Picture Perfect Wedding (13 page)

“Good.” Her fingers brushed his neck lightly as she undid the cape and he gripped the arms of the chair to stay immune from the unintentional touch.

He met her at the counter and pulled out his wallet, paying for the cut. “Thanks again, Nicole.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Say hello to Max for me.”

“I will.”

He knew the score—it was time for him to leave. “I guess I’ll see you round town somewhere, sometime.”

Her teeth scraped her bottom lip and she nodded slowly.

Okay
,
then.
He raised his hand in farewell before pulling open the door. The tinkle of the bell sounded overly loud in the strained silence. His right foot hit the sidewalk.

“Tony...”

Had he forgotten something? He turned back. “Yes.”

She laced her fingers in front of her in the exact same way he’d noticed her do a few other times in the past half hour. “Most mornings I stop by the market for a coffee before starting work.”

The bottom of his gut soared, high-fiving the top.
Be cool
,
man
. He managed to stall the dopey grin that wanted so badly to spread across his face. “That sounds very similar to my routine. You never know, we might run into each other.”

Her mouth curved into a shy smile that had his blood pounding. “It’s a possibility.”

It most certainly was.

* * *

Luke was washing up after having assisted a cow with a difficult delivery. Thankfully, both mother and calf were now doing well but there’d been a few moments when he doubted a positive outcome. As he dried his hands, he was struck by the thought that right now his life was filled with women causing him grief—the cows, his mother with her disappointed and accusing looks that he was ruining her and his father’s retirement, Keri with dollar signs in her eyes, and Erin.

Come to think of it, the cows were looking pretty low-maintenance right now. Erin, on the other hand, with her rainbow-bright clothes and those parodies of rubber boots she wore, was beyond high-maintenance. Last night he’d foolishly played a game that had in essence ended up being a double dare for him. Not that it had started out that way. When he’d seen her in the field silhouetted by the moon, his sole aim for the meeting was to regain his dignity after having fallen asleep on her bed and to reestablish his reputation as a man who was always in total control with all things to do with women.

It had started out well enough with him directing the conversation because there was no way on earth he was falling for any of her
let’s talk
crap. Talking wasn’t something they needed to do. As far as he was concerned, this thing between them that lived, breathed and grew daily was purely sexual.

Everything had been pitch-perfect right up to the moment after she’d kissed him. That was when the plan—backed up by years of experience—dictated that he walk away, thus leading the play. It guaranteed that when next they met, the game would be over because they both knew they wanted the exact same thing. The cards would be faceup on the table and with nowhere to hide, they’d move straight to sex. It was a simple, foolproof plan.

But had he walked away?

No.

Idiot!
Not content with the fact he’d not only gotten back his control but he also had the evidence she still really wanted him, he’d let his ego step forward and get in the way. At the time it had seemed like such a brilliant idea to leave her with his calling card—a kiss that told her exactly what she could have if she came and got it—before nonchalantly walking away. The problem had come immediately after he’d draped her along the length of him and kissed her until she’d made that incredible sound in the back of her throat. He’d been lucky to manage walking.

He jammed his hat onto his head and strode out to the four-wheeler, pissed with himself yet again. He knew the rules and the risks, and none were worth blowing the perfect seduction. Twice. What the hell was wrong with him?

Pressing the accelerator down hard, he sent the bike into top speed, jolting up the farm road toward the top pasture. The lake shone blue and he thought about his small yacht in the boat shed on the beach—the one he hadn’t managed to sail yet this season. As he passed the boundary of Wade’s place, he saw Erin’s dog trot out of a cottage and he unconsciously slowed. A moment later, Erin followed with a bucket of cleaning products on one arm and clutching crumpled sheets under the other.

Mac leaped off the bike, racing toward her with a joyful bark. “Too eager, Mac,” Luke muttered under his breath.

A second later he wanted to slam his head hard against something.
Come find me.
Mac had just heralded Luke’s arrival and by default made a mockery of his exit words to Erin last night. He’d dropped him right in it.

Maggie-May greeted Mac joyously, bouncing and barking with sheer delight and they raced around Erin’s feet chasing each other while at the same time demanding her adoration.

