Once their food arrived, the conversation slowed—and almost ceased entirely. But what she didn’t say, he could actually feel. That was something he had been aware of from the first time their eyes had met, at Mac and Luke’s rehearsal dinner. Although she might not have wanted to give off those sensual vibes, she was doing so, anyway. They spoke to him and he automatically responded.
Like he was doing now.
He glanced over at her. As if she felt his gaze, she glanced up, and the moment their eyes connected he was literally robbed of his senses. The blood flowing through his body suddenly felt hot—to the boiling point.
“Dinner was wonderful, Blade. Thanks for bringing me here,” she said in a soft voice, as if to break the intensity of the moment.
His gaze remained focused on her face. “You’re welcome.”
He had to fight the impulse to say he intended for there to be more of these dinners, but then he wondered why he would think such a thing. He was the hunter and she was his prey. Once she was caught there would be no reason for them to do this again. Their date tonight had a purpose and they both knew it. They were adults and were mature enough to handle whatever the outcome.
He wasn’t looking for a long-term relationship or a serious involvement with any woman. He was a guy who wasn’t interested in the house with the white picket fence or the wife who would greet him at the door each day when he came home from work. That was Slade, but that wasn’t him.
“So, will you be having dessert tonight?”
Her question made him smile. “Yes, but not here.”
She lifted an elegant brow and then tilted her head in a challenging pose when it became evident that she knew what he meant. “You think so?”
He chuckled softly. “I hope so.”
And he truly meant that and couldn’t believe he had done a complete turnaround in his approach to this woman. Usually he wasn’t into playing games. However, Sam was definitely making him work hard for her. But then, he felt she was worth it.
“Maybe this is where I need to tell you that I plan on going home alone,” she said, interrupting his thoughts.
For a moment he just stared at her, then nodded slowly. “Yes, but a lot can happen before you get there.”
He watched her lower her lids in a way that had him wondering if perhaps her mind was engaging in the same sizzling hot, over-the-top, taboo kind of fantasies his mind was having right now.
He shifted in his seat and decided he needed to change the subject and do it quick. Otherwise his erection just might burst through his zipper. “Tell me about your family, Sam.”
He could tell that his question had surprised her. He could also tell it seemed to relax her. She eased back in her chair. Once their dishes and wineglasses had been removed, they enjoyed a cup of coffee. Usually he didn’t touch the stuff. He was hyper enough and didn’t need a caffeine boost.
“What exactly do you want to know?”
“Anything you want to tell me.” So I can figure out what there is about you that makes me want you so much, he thought to himself. Right now I’m thinking what it would be like to take you on top of this table.
“It might bore you.”
“You could never bore me.”
Sam chuckled at his response. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
She took a sip of her coffee and then said, “My paternal great-grandparents came to this country from Rome with their four sons and only the clothes on their backs. They worked hard, educated their sons and were proud when all four completed law school and went into practice together. And that was the birth of the Di Meglio law firm.”
Sam paused for a moment to indulge in a few childhood memories. As a little girl she remembered her grandmother telling her the family story, and she could still hear the pride in her grandmother’s voice. “Their first office was a place above my great-grandfather’s restaurant in the Bronx. Then after they won their first big case, they opened offices in Manhattan.” There was no need to mention the rumors that one of her grand-uncles had had Mafia ties.
She kept talking, mainly because Blade seemed truly interested in what she was saying—interested and intrigued. She talked. He listened, while quietly sipping his coffee and looking attentively at her.
“My father met my mother in law school. I’m told they had a fiery relationship, couldn’t agree on anything and argued case law most of the time.” A grin touched the corners of her lips. “From what I hear they nearly drove their professors batty.”
Blade burst out laughing.
“What’s so funny?
“Your parents sound like my cousin Clayton and his wife, Syneda. They’re both attorneys as well and can’t agree on anything.”
Sam smiled and pushed her hair back off her shoulders. “I met Clayton and Syneda last year during our handling of the Coroni case. Nice couple.” She took a sip of her coffee and continued. “My parents had no contact with each other after law school, and then three years later they faced off in the courtroom. He was the prosecutor and she was the defense attorney. What the jurors saw was a hot-tempered Italian D.A. up against an African-American attorney with an attitude. She won. He lost. She went out that night to celebrate. He went out to lick his wounds. They happened to both be at the same nightclub.” Sam giggled. “Imagine that.”
For a moment Blade could imagine it, especially if her mother had in her younger days looked anything like Sam. “Sounds like a stormy confrontation.”
“I understand it was worse than that,” she said, after taking another sip of her coffee. “They ended up leaving the bar together, presumably to help him get over losing the case—but in a way that only a woman can. I’m told it was supposed to be a one-night stand, but things didn’t work out that way, and they’ve been together ever since. They have a rather close and loving relationship,” she said with a huge smile on her face.
Blade couldn’t help but smile back. “I know you have a brother. I recall meeting him at Luke and Mac’s wedding.”
