Lord, this woman had no idea what she was getting into.
When he pulled up behind the restaurant, Elizabeth gasped. “You own a restaurant?”
“Yep.” Apparently that detail still hadn’t slipped in.
“Huh. I was picturing something more like a jewelry store or hardware.”
Flynn chuckled as he parked. “Not sure how to respond to that.”
Elizabeth jumped down from the SUV before Flynn exited his side. He was beginning to wonder what had possessed her. There were many facets to Elizabeth Kepler. This one was a new one.
It was three thirty in the afternoon, right between the lunch and dinner rush. Flynn led Elizabeth to the rear entrance, knowing his family would be gathered in the banquet room that was used for large parties. They could close the door and hash out whatever emergency his mother had called them all together for. Every once in a while, she had a wild hair and got involved. Most of the time she left the details to Flynn.
Everyone was talking over one another when Flynn entered the back room. He could feel Elizabeth right behind him. She blew out a breath and muttered. “Geez. You weren’t kidding.”
His mother spotted him first, and her face lit up as she shifted her gaze back and forth between Flynn and Elizabeth. “You made it.”
It had been less than fifteen minutes since he spoke to her. She acted like he’d been in Alaska and might not have been able to get there.
His mother brushed past his siblings, her face beaming as she came toward him. A hush settled in the room as she went straight for Elizabeth. She held out a hand. “I’m Julie. Flynn’s mom.” She clasped Elizabeth’s hand in both of hers and held on.
Flynn fought the urge to groan, but hey, this was Elizabeth’s idea. She looked a bit shocked but not nervous. “Elizabeth Kepler. Nice to meet you. I should have had Flynn give me a rundown of everyone’s names.”
His mom giggled in a voice he’d never heard. Still holding Elizabeth’s hand in one of hers, she turned to face the room and pointed at each person as she introduced them. “That’s Rick. He’s my second child. A fireman. Next is Paula, my third child. She’s a yoga instructor. And then Damon. He teaches high school English. And last is Shelly and her husband Matt. They’re expecting their first child in a few weeks.”
Elizabeth nodded politely at each sibling and then surprised the living hell out of Flynn by running her free hand down his arm. She left him tongue-tied. What the hell? He couldn’t imagine what her game was, but she had just given his siblings the green light to pick the wedding venue.
Elizabeth eased around him and settled in a chair. “I’ll just wait here while you figure things out.” She crossed her legs and tucked her windblown hair behind her ears. She looked cool and poised. And then she suddenly sat up straighter, her gaze on the table in front of his siblings. “Those sandwiches look awfully familiar,” she joked.
He couldn’t keep from smiling. He didn’t need to confirm the sandwiches she’d had at Zodiac were from his restaurant. She’d just figured it out.
Flynn felt like he’d been hit by a boulder. He had to jerk his attention away from her when he realized he’d been staring at her in a silent room for several moments. “So, what’s the emergency?” he asked.
Everyone started talking at once before his mother lifted a hand to silence them. “Let me start. If I let any of you tell him, you’ll slant the story and he’ll never agree.”
Flynn narrowed his gaze at his mother as she smoothed her perfectly styled hair at the sides of her face and cleared her throat. Every one of Flynn’s siblings looked exasperated. Not in a malicious way, but in that there-are-too-many-damn-cooks-in-the-kitchen-and-I-want-to-go-first kind of way.
His mother spoke in a calm voice. “One of my dearest friends is celebrating her fiftieth wedding anniversary in a few weeks and she wants us to cater it.”
“Okay.” Flynn couldn’t imagine why this was an emergency. The restaurant didn’t cater too many events as a general rule because they didn’t have the staff or the space, but they did small jobs for close friends.
Paula was the first to interrupt their mother. “Mom, that’s the most watered-down version of the problem I’ve ever heard.”
“Paula’s right,” Rick added as everyone else spoke at once again.