She gave it, sinking to her feet and letting the dogs lick her face as she scratched under each of their chins and bellies.

A vivid green flash socked into Luke. He shot off the bike, hating he was jealous of his dog. He vaulted the fence. “Mac! Sit!”

Erin’s head swung around and her now sun-streaked hair followed, brushing her cheeks. Unlike her usual coordinated style, this morning she wore an old, baggy T-shirt, tattered cutoff jeans and bare feet—her rich cranberry-red painted toenails her sole accessory. As she disentangled herself from the dogs and rose, her oversized T fell forward and he copped an eyeful of soft, creamy breasts threatening to spill from a hot-pink-and-black bra.

Breasts he wanted to bury his head in, touch, taste and adore. His eyes stayed fixed on all that sweet, rounded flesh, flesh which taunted him, making his blood surge with lust so pure it hurt. Every part of him tensed, ready to move and lift her into his arms and take what she offered. Take what he so desperately wanted. His groin ached, his head spun and one booted foot started to move.

With her T-shirt still providing a clear view of her breasts, bra and belly, she tilted her head and hooked her gaze on to his. Her brows rose as if to say,
they’re yours if you ask nicely.
Then she straightened up with a coy smile.

“Gosh, Luke, what a surprise seeing you here. And here I was thinking that I was supposed to come find you.”

Stay!
Hauling on everything he had, he glued his feet to the ground recognizing that her coy smile was actually a siren call to dash him against the rocks. To make him move first. She knew all too well that when she was bent over he could see straight down her front. It was a deliberate ploy, total power play, and a bold grab for control.

A lightness swept through him—something he hadn’t felt in months and he wanted to laugh with delight. Erin Davis wanted to play delicious, sexy games with him. She wanted to flirt and tease and bring him to his knees. He appreciated the sentiment oh so very much, but she had no clue who she was dealing with. It was going to be fun watching her come. First.

Rocking back on his work boots, he smiled. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m here because Wade asked me to fix the door on your cottage.”

Technically this was correct. Wade had asked him a month ago and with hay cutting it had fallen down the list.

A flicker of something he liked to think was disappointment flashed in her eyes and as she leaned down to pick up her bucket of cleaning products she stalled. This time he was slightly ahead of her and was prepared for the flash of pink-and-black lace.

She grabbed the bucket and straightened up, her chin tilting skyward. “Wade’s taken a family to pet the calves and as much as I’d love to spend time chatting with you, some of us have work to do. I’ve got to clean their cottage while they’re out.”

“First rule of business is keep the customer happy.” He grinned and shooed her away with his hands. “Don’t let me hold you up.”

“Or me you.”

Her softly spoken words invoked the memory of the way her soft curves had sunk into him last night and how he’d leaned equally into her. It socked him with a scorch of heat, making him question why the hell he was holding out instead of sliding his arm around her waist and pulling her close.

Because you want to win.

“Luke...” Her green eyes sparkled knowingly as her voice huskily rolled over his name, making his blood pump harder and blurring his vision.

He met her gaze with a smile. “Yes, Erin.”

She pouted her lips like Marilyn Monroe and slowly ran her index finger around the O before letting it come to rest on her chin. “I’ll be in cottage number two.”

God, she was hot and he wanted her right now. He hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his shorts to keep his hands from reaching for her. “And I need to know this why?”

She shrugged coquettishly, her shirt falling off one lovely shoulder and exposing her bra strap. “I thought perhaps you might need to come find me.”

He grinned at her, loving the game. “That’s not how I remember the arrangement.”

“Perhaps your memory is playing tricks on you.” She started to walk away from him, the bucket swinging in her hand, and then paused, turning slowly. “Just one thing, Luke. Don’t linger here too long before coming to the cottage because I’m only changing the sheets once.”

The thought of rolling her under him on a bed collided with the thrill of the game. He’d thought her high-maintenance but he’d been wrong. She was turning into the perfect gift—a sexy package with a wicked sense of fun. He buzzed with the heady excitement of anticipation and the sense of feeling alive for the first time in a long time.

