Harper sighed. Hadn’t she used Brad’s reliance on what his parents thought as an excuse to end their relationship? Why was she worried about strangers’ opinions? She’d dealt with all the sympathetic looks, the commiserating phone calls from her family, even some of the unkind whispers she’d heard around town from people speculating on why the wedding really hadn’t happened. She’d let it all slide, ignored the hurt, and carried on.
“All right. I go talk to him.”
Audrey rolled her eyes. “Don’t talk.”
“But I need to explain to him—”
“Don’t explain. Grab him, kiss him, tell him you’re a free woman and you’ll try anything once.”
“Oh, God. No.”
“Okay, you’ll try certain things once as long they’re legal.”
Harper stifled a laugh at Audrey’s droll tone. “You’re making me rethink this.”
“Sorry. I’ll be quiet and finish my drink. Go see him. I guarantee you won’t be sorry.”
Harper rose and left some money on the table for her own drink. “Can I get that in writing?”
Audrey winked at her. “I’ll even have it notarized.”
* * * *
Grant forced himself to get up from his desk and stretch. It was eight p.m., and he’d spent another twelve-hour day organizing TF’s financials. He had the files in order now, and all but two weekends between now and March were booked with events, not to mention several mid-week affairs like the Auxiliary Club dinner. The holding company couldn’t fault him on a strong start for the year, but only time would tell if the place could still turn a profit.
At least for tonight, he could justify going home before midnight. Just as he reached for his coat from the rack in the corner, headlights flashed across the frost-covered window behind his desk. Frowning, he took his coat, shut off his office lights, and headed for the lobby door. Maybe one of the kitchen staff had forgotten something.
A tingle raced across his stomach muscles when he saw Harper’s blond hair shining under the front marquee lights. Even all bundled up in her coat, she looked gorgeous, with her cheeks pink from the cold and a few errant snow flurries glistening on her lashes. He hurried to the door to let her in.
“Everything okay?” he asked as she sidled past him, bringing a swirl of light snow in from outside. “The weather’s getting bad.”
“I know. I’m glad I caught you still here.” She pulled off her hat and smiled as her hair spiked around her in staticky waves. It caught the light from outside like a halo.
“I was just leaving…”
“Well, I just wanted to tell you, about the other night…upstairs.”
“I am sorry about that. I didn’t mean to—”
“Don’t be sorry. Don’t be sorry at all.” She threw her arms around him and kissed him deeply, urgently, her mouth warm and honey-sweet.
Relief flooded him. He’d been half expecting to get slapped. Lust replaced all coherent thoughts a second later, and he cupped the back of her head and held her to him, deepening the kiss. When they finally broke apart, her lips were swollen and dark pink. Her eyes sparkled.
“I can’t stop thinking about the bridal suite.” She blushed, and her suddenly demure look arrowed right to his erection.
“I can’t even go near that room without thinking of laying you down on that couch.” He tugged on the zipper of her coat and had the voluminous parka peeled off her in a second. Beneath it she wore a black dress and sheer stockings. He hadn’t noticed her high heels until now, but the complete package was a knockout. “Wow. Did you just come from a party or something?”
She shook her head and spun around so he could see the flouncy skirt ride up just a bit, revealing her shimmery nylons. “Nope. This is for you. It’s nicer than a janitor’s jumpsuit.”
Something in Grant’s chest constricted. The jumpsuit had sort of been his fantasy all week, but this would certainly do as a replacement. He pulled Harper into his arms and let his hands roam along the satiny material that cinched at her waist. “Oh, baby, I’ve got plans for that jumpsuit, but they can wait.” He kissed her again, and she moaned a little when he squeezed her ass through the layers of her skirt. “Why don’t we go somewhere?”
Harper trailed her fingers down his arm and tugged him toward the curving staircase. “I know just the place.”
