She was wet from her orgasm, and his c**k throbbed with the need to be inside her. He put on the condom he’d had in his pocket, dropped his shorts and kicked them away, nestled between her legs and shoved up inside her, wrapping his arm around her as a barrier to keep her belly from hitting the granite counter, because he needed to pound hard inside her. His balls tightened as her sweet pu**y gripped him in a tight vise of unbearable pleasure, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to hold on for long. Nothing this good could last. She was tight and hot, and he was going to come.

He slid his hands under the shirt and grasped her breasts, filling his palms with her ni**les and squeezing her flesh.

“Gavin,” she cried, lifting off the counter, her hair spilling over his arms.

“Come on my cock, Elizabeth. Make yourself come.”

Her hand slid between her legs, and she rubbed her pussy, her fingers brushing against his balls, teasing him as she teased herself.

He rolled her ni**les between his fingers, plucking them into tight points. She whimpered.

“I’m coming, Gavin. I’m coming.”

He held tight to her and pushed deep into her as he came, jettisoning deep bursts of come as his orgasm shot through him, leaving him panting and drawing in deep breaths.

When he withdrew, he turned her around and kissed her, making sure she understood without a doubt what he was capable of. He left her mouth wet, licking her lips and a look of uncertainty in her eyes as he swept his thumb over her bottom lip.

“Honey, I am that good. I know what you want, and I can give it to you. Anytime you want it. Anytime I want it. That’s why you want to be here with me.”

He picked up his cup, refilled his coffee.

“Shower’s all yours. I’ll go call the hotel and have your things brought over.”

He walked away feeling pretty damn good about how things were going between them.

ELIZABETH WASN’T SURE SHE’D MADE THE RIGHT choice at all.

She swept away the fog in the bathroom mirror and stared at a woman she didn’t know.

What the hell had possessed her last night? And this morning.

She’d had sex with Gavin Riley. She’d broken every damn one of her carefully constructed rules about not getting personally involved with one of her clients. And especially not Gavin.

And now her clothes and laptop were being brought here, and she was going to stay with him?

Good God. This whole nightmare had epic clusterfuck written all over it, and the thirty minutes she’d spent in Gavin’s opulent shower had provided no clarity.

The woman with the wet hair staring back at her in the mirror was a grade-A idiot. She should grab her luggage and run like hell. This was going to end in disaster.

“Elizabeth?” Gavin knocked twice.

“Yes?”

“Your things are here, but I figured you probably hadn’t intended to stay more than last night, right?”

“True.”

“You don’t have anything to wear, do you?”

“Not really.”

“Okay. Get dressed, and I’ll take you shopping so you can get some clothes.”

She stared at the door. Shopping? He was going to take her shopping?

What. The. Fuck.

She felt like Alice in Wonderland, and she’d definitely just fallen down the rabbit hole.

Curiouser and curiouser, for damn certain.

She came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her.

“I put your suitcase in my room.”

She arched a brow. So did Gavin.

“You didn’t think I invited you here to stay in one of the guest rooms, did you?”

“No, I suppose not.” She padded into Gavin’s bedroom, where he’d laid her luggage on the bed. She popped it open and grabbed her makeup bag and some clothes.

After she dried her hair and put it up in a twist, she applied makeup and put on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, thankful she always packed at least one casual outfit just in case she got stranded somewhere. She slipped on her heels and went in search of Gavin, who was outside on the terrace. His beautiful shoulders and arms were showcased by the sleeveless cotton shirt he wore. He had on shorts and tennis shoes and a Saint Louis Rivers baseball cap.

Very casual.

“I’m ready.”

He turned and looked down at her feet, then frowned. “Heels? We’re in Florida. You need sandals.”

She gave him a disdainful pfft. “Honey, I live in heels.”

“Not on the beach, you don’t.”

“Try me.”

He shrugged. “Whatever you want.”

He drove her to one of the nice Palm Beach malls. Everything was outside, the sun was shining, and tall palm trees lined the walkway.

Now they were in her element—shopping. She breezed in and out of a few stores, picking up a few pairs of Capri pants and some shoes, underwear and sundresses.

Gavin laid back and held bags for her while she went on a tear. She knew herself, knew what she liked and what looked good on her. She didn’t really own that much resort wear since she never took much downtime. These would all be new things for her.

