Lorraine had a feeling that if it were up to her parents, she never would be allowed that luxury.
She was through with making up for that long-ago mistake.
For the next hour she continued to play the perfect hostess alongside her mother, making sure everyone enjoyed themselves. But the entire time Lorraine was mentally counting down the minutes until she could go to Carter. She needed to apologize for her mother. She refused to allow him to think that he wasn’t good enough for her, which was exactly what her mother was aiming for with the way she’d treated him.
Lorraine stayed just long enough to bade the final guests goodbye and give Trina the biggest hug she could; then she quickly left the Drake and walked the few blocks to Lillian’s.
When she entered the bakery, there was a woman behind the counter this time. She looked a few years younger than Lorraine.
“Welcome to Lillian’s,” she greeted. “Is there something I can help you with?”
“Yes, I was hoping to speak to Carter.”
The woman’s brows spiked and her eyes sparkled with recognition. “You’re Lorraine Hawthorne-Hayes,” she said. “I recognize you from the magazine article in Chicago Today. I absolutely love the new chocolate diamonds you were modeling in the magazine.”
“Thank you,” Lorraine said, concealing a grimace. That magazine spread had been her father’s idea.
“I’m Monica Drayson, by the way, Carter’s cousin.”
“It is very nice to meet you, Monica. Is Carter here?” Lorraine asked, anxious to speak to him.
“Yes, he’s in the kitchen. I’ll get him.” Another person entered the store and Monica held up one finger. “As soon as I take care of this customer,” she said.
As she stood among the desserts in the bakery’s showroom, Lorraine had to physically stop herself from going into the kitchen and getting Carter herself. No more than three minutes had passed, but it seemed like an hour.
Monica finally returned her attention to Lorraine, saying, “Sorry about that. Let me get Carter.”
She left, and a minute later, returned to the showroom...without Carter.
Lorraine’s stomach plummeted. Was he going to refuse to see her?
The urge to strangle her mother nearly overwhelmed her, but then the door leading to the back portion of the building swung open and Carter walked out. He was dressed as he was before, but with the added devastating effect of an apron tied around his waist and a smidgen of flour on his cheek. He looked absolutely edible.
“Hello, Carter,” Lorraine said, her heart thumping.
“Hi.” He crossed his arms over his chest. The defensive stance was not the least bit encouraging.
Lorraine glanced to the right and found his cousin Monica staring unabashedly at them.
“Is there somewhere we can go to talk?” Lorraine asked. “Perhaps that office we visited before, if it’s unoccupied?”
He hesitated for a moment, then nodded and motioned for her to follow him. As soon as Carter closed the door to the office, Lorraine started to apologize.
She never got the chance.
Carter spun her around, pinned her against the door and attacked her mouth with a deep, stirring kiss that had her knees weak and her entire body quaking with want. He pushed his tongue past her lips, surging in and out of her mouth with delicious strokes. His hands climbed up her sides, resting next to her breasts for a few moments before covering them. His thumbs grazed her nipples, causing them to pebble despite the barrier her bra and sweater created.
Lorraine glided her hand up to the back of his head, cradling it. She held his head firm, needing to keep it right where it was.
After another full minute, Carter finally ended the assault on her mouth and her senses. He took a step back, his eyes as dazed as she knew her own must be.
“I needed to get that out of the way first,” he said, rubbing his hands against his thighs.
“O-okay,” Lorraine stammered, a bit dazed.
“How did everything go with your sister’s shower?” he asked, much quicker on the recovery than she was.
“Quite well,” she said. “Trina was very happy, and everyone loved the cake.”
He nodded. “Good.”
“Carter—” Lorraine started, but he cut her off.
“Don’t worry about it,” he said.
“No.” She shook her head. “I must apologize for the way my mother treated you. She...” Lorraine decided to be honest. “She is one of the most shallow, self-absorbed people you will ever meet.”
“Sounds lovely,” he said sardonically.
Lorraine couldn’t help feeling horrible for painting her mother in such a light, but it was the truth.
“Carter, my family life is...complicated,” she said.
“You think mine isn’t?” He laughed, then stretched his hands out, as if trying to encompass the room. “You just stepped into the den of complicated family life. You hear how nice and quiet everything is right now? Just stick around for another twenty minutes or so. It’ll be pure chaos.”
“Everyone has their share of family drama,” she agreed. “I suppose there are varying degrees of it.” She took a deep breath, lacing her hands in front of her. “As much as I resent it, I have a certain obligation as a Hawthorne-Hayes. I didn’t ask for it. I was born into it, but it’s there.”
“Which means you can’t be seen with a guy who’s just a baker? Is that it? Are you trying to tell me that I’m not good enough for you, Lorraine?”
“No!” she practically shouted. “Carter, you are one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. No one has made me laugh the way you do. You are exactly what I need, even though I had no idea how much I needed it.”
“So, even though your mother doesn’t approve, you’re not going to kick me to the curb?”
She stepped up to him and cradled his face in her hands. “Never,” she said. “I’ve had to sacrifice too much of myself already because of my obligations as a Hawthorne-Hayes. I will not sacrifice you, too.”