“Yes, DeAngelo. But everyone calls him Angelo. He’s thirty-two and he’s also a lawyer. The Di Meglio law firm is still going strong, with my mother and father, my father’s two brothers, their two sons, my brother and several associates.”
“And you’re not there?”
Sam shook her head. “No. I worked there for a while—two years, in fact, right out of law school. But I soon discovered there were too many Di Meglios. And as one of only two female attorneys, I was in the minority. My brothers and male cousins made sure I got the easy cases, nothing I could really sink my teeth into. I had three watchdogs instead of three fellow attorneys who respected my skill.”
“So after two years you left New York and came here?” he asked, watching her expression closely. Throughout dinner he had been carefully observing her every time she spoke, practically hanging on every word she said. He could tell she was close to her family, probably as close to hers as he was to his.
“Yes, I came here,” Sam said. “Mac, Peyton and I had been close friends in law school and had always talked about forming a partnership together, so we decided to fulfill our dream. And the rest is history.”
She took yet another sip of her coffee and then glanced back at him. “Okay, it’s your turn. Tell me about your family, although since Mac is married to Luke I know something about the Madarises already. Just to think you have an uncle who’s married to Diamond Swain and is good friends with Sterling Hamilton is awesome.”
Blade chuckled. He distinctly recalled the night his uncle Jake had made the announcement to the family. To say that they’d all been shocked was an understatement. Uncle Jake referred to his wife as his “diamond” and the family knew why. The well-known and much-beloved actress, Diamond Swain Madaris, was definitely a jewel to everyone who met her. And movie actor and producer, Sterling Hamilton was considered one of the family.
“Yes, it is. In fact, I think my entire family is awesome. My parents had four sons. You’ve met my twin, Slade,
who is married to Skye. And as you know, they’re expecting a baby.”
“Yes, we’re all excited.”
He smiled. From what he’d heard, the entire family was excited. It seemed that having babies was becoming a favorite pastime for the Madarises and their friends. “I have two younger brothers. Quantum, who is twenty-six and completing his residency at a hospital in Houston, and Jantzen is twenty-three. Slade and I were able to recruit Jantzen into joining the family business as our PR and marketing director, and he’s doing an awesome job.”
They talked awhile longer as he told her more about his family. She had already met most of them at Mac’s wedding, which made the conversation flow rather easily. He liked how she remembered things that had happened at the wedding or at Mac’s birthday party that made them both laugh.
“At Mac’s party, you were with someone,” said Blade.
Sam lifted her brow. She decided to respond truthfully, as she always did when a question came up about her and Frederick’s relationship. “Yes, he’s a lawyer in my family’s law firm. Frederick Rowe. He still works there and I consider him a good friend.”
“So there is nothing going on between the two of you?”
She held Blade’s gaze for a moment and then said, “Why are you just getting around to asking me about Frederick? If you did think we were together that night, I see that didn’t stop you from trying to hit on me.”
He reached out and captured her hand when she placed it on the table. She felt herself trembling from head to toe when his fingertips brushed across her knuckles. “The reason I never got around to asking you about him was because I was able to find out that information from Luke. He said the guy was just a friend of yours.”
“Then why did you ask me about him now?” She tried to ignore how the touch of his hand on hers was sending sparks of electricity up and down her spine. He was trying to seduce her, and heaven help her, but she was enjoying it and finding it hard to resist his charm.
“Because I wanted to hear you tell me,” he said softly. His voice was like a stroke across her skin, sending even more sparks through her. “Before, I just had secondhand information, although I figured Luke knew what he was talking about. And the reason I still made a move on you that night was because I wanted you, and once Luke had assured me there was nothing between you and Frederick but a close friendship, I saw no reason to stand on the sidelines.”
Just as she was sure he saw no reason not to continue stroking her hand. She was fully aware of what he was doing and why he was doing it. Electricity was coursing through her, and making her want things from him that she knew better than to crave.
She pulled her hand from his and casually glanced at her watch. She then looked up at him. “I hate to be a party pooper, but I’m a working girl and I’ve got an early appointment in the morning. I need to go home and get to bed.”
Blade was sure it was the look of desire that appeared in his eyes that prompted her to add, “Alone.”
He tilted his head to the side, studied her for a moment and then asked, “Do you really want to do that?”
She hesitated long enough for him to know she wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to do about him, and as far as he was concerned that was a good thing. That meant he was making progress. He was an impatient man. And he didn’t want to make progress, he wanted to make love—to her, nonstop, all night long. He wanted those long, sexy legs of hers wrapped tightly around him while he buried his body deep inside her. He wanted her so badly he could taste it. And he intended to taste her. That seemed simple enough, and as hot and sensual as it could get.
“Yes, that’s what I want to do.”
Her response, he thought, had been slow in coming. He wondered how she was going to handle knowing that he had arranged to be next door to her, never out of sight or out of mind. He was going to turn borrowing a cup of sugar into his favorite pastime. Sooner or later he would break down her defenses, and as her next-door neighbor, he would take pleasure in doing so.
