“Stop,” Georgia held up a hand. “Let me get this out… I’m the one who flooded the foyer. Henna was trying to spare you the embarrassment of asking her former stepmothers to leave. I created a distraction that I knew would ruin their appearance and send them scurrying off like drowned rats. What I didn’t think through was the fact that it was also going to ruin your whole gala thing. I’m sorry for the trouble I caused, even though it did accomplish the goal of running off the bad people picking on your daughter.”
“Huh,” Hollywood said, eating as he thought it through. “Did Henna help you flood our foyer?”
“Nope. The whole thing was all me,” Georgia said, owning it as proudly as she could while she still felt guilty… well, sort of guilty. She couldn’t help feeling glad she had Hollywood all to herself.
“That sounds like yet another lie to me,” Hollywood said, glaring at her, but grinning too. “My daughter nearly fell over herself taking care of your suit. She’s never that polite to any of my dates. I thought that was odd behavior, but kissing you distracted me. Wait… Vassal too?”
“I do not know what, if any role, Vassal played in tonight’s adventure,” Georgia said, mentally crossing her fingers behind her back. She knew she was busted completely when Hollywood threw his head back and laughed.
“What, if any role, he played? He’s not on trial, Georgia.”
“Why are you laughing over my confession? Aren’t you mad at me for what I did?”
“I haven’t made up my mind yet,” Hollywood said, putting his attention back on the food. He ate without talking for a minute. “What answer will get me laid?” he finally asked.
Suddenly Georgia couldn’t lie about anything anymore… not to herself… or to him.
“Any answer you give that includes being a good sport will get you laid because I do want to sleep with you,” Georgia confessed.
His man grunt told her nothing about how he felt over her total capitulation. Her stomach churned in agony while she waited for a reply to her… damn it. Was she crazy for admitting what she wanted? Yes. But it didn’t change it.
She wanted to pull off Hollywood’s shirt and finish her exploration of his chest. She wanted to learn what made him squirm and then do it a bunch of times until he lost his cool with her.
If they could get past the deceptions and damage caused by their first date from hell, this could happen. Maybe he didn’t believe her apology anymore than she believed his.
“Brent, I really am sorry about the water damage. I’m not just saying that. Frankly, I wasn’t comfortable with you sneaking past my physical defenses, so I’d planned on leaving after two hours, but every time you touched me all I could think about was…”
His hand clapping over her mouth cut her off.
“Just say you’ll stay with me, Georgia. No… don’t even say it. Just nod your head.”
Her nod bobbed his hand up and down too.
“Good. Now eat some of this food while I get control of my reactions. Can I get you a water to drink?”
His hand slid away, but then he refused to look at her. Georgia found it difficult to swallow. How did he expect her to eat now? She was having an internal meltdown.
“Could I have a glass of red wine instead? I’m a little… tense.”
Brent snorted. “That makes two of us, but alcohol won’t help ease what’s wrong. I’d like to think I have a fair amount of patience at my age. Since I haven’t felt this way about a woman in years, it’s a hard call.”
“How hard it is?” Georgia asked, snickering at his glare and feeling relieved. Teasing him was impossible to resist. The epiphany made her laugh even more.
“Talking to you is like petting a tiger. Any minute I feel like I could get my whole head bitten off just for saying the wrong thing. I need to know something. Did you flood my foyer because you were jealous of my ex-wives?”
“Jealous? In your dreams.”
Brent snorted. “I think I’m disappointed. You screw with my head.”
Georgia plucked another piece of perfectly square cheddar from the plate and thought about men and their damn egos. She couldn’t lie about this. She honestly hadn’t been jealous. What she’d done had been more about Henna than him.
“I did what I did because tonight you needed someone to chase the user-losers away from you and your daughter. Your home should be a sanctuary. Those women and their children were all being… rude. Don’t you people have rules about that?”
“You people? Did you really just ask me if there were rude rules for the wealthy?”
