by Jess Dee
Son of a bitch.
Angus dropped his hands to his sides before he even realized he’d released her. He took a quick step back, and his erection died a sudden death.
Of all the explanations he’d expected, in love with another man was not one of them. Fury flared in his gut, along with a healthy dose of jealousy and disbelief. A woman in love with another man didn’t kiss the way Lily had just kissed him. Didn’t happily accept his tongue in her mouth and melt into his body as though trying to mold herself to him. She didn’t struggle to breathe or drag hard nipples against his chest either.
Hell, no. A woman in love with another man stopped a kiss before it even started.
But then who was Angus to decide how a woman in love behaved? In fact, who was he to have even taken the liberty of kissing Lily in the first place? He was nothing more than a laborer working on her garden. A kid from the other side of town—the side that didn’t recommend fraternizing with the rich and prosperous.
He never should have crossed the line. Never have given in to his impulses. Didn’t matter how damn sexy she’d looked sipping her fucking wine.
Angus took a slow breath and another step back. A calm, controlled one, putting distance between himself and temptation. He dropped a neutral mask over his face and stared at Lily through blank eyes. “My mistake.” He lifted his hands in the air in…apology? Placation? Disappointment? Anger… “I crossed a line I had no business crossing. That won’t happen again.”
Jesus, of course it wouldn’t happen again. What kind of idiot kissed a woman he knew was in love with another man? Not him, that’s for sure. But it did beg the question, what kind of woman kissed a man when she was in love with someone else?
“Angus, please.” She wrung her hands in anguish. “Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like I’m dirt. Like I did something terrible.”
Hah, if anyone was dirt, it was him. The description suited him too, seeing as he spent most of every day covered in the stuff. She was a duchess. He was dirt.
Angus shrugged. “Like I said, I crossed a line. I’m sorry.”
Lily narrowed her eyes. “Crossed what line?”
“You employed me to do a job, end of story.”
“No, that’s not the end of the story. You and I have become friends. We have coffee together every morning. Talk. Plus, there’s a…something between us. A spark, an attraction. I thought maybe it was just me, but after that kiss…” Her gaze turned dreamy, hot. “After that kiss, I know it’s not one-sided. So yes, you can be angry at me for stopping it, but please, don’t think this is just a matter of you doing a job and that’s that.”
Baffled, Angus stared at her. The woman was a barrel of contradictions. Kissing him like she wanted to eat him for breakfast, then drawing away because she loved another man.
As for the whole “friends” thing? Yeah, that concept just seemed impossible between a man like him and a woman of Lily’s social standing.
He’d never had friends who lived in multimillion-dollar homes. Never had friends who’d grown up in the lap of luxury with whatever they needed or wanted at their fingertips. People of that…affluence? Status? Whatever. People with that kind of money just didn’t befriend manual laborers.
“Friends, employer-employee, whatever. I did something out of line, something you didn’t want. I shouldn’t have.”
Lily regarded him for a long moment, her chest still heaving unevenly, a distraction Angus did not need at this point in time. “What makes you think I didn’t want it?”
Angus blinked. Really? Okay, now she was just fucking with his head. “You’re in love with someone else. You pulled away. It’s a no-brainer.”
Lily gave him a bewildered smile. “You’d think so, wouldn’t you? Yet to be perfectly honest, I’ve fantasized about kissing you since the day we met.” Color deepened the pink in her cheeks. “I’ve fantasized about a lot more than just kissing you, actually.”
Angus took another step back. Jesus, the woman wasn’t just messing with his head. She was fucking with his dick too. Irritation mixed with lust, and the erection that had died a sudden death stirred once again. She’d fantasized about him? While in love with another man? What the fuck was that all about? “Forgive me for saying, but your boyfriend can’t be too happy about that.”
“Boyfriend?”
Angus squeezed his eyes shut. Perhaps he’d gotten Lily all wrong. Perhaps she wasn’t the ultimate lady. Maybe she was just fucking loopy. “The man you’re in love with.” Remember?
