“It’s down in the basement. All of the tenants kick in a fee to have their portable air conditioners stored there until it’s time to put them in the windows.”
“Do you ever have a problem not getting enough heat?”
Faith shook her head. “No. I’ve always had heat.”
Ethan walked forward and pulled her gently into his embrace. “What time are you getting up in the morning?”
Tilting her head, she visually examined the face looming above hers. “Because I have a houseguest, I decided to go in later.”
The beginning of a smile tipped the corners of his mouth. “How late is later?”
She’d decided to take the morning off because she wouldn’t see Ethan again until February fourteenth when they were scheduled to fly to the Caribbean.
“How does noon sound to you?”
“It sounds wonderful,” Ethan crooned as his head came down to take her mouth in a passionate kiss that sucked the oxygen from her lungs. “We still haven’t had dessert.”
Faith wasn’t given time to respond to this cryptic statement as she found herself in his arms and being carried to the bed. He swept back the white comforter and placed her gently onto the mattress.
Time stood still as she watched Ethan through lowered lids as he reached into the pocket of his slacks to remove a condom and placed it on the pillow bedside her head. Slowly, deliberately, he pulled his sweater up and over his head. The lingering light from sputtering candles turned his upper body into a statue of aged bronze. She couldn’t see his eyes, but felt the heat of his gaze as he unbuckled the belt around his slender waist. One by one the garments came off—shoes, socks, slacks and briefs—until he stood before her gloriously naked and fully aroused.
She closed her eyes when he moved over her, her fingers catching and tightening in the crisp linen. He undressed her, his breathing deepening with every piece of clothing until she was as naked as him.
“Breathe, Faith.”
The tightness in her chest eased as she let out her breath, unaware she’d been holding it since the brush of his heavy sex touched her bared thighs. A mysterious smile softened her mouth as she extended her arms. “Take me now.” Tonight there would be no foreplay.
The husky timbre of her softly spoken command swept over Ethan like the heat from a jet taking off from a carrier. The roar of the engine and the intense heat never failed to suck the air from his brain and lungs.
He complied, lowering himself over her prone body. Her smell, the velvet softness of her body threatened to swallow him whole. He’d been lost for more years than he wanted to remember, but with Faith he’d come home. She was his refuge, safe haven and a place where he wanted to live forever. His lips took hers gently, nibbling at the corners. His teeth closed over her full lower lip, suckling and drawing it into his mouth.
Whenever she lay with Ethan, Faith felt both primal and refined. With him she could let go of her inhibitions to give her lover all of herself while experiencing the essence of why she’d been born female to his male.
Wrapping her arms around his back, she arched, silently communicating the need for him to fill her with his hardness. She didn’t have to wait. Ethan slipped the condom down his erection and pushed into her hot, moist, throbbing body, both of them sighing in satisfaction as they ceased to exist as separate entities.
Passion exploded with the velocity of a backdraft, and without warning they climaxed simultaneously, the aftermath leaving them shaking uncontrollably. Ethan’s broad shoulders rose and fell heavily with each breath it took for him to fill his lungs with much-needed oxygen. Whispering endearments in Faith’s hair, he closed his eyes. It’d ended too quickly. He’d wanted dessert to become a long, drawn-out affair where he could savor and relive their joining even when separated by time and distance.
It pained Ethan that he had to leave her. He’d assumed the responsibility of driving a flying-phobic head of sales for a toy company to Miami for a sales convention. He would’ve given the task to several of his other drivers, but all were booked solid with other clients.
Faith felt the weight bearing down on her, but she was too spent to protest. “Dessert was wonderful, my darling.”
Ethan smiled. “I need seconds.”
“Can you wait until later?”
He chuckled softly. “I can, but only if you promise to give me more.”
“I promise.”
Those were the last two words Faith muttered as sleep overtook her. She never knew when Ethan withdrew from her, got out of the bed to discard the condom, turned off the floor lamp or returned to pull the sheet up over her moist body.
