by Linda Morris
The pleasure grew so intense it bordered on pain, yet she wouldn’t have stopped him for anything. She shifted just a bit to ease the pressure and he read the signal. He pulled back, and without breaking their connection, he knelt and lifted the backs of her thighs against his chest. Her calves bracketed his face in a sight that turned her face and neck hot. He closed his eyes now, intent on a fast, hard rhythm that left no time for subtleties and required none.
The taut lines of his face told her he was near his own climax. She reached beneath her leg to cup him in her palm, stroking with one thumb. The simple caress broke him and his eyes flew open. He came hard, pumping into her. “God, Kayla,” he groaned, his eyes never leaving hers, and the sound of his rough voice speaking her name with such feeling sent her tumbling over the edge with him. For long seconds, the harsh rasp of their breath was the only sound.
In the hallway, the grandfather clock came to life with a click and a whirr. The chimes played as Kayla caught her breath. RJ lowered her legs and collapsed atop her, letting her feel his full welcome weight as the twelve strikes of midnight began.
“Happy New Year, Kayla,” he whispered in her ear.
Awash in pure bliss, she let her hands roam across his back, his warm body a bulwark against the cool air. “Hmmm, happy New Year,” she whispered into the curve of his throat, pressing a tender kiss where she could feel his pulse beat. Her eyes drifted closed and she reveled in the moment.
…
Sometime in the night, Kayla woke to the doleful chimes of the grandfather clock. Cold and thirsty, she pulled a blanket tighter around her and sat up. Beside her, RJ slept, cocooned in the blankets and pillows he’d brought down earlier. The pleasant ache between her thighs, a reminder of the best kind of debauchery, brought a smile to her face. With a whir and a click, the chimes wound down and the clock struck three in the silent house.
She shivered in the baggy sweatshirt RJ had loaned her. The fire had burned down to a mass of glowing embers, leaving the house cold as a tomb. She crawled to the fire and hunched in front of the cold hearth. Stoking the fire, she added another strip of paper. When the fire flickered to life once again, she added kindling and small logs.
The blaze caught. She stood in front of it for a moment, warming her hands and bare legs.
Last night had been completely out of character for her. She didn’t get into cars with strangers and she certainly didn’t go to bed with them just hours later. She supposed she should feel regret. The minute buzz she’d gotten from the Riesling had long since faded away, leaving her with a cottony mouth and a stiff neck. The heat of the moment had cooled. No longer desperate to have him assuage the needs he’d struck in her, she could be rational, dispassionate, smart. He was just another sleeping guy, who probably hogged the blankets and had bad breath in the morning. Nothing special. She’d had her one night of passion with a gorgeous stranger, and now it was the morning after, or practically so. Back to dismal reality.
Except she didn’t feel that way at all. She couldn’t regret a thing, except that she’d promised to make this a one night only affair. The more she had of him, the more she wanted. The more he showed her of himself, the more she liked him. Problem was, she was only six months out of a relationship that had wrecked her heart, and she’d told RJ she only wanted one night. Who knew if he would ever want to see her again?
Troubled, she made her way to the kitchen in the dark and explored until she found a glass, and then filled it with water and drank it down. She filled it again and brought it back to the parlor, where she slid into the nest of blankets, her back to RJ.
He stirred and hooked an arm around her waist, moving a warm hand beneath her sweatshirt. He stroked the soft skin of her belly. “Hey, sweetheart,” he mumbled sleepily, and the term of endearment, threadbare as it was, brought tears to her eyes. What kind of man called a woman he’d just had a one-night stand with “sweetheart”?
She hadn’t put her granny underpants back on, thank God, so he had free access to soothe the soreness between her thighs. She closed her eyes and stroked his forearm, feeling the tendons and muscles flex beneath her fingertips as he pleasured her so effortlessly. His breath heated her cheek and she giggled.
“What’s so funny?” he growled in her ear.
“I just realized you don’t have bad breath.”