* * * *
Harper thought her heart would burst out of her chest, it was beating so fast. When she’d left Audrey at Colette’s her innocent plan had been to drop by Taverna Fiora, and if Grant was still here, she was going to sit him down and explain how much she liked him and how she would love to get to know him even though her life was still in a bit of turmoil because of Brad. It had all sounded so reasonable and…professional. The devil had made her stop off at home and put on her sexiest dress and black velvet pumps. Audrey’s voice in her head told her to go for it, and just in case Grant had somehow really changed his mind about being interested in her, she had to show him what he was missing.
Her plan for a calm, reasonable conversation went out the window the minute she laid eyes on him. He looked sleepy and a little confused by her arrival, but his tie, hanging open around his neck had given her some wicked ideas.
Now, having climbed to the top of the marble staircase with him in tow, she’d passed the point of no return. She was going to do what her heart and her body wanted to do, without any thought as to what anyone who found out about it might think.
She turned at the top of the stairs and met his gaze. “The only reason I ran off the other night was because I was afraid to admit I wanted you too.”
He wrapped his hands around her waist and nuzzled her neck. “I thought it was because I was acting like a caveman. I felt awful about it.”
She laughed despite the erotic tingle racing up and down her spine. She’d never felt so sexy in her life, and she wanted to savor every second of it. “Sometimes a girl likes a caveman.”
He growled and scooped her up in his arms. She giggled as he carried her into the bridal suite and placed her on the ultra soft cushions of the ornate couch. Her laughter stopped the moment his mouth covered hers, and she wrapped her hands in his tie and pulled him closer until he was lying across her.
His weight, pressing her into the overstuffed cushions, felt more right than anything ever had. All thoughts of what anyone else might think of this wicked liaison left her head as she settled her hips beneath his and ran one of her heels teasingly up the back of his leg.
He groaned and stilled above her. “You’re making me insane.” He kissed her jaw, her throat, and hooked his fingers into the neckline of her dress, pulling the satin just an inch lower so he could press his lips to the supersensitive skin above her collarbone.
Harper arched beneath him, and the hard length of him pressed into her thigh. The thought that she’d given him a raging erection so quickly turned her on to no end. With her hands on his shoulders, she pushed him to a sitting position and started to unbutton his shirt.
Grant grabbed her hands and kissed her fingertips. “Are you sure about this? If we go any further, I’m not going to be able to stop.”
She met his gaze and licked her lips. “I wouldn’t dream of letting you stop.”
“Okay, then. Caveman time.”
“Thank God!” Harper leaned forward and placed her lips on his chest above each button as she opened his shirt. She spread the crisp cotton aside and worked her way down until she reached the waistband of his pants. He stopped her there and lowered her hands to her sides.
“My turn.” He shrugged out of his shirt and tossed his tie on the floor, then reached behind her for the zipper of her dress. He opened the black satin and let the bodice fall forward, revealing the slinky black bra she’d worn underneath. “Have mercy,” he muttered before planting a line of searing kisses along one bra strap, which he then lowered ever so slowly.
Harper was on fire. She straddled him, settling over his erection, while he worked the other b
ra strap off her shoulder. A second later he was kissing her breasts, suckling her nipples, and snaking one hand along her thigh in search of her panties.
He broke away from their desperate kiss, his eyes wide. “Hold that thought one second.”
He lifted her off him like she was weightless and set her back on the couch. She watched, clutching her open dress in front of her as he vaulted out of the room. She counted the seconds while he was gone—twenty-three—and when he dashed back into the room he held up a wrapped condom. “The waiters always have a few in their lockers.”
Her face heated. She had brought one along, but she’d left it in her purse, which was down in the lobby with her coat. What must he think of—she stopped herself. Audrey’s voice played the refrain: He’s a guy. The only thing he’s thinking is how much he wants you.
She smiled and sank into the cushions. “I like a man who thinks of the little details.”
