by DRAYER, GINA
Palo nodded in acceptance and took a step back to lean against the wall of the elevator. "As a matter of fact, I'm on my way to work. They don't give us much time off." The elevator stopped on the thirteenth floor, and Palo stepped out. "I'll leave Beth in your capable hands."
After the doors closed, Beth turned on Matt, totally forgetting Kitty and Bridget were even in the small room. "What was that about? I wasn't aware we had plans today."
Kitty took that moment to break her silence. "You're not bringing her are you?"
Before Beth could protest, Matt reached out and pulled her into his arms. "Of course she's coming."
The elevator felt as if all the air had been sucked out. She was just coming to terms with ending this charade, and there he was, acting like no time had passed. Who the hell did he think he was? Complete radio silence for two days and now his arm was wrapped around her waist in a possessive hold. Beth struggled to get out of Matt's grasp, preparing to give him a piece of her mind, but Kitty intruded.
"You're really not that blind, are you?" Kitty turned and shot a predatory look at Beth. "That waiter was wearing the same thing he had on last night. She obviously slept with him."
That wasn't true, and while Beth wouldn't beg Matt to come back, she wasn't about to let Kitty tell him lies. "Matt, I didn't— "
"Kitty, shut up," he said with enough venom to shock even her. "This has nothing to do with you."
"Matt, everyone would understand if you dumped her," Bridget added, "especially after her behavior last night."
"Bridget, mind your own business," he said, dismissively. "And Kitty, just so we're clear, there's nothing between us and there never will be." Satisfied, Matt turned his full attention to Beth and leaned down to whispered into her ear. "We need to talk."
Still a bit sensitive from his blatant withdrawal, Beth wasn't about to let him off the hook. "No, shit. But now is not a good time. If you had called," she said with emphasis, unable to resist the defensive jab, "I would have told you that. I have a cooking class scheduled in fifteen minutes."
"Thank God." All the tension left his body and he leaned back against the wall of the elevator, pulling her with him. "That's where we're headed."
Well, shit. So much for standing her ground and making a point. It was bound to happen eventually. The ship was only so big, but Beth had hoped to avoid him.
Matt didn't get the memo. He held her hand all the way down the hall to the class. He was going out of his way to touch and caress the exposed skin on her wrist and arm.
Screw him and his stupid lie. His attention was really starting to piss her off. Sure, she had signed up to play this part for his family, but she wasn't going to let him use her is such a blatant way.
But it wasn't just him anymore. She'd grown to like his family, and they liked her. When they arrived, she was greeted with enthusiasm. Everyone seemed genuinely happy to see her. Well, everyone but Kitty and Bridget. Beth gritted her teeth and continued to act as if things were fine, but she was fast losing her patience.
Every time Kitty, or anyone else from Matt's family, looked their way, Beth swore he increased his attentions. By the time the class started, Beth was seething.
Instead of yelling at Matt, she tried to focus on her tasks. After lining up all the ingredients for the Portuguese style chicken stew, she turned on the hot plate and read through the recipe, deciding the better part of valor would be to ignore him completely. But Matt made sure that was next to impossible.
After a brief explanation of the techniques they were going to learn in today's lesson, the instructor told them to start by dicing the vegetables. Matt slid in behind her without a word, trapping Beth between his hard chest and the counter, as if they did this every day. He grabbed one of the peppers and with his arms tucked under hers, started to cut.
"Seriously? Don't you think this is going too far? No one is watching, so you can drop the act," she hissed under her breath and tried to move out of his arms.
He ignored her angry words and continued to work. It was a good thing Beth wasn't the one with the knife because she was feeling stabby. Not to mention the feel of his body moving against her had her every nerve on high alert. She wasn't sure what made her angrier, his nonchalant caresses or her own body's reaction.
Pressing his lips next to her ear, he asked "Act? What act?" With complete disregard to her attempts to break free, Matt grabbed a potato and cut it into chunks.
"This act," she bit out. "They've all seen me now. They've seen the way you've fawned over me. You don't have to fuck me on the table to get them to believe we're a couple."
"What are you talking about? They who?" He stopped his chopping and let out a long sigh. Sliding beside her, Matt lost a little of his nonchalance. "Beth, look at me,"
She couldn't look up. She wouldn't let him see the hurt she knew would show in her expression. Instead, she focused on the instructor at the front of the room and tossed the chicken into the pan, not really hearing his words, just following his lead.
"Beth, you have every right to be angry at me, but this has nothing to do with them," he said, indicating the rest of the room. "This is between you and me."
"You expect me to believe you aren't putting on a show for your family? Kitty, in particular. Mission accomplished. You've done your job, and thoroughly pissed her off. I bet she'll leave you alone now, so you can stop pawing me."
Her frustration was boiling over and Beth attacked the browning chicken with the spatula, flipping the pieces with such force several flew out of the pan. Matt grabbed her hand and took the spatula away.
"Hey. Slow down. I wanted to talk. And yes, I may have asked you here because I didn't want spend time with Kitty, but my attention has nothing to do with them. I'm 'pawing' you because—" He tucked some stray hairs behind her ear and leaned in to whisper. "—I missed you yesterday."
