“Yes,” Sutton coaxed, seeming to recognize the familiar sounds of her impending release. “That’s it. Don’t hold back, Lauren. I want to watch you come apart this time.”
He increased his pace and it pushed her over the edge. The waves of pleasure crashed in on her all at once, wracking her body with the pulsating sensations. She gasped and cried his name, writhing beneath him. And when it was all over, she opened her eyes and found that he’d watched every moment of her undoing.
“You’re beautiful,” he said, looking down at her.
She didn’t feel beautiful. Especially not at the moment. She’d come here straight from a long day at the food truck without a stitch of makeup on and her hair in its usual bun. Her orgasm had no doubt left her flushed and sweaty, her lips were swollen from his kisses and her cheeks felt a little raw from the rough stubble of his jaw on her delicate skin. She wrinkled her nose, smirking dismissively at his observation.
“No,” he argued, dipping down to kiss her forcefully and erase the disagreement from her lips. “It’s true. You’re beautiful. And talented. And amazing in every way I can think of. And since it’s my opinion, I’m not arguing with you about any of it.”
At that, Lauren laughed and pushed some stray hair out of her face. “You’ve spent your whole life surrounded by rich debutantes who spend all their time in expensive salons and day spas to stay flawless. Some of those women I saw at the club looked like movie stars up close.”
“And?”
Her eyes widened and she swallowed hard. How could it be possible that she ranked up there with women like that? It was a nice sentiment, but too hard for her to believe.
“And... I don’t know that I’m in their league.”
“You’re not. You’re in a league of your own.”
Lauren could only shake her head.
With a growl of irritation, he flipped over, rolling onto his back with Lauren sitting astride him. She squealed with the sudden reversal, their bodies never disconnecting. “Making love to you with the lights on is incredible. And since I’m inside you, hard as a rock, and not with any of those other women, I think I’m the best judge of what I like.”
His hands gripped her hips and he started thrusting into her from underneath. Lauren braced her hands on his chest and moved with him. His eyes never left her face and, in seconds, his jaw was tight and his fingertips were pressing insistently into the flesh of her hips.
It occurred to her then that if he really liked to watch her, she might know just how to push him over the edge. Lauren arched her back, loosening her hair from its tight bun and shaking it out until the brown waves fell to her shoulders. Then she ran her fingers through it, thrusting her breasts out as she rocked her hips against him.
He reached out to cover her breasts with his hands and she put her own palms over his. Holding tight, she moved faster, pressing against him for leverage.
“I’m never turning the lights out again...” he said in a whispered groan, his words interrupted by the powerful rush of his release. She rode out the storm, finally collapsing onto the mattress beside him in a state of physical, mental and emotional exhaustion.
This. This was exactly what she’d been craving since their first night together. Not just the pleasure, but the closeness, the intimacy of being in Sutton’s arms. To have him touch her and know exactly what she liked. To hold him close and feel like someone out in the world cared about her. Wanted her. Needed her. It was as though the final puzzle piece of their romance had clicked into place. It was an amazing feeling, and yet, a scary one. Lauren could feel her resistance fading. If she wasn’t careful, she might start to have feelings for him.
If she didn’t already.
Sutton scooped her into his arms and pulled her back against the hard wall of his chest. “Beautiful,” he whispered, planting a kiss on her bare shoulder as they both drifted off to sleep.
* * *
“I see you two have made up.”
Sutton and Lauren were sitting at the kitchen island together enjoying their first cup of coffee while her clothes were being washed. After last night, with only a few hours’ sleep, he needed a little perk of caffeine to get through the day. Or he would if he had something to do. He’d happily be in bed asleep if not for Lauren having to get up and go to her trucks.
When he turned his head, he saw his brother Sebastian standing at the bottom of the stairs looking at them. “Good morning to you, dear brother. And yes, we did make up. We made up all night as a matter of fact.”
Sebastian rolled his eyes at Sutton’s oversharing. “Well, good for you, I guess.” He went to the coffeepot to pour his own cup. As he did, his brother’s gaze drifted briefly over to where Lauren was sitting in nothing but one of Sutton’s oversize T-shirts.
“Her clothes are in the dryer,” Sutton explained.
Sebastian shook his head. “I have no problem with half-naked women in my kitchen. I just prefer when they’re mine.”
“It’s fun living with you, too.” He raised his mug to toast to his uptight twin.
Lauren turned toward Sebastian and studied him for a moment before looking back at Sutton. “Did you say that you two are identical twins?”
“Yep,” Sutton confirmed. “Genetically identical, socially opposite.”
“Interesting. Well, now that I have both of you in the same room, I don’t know how I ever confused the two of you.”
“I know, I’m so much more attractive than Sebastian,” Sutton teased.
“It’s not that. You do physically look alike, you just carry yourselves differently. It’s a whole different vibe. Of course, it helped your cause that I didn’t know Sebastian had a twin to begin with. It just seemed like he had a laid-back alter ego or something. You couldn’t fool me now the way you did before.”
“Is that a challenge?” Sutton teased.