He watched her swinging hips and cute behind cross the grass, and as she entered the cottage, she lifted one long, smooth leg in a perfect 1940s kissing style, before completely disappearing inside. He laughed out loud at her blatant flirting and planned his own strategies to bring her running into his arms.

Chapter Ten

It was early afternoon when Erin heard the sound of hammering and the noise made her jump. Most everything today was making her jump, especially when it came to Luke. She’d had the jitters from the moment Mac had rushed up to her when she’d finished cleaning cottage six, because wherever Mac went, Luke wasn’t far behind. When Luke had vaulted the fence, his sheer athleticism had brought her so close to changing her mind, admitting defeat and saying
take me now
,
I’m yours
that her plans to taunt him mercilessly until he begged for her had almost come undone.

The challenge in his blue eyes had steadied her. His expectation that she’d be the first to give in had rescued her and steeled her own determination. If anyone was capitulating first, it was him. Although she was no expert at deliberately using her body to entice and the feminist in her was having conniptions, two could play at this game of sexual Mexican standoff. This awesomely wild and wondrous game.

She’d been stunned to discover just how much of a kick it gave her knowing that he wanted her. His gaze on her had been so scorching hot it had fired her skin with a glow that had stayed with her for the rest of the morning. A glow that had her floating through the monotony of cleaning and tidying two cottages, and had lessened the disappointment that he hadn’t stormed in and taken her on cottage two’s bed. It was probably a wise decision on his part, given that the family could have returned at any moment. Still, as exciting as the anticipation about when “it” was going to happen, the expectation was messing with her concentration. She’d already made three attempts to edit one photo and it still wasn’t right.

Maggie-May whined at the door, pressing her nose to the glass where Mac now stood on the other side. “Want to go play with your friend?”
I
want to go play with mine.

She opened the sliding door and her dog shot out and the whirring scream of a drill came in. Luke had switched from hammering to drilling. She intended to distract him from that particular job and get him to focus on what they both wanted. Clicking on her mouse, she saved her most recent photo edits, plucked an apple from her fruit basket and stepped out into the lazy heat of the afternoon.

Wade kept the lawns in immaculate condition and she loved the feel of the thick, lush grass against the soles of her feet. It sure beat the hot concrete sidewalks in Minneapolis. She paused at the edge of the cottage, just out of sight, and adjusted her off-the-shoulder short T so it rested on the tops of her arms and skimmed over her cleavage. She’d chosen it because it finished at her midriff and her skirt started at her hips, leaving an expanse of skin complete with a jeweled belly ring.

Tossing the apple into the air, she caught it with a grin. She was ready and Luke Anderson didn’t stand a chance. She gave him less than ten minutes before he caved and they were both horizontal in her bed.

“Hi, Luke...” She stepped into view but the rest of the sentence stalled as her brain fried from visual overload.

His shirt lay on the ground and his burnished skin glowed with a sheen of sweat that highlighted every work-sculptured muscle on his torso. A tool belt was slung low on his hips—the icing on the beefcake that was Luke. It also screamed
I’m good with my hands.
The idea of his hands skimming over her skin made her sway.

He greeted her with a lazy smile. A smile that said
baby you know you want me now
and it spun through her, leaving her panting.

“Erin, I’m going to have to take off your—”

Yes
,
please.
Everything.

“—door.”

Somehow the word managed to penetrate the roaring sound of her blood, which was thundering loudly in her ears as it pumped heady need into every nook, cranny and far-flung crevice of her body. She tried desperately to gather her scattered wits while at the same time trying to sound both coherent and sexy. “No problem.” The words came out on a squeak.

Luke’s lazy smile morphed into a wicked grin.

I’ll raise you.
She slowly lifted the apple to her mouth and bit into it, flicking her tongue out to catch the juice that sprayed her.

His eyes instantly zeroed in on her mouth.

Won’t you walk into my parlor said the spider to the fly.
It was all too easy and she was back on top. “My door? I guess that means you’ll need to come inside?”

His blue eyes sparkled like the lake in sunshine. “I guess it does.”