“I have no idea why that’s funny, but I’m going to ignore it because I want to get in your pants.” He rolled her flat onto her back and rose on all fours above her.
“That will be difficult,” she warned him.
“Why?”
“I’m not wearing any pants.”
He groaned. “If you’re trying to discourage me, it’s not working.” He reached for a condom but then stopped. “Are you sore?”
It was a reasonable question. They’d already made love three times.
“Yes,” she admitted. “But I want to do it again anyway.”
A slow devil’s smile spread across his face. “I’ll go slowly,” he promised, bending to press a kiss to one nipple. He rolled on the condom.
When he slid inside her, she closed her eyes. They’d agreed to live in the moment. By any reasonable standard, the New Year didn’t start until the break of day. She’d worry about the future when the new day dawned. Until then, she’d take every bit of pleasure he could give.
Chapter Five
Ryan awoke to gray winter light shining in the parlor window. The hum of the furnace told him the power had come back on. Next to him, Kayla slept soundly. With one hand, he stroked her tousled red-gold hair. She sighed, and innocent as the sound was, it made him hard instantly. Kayla seemed to have that effect on him. He couldn’t make love to her again, though, and not just because she was sore.
The time for reckoning had arrived.
Sometime during the night, he’d figured out he’d stumbled into something crucial. She’d given him something he hadn’t known he was looking for, something he hadn’t even known existed: a woman who could make him laugh, make him feel, and make him come. A lot. Okay, admittedly, lots of women could do the latter, but someone who could do all of those things was very special.
Whoa. His logical side put the brakes on that train of thought. He didn’t love Kayla. Did he? Surely not. He’d known her less than twelve hours. People didn’t fall in love that fast, unless they were soft-hearted and soft-headed. He was neither. She said she’d only wanted one night with him. He’d just be giving her what she said she wanted, right? So why then couldn’t he just let her walk away without revealing his identity?
Because she was special. He couldn’t leave this girl alone, couldn’t let her out of his life this easily.
Sooo, here he went. His heart pounded and sweat dampened his palms. Normally he’d be tempted to do something sweet and romantic to wake her up, like nibble her ear, or possibly something much lower, but it seemed wrong to wake her up that way when he was just going to immediately piss her off. He shook her shoulder.
She moaned and rubbed an eye.
“Kayla, we need to talk.”
Immediately something in the air changed. She stopped rubbing her eye and looked at him. “That doesn’t sound promising.”
“It isn’t,” he admitted. Wait. He really didn’t want to have this conversation naked and freezing. He rose and pulled on his clothes from last night and turned to find her watching him with a wistful longing that, under other circumstances, would have had him on top of her again.
He sat on the edge of the couch, having no idea how to proceed. Taking his company public last year had been child’s play compared to this.
“Whatever it is, just be honest.” She sat up and pulled the blanket tight around her. She looked so beautiful in the pale January light, the oversized sweatshirt slipping off to bare one shoulder.
Maybe she’d take it well. Maybe she’d be excited to find out he had money. Most girls were.
Yeah, right. She wasn’t like most girls. She would be nothing but pis
sed to find out he’d lied, as she should be.
“Be honest. Okay, be honest. I’ll do that.” He pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers.
“I think I know what you’re going to say.”
“You do?”
“That this was fun and everything, but you don’t want a relationship.” She swallowed hard and toyed with the edge of the blanket. “It’s okay,” she said, her voice so soft he had to lean forward to catch her words. “That’s what we agreed to. I don’t blame you. Just because I started to feel something—”
“Kayla, stop. Don’t do this. It’s got nothing to do with that.” He took a deep breath and exhaled. “I lied to you.”
She drew back, spine straight as a poker. “You did?”
“Yeah.” Surely he’d gotten the worst part out of the way. She knew something bad was coming. The open tenderness he’d seen on her face after they’d made love had vanished, replaced by wariness. Nothing could make him feel worse than that.