Flynn didn’t want to be here. He wanted to be back on the beach, watching the unnervingly calm woman at his side skip in the sand. He was losing his temper. “Stop. All of you.” He set his gaze on his most level-headed sibling. “Damon, what’s the catch?”
Damon cleared his throat. “There will be two hundred guests.”
Flynn jerked his attention to his mom. “Are you serious? You know we can’t accommodate that.”
His mother stood taller and spoke in a level voice. “I didn’t say it would be easy. That’s why I called you all here. But we can figure out a way to do it. Lavern is one of my oldest friends. I’m not going to let her down.”
“Mom,” Flynn interrupted. “Even if we closed the restaurant, it doesn’t hold two hundred people. We couldn’t possibly prepare the food for that size of crowd.”
“If we all pitched in—”
Everyone spoke over each other again, and Flynn couldn’t blame them. Shelly insisted she was about to pop, so she couldn’t do it. Damon said he had a stack of research papers to grade from three English lit classes. Paula said she had a yoga seminar out of town the following week. And Rick simply glared at the rest of them with his arms crossed because the truth was, he had no interest whatsoever in the family restaurant. He’d always been an outdoors kind of guy. Fighting fires suited him.
Flynn’s mother’s shoulders drooped and she took several deep breaths before worrying her bottom lip. If he wasn’t mistaken, her eyes were watery.
Flynn jumped when someone touched his elbow. He glanced to the side to find Elizabeth gripping his arm and looking up at him. “I can do it.”
He blinked at her. The volume dropped in the room even though her voice had been soft.
“Oh dear,” his mother murmured. “I didn’t mean for you to get involved in our family squabble.”
Elizabeth held Flynn’s gaze for a few moments before shifting to face his mother. “No problem at all. Event planning is my specialty. I just moved here. I don’t have a job lined up yet. I can do it.”
Flynn couldn’t believe his ears. On the one hand, what a fantastic idea. On the other hand, fuck to the no. Never.
His siblings started murmuring their relief as his mother’s face lit up. “You’re an event planner? Flynn used to be an event planner.” She glanced from Elizabeth to Flynn.
He inhaled deeply. “That’s how we know each other. We worked together in Atlanta.”
His mother’s eyes bugged out of her head. Her expression was incredulous. “You’ve known each other for years?” She slid her gaze pointedly to Flynn. “Why have I never heard of her, Flynn?”
Elizabeth cleared her throat. “Actually, Mrs. Taylor, I just moved to Miami a few weeks ago. We ran into each other by coincidence. We haven’t seen each other in three years.”
His mother set her hand over her heart. “Oh. Well, that’s so…sweet.” She smiled.
Flynn rolled his eyes. “Mom…”
Her face lit up again as she jerked her gaze back to Elizabeth. “You can do this event for me?”
Flynn shook his head. “No. This is crazy. No.”
Elizabeth jerked her gaze to his. “Why not? It’s the perfect solution. You know I can do it. It will solve your mom’s problem and keep everyone else from having to stay up nights and work weekends.” She lifted a brow, challenging him.
Flynn turned to face the room. “Give me a minute, please. I need to speak to Elizabeth alone.” Without glancing back at her, he grabbed her hand and led her from the room, around the corner, and down a hallway toward his office. He didn’t utter a single syllable until they were inside the small space, door closed and locked.
Finally, he spun aro
und and faced her. “No.”
She set her hands on her hips. “Why the hell not?”
He glared at her. “The list is long. Where do you want me to start?” He leaned closer to her as he spoke, his voice cracking, his resolve solid. This was the worst idea in the history of ideas.
She cocked her head to one side and crossed her arms. “Let’s hear it.”
“Fine.” He held up a finger. “You can’t stand working with me. We would drive each other crazy in about ten minutes. Then I’d have to fire you and tell my mom it won’t work out after getting her hopes up. By then her friend would be expecting us to do the job and my siblings would grumble and whine for weeks, never letting me live it down.”
