Operation Prince Charming (10 page)

She dismissed the thought. Even if he would forgive her, and she doubted he could, it wouldn’t change their ongoing problem.

Hunter didn’t understand her desire to become one of the city’s elite. She yearned to top everyone’s invite list for the chicest parties and events, while he was happy at a backyard
barbecue with Sandy and Pete. She wanted to serve on high-profile charity boards and committees, and he was content to serve a public that barely appreciated his efforts.

“Was he the one who stood you up last night?” Taj asked.

Erica nodded. “He’s a cop, so he was always being called away,” she said.

“Cop?”

Erica felt Taj’s body stiffen, and he spun her around. “Did you say that guy was a cop?”

“A detective,” she confirmed.

She briefly wondered why Taj seemed agitated, but waved off the thought.

Taj was so refined, Erica thought. A man like him had probably never witnessed a scene as ugly as the one she’d just gone through with Hunter. It had to have been hard for him too. She hoped it hadn’t turned him off her.

“But that’s over now,” she said, both to herself and to him. Maybe Taj hadn’t exactly rocked her world in the bedroom. He had what she needed outside it.

Taj pulled her close. “Come back to bed,” he said. “I’ll make you forget all about him.”

Erica smoothed a hand against his jaw. Classy, good looking, and connected, this was a man who could help her achieve her dreams. With Taj at her side, she’d be the complete package. She’d no longer be on the outside of society looking in.

“Sorry, Taj, but that scene pretty much killed
the mood,” she said, knowing another bout of below-average sex with him this morning would have the opposite effect.

“Perfectly understandable.” His handsome face fell as he dropped his arms.

Erica sighed wearily. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt another man today.

“How about we order in some breakfast, and you can tell me all about how you know the Mc-Adamses?”

Erica smiled to herself. Maybe she’d chosen the right man after all.

Hunter ignored the burning in his chest and his aching calves as his sneakers pummeled the hard pavement of the familiar park trail. He didn’t care. He just wanted to run.

Run until it banished the tawdry scene he’d walked in on from his mind. Run until he didn’t taste the bitterness of betrayal. Run until he didn’t feel humiliated for stupidly believing in Erica long after everyone else had washed their hands of her.

He intended to run until he was too damn tired to think.

His sweat-soaked body began to give out on the twelfth mile, but the drumbeat of the how-could-I-have-been-so-stupid mantra continued to hammer in his head.

Hunter slowed his pace to a walk. This wasn’t getting him anywhere.

Ambling over to the drinking fountain, he took a long pull of cold water. He cupped his
hands, held them under the running faucet, and splashed water over his face.

He was relieved he had the day off. The last thing he wanted to do was face Pete and a host of others who’d tried to warn him about Erica.

The money had gone to her head, they’d said. It had changed her too much.

Now Hunter knew without a doubt, the Erica he’d seen this morning would never return to being the woman he’d cared about again.

Images of her answering the door naked and disheveled replayed in his mind. He splashed another handful of water over his face and braced himself for the onslaught of pain that usually accompanied heartbreak.

It didn’t come.

Hunter stood, his hands still under the running water, as realization hit him full force. He wasn’t hurting. The only thing Erica’s escapade had wounded was his pride. His heart had remained intact.

“Hunter?”

Recognizing the familiar voice immediately, Hunter spun around.

Ali.

He took a moment to soak in the sight of her. Her face was scrubbed free of makeup, and her hair was pulled back in a low ponytail. She wore sneakers and a pink shorts outfit.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“What are you doing here?” Hunter asked, surprised to see her.

“I don’t have any classes today, so I thought I’d go for a walk. I have some things I’m trying to work out in my head,” she said. “I’ve been watching you for a while, and you seem kind of out of it. Are you okay?”

Hunter smoothed away the concern creasing her brow with his fingertips as he pushed aside a lock of hair that had escaped her ponytail. “I wasn’t, but I am now.”

It was true. He’d felt better the moment he’d heard her voice. The sight of her was like sunshine breaking through the clouds after weeks of rain.

Hunter inhaled, drinking in her perfume floating on the late morning breeze. She grasped his forearm, and heat rippled through him. Her touch was soft and sweet just like the scent of her perfume.

“What happened?”

Hunter didn’t want to talk about it. Not because it made him sad. Ali just seemed so far above the ugly scene he’d witnessed this morning.

He looked at her face again. The crease between her brows deepened, and he figured it would be worse to let her continue to worry. “I just left Erica’s place.”

“Oh?” She said, waiting for him to continue.

“She was in bed with another man,” he said flatly.

