As he tasted and teased, the last bit of reason she possessed took flight. It felt too good to touch him, kiss him. It had been far too long since a man’s touch had made her blood churn and her body long to be fully taken.
Was this really about to happen? Was she about to make love to Alejandro? Finally. After pretending to be lovers, they were about to stop lying to themselves. After nights spent dreaming about him, about this, it was about to happen. She wanted it to happen.
Judging by the way he shifted and groaned, he wanted it just as much as she did. His kisses made her body hum, her heart sing. It had been so long since she’d been with anyone and even longer since she had let herself trust anyone the way she trusted Alejandro. She took in a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut, fighting the wave of feelings swelling inside her, threatening to break.
He untucked her blouse from her pencil skirt and slipped one hand beneath the fabric, the warmth of his hand teasing her bare skin, his fingertips gently caressing her before he grasped the hem of her blouse and pulled it up over her head. She wriggled out of it, helping him by straightening her arms and ducking her head so they wouldn’t have to worry about undoing buttons. Next she shed her bra and unzipped her skirt. He pushed her skirt down, taking her panties with it.
Clothing was a barrier and she wanted nothing between them. The realization that they were about to be naked sent a shiver of longing coursing through her.
Sure, they had kissed and touched each other and made everyone around them believe that they were lovers, but this was a new level of intimacy. Skin on skin. This time it was just for them.
But that wasn’t going to happen if he remained fully clothed. She tugged his shirt over his head, and let it fall to the floor. Sliding her hands over his bare back, she relished the feel of his muscles beneath her fingertips before going for the button on his pants.
“Alejandro Mendoza, we should’ve done this a long time ago,” she said, moving her hands down his back and cupping his backside.
“Might’ve been overkill if it had been a way to prove to Sophie you really do believe in love.”
“Seeing is believing.”
“I’ll say,” he conceded.
A half smile curved Olivia’s lips. “I had no idea what I was missing.” Especially now that she had him completely naked.
He leaned back, his eyes intent on her. “Damn.” His voice was hoarse in his throat.
“I’m guessing it’s a good thing that I’ve reduced you to one-syllable words?” she said.
He didn’t answer; he simply leaned in and pressed a kiss to the sensitive spot behind her ear, his breath hot and delicious on her neck. Anticipation knotted in her stomach as he walked her backward down the hall toward her bedroom.
Once there, he moved his hand down her hip to her thigh. She parted her legs, and he nestled himself against her.
He kissed her again, moving his hands along the curves of her body. Reaching between her legs, his fingertips traced her sensitive skin, dangerously close to her center, where she was aching for his touch.
Olivia feared she might spontaneously combust or possibly melt into a puddle of her own need right at his feet. And when he finally moved his hand, sliding his finger over her center, she heard a low sound rumbling and realized it was coming from her.
After that, she lost all ability to think lucidly. The only thing she was aware of was the way Alejandro was teasing the entrance to her body with his fingertip before sliding it deep inside her. Her head lolled back. He increased the rhythm and everything went hot and bright like a sparkler on the Fourth of July. She was electric, sizzling like a live wire or a rocket ship launched into space. And when she finally landed, Alejandro was right there with her, kissing her lips. She could feel the hardness of him pressing against her. He was ready for her.
And she was ready for him. She wanted him so badly she felt she would burst into flames.
He eased her down onto the bed. Everything that was dark about his eyes grew even darker.
“Do you have a condom?” he said.
“Me? No, I don’t have any.” There had been no need. Until now. Oh, for God’s sake, why hadn’t they thought about this before now? Why? Because they had sworn this wasn’t going to happen. A hiccup of laughter nearly escaped her lips. Just making that promise should have been her first clue that she needed to have some on hand. She supposed she should’ve been relieved that he hadn’t come prepared because that would’ve meant he’d been planning this seduction. But, good grief, if they had come this far and had to stop for lack of protection, she just might actually die.
“I may have one in my shaving kit. If I do, I don’t know how old it is, though.”
“Not much action lately, huh?”
He groaned and kissed her. “I’m not quite sure how you want me to answer that. Still, it’s worth a look. I’ll be right back.”
She watched him walk across the room naked and fine. Funny, she thought, you can tell yourself you’re immune, you can tell yourself you don’t want something or you shouldn’t have something, when all the while the don’ts and shouldn’ts are a colossal lie. Seeing him like this, she knew she had been lying to herself since the night she saw him in the Driskill Hotel bar.
She wanted him. And on some very basic level, she’d known they were going to end up like this—whether she’d wanted to admit it to herself or not.
Olivia turned over onto her side and drew in a deep, measured breath, trying to calm her shallow breathing and slow her thudding heart.
This is happening. This is really happening.