“Oh.” She nodded. “Uh. Yeah. No.”
Loopy, for sure. Sexy as hell, but still crazy.
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
Angus stared at her. “Husband?” Fuck, she was married? How could he not know that?
“God, no. Don’t you think I’d have told you if I was married?”
“I have no idea what you’d tell me.” Understanding women was hard enough. Understanding this woman? Impossible.
“I’m in love with him. That’s all. Nothing’s going on between us. I thought it was only fair to tell you, considering this attraction between us.”
“Nice. In love with him but fantasizing about me. Okay, I get it.” Yeah, or not. Hell, he didn’t get any part of it.
Lily’s hands fluttered in the air, as though she were uncertain what to do with them. Touch him maybe?
They fell to her sides. “Look, why don’t we discuss this in the car? Blake should be at his place by now. And it may be easier to talk in private while driving there than with people walking all around us.”
As though punctuating her words, a man headed down a row of vines, a dog barking happily behind him. Laughter echoed from a distance away—probably from the wine-tasting room.
Funny how he’d been oblivious to the presence of anyone else until Lily had reminded him where they were.
Angus nodded, not at all convinced he had what it took to sit beside her in the tiny space her car offered and not kiss her again. Even if she was in love with another man.
He dropped back, letting her walk ahead. Their footsteps crunched over the gravel car park and conversation did not resume until the roadster was in gear, the air con was back on and Lily had driven them out of the front gates of the estate.
“You must think I’m crazy.” Her gaze was steady on the road. His focused on the endless kilometers of vineyards rolling past them. The sun shimmered in the sky, beating down relentlessly on the car.
“Doesn’t matter what I think.”
She laughed softly. “That’s a yes. You do think I’m crazy.”
“Just confused. Never been kissed that way by someone professing to be in love with another guy.”
“I’m not a terrible person,” Lily said quietly.
“Don’t think you are.”
She sighed. “I like you, Angus. Very much. More than I ever thought I’d like a man who wasn’t Blake.”
His stomach roiled. “Blake Seymour, owner of Rolling Hills Winery and Hotel? That Blake?”
“Yes. That Blake.”
Fucking great. Guess who wouldn’t be accepting this landscaping job? “So you’re taking me to meet the man you love.” With her lips swollen and her cheeks flushed. “Gee, I wonder what he’s gonna think we just did.” He wondered no such thing. One look at Lily would tell Seymour exactly what she’d just done.
“Maybe he’ll think I just kissed a man I’ve wanted to kiss for weeks.”
“And he’ll be okay with that?”
“I have no idea. But with a little luck he’ll finally notice that someone wants to kiss me.”
Her words slashed at his stomach. At least they explained why she’d responded to his kiss. To get Blake’s attention.
Angus snorted, but the sound held no amusement. “Anyone with a penis would want to kiss you.”
“Not Blake,” Lily disagreed glumly.
“Does he have a penis?”
She made a chok
ing sound. “He does.”
“Then he wants to kiss you.”
“Somehow I doubt that. He’s had ample opportunity and never acted.”
“Okay, look, Lily. I’m confused. Can you just lay it on the line for me?”
“Lay what on the line?”
“You kissed me. Like a woman who wants to kiss a man. Yet you’re in love with someone else. I don’t get it.”
“Don’t get what?”
“Why you’d kiss me back?”
Her blush deepened. “Because I wanted to.”
“But you’re in love with someone else.”
“I love him, Angus. He doesn’t love me. There’s no obligation on my side. No loyalty. No need for it. I can kiss whomever I want.”
“Then why did you stop?”
“Because I’m in love with Blake.”
Exactly. “So why did you start?”
“We’re going around in circles.”
“Just trying to understand here.”
“Okay, then I’ll explain it in simple terms. I want you. I want you to kiss me and strip off my clothes and fu—and make love to me. All night long. I have since we shook on the contract for you to work on my garden.” She flexed her right hand.