“You’re married.” She said it as a statement, not a question. Okay, he actually could feel worse. She’d thought him low enough to lie to her about his marital status and confess it right after he’d gotten laid? That stung, but what else did he expect when he admitted to lying to her?
“No, no. I’m not married, don’t have a girlfriend.”
“You’re gay.”
He snorted. “Seriously? After last night, you can ask that?”
“Sorry, knee-jerk reaction. Three-fourths of the interesting guys I meet are gay or married, so I figured it might be possible.”
“Not in this case.”
“Well, then what is it? You’re making me nervous. Spit it out!”
He stood and paced to the fireplace, and then turned to face her. Through the window, he noticed the snow had finally stopped. The plows would soon be making their way down the road. Next year was here. No more putting off the ugly and inevitable scene to come, but he’d brought it on himself.
“Remember how I told you I was coming home from a business trip?”
“Yeah,” she said, drawing the word out.
“And your friend told you that Ryan Langford was traveling home but never made it to the event because of the bad weather? Because his flight was delayed?”
“Yesss.” Her brows lowered. “Wait a minute. I never told you his flight was delayed.” She stared at him. He let her stare, waiting for her to put two and two together. The moment dragged out. Obviously she wasn’t going to help him out. She was going to make him say it, but who could blame her?
Just be honest.
“I’m Ryan Langford.” The words hung heavy in the air. Her face went unnaturally still. “My flight was delayed, and I was on my way back from the airport when I saw you walking by the side of the road. I pulled over to help you, but when you said you were going to an event at the Langford estate, I decided to keep my identity to myself.” The admission didn’t make him feel any better. He wouldn’t breathe easy until he could apologize, make her understand, hear and see that she forgave him.
“Why?” She packed a wallop of disillusionment into the single syllable. He took a deep breath. Obviously, that moment of forgiveness wouldn’t come anytime soon.
“When you said you were going to the event at the Langford estate, I knew you must work for Horizons. I thought if you knew who I was you’d be all over me for money, and I’d be stuck with you all night. Besides, I wanted to know more about the school, and I didn’t think you’d be honest if you knew a donation hung in the balance.”
“I see.” Her chin jerked. Not a good sign. “So this was all a lie?” She nodded at the pile of blankets, but Ryan knew what she meant.
“No!” How could she think that? The chemistry they’d shared had been real, more real than anything in his life. “You have to believe me. I didn’t go to bed with you for any reason other than that we both wanted to. When I pulled over, I just meant to bring you back here, to my parents’ house. I sent them and my brother to the Caymans for the holidays. I was headed here because it was close. It wasn’t safe to be out on the roads. The state troopers had declared a state of emergency.”
“Or maybe it was because you knew that if you took me back to your estate, you would instantly be outed as Ryan Langford, and then you wouldn’t be able to do your little detective routine.”
“I suppose I have that coming.” He did have it coming, but his heart sank all the same. Unreasonably, he’d hoped she would believe him now. “I guess you think I’ve lied to you once, so why wouldn’t I be lying to you this time?”
“After you figured out I wasn’t going to hit you up for a donation, after you’d had a chance to pump me for information about Horizons, why didn’t you tell me the truth then? Oh, wait.” She scoffed and reached up to wipe away a tear. “Don’t tell me. I can figure out that one for myself. You realized after I badmouthed Ryan Langford that you would never get laid if you revealed that you were him. That at least I can understand. The oldest reason in the world for a man to lie.”
“That’s not true,” he said, feeling the situation slipping from his control. He hadn’t expected her to be happy to find out who he was, but he’d hoped to be able to manage this better without her doubting every single thing he told her. He had to put all of his cards on the table and hope she would forgive him. “Look, I’m sorry I lied. I never know where I stand with people I first meet. I wasn’t kidding last night when I said I didn’t have a lot of friends around here. Or friends, period. Besides, you were the one who went on about how you needed a fling to get over your ex-boyfriend. I didn’t think it would matter—”
“Didn’t think it would matter?” she echoed, incredulous. She stood in such a hurry the blanket fell. Her deliciously bare skin distracted him, but only until she wrapped a blanket around her waist, glaring at him. “You thought that if we were just having sex once, I didn’t have the right to know who I was sleeping with? Are you nuts?”
