by Unknown
Swallowing her uncertainty, Paige smiled and continued into the kitchen. “Good morning, Mother, Shane. I just came to say hello. I’m off to an early meeting.”
“You’re wearing that?” he asked, every word precise and as sharp as an ice pick.
Feigning innocence, she glanced down at the caramel off-the-shoulder top with banded-cuff voluminous sleeves. She could see her nipples outlined against the soft material. She fought to keep from blushing and let her gaze continue to the wide black leather belt and black tulip skirt that stopped four inches above her knees.
The saleslady said the draping of the blouse emphasized the breasts and made a man think of what was underneath. Shane was certainly watching. She just had to stay focused.
Looking back up, she shook her head in annoyance at him. “For a moment I thought I had the skirt on backward. Bye.”
Paige hurried past Shane and out the back door. He looked ready to explode, and she didn’t think her mother being there would help. Starting the car, she backed out of the garage and headed down the driveway. “If you think this is something, wait until you see me tonight.”
Shane suspected what Paige was trying to do, and it angered the hell out of him, because it was working. Later that morning, he rode the crowded elevator, heading for her floor. He wanted to pace, but there was no room. He’d faced few problems in his lifetime that he hadn’t overcome or solved.
Until Paige.
Running five miles and a rigorous weight routine that morning hadn’t helped calm him down. He was afraid nothing would.
He’d never been jealous of a woman before, and now he was consumed by it. The supple material of her blouse left her breasts in-your-face tempting. The soft swell of flesh over the top of the fabric had made his pants tight and his mouth water.
And that skirt should be illegal in all fifty states and every country. It revealed too much of her sleek, softly muscled legs that he couldn’t help thinking could hold him tight in her hot body.
This had to stop. He was all too human.
He stepped off the elevator of her floor and came face-to-face with his beautiful, seductive, driving-him-crazy problem. Paige and two men, both in their early forties and wearing dark tailored suits, were laughing and walking toward him.
Paige saw him, lifted an inquiring brow. “Shane, what a surprise. Did you come to see me?”
She was really pushing him. “Yes.”
“Sorry, that’s impossible. Please meet Mr. Jonathan Hayes and Mr. Hector Freeman, regional and district manager of the airline we’re featuring at the Masquerade Ball. Gentlemen, Mr. Shane Elliott, a friend of the family.”
He made nice because they were. It helped that he’d seen a gold band on each man’s hand, and she’d pulled the blouse up on her shoulders. “When will it be possible?”
“Perhaps tomorrow. Now if you’ll excuse us, we have reservations for lunch.” She stepped around him, the men moving with her, flanking her as they chatted for a few moments before the elevator door opened and they stepped on. Not once did she look back at him before the door closed.
Shane was left staring after them, and wondering again if he might have blown it. Perhaps Paige had moved on.
His mouth flattened into a thin line. He’d just see about that.
Shane wasn’t home when Paige returned from work at half past six that evening. If she hadn’t dropped off the tile for Noah and Gayle’s kitchen floor at their apartment, she would have arrived forty minutes earlier. She missed Shane, and was already tired of the game she was playing. Tempting a man might work for some women, but not her. She wanted honesty in a relationship.
From her casual inquiry to her mother, she learned he hadn’t been back since he’d left that morning. During supper, she couldn’t concentrate on what her mother was saying and had to ask her to repeat herself several times.
Paige wasn’t surprised when her mother asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”
Once, when Paige was a preteen, they’d talked about boys, dating, even her wish for a Black Knight, but that was long ago, before these “feelings” erupted that she didn’t know how to handle.
She didn’t have a chance to ask her mother’s advice at the time, because she hadn’t dated until she was a senior in high school—and then no more than a few times.
Now she was too embarrassed. “No.”
“If you change your mind, I’ll be in the garden or in my room,” her mother answered.
Her mother didn’t push, but, being a smart woman, she had to know that Shane had something to do with Paige’s inability to concentrate. Paige wondered briefly if her mother would mind her dating a man who was between jobs.
Silently she helped clean up the kitchen, then went to her room to work on the ball. Two hours into it, Paige saved everything on the laptop and the disk drive. She was too restless to concentrate.
Sitting on the balcony off her bedroom, she thought of Shane waiting for her the night before, how she had blown him off then and this morning. Her actions now seemed inexcusably rude. Even cruel.
If you cared about a person you didn’t want them upset or angry. She was getting a taste of her own medicine, and it wasn’t very palatable.
Going inside, she went to her drawer and took out the tiny white bikini she’d purchased on her shopping spree with Jackie. Perhaps a swim would clear her mind. There was also the possibility that Shane would see her in the suit and put them both out of their misery.
Changing into her swimsuit, she called her mother to tell her she was going for a swim, grabbed a terry-cloth robe and large towel, and went to the pool. Dropping everything on the chaise lounge, she dove, cutting smoothly, cleanly into the Mediterranean-blue water of the rectangular pool.
She’d been swimming since she was five, but she hadn’t made the cut for the swim team in junior high or high school. There weren’t many things, besides her high school diploma, her college degree, and her job, that she had gone after and obtained.