Did she remember how it felt to shake on their deal? Had sharp sparks of electricity shot through her arm at the innocent touch too?
“Now that you’ve kissed me, I only want you more. However…” Her voice trailed off.
“However?”
“However, I want Blake too. And I don’t think it’s fair to lead you on, to continue kissing you until there is no stopping if I want someone else too.”
Angus sighed. “Christ.”
“See, a conundrum.”
“A what?”
“A puzzle. I want you and Blake.”
He shifted in his seat, not so sure he agreed. If she really wanted him, she could have him right here, right now. His dick was all sorts of hard. What man’s dick wouldn’t be hard when the woman he hungered for admitted to wanting him? But with a dick this hard, he didn’t see any conundrums or puzzles or whatever the fuck Lily saw. All she needed to do was pull over to the side of the road, loosen his zip, tug that wisp of a dress over her hips and lower herself onto his waiting lap.
Like she said, she had no obligations to Blake, no loyalty. Angus could deal with her being in love with the man, so long as it was his dick she lowered herself onto—and not Blake’s. “It’s only as complicated as you make it.”
Lily glanced over at him, a bemused smile on her face. “You think it’s that simple?”
He held his hands up, silently asking what else it could be.
“You haven’t met Blake yet.”
And he wasn’t sure he ever wanted to now. Damn pity he was riding in Lily’s car, with her at the wheel. Didn’t leave him with any options destination-wise.
“Tell me about him.” Christ, why’d he ask her to do that? He didn’t want to know.
“He’s a good man. Generous, kind, fun and happy. Always so happy. I think that’s the first thing I noticed about him.”
“He grow up in the Hunter with you?”
She shook her head. “No. He’s from Sydney. Lived there all his life. We met on a plane trip home from England. Sat next to each other. I, er, I might have fallen asleep on his shoulder.”
“Might have?”
“Okay, I did. But I was exhausted. I’d just finished exams, hadn’t slept in days and had been so late for my flight I almost missed it. The plane hadn’t even taken off and I was asleep. I woke up to find my head on his shoulder. And, as he explained later, apparently it had been there for a good few hours. We’ve been close ever since.”
“That when you fell in love with him?”
Lily thought about the question. “Maybe. Probably. It feels like I’ve been in love with him forever.”
Angus regarded her with narrowed eyes. “Mind if I ask you a personal question?”
Lily gave a not-so-feminine snort. “Does it get more personal than me telling you I want you and I love Blake?”
“Have you been with anyone else since you fell in love with him?”
“Been with?”
“Slept with.”
“I have.”
Ouch. Why the fuck had he asked? To find out she could sleep with other men, just not him? Angus pursed his lips.
“But the truth is, it doesn’t matter who I’ve been with, or how long I was with him, no one’s ever compared to Blake. I, uh, I tend to think about Blake the whole time I’m with the other guy.”
Right. Now Angus remembered why he’d asked. “Do me a favor?”
“What?”
“See that glade of trees over there?” A ring of massive eucalyptus trees with dense branches created an inviting stop-off point on the side of the road.
“Yeah.”
“Pull over. Please.”
Lily looked at him curiously but pulled over and parked in the thicket of trees. Angus didn’t give her a minute to think. The instant the motor was off, he removed his seatbelt, leaned over and kissed her again.
So, she was in love with Blake? Big fucking deal. There was no commitment there. She’d responded to his kiss, Angus’s kiss, once. Time to see if she responded again.
She did. Fuck him, did she ever. She opened her lips to his before he even tried to deepen the contact. And this time he didn’t have a chance to slip his tongue into her mouth. No, this time it was her tongue searching his mouth, her tongue exploring. And Christ help him, it made him as hard as a fucking rock.
The kiss went on forever. Or maybe just a minute. Didn’t matter. Angus lost touch with time. Hell, he lost touch with reality. The only thing he kept track of was the feel of Lily’s lips against his own, the slide of her tongue, the softness of her skin and the scent of strawberries, violets and jasmine.
