She must have seen the hunger in my eyes because her breathing picked up, and she shifted restlessly, rubbing her sweet little ass over my rock-hard cock. I grabbed her hips and stilled her movements. “Beautiful, if you want to make it back to the party, you need to stop wiggling like that,” I grunted.
I wanted our first time to be special and in our bed. Not a quick fuck in my office. Before we could get to that, I needed to make sure she was okay with everything I’d told her. Not that I would give up if she was. I’d simply try even harder to convince her that we were made for each other.
Taking the frame from Amelia’s hands, I set it back on the desk, then adjusted her position so she was straddling me on the chair. I cupped her hands and stared at her as I asked, “Does knowing I have a teenage daughter change how you feel about us?”
7
Amelia
I was having a difficult time wrapping my brain around everything I’d just learned. It felt as though I’d just gotten off one heck of a roller coaster with my emotions reaching high and low. And sitting on Zack’s lap with his hard-on right beneath my butt wasn’t helping my ability to think clearly.
A few important things stood out, though. I wasn’t a home-wrecker. Zack was a millionaire. And he had a seventeen-year-old daughter. I decided to tackle the last part first since he didn’t seem to realize I was more freaked out by how much money he had.
“Knowing you have a teenage daughter doesn’t bother me.” I flashed him a reassuring smile, but it faded quickly when something occurred to me. “Unless you don’t want more kids? Something like that would force me to think long and hard about getting into a relationship with you. I definitely want children. Lots of them.”
My hand flew up to cover my mouth when I realized what I’d just blurted. Although I’d let him give me an orgasm minutes ago, I’d known Zack for less than twenty-four hours. Unlike any other man in the world, he didn’t seem put off by me bringing up babies so quickly. Oddly enough, he didn’t look even the tiniest bit freaked out. Instead, his lips kicked up at the edges in a smile of pure male satisfaction. “If anyone had asked me that question yesterday morning, my answer would’ve been a resounding no.”
After sliding my hand to the side and wrapping my fingers around Zack’s wrist, I asked, “And today?”
He leaned close to brush his lips over mine before answering. “Now that I’ve met you, I could see myself with a house full of little ones—lots of girls with curly black hair and pretty brown eyes.”
“Just because you already have a daughter doesn’t mean you will have all girls. Maybe they’ll all be boys with dark hair and eyes instead.” I fidgeted on his lap, gasping softly when I felt his hard length press against my core.
His hands dropped to my hips as a groan rumbled up his chest. “Careful, beautiful. If you keep moving around, my next baby very well could be conceived right here in my office.”
“Oh, sorry.” I jumped off his lap, nearly tripping over my feet.
He rose from the chair, reaching out to steady me. “Never apologize for turning me on. If you try, you’ll just end up saying you’re sorry twenty-four seven.”
“I...don’t even know what to say to that.” I shook my head and laughed softly.
He shrugged his broad shoulders and winked at me. “I’m not worried. You’ll have plenty of time to get used to how much I want you.”
His declaration didn’t make me feel better. It actually had the opposite effect since I was reminded about how little time I’d have with Zack. I’d come to Vegas for a long weekend to celebrate Marie’s bachelorette party, and we were due to leave on a red-eye flight in about forty-eight hours. Starting something up with him when we had such little time together wasn’t a smart move. It was bound to end in heartbreak for me, regardless of how he was talking about me having his babies. “I’m sorry. I need to get back to the party and check on Maria. I’m her maid of honor. I can’t just bail on her bachelorette party.”
“It’s not as though she can blame you for being gone when I carried you out of there,” he pointed out with a cocky grin. “And I don’t think she’s going to be too pissed at you, not with how she cheered me on.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, crossing my arms in front of my chest in an attempt to protect myself from reacting to his overwhelming sexiness. “Probably not, but I still need to go back.”
His dark eyes scanned my face, and he must’ve found whatever he was looking for because he nodded. “I’ll walk you down. It’s probably best that I check in with my staff anyway. I need to make sure they’re not spending more time gossiping about us than taking care of our customers.”
My cheeks heated as he took my arm and led me to the elevator, but my embarrassment didn’t last long. Zack gave me something else to focus on when the elevator doors slid closed behind us. He pressed me against the back wall, bending his head to capture my mouth in a deep kiss. By the time the doors opened again, and we walked down a hallway and through the restaurant’s kitchen, I wasn’t thinking about anything except Zack’s kisses.
He brushed his lips over mine one last time at the door to the private room where my cousin and her friends were partying. Then he patted my ass and said, “Have fun with your girls, beautiful. Come find me when you’re done.”
I watched him walk away, enjoying the flex of his butt cheeks in his expertly tailored suit pants. The man had a world-class ass, and I glared at a couple of women in the restaurant who stared at it as he passed their tables. When he was out of sight, I turned and found my cousin staring at me with wide eyes. “Damn, that was fast! I wasn’t expecting to see you again until tomorrow morning.”
“I-you…” I sputtered, dropping my head to look at the floor. “Shut up and get me a drink, Maria.”
She tugged on my arm to lead me over to the bar. “Two lemon drop shots, please.”