“Don’t you dare,” Lauren warned with a pointed finger. “I’ve had enough of those games.”
“Don’t worry, Lauren,” Sebastian said. “Sutton doesn’t like pretending to be me. He has to comb his hair and wear decent clothes.”
“And drive boring cars and talk about boring things,” his twin quipped.
Sebastian sighed. “Do you have any brothers or sisters, Lauren?”
“No. It’s just me.”
“Ahh. Then you will never truly know the depths of what I have to deal with being the oldest of five. Three of them aren’t much trouble, but this one...” Sebastian gestured his thumb at Sutton when he got up to get more cream from the refrigerator. “Trouble from the womb.”
Sutton turned back to the two of them. “I’m a delight. Everyone thinks so, just ask around town. And it’s not like I’m a lost cause crashing on people’s couches and borrowing money. I did a damn good job as the CFO of the family business. Things were booming with the two of us at the helm. And not because we were smuggling drugs in our planes.”
Sebastian groaned. “Can we talk about something else, please? Anything else.”
Lauren smiled and took advantage of his offer. “Okay. Here’s a new topic. Sebastian, now that we’ve determined that I was Sutton’s mystery woman, what are you going to do about finding yours?”
That was a good question. Sutton was curious to hear the answer himself. His brother wasn’t really the kind to have a fling at a party. The mere fact that he had meant that the lady had a magnetic hold on Sebastian. Sutton never thought he would see the day that his super analytical twin would be entranced by a female to the point of abandoning his usual good sense.
But would he do anything about it? Sutton was more prone to be the hunter than his brother. Sebastian was always too busy for things like that.
His twin set down his coffee mug and gazed thoughtfully into the living room. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I guess I never expected to hear from her again. When you showed up at
the house, I was excited by the idea of having a second chance with her, but now that I’m back at square one, I’m not sure where to start.”
“I’ve got a list of party guests that Beth gave me,” Sutton offered. “I asked her for it when I was hunting for my masked beauty.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss against Lauren’s neck. He liked that her hair was always up in a bun. It gave him free access to the long, bare line of her throat and he could plant kisses beneath her ear whenever he felt like it. “Since I’ve found her, you can have it.”
He enjoyed watching the blush rise to her cheeks. Her every thought and feeling was etched on her face, which made having sex with her even by dim lamplight particularly exciting. Their first time together had been in total darkness, never mind the masks. Now he could see every thrill, every pulsating ripple of pleasure dance across her face.
“I may take you up on that. But for now, I’m heading out for a while.”
“Where to?” It was awfully early for his equally unemployed brother to be up, dressed and ready to go out the door.
“To the club. I’m going to meet a few people there.” Sebastian finished off his coffee and put the mug in the sink. “I’ll be back this afternoon.”
Sutton gently stroked Lauren’s back through his T-shirt as he watched his brother go. “He’s really into her, whomever she is.”
Lauren turned to him with a wrinkled nose. “How can you tell?”
“Because he’s considering looking for her. That’s huge for him. The family and the business have always come before his social life.”
“Well, maybe since his calendar is cleared, he has time to look for his missing lover.”
“Maybe so. Honestly, I feel like I’m going mad with all this time on my hands.” He leaned in to nibble on her neck again. “I wish you didn’t work so much so you could help me occupy the time.”
Lauren giggled and squirmed away. “Well, not everyone was the CFO of a Fortune 500 company. Some of us are the CEO, CFO, payroll manager, line cook and head bottle washer of a Fortune 100,000 company. I’ve got to bust my ass every day to keep my head above water and build my business.”
Sutton lowered himself down onto the stool beside her. “You know, I could help you out.”
“What? Can you cook?”
“No, not like that,” he laughed. “I managed the finances of our whole company. The marketing department reported to me, as well. I have a great head for management. Let me use it to help you out.”
Lauren’s face said it all—she didn’t know how to politely tell him no. That meant she wouldn’t. “I don’t know, Sutton. The restaurant business isn’t like your company.”
“Obviously, there are differences. But I know how to get good word of mouth going. I’m great with promotion. I can help you brainstorm ideas. Really. Like, tell me your ultimate goal for the business.”
“What?”
Sutton turned Lauren to face him on the stool and gripped her shoulders gently. She was being stubborn. He wasn’t sure if she was just used to being a one woman show, or if she didn’t trust his ideas. His own confidence waivered slightly at her resistance. He wouldn’t blame her for rejecting his help. Who wanted advice from someone who’d been ousted by the board of directors, after all? He tamped down his own doubts. “Just do me a favor and close your eyes.”
She eventually complied, but not without the line of concern returning between her brows. “Okay. Now what?”
“Picture yourself ten years from now. You’re at the pinnacle of your career. You have everything you’ve ever wanted to achieve and more. Visualize it in your mind, make it real with all your senses. Then tell me what you see.”
Lauren took a deep breath before she answered. “I have my own successful restaurant here in Royal. One without wheels.”
“That’s great.” He wouldn’t say it aloud, but a chef of Lauren’s caliber didn’t need to be cooking in a truck. She needed a real, brick-and-mortar restaurant where she could take her culinary creations to the next level. “What else do you see?”