He gathered her in his arms and shifted her slight body until his groin was pressed to the roundness of her bottom. It was when the last votive flickered and went out that he closed his eyes and joined her in sleep.
CHAPTER 16
Ethan walked into his Miami Beach hotel penthouse suite, flopping down fully clothed on the king-size bed. The drive from New York to Miami was uneventful. Upon his client’s request on the drive southward they’d stayed over in Wilmington, North Carolina. If it’d been up to Ethan he would’ve attempted to make the fifteen-hundred-mile drive in a day and a half instead of two.
He still had another two days in Miami before heading back to New York. Although the toy company executive had reserved a room for Ethan in one of the finest hotels on the beach with spectacular views of Biscayne Bay, he was bored and he missed Faith. The bright lights from the upscale restaurants and nightclubs were not enough to pull him out of his funk. Reaching for his cell phone, he punched in the numbers for Faith’s cell. It wasn’t quite ten o’clock and he hoped that she hadn’t retired for bed. It rang twice before she answered.
“Let Them Eat Cake, Faith Whitfield speaking.”
“I’d like to order one kiss, two hugs, three wild, passionate—”
“Oh, no you didn’t,” she said, laughing and cutting him off.
“Yes, I did. How are you?”
“I’m good. How are you, Ethan?”
“Bored as hell.”
“Surely you jest,” she teased. “There’s nothing boring about Miami and you know it. Why aren’t you out clubbing instead of calling me?”
“I don’t want to go to a club.”
“Whenever I’m in Miami I party until I drop, then shop and max out my cards.”
“I did do some shopping today.”
“Good for you. But you need to go out and enjoy yourself, Ethan. Take in some of the sights in South Beach.”
“Not this trip. Maybe the next time I come down you’ll come with me.”
“It’ll have to be later in the year.”
Ethan smiled. Faith, who’d admitted she wasn’t good at commitment, was seeing their relationship as one that would continue beyond a few months. “I’m going to hold you to that promise.”
Her soft laugh came through the tiny earpiece. “I promise only if you promise to go out and take advantage of a mini working holiday.”
“Okay, sweetness. I promise to go to a jazz club tomorrow night.”
“Good for you. I’m going to have to hang up because I have to get up early tomorrow morning and pack for Palm Beach and our Caribbean getaway. Don’t call me tomorrow night because I’m going to be in the shop most of the night decorating your cousin’s cake. And when I get back from Palm Beach I’m going to be up late putting the finishing touches on another wedding cake for the fourteenth.”
“What are trying to do, Faith? Kill yourself?”
“Excuse me! But I do have a business to run.”
Ethan closed his eyes. It was obvious she’d taken umbrage to his statement. “That’s true, darling,” he said, hoping to placate her, “but you can’t run yourself into the ground.”
“Have you forgotten that I have an assistant?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“What are you afraid of, Ethan? That I’ll be too tired to service you once we get to the Caribbean?”
“I’ll be ready.”
The line went dead and he knew Faith had ended the call abruptly. “I’m not trying to control your life,” he whispered, depressing a button on his cell. All he wanted to do was love and protect Faith. He admired her independence and her drive for success, but not at the risk of burning out.
He’d cautioned Faith because at one time in his life someone had warned him that he was putting in too many hours flying. It’d taken the sage advice of William Raymond to make him reassess his life.
WJ had pulled him aside at a family reunion and read him the riot act. His cousin wasn’t afraid to say what other family members had been whispering about. The months following his split with Justine, he was rarely home more than three days a month, because he’d accepted assignments none of the other pilots wanted. When new air routes to former Communist-bloc countries opened up he was the first one to accept.
William Raymond had asked him point-blank if he had a death wish because he’d lost more than twenty pounds, his eyes appeared sunken in his head and he’d become almost monosyllabic. His cousin said if he was going to work that hard for a commercial airline, then he should be in business for himself.