Elizabeth drew herself up taller and responded. “Or…you could not be a jackass about it. You know I’m beyond capable of arranging a party for a mere two hundred people. I’ve managed to organize three in the same weekend for ten times that many people before with less fucking notice.” She glanced at the door and lowered her voice. “How about you say, ‘thank you, Elizabeth, for saving my ass. I’ll gladly accept your help, stay out of your way, and let you get the job done without bothering you.’”
He flinched. “No.”
She jerked back, her mouth falling open. “You can’t be serious.”
“Oh, baby, I’m dead serious. You haven’t given me a chance to list the rest of my opposition.”
She crossed her arms and cocked out a hip. “Go ahead.”
He stepped closer to her. She backed up. His head was spinning, and he knew in the next few minutes everything was going to change between them. Forcing a calm voice, he continued. “Do you not understand that I’m fucking into you? I’m so damn into you that I’m hot and bothered even arguing with you. I tried. Lord knows I tried. I lectured myself all last night and this morning about how horrible an idea it was to kiss you. Then I told myself over and over all afternoon that you weren’t right for me. But did I listen? No. Now, you’re in my restaurant, and my entire damn family just fell in love with you, and you can barely tolerate me. So, no, I won’t let you work with me in this lifetime because frankly I know it would ruin any chance I might ever have of getting you to see me as someone you’d ever consider dating.”
She gasped.
He took the last step, flattening her to the wall without touching her. “Because, E, I’d really really like to get you naked and fuck you until you scream my name. So, will I let you work with me in my restaurant even to save my mother’s friendship? Fuck no.”
And that was when Elizabeth lurched forward, threw her arms around his neck, and rose onto her tiptoes to kiss him.
His eyes were wide open, and he stared at her, blinking, his lips not moving for a long time. Finally, when she gave him no choice, he grabbed her by the waist and pressed her into the wall as she tipped her head to one side and deepened the kiss.
He moaned into her mouth, his cock growing harder than it had been all day. Her body molded to his. There was no chance she hadn’t noticed his erection.
She kissed him forever, and when she pulled back, she continued to kiss his cheek, his jaw, his neck. Finally, her lips landed on his ear. “You want to revise your answer, tough guy?”
He moaned in exasperation.
She flicked her tongue over his ear and whispered. “Let me do this for your family. I promise not to fuck it up.”
He pulled his head back to meet her gaze. “I don’t care if you fuck up the stupid dinner party as long as this thing between us isn’t fucked up, because half an hour ago, I was pretty sure you would never let me touch you again. And now your tongue has been in my mouth trying to convince me to do something I know in my heart is foolish and risky.”
“I have a proposition for you.”
He lifted a brow. The way today was going, nothing could possibly surprise him. In fact, he was pretty sure he was actually asleep and this was all a dream he was having still in bed last night. Disappointing since he really wanted that second mind-blowing kiss to have occurred.
She lowered her gaze to his collar and fiddled with it between her fingers and thumbs. What. The. Absolute. Fuck. Her next words made his knees buckle. “Take me back to your house, fuck me until I scream your name, and then we’ll know one way or the other. If it’s good, then we’ll know we need to tread carefully while I handle this event so that we can get more of that good feeling.” She lifted her gaze to his, her eyes dancing with mirth. “If it sucks and we have no chemistry, then who cares if we fight while I work for you? I’ll do this job for your family, and you won’t have to see me again. Your mom wins either way.”
Flynn was too stunned to do anything except blink at her.
“Flynn?”
He licked his lips. “Can we go back a few minutes? I think I misheard you. Just to clarify, did you say you wanted me to take you home and fuck you?”
“Yep.”
He continued to stare, wrapping his mind around this unexpected development. “Why?” He coughed. “I mean why the total change of heart?”
She shrugged. “I decided I’d really like to get laid today, I guess. You’re available. You’re hot. You obviously want me. Why not?”
“I don’t do vanilla, E. If you want to have sex with me, you’ll do it submitting to me.”
She shook her head. “How about if you submit to me instead?”
“Not a chance in hell.”
