Returning to his seat, he mourned the loss of seeing the entrancing cleavage pressed above the top of her dress. A server came offering coffee, tea or hot chocolate, and after taking their drink order he left menus that they read in silence. Minutes later the server returned with a heavy cream-and-sugar coffee for him and green tea for her. They placed their orders—the ribs for him, hearty beef stew and corn bread for her—and settled back to wait for it.
Des broke the silence. “I never would’ve dreamed it was you.” She stared at him over the rim of her mug before placing it back on the table.
He kept his hands around his mug, enjoying the warmth from the liquid inside as it mingled with the heat of arousal currently swirling through his body. “Same. You were the last person I expected.”
“And yet here we are.” She took another sip of her tea.
“Here we are.” Maurice didn’t drink again for fear that the hot coffee mixed with desire burning brighter than the fire a few feet away would be explosive. “Are you nervous?”
This time when she set the mug down, she pulled her arms from the table and let them rest in her lap. “Nervous about what? Having dinner with a man I’ve treated like a brother for five years, or having wild, passionate sex with that man?”
Again, with her instinctual candor. Normally, he wasn’t averse to brash talking, especially when it concerned sex, but coming from Des, he’d have to get used to it. “Well, since we’ve had dinner together plenty of times before, the latter, of course.”
Her tongue eased between her lips, brushing over them in a way he prayed it’d brush over his dick at some point. He sucked in a breath, not even realizing he was holding it until she spoke.
“No. I wouldn’t say nervous. I mean you’re right, we’ve had dinner together before. We’ve shared working lunches and have even spent a good amount of recreational time together. If you count the days during the summer when your parents have cookouts and I sit by the pool watching you and your brothers threaten to toss Riley in.” She held his gaze and took a slow breath. “It makes sense that we address the possibility that we may have sex this weekend.”
“How do you feel about that possibility?” Because he was feeling mighty anxious about eating this meal as quickly as he could and then getting back to the hotel with her.
“I’ve had sex before.” She tried for a casual shrug, but the intense look in her eyes told him this was anything but routine for her. “Of course, I’ve never thought of you in a sexual way.”
“Wow. Okay, well, don’t take any pity on my ego.” He tried to laugh it off, but that stung just a bit.
“Did you not hear the comment about me thinking of you as a brother?” She shook her head. “Tell me you thought of me as a date.”
He couldn’t tell her that. “Touché. I’ve obviously noticed that you’re an attractive woman. I’d have to be blind not to, but yeah, I never really put you in that category.”
“Well, that’s probably a good thing considering how you treat your dates,” she quipped and then looked at him as if she wanted to take back that comment.
There was no need. The truth was the truth. “But now that’s all changed. The way I thought of you before realizing you’d written those emails is long gone.”
Reaching a hand up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, she nodded. “Same. Now I can only see you as a man. A very attractive and alluring man.”
His dick took that compliment and throbbed with pride. “A man that you’re considering having sex with this weekend.” A statement and a question all rolled into one.
She hesitated briefly. “A man I’mseriouslyconsidering having sex with this weekend.”
CHAPTER THREE
“WHAT’SYOURROOMNUMBER?”he asked. After finishing dinner, they’d shared a sort of slow walk—but with a hurried mentality—to get back to the resort.
The subject of sex hadn’t come up again, but it had been there, hovering over them as they discussed the food, the area and any other thing they could think of while at the restaurant. They stepped into the warmth of the resort and crossed the lobby, walking toward the bank of elevators. He’d decided that he wouldn’t ask, guide or try to influence in any way. As he’d told her a while ago, everything had changed. This was no ordinary date for him—he knew that even while his body tried to convince him otherwise. No, tonight, he would let Des lead the show.
“Three twenty-seven.” She stepped onto the elevator and stood toward the back of the car.
He followed her inside, standing as close to her as he possibly could without touching her. “I’m in three thirteen.” Which meant his room was on the same side of the floor as hers, but they would get to his first.
Neither of them spoke for the next few moments, and when the elevator doors opened, he waited for her to step out first. Taking the few steps to the proverbial fork in the hallway, she hesitated a brief moment, before turning to the left and saying, “We’ll go to your room.”
He followed her lead, then let them into his room, taking his time to close and lock the door once they were inside. Watching her walk deeper inside after she’d found the light switch were the strangest few moments of his life. Desta Henner was in his suite, where, just through this sitting area and down a narrow hallway, there was a king-size bed.
“Do you want a drink?” It seemed like a normal question to ask as she took off her coat, hat and gloves and laid them on the couch.
“No.” A quick and simple answer spoken succinctly when she turned to look at him. “We don’t have to go through any pretenses. This is what we came here to do.”
He was removing his jacket when her comment stopped him cold. So they were really going to do this? Considering the circumstances—and if he were staring at any other woman but her—he would’ve asked that question aloud. Making sure he and the women he got involved with were of one accord every step of the way was something he was fanatical about. But Des never said anything she didn’t mean.
That’s why he didn’t speak another word. He simply took her hand and walked them back to the bedroom. She released his hand when they were a few steps from the bed and turned her back to him, lifting her hair from her neck in a signal for him to unzip her dress.
