Austin lifted their joint hands to his lips. His words vibrated against her fingers as he spoke. “Because you’re not interested.”
She tried to drag air into her lungs and nothing happened. It was as if she couldn’t catch her breath. “Right.”
He traced the back of her hands with his lips. “You’re not interested in anyone right now.”
She was interested in the man touching her to the point she couldn’t swallow. “Exactly.”
“Except me.”
“We broke up.” The usual heat she put behind the words just wouldn’t come.
“You left for what I’m hoping was a temporary period of time. As far as I’m concerned, we’re still dating.”
“You never give up, do you?”
“Not when it comes to you.” He glanced across the room. “Shawn is coming back.”
Austin placed a soft kiss against the back of her hand then down on her wrist. When he let go and sat back, it took all her control not to grab for him.
“Austin, I—”
“If you want a real date when this is over, text me,” he said.
The possibilities floated through her mind. Kissing him, touching him, making love with him. Reality closed in on her from every angle. She wanted this. Wanted all the closeness and laughter, all the warmth and security he brought into her life.
Six months and her feelings for him hadn’t changed one bit. She hadn’t moved even an inch in a new direction. Was not one step closer to getting over him.
She shook her head more at the direction of her thoughts than at Austin. “This is so dangerous.”
“Doing nothing is dangerous because it means standing still. This is right. We’re right. We always have been and no job or long drive between us on the highway is going to change that.” He stood up and nodded as their third date partner returned. “Shawn, welcome back.”
His gaze traveled between Carrie and Austin and back again. “What’s going on?”
“I’m leaving,” Austin said.
The words ricocheted through her, wounding every space they hit. “You are?”
He stared at her with an intensity that shook her. “Call me if you need me.”
Chapter Nine
An hour later, Austin thought about breaking down the door to Carrie’s apartment. Waiting for her call nearly had killed him. He’d paced the lot and loaded trees onto cars in a zombie-like state. He might even have sold a tree for a buck. He couldn’t remember and really didn’t care.
When she finally texted, he’d sprinted across the street. Ignoring the car that almost knocked him off his feet and Spence’s yelling, he raced with only one thought in mind—getting to Carrie as quickly as possible.
Much more of that out-of-control behavior and someone might call the police. If the running and jumping didn’t do it, the way he was banging on Carrie’s door with the side of his fist might cause the neighbors to call 911.
The door flew open and Carrie stood there wearing the same skirt from dinner and her shirt now untucked. And nothing else. The blazer and shoes were gone. He got a peek at bare feet and pink toenails before she snapped her fingers and brought his gaze back to her face.
She shot him her usual are-you-out-of-your-mind look. “You have to give a woman five seconds to walk across her apartment before acting like an uncaged animal and banging like that.”
“It’s a small apartment.” The defense made sense to him but her frown deepened.
“I wanted to change.”
He wanted her naked and counted down the seconds until he could get her there. A man could only take so much. “Didn’t have to for me.”
He swept her inside and kicked the door shut behind him. A second later he had her pinned to the wall with her hands beside her head and his lips on hers. Rather than tame the beast inside him, Austin let him loose.
He kissed her with all the pent-up longing inside him. Hot and long, deep and intense. His mouth crossed hers over and over, first soft and then hard.
By the time he lifted his head, his breath came out in harsh pants. “I missed you so much.”
He whispered the confession against her mouth before moving to her neck and that delicious spot at the base of her throat. When she opened her legs, he moved between them and pushed her tighter against the wall. With a sharp intake of breath, she dropped her head to the side, giving him greater access and he took it. He nibbled his way across her collarbone, with soft bites and smooth kisses.
Her head rolled against the wall while small half breaths, half moans played on her lips. “We need to set out some rules.”
“Uh-huh.” He reached the top of her shirt and nudged it aside with his nose.
One of her hands slipped into his hair. “Austin.”
“Later.” When she inched her foot up his calf, tangling her toes in the material, he caught her under her knee and tugged her leg higher on his hip. The move pushed her skirt right to danger territory. Taking advantage, he shifted his lower half and rubbed his erection against her panties. Her heat radiated through his jeans as he stretched his body over hers.
“Yes.” Her fingers went to his shoulders and shoved and pulled.
He stepped back and let his jacket drop to the floor. Fingernails scratched through his shirt just before a cool blow of air brushed against his skin. Desperate to feel her hands all over him, he signaled his brain to move. His mouth left her skin only long enough to shrug off both shirts.
Then his chest was bare and her hands smoothed over his muscles. “We need to keep this in perspective.”
He had no idea what she was saying. The words blurred in his head as the heat thumped around them. He wanted her clothes off with skin against skin.
“We can talk after.” His hands moved to her shirt. Fingers shook as he struggled to free the tiny white buttons from their holdings. “I promise.”
He bent down and pressed a line of kisses over the skin he’d exposed. The creamy softness of the tops of her breasts. The peppery scent of her skin from the bath set he gave her for her last birthday. It all spun around him until the last of his control snapped.
