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Which was the crux of her problem between her and the man sitting in front of her—that admiration was ingrained so deeply for Cole it interfered with the attraction between them. “Yeah, I know,” she said on a sigh.
Long, silent seconds passed between them, until Cole cleared his throat and pushed his fingers through his thick hair. “Jeez, how in the world did we get on to such a depressing topic?”
She hadn’t found their conversation bothersome at all, but rather very enlightening. In so many ways. She now understood the events that had shaped Cole into such a dynamic, determined man, one who was fiercely protective of those he cared about. She’d discovered a different dimension to his serious personality, and she liked knowing that there was a bit of vulnerability beneath his strength and diligence.
The shrill ring of his cell phone on the kitchen counter was a welcome interruption, one Cole took advantage of by sliding out of his seat to answer it.
He picked up the phone but didn’t connect the line. Instead, his gaze sought hers. “Looks like it’s Bobby Malone. I was expecting his call. I might be a while.”
“Go ahead.” She smiled, understanding that business was a priority. “I’ll be fine.”
Another ring echoed in the dining area, and he added, “Thanks again for dinner.”
She didn’t miss the dismissal in his tone, as if he expected her to leave while he was handling the call. He picked up the MacGregor file and she watched him head down the hall to the fully equipped office he had at home. Just as he turned the corner into the room, he punched a button on the phone and answered with a curt, businesslike, “Sommers, here.”
The rest of the conversation faded away as he moved deeper into the office, no doubt her presence already pushed to the back of his mind. Standing, she cleared the table and tossed out their trash, all the while debating whether to leave as Cole had indirectly suggested, or stay just to make the evening more interesting.
A sinful grin eased across her lips. Given her two options—one being the kind of good-girl response she’d lived by for too many years, and the other calling to her newly evolving bad-girl tendencies—her choice was an easy one to make.
The man had to come out of his office sooner or later, she reasoned, and then the night was bound to get very interesting.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Cole hung up his cell phone after talking to Bobby Malone and getting the information he needed for tomorrow’s meeting. With the incriminating evidence he’d collected on behalf of Sarah MacGregor, he was confident the little boy caught in the custody dispute would remain safe and secure with his mother—permanently.
Feeling satisfied with the job he’d accomplished, he reclined in his leather chair, his thoughts drifting back to his earlier conversation with Melodie. With more ease than he would have imagined, he’d revealed the painful memories he’d shoved away long ago in lieu of the responsibilities and obligations he’d taken on at the age of twenty-one when he’d become guardian of his siblings.
He couldn’t deny that it had felt good—had been an unexpected relief even—to share all that bottled-up angst. Lord knew he’d never allowed himself to express any bitterness over his mother’s actions to Jo and Noah because they’d both been through enough trauma with the divorce. Certainly, no other woman had taken the time or interest to coax him to talk about his childhood and teenage years. But Melodie had cared, in a way that had made it too easy for him to trust her with revelations about his past.
A part of him wished Melodie was still there waiting for him. And immediately on the heels of that intimate thought came annoyance, that he’d want her there when he was a man who enjoyed and valued his privacy and solitary lifestyle. He’d never needed a woman around to entertain him or fill the silence that descended when he was home alone, and he wasn’t about to start now with his secretary.
Besides, the evening had gone exceptionally well between them, better than he’d expected after last night’s tryst at the office. It appeared that things were back to status quo, right where they should be.
Now, if only that reassurance would chase away the craving for something more that had settled deep within him after he’d kissed Melodie.
Shaking off the desire trickling through his veins, he exhaled hard and ran a flattened hand over his bare chest. With his belly full from the dinner Melodie had brought him and his mind freed of the MacGregor case, he decided to resume where he’d left off right before his secretary had come knocking on his door. He’d left the hot tub turned on, and now the appealing thought of immersing his body in the heated water and letting the jets massage his taut muscles beckoned to him.
He headed back out to the kitchen area, and, sure enough, Mel was gone…except she’d forgotten her purse, he realized with a frown as he spotted the black leather bag hanging from the chair. And then he saw a note on the table—or rather, a letter—penned in Mel’s feminine handwriting.
Remembering the erotic details of the letter she’d read to him, his heart pumped hard in his chest with a mixture of adrenaline and excitement he had no defense against. Unable to resist the lure of what she’d left for him, he stepped closer and picked up the sheet of stationery to read the words she’d penned.
I love the feel of water against my skin, so soft and silky as it glides across my breasts, so warm and slick as it caresses my stomach and cascades along my thighs. The trickle of water makes my nipples hard, and I like the way that feels, too. When I brush my fingers over the aching tips of my breasts I can’t help but moan at how sensitive they are, and how much I wish my hands were yours.
If I can’t have you with me, I’ll have to do the next best thing. I imagine you touching my wet, slick body in needy places. Your hands explore the soft feel of my flesh between my thighs while your mouth and tongue add to the heated moisture on my skin. Slowly, you lick the droplets from my body, the softness of your tongue adding to the exquisite sensation coiling deep inside my belly, and lower, where your fingers stroke and push deep inside me.
I’m so aroused. I’m so ready. Can you feel how much I want you?
By the time he finished reading Mel’s fantasy, he was hard as a marble pillar. If that provocative letter wasn’t enough to drive him insane with lust, then the postscript she’d jotted at the bottom of the page certainly did the trick.
Cole, I’m all wet and waiting for you. Come join me for a moonlight dip under the stars.
He lifted his gaze from the come-hither words seducing his mind and spied her shoes, skirt, and tank top heaped on the floor by the open slider leading to his backyard. He shook inside, knowing exactly where she’d disappeared to and what her tempting note implied—she’d gone skinny-dipping in his Jacuzzi and was waiting for him to join her.
Oh, man. He squeezed his eyes shut and sent a silent prayer upward for the strength to resist her seductive scheme, then headed out the patio door and into the darkness of night, intending to turn her offer down flat and send her home.
Except he never anticipated that he’d be so mesmerized by the shadowy figure sitting in his hot tub, her upper body illuminated by the landscaping lights placed in strategic areas of his backyard. He stopped at the edge of the tub, relieved to see the straps of her black bra curving over her shoulders, indicating she wasn’t completely naked under the frothing water. She’d secured he
r hair in a haphazard pile on top of her head with a clip, and dewy moisture clung to the exposed skin of her throat and her chest, right down to where the water gurgled and bubbled at the cleavage revealed by her skimpy bra. The rising steam swirled around his jean-clad legs and heightened his awareness of how slick and warm her skin must be.
