even if she had said obvious twice. He couldn’t ask for more than that, unless …  ‘Unless you’d like me to sleep with you again, to prove it definitively? Let’s have that pleasure max you’ve been begging for one more time, if that’s what you need to know it’s fun for me, and nothing more. I prove I can do it one more time. It’s neither here nor there for me.’

So, that came out before she’d thought it through, but now it was out there, it was no bad idea. Doing it again could be the best way of proving to herself she didn’t give a damn about him, and crepe-suzette to the way her pulse was already racing at the thought. That would be because the man was pure dynamite in the O department, and dammit, she may never get another bite at orgasms like that in the rest of her life. It had to be a now or never kind of a thing, and she’d be stupid not to grab that whilst it was on offer.

He took a deep swig of whisky, and lowered his eyes as he bumped his glass on the table. ‘No, I appreciate the offer, but sorry, it’s out of the question.’

What? Was Mr Sex-crazed blowing her off? Again. Surely not?

‘You are joking?’

‘No, it’s too big a risk. Great offer, thanks all the same, but count me out of that one.’

Totally infuriating didn’t come close. She gritted her teeth and watched his jaw muscle twitch as she tried to work out her next move. When nothing inspirational sprung to mind, she opted instead for a throwaway line. ‘Fun whilst it lasted anyway.’

Swirling his whisky round the glass now, he shot her a rueful grin. ‘Too bad I’ll never get to see those tattoos properly, but I’ll have to live with that.’

‘What? Now you are being ridiculous, how the heck did you miss my tats?’

‘A hundred reasons – your jacket, the dark, the covers, and your vest by the pool. Need I go on?’

‘No point backing off all the way and then sounding wistful. It’s too late now Mr Mitchum, your loss. Anyway, I think I’ll get off to bed. Thanks for a great evening by the way.’ She stole one last glance at Ed, brooding over his whisky, tossing her head as she slid to the floor, determined to keep her dignity in place, and the disappointment out of her parting smile.

Pausing for a moment to steady herself before she tackled the walk across the limestone flags, the thought of never holding him again sent a stabbing spasm through her chest. Whoa. Spasms? Never a good look. Then her eye snagged on the iPod dock on the work surface, and suddenly she knew exactly what she had to do. If she took a chance and it went horribly wrong, the worst thing that could happen was that she would end up looking even more desperate and rejected. But what the heck. She had to work fast, seize the moment. Purposefully, she strode across the kitchen, stretched out one quaking finger, and, no idea what was coming, flicked on the music and held her breath.

Great, her luck was in. Lana Del Ray. She recognised it immediately. That smoldering track couldn’t be more perfect for what she had in mind, and just to make doubly sure she leaned in and pushed the repeat button. As the opening bars slid across the room Ed’s head jerking upwards told her she had surprise on her side too.

***

‘What the .… ’

Was that music? Ed let his gaze leave the glass he’d been staring at so fiercely to avoid getting a parting eyeful of Millie’s legs as she left. When his eyes snapped back into focus they locked on her across the kitchen. Talk about double takes. He’d heard of OMG moments, and this had to be one. Millie? He wasn’t sure what the heck was happening, but man, he wasn’t complaining. She had her back to him, legs apart, forcing the split in the back of her skirt open in a way that sent his entire blood supply rushing south, and she was swaying gently in time to the music, smoothing her palms over the curves of that delicious ass as she gyrated her hips. And the melody, all distant harps, and echoing voices singing about bad boys going to heaven, and here was one bad boy who just landed right there himself. Except he wasn’t supposed to be doing this.

And then she turned. One twist of her knee, and she was round. And he was picking up his dropped jaw, as she ran her hand around her head, languidly flicking hair clips onto the floor. Shaking and mussing her hair now, slipping him a smooch of a smile before averting her eyes again. So the hayrick was back, but this wasn’t a Millie he’d seen before. Sidling now, butt out, working those dynamite curves, pausing to stretch along the work surface, simultaneously smoldering hot, and delectably untouchable. A hundred percent in control. Of him. Of herself. Of the whole damned world if she wanted to be, and he’d happily have licked the ground she walked on whilst she stamped on his tongue with the spike of her stiletto had she asked him.

