by Liz Talley
“No, it’s not about sex.” He kissed her gently. “It’s about way more than sex. I didn’t bring you here to ravish you. I’m tired of all the prying eyes around town. I love Oak Stand, but there isn’t much privacy to be had.”
She touched her tongue to her lips, savoring his taste. “This would be easier if it was only a physical thing. And so you know, I’m not opposed to being ravished.”
He folded her into his arms, brushing his lips against the hair at her temple. His lips were soft and the moment tender. She tilted her face to his and he met her lips with his. The caress said more than “I want you,” and the pleasure of knowing that wrapped around her like a cashmere blanket, soft and priceless. She brushed her fingers through the short hair at his nape and opened herself up to him, physically and emotionally.
He broke their kiss. “I have wine.”
“You don’t have to get me drunk to score.”
He closed his eyes and shook his head. “I didn’t bring you here to score.”
“You don’t want to score?”
He opened his eyes. “I’m not stupid. I’d never turn down the vampire queen.”
“Smart man. Let’s have some wine.”
Adam climbed from the car, grabbing the blanket and basket, pulling her with him. Crickets and the occasional sound of a barn owl were their only companions. The grove of trees hid them from the road, and, for once, Scarlet thought she could dig being a country girl. Moonlight, summer grass and a hot, willing man. What more could a woman want?
Adam chose a dry spot and spread out the quilt. Scarlet slipped off her flip-flops, then sank onto the cover as he busied himself with uncorking the wine and setting out strawberries, grapes and chocolates. Feast laid out, he pulled her into his lap.
She took the plastic glass of wine from his hand. “You’re pretty good at seduction.”
He sobered. “It doesn’t have to be seduction. Honestly, I was going for romance.”
“Mission accomplished. I can’t imagine anything more romantic than this.” She took a sip, savoring the rich taste on her tongue. The surface of the pond sparkled in places as the katydids started a serenade. He kissed her. He tasted like spicy cabernet when she opened her mouth to him, and it caused an intense wave of desire to crash over her. He tasted divine.
“Adam,” she groaned as his hands moved over her, sliding from her hip to her shoulder, tipping her onto the quilt. He took her glass and tossed it onto the grass, following with his own glass.
Adam covered her, still cradling her head. His mouth was soft, yet demanding. She met his passion with that of her own, running her hands over his shoulders, down his back and back up to the scruffiness of his jaw. She allowed her fingers to move along his lean cheek, memorizing every detail.
“I like romantic, Adam, but would seduction be okay, too?”
He worked his way from her mouth toward her ear. “I thought that’s what I was doing,” he whispered.
She smiled at the branches above her and pulled him even harder to her, shifting the mood from sweet to searing. Adam tugged her T-shirt up, cupping her breast through the lacy bra. His thumb found her nipple as his mouth began a journey down her neck.
He struggled with her shirt, so she lifted herself and yanked it over her head. But she didn’t stop there. She wiggled out of the shorts and kicked them aside, too. Then she lay before him in the black lace bra and matching panties she’d tempted him with the night they’d played games in the inn’s backyard.
“Damn,” he groaned, tracing one of her ribs with a single finger.
She inhaled the night air and watched as his gaze devoured her flesh. He stroked her as if she were a great treasure and he the fortunate man who’d discovered her.
“You’re beautiful.” He lowered his head to kiss her shoulder before working his way toward the edge of lace that held her breasts. “You smell like summer, like heat and flowers.”
“That’s my name,” she breathed, reaching for him, drawing his mouth to hers. “My real name is Summer.”
He smiled against her lips before tasting her again. “But you are much more a Scarlet. Hot, vivid and—” he tugged her hair “—red.”
She tugged the T-shirt from his waistband. “I’m ready to see what you tempted me with that night at Serendipity.”
He pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it on top of her abandoned one. She ran her fingers over his chest. He was magnificent. Tight, lean and tough. “Very nice.” She licked his collarbone.