Chapter 9
When Blade slowed to a stop at the traffic light, Sam couldn’t help but look over at him, and not surprisingly, their eyes locked. Heat flooded her entire body and she wondered if he could feel it. He said nothing, but continued to stare. They got so caught up in the sexual chemistry transmitting between them that it took a blast from a car’s horn to remind them where they were.
The sound also reminded her where they were going. Her car was still parked at the office and she planned get into it and drive home. And just as she’d told him, she would be going home alone.
Why did the thought of going home alone suddenly seem like such an awful choice, when she could have this sexy man go home with her? He had laid it on thick tonight, oozing sexiness all over the place and reminding her more than once that she hadn’t had a man in her bed in close to four years. Blade was making her feel that certain parts of her body were overdue for a tune-up and some serious repair.
She chuckled to herself. She couldn’t imagine him giving her a quick fix. He would take his time, probably make her beg, and then he would deliver in a way that would be far better than anything she could ever imagine.
But why imagine it when she could have the real thing?
She knew the answer to that question. Like all players, he needed to be taught a lesson, and she couldn’t start letting her emotions get in the way. She couldn’t forget that he was a womanizer who wanted one thing from her and only one thing. Once she had sex with him, he would move on to the next hard up and willing woman. He wouldn’t care one iota that someone’s heart would get broken.
Blade was an arrogant man, but not in an intolerable kind of way. She had been out with men who were a lot worse—men who wore the word obnoxious around their necks. But she could tell that Blade was a self-assured man—confident and comfortable with who he was. He wore his cockiness proudly, like a designer label.
He pulled into the parking lot, but instead of stopping beside her car, he circled the lot until he came to a secluded spot with very little lighting, under an arbor of low-hanging trees.
When he brought the car to a stop she glanced over at him. All it took was a look into his eyes to know his intention. “Tell me you’re kidding,” she said.
His smile was hot. The hottest thing she’d seen in a long time. He unbuckled his seat belt and slid his seat back. “I never kid when I’m about to make out with a woman.”
She lifted a brow. “Make out?”
He reached over and, with a flick of his wrist, her seat belt was unbuckled. “Yes, we’ll start with a few kisses and go from there.”
His arrogance was showing. “And you assume going from there will be easy for you?” she asked. She could deal with the kisses, and in fact was looking forward to them.
“I hope so. I want you, Samari Di Meglio. You give a whole new meaning to the word desire. I want you to the point that I ache.” He drew in what sounded like an angry breath, and said, “Hell, this is the first time I’ve admitted that to a woman.”
A smile curved her lips at the frustration she heard in his voice. “Wow, I’m flattered. A sensual confession. Got any more?”
“What? Sensual confessions?”
“Yes.”
A smile touched his lips. “Not tonight.” He leaned closer and whispered against her lips, “But I do have something else to give you.”
She didn’t have to ask what, and didn’t have time to, anyway. Before she could draw in her next breath, he was there. And when his lips captured hers and he proceeded to slide his tongue into her mouth, while running his fingers through her hair, she couldn’t do anything but close her eyes and moan.
Blade didn’t have time to question why he was feeling so possessive toward this woman, and so needy. He refused to ponder why there was such an urgency to taste her and why she was becoming something he craved. Instead, he allowed his body and mind to tumble out of control while he feasted on her mouth, her lips, her tongue, on everything within
his reach.
Her moans were like a symphony to his ears and propelled him to deepen the kiss. With each kiss she responded with a passion that matched his own. His stomach clenched each time her tongue stroked his with the same intensity he felt. Their movements were restricted by the confines of the car and the clothes they were wearing, and he could only imagine what it would be like to have her stretched out on a bed beneath him, totally naked.
The thought of that inflamed his passion caused a primitive hunger to stir within the depths of his masculinity. Emotions that he couldn’t put a name to suffused him, enveloping all of his senses.
He was playing out one of his wildest fantasies with her. Making out in a parked car with the risk of getting caught gave him an adrenaline rush. Shudders of electricity coursed through his body. Under normal circumstances, he didn’t take any risks with women. Caution had always been the name of the game. But at that moment, he couldn’t think of anything else but enjoying her.
An alarm went off in his head at the thought that he was headed toward a danger zone, and he quickly pulled his mouth away and drew in a deep breath, taking in the scent of her sexual arousal. With moonlight coming in through the windshield, he could see her clearly. Her body had shifted and her back was pressed against the door. Her clothes no longer looked as neat as they had earlier. One part of her jacket nearly hung off her shoulder and a couple of the buttons on her blouse had come undone, revealing what looked like a red lace bra. Red lace? He’d seen red lace before, but why did seeing it on her have the lower part of his body throbbing?
And then there was her skirt, which had risen up her thigh and was barely covering her hips. Her long, beautiful legs were teasing him, making him see her as a delectable morsel to be eaten.
He quickly glanced out the window. He had parked in a dark and secluded area. It was the perfect spot to make out with a woman. He hadn’t done anything like this since high school. Hell, he was a grown man, not a horny teenager.
Sensual Confessions Page 8