Shimmying across, she picked up his abandoned tie, and unfurled it with another playful smile, then, eyes lowered again, she let the silky strip slide, drape, caress her curves. Simple. Easy. Aching. Then as she circled, bent, swept her hair across the floor, the most awesome eyeful of cleavage sent his off-the-scale libido rocketing to who knew where. And one scorch of that flash of a smile told him she knew exactly what she was doing to him.

This woman didn’t need anyone to save her from anything.

Cross stepping towards him now, one shoulder strap accidentally-on-purpose sliding its way to indecency and racking his erection through the pain threshold. Wiggling her hips, and sending a seismic shudder through him just by slithering the tie across his cheek. Hauling in the scent of her, and knowing this woman was bullet-proof, high incendiary. No way was she going to get hurt. And that knowledge let him right off the guilt hook. He’d have been whooping, but there were other more pressing matters.

‘I love that you’re going to strip for me.’ Growling his appreciation, and not able to resist running a finger up the delicious line of her spine as she paused with her back to him.

And then she was round, her thigh grating over his, her low laugh taunting in his ear. ‘This is about lust not sex, it’s the tease not the strip – if you want to see what’s underneath, you’ll have to undress me yourself.’

‘Now there’s an invitation.’ The pyramid of his erection, straining against his suit trousers, cranked up another notch as she lowered her eyes to devour it. ‘But two can play at that game, you aren’t the only one who can tease … ’

‘You wouldn’t … ’ She forced her thigh against his shaft, dispatching an unholy volley of pleasure rocketing through his body, as she raised a quizzical eyebrow at him. ‘ … would you?’

Not after that he wouldn’t. He might have done, another day, another time, but that nudge pushed him past the point of teasing. Easing to standing, spanning her waist with his hands, one twist and she was on the work surface, dress pushed high, her stocking tops sending his blood-pressure off the scale. Another twist and her knickers were history.

Locking onto the sweetest heat of her mouth, he grazed his thumb across the thin fabric of her dress. That had to be the sheerest of bras. As he found her nipples, pert, and panting for attention she leaned into him with a low moan.

‘I’m truly not falling for you Ed, but I do need … ’ Her voice was bleary as her flickering eyelids.

‘Yes..?’ Peeling down the strap of her dress, he captured one nipple, an ache throbbing in his groin, as he tugged it between his teeth, then sucked deeply.

‘You know the pleasure-max thing … ’ Her thighs were clamping hot around his hips now, as she thrust onto his stomach, skin silky above her stockings, her bottom sending him into spasm as she rode over the peak of his still-enclosed erection.

‘Yes..? He watched her head slip backwards, her lips part as his fingers found her clit. Two fingers and she was clamping on him, her gentle rocking on his hand driving his desire to insane places.

‘A pleasure max, like, now would be good … ’ One husky high-voltage command, encouraging him.

Like now was how it was going to have to be. Thankfully he’d slipped a condom in his pocket.

Unzipping, harder than rock as he rolled on protection, pulling her to meet him, he nudged, edged, pushed, and then he was home, groaning with the pure unadulterated passion. Up to the hilt and plunging, her cries building as he thrust, she was driving him crazy. Her arms grappling around his shoulders, her legs locked around him, her feral groans rising as he drove into her, pushing him higher and higher. And then she was shuddering, hurling back her head, contracting onto him, and then wild, furious, and out of control his own release exploded.

***

‘You okay down there?’ Burying his face in her hair, he ignored the way the scent of her scalp was already sending new shivers down his spine.

One lazy post-coital clinch, her cheek resting heavy on his chest, and as he pushed back her hair a flash of shoulder and the curve of a bare breast sent another wave juddering down his spine, this time a seismic one. Damn his libido. What was it with Millie? Hot sex was supposed to make you satisfied, not desperate for more of the same. Immediately afterwards.