“Lily,” he whispered hoarsely.
“Mmmm?” Her eyes were closed, her skin flushed, and her head rested against the headrest.
“Tell me who you thought about while I kissed you.”
“Didn’t think,” she murmured. “Just felt.”
He kissed her again, taking control, tasting her mouth this time. She moaned against his lips, tangled her fingers in his hair and twisted in her seat, trying to get closer.
He pulled away. “Try, Lily. Give me a name.”
She opened her eyes, looked at him with passion-drunk pupils. “Angus.”
His grin was born of sheer masculine pride. He trailed a finger from her lips down to the neckline of her dress. “Would you stop me if I touched your breast?”
She closed her eyes. “Not if you kiss me again when you do.”
No hardship there. It did however take a good few seconds to trail his fingers down to her nipple. The instant their lips touched, Angus lost focus. Lost himself to the sinful pleasures of her mouth.
Chapter Two
Good grief. Had thinking ever been this difficult?
Lily doubted it, but only for a second, then she stopped thinking and gave herself over to the bliss of a simple kiss. Or not-so-simple kiss, seeing as it drew all her mixed-up emotions into one big ball and dropped them in the middle of her stomach, where they lurched up and down like a rollercoaster.
Maybe she was on a rollercoaster. God knew she hit a high every time Angus slid his tongue over hers. And dipped low when he pulled away, making her pay attention, making her answer questions. She didn’t want to pay attention. Didn’t want to do anything that required active thought.
She just wanted to continue on this ride for a very, very long time.
His finger whispered over the swell of her breast, his touch so light Lily almost questioned it being there at all. Almost, except for the fact that on contact, her nipple tightened into a hard, sensitive bead, and sensation shot straight to her pussy.
Desire, sweet and pure, burst through her. And Lily wanted. Just…wanted. Hungered for more. She shifted in her seat, ground down in an e
ffort to subdue the sudden ache in her groin, the all-consuming need and emptiness.
It was all she could think about. All she could focus on.
Well, that and the taste of wine in her mouth. Rich, decadent wine, enough to intoxicate her.
Perhaps that explained her sudden need—greed—to be touched. To find satisfaction. Perhaps she was drunk. But then, explanations weren’t important. Not now. Not when that featherlight touch that set fire to her breast trailed down her sternum and lower, tantalizing her belly like it had her nipple, leaving scalding flames blazing in its wake.
“Are you thinking about him now, Lily?”
The question was whispered in her ear, warm breath fanning down her neck, making her tingle.
Thinking about whom?
“Do you see his face when I touch you? Imagine his eyes looking at you?”
Whose face? Whose eyes?
Blake’s? Or the dark, almost black eyes that haunted her nights?
She opened her own to find that same black gaze staring down at her, the same passion she felt blazing in their depths.
“Do you?”
She’d thought of Blake, but right now… “I see your eyes.” Wow. Where’d her breath go? Why did she struggle to talk? “Your face.”
And that was about as long as she could keep her eyes open. Her lids were too heavy to continue staring into that dead-sexy, dark gaze. Especially when his touch had moved. When he now trailed his finger along the inside of her leg. Her bare leg.
How’d it get there? Hadn’t her dress covered her leg? Did it matter?
The instant her eyes closed, he kissed her again. Molded his lips to hers and tangled their tongues together.
No one had ever kissed her like Angus did, ever made the world disappear or reality recede with just the simple press of his mouth to hers. No one had—
Oh, dear Lord!
His touch was no longer comprised of one finger. No, now it was his whole hand, tickling her inner thigh just inches from her very wet panties.
Lord, how had he reached so high? More importantly, when had her legs opened to allow him access?
Even as she wondered, she drew her thighs farther apart and whimpered into his mouth. Pulses of heat throbbed through her, her need reaching fever pitch. She almost jumped off the seat when he trailed his finger along the elastic of her panties.