Self-made millionaire WJ sat him down and outlined how he should set up a ground transportation company. After conferring with a financial planner, Ethan sold the properties willed him by his aunt and uncle, and a year later the former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot added private air transport to his car service.
Do not mix business with pleasure, a quiet voice whispered. As long as he and Faith didn’t discuss business their relationship was smooth and problem free, but whenever he attempted to advise her about Let Them Eat Cake or Signature Bridals she balked and came at him like a charging bull.
Faith had promised him that she would accompany him to Miami later in the year, and he promised himself that he would never broach the topic of her business with her again unless she solicited his input or advice.
Ethan moved off the bed and made his way into one of the two bathrooms to shower. Instead of sitting, listening to music or people watching he’d spend the night in a hotel room—alone. And there was no doubt he would spend the remainder of his time in the colorful, pulsating South Florida city the same as this night.
* * *
Friday morning a driver arrived at Faith’s apartment before six, stored her luggage in the trunk of the Lincoln Town Car and headed up the Westside Highway and across the Lincoln Tunnel for New Jersey. A sleek corporate jet sat on a private airstrip at the Teterboro Airport, awaiting her arrival. Within minutes the copilot scanned her driver’s license through an electronic device and led her up the steps into a jet that was as luxurious as a living room. She wasn’t the only passenger onboard the aircraft. A couple reclined in seats that converted into beds. Both appeared to be asleep.
“Good morning, Miss Whitfield. Welcome aboard,” greeted a petite blond flight attendant wearing a navy-blue pantsuit with a white blouse and blue-and-white-striped scarf tied around her neck. “I’m Jourdan, and I’m here to make certain your flight will be a pleasant one. As soon as we reach cruising speed you will be offered breakfast. You’ll find a menu on your seat. Please circle the items you want, and our onboard chef will accommodate you.”
Faith returned the woman’s open, friendly smile. “Thank you.”
She silently thanked Ethan for making the arrangements for her flight to Palm Beach. It was the first time that she didn’t have to stand in line at overcrowded terminals to check in and struggle with her own luggage. She’d packed two bags, one with a change of clothes and the other with the supplies she needed to bake and decorate a fairy-tale castle cake. Faith planned to fill the turrets on the towers with sweets that were certain to delight not only the party girl but also her guests. The cake had to be made a day in advance to allow the sugar paste to dry. Taking a seat, she secured her seat belt and waited for takeoff.
* * *
Fourteen hours after touching down at the Palm Beach Airport, the jet carrying Faith came in for a smooth landing back at the Teterboro Airport. Two limos were parked behind a condoned-off area awaiting the jet’s arrival. As soon as the flight attendant opened the door and the steps were lowered, the cars maneuvered close to the aircraft. The doors opened and shock upon shock slapped at Faith when she recognized the man getting out of one of the Town Cars and striding purposefully toward her.
Fatigue and apprehension about seeing Ethan again vanished completely as she rushed forward and flung herself against his chest, her arms going around his neck. Ignoring the stares coming from the jet’s crew, she kissed every inch of his face before fastening her mouth to his in a heated kiss that melted the vestiges of resistance toward the man to whom she’d given her heart.
Cradling his lean face between her hands, she smiled up at him. “Don’t tell me that you’re my driver?”
His dimples winked at her. “It’s me in the flesh.” His fingers circled her delicate wrists, bringing her arms down to her sides, and he led her over to the car. He held the door open while she slipped into the front passenger’s seat. “I have to get your luggage.”
Ethan returned to the aircraft where the crew unloaded her bags. Lloyd Seymour gave his boss and friend a wide grin. “She’s gorgeous, Mac.”
He nodded. “Thanks for bringing her back safe.”
“No problem. We’ll see you tomorrow night.”
Ethan nodded again. “You bet.”
