Blush

by Nicola Marsh

  Jess stalked from the room, not before blowing Jack a kiss and firing a death glare Reid’s way.

  “That went well,” Jack deadpanned, the corners of his mouth twitching.

  “Shut the fuck up.” Reid braced his elbows on his knees and hung his head.

  Jack laughed. “You’re a mess.”

  “Tell me something I don’t know.” Reid inhaled and blew out a long breath. “This isn’t me.”

  “Which begs the question, what is it about this woman that has you tied up in knots?” Jack pointed at the door Jess had just exited through. “And pissing off your sister?”

  Reid shrugged, unable to articulate half of what he was feeling: confused, besotted and off-kilter. So he settled for the simple truth. “I like her.”

  “You’ve liked women before.”

  “Not like this.” Reid stood and started pacing, a common occupation over the last few days. “She’s all I can think about. I’ve tried working twenty-four-seven, hasn’t stopped me wondering and remembering…”

  “You shagged her?”

  Reid nodded. “On the beach.”

  “Way to go, big boy.”

  Reid growled. “And that’s another thing, I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Yep, you’ve got it bad.” Jack whistled. “Not wanting to talk about your sex life? Sure-fire sign you’re hooked.”

  Reid stopped and sank back into his chair. “Jess is going to give me Adele’s number, right?”

  Jack held up his hands. “Hey, I’m staying out of this one.”

  “Useless prick.” Reid flipped him the bird. “I have no clue what she sees in you but considering she’s ga-ga, why can’t you influence her on my behalf?”

  “Because I’m enjoying seeing you squirm.” Jack stood and held out his hand. “Good luck, mate. You’re going to need it.”

  As Reid shook his best friend’s hand, he knew it would take more than luck to get together with Adele.

  It would take a frigging miracle.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Adele had spent her Saturday morning cleaning the fridge, scrubbing the toilet and mopping the floors. This, after a five-mile jog that barely put a dent in her ridiculous energy levels.

  With a resigned sigh, she flopped onto the sofa, picked up a magazine and absentmindedly flipped pages. Usually, the designer clothes and hot celeb guys would hold her attention for an hour.

  Not today. Today, without work to focus on, she had too much time to think. And thinking wasn’t good, considering memories of Reid invaded her mind constantly.

  Pointless. Waste of time. And that’s one thing she’d never tolerated; wishing things could be different. She may have indulged in ‘what if’ as a kid; what if she had a dad? What if her mom wasn’t an angry drunk? What if she got to hang out with other kids and have a normal childhood instead of being regarded as a freak because she had to spend all her time looking after her mom?

  And she may have asked a few ‘what ifs’ later too. What if she hadn’t been saddled with her mom’s debts even after she’d died? What if she’d had a chance to attend college rather than do whatever it took to make ends meet? What if she didn’t have to run from her past?

  These days, she didn’t ask questions. She accepted her life and was proud of how far she’d come. But there was something about Reid Harper that had her wishing for things that could never be.

  He exuded class and charisma, was part of a world that could never include her. That hadn’t stopped her dreaming over the last week, imagining how different her life could’ve been if she wasn’t haunted by her past.

  Her cell rang and she dumped the magazine, picked up the cell and glanced at the screen. Private number, blocked. She didn’t get many private calls, discounting the ones from Chantal landline at work. Curious, she hit the answer button.

  “Adele Radcliff speaking.”

  “Adele. Reid Harper. How are you?”

  Adele fell back on the sofa in shock, every hair on her arms snapping to attention at the sound of his cultured voice.

  “Adele?”

  Mentally kicking herself at being an idiot for not responding, she said, “Hey Reid. I’m good. You?”

  Way to go with the scintillating conversation.

  “Busy as usual.” He paused, and she could’ve sworn he sounded as nervous as she felt.

  How did he get her number? More importantly, why was he calling?

  He cleared his throat. “I’m flying into Vegas for business tomorrow and was wondering if you’d like to catch up.”