The bartender nodded and reached for a bottle of vodka, the lemon wedges, and the sugar. Maria leaned her hip against the bar and quirked a brow at me as he dumped some ice into a shaker and poured a generous amount of vodka on top. I tried my best to ignore her look, but my cousin wasn’t having it. “You can try as hard as you want to look innocent, but it isn’t going to work. Not when your lips are swollen and you’ve got a glow to your cheeks and eyes that I’ve never seen on you before.”
I glanced at the bartender, but he was focused on pouring the chilled vodka concoction into two shot glasses. Even though he wasn’t paying attention to our conversation, I lowered my voice to the barest of whispers as I admitted, “I guess it makes sense that I’m not able to pull it off since I’m not quite as innocent as I used to be.”
“Holy hell!” she shrieked. The room fell silent as everyone turned to look at us as she added, “Did you let him pop your cherry?”
“Are you kidding me right now?” I dropped my forehead against the top of the bar and squeezed my eyes shut.
When I lifted my head again, the bartender slid both of the shots in front of me. “Here, I think you could use the extra one more than the bachelorette needs another drink.”
“No fair,” Maria cried as everyone gathered around us.
“Trust me, she needs it if she landed the big boss. Especially if she’s a virgin.” He wagged his brows at me. “There haven’t been any women linked to him in all the time I’ve worked here. He’s bound to have a lot of sexual frustration to work through.”
I gulped down the first shot in one go before muttering, “I can't believe this is happening.” I wagged my finger at Maria. “And it’s all your fault. If you hadn’t given me that stupid dare, I never would’ve found myself in this position.”
Maria grinned at me. “What position would that be? Flat on your back under the big boss?” Her eyes went wide as though she just realized what she’d said, and she turned to the bartender to ask, “What did you mean when you called him the big boss?”
He opened his mouth but snapped it shut before saying anything. I figured he was worried
about filling me in on who Zack was in case I didn’t know, and I took pity on him. “It turns out that the mystery man I kissed on the sidewalk last night is a millionaire who owns this hotel and casino.”
“Billionaire,” the bartender softly corrected.
“You lost your virginity to a freaking billionaire?” Maria breathed in shock before snatching the other lemon drop shot. She lifted it and said, “Here’s to hoping that what happens in Vegas doesn’t stay here. It’d be a damn shame for you to leave the billionaire behind after a weekend fling.”
“I didn’t lose my virginity,” I hissed.
“You can’t really blame me for thinking you did.” She waved her hand at me. “Not when he carried you off and then you come back looking like you had your first orgasm.”
“You can climax without having sex,” I pointed out with an eye roll.
“A sexy billionaire made you come and stopped there without taking your virginity. What in the hell are you doing here with us?” one of the bridesmaids asked.
“She’s so right. Go find your hot guy,” Maria urged as she nudged me toward the door. “The best present you could give me this weekend is to have as much fun as possible and tell me all about it later.”
We both knew I wasn’t going to give her all the dirty details, but I still took her up on the offer.
8
Zack
I leaned against the wall next to the door leading to the kitchen and tried not to look like an obsessed stalker. But I couldn’t take my eyes off the room where Amelia was drinking shots with her cousin. The instinct to barge in and “kidnap” her again was getting stronger, and the only thing holding me back was knowing it would make me look like a jackass to my girl if I dragged her away from this special time with her family.
My staff was giving me a wide berth while I stood there brooding. Normally, I would never want to be unapproachable to my people, but I’d never been in this situation before. In my sexually frustrated and almost desperate state, I was the last person anyone would want to talk to.
My brain and dick were still battling over our options when Amelia suddenly pushed away from the bar and headed toward the door. She stepped outside of the room, and her eyes swept the interior of the restaurant. I straightened and prowled in her direction. She was likely looking for me, but it didn’t matter. My body won the argument, and I was determined to whisk her away to somewhere we could be alone.
She spotted me when I was a few feet away, and while her cheeks bloomed with a soft shade of pink, her lips curved up into a seductive smile. My cock immediately responded, and I was forced to alter my gait to make my movements less painful. Fuck, I wanted her. I wanted to sink inside her heat and take us both over the edge. But I also wanted to be surrounded by her sweetness. Hear her laughter. I wanted to learn everything about her because she fascinated me on every level.
Once I was in front of her, I silently held out my hand, giving the illusion that she had a choice. I was prepared to throw her over my shoulder and haul ass, but a smile stretched across my face when she placed her palm in mine. I lifted her hand to my mouth and pressed my lips to the back. Then I released it to put my own on her lower back and walked beside her as I guided her to the back of the restaurant. The heat of her skin burned my fingertips through the thin fabric of her dress. Damn, I could only imagine the fire that would rage between us when our bodies were finally pressed together with no barrier.
We emerged from the kitchen, and I debated for half a second whether to take her up to the penthouse where I could have her naked in minutes or take her home. As soon as the question entered my mind, the answer was right on its heels. My suite wasn’t a fuckpad. In fact, I’d never taken a woman there. However, I didn’t want Amelia to feel for even one moment that she was a hookup or a one-night stand. She was special and bringing her home would show her how serious I was about us. Besides, it would be her home soon as long as she liked it, so it would be as good a time as any to see if I needed to put my house on the market.