“Ah, hell, don’t do that.” He grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head. “Do you want me to come like a schoolboy in my shorts?”
“You’re not wearing shorts.”
But he wasn’t paying attention to her words. His focus was on her body. His mouth blazed a trail over her skin, leaving fire in its wake. He licked, suckled her through her bra and nipped sensitive spots along the way. Finally, he released her arms and unhooked the front clasp of her bra and her breasts popped free.
“Oh, yes.” He cupped her with an almost reverent touch. “You are lovelier than anything I’ve seen.”
And Scarlet believed him.
He worshipped her breasts for what seemed like hours, driving her mad, all the while stroking her body, dipping and testing the boundaries of her restraint.
“Please,” she groaned as he teased her through the lace panties. “Adam, please.”
He glanced up and gave her a most wicked smile. Then he unbuttoned his jeans, slid them, along with his boxers, off his body. She raised her head to watch.
Her uptight, by-the-book lawman looked like a naughty Greek god. No other way to describe how delicious he was lit by the moon. Hard and unyielding, a marbled statue in the softness of a summer night. Then he peeled her panties from her hips, down her legs. But before he allowed them to join the other clothing strewn on the grass, he feathered a kiss through the hair at the juncture of her thighs, and his tongue tasted her, light and quick.
She wanted more.
She tugged his hair.
“Ah, not yet, my love. Not yet.”
She tugged harder and he laughed against her belly.
“Adam,” she pleaded, stroking his shoulders. How dare he be so bad?
He pulled her to him, allowing their naked bodies to touch completely for the first time. The heat between them intensified as her breasts pressed to his chest, his erection pulsed hard against the softness of her belly. Even their feet intertwined. He insinuated one of his legs between hers, applying delicious pressure where she needed it most. She whimpered.
He grinned.
Damn, he knew exactly what he was doing. He was on a mission to drive her insane. “Are you punishing me?”
He bent his head and sucked one of her nipples into his mouth. She moaned.
“Someone shouldn’t have crumpled her speeding ticket and thrown it into a fast-food bag,” he murmured against her belly button.
She laughed. “Oh, you’re a wolf in sheep’s clothing, huh? Pretend to be righteous, but exact revenge at the right moment.”
He did something spectacular with his tongue and she lost the ability to communicate for a few minutes.
He lifted his head. “Are you complaining about my method of punishment?”
“Please, continue. It’s the best punishment I’ve had.”
He laughed and went back to teaching her why crime sometimes paid.
AFTER BRINGING SCARLET to a splendid climax, Adam took a moment to treasure the taste of her on his lips, the feel of her soft body beneath his hands, the sound of her panting in his ear.
He’d never experienced a woman who was so sexy. He’d been with many, but none he’d loved. This one he was fairly certain had caught his heart well and good.
Her breasts were large and perfect, rose-tipped like her name. They jiggled as he pulled her against him, causing his erection to throb and his balls to tighten.
No more playing around. He needed to sink inside her, bind her to him
in that way men had been claiming mates throughout time. For there was one certainty he knew. Scarlet Rose had been made for him.
He rolled her to her side and kissed the crook of her neck. He could taste the salty sweetness of her release in the thick night air, and he felt out-of-control lust for this woman.
He reached for the picnic basket and withdrew a condom from the side pocket. Quickly, he sheathed himself and pushed Scarlet onto her back. Her eyes were still closed and they flew open.
“That was—”
“Good?”
She shook her head and lifted herself onto an elbow. “No, it was beautiful.”
She slid a hand down his stomach and clasped his erection. The pressure of her hand nearly drove him over the line. “Easy, I’m close.”
She smiled, and pulled him down for a kiss. Then she shoved him onto his back and rolled on top of him.
“You’ve been naughty,” she said, capturing his mouth in a kiss. He kissed her back. Hard.
“I wasn’t always a good boy,” he said, capturing one of her satin breasts and bestowing a kiss upon it.