  She should say no. Instead, Adele fist-pumped the air before answering in a more sedate fashion. “Sure, I’d love to. What time do you get in?”

  “Nine. Fly out at midnight.”

  Her enthusiasm waned. He was flying in for business, which meant she’d be lucky to see him for an hour max.

  “We could do dinner?”

  “Business should be done by eleven.” His pauses unnerved her. “I was hoping we could spend the rest of the day together.”

  “Okay.” She agreed too quickly, hoping she didn’t sound like a sad case that sat around on the weekend doing nothing. Which was the truth, of course. “Text me when you’re done and we can catch up.”

  “Catch up, yeah, good.”

  She grinned at the way he parroted her words, like a guy who hadn’t been sure of her response. “I’m glad you called, Reid.”

  Sucking in a deep breath, she rushed on before she lost her nerve. “I’ve been thinking about you.”

  “Same here, sweetheart.”

  She knew the endearment meant nothing. For all she knew he probably called all the women he slept with sweetheart. But for this moment on a dull Saturday morning, she held it close to her heart.

  “In fact, I’ve been going a little crazy, remembering our time together.”

  Glad she wasn’t the only one. “What do you want to do tomorrow?”

  His wicked chuckle rippled along her nerve endings like she’d been zapped with electricity. “Really want me to answer that?”

  Her breath hitched at the thought of this conversation entering uncharted territory. “Absolutely.”

  “At first I had grand plans to take you for a picnic lunch in the desert, drive up to Mount Charleston, then dinner in a private room at a friend’s hotel.” His voice lowered and she tucked her knees up and rested her chin, feeling like a cheerleader getting a call from the football jock. Something she’d always yearned for but never experienced.

  “Then I thought about how distracted I’ve been this week, how absolutely stir-crazy I’ve been cooped up at work, how I can’t get you out of my mind, and all I want to do tomorrow is spend the time we have together wrapped around you.”

  Adele gripped the cell so hard it should’ve cracked.

  “I want you, Adele. Want you so badly.” His bark of laughter held little amusement, like a guy at the end of his tether. “I want to have the luxury of a bed this time when I’m buried deep in you. Want to hear you moan. Want to make you come over and over.”

  A little groan escaped Adele’s lips as she clamped her thighs together against the moisture.

  “Yeah, just like that,” he said, his voice strangled. “Minute I see you I won’t be able to keep my hands off you. I’ll back you inside, take you up against the nearest wall, hard and fast. Then I’ll carry you into the bedroom, lay you on the bed, spread your legs and lick you out until you scream.”

  Adele couldn’t speak for the lust clogging her throat. She’d never wanted a guy as much as she wanted Reid. Right here, right now.

  “Reid?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’ve never had phone sex before and it’s freaking hot.”

  He laughed, sounding relieved. “It’s what you do to me. I’m like some frigging hormonal teenager.”

  She shifted on the sofa, turned on beyond belief. “You have no idea how much I wish you were here right now.”

  His loaded pause had her wriggling more. “
What would you do?”

  Emboldened by this incredible man lusting after her, she said, “Tear your shirt off. Unzip you. Reach inside and hold you. How’s that for starters?”

  “Keep going,” he said, so softly she barely heard him.

  “You’re so hard in my hand as I kneel. Take you in my mouth. Lick your shaft. Swirl my tongue over the head. Suck ’til you come.”

  “Fuck me.” His tone held awe and wistfulness and desire.

  Adele pressed a palm to her scorching cheek. “Believe me, I intend to. All day long.”

  A buzzer sounded in the background and Reid swore again. “Sorry, have to go, my annoying sister is back to bug me.”

  Ah, so that’s how Reid got her number.

  “Say hi to Jess for me.”

  “Shall do.”

  Unsure how to end the conversation after the candidness of the last few minutes, Adele searched for the right words, before Reid rushed in. “Can’t wait ’til tomorrow.”

  “Me too.”

  The buzzer sounded again and he yelled, “Coming.”

