by Kait Gamble
Daniel wrapped his free arm around her shoulder. “How have you been?”
“Okay. Could be better.” She looked up at him. Unable to wait any longer, she asked, “Why did you disappear like that?”
“You seemed like you needed time to think. I know I did. I thought it would give us a better perspective.” He steered them around a lamp post that Bobo seemed hell-bent on tangling his leash around.
Time apart made sense.
“I’ve been at the beach restaurant keeping an eye on things there.” After that, Daniel didn’t seem interested in talking too much. He looked to be taking the time to recharge. She could only imagine him and Marco clashing in the new kitchen.
So she did the same, smiling as he chatted nonsense with Bobo, who seemed to enjoy what he was saying and even barked and grumbled in reply. She put it down to ritual with them.
Chelsea followed his lead. The fact that he’d shown up and wanted to talk was enough for the moment.
They walked several blocks before turning in tandem. It hadn’t required discussion or planning. They just did. It amused her that the three of them seemed to travel as a unit without too much trouble. Her heart was lighter as they strolled. Their ambling went by almost completely in silence. He seemed as content as she was to simply be together.
He stopped at an intersection a couple of blocks from the restaurant. She had been too preoccupied to notice that they had almost gone a complete circle on their walk. “Would you like to come up for some coffee? Or would you like us to walk you to your car?” The corner of his lips turned up. “I make a great coffee.” He motioned at the building towering above them.
He lived here?
She stared up in awe. The gorgeous building was one of the most coveted in the city. It was in the realm of fantasy for Chelsea. So how had he managed to get an apartment in it?
No wonder she’d never seen him with a car. He didn’t need one to get to work.
Bobo chose to wind himself around her legs at that moment and looked up at her with his odd-colored eyes. He whined and bumped his head on her knees.
How could she say no? Cooing, she bent to scratch him behind the ears. “Coffee sounds good.” She smiled at him. “If I’m not imposing, that is.”
He helped untangle her from the indomitable Bobo, the touch of his hand on hers sending a frisson of sensation up her arm.
“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t mean it. Besides, I think Bobo has a thing for you.”
Just Bobo? She hoped not. Her smile widened. “That’s good, because I think he’s adorable.”
Daniel’s lips curved a little more. “I’m sure the feeling is mutual.”
He waved at the concierge as they passed and Chelsea watched as he swiped the pad at the elevator with a fob on his key ring. The doors parted and they silently entered the mirrored box. It was a short ride to his floor and within seconds, they stood in front of a dark wooden door.
The moment the door closed behind them, Chelsea felt as though she’d just walked into a whole new realm of possibility.
Chapter Eleven
“Make yourself at home.”
His apartment was huge, airy, with massive windows that displayed the city as if it were his own personal playground.
“Thanks.” The supple leather of the couch felt like heaven after such a long day and an even longer week. Sighing, she let her head fall back and studied his living space. The first thought that came to mind was that the place oozed masculinity—everything from the defined lines of the furniture to the stark black and white photos decorating the walls.
The next thought was that this place was the home of someone with a lot more money than she’d assumed he had.
Daniel reappeared with two steaming mugs and placed one before her. He sat on the chair opposite. “You’re studying my place pretty hard.”
Caught, she turned to him as the blush crept into her cheeks. “It’s hard not to. It’s beautiful.”
His lips curled in a half smirk. “Aren’t you going to ask?”
She knew what he was getting at, but refused to bite. Playing innocent, she shrugged. “I don’t get what you mean.”
He smiled benignly. “You’re wondering how a chef can afford a place like this.”
She liked that he was being so open. Chelsea had never expected him to be so different outside of the kitchen. “I was. You don’t have to tell me, but I definitely was wondering.”
He took a sip of his drink and smiled. “The short version is I’m a former rich kid from good breeding and all that crap who turned away from the family fortune and had to make it on his own. So after moving here, penniless, I built myself up from nothing to prove that I can stand on my own two feet. With whatever cash I managed to save, I made some investments here and there. As a result, I can do what I want—live how I like.”
It started to click together. His secrecy about his private life, the way he’d simply told her to tell her mother off… He had done the same and come out better for it. That he believed she was as strong and capable as he was made her smile.
“That explains a lot.”
His smirk grew a tiny increment. “So don’t go thinking I’m a drug dealer or something.”
“I was thinking playboy, billionaire, superspy who was using the job as a cover.”
He laughed at that. It was a deep chuckle that rumbled through him. “So, what, I’m a culinary Batman? You have some imagination.”
Bobo had plodded into the room and sat next to Daniel, placing his head in his lap with a gusty sigh. Daniel stroked him behind the ears, earning another happy exhalation
“Sadly, my life is a little less interesting. I met Cara just as she was opening up the restaurant and convinced her to take me on. I’ve always been good with food and I’m enjoying it for the moment. Who knows what I’ll be into next.”
And when that happened, he would move on to the next adventure? Chelsea found herself wondering if she factored into his plans for the future. Finally getting to know the man was fascinating, but she had a burning question she needed an answer for.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“What conclusion did you reach this week?” Her voice wavered as she fought back the nerves. “I’m guessing that me being here with you is a good sign.”
