If You Dare (16 page)

“Ah.” So she’d spent some time with Cordelia. That was okay, he guessed.

“She talked me out of pink hair.”

Thank God. But he knew better than to say that. If he did, he was liable to come home and find a pink haired baby sister. “The blond looks more like you. Makes you look…” He searched for the right word. “Fashionable.”

Taylor bent over and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead. “Thank you, big brother. That’s sweet. You better not forget the chips.”

That would’ve been just great. He reached over and grabbed the bag to throw in with everything else. Good. Finally finished.

“If you get a chance, you should compliment Vegas on her wax job.”

Joe grabbed the bag and looked back at Taylor in question. Somehow he couldn’t see Cordelia working on cars.

But then Taylor made a stripping motion over her thighs and he winced. Ouch.

“Oh, wax job.”

Taylor nodded. “Yeah. She didn’t think you’d notice.”

Good grief. His, well whatever Cordelia was, talking to his sister about whether he’d notice that. Never in his wildest dreams…

He walked toward the door, bag in hands, ready to try for slow and easy once again when Taylor called out one last comment as the door closed behind him. “Tell Vegas hey. And remind her Fredericks is at the top of our list tomorrow. Okay?”

Fredericks.
 

Cordelia of the sleeping cat pajamas was taking his sister sexy lingerie shopping. That he could handle.

Cordelia of the incredible sex, the outrageous sex, the public place sex, now that was a little different.

He was reaching for his key card when Cordelia opened the door looking nothing like the sleeping cat pajama girl and everything like the I’m not wearing panties woman.

Her long white silk negligee was slit up to her waist on the side and when she moved just so, he could see…oh yeah. Garter belts and thigh highs. He was a very happy man.

And while his sister had come back after a day on the town looking like an almost different woman, Cordelia still looked very much her oh so sexy self.

He followed her into the kitchen and set down the bag of groceries on the counter.

“I understand I owe you a huge debt of thanks.”

Cordelia pulled down two crystal wine glasses and he watched the way her soft hands gripped the stem of the glass while he poured. “Thanks?”

“You stopped pink hair.”

“Oh that. Your sister is quite the adventurer isn’t she?”

Joe lifted his glass for a toast, not answering. “She said to tell you hello.”

“She’s sweet. I enjoyed today.”

When Cordelia lifted her glass to his Joe let their fingers touch, just barely skim really, before shifting his glass to make slight contact. “To an enjoyable night.”

She repeated his words and he watched as she took a long slow swallow of the drink. Watched as she licked the tiny speck of wine left on her upper lip. Felt as if she’d touched her tongue to his mouth.

He had to clear his throat before he could speak, and damn if she didn’t smile. “Can I make a suggestion?”

“Sure.”

They’d been in the same room for more than a minute and he hadn’t kissed her yet. Maybe this would work. “I’d like to suggest that we make a pact right now. We will eat dinner and dessert tonight. And we won’t get in any big hurry to move this to the bedroom. We’ll enjoy each other’s company first. You know, talk a little.”

She didn’t look exactly comfortable with the idea and Joe fought back the disappointment as she took another sip of wine before answering.
 

He’d seen the move often enough to understand it without explanation. She was stalling for time.
 

 
Okay, so the sex was incredible, but he knew it could be even better.

But he wasn’t going to force her to get to know him better if she didn’t want to.
 

Cordelia let the sweet wine slip over her tongue and closed her eyes. She wanted to get to know him better, but that was a big mistake. This was about sex. A summer fling. A Cosmo article.

He shouldn’t care.

But when she opened her eyes and looked across the small space separating them, she could tell he did care. And Lord, that made her care too.
 

Damn, damn, double damn.

If this were her normal life it would rank in her top moments of all time, but this wasn’t her normal life.
 

He was so sexy, but he was more than that. He was kind. And he was gentle and he wanted to get to know her.

No not her.

He wanted to get to know Irene’s sexy, fun-loving sister.

She took a deep breath and prayed she didn’t live to regret this moment.

“Okay. Dinner, dessert, sex. In that order. I can do that.”

