He took a seat and accepted the plate with anticipation. This was just what he needed to get those dark thoughts out of his mind. It had been years since he’d had a good beef Wellington and he was certain this would be one of the best. One bite later, he knew he was right. He didn’t know where Lauren went to culinary school or what great chefs she’d studied under, but she had a gift. A gift that deserved a classy environment, not a cramped truck parked along a curb.
Sutton couldn’t wait for service to end tonight. He wanted to take Lauren home to celebrate her success. She deserved it. And hopefully when everything was said and done, he would still deserve her.
Ten
Lauren opened the front door of her house later that night and found Sutton standing on her front porch with a bottle of expensive French champagne in his hand.
“Ooh...” she said, accepting the bottle and looking over the label. “You’d think we were celebrating.”
Sutton stepped inside and was quick to slip out of his suit coat and tug at his tie. “I know you’re probably exhausted, but we can’t let this moment pass without a little bubbly.”
Lauren nodded and locked the door behind him. It had been the longest day she could remember, but she was oddly energized. Her mind was buzzing with everything that had happened and she couldn’t sleep even if she tried. “I’m sorry I’m underdressed for the occasion.” She’d showered when she got home and was wearing only a silk robe when he came to the door.
Sutton eyed the loosely tied robe and the damp strands of her hair with a look of stark appreciation in his gaze and shook his head. “You’re overdressed in my opinion.”
Lauren chuckled. She had a little something in the closet he might like. “Open this up while I change.”
He walked over to take the bottle back from her and carried it into the kitchen. From her bedroom, she could hear the loud pop of the cork when he succeeded. She quickly slipped on a rose-colored chemise with lacy trim along the hem and a deep V that plunged between her breasts and made her way back to where he was waiting for her. Pulling two crystal flutes down from the cabinet, she set them down on the quartz countertop and watched while he poured them each a glass.
Sutton set down the bottle and picked up the flutes filled with golden bubbly liquid. His gaze met hers and dipped lower to admire her new attire. He swallowed hard and his fingers tightened around the delicate crystal stems of the glasses. His chest swelled with a deep breath before his eyes met hers again. There was a hard glint of desire there. There was no question that he wanted her. The intensity of his stare stole the air from her lungs.
Tonight was special. They had both worked hard to make it a success and their celebration should be equally rejoiceful. With a sly smile, Lauren eyed the champagne and got an idea. Without accepting the glass he offered, she turned her back to Sutton and strolled out of the kitchen. As she crossed the threshold into her bedroom, her fingertips curled around the hem of her chemise, pulling it up and over her head. Her damp hair spilled back down around her shoulders, tickling her bare shoulder blades. She tossed the barely worn negligee across the chair in the corner and turned around.
Sutton had followed her into her bedroom as she’d hoped. He stood just inside the doorway, clutching the glasses in an attempt to keep control. She was surprised he hadn’t snapped the delicate stems in half by now.
Lauren stalked across the room toward him, completely naked. She stopped just in front of him and reached past the glasses to the button of his collar. Her nimble fingers made quick work of his dress shirt, moving down the front until she could part the linen and place her palms on the hard, bare muscles of his chest.
He stood stone-still, his eyes partly closed as she touched him. It was all he could do with his hands still holding their drinks. He reopened them at last when she took one of the glasses from him and held it up for a toast.
“To The Eatery,” she said.
“To The Eatery,” Sutton repeated, his voice low and strained. He didn’t drink; he just watched Lauren as she put the champagne to her lips and took a healthy sip.
“Mmm...” she said, her eyes focused only on him. “This is some really lovely stuff you’ve chosen for the occasion. I know what would make it better, though.”
Leaning into Sutton, she held up her flute and poured a stream of the champagne down his neck. Moving quickly, she lapped at the drops that ran down his throat and pooled in the hollow of his collarbone. She let her tongue drag along his neck, meeting the rough stubble of his five o’clock shadow and feeling the low growl vibrating in his throat.
“Did you like that?” she asked.
Sutton’s arm shot out to wrap around her bare waist and tug her body close. Startled, Lauren smacked hard against the wall of his chest, pressing her breasts into him. She could feel the cool moisture of the remaining champagne on his skin as it molded to hers. When she looked up, he had a wicked grin across his face.
“Oh, yeah,” he said. He took a sip from his own flute and then brought his lips to hers. The bubbly liquid filled her own mouth and danced around her tongue before she swallowed it.
Their mouths were still locked onto one another as Sutton walked her slowly back toward the bed. With his arm still hooked around the small of her back, he eased Lauren’s body down slowly until she met with the cool fabric of her duvet.
He pulled away long enough to look longingly at her body and whip off his shirt. Then he poured the rest of the champagne into the valley between her breasts. He cast the empty flute onto the soft carpet with a thud and dipped his head to clean up the mess he’d made. His tongue slid along her sternum, teasing at the inner curves of her breasts and down to her rib cage. He used his fingertip to dip into her navel and then rub the champagne he found there over the hardened peaks of her nipples. After bathing them in the expensive alcohol, he took his time removing every drop from her skin.