Georgia nodded. “Yes. Rude rules. I know you must have them because it’s all Henna talks about. Everything to her is rude… but if we sleep together…”
“Not if… when we sleep together,” Brent corrected.
Georgia laughed and nodded. She smiled in relief again as she brought her gaze to his. “I need monogamy until we’re done with each other. That’s a bare minimum for me. Even if this goes nowhere outside your rich man’s giant bedroom.”
He rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “What a positive thinker you are. You’ve insulted my man lair and already ended our relationship… and we haven’t even started yet. This has got to be the oddest first date in history.”
“It’s about to get odder, Hollywood. I’ll give you a five star rating in Mariah’s database if you give me an orgasm tonight. I haven’t had a man-induced one in years.”
“You’re outrageous,” he said, grinning at her. “But I will do my best. I certainly wouldn’t want to get any of those two and three star ratings from you for not putting out. I have enough of those… thank you very much.”
“Oh, you know about those?” Georgia teased.
“Know? I earned them,” he said firmly. “Just like I plan to earn a better rating from you.”
“Since you didn’t kill me over the sprinkler fiasco, I was going to give you a good rating anyway. But it will be very nice if don’t make a liar out of me.”
“Too late for that,” Brent said dryly, dragging her off the stool while she giggled.
Chapter Fourteen
Back in the bedroom, he let her pull the shirt over his head and off. Taking it from her hands, he balled it up and threw it in the direction of the closet.
“What are you doing? I planned to take that home as a souvenir,” Georgia informed him, reaching out both hands to run them over his chest. She sighed at the simple pleasure of touching him again.
“Done,” Hollywood whispered, backing slightly out of reach. “Now you. I want that shirt of yours. I’ve wanted it off all night.”
“I’d give it to you for a souvenir, but I have to return it to its owner. You can have my bra. That’s mine to give away.” Georgia giggled over his swearing and gripped his upper arms. He was tense under her hands. The stern look he gave her was priceless.
“I’m not sending you home without a bra, Georgia. I’d die wondering who noticed. You might not be the jealous type, but I am.”
Her giggle filled the bedroom as he peeled the purple tank top off of her. It dropped from his limp fingers as he stared at her purple lace bra. His low-lidded, lust-filled look alone made every push-up and yoga pose she’d ever done worth it. She was proud to have earned this moment of knowing the way she looked pleased the handsome man who wanted her.
“You’re more beautiful than I imagined… and I imagined a lot.”
They were perfectly in sync, the way all new lovers should be. Careful not to rush, he ran his fingers over the lace bra strap up to her shoulder. He ran his fingers over the skin there too. And the whole time he was gently exploring her, Hollywood looked at her the way a man is supposed to look at the woman he desires.
Georgia let his nice words float over her and find their place in her heart before giving them back. “Much to my children’s dismay, I have a love of nude art—statues, portraits, carvings. Nothing rivals how good you look to me.”
Hollywood didn’t need more encouragement. He stepped close
and closed his mouth hungrily over hers, spinning the exploratory kiss out as he drew her tight against him. His hands slid up her back and down to her waist, memorizing her form.
God… he had great hands. Maggie had been right to want to protect them. Hollywood’s talented fingers played a song of beauty on her skin. She hummed along in happiness to be feeling what she was feeling.
She pulled away from his mouth only to catch her breath. The man liked kissing her and it showed in his actions.
“I thought I’d never feel this kind of wanting again,” she admitted. “Thank you for making me feel the way every woman dreams of feeling with a man.”
Brent nodded gravely, kissing her forehead, her temple, her eyelid. “I’m glad you feel wanted, but I’m not doing anything special yet. I felt all this for you the moment we met. You broke my heart when you refused to have dinner with me. I can’t believe you’re actually here in my bedroom now. I’m afraid to speak and ruin things.”
“Not happening,” Georgia assured him, putting her arms around his chest.