Scarlet lifted herself, then lowered onto him, sheathing him in the hot wetness of her body.
“Oh, good—” He couldn’t finish because she’d begun to move.
“Yes, good would be the word.” She nipped his ear.
And then his sweet redhead became the vixen he loved. She sat back, tossing her red tresses over her, shoulder and rode him. Her breasts bounced in the moonlight as she taught him a lesson about playing games with a temptress.
And he loved every millisecond of that lesson.
Within minutes, his cries mingled with hers as they both catapulted into mindless bliss, riding wave upon wave of sheer pleasure until Scarlet crashed onto his chest.
Then nothing more was heard, except them gasping for breath with the accompaniment of the sounds of the countryside.
CHAPTER TWENTY
SCARLET ENDED UP with poison ivy, which was one mark against the whole country-living idea. However, it was a small price to pay for the wonderful night she’d spent in Adam’s arms on the bank of his secret pond. It had truly been one of the best nights of her life. Not because their lovemaking had been explosive, but because they’d lain wrapped in the quilt, sharing favorite memories of their childhood, sipping cabernet and devouring decadent dark chocolate.
A few fireflies had shown up to celebrate with them and the stars had steadfastly observed Scarlet fall head over heels for the man she’d once thought of as humorless and tight-assed.
And that head-over-heels thing had been both spiritual and literal.
The man was good at everything he did.
“What are you smiling about?” Rayne asked, passing the morning newspaper to Brent. “You’re almost cheerful. Are you that happy to be leaving Oak Stand?”
Scarlet set the lid on the butter dish. “Who said I’m leaving?”
Brent lowered the sports section to peer at her.
Rayne shrugged. “Well, you said your community service was over. I figured—”
“I have the play coming up. I can’t leave.”
Brent smiled. “That’s unexpected.”
“Why?” Scarlet asked, taking a bite of toast. She was ravenous. Strawberries and chocolate had only gone so far in supplying her with the calories she’d lost last night. She scratched her ankle.
He shrugged. “Because don’t you have an audition or something?”
“I sent a tape. And why wouldn’t I follow through on my obligation to direct the play?
“Oh, I forgot. You think I can’t finish stuff.” Scarlet grabbed the last piece of bacon. Henry had left for school over an hour ago so there was no one there to protest her pigging out. “See? I finished the bacon.”
The phone interrupted the rebuke she had intended on delivering to her sister and her henchman.
Rayne answered it. “It’s for you. Some assistant who wants you to hold for a David Sparrow?”
Scarlet’s fork clattered to the plate. She almost knocked over her juice glass in her scramble to grab the receiver.
Rayne held it out of reach and mouthed, “Who is he?”
Scarlet ignored her sister, gesturing impatiently until Rayne gave up the cordless. Scarlet left the toast behind as she pushed through the swinging door into the kitchen.
“This is Scarlet Rose,” she said into the receiver.
“Hello, Scarlet. This is Etta. Mr. Sparrow would like to speak with you. Can you hold?”
She paced while she waited for David to come on the line.
“Hi, Scarlet. This is David Sparrow.”
They exchanged niceties, then the director got down to business. “I received your audition tape. Casting really liked it and I’m also intrigued.”
“Thank you,” Scarlet murmured, feeling nauseous. Her hands shook because she knew what this call meant. Knew she was on the verge of something big.
“I’d like to have you do a private read for us. Perhaps let you do it with Hugh and see how you two play off each other.”
She screwed her eyes closed and tried to keep her cool. Hugh flippin’ Jackman. Or was it Hugh Grant? Oh, snap! Either one would be huge. “I’d love to do that. When would you like to meet with me?”
“I know it’s short notice, but I’d like to meet with you Saturday afternoon with the read the following morning. Is that doable for you?”
Oh, crap. Scenes from The Magpie Thief would be performed on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. There would be no way to audition for Sparrow in L.A. then make it back to Texas in time to direct the play. Dress rehearsal and dinner at the center had already been set for Saturday evening. Half the guys in rehab had family coming in and the tickets had sold out.