He bent down and slipped her other leg around his waist, balancing her weight between the wall and his hips. Without any effort, he pulled back, taking her with him. He lifted her and felt her slim arms wrap around his neck. She pressed kisses across his jaw until she found his mouth again.
Knocked backward by the force of her kiss, he stopped. Standing in the middle of her family room with his heart hammering, he held her. His hands flexed on her bare thighs as his tongue slipped into her hot mouth.
After a few seconds, she swept the tip of her tongue over his lips. “Bedroom.”
She didn’t have to ask twice. He’d have a heart attack if he didn’t get inside her soon. Six months without her, thinking about her and remembering, kept him in a near-constant state of arousal. Even when he’d wanted to hate her, the need for her broke through.
“Austin.” She placed her palms on his cheeks. “Walk. Now.”
“Right.”
Easing his fingers under the elastic of her panties, he touched her. He felt her wetness as her hot breath blew across his ear.
He walked faster. His erection brushed against her panties with each step. When he hit the doorway to her bedroom, his arms shook. He could hold her forever. This was about tunneling under her clothes, stripping her bare and kissing every inch of her.
When his knees hit the bed, he turned and sat down. She straddled him with her knees pressing against his thighs. Her shirt hit the floor a second later.
With a click, he had her bra open. Sliding the straps down her arms, he unveiled her breasts. Round with tight nipples, pale and perfect for his hands. He caressed her with his hands and mouth, licking his way until he found her nipple.
“Now.” She tugged on his hair until he lifted his head. “You’re right, we can go slow later.”
His mouth covered hers as his hands pushed her skirt to her waist
. He flipped her to the mattress, pressing her back deep into the comforter as his fingers tunneled under her panties to the very heat of her.
With his lips on her breasts and fingers sliding inside her, he managed to lift his head. “Back pocket.”
Her cloudy eyes didn’t clear. “What?”
“Condoms.”
Her hands reached around him then they were on him. Her palms smoothed over his erection right before the buttons on his jeans slipped open. One by one, the tension pulling at his erection eased. When she got to the last one, he fell into her hand.
Fingers wrapped around his length and his brain exploded. He tried to count backward from a hundred and couldn’t remember a single number. The slickness on his fingers said she was ready. The thumping in his erection let him know he was.
She’d asked for fast and was about to get it.
Balancing on one elbow, he reached down and peeled off her panties. He got the scrap of material down to her knees before she kicked it off. Then he was on top of her, his erection right at her opening. The rip registered in his brain right before her hands rolled the condom over him.
The final touch of her fingertips touched off the wildness inside him. Settling between her legs, he slowly slipped inside her, savoring the pressure as she closed around him. Filling her caused her mouth to drop open. Pulling in and out had her grabbing the covers next to her hips.
Instead of setting a steady rhythm and wooing her, he poured all of his desire into her. He pumped, shifting his hips and feeling her muscles squeeze and tighten around him. The room filled with the sounds and smells of their lovemaking. Breathing pushed out of him on a guttural groan.
Every bone in his body pulled tight to the point of snapping. The tension spiraled in his stomach then moved lower. He went faster. Deeper.
When she let out a harsh exhale and her fingernails dug into the mattress, he pressed forward one last time. That was all it took. Dark spots burst in his head as his hips moved without any message from his brain.
Her head fell back and his bent forward. Their bodies shook and tightened…and then let go.
His last rational thought was that it was about time this happened again.
Carrie burrowed deeper into Austin’s side. He was naked. She was naked. She hadn’t seen clothes or any room other than her bedroom for hours.
It was somewhere around three and he’d made love to her with his hands and mouth and body until every inch of her tingled. Years after their first time together, his stamina hadn’t waned. His expertise increased but his need didn’t seem to diminish.
And she loved him just as much as she ever had. More maybe.
If she were honest, she’d admit she never stopped. She loved him when she left and even more when he showed up in D.C. Having a man put his life and work on hold for you was pretty damn sexy.
Getting him to accept her life promised to take longer. She knew his visit signaled the end of his patience. He viewed her career as a whim she needed to exorcise.
She wanted to be offended, indignant, but part of her knew he didn’t understand. He’d known what he wanted to be from the time he was a kid. His father groomed him for it. What Austin didn’t get was that she felt the same way about working in a prestigious museum.
If she could just show him…
She smiled as she poked him in the side. “Austin.”
He came awake in a rush. He jackknifed into a sitting position and held his hands up as if ready to fight off whomever was about to launch an attack. “What is it?”
“I want you to come to a party.”
The tension didn’t ease across his shoulders. He didn’t lower his hands either. “Is that code for something?”
She slipped her arms around his stomach and placed a kiss on his impressive shoulder. By the second kiss, his firm stance melted and his body fell against hers.
“Sorry I scared you,” she said.
“More like put me on my guard, but you can wake me up in bed anytime.”
She pressed him back on the bed. Not a surprise he didn’t put up a fight. The man enjoyed being naked.