  Before her bravado deserted her completely, she said, “I’ll be yelling that tomorrow too,” disconnecting as he laughed.

  She stared at the cell in her hand, ecstatic Reid had called, and trying to ignore the sinking feeling that she’d just made her wish to forget him all the harder.

  Reid couldn’t believe he’d had phone sex with Adele yesterday. What sort of a moron rang a woman for the first time to ask for a proper date, only to end up verbalizing how badly he wanted her?

  The part where she’d reciprocated? Guaranteed to keep him distracted all day and up all night. Literally.

  He’d fudged his way through the meeting with Vegas campaign contributors this morning, continually glancing at his watch to the point of distraction.

  A long two hours later, he stood on Adele’s doorstep, feeling like a putz.

  Flowers and chocolates had been considered and discarded. Too late for corny wooing after what they’d already done on that beach. So he kept it simple. Expensive champagne in one hand. Massage oil in the other.

  Their encounter on the beach had been memorable but too fast for his liking. Adele deserved to be pleasured at leisure. For hours.

  And that’s what he intended to do today. Starting with a slow, sensual massage that he’d been fantasizing about since they’d spoken yesterday.

  Taking a deep breath, he rang the doorbell. His collar chafed and his tie strangled as he waited. He should’ve taken time after the meeting to remove his suit jacket and tie, to appear more relaxed than the workaholic he was. But he’d been so focused on getting to Adele he’d bolted out of the meeting, grateful he’d had the foresight to buy his booty before he’d left LA.

  She took an eternity to answer the door and he shifted impatiently, mentally reciting every reason why he should take this slow.

  Until Adele opened the door wearing a thigh-skimming ruby silk kimono and a smile.

  And he lost it.

  “Damn, it’s good to see you,” he managed to say before dumping the champagne and massage oil on a hall table, kicking the door shut, and lunging for her.

  She laughed, a joyous sound that made him happy to be here, as he backed her up against the nearest wall.

  He ravished her, raining kisses over her cheeks and eyelids before zeroing in on her mouth. Her lush, welcoming mouth.

  He groaned as their tongues entwined, enticing and entangling, mimicking what he’d be doing to her in less than five seconds if he didn’t rein in his rampant desire to be buried in her deep.

  He wrenched his mouth away and rested his forehead on hers. “I had grand plans to take things slow this time.”

  In response, her hand insinuated its way between their bodies and caressed his cock. “We have all day to take it slow.”

  “Love the way you think,” he said, managing a feat of acrobatic brilliance as he unzipped and hoisted her up against the wall in less time than it took him to fire up his laptop every morning at six.

  He delved beneath the kimono. Naked. Wet. Ready.

  With one thrust he was inside her and she bit down on his shoulder, the zap of pain an exquisite contrast with the intense pleasure squeezing his cock tight.

  “You feel so good,” he said, seeking her mouth, kissing her with a desperation that defied logic.

  What was it about this incredible woman that made him lose his mind?

  Him, the guy who weighed every decision, every word; completely and utterly crazy for her.

  “Just like that,” she murmured, wrapping her legs around his waist, urging him deeper.

  He complied, changing the angle of his pelvis so he rocked against her clit with every thrust. Her head thrashed from side to side as he rammed into her, the tension building with excruciating ecstasy.

  “Now,” she yelled, tensing around him as he drove into her in a frenzy, blinded by an orgasm that smashed into him like a bulldozer.

  Felt like his head exploded in a shower of sparks as she screamed his name, her fingernails scraping his back, her legs clamping around him like a vice.

  Wave after wave of mind-numbing pleasure washed over him, the aftereffects of his orgasm more powerful than anything he’d ever experienced.

  When she sagged against him and her legs hit the floor, he gently disengaged and stared at her in wonder.

  He’d given speeches in front of thousands, had wooed contributors, had influenced boardrooms full of powerful men.

  But at that moment, with Adele’s big blue eyes fixed on him with adoration, he couldn’t come up with one damn sensible thing to say.