He expertly spun the hammer in his hand before depositing it neatly into the vacant slot on his tool belt. He stepped in close, dropped his head so his lips almost brushed her ear and his breath caressed her skin. “Lead the way.”

The deep timbre of the words sent an erotic shiver whooshing through her as his mingled scent of sweat, musk and something that was intrinsically Luke circled her. It cast invisible threads which hooked into her with tantalizing temptation that immediately drained her brain. He was so close. He smelled so masculine and amazing, and all she needed to do was move the smallest of distances and their bodies would be touching. He’d be hers.

No.
It’s what he wants.

It’s what I want.

She stifled the scream of frustration that her throbbing body sent up, because letting him win when he expected to—as if it was his right—was just too much for her. With superhuman effort she spun away from him, knowing her resistance was barely holding and the time had come to ramp things up so he capitulated sooner rather than later.

Channeling her fledging inner seductress, she motioned him forward with her finger. “Follow me.”

* * *

Somehow Luke managed to remove, plane and restore the front door despite the fact his brain wasn’t fully soaked with oxygen-carrying blood and right now it was thinking more about what Erin was doing behind her closed bedroom door than concentrating on the job at hand. When she’d sashayed in there fifteen minutes earlier, moments after waggling her finger at him and saying in that throaty voice she used when she flirted, “follow me,” he’d fully expected her arm to reach out, grab his and pull him in after her.

Hell, that had been the whole point of him removing his shirt and risking a sunburn. Of risking the hypnotic pull of her amazing eyes when they’d widened into huge pools of green that shone with an arousal that matched his. It had been the whole point of risking his stake in the game by standing so close to her that he could almost taste her.

He opened and closed the front door, noting with some satisfaction that it now moved freely. One job done. The other job of Erin getting him into bed was taking a lot longer than he’d expected and hoped. He’d underestimated her stubbornness and as much as that excited him, and as much as he was enjoying this cat and mouse game between them, he was so wired for her he didn’t know how much longer he could hold out. He sure as hell probably shouldn’t be attempting to use power tools.

His mind roved over his next play—one that would bring all of this sexual tension to the delicious détente they both wanted. Desperately wanted. As he opened the door and stepped out onto the porch, he heard Mac’s bark, the terrier’s yap and Erin’s laugh. He spun toward the sound and squinted into the sun. Erin was on the walking track heading toward the beach. Although he assumed she must be wearing a bikini, from this distance he could only see skin and two of the narrowest strings he’d ever seen—one across the middle of her back and one across her hips. Other than that, nothing else touched that glorious expanse of tanned, smooth skin. From this view, she was virtually naked.

Without stopping to close the door he ripped off his tool belt and jumped off the porch. It took everything he had not to break into a run.

* * *

The moment Erin walked into the privacy of the grove of trees and she knew Luke could no longer see her, she pulled a pair of board shorts out of her bag and stepped into them, instantly covering the bikini thong. She immediately relaxed. Although she was fairly certain all the B and B guests were with Wade on the farm visit, part of her had been worried she might meet someone on the beach. Being virtually naked for Luke was one thing but she didn’t want to scar any young children or give any other man the wrong idea.

She’d never worn this bikini before—it was really more like three miniature triangles of material—and she felt ridiculously exposed. It had been an impulse online buy last summer on an evening home alone when she’d drunk too much wine. Since its arrival in her mailbox, it had lain in her drawer reminding her of her folly until a few days ago when she’d gone home to pack for her few weeks in Whitetail. Impulse once again had made her pack it. If she could hold on to her resolve for a little bit longer, the bikini might just earn its keep.

The dogs tore off along the small but pretty beach where the trees came right down to the waterline. A small wooden shed and a picnic table rested in a grassy clearing just above the sandy beach. She wondered if the sand was natural or if it had been brought in. Either way, it was warm against her skin, unlike the water which was chilly. As she dived under and the cold sucked the air from her lungs, she hoped Luke wouldn’t take long to arrive on the beach. She broke the surface and flipped onto her back, sculling through the water and using the warmth of the sunshine to try and even up the temperature disparity.

“Erin!”

