Do Not Disturb (17 page)

Which disappeared as he came closer.

“Hey. You okay?”

She forced her lips into a smile though her heart had started to pound and her stomach rolled a couple of times.

“I’m fine. Come in. I just need to”—
hide
—“stick this in my office, then I’ll be ready to go.”

He walked by her into the apartment, but she knew she hadn’t fooled him.

“Did something happen?”

She managed a more convincing smile this time because he seemed truly worried about her.

“No. Just work.”

Tossing the letter on her desk in her office as if it meant nothing, she grabbed her coat out of the closet in the hall then headed back to the living room.

Dane stood in the center of the room, hands in the pockets of his black slacks, a thin gray sweater lovingly molded to his chest under a black leather jacket.

He almost made her forget the contents of that letter.

Almost.

An uneasy guilt rolled in her stomach. Why she felt guilty, she had no idea. She didn’t owe this man her life story. If he knew . . .

Hell, he’d probably want to make a front-page story out of her. Her dad’s name got mentioned in the media whenever there was a huge scandal in the banking world. She tried not to read the financial news, but sometimes it made its way onto the front pages and the morning news and she couldn’t help seeing it. And it would dredge up everything she’d tried so hard to forget.

And now this . . .

She took a deep breath, trying to get a handle on her emotions. She’d taught herself to control the anger by the time she was a teenager, which had pretty much sealed her fate as “the ice bitch” in her high school.

But locking down everything had been the only way to stop the fury that would overtake her.

She’d have attacks of rage that she’d only been able to contain by running and, later, by skating.

She hadn’t had an attack in years, and she thought she’d outgrown them. Now she had the sick feeling she was about to have one.

God, not in front of Dane.

She wouldn’t be able to hide it from him. He saw way too much.

Maybe she should plead illness. Tell him she was coming down with a stomach virus, the flu, anything.

But she didn’t want to lie. Except for the identity of her father, she refused to lie. About anything.

“Talia.”

She couldn’t tell him. She couldn’t tell anyone. Couldn’t betray her mom. Couldn’t subject her to the hell she’d been through before.

“Talia.” Dane walked over to her and cupped her shoulders. “I think you should sit down.”

“Sorry, no. I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine. You look like you’re about to pass out. Are you sure you feel okay?”

“Actually, no. I’m not.”

“Come on. Sit down. I’ll get you a glass of water.”

She sat and let her head fall back onto the cushion. Closing her eyes, she focused on her breathing. She heard a cabinet door open and close then the sound of water pouring into a glass.

“Here. Take a sip.”

She opened her eyes to see Dane standing over her, a genuinely worried look on his face and a glass of water in his hand.

Lifting her head, she took it. “Sorry. That caught me off guard.”

“What caught you off guard?”

Taking a sip of water allowed her to shift her attention away from him for a moment. Otherwise, she’d find herself staring into his eyes and losing herself there.

“I’m sor—”

“Hey, no need to be sorry.” He eased onto the couch next to her. “You’re not feeling well. It’s not like you can choose to be sick.”

Which wasn’t entirely true. She’d brought this on herself.

“Do you want—”

“Would you like to stay in tonight? Order pizza or Chinese?”

She didn’t want him to leave. The thought that he might was adding even more stress to her situation. Already she could feel her lungs wanting to hyperventilate. She had the insane urge to grab his hand so he couldn’t get away.

His eyes narrowed as she made a conscious effort to control her breathing. Passing out would be way too embarrassing.

“I’m feeling Chinese? Okay with you?”

She smiled and now it felt more natural.

When he smiled back, she felt the knot in her throat loosen. “Sounds good.”

And suddenly the night was looking up once again.

***

Dane had the brief thought that Talia had staged her bout of dizziness to get him alone for the night but immediately dismissed it.

They would’ve been spending the night together at the Retreat, so it didn’t make sense for her to fake an illness to stay in. If she’d wanted him to leave, maybe then he would’ve thought she was trying to get rid of him.

But she’d wanted him to stay.