Surprise at her answer crossed his face and she felt a thousand times better. “But I have a few stipulations for this getting to know each other.”

He narrowed his eyes, but she saw the interest there. “Okay. Shoot.”

“We have the option of answering questions or passing.”

He nodded. “Of course.”

“No trying to cajole answers once I pass. I know you, and you’ll try to convince me it’s in my best interest to answer anyway.”

A smug look crossed his face at that and she squelched the urge to wipe it away, but…

“And if I decide I want to quit talking and move on to making love, you won’t argue.”

“Darlin’, when have I argued about having sex with you?”

Okay, he had a point.

“I didn’t wear this” she waved her hand down her body, “to talk.”

He looked at her with hooded eyes and she felt her breath catch. For a man who had talking on his mind he sure did look like he wanted to get naked, yesterday.
 

“I can guaran-damn-tee you what you’re wearing won’t hinder our talking.”

The way he said that made her oh so thankful she’d agreed to talk.

“In fact, I’m thinking the way you’re dressed is going to work with what I have in mind just fine. Why don’t you come on over a little closer and see what I’m talking about.”

She shook her head. “If I come over there, we won’t eat. I know. And we won’t talk either.” Suddenly she really, really wanted to talk. But she wanted to make love too.

Oh man.

He put his wine glass on the counter and crossed his arms. “We can touch and still eat, Cordelia. We can touch and even talk. And I like touching you. So come on over here. I’ve got a few things I want to say.”

Oh what the hell? Cordelia set her glass down too and took a step into the unknown.

Slow and easy. Slow and easy. Joe repeated he words in his mind as he watched Cordelia move toward him with her easy grace.

When she looked into his eyes, that big grin that said she knew just what he wanted to do to her covering her face, he had to push away his first response. Because no way in hell would slow and easy follow that.

Instead he lowered his lips to hers in a light kiss full of future promise. Pulling back, he looked down at her closed eyes, the expectant tilt of her chin, the way her lips were slightly damp from his, and he felt a surge of need shoot through his entire body.

Nothing new about that. He’d been feeling need for her from the minute he’d spied her in the airport. But damn, this was different.

Slow and easy. He had to remind himself.

“See there. I kissed you and we’re both still standing. No danger yet.”

He watched her eyes open, watched her smile up at him. “I thought you said you wanted to talk.”

Oh did he ever want to talk.

He reached up and pushed a wayward strand of hair behind her ear and then dragged a fingertip down her cheek.
 

“You’re right. You look good tonight. Sexy. Romantic. Soft.” He ran the finger from her cheek down her neck, over her collarbone, to the top edge of her silky white nightgown.

“I’m going to have my work cut out trying to talk, trying to cook, trying to keep my mind off what it would feel like to let go and sink inside you.”

He watched the blossom of pink that covered her face and chest at his words, felt his own breath catch when hers did.

“But I’m not going to do that, Cordelia.” He gave up the fight and pulled her to him, let his hands brush down her back, over her rounded backside.

He lowered his mouth to her hair and softly moved them both to the jazz music she had playing. “I’m not going to let go yet because as good as it would feel, it’ll feel better later.”

She looked up at him, her body moving as an extension to his, and he could see she’d bought into his plan completely. “So we’re going to take it slow, talk a little, eat a little and then when we make love, it’ll be even better.”

He tried not to focus on her lips, the way the top one tilted barely on the left side. “That’s right.”

God she felt good in his arms. Perfect.

“I don’t know if I can handle better, Joe. I might just incinerate on the spot.”

He laughed at her words, understanding exactly what she meant and knowing in his gut that as good as it had been it could be so much better. “Follow me on this, and I promise you’ll never forget this night.”

Her eyes clouded at his words and for just a second, he thought she’d changed her mind, decided maybe this wasn’t what she wanted, but then she smiled up at him and nodded. “Okay then. We’ll try this your way.”

When she’d agreed to talk, to eat, to follow his lead, Cordelia had no idea what she was in for.