His smile was impish. “You first.”
Chelsea got up and started pacing, using the movement to jog her brain. “I know that I didn’t like being apart from you. And I also know that I want to see where this thing between us is going.” She took a deep breath. “I’m not saying I want to get married. I like what we have and if it happens to go that way, then great. If not, then that’s fine too. I just want to be together, even if it’s just for now.”
He stood and walked over to her to twine both arms around her. “Good, because if you wanted out, I don’t know if I could let you go.”
His piercing gaze was unnerving. Clearing her throat, Chelsea plunged in. “It’s obvious why I would want you. So why me?”
“Is it? I didn’t think you did for a while there.” Grinning proudly, he lowered his head to nibble and lick her bottom lip. “As for you, you’re intelligent, a good friend and beautiful, so who wouldn’t want you?” He covered her hand with his as he spoke and he gently stroked the back of hers with his thumb. “And the sex is incredible.”
Heat flashed in her belly. It was more than incredible.
Daniel tugged her close and slid his hands up under her blouse. “Speaking of which, I think I need to have a little refresher. It’s been a week. My memory could be a little faulty.”
Chelsea pulled his shirt open and shoved it off his shoulders. “We can’t have that now, can we?”
He chuckled when she tore at his belt and yanked it from his trousers, tossing it carelessly aside. “I take it you missed me.”
“A bit.”
Gripping her hips, he pulled her tightly against him. “Good. Because I’ve missed
the hell out of you.”
His hard, biting kiss made her head swim and her eyes fluttered closed when he moved his mouth lower to nip her chin and throat. Chelsea tried to reach the fastening of his trousers but he gripped her hands, pinning them behind her and holding them immobile in his. With the other, he easily pushed clothing out of the way so he could touch and caress.
He let go of her so he could pull her clothes off. Her blouse fell to the floor with a whisper, quickly followed by her bra. His large, warm palms cupped her breasts as he dropped his head to taste the hard tips. Chelsea crooned when his mouth closed over her nipple and she felt his tongue curl around it. Daniel took his time paying lavish attention to one then the other.
Liquid heat pooled between her thighs. Chelsea clawed at him, tried to drag him closer. Daniel resisted while he made short work of the rest of her clothes. The kiss of air on her skin raise goosebumps. It was frigid compared to the searing heat of his mouth and hands.
She was aware that they were moving a split second before she felt the iciness of the window pressed against her back, her ass. She couldn’t protest because Daniel had returned his mouth to hers, his tongue teasing hers, tasting her, until she was dizzy and aching.
Daniel took her hands again, pinning them above her head against the glass. Nudging her legs apart, he then stepped between them and lifted her until he could grind the hard ridge of his cock against her.
She hooked her legs around him then kissed him back as she writhed against him for some much-needed friction. She whimpered when he pulled back. His breath was as labored as hers and for an instant, she was afraid he was going to stop. Then she felt his hand. Slowly, lightly skimming up her thigh, slipping between their bodies.
Chelsea gasped when his talented fingers grazed her sensitized clit. From the wolfish grin on his face, he knew exactly what he was doing. She felt his touch again, fleeting and too light as he teased. “Daniel, please.”
He blinked at her innocently as he dipped a finger inside only to withdraw it again, “Hmm?”
Chelsea moaned at the slow, torturous movement. She arched and wriggled, trying to goad him into action. When he wouldn’t speed up, she groaned and nipped at his bottom lip, soothing it with her tongue when he hissed. “Stop teasing.”
“Was I teasing?” His smile told her he was doing just that. Daniel slipped a finger into her again, crooking it slowly in a soft rhythm. “Better?”
“Daniel!” Was it possible to go crazy from frustration?
He took no notice, eased another finger aside the last and pumped them slowly. “How’s that?”
As he said the last word, he changed the angle, the rhythm, shooting sparks of awareness through her. Daniel rocked his palm against her hard clit as he plunged his fingers in and out of her.
She couldn’t answer him. Chelsea could barely breathe as he drove her higher and higher. Then her orgasm hit her like a freight train of sensation.
It took a while for her vision to clear. When it did, she saw the proud smirk on his handsome face.
“Why don’t we take this somewhere more comfortable?” he suggested with a smile.
Good God! He’d pressed her, naked, against the window and she hadn’t cared. A blush burned her cheeks. What was it about him that pushed all thought about anything but what he could make her feel out of her head?
“Don’t worry. No one can see you. It’s SmartGlass.” Sure enough, the glass had fogged. Daniel must have hit the switch while she was distracted.
He brushed a kiss to her shoulder. “You think I’d share you with anyone else?” With a smile, he cupped her ass and carried her down the hall. His room was just as well furnished as the others she’d seen so far, though all she could focus on was the massive bed. Daniel looked at her, a hopeful expression on his face. “I take it you approve?”
“Absolutely.”
“Good.” He kissed her again, slowly, seductively. Daniel ran his hands over her almost reverently. As if he couldn’t believe that he was allowed to do so.