And he didn’t want to leave her.

Something had spooked her. Something to do with that letter.

He wanted to ask but he wouldn’t. Instead, he helped her choose which dishes to order. She liked spicy food, a taste he shared.

And when she offered him a beer and told him to help himself, he was pleasantly surprised to find more than a few good microbrews in her fridge. Another taste they shared.

The food only took twenty minutes to get there and, by the time it arrived, she looked like she was back to her normal self.

Which just made him wonder what the hell was in that letter. But he wasn’t stupid enough to ask. If she wanted to talk, he wanted to listen.

Actually, he didn’t care what she wanted to talk about. He’d listen.

Throughout dinner, she’d talked about her most recent weddings. About the bride who’d wanted doves released in the church so they could coo from the rafters during the ceremony, and the one whose dog ripped her dress the day of the wedding, requiring Kate to make emergency repairs.

He’d told her about the last island he’d visited, about the way the owners had made the cottages modern and self-sufficient but still made them feel isolated and rustic.

He wanted to take her there someday, wanted to show her what he’d loved about the place.

The thought was straight out of left field and completely, fully formed.

It should’ve made him twitchy to even think about taking a woman with him on a business trip. And yet it didn’t.

Because it was her.

“Do you want another beer?”

Pushing herself to her feet, Talia motioned to his empty bottle on the coffee table.

“I probably shouldn’t, if I’m going to drive home tonight.”

Which he didn’t want to do. He wanted stay right here. He’d understand if she wasn’t feeling up to it, but the overnight bag he’d packed and had stashed in the backseat of his car was proof that he’d been thinking about this moment all day.

She stilled, looking down at him. “Do you want to drive home?”

No sense in being coy. “No. I want to stay with you.”

Her lips curved in a way that let him know she was about to tease him. He liked that, too.

“And if I ask if you planned on spending the night . . . ?”

“I’d tell you the truth. I want to spend the night with you. In bed. Naked. Hot. Sweaty. Making you come. But if you’re not up—”

“I think I can handle anything you dish out. Do you want that beer now?”

“Only if you join me.”

She walked toward the kitchen and threw him a look as she opened the door to the fridge. “You don’t need to get me drunk. I did just ask you to spend the night.”

“But I don’t want to drink alone. If you’re done for the night, so am I.”

She walked back to the couch with a beer in each hand. “I guess one more won’t hurt.”

Halfway into this beer, he said, “So do you want to talk about what happened earlier?”

She huffed out a laugh. “Ah. I see you had an ulterior motive all along.”

“Not at all. But if you want to talk . . .”

And he really wished she would. He wanted her to trust him with whatever it was that had sent her over the edge earlier.

Staring down at her bottle for a few seconds, she finally lifted her gaze back to his.

“Family stuff’s always complicated, isn’t it?”

“Usually, yeah. Is everyone okay?”

She grimaced. “Like I said. Complicated.”

Resigning himself to being in the dark on this one, he was about to change the subject when she sighed.

“I don’t mean to be difficult. It’s just . . . My mom, my brother, and I, we had this traumatic event happen when I was a teenager. My dad . . . wasn’t the man we thought he was.”

“I’m sorry.”

She smiled up at him and his body gave that kick deep inside that meant his libido had kicked in. All night he’d managed to keep it under control, to simply enjoy her company without allowing sex to dictate the entire conversation.

Yes, he’d wanted to prove to her . . . and himself . . . that this was more than just sex.

But apparently, he’d reached the end of his patience.

Her smile held a heat he hadn’t seen in her all night. A heat he wanted to explore. In her bed. With her under him. Or over him. Hell, he didn’t care, so long as he was able to get inside her at some point tonight.

“Nothing for you to be sorry about. My dad . . . made our lives hell. But the worst part was, we didn’t realize until it was too late to do anything about it. And after he— when he died, I thought everything would be better. It wasn’t. It was just . . . different.”

“That’s not your fault.”