She ran her hands over his trim waist and lower across his hips. Hollywood leaned heavily against her, not allowing any space between them. She couldn’t wait to know everything about him, but she also wanted the moment to last all night. Her contradictory nature followed her everywhere. Thank God, it hadn’t put him off.
“You’re not the only one surprised that we got here. Part of your success is that you kiss as good as you look. Don’t let the compliment go to your already big head, but your every kiss makes me feel special.”
Pressing against her, he walked her backwards to the edge of his properly made bed which they were about to happily mess up.
“Honey, I want to kiss you for hours. I want to do a whole lot of other things too. I’m so glad I’m finally going to get to. I intend to make you glad as well.”
The idea of making love to him was so appealing that for once Georgia had nothing to say. She nodded and it made him smile at her in that devastating way he had. All those pearly whites of his gave her wicked, wicked ideas about how he might decide to use them on her. Just thinking about it made her knees buckle which resulted in her falling backwards onto the bed.
With a pleased laugh, Hollywood’s handsome, talented body insistently pressed hers into his luxurious mattress.
Despite feeling a total absence of tension anywhere in her body for the first time in over a decade, Georgia woke in the middle of the night and turned her head to the very pretty teddy bear snoring softly beside her. Her giggle over discovering Hollywood’s flaw didn’t wake him, but she had to push his arm off her so she could climb out of the bed.
The man was a tight snuggler… and also a lover with an impeccable sense of timing. No wonder all those women had wanted to marry the man. No wonder they wanted him back. Keeping him was on her mind too, but mostly because she wanted to be his ‘one and only booty call’ as Jellica would have said.
She stumbled on jello legs into the enormous granite covered closet he called a bathroom. Every surface was covered with stone except for a small amount of ceiling over the dual sinks. It took over twenty steps and a small hurried hunt of the large space to find the toilet hidden behind a wooden door in the corner. She rolled her eyes over the idea that Hollywood liked privacy when he peed.
She washed her hands at the sink, and realized she was naked only when she saw her reflection. The reason for her nudity was too much reality to contemplate in the middle of the night, so she padded to the floor near his closet and picked up the shirt he had thrown there earlier.
She pulled it over her head and got lusty again after smelling his cologne on it. Her modesty was now preserved, but the shirt hadn’t helped her sanity any. God… she had it bad for him. Why did she have to be an ‘all in’ kind of woman who felt committed after one night with a man?
Walking back to the bed, Georgia stared down at Hollywood’s handsome face and equally handsome body. He wasn’t super vain, but he could easily have been with the way he looked. After what he’d done to her body tonight, she might never hold a mean thought about him in her head for more than two seconds ever again. His evil plan to seduce her and make her his mental slave had worked far better than he might ever realize. She certainly never planned to tell him though.
It was 3 am and still night, but she briefly thought about putting on her clothes and leaving. Tomorrow could be awkward… very awkward… for her, for Henna, and for him. She had no idea how to behave the morning after. It had been a long time since she’d bothered with intimacy. Her two sad attempts to be sexual in her widowhood hadn’t been anything close to the things she’d done with Brentwood Colombo. He’d certainly been worth the hope she’d unknowingly kept alive about finding someone, but she wasn’t ready to admit it yet. Wouldn’t that make her just like those three eager gold-diggers she’d tried to drown earlier?
Come morning, she’d probably say something completely stupid about them sleeping together. It was what she did when something was more wonderful than she knew how to handle. She’d probably beg for a second date too only to turn around and verbally eviscerate him when he teased her about it. Anything was possible and she was plenty old enough to know Hollywood would get his feelings hurt by her working through her insecurities in front of him.
“Stop that. You’re thinking so loudly it woke me,” Hollywood said, rolling over to face her. He lifted the covers. “Get back here. I’m not done with you yet.”
Snorting at his bossiness, Georgia lifted an eyebrow. “What if I’m done with you?”