“White walls, colorful paintings. There are people at every table, happy...eating...talking. It’s beautiful. And it smells amazing.”
“Have you sold the food trucks?” he asked.
She thought for a moment. “I don’t know. Maybe I have staff to run them for me while I focus on the restaurant.”
“Do you have one restaurant or a chain? Remember, this is your ultimate dream. You can have anything.”
Lauren opened her eyes and looked at him. “One is enough for me. I’m no Bobby Flay or Wolfgang Puck. I want more than just my name on the sign, I want to be the executive chef in the kitchen. A chain is...too much. I just want to have my restaurant and to make people happy with my cooking. Isn’t that enough?”
Sutton realized he’d overstepped and tried to backpedal with a bright smile. “Of course, it’s enough. Whatever you want. I just want to make sure you’re letting yourself dream big enough. Your food is amazing. You could have a chain of restaurants if you wanted to, someday. Or one amazing place, if you’d prefer. I think you could put that Italian place in Dallas to shame. Hey—maybe you could do a pop-up event like they did and get a taste for the permanent restaurant life.”
Lauren shook her head. “While I’d love to, that place was successful enough to be able to do things I could never do, because I don’t have the money. You have to have money to make money in a business like this. With most restaurants folding within five years, I’m lucky to still be open, much less thriving.”
“I don’t think it would take that much to pull it together. You don’t have to make it as fancy as they were. You could scale back the decor. Maybe work with some local businesses to rent dishware or get floral arrangements in exchange for free advertising. I know a lot of people in this town. I bet I could pull a few strings to make it happen.”
Lauren looked at him with eyes that wanted to believe it was possible. But she wasn’t certain of herself. Or of him. He could tell.
“Next Saturday,” Sutton declared. “Lauren Roberts’s Eatery is coming to Royal, Texas.”
Nine
Lauren walked around the big, empty space that would be her restaurant dining room come Saturday night. It was the empty spot on the square she’d always eyed for her future location. It had been a restaurant a while back, so it had a fully outfitted kitchen and the layout she needed up front. Honestly, she never expected to get this location for the pop-up, but true to his word, Sutton had contacts. He knew who owned this building and contacted him about letting her use it for free under the premise that if it was a success, she might rent it from him permanently. Since it was sitting empty and earning no revenue, the owner had agreed.
He’d also apparently called in every favor he had to make this work. The local florist was providing her with the florist’s choice of twenty, small, tabletop arrangements and a larger one for the hostess desk. The party rental company in town was bringing her tables, chairs, linens, dishes, flatware and glasses in exchange for a full-page ad on the back of her menu. The local paper had even interviewed her for an article about the pop-up event, which had driven curious readers to her Instagram account, nearly tripling her followers and even her sales at the truck that week.
Sutton had taken care of everything. He had gone over and above to make her successful. It was costing her almost nothing aside from some temporary labor up front to make it happen. It was... incredibly intimidating.
She was grateful, but also apprehensive about the whole thing. What if she didn’t succeed? He was pushing so hard to make her into this great restauranteur. He’d provided her with every tool she could possibly need because he believed she had the talent. But a lot of people had talent and still failed. What if even his best efforts couldn’t turn her into a culinary star?
Lauren took a deep breath and tried to push away her doubts. All
she could do was her best. She needed to make the most of the unexpected gift she’d been given, and let the chips fall where they may.
Now that she was inside the building, she could see the space would need a lot of TLC if it were ever to be her dream restaurant. The walls could use patching, and some new paint and crown molding. The dark green carpet needed replacement and the florescent overhead lighting was too harsh for a romantic or chic dining space. But it would work. She had to keep reminding herself that updating this space was a problem she would love to have and one that was dependent on the success of this pop-up event.
Today wasn’t about the end product she envisioned in her mind with Sutton. It was about putting together a place good enough for one night in the hopes that one day, it could be more. Planting her hands on her hips with a newly determined air, she knew she could turn this dream into a reality.
She went back into the kitchen and was amazed by how much space she would have to cook here. There could easily be seven or eight people back here prepping dishes—a proper kitchen staff for a busy restaurant of this size—and there would be plenty of room to work. Considering that she and Amy were constantly bumping into one another in the truck, it was a welcome change. Food trucks weren’t particularly spacious.
Or prestigious.
Lauren sighed and leaned against the stainless-steel countertop. Her can-do attitude deflated a little as she crossed her arms protectively over her chest. She wasn’t quite as excited about all of this as she thought she would be. It was a chance she didn’t think she’d have for years, easily. But if she thought hard enough about what was dragging down her thoughts, she knew it wasn’t just her fear of failure. It was what her failure might mean for her future with Sutton.
In the last few days, as he’d spent all his free time trying to pull this event together, Lauren had realized the full extent of the Wingate’s influence in Royal. She knew his family was rich. They were club members, after all. But she was slowly beginning to realize that they were damn near royalty here in town. Even with scandal looming over their heads.
Billionaire Behind the Mask Page 10