“Sorry, I’ve got a commitment then. I could try to move things around. I want to—”
“I wish I could offer you another time,” he interrupted, “but we’re already behind schedule. The production will be tight on this one, so if you can’t make it by Saturday, we’ll have to move forward and look at other possibilities.”
“I understand,” Scarlet murmured. “I don’t want to pass up the chance to work with you, so I’ll move my commitments here. I’ll be in L.A. tomorrow morning.”
She wrote down the meeting place and time, then hung up.
She sank onto a stool, overwhelmed with guilt. What else could she have done? This was her big break, her chance to step away from the small screen and onto the big screen. The part wasn’t huge, but it was cleverly written and deeply emotional and would stretch her acting ability beyond any other role she’d ever taken.
Adam.
Her heart skipped a beat. What about him…and her? And the magic they’d shared last night? A mere six hours ago, she’d left him with a tender kiss, a sweet promise for a beginning.
Not an end.
But she had to go to L.A. Acting was her life. The guys at the center would be disappointed, but they would understand. Tipsy Nolan, the drama teacher at the high school, could step into Scarlet’s shoes without blinking. The show would go on, the town would see the message hidden in the children’s book and Scarlet would get her biggest break since she’d donned her vampy catsuit.
But nothing would be solved with Adam.
She didn’t know how she could leave him after last night. When she’d gotten so attached to the idea of being with him. Everything felt so confusing, like being stuck in a mirrored fun house, not knowing which was the right direction to head. Nothing familiar and everything disjointed.
Rayne stuck her head in the door. “I’ve got to head over to our office for a preproduction meeting. We’re filming here in a few hours, so you’ll need to clear out. Is everything okay?”
“I’ll be clearing out to L.A.,” Scarlet muttered, running her finger around the uneven tile of the bar.
“L.A.?”
“I’ve got a callback on Saturday.”
“I thought the dress rehearsal was on Saturday.”
/> “It is.”
Rayne lifted her eyebrows. “Oh, I see.”
No, she didn’t see. This wasn’t about the play. Well, it was. But it was more about Adam. She didn’t want to leave in the middle of their beginning. Even though it wasn’t really their beginning—they’d been circling each other for weeks. It was the beginning of something really good for both of them.
And she knew what Rayne thought. Another thing Scarlet has left unfinished. Unfortunately, it was true.
This time she left more than one thing unfinished.
She might be leaving her chance at love behind.
IF A DESIGNER WERE TO DESCRIBE Adam’s small home on Hickory Street, she would use words like blank slate or austere and simplistic to basically mean undecorated. Everything was colorless and plain.
White siding. Black shutters. Black door. Beige carpet. Blue couch. No art, save what Scarlet thought might be an original Picasso, or a really good knockoff.
But there was nothing simple about the man pacing the carpet. “I don’t understand why he can’t wait. I thought movies took forever to get made.”
From her perch on the couch, Scarlet spread her hands apart. “They do, but there are schedules and they are behind. They can’t proceed without a complete cast. It’s a huge production, juggling actors’ other commitments, locations. I could go on and on, but really, what it boils down to is I have to go.”
He stopped, his green eyes flashing. “You couldn’t if you were still serving your sentence.”
“But I’m not.”
He grimaced and resumed pacing. Several seconds ticked off on the clock hanging over the one armchair.
“Adam, I don’t want to leave, but I have to.”
He stopped again. “Why? Why do you have to go to this audition? It’s not a commitment you already have. It’s one you want.”
“Because it’s my career. My future.”
He sank into the armchair. “But you have a career. You’re on a new show, one that’s generating tons of interest. Why do you need this other role?”
She sighed. “Look, I didn’t pursue the feelings we had between us because of your career, because of your reputation. How can you ask me to toss aside the opportunity of a lifetime, when you weren’t willing to do the same for me? That’s a double standard.”
