“No, you won’t. You’ll forget.” He ran his fingers through the damp locks. “You know you never gave me an answer to my invitation to go to dinner next Friday night.”
She was silent, mulling over his question. She had wanted to accept instantly when he had asked her the first time, but reluctance had filled her. It still did. “I think when we go back to our real lives, you’ll wish you hadn’t asked me.”
“Not so.”
“Call me next week and ask me again if you still want to go out. I don’t think you will.”
“Darlin’, if I didn’t want you to go, I wouldn’t ask you.”
“Just call me next week.”
He gave her a long look and she wondered what was running through his mind. Had their mild clash reminded him of the big fights they’d had? From the shuttered look that had come to his eyes, she suspected it had. She didn’t want any such intrusion on this night. She scooted close against him. “In the meantime, I intend to keep you happy with me,” she said, hoping for a sultry voice.
The shuttered look was replaced by blatant desire, and she guessed she had succeeded in making things right between them again. When he turned to kiss her, she was certain she had.
It was midafternoon the next day when she walked out of the shower. Wearing the navy robe again, she roamed through his sprawling condo into a big kitchen that had an adjoining sitting room with a fireplace.
Exploring the refrigerator and his freezer, she saw some drinks, a few covered dishes and an assortment of berries. She had leaned down to look at the lower shelves when Tony’s arms circled her waist to draw her back against him. He nuzzled her neck.
“I know what I want,” he said.
She turned to wrap her arms around his neck. He wore another thick navy robe that fell open over his broad chest.
Aware their idyll was about to end, she kissed him passionately. She dreaded stepping back into reality, where she would have to wrangle with him again.
He released her. “Hold that thought and let me put something in the oven so I can feed us.”
“At last...food,” she said, clutching her heart and batting her eyelashes dramatically at him. When she licked her lips slowly as she watched him remove the covered casserole dish from the fridge and nudge the door closed, he placed the dish on the counter and turned to draw her into his arms.
“You were going to get fed until you did that,” he said in a husky voice, pulling her close.
“Did what?”
“You know what,” he said, leaning closer to kiss her, a hungry kiss that ignited fires more swiftly than ever.
In minutes she wriggled out of his grasp. “I think we should eat. Whatever I did, I won’t do again. How can I help?”
He was breathing hard, looking down, and she realized the top of her robe was pulled apart enough to reveal her breasts. She closed the robe more tightly. “As I was saying, what can I do to help?”
He seemed to not even hear her, but in seconds he looked up. “If you want to eat, I suggest you go sit over there on the sofa and talk to me while I get something heated up. If you stay within arm’s reach, I’m reaching.”
She smiled and left him alone, watching him put the dish into the oven and get plates, pour juice, wash berries. Her gaze raked over him. He was a gorgeous man. Sexy, strong, successful. Why hadn’t some woman snatched him up already? As far as she knew from local gossip, there had never been a long-term girlfriend. Just a trail of girlfriends who’d come and gone. Apparently, he didn’t go in for serious affairs.
“Tony, you really should let me help you. I feel silly sitting here doing nothing except watching you work.”
“This isn’t hard work. You stay where you are so I’m not too distracted to get breakfast on the table.”
“I do that to you? Distract you?”
“Lindsay,” he said in a threatening tone, “do you want breakfast or do you want to go back to bed?”
She laughed. “Breakfast. I’m famished. And I’ll help any way I can.”
“You know what you can do, so do it,” he said.
“Yes, sir,” she answered demurely, teasing him. When his gaze raked over her, she became aware of the top of her robe gaping open enough to give a another glimpse of her breasts and the lower half of her robe falling open over her crossed legs. She closed her robe and belted it tightly, glancing up to find him still watching her.
“Show’s over,” she said.