With slight pressure on her back, I urged her to turn left and walk to a set of double doors that led to an underground garage where my car was parked. Amelia kept sneaking glances at me, looking up through her lashes. It was cute as fuck, especially when her cheeks turned crimson each time she realized I’d caught her looking.
We reached my Maserati, and I reluctantly removed my hand to touch the door handle so it would unlock. I opened it and helped her slide into the seat before swinging it shut and jogging around to the driver’s side. After getting in and settled, I started up the car and drove toward the exit. I reached over and laced my fingers with hers, then brought our hands to my mouth and kissed hers before resting them on her thigh. This was going to be the longest fifteen minutes of my life.
“Where are we going?” Amelia asked softly. She sounded curious rather than afraid since she’d just driven off with a man who was almost a stranger. Although, once I’d had my mouth on her delicious pussy, I was pretty sure I wasn’t classified as a stranger anymore.
“Home,” I told her simply, flashing her a warm smile.
She raised an eyebrow, but her lips curved up to match mine. “You don’t live at The Artemis?”
I shook my head, then looked at her when I stopped at a red light. “I didn’t want to raise my daughter in a hotel.” I shrugged and gave her a lopsided smile before turning back to watch the road as I began to drive again. “Besides, I prefer the comfort and privacy of a home to room service and valet parking.”
Amelia laughed, and while the sexual tension between us didn’t dissipate, the atmosphere became more relaxed. “I can understand that. My family traveled a lot when I was growing up, and I loved it, but I was always happiest when we returned home.”
“Would you like to travel more?”
“I wouldn’t mind it. It’s always fun to have unique foods to write about. But it’s also nice to be able to do my job locally, especially if I have kids one day.”
“You’re a food critic?” She was becoming more and more interesting with everything I learned about her. I doubted she’d noticed the slight tone of longing in her voice when she mentioned kids. I almost corrected her “if” to “when,” but I decided against it because I feared she’d clam up and stop being so open.
“Sort of. I’m a food blogger. There’s some critique in my work, but I rarely post negative reviews. I focus on the things that make me happy and that I believe my readers will enjoy. Recipes, tips, and tricks I’ve found while cooking, attempting to make new things. That’s always the most fun, even when I completely screw it up.” She giggled, and it spread warmth through my chest. “I think people like to know they aren’t the only ones who mess up in the kitchen.”
I wanted to keep asking her questions, but I’d turned onto the road leading to our home and stopped to punch a code into the tall, wrought-iron gate. “0615,” I told her. “Delia’s birthday.”
Amelia gave me a strange look, but before she could explain, the gate swung open, and she gasped, staring out the windshield with her mouth hanging open. “This is your house?”
“Do you like it?” I navigated around the circular drive before turning onto a connecting driveway that took us to the five-car garage on the side of the house.
“It’s gorgeous,” she breathed.
I’d lucked out when I found the eleven-thousand-square-foot house that was a mixture of Mediterranean and Tuscan design. The owners had raised a family there, but once the kids were grown and they’d retired, they wanted to downsize. It wasn’t a showpiece, and while there were rooms obviously meant for adults, none of the spaces felt like a museum. With a game room, theater room, kids’ playroom, a cozy den, and an outdoor area with a firepit perfect for making s’mores, it had clearly been built for a family. The entire pool area was surrounded by a tall safety fence, but when Delia had been a small child, I was particularly fond of the small wet area where little kids could play in shallow water. Its proximity to my hot
el was just another perk, and it had made it much easier to be home when Delia left for school and came home in the afternoon.
Delia and I had loved living there, but at times, I wondered why I’d bought such a big house for two people. As I took Amelia’s hand and helped her exit the car, it hit me that somewhere deep inside, I was planning for this house to be full one day.
Amelia continued to peruse her surroundings with awe as we entered the house. I thought about offering her a tour, but once she was in my space, all I could think about was making sure she stayed there. I intended to get to work right away on making those babies to fill every bedroom in our house.
I shut the door and set the alarm before prowling over to Amelia like an animal locked onto the scent of its prey. She’d been ogling the double ovens, but she must have sensed me because she spun around just as I closed the distance between us. With my hands firmly grasping her hips, I yanked her into my body, and my lips crashed down onto hers.
9
Amelia
From the moment I spotted him on the sidewalk, there’d been something about Zack that I couldn’t resist. Each of the kisses we’d shared had been mind-blowing, but this one took my reaction to a whole new level. “You’re a dangerous guy, Zack.”
“Never to you, beautiful. You’re always safe with me,” he promised.
I meant to explain that he was a threat to my virginity, not my well-being, but I lost track of my thoughts when he bent low to slide his arm under my knees and carried me bridal style through the house. From what I could see, the rest of the place was as gorgeous as the kitchen. Not that I was surprised, considering the gate, the impressive grounds, and the spacious house. None of it mattered, though. All I could focus on was Zack.
Kiss Me, Baby Page 4