Why did she think Shane would be any different?
“What are you doing swimming alone at night?”
She went under. Spluttering, regaining her balance and hopefully her poise, she glared at him standing majestically at the edge of the pool. With his beautiful chiseled face, wide shoulders, and muscled legs, she could look at him for hours and never get tired. She’d been so deep in thought that she hadn’t heard his car engine.
“Not wanting to be scared to death and drown, that’s for sure,” she finally answered, wiping the water out of her face.
Kneeling, he stuck his callused hand out. “Come on out. You shouldn’t be swimming alone.”
“I’m not. You’re here,” she told him, treading water smoothly, enjoying just looking at his powerful build. Tonight he had on jeans and a white knit shirt, emphasizing his wide chest and biceps. Even in the dim lights surrounding the pool, he looked positively mouthwatering.
“Paige, my patience is not what it used to be where you’re concerned, so I suggest you do as I asked.” It was a command that brooked no argument.
She frowned at him as a memory surfaced. “You like giving orders.”
“Only when necessary.” He stood up. “If you don’t come out, then I’m coming in.”
“You’re bluffing,” she said, excitement rushing through her. She’d dreamed of seeing Shane with his shirt off again so she could look to her heart’s content, which would be a very long time.
His hands went to the polo shirt, pulling it over his head, tossing it carelessly on top of the things she’d left on the lounge. Hard golden-bronze muscles rippled. Her breath caught in her throat. He was absolutely the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
His reached for the leather belt of his sinful jeans, unfastening, unbuckling, then never pausing or taking his eyes from her, he undid the first button of his jeans, reached for the second button.
Temptation and curiosity vied with decorum and modesty. She caught a glimpse of black silk briefs. E
xcitement pulsed through her. Unfortunately, sanity prevailed as he reached for the third button. “You made your point.” Swimming to the edge of the pool, she reached out her hand to him. His callused one closed around her, solid and sure. She sighed with regret to see he’d redone the jeans. Darn it!
She could tell the exact moment he saw the top, then the high-cut bottoms of her bikini bottom. His hand flexed, his grip tightened. His gaze jerked up to hers, blazing with fire and desire, his breathing changed, grew faster, labored.
Paige gulped and remembered a fable from childhood about the peril of playing with a tiger. She gulped, opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Then she couldn’t speak.
His hot, hungry mouth crashed down on hers, and everything else ceased to exist. He angled his head, deepening the kiss. He devoured her mouth. She relished every precious second, every thrust of his tongue, every gliding motion, every bite on her lips.
Finally, her hands were free to touch his bare chest, feel the incredible heat and muscled strength. She found touching only made the wanting worse. Fire and need splintered through her, leaving her trembling in his arms.
Her breasts felt tight, her nipples hurt. Arching, pressing against him only increased the slow needy ache between her legs. She wanted him too badly to be embarrassed by her erotic response to him. He made her daring. A first.
His avid mouth blazed a fiery trail from her mouth, her throat, the slope of her shoulder. Her body trembled even more as his warm breath stroked her skin just above the swell of her breasts.
Touch me. Kiss me, her mind screamed.
His hand undid the tie to her top, his hand cupping her aching breast, making her legs quiver, wild desire curling through her. The slow hungry lick of his tongue on her distended nipple pulled a low moan of pleasure from deep in her throat. The needy ache intensified below her waist.
Wanting more, her hands clutched his head to her. He gave her what she wanted, pulling the rigid point into his mouth, suckling greedily. Her knees buckled.
Sensation ricocheted through her. She felt herself being lifted, carried. All she could do was hold on tightly. Then she felt the grass at her back and Shane’s glorious weight on top of her.
She expected him to continue driving her insane with need, taking her on a sensual journey that not even in her wildest dreams had she imagined. But suddenly he sat up, bringing her with him. Placing her in his lap, he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.
She could smell the sweet fragrance of the roses, see their shifting outline in the night breeze from the tall lamps stationed throughout the garden rooms. Something was wrong. Shane’s hold was almost desperate. His body trembled against hers. Somehow she knew he feared few things. Alarmed, she tried to push out of his arms. She couldn’t budge him.
“Shane, what’s the matter? Are you sick?”
A ragged chuckle was her answer.
“Shane, you’re scaring me,” she said, finally able to put enough distance between them to look into his taut face. “Are you ill? Did you go to the doctor?”
His forehead rested against hers. “I’m not sick.”
“But you were trembl—”
“Because I’m fighting making love to you.” Now she was the one trembling. His large hands cupped her face. “I care for and respect you and your mother too much for that.”
Paige briefly closed her eyes. Her little teasing had almost resulted in disastrous consequences. But in her defense she hadn’t realized a kiss could cause your body to burn out of control. She’d forgotten the few kisses she’d experienced in the past the second they were over. After last night, she should have known Shane would be different.
She enjoyed his kisses, enjoyed being in his arms, but she didn’t want to cause him discomfort. Her unsteady fingers tied the strings of her top. “I’m sorry.”
He lifted her chin. “I’m not. You didn’t know how much I want you.”