Lauren arched into his mouth and his hands, urging him on and gasping aloud as he sucked hard at her breast. Her own empty champagne flute rolled from her hand across the mattress. She brought her hands to his head, burying her fingers in his thick blond hair and tugging him closer. He resisted her pull, moving lower down her stomach to the dripping golden liquid that awaited him there. His searing lips were like fire across her skin. She ached for him to caress every part of her and he happily complied.
Sutton’s hands pressed against her inner thighs, easing them apart and slipping between them and out of her reach. She cried out loudly as his champagne-chilled tongue found her heated core. His mouth worked slowly over her sensitive skin, drawing a chorus of strangled cries from her throat at the sharp contrast of sensation. He was relentless, slipping a finger inside of her and stroking until she came undone.
“Sutton!” she gasped, her body undulating and pulsing with the pleasure surging through her. She hadn’t wanted to find her release without him, not tonight, but as usual, he didn’t give her the option. She collapsed back against the mattress when it was over, her muscles tired and her lungs burning.
She pried open her eyes when she felt the heat of Sutton’s body moving up over her again. He had shed the last of his clothing, his skin gliding bare along hers.
A moment later, his green eyes were staring down into her own and she felt herself getting lost in their emerald depths. She could feel the firm heat of his desire pressing against her thigh and her body ached to join with his. Lauren reached out to him, her palms making contact with the rough stubble of his cheeks. She pulled his mouth to hers and gave herself over to him. Not just physically, but emotionally, as well. He had believed in her, even when she hadn’t believed in herself, and she wanted to be that woman for him.
At first, she’d been afraid to give in to her building feelings for Sutton. She worried that she wasn’t good enough, but now, when he looked at her like this she realized it was only her own doubts holding her back. He had never
said she was anything less than perfection in his eyes and she needed to stop fighting it. Stop fighting him. He deserved all of her, not just the woman so afraid of being a misfit that she never tried.
When he surged forward and filled her aching body with his, she gasped against his mouth but refused to let go. She needed this, needed him to have the strength to be her best self. Lauren drew her legs up to cradle his hips, urging him deeper inside. She wanted to get as close to him as she could. To take in Sutton and keep a part of him there inside her forever.
As the pace increased, Sutton finally had to tear away from her lips. He buried his face in her neck, his breath hot and ragged as he thrust hard and fast. Her body, which had been exhausted mere moments ago, was alive and tingling with sensation once again. Her release built inside, her muscles tightening and straining as she got closer and closer. Sutton’s body was equally tense beneath her fingertips, a sheen of perspiration forming on his skin.
“I’ve never...wanted a woman...as much as I want you right now, Lauren.”
His words were barely a whisper in her ear amongst the rough gasps and rustling sheets, but she heard them and felt them to her innermost core. Her heart stuttered in her chest. It wasn’t a declaration of love, but it was a serious statement for a man with a playboy’s reputation like his. She knew he meant it.
“I’m yours,” she whispered. “I’ve been yours since I saw you across the room at the club.”
And Lauren meant her words, as well. She wanted to say more. To pour out the sentiments that were swelling inside her chest every time she looked at him, but she wouldn’t. Not now. Things in their lives were too complicated right now. And in some ways, too fragile. She was about to start a new business venture with crushing pressure to succeed. He was fighting to clear his family’s name and get his company back. Any upset, like an unexpected and ill-timed declaration of love, might be enough to send the house of cards tumbling down.
The thought was sobering, but before she could get very far with her dark thoughts, her body tugged her out of her own head. The band snapped inside and the rush of pleasure exploded through her. She gasped and cried into his shoulder, clutching him tightly even as he kept surging forward again and again.
“Lauren,” he rasped as his whole body shuddered with his own release.
With Sutton’s face still buried in her neck and their hearts beating a rapid tattoo together, she swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue. Maybe when things settled down in their lives, they would have room for more than what they currently shared.
But not now.
Sutton rolled onto his side and wrapped his arm around her waist. He tugged her body against his, curling her into the protective cocoon to keep her warm.
“Congratulations, Chef Roberts,” he whispered into her ear as she drifted into sleep.
* * *
“I was thinking we should go to the club to celebrate your big news.”
Lauren opened one eye and looked at him, obviously not quite ready to be fully awake, despite the sunlight streaming into the windows. They’d been snuggling together, avoiding getting up, when he’d made the suggestion.
“Why would I want to go there?”
Sutton was a little flummoxed by her response. Most people jumped at the opportunity to visit the exclusive Royal location. “Um, well, we’ve run out of places to go in town. At least until that amazing new restaurant of Chef Roberts opens downtown. Why not go to the club?”
She sighed and rolled toward him, resting her head on his chest. “Let’s just say it isn’t my favorite place in the world. I’d basically rather go to a drive-thru to celebrate than to step foot in the Texas Cattleman’s Club again.”
He wrapped his arm around her, ignoring her morning grumpiness. “Remind me. We met there, didn’t we? Am I remembering it wrong?”