She touched her lips to his in what she’d intended to be an easy, sedate kiss, but she was quickly learning that easy and sedate were not parts of Carter’s vocabulary. The kiss quickly became more heated, and several minutes later, when she was finally able to tear herself away from his tempting mouth, Lorraine had come to a conclusion.
She wanted this man. She wanted him in a way she had never wanted another man. It was more than that; she deserved Carter. She’d sacrificed enough; it was time she go after what she really wanted.
“How much longer will you be here at the bakery?” she asked.
“I’m officially off the clock,” he told her. “I was putting the finishing touches on my final cake of the day when Monica came in to tell me you were here.”
Lorraine took a deep breath. She could do this. She was ready for this.
“In that case, is there somewhere we can go?” she asked. “Somewhere private?”
Lorraine could tell he understood what she was asking by the way his eyes instantly smoldered.
“We could go to my place,” he said.
She stared into his eyes, making her feelings known. Then she nodded. Carter grabbed her by the hand and quickly left the office.
Chapter 7
By the time they arrived at his apartment, Carter was practically shaking with anticipation. The thirty-minute drive had taken nearly twice that long because of traffic, but it felt as if it had taken a lifetime. He needed to calm down and get his body under control before he pounced on Lorraine and was finished before they really had the chance to start.
This wasn’t him. He took his time, seeing to his partner’s pleasure first. Always.
Except, when it came to Lorraine, everything he knew about himself seemed to go out the window. She brought out a side of him he didn’t know existed. He craved this woman like no other before her, which was why he needed to make sure he did this right. He needed to slow down, take his time. The fact that he wanted to pin
her to the wall as soon as he got her inside made the thought of slowing down unbearable.
Carter unlocked his front door and opened it, gesturing for her to go in ahead of him.
“Welcome to my humble abode.”
“Thank you,” Lorraine said.
Gone was the temptress who’d boldly asked him to take her somewhere more private. Her smile was shy, her voice barely a whisper. Carter wondered if she would really go through with this. He should prepare himself for the likelihood that he would spontaneously combust if she decided she wasn’t ready.
“Your mother would probably say you were slumming it,” Carter added with a laugh, but he could tell from Lorraine’s instant mood change that it was the wrong thing to say.
“Carter, I’m truly sorry about the way she behaved. Please don’t hold it against me.”
“No, I’m the one who’s sorry. It was a bad joke.”
She looked around. “I wouldn’t exactly call this slumming it. This apartment is amazing.”
By most standards, his apartment was to die for. He was lucky enough to live in one of the Chicago area’s most enviable neighborhoods, and had had the place professionally decorated by a sought-after interior designer. It was far more than most men his age could ever hope to afford. But when he tried to see it from Lorraine’s eyes, it felt a bit lacking. Compared to that palace overlooking Lake Michigan where she lived, his stylish home really was slumming it.
“I must admit that I’m jealous,” Lorraine said.
“Why would you be jealous of this? Have you taken a good look at your place?”
“There is a big difference, Carter. It is not my place. It’s my parents’ home.”
“But I thought you liked living there?”
Lorraine paused for a moment. “It’s not a matter of whether I like or dislike living with my parents. For the most part, I continue to live there because it’s what has been expected of me. As I mentioned before, it’s complicated. But once Trina leaves, I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to go on living there. I’m ready for a change in my life.”
“Do I have something to do with that change?” Carter asked.
“You have everything to do with that change,” she said, walking up to him and linking her hands behind his head. She looked into his eyes and he saw so much in there: gratitude, acceptance, heat. He loved seeing that heat in her eyes.
“I’ve spent so much time these past few years trying to be what everyone expects me to be. I lost track of who I really am inside. You’ve helped me to rediscover the real Lorraine.”
“And who is the real Lorraine?” he asked. “What does she want?”
“Right now she wants this.” Lorraine pulled his head down and touched her lips to his.
The kiss was slow, sensual. Carter’s skin tingled, as if being attacked by a million pinpricks. He rubbed his hands up and down Lorraine’s sides, finally slipping one up her back and going for the single clasp of her bra. He unhooked it and quickly moved his palms to her breasts, caressing them underneath her sweater.
Lorraine moaned against his mouth, her body relaxing into him.
Carter wanted to continue the slow, sweet kiss, but his body wouldn’t allow it. It was screaming for her.
“Let’s go to the bedroom,” he said.
Once there, he returned to her lips. He couldn’t get enough of her, or how she made him feel with every sexy moan that escaped her throat. She pulled off her sweater and tossed it in a move that was so contradictory to her usually proper demeanor, Carter nearly laughed out loud. But he couldn’t get a sound past the thick knot of lust lodged in his throat. Standing before him in nothing but her skirt, she was like a fantasy come to life.
Carter laid her on his bed, following her down, stretching over her body. He bent his head over one breast, pulling the taut peak between his lips as his free hand snaked beneath her skirt. He caught one edge of her panties, and Lorraine caught the other side. Together they pulled the satin down her legs.
Her breaths came in hurried, shallow pants. The sexy sound pulsed in his brain, an aphrodisiac lighting his body on fire.