He knelt beside her and caressed her arm, her cheek, with such reverence she wanted to cry. “You are so beautiful. The first second I saw you I was out of my mind. Every day for the past two weeks I couldn’t think straight because you’re in my head.”
“Grant, shut up and kiss me!” She pulled him down to her and wrapped her arms around his neck. A second later her dress was gone, tossed in the pile with his shirt and tie. She offered him her right foot and he removed her shoe, then did the same with her left, and he helped her shimmy out of her nylons.
He kissed her ankles, the backs of her knees, then ran gentle fingers up the insides of her thighs. She shuddered with the sensation and closed her eyes, biting her lip to keep from whimpering as he carefully peeled off her panties.
“God, you’re amazing,” he whispered, adding a worshipping kiss to her navel. She shivered and reached for him, pulling him to her. Through half-closed lids, she watched their hands tangle at the button and zipper of his pants. She wanted to help, but her fingers were shaking and weak. He finally pushed her hands away. “It’s okay. I’ve got it.”
She nodded, afraid to speak, terrified she’d say something to blow this perfect moment. Fortunately he got his pants off and the condom on and was kissing her again before she managed to form any words that might break the spell.
She opened to him, needing the connection more than anything. He obliged, gently at first, tentatively. Their eyes locked. He put himself inside her, and she sighed with the sensation and kissed him though a moan of pleasure.
“Oh, my—Harper. God…” Grant began to move, slowly, with measured strokes as if he might be afraid to lose control. She guided him with her hips, urging him with kisses that became more demanding by the second.
“I won’t break, Grant.”
He buried his face in the crook of her neck and clutched her tightly, his body rigid and his breathing fast and hard. “You’ve already broken me.” After that he let go. The caveman in him surfaced, and he took her over the edge in three powerful strokes.
She lay beneath him, panting, petting his hair and the taut skin of his shoulders while his heart raced with hers. The bridal suite had never looked so good.
“Come home with me?” she said finally when he raised his head to meet her gaze.
He smiled and ran a thumb over her bottom lip. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Chapter Nine
Hours later Grant lay in Harper’s bed, watching the cold blue light of dawn turn slowly golden. She was curled beside him, her hair tickling his chest, her hand spread across his stomach. If anyone had predicted a few hours ago that he would wake up with this exquisite creature in his arms, he’d have thought they were crazy.
She stirred, and he wrapped his arms around her and planted a kiss on her forehead. “Good morning.”
She mumbled something, then her head popped up, and she looked at him. “Hi.” She seemed almost surprised to find him stretched out on her lavender sheets with her flowered comforter tucked under his chin.
He raised a brow. “Hi, I’m Grant. Maybe you don’t remember me, but we had sex about four times last night.”
She moaned and ducked her head under her pillow. “This is why I’ve got to stop drinking in the middle of the week.”
He waited a full second before diving under the covers to punish her for that irreverent remark. She shrieked while he tickled her, and the shrieks became moans of delight as he found other ways to make her repent. Before long her moans became sighs of satisfaction, and once again she lay across him, her breathing deep and regular, while he stroked his fingers up and down the sensuous curve of her back.
“This is a nice way to wake up,” he said, shifting so his legs entwined with hers.
“How long has it been since you woke up with someone?”
He thought of his last relationship. “About a year. I’ve been so busy with work, I hadn’t really thought about being with anyone, until I met you.”
“No dates, nothing?” He lifted her head and busied herself tracing circles on his chest with her thumb.
“A few. I work weekends. I find a lot of women don’t appreciate that.”
“Hmm.” She nodded. “I guess that’s hard on someone who works all week long and wants to go out Friday and Saturday nights.”
“You work all week long.” This wasn’t a road he wanted to go down at the moment. No use lying in bed trying to figure out why they would never work out as a couple.
She sat up, smiling. “Apparently I work weekends too, making centerpieces. And…oh crap. It’s Wednesday.”
“Yeah?”