“Yes,” she replied with a tone obviously unamused with his question. “But that was different. I won the contest and Amy made me go, otherwise I wouldn’t have done it. I hadn’t stepped foot in that club in years.”
Lauren had made several curious comments about the club, but never elaborated on why she had such negative feelings about the place. Today, he wasn’t going to let her squirm out of the discussion. “Why?”
“It’s just not my kind of place,” she said.
“Nope. Try again.”
She tried to pull away, but he held her tighter. She squirmed for a moment, and then eventually relented with a heavy sigh. “I don’t like to talk about it.”
“Do you think I like talking about what’s going on with my family? It can’t be more embarrassing than what I’m going through.”
“You wanna bet?”
“Just tell me, Lauren. I need to know. Don’t keep something like this a secret from me. I need to understand what happened. You seem to hate the club and everything about it. I’m a member, so it makes me worry that in your mind I’m lumped in with the rest of it.”
He felt her relax in his arms, although surrender was probably a better term for it. “Fine. So, you’re a few years older, so you didn’t go to the high school when I was there. If you had, you would’ve heard this story for sure. But anyway, I’d never been to the club before. My parents just got by, so while we might have been middle class anywhere else, we were basically poor in Royal. So suffice to say, I wasn’t popular throughout school. Amy was one of my only friends, and we got through the hell of junior high and high school together.”
Sutton lay silently holding her, waiting for the rest of the story. He knew it wouldn’t be good, and his heart already ached for the teenage Lauren, struggling to fit in. He’d never had that problem. He and Sebastian had always been at the top of the food chain in school. He had a great time, but he also never really gave any thought to the people at Royal High that weren’t enjoying their teen years. He worried that perhaps he had even made it worse for some of them, even without meaning to.
“Like most teenage girls, I had a crush on the most unobtainable guy in school. His name was Jesse. Jesse Wilde. We had chemistry class together junior year and I thought he was the most handsome guy I’d ever seen in my life. And he was nice to me. He was assigned to be my lab partner and sometimes we’d work on our chemistry homework together.” She sighed. “I knew I didn’t stand a chance with him—he was on the varsity basketball team and was dating the cheerleader that made my daily life hell—but I felt seen for the first time in a long time when I was with him.”
Sutton noticed a sinking feeling start to swirl in his gut. He knew Jesse Wilde before he left Royal to go off wherever he ended up. He was young, handsome, cocky and, frankly, kind of a dick. Sutton never really had anything to do with him, but he did run into him at the club from time to time. This story wouldn’t end well and part of him wanted to stop her from telling him any more. But he held his tongue.
“Our senior year came around and we ended up in the same English class. He ended up sitting behind me and would lean up and talk with me every now and then. Just enough to make my heart flutter when I felt his breath on my neck and imagined if he were to kiss me there, too. It was a stupid infatuation, but I couldn’t shake it while he was still around me, making me think that I stood a chance somehow.
“About a week before the homecoming dance that year, a pipe burst in the gymnasium and it flooded over the weekend. They had to rip up all the floors and couldn’t have the dance there the way they’d planned, so someone volunteered the Texas Cattleman’s Club. I wasn’t going, so I didn’t care, but it was exciting for those who weren’t members to have the chance to visit, like you’d said. Then Jesse broke up with his girlfriend a few days before the dance. It was a huge news story around the halls, with everyone speculating as to what happened and if he was into another girl.”
She shook her head. “I never dreamed it would be me, but that Friday in English class, Jesse asked me to stay back after
it was over because he wanted to talk to me about something. I thought he needed help with our homework on Hamlet, but it turned out that he wanted to ask me to go to homecoming with him.”
Lauren sat silent for a moment before she continued. “I was over the moon. I barely slept that night. My mom even took me to Dallas that next morning to get me a dress at the last minute. My crush had asked me to homecoming and I thought everything in my life was going to change for the better.” A pained expression crossed her face. “I was such a dumb, young girl. Naïve to the core. I’d never even kissed a guy before, but I thought I knew how it was all going to play out.”
She chuckled bitterly. “Everything started out just the way I’d hoped. Jesse picked me up in his sweet new truck and bought me a white rose corsage for my wrist. He looked so handsome in his suit I wanted to just die. We drove to the club and went inside. Everyone was stunned to see the two of us there together. Especially his ex-girlfriend, Kaylah, who was there with some other guy I didn’t know.” She cleared her throat. “I didn’t pay much attention to any of that, though, because I was just starstruck by the whole place. I’d always dreamed of seeing the inside and here I was, with the boy I thought I loved with every adolescent breath I took.
“So Jesse went to get us some punch and I went into the ladies’ room to check my hair. I was so nervous about messing up my hair or makeup and him changing his mind because I looked bad. And when I was in there, I ran into Kaylah and a few of her friends. I expected the worst. Like I said, Kaylah seemed to take pleasure in torturing me for some reason and I figured since I was there with her ex, she had even more motivation to rip my hair out or something... But they were super nice to me. They complimented my dress and asked what I thought of the club so far.”
Billionaire Behind the Mask Page 12