And she couldn’t believe how right it felt. It was probably going to make things harder when he went back to Miami; she was well aware of that. But she had known it would be difficult from that first moment, after that first kiss, when they’d started down this thrilling, rocky road. But the thing was, even after that first kiss, things had never been awkward. Even the public displays of intimacy they’d put on for Sophie’s benefit hadn’t been awkward. In fact, the lack of awkwardness had blurred the line between fantasy and reality that should’ve been so distinct. She could only hope this wasn’t a mistake, that after all was said and done, making love to Alejandro wouldn’t be the straw that brought everything crashing down.
He returned a moment later, holding a small square packet.
“Victory is ours,” he said. “And it is still well within its shelf life. I am happy we can give it a decent burial.”
Olivia propped herself up on her elbow and laughed at the double meaning. “I never dreamed a rubber could make me so happy.”
“You obviously need to expand your horizons, querida.”
She loved how he called her that. The endearment warmed her from the inside out. As if she could be any hotter right now.
“What I meant was, it would’ve been a real mood killer if you would’ve had to have gotten dressed and gone to the drugstore.”
He ripped open the foil packet.
“No worries. This time. We might want to keep that in mind for the future, though.”
The future.
The thought caused Olivia’s heartbeat to kick up again. Would there be a next time? She hoped so. But why was she thinking about next time before this time had even happened. And it was about to happen.
It had been a long time since she’d been intimate with a man, but he was worth the wait.
She watched, mesmerized, as Alejandro positioned the condom over himself and rolled it down his hard length. Arousal ripped through her, knocking the breath right out of her lungs. But that was nothing compared to when Alejandro slid into bed next to her and, with one swift motion, had her lying flat on her back.
Alejandro kissed her senseless. It was as if his next breath depended on it. Need had her fisting her fingers in the hair at the nape of his n
eck until he grabbed ahold of her wrists and lifted her arms over her head. He deepened the kiss and positioned himself between her thighs, his hard manhood bumping against the private entrance to her body. And suddenly she needed him inside her.
His gaze locked on hers, he thrust gently to fill her. She raised her hips to take him all the way in. His breath escaped in a rush, and he held absolutely still for a moment, as if he were afraid to break the fragile moment of their joining. Looking into his eyes, Olivia reveled in the sensation, in the wonder of this man inside her.
“You feel even better than I imagined,” he whispered, his voice sounding hoarse and raspy.
His eyes were the darkest shade of brown she’d ever seen. As he moved inside her, she couldn’t take her eyes off him. He pulled back slightly just before thrusting deeper, closing those dark eyes, getting lost in the rhythm of their love.
The driving need that led to her release grew with every pump and thrust. She held on to him, watching him, his expression, his eyes squeezed shut, his jaw clenched tight.
This was Alejandro. Gorgeous, sexy Alejandro. And he was lost in her.
She looked away, unable to deal with the intensity as he pushed into her one last time and she caught a glimpse of his tattoo. That tattoo. Another woman’s name branded on his arm. She turned her face away so she wouldn’t have to see it, wouldn’t have to think about him in love with someone else.
She refocused on the passion, on how right they felt together, on the feel of him moving inside her, and the next moment pleasure exploded within her, and she felt as if the clouds had parted on a gray day and she was looking directly into the sun.
His eyes closed and his neck tendons strained as the orgasm shook his body. She slid her hands along the rock-hard muscles of his arms to end up with her fingers curled into his hair. He swayed above her for a moment before she pulled him down on top of her. He bowed his head and rested his forehead on hers, kissing her again as if drawing a sustaining life’s breath from the final moments of their coupling.
He rolled off her onto his back and she curled herself into his body, amazed by the heat radiating from his skin.
He covered his eyes with his palms. Then, keeping his elbows crooked, he slid his hands beneath his head. She wasn’t sure if this was the right thing to do. Her instincts were telling her to hold on to him, snuggle into him, because that’s what lovers did after making love. But he wasn’t making any effort to hold her. As right and intuitive as the lovemaking had been, this part felt awkward.
The last thing she wanted was for her vulnerability to morph into neediness. Because that was so not who she was. She had never been a clinging vine. And she didn’t want to start now.
But, dammit, she felt clingy.
She didn’t want to have feelings for him. He made her want things that didn’t make sense. Things that she didn’t even believe in. He was part of the extended family. She had even hoped after their short-term engagement that they could be friends.
Family and friendship. Those things were far too valuable to mess up. Why was she just considering that now?
She supposed that somewhere deep in her psyche she thought making love to him would exorcise whatever demon had possessed her when she met him. While it had been mind-blowing, it hadn’t satisfied that craving. No, she still wanted more. She needed more. She wondered if rather than satisfying the beast, she had simply awakened it.
She lay there lost in thought, heart thundering as she tried to sort out her emotions.
“You okay?” he asked.
She nodded, but he didn’t say more. They just lay next to each other, until she couldn’t stand the silence anymore. She turned over onto her side, facing him. She stared at him through the golden early-evening light, filtering in through the bedroom’s plantation shutters.
Olivia studied his profile as he lay there with his arm raised over his head, his tattoo in full view. She reached out and touched it. She hadn’t pushed him to talk about it the other night because it’d felt too personal, as if she were crossing the line. But here they were in the most emotionally vulnerable space. It felt like nothing should be off-limits.