“But I knew how much I want you,” she whispered, wanting him to know he wasn’t in this alone.
“Paige.” Her name was a guttural sound on his lips. He took her mouth again, kissing, nibbling. Then she was beneath him, reveling in the hard, muscled strength of his body pressed against her. He slid his leg between hers. She felt the unmistakable hard ridge of his desire, pressed wantonly against him. Need overshadowed reasoning when he held her.
Suddenly his head lifted. Muttering a curse, he groaned and rolled away from her to lie on his back. Blowing hard, he stared at the sky.
Beside him, but not touching, she glanced over at him, then up at the star-filled night. Shane touched her and she forgot reason. Her mind shut down and her body took command. “Is it always like this?”
“No.” He groped for her hand.
If she had to wait for her body to awaken, she couldn’t have wished for or dreamed of a better man. “I’m glad.”
“I am, too. Now that we’re talking.” He tugged on her hand and she obediently turned her head toward his. “I missed you.”
“I missed you, too.” She rolled toward him and he did the same. “I was out here because you weren’t here and I couldn’t concentrate.”
His hand smoothed a damp tendril of hair from her forehead. “I flew to Dallas this afternoon on business.”
Alarmed, she came up on her elbow. “You aren’t going to relocate there, are you?”
“I told you I’d be here for a while and I meant it,” he said.
“For now . . .” She glanced away and sat up, wrapping her arms around her knees. “We’re back to square one.”
Shane came to his knees, tugging on her hands until she was on her knees facing him as well. “Not quite. We know we miss each other, that we’re explosive together, that despite how we look at relationships, we aren’t going to turn our backs on this.”
“We aren’t?”
“We aren’t,” he repeated firmly, his thumb grazing the top of her hand. “Otherwise you wouldn’t still be here with me, tempting me far more than I ever imagined possible.”
She leaned over and brushed her lips softly against his. “How did you get so smart?”
“I wish. You had me not knowing up from down. A first.” His arms went around her waist, and he brushed a kiss across her waiting lips.
“I wasn’t so sure myself. Which isn’t a first, but these feelings are.” She leaned against him, felt his arms close securely around her. “Scary and exhilarating. I don’t want to be hurt, Shane.”
“Baby.” He pulled her closer to him. “We’ll take this as slow as I can stand it. All right? But it would help if you went back to dressing the way you used to.”
She lifted her head and smiled as he had intended. “I’ll think about it. It just might keep you on your toes.”
“And in a perpetual state of arousal.”
She giggled. His laughter joined hers.
Standing, he pulled her to her feet, then wrapped his arm around her waist. At the chaise he helped her slip on her robe and pulled on his shirt. Hand in hand they walked back inside and up the stairs.
“Tomorrow is Saturday. What do you say we take your mother to breakfast and give her a break from the kitchen? Afterward, I have a surprise for you,” he suggested at her door.
“What kind of surprise?”
He tweaked her nose. “You’ll just have to wait. Dress casual. No skirt. Call your mother and let her know about breakfast. We can leave around nine.”
“I will,” she said. “By the way, I did tell her I was going to the pool.”
“But if you had gotten into trouble, she wouldn’t have known,” he said, his eyes serious.
He was right. As usual. “Next time I’ll wait until you can swim with me.”
“Be sure and wear this suit.”
The lusty need that had yet to completely disappear fluttered low in her body. “I will. Good night.”
“Good night.” He pulled her into his arms again. His lips brushed against hers, then settled firmly to claim her mouth. She
locked her hands behind his neck and gave in to the arching pleasure that only he could give her. And wonder of wonders, she gave him just as much. She felt powerful and lucky, two things she had never experienced before. But then, she’d never been kissed by a man like Shane before.
His hands swept possessively over her, branding her as his. She wouldn’t have had it any other way. Both were breathing heavily when he lifted his head. If she didn’t leave, he might not let her. Heck, she might not let him.
She opened her door. “I’m glad we had our talk.”
“Me, too. Night, honey. Sleep well.”
“I will now.” Entering her room, she whirled around in a circle. Her Black Knight had come home.
Chapter 15
An amusement park. Paige couldn’t believe it when he got in line with all of the other cars on the road leading to the popular Six Flags Over Georgia. “No wonder you told me to dress casual.”
“I thought we both could use a little fun and laughter.” He pulled into a parking space and opened her door.
Hand in hand they joined the people headed for the ticket booths. “I always lamented that I never had a date take me here.” She smiled up at him. “I’m glad now. I’d rather share the first time with you.”
His eyes darkened and she realized he was thinking of them making love for the first time. “My thoughts exactly.”
Paige blushed, but she didn’t lower her head. Smiling, she stepped aside and waited while Shane purchased their tickets. He wanted her, but he was willing to wait even though he had to know she was his for the taking. He was putting what she wanted ahead of his own needs.
How could she not love him? The certainty of that question scared her. She had no idea on how to get him to love her back. She only knew that she wasn’t going to turn away from what they had.
He came back to her, taking her hand, an impish grin on his gorgeous face. “Now let’s go have some fun.”
