Seduce Me Read online

  She laughed. “I can’t believe the lines you have. Do you expect me to fall for them? Really?”

  “Are you saying you don’t want me to return the favor?” Leaning in, he took a nibble out of her shoulder, gratified to hear her suck in her breath. “Because I’ve got great hands, Sam.”

  A helpless little moan escaped her when he started a trail of open-mouthed kisses back up to her throat. “Are you just trying to avoid talking?”

  His hands gently squeezed her thighs and then moved to her waist. He lifted her from the table and set her on his lap.

  Perfect. “Why would I do that?”

  “I don’t—” Another sexy little half whimper when he took the lobe of her ear lightly between his teeth. “I don’t know.”

  “I have nothing against talking,” he murmured, and made his way down her jaw, his hands encircling her, gliding up and down her slim spine. “You talk all you want.” Mouth to her ear now, he added, “While I kiss you from head to toe.”

  Laughing, she leaned away from him. “Your knee must feel all better.”

  “Actually…” He stretched it out. “Yes. Much.”

  She smiled sweetly. “Good.” Rising, she grabbed the bottle and held it out to him. “You can take this with you. Rub it on a couple of times a day—”

  Her words were cut off when he tugged her back down, pulled her against him and covered her mouth with his. A little overwhelmed, Sam went still for a second.

  Apparently he took this for a challenge because he softened his hold immediately, as if instinctively knowing she could resist his aggressive hunger, but not slow and seductive desire…

  He slid a hand into her hair at the nape of her neck, the other arm banding low on her hips, all while gently, tenderly, playing at her mouth with his knowing, talented one. He kissed one side, and then the other, and then slowly licked her lower lip until she let it tremble open.

  And only then did he glide his tongue against hers in an age-old dance that had her hips mimicking the motion, and giving away what her mind had resisted but her body had no intention of withstanding.

  “Your bathing suit is still damp.” Over the material of her dress, his hand slipped down her back again, lower this time, over the curve of a buttock, which he palmed.

  Her eyes drifted shut, and she let out a little shiver of anticipation.

  “Cold?” he murmured, pulling her even closer, his hands warm on her body.

  “No.”

  His gaze met hers, his fingers spread wide on her belly now, the very tips just brushing the underside of her breast, which tightened in its eagerness. “Sure?”

  She nodded, silently admitting it wasn’t a chill giving her goose bumps and hard nipples.

  A soft smile curved his mouth, which he touched lightly to hers, just as the hand on her back softened its grip as well, soothing now as it stroked the length of her. “You really did invite me up here just to put that lotion on my knee, didn’t you. Not to have wild, uninhibited sex—”

  “That’s right.” She laughed, touched her forehead to his. “But I’ve thought about…wild, uninhibited sex. A lot. Does that count?”

  “Oh, yeah.” His sigh was long-suffering. “I guess it’s another cold shower night for me.”

  That got a choked laugh out of her. “Another?”

  “I spent a half hour in one after the midnight bodysurfing event.”

  “What, the ocean wasn’t cold enough for you?”

  “Not with you in it.”

  He saw a cocky smile break over her face, and he groaned. “Oh boy, now I’ve done it, I’ve given you even more power over me.”

  “I have a feeling you never let anyone have power over you,” she said.

  “Not often, I’ll give you that. That lotion is good stuff. What other magic do you have?”

  “That was it. My one trick.”

  Cocking his head, he studied her, a small smile playing on his lips. “I doubt that. You’re an interesting woman, Sam. I like that. I like you.”

  “I’m not so interesting.”

  “You run a café that serves sandwiches like ham, seaweed, artichoke hearts and mozzarella cheese on whole wheat, and yet you can’t make brownies to save your life. You’re a natural around kids and yet the thought of settling down with a man in a relationship gives you hives—”

  “You’re not exactly one to talk—”

  “But this is about you.” He touched a finger to her cheek. “You’re nervous dangling above a small tank of water and yet you’ll surf in the ocean.” Laughing, he shook his head. “A bundle of contradictions, but the sexiest bundle I’ve ever seen.”

  “You’re not that different,” she said, but her words faded away when he ran a hand from her toes up her calf, to just beneath the material of her sundress. Breathing became a challenge.

  “Really?” he whispered. His fingers played with the back of her knee in a way that made her want to let her legs fall open.

  She kept them together by sheer will. “No. Not that different at all.”

  “How’s that?” he asked softly, that little smile still dancing around his mouth. He knew exactly what he was doing to her. “Because I don’t cook. And as for kids, I’m not a natural.”

  That made her laugh. “Yes, you are. Kids love you. They think you’re a role model.”

  “I’m no one’s role model.”

  “And yet children love you anyway.” His fingers slipped up a few inches higher on the back of her leg, and her words stuttered to a halt. “Uh…” Where had she been? Oh, yes…“I know you had a hard time in the press, being labeled difficult—” Those fingers spread wide on the back of her thigh now. “A—and a prima donna.” Now his fingers tightened imperceptibly before purposefully relaxing. Her gaze shot to his face. “That one hurt, I bet,” she said, reaching out to put her hand on his chest. “But the truth is, you’re too private for any of those things they say about you to be true.”

  “I was not a saint, Sam.”

  “Good, because I’ve never been a saint, either. Saints are boring. In any case, the past is the past.”

  “Yeah, thankfully.” His hand danced over her skin to her thigh, his thumb making lazy circles on the very inside of that thigh.

  Her blood hummed.

  She put her hand over the material of her dress, halting his movement because she couldn’t take it. “And I can say all this to you, because as I mentioned, we’re very alike, you and I.”

  “I prefer the differences.” His first finger stretched out of her hold and barely, just barely, skimmed over her bikini bottoms.

  Her entire body jerked, but she wasn’t ready to let loose with him, no matter what her hormones were begging. “Do you—”

  “Do I…?”

  She looked at him. “Ever feel like your life is in a sort of holding pattern? Almost…stalled?”

  He went very still, his gaze intent on hers. “Maybe.”

  “I wonder about it, especially since I met you,” she whispered. “Can people outgrow their life? Because I’m just starting to worry that I have.”

  “Maybe we only outgrow parts of it,” he said just as quietly, suddenly as serious as she was. “And maybe new pieces fall into place.”

  “That’s pretty intuitive for a man who doesn’t like to think about the future.”

  “I thought that wasn’t a problem for you.”

  “Oh, it’s not. Actually, it’s one of the reasons you’re so damn attractive,” she admitted. “Because this is all very in the moment, very loose and carefree.”

  He looked at her for a long moment. “Right up your alley, is it?”

  “Yep. No pressure, no worries.”

  “No pressure, no worries,” he repeated softly, and smiled. “Then why aren’t we jumping each other’s bones and calling it a day?”

  “Because even women with commitment phobias have their boundaries.” She stood up, and smiled down at him. “And one of my boundaries is knowing what I’m getting myself i