“Oh, Hunter. No.”

He looked deep into her eyes. Their depths brimmed with concern, tenderness, sympathy, and something else.

Empathy.

“Your husband cheated on you, didn’t he?”

She abruptly snatched her hand away from his arm, and he found himself already missing her warmth. “How did you find out? What did you do, Google me?”

He shook his head. “I had no idea until this very moment. The look on your face told me.”

“Yes, he did, so I’ve been in your shoes.” Her chin dropped to her chest. “Only he cheated with my best friend. I don’t know which betrayal hurt me more, his or hers.”

Hunter touched his finger to her chin and lifted it until they were eye to eye. “Your ex is a damned fool.”

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry this happened to you.” Her voice was a husky whisper, but conviction filled the statement. It wasn’t some platitude. She meant it.

Hunter shook head. “I’m not.”

Ali’s eyes widened. “How can you say that? You tried so hard to make it work, even suffering through my class.”

He took a step forward until his face was mere inches from hers. “Because now I’m free to do what I’ve been aching to do ever since the night at the restaurant.”

“What’s that?” she asked, her voice barely audible.

“Taste you.”

Without preamble, Hunter brought his arm around her waist and hauled her against his perspiration-soaked body. She gasped, and the lips that had taunted his dreams enticed him even more. The world around them fell away as he lowered his head and crushed his mouth to hers.

Hunter heard Ali moan as his tongue delved into her mouth.

The soft sound ignited the firestorm of longing he’d suppressed too long.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, returning his kiss with the same fierce hunger. Her hands grasped his shoulders, and she pulled him even closer.

He could feel the peaks of her breasts against his chest. Their delicious weight combined with the heady sensation of her sweet mouth nearly sent him over the edge.

Realizing they were in public, he forced himself to tear his lips from hers, ending the kiss long before either of them was ready. Still holding her against him, he stared down at Ali’s flushed face. He felt the thump of her heartbeat
as her chest rose up and down, her breath coming out in pants.

He dropped his head, until his forehead touched hers.

“Come home with me.”

Ali knew there were at least a dozen good reasons why she should say no.

Hunter had just suffered a shock that had sent him into an emotional tailspin. He was on the rebound, and she didn’t need the distraction of a man in her life right now.

The best thing she could do for him, for both of them, was to step back from his sweaty, sexy body and walk away.

Yet, as she stood with his arm wrapped around her and his powerful arousal pressed into her belly, all she could think about was satisfying the desire he’d stirred up the moment he’d walked through her door.

Ali shut her eyes briefly.
Do the right thing
, her conscience whispered.
Walk away
.

Finally, she raised her head until their gazes met, fully expecting to see the pain of another woman’s betrayal in his eyes.

Instead, she saw a man who wanted her as much as she wanted him. One who wouldn’t stop making love to her until she was calling his name in ecstasy.

“Yes, I’ll go home with you.”

Hunter’s arm dropped from around her waist,
and he grasped her hand. His soulful brown eyes never left hers as he raised it to his mouth and bestowed it with the gentlest of kisses.

Ali’s mind flashed back to the child who’d called him a prince. Now she knew the little girl hadn’t been mistaken.

For now, Hunter Coleman was Ali’s Prince Charming, and she could hardly wait for him to begin making her grown woman fantasies a reality.

He gave her hand a gentle tug and led her to his car. The air of anticipation thickened on the short drive from the park to Hunter’s place.

Her mind could only focus on two tasks—getting him naked and getting him inside her.

Neither said a word, but he held her hand the entire ride, releasing it only when he turned into the driveway of a three-story town house and hit the garage door opener. He drove into the attached garage, and the door closed behind them.

Ali chewed on her bottom lip, both eager and nervous.

He opened the passenger-side door and pulled her to her feet. In an instant, she was in his arms. He kissed her hard and deep, leaving her breathless and weak. She sagged against him.

“Are you sure?” He inclined his head toward the door leading inside the town house. “Because once we’re on the other side of that door, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop.”

She slid her hand downward and palmed his impressive erection. “The only words you’ll hear from me are don’t stop.” She squeezed his hardness as she rose on tiptoe to whisper in his ear, “Please. Don’t. Stop.”

“Oh God,” he moaned.

He kissed her again, somehow managing to unlock the door to his town house without breaking contact with her lips.

Once inside, she didn’t feel any of the curiosity or awkwardness at entering someone’s space for the first time. She didn’t care if he was neat or about his taste in interior design. Her only concern was how fast they could get naked.

Hunter grabbed the edge of his T-shirt and pulled it over his head, revealing his well-muscled chest and washboard abs. Her fingertips tingled as she reached out to touch him.