Luke stood on the beach with one adoring dog gazing up at him and a cautious Maggie-May hunkered down and ready to respond, as if she expected the worst. Couldn’t her dog see Luke was a golden-haired god, glinting and sparkling in the sunshine?

Her body ached for him so badly she struggled to stay afloat. Flicking her wrist in a royal-like wave, she tried to look so much more sophisticated than she felt. “Come on in. The water’s as warm as a bath.”

He laughed, the rich, melodic sound booming around the cove. “Sweetheart, this far north the water’s always cold. I promise that you’ll be a lot warmer if you swim back to me.”

With goose bumps lining her flesh, she knew this to be true but being in the water was all about winning. “You’ve come this far to find me, Luke. Just think, another few feet and I’m all yours.”

His nostrils flared with the same unmet need that vibrated between them and the movement raced across his shoulders and down his bare chest before disappearing under the band of his work shorts. Yet still he didn’t enter the water. Instead, he sat down on the sand and took off his boots before rolling onto his side and resting his weight on one arm so that every muscle bulged. “It’s pretty nice here on the sand. Hot even. I’ll wait for you here.”

Her body both leaped and wept at the sight of him. She plunged her feet onto the bottom of the lake and stood up with the water lapping at her waist, knowing full well the now-wet material was see-through. “That’s disappointing.”

His strangled moan floated across the air and his hands pulled at his hair. “That’s dirty pool, Erin.”

“Oh, and you shirtless and in a tool belt isn’t?”

“I got hot.”

“I imagine you did.” She threw her head back, knowing the movement would lift her breasts and she was filled with the sexual power of her body—an intoxicating power she’d never been fully aware of until she’d met Luke.

An expletive hit the air and he rolled to his feet, shucking his work shorts.

Suddenly she was staring at black, low-rise trunks, fully extended forward by his erection.
Thank you
,
thank you
,
thank you.
For days the throb of desire had been part of her, intensifying hourly until it consumed her and was all she could think about. She hadn’t thought it possible for it to gain any more momentum but sweet wonder, it expanded again, only this time it held an edge of pleasurable pain and it beat out
soon
,
please God
,
soon
.

“Mac. Stay!” His voice commanded absolute obedience and then his strong legs were plowing through the water, creating mini waves that washed up against her. As he made his way to her, she fantasized about what he might do when he reached her. Would he pick her up and throw her over his shoulder, claiming her, and then stalk back to the beach with his prize, or would he just haul her against hard his chest and kiss her right here in the lake? Her legs wobbled. Both scenarios sounded fantastic to her.

He halted just short of her, his chest heaving and his blue eyes simmering with equal parts desire and frustration. She was intimate with those feelings—they’d been driving her quietly crazy for days. Now he stood in front of her, so near and yet so far.

“Um, Luke, just a teensy bit farther.”

“For you to move, I know.” The guttural edge to his voice hinted at fraying control but his wicked smile sizzled, promising everything she’d dreamed about and more.

Her breathing hitched up and she stretched her arm out toward him, letting it rest on the surface of the water in the few feet between them. “I thought men got off on the thrill of the chase.”

He stretched out his arm, his third finger a nanometer away from touching hers, and his eyes darkened. “There’s nothing hotter than a woman who takes what she wants.”

And at that moment winning became semantics. He’d come into the water, virtually to her, and if making that tiny move was his fantasy, she’d gladly oblige so she could have hers. Her fingertip touched his and flames engulfed her. His large, strong hand closed around her wrist. She lunged toward him as his arms lifted her at the hips, and then her legs were wrapped around his waist, and she was burying herself against his chest. She was home. Her body, so taut with ragged need for so long, stilled for a heartbeat, suspended in bliss, and then primal energy thundered through her. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she lowered her mouth to his and kissed him.

His lips met hers—blistering hot—and she took his heat and transferred her own. His mouth was both familiar yet different and she flicked her tongue around it, stealing his flavor so it ran through her veins, branding her and driving her onward. His hands roved her spine—one splayed across her back and the other at the base of her head, clamping her against him as if he couldn’t get enough of her body touching his. She understood exactly.