But she wanted his attention. Was suddenly desperate for him to understand and agree. “There’s a party at my museum at the beginning of the week. A fancy holiday party.”
“Okay.” He made the word into about eleven syllables.
“I want you to be my date.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “A real date. Not a Shawn date.”
“At the museum.” Austin said the words nice and slow as if he needed to taste them before committing.
“Yes.”
The hand that had been brushing up and down her arm fell to the bed. “Is this a test of some kind?”
She wanted to say no but she had to admit in a way it sort of was. An unfair one, maybe, but a chance for her to show him something that meant so much to her.
“You don’t have to look at the paintings. You just have to be there with me.”
A huge smile slashed across his face. “Well, why didn’t you say so?”
She bit her bottom lip. “Remember this is a big party.”
“You might want to stop trying to sell it since you’re going the other way now.”
“Is that a yes?”
He turned until he lay facing her. “Baby, I can’t think of a place you could go where I wouldn’t follow.”
“You need to wear a tux or at least a fancy suit.”
He stopped in the middle of rolling her to her back. “Probably a good thing you waited to tell me that until after I said yes.”
“I’m not stupid.”
“But you are sexy.” Her back hit the mattress and he loomed over her. “And awake. I’m pretty happy about that last part.”
That familiar revving started deep in her stomach. The thought he might touch her again so soon was enough to kick her breathing into high gear. “Noticed that, did you?”
“I say we put this thing where we’re both awake to good use.”
Then he lowered his head and she forgot about anything but him.
Chapter Ten
Carrie stood by the bar temporarily set up in the museum’s Great Hall and waited. Her sleeveless royal-blue dress fell soft around her and dusted the floor. She knew the rich velvet showed off her curves and hugged her body in all the right places. The sparkly broach, hiding her cleavage, gave her just a touch of bling for the festive night. It also caught the light from the three elaborate chandeliers hanging from the ceiling right above her.
She’d picked the dress for the party long before she knew Austin had come to town. It just so happened to be his favorite color on her. Total coincidence. Just like it was a coincidence the color filled her closet.
Right.
The museum’s towering entry looked like a magical fairyland filled with rows of tiny white lights and beautiful trees placed in baskets tied with holiday ribbon. A plush red carpet lay over the marble inlaid floor. Garland ran up the grand staircase that rose from each side of the large entry room and met at a landing on the second floor mezzanine. People weaved in and out of the bright poinsettias arranged on each step.
Visitors, dignitaries, patrons and artists walked along the open floor above while she nursed her drink. She’d been waiting for Austin for fifteen minutes and wondering if this plan would backfire. She’d hoped to show him her world and how he could fit in it, but he had to actually show up for her clever campaign to work.
“Hello.”
A fresh drink appeared in front of her. She turned around and smiled at Shawn.
Wrong man.
“You look very dapper.” She straightened his tie then stepped back. “How are you doing?”
“I’m impressed.”
She took the glass and deposited her other one on the tray of a passing server. “With what?”
“The room.” Shawn waved his hand in front of them. “As special events coordinator, most of the work fell to you.”
“It was a matter of callin
g and hiring people.” She also did a lot of ordering around and worrying the big party would be a bust.
If no one came or her boss turned out to be dissatisfied, Carrie’s new job could end during her year-long probation period. Her task was simple. She had to top last year’s event under the old coordinator everyone raved about and still professed to miss, yet do it for less money thanks to the failing economy.
Plus Carrie had to lure everyone in town to this party as opposed to one of the thousand other holiday parties being thrown across town. That meant her party had to sound more appealing than a get-together at the Kennedy Center and numerous embassy open houses. And she did it all while juggling her feelings for Austin.
Yeah, just a regular day at the office for Carrie Anders.
“The accountant in me is grateful you came in on budget,” Shawn said.
Carrie eyed an artist as he made a broad gesture and spilled white wine on the famous staircase. “The night’s not over yet.”
“I’m surprised you’re alone over here,” Shawn said.
“I needed a breather after saying hello to everyone I needed to welcome, but I doubt the moment of quiet will last for long. Someone will stumble by any second and want something.”
“I meant surprised Austin left you all alone while he’s on the other side of the room.” Shawn motioned toward the front door. “He strikes me as a bit more possessive than that.”
This time she was the one who spilled wine. Brushing drops off her dress, she scanned the room. “What?”
“There.”
She followed Shawn’s nod to Austin. He stood right by the entry steps. And, lordy, he was in a tux. Her dreams would never be the same.
Nothing could have prepared her for the sight of Austin in a crisp white shirt and coal-black tuxedo. Combed hair, the right shoes and no work gloves, yet he didn’t seem out of place. In fact, he was talking with her boss, Mrs. Alesandra Harper-Cunningham, a woman with several dead husbands and a house full of diamonds to go with her many names. She’d grown up in a manor house in the Virginia countryside and attended every expensive school from kindergarten through graduate degree. She radiated grace and old money.
It's Not Christmas Without You (The Holloway Series) Page 7