“Part of that pesky week I have to work.” She threw herself across him, which he didn’t mind in the least, and grabbed her alarm clock off the nightstand. “I’ve got an hour and a half. Whew. Can I make you some breakfast?”
“Baby, I just had breakfast.” He rolled her over and kissed the back of her neck and down her spine. She squealed and wiggled out from under him, grabbing the sheet to wrap herself in.
“Ah, you’re clever. Distracting me like that. You can shower first if you want. I’ll make some toast and coffee.”
“Don’t worry about me.” He scooped up his clothes from the floor. “I’ll slip out quietly so the neighbors won’t gossip, and I’ll go home. I don’t want to mess up your morning routine.”
She cocked a brow and gave him a sassy smirk. “Are you implying it’s routine for me to have gentlemen callers in my bed on weekday mornings?”
He winked. “Only when you drink.”
She threw a pillow at him. “I’ll meet you downstairs. Bathroom is across the hall.”
He grudgingly obeyed and hurried off to the bathroom to slip on his hopelessly wrinkled shirt and pants. His tie hadn’t made it to her house, and he only hoped none of the TF staff would have cause to go into the bridal suite first thing this morning. He hadn’t figured out how he would explain parts of his wardrobe having been left there.
* * * *
Harper threw on a nightshirt and a pair of sweats and ran downstairs, her heart thumping wildly and her stomach doing flip-flops. She’d really done it. She’d enticed Grant into her bed, and she wasn’t the least bit sorry. On the contrary, she felt fantastic. The thought of him, those deep blue eyes, his gentle skill in bed, the sound of him whispering her name—she had to hold on to the kitchen counter to keep her knees from buckling. Being bad had never been so much fun. She wanted to go to Taverna Fiora and just peek into the bridal suite. She’d never look wistfully at that room again. It was hers now. She owned it, and no bride would ever adore it as much as she did.
She had coffee brewing and toast toasting by the time Grant came downstairs. He’d left the top button of his shirt open and had the collar standing up around his throat. His hair was mussed as though he’d tried to comb it with his fingers. She whimpered and clutched the counter. Who needed food? She could eat him alive.
“Your tie…”
“I lost it.” He grinned knowingly. “We were very careless with our clothes last night.”
&
nbsp; “Hmm. I recall things being tossed all over the place.”
“Yeah. That’s why I need to get to work early.” He kissed her nose, her chin, her lips. She sighed.
“Okay. You sure you don’t want something to eat?”
He nibbled her ear lobe. “This is fine.” He kissed her lips. “And this.”
“Okay.”
He let her go, and she followed him to the front door. “I will call you later today. All right?”
“Sure, yes. Any time.”
She pulled the door open for him, reluctant to let him leave. Why hadn’t she picked a Saturday night to seduce him so he wouldn’t have to rush off at the crack of dawn?
“Who the hell is this?” Bradley’s voice intruded on their good-bye kiss.
Harper’s spirits plummeted, and her heart skipped a beat. In an instant all her giddy shamelessness transformed into guilt. This looked bad. Why? She couldn’t explain it. She knew she shouldn’t have had to. “What are you doing here, Brad?”
He thrust a plump paper bag into her hands. “I was bringing you bagels and coffee and I was going to suggest we have breakfast together and talk some more. I guess someone beat me to it.” He glared at Grant. “Who the hell are you again?”
Harper had to give Grant credit for his smooth style. His voice remained perfectly modulated and casual. “I’m Grant,” he said as if that explained everything.
Brad shifted his hard gaze to Harper. “Now I get why you were so eager to break things off.”
“As I recall, I didn’t break things off. You walked out on our wedding. That, in my book, equals breaking things off.”
“And I suppose Grant here was just waiting in the wings.”
“Actually we met when she came to pick up the flowers at the catering hall,” Grant offered, his voice still even. He glanced at Harper, a question in his eyes. Should he leave? She didn’t want him to, but she also didn’t need him here to defend her.
Jilted in January Page 6