"Well, you could have fooled me." Beth stepped away, refusing to let her traitorous body let him know exactly how much she'd missed his touch. She snatched the spatula out of his hand and focused back on the pan.
"Beth—"
"I'm going to need the rest of those shallots soon," she interrupted.
Matt raked a hand through his shaggy hair, giving it that just out of bed look she loved. She wasn't going to forget how he'd left her with not one word. At least, that's what she kept telling herself. She wasn't ready to move on. Not with her feelings still exposed and raw. So Beth put renewed effort back into the chicken dish, hoping to push off the conversation, even as she felt her resolve crumble.
When the doors had opened and Beth was standing in the elevator waiting, it had taken every ounce of willpower not to skip the stupid class and take her back to his room. She was in another one of those clingy sun dresses she loved to wear. Matt thought she looked more sensual in a simple dress and sandals than any woman he'd ever met at any of the society functions over the years.
The way the fabric clung to her was nice, but the fact she couldn't wear a bra with the thin strapped dress made it even better. One good pull on that strap and he could have her breast in his hand. But this wasn't the time or place. Matt picked up a shallot, determined to keep his hands busy so he wouldn't be tempted to test the strengths of the fabric.
Beth was pretty clear she wasn't in the mood. Sure, he'd expected some flak for not calling her, but not nearly this level of anger. He was prepared to make it up to her, but after Kitty came pounding on his door this morning with a wild story about Beth sneaking around on him, Matt was seeing red. They never discussed keeping it exclusive, but with their arrangement, he didn't think that needed to be spelled out.
Now that he knew she'd been with Palo, all his anger died. He'd met the man, and was fairly confident there was nothing to worry about where Beth was concerned. But that didn't mean he wouldn't ask her about their little slumber party.
However, that would have to wait. He had more pressing issues to figure out, like why the hell was she so pissed? He hadn't been lying
about the work crisis. After the movie, he went back to his room to get his head on straight and do a little work. Just his luck, Simon had an urgent project waiting for his immediate attention.
Matt thought she'd be fine with not seeing him for a day or two. Wasn't she the one who'd insisted on the space and boundaries? Obviously, he'd been wrong.
"There was this work thing. I thought you might need a day without me. I know I did. It gave me time to think. I felt things were going a little fast."
"This is news to me. You should have said something at dinner or even a called to let me know you needed time. I'm not some lovesick teen. If you can't behave like a grown up and communicate these things with me, then maybe you were right. We need time apart. I don't need this shit, Matt."
"You're right. I should have called," he said. "You have every right to be mad at me. I thought it would be better this way. I was busy, and I knew if I heard your sexy voice over the phone, I'd cave and come see you."
He may have panicked a little, and was using work as the excuse. The fact that he couldn't go twenty-four hours without walking past her room a dozen or so times, hoping they'd casually run into each other may have caused him to retreat even more. It didn't matter that they'd just met days ago, Matt couldn't stop thinking about her.
At dinner last night, he wondered what Beth was doing. During his conference call with Simon, he wanted her there, waiting for him to finish. Even this morning in the shower, Matt remembered how her slick, wet skin had felt rubbing up against his and he could hardly stand another minute away from her.
All that after just one day apart. Matt knew what he wanted now, and he wasn't going to waste another minute of their time on the ship together.
If he hadn't promised his mother he'd come to this stupid class this morning, Matt would have gone first thing this morning. But it seemed luck was on his side and he didn't have to wait.
However, this was far from the best place to have his discussion. Beth still wouldn't look at him. She picked up the cutting board and dumped the veggies into the pan, doing her best job ignoring him. As if she was taking her frustrations out on the pan, Beth stirred the veggies and meat with increased intensity before turning and pointing the spatula at Matt.
"I thought you understood what I wanted. If you can't deal with our arrangement, that's fine. Just don't jerk me around."
Matt plucked the spatula from her hand again and set it down. He stepped forward and pinned her hips against the counter. "I know you want to keep things casual. This last week has been great. But we never talked about what I want. I want to see you after this cruise is over. I want to take you out on a real date. I want to see if this can be more."
He could see the argument start to form on her lips and Matt leaned in for a kiss to stop her protest. The kiss was supposed to stop the argument and be a quick apology, but she relaxed against his chest and let out a soft sigh. With her soft body pressing into him, all polite kissing was over.
Matt teased her with is tongue and she parted her lips, letting him deepen the kiss. Normally, their kisses had been fast and direct, but this was the slow, languid kiss of lovers reacquainting themselves with each other's rhythm and pacing.
All the fight left her. Beth laced her hands through his hair and pulled him down harder, urgency in her embrace. Their bodies spoke to each other and said all the things neither of them had been ready to say aloud. They could have been standing there for minutes or even hours, kissing, when a voice broke through the lust filled fog.
"For fuck's sake, Matt. I realize your girlfriend is hot, but try not to burn the place down," Jason yelled from across the room.