He spread his hands wide. “You were the one who said all that stuff about enjoying the moment! Letting next year take care of itself and deciding to be the kind of person who could enjoy this. I guess you didn’t really mean that, huh?” His arms dropped to his side. He wished he could call it back as soon as he said it. Just because they’d planned never to see each other again didn’t make his lies okay.
“Don’t you dare try to make this my fault!” she shouted. “I thought we were two strangers who might never see each other again. I didn’t know you were a potential donor to Horizons! Dr. Dunne would kill me if he knew I slept with you. I never would have done it if I’d known who you were.”
His mouth dropped open. “I’m not going to tell Dunne about this! Besides, I didn’t think about all that, I swear. We were hitting it off, and—”
“Oh, yeah, we were hitting it off. Because I didn’t know you were Ryan Langford! I could lose my job over this, not to mention… Shit!” She walked away from him, stumbling over the long blanket. She gathered it up in both hands and yanked it clear of her feet, but that left her without a free hand to wipe away the tears now streaming down her face.
He watched, helpless. Frustration burned in his gut. Jesus. Couldn’t she see it from his point of view? He’d been at ease with her last night in a way he hadn’t been able to relax with a woman since he became wealthy. No second-guessing everything she said, no scrutinizing her for any signs that she might be a gold digger. They’d been themselves, just RJ and Kayla. And they’d been pretty great together. Last night, he’d thought her ex sounded like an asshole because he’d hurt her. This morning, he’d been the one to put tears in her eyes. The sight of her crying over him made him want to punch something. “Where are you going?”
She spoke over her shoulder without looking at him. “To the bathroom to get dressed. When I get out, I’m making some coffee and waiting until the roads are clear. I’d prefer you leave me alone until then.”
…
She still looked hotter than hell in those b
oots, which didn’t help the ache in his chest. And now that he knew how high the fire between them could burn, he hated to think about how he’d screwed this up.
When they heard the roar of a truck, she got up to look out the front window, her boot heels clicking in an unforgiving rhythm on the wooden floor all the way down the hall. “Looks like the snowplow is finally here.”
He went outside with a scraper and brush to clear the snow off his car, refusing her offer to help. He made a call to his housekeeper to confirm that the roads near his home had been plowed as well.
“Most of the guests have already gone,” Leslie said. “But Dr. Dunne is still here. He doesn’t give up easy, that one.” Leslie never hesitated to share her opinion with him. She’d known his family for years before she came to work with him. Her son had attended school with him and Jake before his mom pulled them out. Don had been one of the few kids who had never teased or picked on Jake, thanks to her understanding attitude towards Jake’s differences. “And a young lady is here. She’s concerned about her friend who got stuck in the snow.”
“You can let her know Kayla is fine. She’s with me.”
“With you?”
“I came across her after her car accident. We spent the night at my parents’ house.”
“You spent the night together at your parents’ house? Just the two of you?” The surprise in his housekeeper’s voice irked him.
“Of course. What was I supposed to do, leave her outside to freeze?”
“I’m just surprised. It’s not like you to be so hands-on with people.”
Oh, he’d been hands-on with Kayla all right. All night. Repeatedly. Hands, lips, tongue…but that was their secret. Thinking about how that sweetness had gone so sour this morning made him want to get surly with Leslie, who didn’t deserve it, so he ended the call and went to get Kayla.
She bundled up and stood silently on the porch while he locked his parent’s front door behind him. Now that the snowplow had gone, the air was silent and still in a way that only a fresh snowfall could bring. He picked her up, intent on carrying her through the snow once again, but this time, she glared at him.