Carter lifted himself up long enough to grab a condom from the top drawer of the nightstand. He ripped the package open with his teeth, unzipped his pants, pulled himself out and rolled the latex over his erection, his hand shaking in anticipation.
With all the finesse of a sixteen-year-old virgin, he pushed Lorraine’s skirt up, spread her legs and entered her.
The heat was unreal. He tried to keep himself still long enough to concentrate on how her incredibly tight body felt wrapped around him, but the compulsion to pump his hips was too great. He moved in and out of her in rapid succession, pistoning his hips, lifting her off the bed with the force of his movement.
Lorraine’s arms locked tight around his neck, and her thighs locked even tighter around his waist. Carter buried his head against the curve of her neck, opening his mouth and sucking on her moist, fragrant skin.
After just a few long, strong strokes, he felt Lorraine’s body clench around his shaft. She screamed, clawing at his back, her nails biting into his skin even through his shirt.
Carter bit down on her neck as his release rushed out of him. He collapsed on top of her, his shaking limbs unable to hold him up a moment longer. He was completely spent; embarrassingly so.
Shit, he hadn’t even pulled his pants down.
“Damn, Lorraine. I’m sorry.”
She peered up at him. “Why are you apologizing?”
“Because I’m usually good for more than five minutes,” he said, willing his limbs the strength to push off of her. “I’ve never come that fast before.”
He flopped on the bed, his chest heaving with his labored breaths.
“Actually, I believe it was closer to four minutes, but who’s watching the clock?” Her teasing laugh floated around the bedroom.
Carter let out a groan. “This is embarrassing.”
“Stop it,” she admonished. “I’m only teasing you, Carter.” She turned onto her side, bracing her chin in her upturned palm. “It was perfect.”
“No, it was definitely not perfect,” he said, capturing Lorraine’s tiny waist and hoisting her up until she straddled his lap. “But give me a few minutes to recover. I’ll show you perfect.”
An hour later, Carter was certain he was on the verge of cardiac arrest. His heart was beating at such a rapid pace it felt as if it were banging on the walls of his chest. Once again, he found himself flat on his back and staring up at the ceiling as he tried to catch his breath.
“This is excessive,” Lorraine blew out on a ragged sigh.
“I think we passed excessive after the third time. I don’t know what you would call this.”
He levered himself up on one elbow and stared down at her. Her fair skin was flushed from their marathon lovemaking, her cheekbones a delicate pink. With her thick, highlighted hair fanned around her, she looked like a goddess lying there on his sheets.
“Damn, you’re beautiful,” Carter said, his chest tightening with his swift realization. She was easily one of the sexiest, most beautiful women he’d ever taken to bed. The way her honeyed skin glistened, she seemed almost otherworldly, like an angel sent down from heaven.
Yet, when he’d first laid eyes on her, Carter had dismissed her as not being his type. Nothing had changed about her appearance, so why was he all of a sudden seeing her in such a different light?
An uncomfortable heaviness settled in Carter’s chest, weighing him down. He felt an overwhelming need to evade this new, unfamiliar feeling stirring in his gut. He was afraid to examine it, afraid of what he would find if he explored why just the thought of the woman stretched out beside him made his heart ache with tenderness, his pulse quicken with desire.
Why did being with Lorraine feel so different from all the other women he’d taken to bed?
Carter covered his eyes with his forearm and swallowed a groan, determined to block out the four-letter word
that throbbed in his brain. This wasn’t love. Love didn’t happen this quickly. He wasn’t convinced it happened at all for some people, himself in particular.
He was the carefree one, the one destined to be like his perpetually single father. If he couldn’t get with one woman, another was usually there, waiting in the wings.
Yet, if there was another woman waiting for him, Carter knew he would dismiss her in an instant. He didn’t want anyone else, only the woman lying next to him.
And it scared the hell out of him.
Carter pushed himself up from the bed. The need to put some distance between what had just happened and what he was feeling all but consumed him. He grabbed a pair of sweats and a T-shirt from his drawer and went into the bathroom to clean up and change. When he reentered his bedroom, Lorraine was sitting up in the bed, covered in a sheet, her hands wrapped around her legs.
They stared at each other for several moments, not saying anything.
“Do you—”
“Perhaps I should—”
Carter gestured for her to go first.
“I was going to say that I should probably return home,” she said. “It’s late.”
Carter remained silent. Something told him that letting her go was the wrong thing to do. They needed to talk, to sort this out. But something even stronger reasoned that letting her go was exactly what he should do. Before he sorted anything out with Lorraine, he first needed to sort it out in his own head.
“Okay,” he answered her. Carter thought he saw her flinch, but it was so fleeting he couldn’t be sure. “Do you need me to bring you home?”
She pulled in a deep breath, and said, “No. I can call a cab.”
“Okay, then.” That was definitely hurt that he saw flash across her face. “Wait,” he started to say, but Lorraine held her hand up.
“No, it’s fine.” Her head bobbed with a curt nod. “I’m fine.”
She pushed up from the bed, picked her clothes up from the floor and went into the bathroom. Carter walked to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. He leaned against the counter and gulped down half of it.
Delectable Desire Page 9