His face instantly froze into a concerned frown as he stared. “Are you done with me?”
Rolling her eyes at his insecurities, which she didn’t for a damn minute buy after the practiced pleasure he’d given her, Georgia caved and slid back in beside him. His feelings mattered to her now and she might as well deal with that fact. There would be no more real running away.
“No. I’m not done with you. I was feeling…”
Hollywood’s hand cupping her breast through his shirt stopped her confession.
“Go on,” he said. “I can hear you better now.”
“You’re such a guy,” she said, laughing because she couldn’t help doing so. His blue eyes glowed in semi-darkness, lit by the bathroom light she’d neglected to turn off. “You’re like someone half your age. Is that why you dated all those younger women?”
Hollywood’s grip tightened as he buried his face in her neck. It made her want to purr in contentment.
“The only reason I dated was because I hadn’t found you yet. Younger women are the ones taking chances. I found that most women my age are bitter and defensive. Also, I never thought to look for my perfect woman in a bathroom. Guys don’t think like that and Mariah never advertised having a full service agency. I still think the wet t-shirt contest has merit, but you’re no longer allowed to compete… just saying.”
Georgia’s laughter over his teasing ended when his hand moved off fabric to crawl up under the shirt she was wearing. Skin to skin once more, she turned and faced him. “I have no experience with this… or anyone like you. I’m nervous and trying to find my way.”
“I would have to say your experienced performance earlier makes that statement kind of hard to believe. You have some good moves and I’m not a bit surprised to find out you’re a control freak in bed too. It’s your impulsiveness that has me stumped. Who knew it would be so fun sleeping with an oxymoron? Not me, that’s for sure.”
Georgia giggled like a newlywed on her wedding night. Where the hell was her maturity when she needed it? Only a good-looking, sweet talking man could make a woman sound as silly as she did at the moment.
“I’m only impulsive when it comes to fixing things, like Mariah’s toilet or Henna’s ex who kept tormenting her. As for my other talents, like most widows I planned on there being a real lover in my life again at some point. So I made sure I kept in shape, even when there was no one to appreciate my skills.”
/> “You have skills alright. You have skills like no other woman I’ve been with. I hereby promise not to let all that hard work of yours go to waste. You have my solemn vow.”
“Hollywood… you’re so altruistic.”
“I know. I’m also self-serving and trying to keep you from leaving. You weren’t faking anything last night were you? I know what a liar you can be. Just tell me if you didn’t get there, okay? That’s a problem I can fix without your impulsive help. I just need a little cooperation.”
Laughing again, she let out the breath she’d been holding, Georgia turned to stare up at the ceiling of the bedroom. “Is that your lame attempt at asking me for a second date?”
“And a third, fourth, fifth, sixth… etc. I’m thinking of something more than dating… like going steady.”
“You set me up to meet your exes and I flooded your foyer to get rid of them. Does this sound like two people who need to go steady?”
“Oh hell yes. You’re the perfect date. And look… you got me to put out. See? You get a five star in the database now too. We’ve been great for each other.”
Georgia snorted over his jokes. “Guess I’m not as sure about the ‘perfect’ label as you are.”
“Well, you sleep on it while I make sure you weren’t faking anything. I’m tired, but I think I might have one more round in me tonight. I don’t completely trust you, Georgia. We’re going to have to work on that if we keep dating.”
Laughing, Georgia pushed him off when he started to climb on top of her. “Stop. I wasn’t faking anything. I got there twice.”
“Good,” he said, leaning up on one elbow. “Because the whole time all I could think about was how lucky I was that you wanted me back as much as I wanted you. That’s rare, Georgia. I don’t want to lose you… or what we’ve found together.”
“Damn it, Hollywood.” She rolled over into his chest and put her arms around him. He laughed against her and kissed her temple.
“Sorry to make you like me again, honey. I swear I’m not doing it on purpose.”
Never A Dull Moment Page 10