“I know. But that anger . . . it’s a bitch. I was an angry teenager. I’m sure my mom wished she could ship me off to boarding school many times.”

“But she didn’t.”

“No. I think my mom deserves a medal for putting up with me. Of course, back then I thought everyone else was the problem. Not me.”

“Teenagers are good at seeing only what they want to see.”

She continued to hold his gaze, though she didn’t say anything for several seconds. “So what do you see when you look at me?”

He should’ve seen that one coming and he was surprised she’d asked. “A smart, beautiful woman who’s so fucking hot she makes me want to keep her naked and tied to a bed.”

She blinked and her lips parted but no words emerged.

“I’m fairly civilized on the outside,” he continued. “But it’s a front most of the time. Your turn now. What do you see when you look at me?”

Her pause lasted long enough that he thought she might not answer.

Finally, she cocked her head to the side. “I see a man who makes me want to break a few hard-and-fast rules I’ve set for myself.”

Sounded good so far. “And what are those?”

“I saw the hell my mom went through with my dad, and I never want to have to deal with that. I’m not looking for a man to complete my life. I never want to be one of those women whose lives revolve around men.”

He smiled at the thought of Talia ever blindly pursuing a man at the cost of her business. “I don’t think you have to worry about that. You’re too focused.”

Her answering smile made his cock twitch. “High praise coming from you, I think.”

“Which doesn’t mean I don’t think you’re sexy as all hell.”

Rising up on her knees, she put her hands on his shoulders and leaned down until her lips were only inches away from his. “I want you to know I didn’t plan on this happening.”

“What? You weren’t planning on seducing me into your bed tonight?”

“No. I might have been planning to seduce you into a bed at the Retreat. But I guess we’ll just have to make do with my plain old queen bed tonight.”

Picking her up by her hips, he lifted her over him, her knees falling on either side of his hips.

“I think I can manage to get over my disappointment. Now kiss me, Tally.”

Leaning forward, she settled her lips over his and kissed him so hard, she took his breath away.

But it was the emotional force behind the kiss that made his hands tighten on her hips then slide back to cup her ass.

He loved her ass, so tight and sleek. Wanted it naked beneath his hands so he could pet her.

Wanted to fuck her ass because he was pretty sure no other man ever had. He wanted her to trust him enough to let him have her that way.

The primal instinct made him kiss her deeper. He let her believe she had the upper hand for several minutes as she licked at his tongue and put her hands on his jaw.

Her fingers felt so small against his face. So delicate. But he knew how strong she really was.

He began to remove her clothes. No pretense, no tease. Just stripped her down to the skin, her clothes dropped on the floor wherever they happened to land.

She didn’t protest, let him do what he wanted.

And there was that submissive streak again that made every ounce of his protective nature rise up.

He should’ve been confused, but he wasn’t. He knew exactly what she needed and how to give it to her.

He sensed her spiraling desire in the frantic motion of her hands over his body. She’d already shoved her hands under his shirt and was pulling it up his torso. Leaning forward, he let her pull it over his head, breaking their kiss for just a few seconds before she sealed their lips together again.

Her naked breasts pressed against his chest, nipples tight and hot against his skin. She moaned as he shoved his pants down his legs, toeing off his shoes so he could get his cock free.

Her frantic heat infected him and he barely remembered to grab his wallet before he kicked his pants free.

Going by touch, his mouth still engaged with hers, he retrieved the condom, ripped it open and rolled it down his aching shaft.

“Hurry.”

He barely heard her but he felt her words like an electric jolt.

She’d already started to roll her hips against him by the time he grabbed her hips and brought her down on his cock, seating himself to the balls.

The cry she gave could’ve been pain but he knew it wasn’t because she immediately took over the rhythm and began to fuck him hard and fast.

He didn’t have to move at all. All he had to do was sit there and let her take him.

But it wasn’t in his nature to do nothing.

His hands moved to her breasts, cupping her, kneading her, making her moan into his mouth and slam down even harder. Every time her ass hit his thighs, his cock jerked, he was already so close to coming.