Chelsea undid his trousers and shoved them and his boxer briefs off so she could get a look at the body she’d been missing.
“Time for that later. Right now I need you under me.” Lifting her as if she weighed nothing, he laid her on the bed.
Daniel didn’t give her any indication of what he was going to do next. He shouldered apart her thighs and dropped his head to settle his mouth against her. His tongue glided over her clit, slowly, as he sucked.
Chelsea reared off the bed, but he held her with strong hands against his talented tongue and lips. “Oh, God. Daniel…” She ran her hands through his hair to hold him tight.
Each lash of his tongue brought delicious sensation that washed through her system. Winding her up, tighter and tighter until she came quaking in his arms with a scream.
He eased her back down, gentling his strokes until the trembling eased. Daniel looked up at her and grinned. “That’s one sound I’ll never get tired of.”
Chelsea smiled at him as he crawled up, dropping kisses as he did. She let her eyes wander over his sculpted body as he quickly snagged a condom from a drawer in the bedside table, put it on and came back down to her. She loved the feel of his skin against hers, his weight pinning her to the bed—the feeling of fullness as he slowly pushed into her.
And when he plunged as deeply as he could into her…the sensation was indescribable.
Letting her eyes fall closed, she wound herself around him, wanting to feel more of him. Needing him deeper. Harder. Faster.
As if he was unable to stop himself, or perhaps unwilling, he surged into Chelsea with fierce thrusts, pushing her toward another fast-approaching climax. Just as she flew over with a keening cry, he bit her shoulder, growling something incomprehensible as he came.
Chelsea stared dazedly at the man who had collapsed next to her. Daniel grinned and kissed her long, deep and slow. She knew that no one else could make her feel the way he did. She wasn’t sure if it was love she was feeling just yet, but it was heading that way. What more could she ask for? They understood each other, and if he kept on par with his performance up to now, she knew that she could be happy with him. At least for however long their relationship lasted.
Epilogue
Six months later…
Chelsea laughed along with everyone else at the table. As far as wedding receptions went, it was exquisite. Cara and Jason looked radiantly in love as they took the good-natured ribbing in stride. Their wedding had been perfect and everything had gone off without a hitch. Not that she had expected anything less of Cara’s big day.
Across the table from her, Natalie and Sebastian looked equally content and happy, though they were so caught up with each other that Chelsea doubted they heard anything that was going on around them. Their wedding was coming up in a couple of months and there wasn’t even so much as a jitter from either of them. It made Chelsea smile, knowing they were so blissful.
And next to her, tracing lazy circles on the back of her hand, sat Daniel. Gorgeous and looking just as at home in his tux as he did in his chef’s jacket, he caught her gaze and winked as he took a sip of his wine.
She knew the smile on her face was more than a little sappy and a lot of it had to do with the magical day. But Chelsea knew that without the man next to her, she wouldn’t have felt so good. Of course, she would be ecstatic for her friends, but Daniel seemed to make everything better. Being with him highlighted the best in everything.
He caught her gaze again and the intensity of his had her heart flopping over. Daniel took her glass and put it on the table along with his. “Want to dance, beautiful?”
“Thought you’d never ask.” She was aware of her friend’s approving smiles as they left the table. But the one that held her attention was the man at the end of her arm.
Laughing, he led her to the floor. Daniel swung Chelsea in a wide circle around him and wound her in to hold her close, despite the up-tempo of the song playing.
&nbs
p; And, in his arms, she didn’t give a damn what anyone else thought.
Chelsea swayed with him, relishing the feel of his body against hers. “You look amazing tonight. We definitely have to find more occasions for you to wear a tux.”
He dipped his head low to touch his nose to hers. “If it makes you smile like this, I’ll wear one every day.”
“Is that a promise?”
He shifted, nudging her with his burgeoning arousal. Desire flickered to life low in her belly. What she wouldn’t give to be able to drag him back to his apartment. How would it look for them to disappear in the middle of the reception? Especially when it had barely even started.
He pulled her closer, his smile widening. She knew he was thinking the same thing she was.
He said, “Of course. But I was thinking we should create an occasion for me to wear one.”
Daniel’s hand grazed her bare back and her brain slipped a gear. It took her a moment to put his words together and try to make sense of them. “What do you mean?”
“Reach into my pocket.”
Her eyes widened but she crept her hand toward his belt with a mischievous smile on her face.
He dropped his head back and laughed. “My jacket pocket.”
Joining in his laughter, she did as she was asked. She slid her hand into his jacket, taking a moment to feel the hard muscle hidden beneath. Once she finally got to his pocket, she dipped her hand inside to curl her fingers around the contents. When she felt what was within, they began to tremble. She managed to pull it out part of the way before he stopped her, keeping it hidden between their bodies.
She stared at the little black velvet box. Stunned, Chelsea lifted her eyes to meet his.
“Open it.”
It took a second of fumbling with her nerveless fingers to get it open. Inside was a spectacular diamond set in an equally beautiful white-gold band. It was uncomplicated and incredible. Perfect, just like the man offering it to her.