Matt pulled away and looked behind Beth. Everyone in the class was staring at them. Everyone. Sure, they may have taken the kiss a little too far, but a little public display of affection shouldn't have created this big of a stir. His mom, two tables in front of them coughed and nodded her head to the table in front of him. He still wasn't sure what everyone was staring at. It was the instructor who finally clued him in.
"Sir, your chicken is burning."
"Shit!" Matt reached around a giggling Beth to turn off the burner. She hid her reddening face with both hands as Matt tried scraping the black bits of chicken out of the pan.
"I'll have someone help you." The chef waved over one of his assistants. "Most of the class is almost finished with this recipe, so I don't think you'll be able to catch up if you start over. If you and your partner would like to join another group—"
"No, I think we've done enough damage." Matt looked down at Beth, who was now beet red and trying hard to control her laughter. She was breathtaking, and Matt was again regretting every second they'd spent apart. "I think we should leave."
From the other side of the room, Kitty said, "But Matt, I thought you were coming…"
He and Beth were out the door before Kitty could finish her objection. Not that it mattered. Nothing she had to say could have kept him from taking Beth back to his room. He'd lost two nights because of his stupidity, and he was ready to make up for lost time.
Chapter 15
Modern Girl Tip #6: Keep the Conversation Light—You're enjoying each other's company. The sun is setting over the ocean. The breeze is warm and soft. Then suddenly you launch into a tirade about how your ex's rejection has blossomed into your debilitating fear of intimacy. Sexy? No, not really. Keep things light. This is not the time to root through all your emotional baggage.
"Oh my God, that was so embarrassing," Beth said, laughing as they made their way down the hall to the elevator. "I mean the way the instructor was glaring at us, you would have thought we were having sex right there on the table. It was as if he'd never seen two people kissing." She shrugged and let out a nervous laugh. "Then again, I'm not sure if he was more upset about us making out in the middle of his class or the fact that we burned the chicken. I bet it was the chicken. But I'd do it all over again, just to see that look on Kitty's face. I thought she was going to swallow her tongue. But your parents and your uncle saw, too. What must your mom think about me now?"
Beth was babbling. She had let her body override her best intentions back there, and now she wasn't sure where they stood. She meant to tell him to stop. Really, she did. But his kisses were like a drug and she was hopelessly addicted. Did this mean he still wanted to continue their affair? Did she?
He had admitted that he'd been an inconsiderate ass for not calling, but that didn't make everything right. They still needed to clear up a few things before she was willing to pick up where they'd left off.
"It will be fine," Matt said and kissed her again.
Seriously, there was something magical about his kisses. She leaned into him and pushed aside her doubt. By the time the doors opened, she'd completely forgotten about the debacle at cooking class. They stumbled into the elevator, giggling like children only to find the elderly couple, the same ones from that night at the club, already onboard. This time, Matt smiled at the old bat, like the cat who swallowed the canary, and settled an arm around Beth, as if challenging anyone to say anything. Smiling, he pushed the button for his floor.
"I don't think so," Beth said, and pushed the button to her floor. Despite his stupefying kisses, she wasn't ready to fall back into bed with him yet. The needed to settle a few things, and she wanted to be on her own turf when they did. "We need to talk first."
Matt kissed her. Quick and hard.
"We can talk later," he said, and pushed the button to his floor again, as if could cancel out her selection.
"No." Beth pushed her floor again to stress her point. "I want to talk now," she said under her breath, trying to keep their conversation private.
"We'll talk later. I promise." Matt grabbed her hips and pulled her into his body, pushing his hard cock against her ass, and whispered, "I don't think I can stand another minute without touching you."
"Damn it, that can wait," she hissed, trying not to let his wandering hands derail her. She wasn't goin
g to cave on this. No matter what her disobedient body thought.
Thankfully, the door opened and the other couple got out, but not before the old woman caught her eye and gave her an encouraging nod. Little did she know that Beth had every intention of riding him hard until neither of them could walk, but she appreciated the show of womanly support. When the doors closed, Beth moved to the other side of the elevator to give her room to breathe. "We need to reestablish boundaries and expectations, so no one gets hurt."
"Beth, I'd never hurt you. And as far as boundaries…" He gave a little shrug as though the whole idea was suddenly a foreign concept to him. "I think we're making this more complicated than it needs to be. We like each other. The sex is good. I've let you know what I expect after the cruise is over. But that's a chat for another time. For now, let's see how the rest of the week plays out."
"You were the one who said things were moving too fast. What happened to slowing things down?"
"Did I really say that? You know what? Fuck slow. I've decided fast is a great speed." He inched closer, and put his hand over his heart. "I'm really sorry, Beth. Not calling you was a prick thing to do. I was wrong and it kills me that you were hurt by my insensitive actions," he said with enough sincerity to melt the last little bit of her resolve. "Now, can't we just move past this and enjoy the rest of the cruise? Preferably naked? I know I can make it up to you."
He took another step closer, but Beth put a hand on his chest to stop him from actually getting in her space. "I'm sorry. What was that?"
"We're complicating things?"
"Not that. The last thing you said."