She chuckled as she patted his chest. “We can work out that little detail when we get to your house.” Before he could respond, she slipped around him, unlocked the door, and opened it. “You coming? Or do you want me to go tell your mom we worked out a plan?”
Flynn finally recovered enough to spin around and reach out and grab her wrist, hauling her back into his embrace. “Unless you really do want to end up walking down the aisle this month, I suggest you maybe don’t mention a word of this odd agreement to my mother.”
She giggled in that tone he decided today he loved, the sound going straight to his cock, causing him to feel the urge to adjust it. “A little faith, Flynn.” With that, she spun around and left him standing in his own office.
Chapter 15
Thirty minutes later, after agreeing to meet with Julie’s friend in the next few days, Elizabeth found herself once again buckled into Flynn’s SUV, driving down the road. The man had blatantly looked all around him before they’d driven away from his restaurant. She was so freaked out about suggesting they have sex that she’d completely forgotten she might have someone following her.
Granted, the likelihood that anyone had tracked her from her hotel to the beach and then here was beyond slim. In fact, the chances of her ever seeing that truck again were also nearly non-existent. It had probably been a fluke. Some guy saw her and trailed her and gave up. But Flynn wasn’t relenting. He was diligent every time they got back in the car.
It was no wonder she hadn’t thought much about it. She was completely out of her mind. The entire day had been an out-of-body experience. She never should have agreed to lunch in the first place. Or hell, why did she have to text him an apology this morning? This was all her fault. Her curiosity got ahold of her and wouldn’t let go.
All day long she’d struggled to avoid staring at his lips, wondering if that kiss last night had been an anomaly. And he’d been so damn nice to her. A total gentleman. He was nothing like the man she’d worked with in Atlanta. Then again, she supposed she was also a totally different person outside of that high-stress environment.
Lunch had been delicious and entertaining. Their time walking along the beach had made her feel lighter than she had since she was a kid. She couldn’t explain why she insisted on going with him to his restaurant except that she didn’t want him to drop her off and end the date.
The entire time his family had argued, she’d stared at Flynn, wondering why he hadn’t thought of the solution she finally offered. And good God, what on Earth possessed her to offer to have sex with him?
I
t’s been too long since you let a man near you, she reminded herself. Do it. Let him in. Give him a chance.
She stared at his profile as he drove. He was handsome. Tremendously so. He was confident. Caring. Genuine. He loved his mom and all of his siblings. How could anyone not like a man who loved his mom?
It wasn’t as if Elizabeth had intentionally not had sex in over a decade. It had just happened. She’d hardened after Master Phil. Shut herself off. Buried herself in her work. Climbed every corporate ladder. She’d been busy.
Okay, that wasn’t exactly true. She had very intentionally not let a single person touch her in twelve years. She wouldn’t permit herself to take that kind of risk.
She was frightened. Maybe this was a bad idea. The worst possibly. She was certifiable for even suggesting they have sex.
She was also hot and bothered, and that didn’t happen often. Maybe there was something to the saying that opposites attract. If someone had told her two weeks ago that she would have propositioned Flynn Taylor today, she would have laughed them off the planet.
Here she was, in his car, watching him drive, and wondering what it would feel like to have his five-o’clock shadow abrading her inner thighs. She shivered.
He glanced at her and then reached over and grabbed her hand as they came to a light. “You’re very quiet.”
“I’m wondering if I’ve lost my mind,” she admitted as she dipped her head and traced the back of his hand with her fingers.
“Not going to lie. I’m also wondering what was in the salsa.” He chuckled and then squeezed her hand. “Relax. I would never hold you to anything you said while under the influence of caffeine and jalapeños.”
Somehow he managed to calm her with his words, and within no time he was pulling into the driveway of what she had to assume was his house. She was a bit surprised that it was white with nautical blue trim. She was not surprised that the landscaping was pristine.
She flinched when Flynn suddenly opened her door. One corner of his mouth was lifted. “You want to get out? We can sit in the car in the driveway if you’d prefer.”
Tempting Elizabeth Page 8