He grasped both of her wrists in one of his large hands and shook his head.

“Not here.” He inclined his head toward a staircase. “Upstairs.” His voice was half plea, half command.

They scrambled up the three flights, the last one ending in a huge master bedroom suite that took up the entire third floor. Her gaze fell upon the king-sized sleigh bed dressed with plush burgundy bedding.

She felt him behind her. He placed his hands on the sides of her arms and kissed her lightly on the side of her neck.

“I’ve dreamed of you in that bed,” he whispered against her ear.

“What was I doing?” she asked boldly. The idea of him tossing and turning on that big bed thinking of her turned her on even more.

“Riding me.”

Ali felt her knees buckle as the timbre of his deep voice turned her arms to gooseflesh.

“Cold?”

She shook her head. “No, just the opposite.” She turned until she was facing him. “I’m hot to start making that particular dream come true.”

Hunter reached for the top button on her shirt and unfastened it. She sucked in a breath as his hands brushed against the tips of her breasts while making quick work of removing her shirt along with the rest of her clothes.

His hungry gaze raked her from head to toe, lingering on her breasts, and she felt her nipples tighten under his scrutiny.

“You’re beautiful.” Hunter’s voice, low and seductive, left her trembling with need. The day-old beard on his chiseled jaw scraped her skin as he began a series of slow kisses beginning at her neck and trailing down to her breasts. He lifted them with his hands.

“Do you know how long I’ve wanted to do this?” Without waiting for her answer, he flicked his tongue across one taut nipple and took it into his mouth.

He gently tugged it between his teeth, before giving her other breast the same rapt attention.

“I knew you’d taste this sweet,” he rasped.

Waves of pleasure washed through her and for a moment she thought she’d come right there. She pulled his mouth from her breasts and took a step back.

“I want to see you,” she said. “All of you.”

He ducked into the bath, and she heard the shower start. When he returned, he tugged both his gym shorts and briefs down over his lean hips. They dropped in a heap at his feet.

Ali barely noticed him stepping out of them or kicking off his shoes, her gaze transfixed by the sizeable erection calling to her from between his muscular legs.

“Like what you see?”

She licked her lips and swallowed hard, savoring him in his naked splendor. The sheer maleness of him took her breath away. Never in her life had she wanted a man so badly.

“It’s been quite a while for me. I haven’t since before…”

He stepped over to the nightstand and retrieved a large box of condoms from the drawer. “I’ve got all day with nothing to do but help you make up for lost time.”

Again, her gaze fell to his erection. “Well, let’s not waste it talking.”

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her
soundly. Clothes no longer a barrier between them, Ali let her hands roam freely over his body. Her palms slid down the warm skin of his back until she was cupping his firm buttocks. She squeezed them as she ground against his thick length, reveling in the rock-hard feel of him.

Her feet left the floor, and she realized he had carried her into the bathroom. When the kiss ended they were both standing in the glass shower stall.

Steam rose as the warm water rained down on them. There was something deliciously intimate about being in the enclosed space with the man she’d lusted over for weeks, Ali thought. It was as if a fairy godmother had granted her sexiest wish with a cherry on top.

She reached for the soap. Water sluiced over them as she ran her slick hands over his hard chest, covering it in the fragrant lather. His amazing anatomy made her regret having only two hands. She’d yearned to touch him like this for so long. From his wide shoulders and powerful biceps to his broad back and tempting butt, she wanted to feel all of him—all at the same time.

“My turn.” Hunter took the soap and rubbed it between his palms.

Ali’s gaze met his, and the raw hunger in his eyes made her feel like the most desirable woman on earth.

“I’m going to touch every inch of you,” he said, making her tremble in expectation.

Starting at her neck, he caressed her skin with his large hands, the slippery soapsuds heightening the sensation of his touch.

Ali gasped when he reached her breasts, taking his time with each one before replacing his hands with his mouth.

“Oh yes,” she said, taking his head between her hands and holding it there. He alternated between breasts, each suck, lick, and gentle tug an exquisite torture.

Meantime, his hands continued their sensual exploration. They slid past her waist and over her hips until he reached the juncture between her thighs.

Ali sucked in a breath as his hand brushed against her swollen folds before he pushed a finger inside her.

“Hunter.”

Ali opened her mouth, but her next words were smothered by his mouth. He kissed her long and deep, his tongue moving in tandem with his finger stoking the desperate need building within her until Ali thought she’d collapse from pure pleasure.

Heart-hammering, she pushed against his hard chest and pulled her mouth from his.