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To her relief she encountered no one on the way to her bedroom. Grady’s door was closed, indicating he was resting, no doubt worn out from his latest round of physical therapy. Before leaving for the hospital, she’d popped in to show off her costume. His delight at her appearance had been nearly a match for the children.
Although Lia raced through her transformation she took longer than ten minutes. Because the elaborate wig and heavy gown left her feeling sweaty, she grabbed a quick shower and hastily reapplied mascara and red lipstick because she wanted Paul to see her as attractive. Reluctant to keep him waiting too long, she drew her wet hair into a sleek topknot, and just before she headed out the door, swept powder over her nose, obliterating her freckles. She’d noticed how often Paul’s gaze focused on the imperfection. No doubt he found them unsightly.
By the time she reached the carriage house, Lia was trembling with anticipation. How many nights had she gone to bed in Ava Watts’s old bedroom only to find sleep elusive? Over and over she called herself a fool for letting the cybersecurity specialist get beneath her skin. While the man treated her like a thief out to steal the heirloom silver, she was tormented by fantasies of him making love to her with all the passion and intensity of a man who craved closeness and intimacy. And today, all he’d had to do was show her a little kindness and she was all in.
“Sorry I took so long,” she said, covertly scanning his expression in search of reassurance. Was the man attracted to her or not? She couldn’t tell. “The wig and dress left me feeling grimy so I showered.”
He stepped close and lowered his head, breathing her in. “Damn, you smell good.”
A lightning storm of awareness electrified Lia’s whole body. She leaned back and peered up at his expression. He watched her through half-lidded eyes, predatory hunger smoldering in their green depths. Her pulse accelerated as his lips took on a sensual curve. The last time she’d seen that smile had been that afternoon at his beach house. Heat raced through her veins, bringing lethargy to her muscles and sparking hop
e. Emboldened, she reached out and cupped his cheek.
“You are attracted to me,” she murmured, awestruck and filled with delight. “What happened last time was real.”
“Very real.” He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. “And something I promised myself would never happen again.”
Crushing herself against his hard body, Lia breathed in his masculine scent. She wanted to burrow her hands beneath his clothes and slide her palms along his warm skin. “Why not?”
“You are pretending to be my cousin.” His muscles tensed. “My first cousin.”
“Pretending being the operative word.” While Lia recognized that his argument held no water, she’d spent enough time in Charleston to understand that appearances were everything. “As long as we’re careful and don’t get caught...”
“Do you seriously think that’s what I’m worried about?” He took her hands and eased them from his body, his grip gentle despite his frustrated tone. “Getting caught?”
“Isn’t it?” She blinked at him in confusion as he set her free and took a half step back.
His bemused expression might have led her to ask more questions if her body wasn’t aching with the sharpest longing. Day and night, she’d tormented herself with revisiting that kiss at his beach house, taking things past the moment when he’d stopped. She’d imagined a hundred variations. Them going inside and making love in his bed. Him drawing her into the hot tub and making her come while she floated on a raft of bubbles. Her dropping to her knees to pleasure him in full sight of the beach while he held tight to the deck railing and shouted his pleasure.
“Look, if you’re worried that I might fall for you...” She shook her head, hoping she could be convincing. “Don’t. I find you attractive. It’s just sex.”
From the first stirring of physical attraction, she’d accepted that they had no future. Even before she started posing as his first cousin, he’d regarded her with suspicion and she doubted he’d ever fully trust her. In so many ways, from their upbringings to their temperaments, they were completely incompatible. Never in her wildest daydreams could she imagine he’d walk into a public venue and be proud to call her his date much less his girlfriend.
But their chemistry couldn’t be denied. That left sex. Great sex. Because after being kissed by Paul Watts, Lia knew the guy would be fantastic in bed. She shivered in anticipation of his strong hands running over her naked body. Just imagining how he would slide his finger through the slippery wetness between her thighs caused her body to clench in pleasure.
“Just sex,” he echoed, murmuring the two words in a contemplative tone. “And in a week you’ll be gone.”
While her heart bucked painfully in her chest, Lia nodded. “That’s the plan.”
“Nobody could possibly fall for someone that fast.” He raked her expression with hard green eyes. “I mean it’s only a week.”
“Absolutely.” Damn the man could talk, but she was starting to see a glimmer of hope. “That’s not enough time to get attached.”
Lia wasn’t sure which of them moved first, but the next thing she knew, he’d cupped the back of her neck in his hand and her fingers had tunneled into his hair. Then they were lip-locked and moaning beneath the onslaught of desire and need.
“That’s more like it,” Lia murmured a long while later after he released her lips and trailed kisses down her throat. “Damn, you are good at that.”
“At what?”
He brought his teeth together on the place where her neck and shoulder joined. Pleasure shot through her at the tantalizing pain of his bite. She groaned as his tongue flicked over the spot, soothing the sting. Desire tore through her. Lia couldn’t recall ever feeling so alive or invigorated.
“Kissing,” she said. “I thought maybe you were too focused on chasing bad guys to ever make time for a love life.”
“So you thought I was inexperienced when it came to women?”
He didn’t wait for her to reply before seizing her mouth for another hard, demanding kiss that left her weak-kneed and flushed from head to toe. His fingers dug into her hip as she rocked into him, before he sent his palm coasting downward over her butt. When he lifted her against his growing erection, Lia panted in frustration at the pressure building in her.
His lips moved over the shell of her ear, awakening a million goose bumps. Adrift in pleasure, she didn’t expect the sharp nip on her earlobe or the way fireworks detonated in her loins, setting her on fire.