“Tell me about Anna.”
He was silent for a long time, and for a moment she thought he wasn’t going to answer her.
But she wanted to know. She needed to know. So she decided to prod him.
“You loved her.” The words escaped before she could stop herself and she felt awkward after saying them, because obviously he had loved Anna and he didn’t love her.
“I did. I still do. I have to be honest with you, I always will.”
Olivia felt small, and irrationally jealous of the dead woman.
“We met in our freshman year of high school in English class. Anna was new to the school. She’d just moved to Miami from Venezuela. We were reading Romeo and Juliet aloud in class. She read Juliette’s part and I read Romeo’s. It was love at first sight. I was so taken by her grace and beauty, I wanted to marry her when we turned eighteen. I’d even saved my money and bought her an engagement ring. But Anna’s father asked us to wait to get married until after we’d graduated from college. We weren’t happy about it, but we honored his wishes. It was important to Anna. But we still got engaged. We ended up going to different universities—she was at Florida State in Tallahassee and I was at the University of Florida in Gainesville. We alternated weekend visits, taking turns making the drive to see each other. Sophomore year, she was killed instantly when a semitruck driver fell asleep at the wheel and hit her car.
“I have always felt responsible for her death. If only I had insisted she leave Sunday afternoon when it was still light outside rather than staying one more night with me and leaving before sunrise the next morning to make it back for an early class.”
She heard the pain in his voice, but it was her pain she felt when he said the next words.
“I guess I’ve always believed each person was only granted one true love in a lifetime. I always believed Anna was mine.”
He lowered his arm, held it in front of him, tracing the intricate lines etched into his skin.
“I got her name tattooed on my arm so that I would always remember that once life wasn’t hard and happiness wasn’t impossible.”
She wanted to ask, What do you think now? Do you think you could be happy with me? But she couldn’t force the words out of her throat.
Chapter Eleven
The following Saturday was Olivia’s birthday. Alejandro had planned a perfect birthday celebration for her—a feast featuring filet mignon and butter-poached lobster, and of course it would be accompanied by continuously flowing champagne since it seemed to be Olivia’s favorite. And flowers. Lots of flowers. The condo looked like he had robbed a florist. Even though he had given Olivia her birthday present, the fire opal ring, earlier that week, he’d sent her out to the spa to be pampered so that she could relax and he could prepare for their romantic evening in.
During the day, while she was at work, Alejandro had been spending time at Hummingbird Ridge, proceeding as if the deal was still on track despite the fact that they’d suspended the closing indefinitely—or at least until he could secure another source of funding. It was difficult knowing he had a potentially untapped investor in Gerald. But he had to bide his time.
He could not give the impression that he had proposed to Olivia to get the inside track on securing the deal. His conscience simply wouldn’t let him do that. He had to wait until after Olivia broke up with him. If she was the one to walk away, Gerald would know that he hadn’t broken Olivia’s heart, and Olivia would know that he hadn’t been like every other guy who had seen an opportunity and used her to further his ambitions. His new plan was to talk to Gerald first and see whether he was interested. If Gerald decided to invest in Hummingbird Ridge, Alejandro would talk to Olivia and explain wh
y he had done things the way he had done them. She would be off the hook and wouldn’t feel beholden to him for helping her with the Sophie debacle.
Technically they wouldn’t be together, wouldn’t be dating or engaged or be lovers—Okay, so they were lovers. That was the one part of the equation that was real. Maybe he should’ve exercised some restraint and waited until all the pretense was over, all the business deals were closed, and then they could’ve entered into a relationship of their own volition, but it was pretty clear he had no restraint when it came to Olivia.
Once everything was settled and Hummingbird Ridge was his, Alejandro would move to Austin and he had every intention of starting over and dating Olivia the right way, treating her the way she deserved to be treated.
He had just taken a pound of butter out of the refrigerator to make a compound butter for the fresh French bread he had purchased when he heard someone entering the condo.
“Hello?” he said.
“Hey, it’s me.” Olivia was home about an hour earlier than he was expecting her and judging by her expression something wasn’t right.
“What’s wrong?” He walked over and kissed her.
“I hope dinner can keep.”
“Why?”
“Sophie and Mason decided to come back from their honeymoon a day early because of bad weather,” she said. “There’s this tradition in our family, that we have a big dinner to welcome the newlyweds home their first night back from their honeymoon. That means we are cordially invited to my parents’ at six o’clock this evening. Attendance will be taken.”
Alejandro raked his hand through his hair. “How can they expect us? Can’t you tell them we already have plans? It’s your birthday.”
“Coming home from your honeymoon trumps a birthday, I’m afraid,” she replied. “Besides, when my mother called, she said we would be celebrating my birthday tonight along with Sophie and Mason’s return. So she gets her way after all. Should’ve known. She always does.”
Alejandro frowned. “But how can they pull together a dinner party on such short notice?”
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