  Adele’s knees wobbled like barely-set jelly and her spine felt like crumbly cheese.

  Her encounter with Reid on the beach had been special, but nothing compared to what they’d just done.

  Cataclysmic.

  So much for her grand plans to lead him into the lounge, where she’d prepared an indoor picnic, and seduce him slowly. That plan turned to shit the moment she opened the door and saw him staring at her like he wanted to devour her.

  Not that she was complaining. The good thing about quickie sex? They had all day until he left tonight to take things nice and slow.

  “That was pretty damn amazing,” he finally said, when she was beginning to worry about the long silence.

  “Understatement.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “At the risk of sounding like a clingy female, I kinda missed you.”

  His genuine smile made her heart soar. “I missed you too.”

  He cupped her cheek. “Honestly? I’ve been a mess at work. Can’t stop thinking about you.”

  She rolled her eyes, slightly uncomfortable with the depth of his tenderness. “Yeah, that’s me, unforgettable.”

  “Don’t do that.” He placed a finger against her lips, silencing her awkward chuckles. “You’re magnificent.”

  Speechless, she stared at Reid, feeling cherished and crappy at the same time.

  No guy had made her feel like this, ever, but she was deluding herself if she read anything into today beyond what it was.

  A booty call.

  “What’s wrong?” He tipped up her chin, concern creasing his brow.

  “Nothing.”

  Disappointment twisted his all too kissable lips. “People lie to me on a daily basis. Kinda standard being a politician.” He shook his head and released her. “I was hoping you wouldn’t be one of them.”

  His guilt trip angered her. Her lies were to protect him. If the truth ever got out…he’d despise her, not want to hold her.

  She settled for partial honesty in the hope of not ruining the rest of their day. Their last.

  She’d already made that decision before he arrived. It’s why she’d gone all out with the skimpy kimono and the sensual picnic with lush finger food. She wanted today to be memorable. Special.

  For it had to be their last.

  There was no future in a relationship with Reid Harper. She had bee
n many things in her lifetime; a masochist wasn’t one of them.

  She would enjoy today, savor it, then end it.

  Their dalliance stopped here.

  She slipped her fingers between his and tugged on his hand. “When I said there’s nothing wrong, I may have told a tiny fib.”

  “Why?”

  She led him into the lounge room, enjoying how his eyes widened in appreciative surprise as he spied the picnic she’d laid out on her hardwood floor.

  “Because I’m a little out of my depth here.” She sank to her knees on the picnic rug and pulled him down beside her. “And a tad concerned.”

  “Why?”

  “We kinda lost our heads back there. No condom?”

  “Shit.” He shook his head, squeezed her hand and released it. “I’ve never done that before. I mean, I’m clean and I always use protection but…shit.”

  Concern creased his brow. She knew the feeling. She never had unprotected sex. Ever. What was it about this guy that clouded her logic?

  “It’s okay. I’m clean too. And I’m on the pill.” Thank God.

  His relief was palpable as his hand skimmed her hair, and he wound a strand around his finger. “This will sound like a lousy excuse but the moment I saw you again, I lost it.”

  She should be flattered but all she could think was she’d just had crazy wild sex with a guy she’d never see again.

  It shouldn’t hurt but it did. Not fair, that the first guy she’d liked in ages had to be unobtainable.

  “Guess it’s my turn for a little honesty.” He sat cross-legged on the picnic rug in the middle of her floor, looking like a sexy corporate model in rumpled designer business shirt, slacks and thousand dollar shoes. “I don’t do relationships. Don’t have the time. Haven’t dated in ages because of it. And I’m going to be pretty busy with the upcoming campaign.”

  Every word solidified what she already knew and reinforced her decision to end it after today. Didn’t make it any easier.

  “But there’s something about you…” He trailed a fingertip down her cheek. “At the risk of being slapped, I came here today to see if I could get you out of my system. But after what happened back there? Not only can I not keep my hands off you, I want you all the more.”