Now that she’d spent the last hour laughing, helping cook a taco dinner, and finally setting a place at the table, only one at Joe’s insistence, she couldn’t figure out why she’d ever hesitated.

She’d never had so much fun in her life. He made her laugh more than any person she’d met, and he didn’t even have to try.

She sat at the table and watched him carry in the final dish, a bowl of homemade guacamole, before he sat down next to her.

“I figure one plate means one less dish to wash. Besides, this way I get to do this.”

She watched as he dipped a chip and held it to her mouth.

When her mouth closed over it she closed her eyes and let the flavors wash over her. Salt, lime, avocado. Yum. He’d missed his calling when he’d gone into law.

She chewed the chip and opened her eyes when she felt his thumb brush lightly over her lower lip.

He shrugged and smiled teasingly over at her. “Sorry, you missed a bit. I couldn’t resist.”

With the next bite, he brushed her silk covered nipple with the same thumb, now damp from her lip. When she looked up this time, he didn’t bother trying to play it off.
 

“Hey, I’m only human.”

And so the entire meal went. Cordelia couldn’t believe how erotic it was to let a man feed her. Could barely breathe as Joe found reason after reason to lightly touch her body with that same thumb.
 

By the time Joe left to grab dessert, her nipples were pebbled against the silk material covering them and she wanted nothing more than to stretch out on the table and beg him to forget about dessert.

And he’d done this to her with a thumb!

They hadn’t even talked really either. Just laughed, teased, made sexy remarks that left her breathless and wanting more.

She was just deciding how to get up on the table and not break it when Joe walked in carrying a crystal bowl of fresh fruit.
 

And the determined look on his face had her shifting plans.

When he set the bowl on the table just out of arms reach, she decided she couldn’t continue.

Standing up she turned toward him. “I’ve changed my mind, Joe. Let’s skip dessert and talk and go straight to the sex, what do you say?”

He laughed and shook his head as he sat down and turned his chair to face hers. “We made a deal. Remember? Besides, this is where the fun really starts. Come on, sit.”

Oh man. Cordelia waved her hands in front of her face in attempt to cool off. She should’ve turned the tables on him. Given him a taste of his own medicine, but it felt good to just be there, to let him torture her with his tiny touches that certainly shouldn’t have left her so hot.

And then he was there, standing next to her, taking a piece of ice from his mouth. Felt a single droplet of water splash on her neck before she felt the slick ice against her pulse point.

“That better?”

She closed her eyes and nodded, wanting to sink into the sexual haze he’d been building all night.
 

In seconds she’d gone from hot to cold, and it was the best cold she’d ever felt in her life.

When he quit sliding the ice over her skin, she opened her eyes again and let him push her into the chair.

If he wanted to talk, eat dessert, whatever, she was definitely going to follow his lead.

Slow and easy. Joe’s mind pelted the words at him as he felt the push of his erection against his pants.

Damn he wanted her completely. Now. But he wanted to wait more.

Taking a strawberry from the bowl he smiled over at her. “Okay, here’s what we’ll do. You pick the topic. We each get to talk for two minutes and then I’ll ask you a question. If you get the answer right, you get to do whatever you want to me, but you can’t leave your chair. Wrong, and the chance shifts to the other person.”

He bit into the ripe fruit and enjoyed the sweet taste as he watched her process his idea.

“So this is a game?”

He nodded and took another bite of the strawberry. She watched him chew for a second. “Why not just talk?”

He swallowed the last bite of fruit and shrugged. “I’ve had fun so far, haven’t you?”

“Yes, but…”

He held a strawberry to her mouth. “Trust me. You’ll like this.”

She took his word on both counts, biting into the fruit and nodding her head.

“Okay, since I made the rules, I’ll go first, if that’s okay with you.”

She nodded again, and this time he could see the calculating look on her face as she remembered the reward for a correct answer.

She shot him a smile that promised retribution before she spoke. “Okay. Topic one. Cars.”

When he’d planned this game, he hadn’t planned on her knowing about his personal life first. He couldn’t help but laugh. “I forgot you spent the day with my sister.”