Lloyd, the copilot and flight attendant were scheduled to fly down to the Caribbean Saturday night with their respective spouses for two days before returning to the States Monday evening. Ethan had instructed his office manager not to book any flights for the Valentine’s Day weekend so as to give his employees time to celebrate the holiday with their loved ones.
Picking up Faith’s carryon and a large bag, he made his way back to the car and stored them in the trunk.
Faith gave Ethan a sidelong glance when he got in beside her. “I hope you weren’t embarrassed that I kissed you.”
Angling his head, Ethan smiled as he started up the car. “You’ve got to be kidding. I’d love to be greeted like that every single day.”
She didn’t want to read more into Ethan’s statement than necessary. Did he want to see her every day? Did she want to be with him every day? “When did you get back?”
Shifting into gear, he maneuvered away from the airstrip. “I got here an hour before you touched down.”
Faith rested a hand on his shoulder. “You must be exhausted.”
“I’ll get some rest after I drop you off.”
“You’re not going back to New Jersey tonight, are you?”
Ethan exhaled a long sigh as he concentrated on the road in front of him. “No. I’m going to stay in the city with WJ.”
“Are you in the wedding party?”
“No.”
Faith kept up a steady stream of conversation during the drive to Manhattan, entertaining Ethan with the process it took to create the fairy-tale castle for a ten-year-old girl obsessed with princes, princesses, unicorns and magical castles.
Ethan double-parked in front of Let Them Eat Cake, waited with Faith as she unlocked the door, leaving only when she activated the alarm and locked the door behind her. He hadn’t wanted her to remain in the shop alone, but swallowed his protest because he didn’t want to do or say anything to challenge their fragile truce.
* * *
Faith walked to the rear of the bakeshop and turned on the light. Her gaze went to the chalkboard filled with Ranee’s neat print: “Prendergast—2/14—completed 4 heart shapes and covered with royal icing. Need ribbons and roses to complete. Courier called to confirm pickup and delivery to Tavern on
the Green and Lake Success, Long Island.”
“Thank you, Ranee,” she said aloud, although there was no one around to hear her.
If she hadn’t hired the talented apprentice, there was no way she would’ve been able to complete two wedding cakes scheduled for the same day. And, if it hadn’t been for Ethan, she never would’ve been able to accommodate Tomasina Fiori’s granddaughter’s fairy-tale birthday cake.
Operating totally on adrenaline, Faith changed into a pair of loose-fitting pants, tunic top and leather clogs, washed her hands, then gathered the materials she needed to make four realistic-looking ribbons with bows and more than a dozen pressure-piping white and pink royal-icing roses.
Music blared from a radio, the station playing everything from pop to hip-hop as Faith concentrated intently on piping the flowers onto nonstick baking paper before drying them under a special lamp. When dry, she removed them from the paper with a palette knife and attached them to the cake. The process was painstakingly slow, but her reputation as the consummate cake designer for Signature Bridals was always in the forefront. Whether fashioning flowers by hand or utilizing a piping bag, the results were nearly indistinguishable except by the most discerning professional pastry chef.
Faith met Oliver Rollins at the front door as he walked in. His white eyebrows lifted. “When did you get back?”
She offered him a tired smile. “I got in around midnight. I’m going home to get some sleep before I have to assemble the two wedding cakes.”
“Good luck.”
“You, too,” Faith said over her shoulder.
Let Them Eat Cake was scheduled to open two hours earlier than normal to accommodate the bakeshop’s regular customers and the many special orders for Valentine’s Day. She’d instructed Ranee to close at four o’clock instead of six not only to give the behind-the-counter employees time off to prepare for their own special Valentines, but because they’d worked nearly twice their regularly scheduled hours. Faith had also left envelopes with Ranee filled with a cash bonus for each of the workers. The generous tip William Raymond gave her for his daughter’s engagement party she’d passed along to her loyal and hardworking employees.
The Sweetest Temptation Page 20