He paid particular attention in the upscale lingerie shop, of course, his eyes gleaming when she fingered the sexy and sinful bras and panties. Armed with several items, she stood in front of him at the counter.

“I’m not paying a fortune for new lingerie if you’re just going to ruin it by ripping it off me.”

The saleswoman behind the cash register gaped at them. Elizabeth didn’t care.

Gavin took the bundle from her hand, laid them on the counter, and whipped out his credit card. “No guarantees of that. You look smokin’ hot in this stuff. If we ruin them all, we’ll just come back for more.”

She shrugged. “It’s your dime.”

That saleswoman would have plenty to gossip about after they left.

The temperature in the store rose a few degrees, and Elizabeth took a step back, irritated by the hardening of her traitorous nipples. The young saleswoman shot Gavin a look of pure lust, but he kept his gaze on Elizabeth.

Fine. Score a point for Gavin.

“You need something sexy to wear when we go out at night.”

“We’re going out at night? Where to?”

He shrugged. “Don’t know yet. Maybe I’ll take you dancing.”

She ignored the tiny little thrill at the thought of being in Gavin’s arms while he toured her around a dance floor. “I thought you just wanted to f**k me.”

He stopped and slid his finger across her cheek. “I do. I will. But we have to come up for air and leave the beach house. You want to have some fun outside the bedroom, don’t you?”

Something fluttered in her belly, something that felt an awful lot like stirrings of emotion. “Gavin, why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“This. Keeping me here with you. Shopping with me. Talking of going out places. I don’t get it.”

He directed her into a store. “Quit asking questions.”

He motioned to one of the saleswomen. “She likes black. So anything but black.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Definitely lots of things in black for me.”

She selected several black cocktail dresses, but by the time she went into the dressing room, they were gone, replaced instead by a red dress, a champagne-colored dress, and another in a soft burgundy.

“These are the wrong dresses,” she said to the saleswoman.

“Your gentleman selected these. Said for you to give in and try them on.”

She rolled her eyes, but the dresses were pretty, so she put one on. The red one first, which she paraded for him. He shook his head so she tried the burgundy one next.

“Nice, but not good enough.”

She put her hands on her hips. “This is why I go for the black dresses. They always work.”

He smiled at her. “Go put the last one on.”

She flounced off to the dressing room, determined to prove him wrong. The champagne dress was fitted, had thin straps, and hugged every single one of her curves. She looked at herself in the mirror and was stunned at how the color accentuated her hair and her skin tone. She would have never thought to go with a color like this.

She came out of the dressing room, and Gavin’s eyes rocketed to her.

He stood, came over to her, and turned her to face the mirror. His fingers grazed her shoulders.

“You’re beautiful, Elizabeth. The dress makes your hair look like fire.”

She’d been told she was beautiful before, but they had been surface compliments. Gavin spoke with his eyes, the way they raked over not only her body, but her hair, her face. His eyes meet hers. The warmth she saw there . . .

Was entirely her imagination.

“Thanks. I guess it’s okay.”

“It’s more than okay. It gives you a sweet innocence instead of the hard edge you always go for when you wear black. I’m getting this dress for you.” He signaled to the saleswoman. “This one.”

“Yes, sir.”

Men didn’t buy her clothes. She was independent, had more than enough money to buy her own things. Anything she wanted. That’s why she’d worked so damn hard the past ten years, so she could be independent.

Never dependent again.

She sidled up to Gavin at the counter. “I can buy this dress for myself.”

He turned to her. “Yes, you can. But I chose it because I want to see you in it, so I’m buying it for you. Is that okay?”

“Yes, I suppose.”

“And while I’m buying this, why don’t you change into that yellow flowery sundress you bought? It’s hot outside, and you must be dying in those jeans.”

“Good idea.”

She changed clothes, shaking her head while she did.

THEY FINISHED THEIR SHOPPING AND LEFT THE MALL. Gavin took them to a seaside grill, where they had fantastic cocktails along with amazing seafood.

“So, are you a good seafood cook?” she asked, spearing her last mouthwatering bite of lobster salad.

“I’m an excellent seafood cook. What would you like me to fix for you?”

“I love seafood. Anything you cook, I’ll eat.”

“I’ll have to take you fishing, see what we catch.”

She studied him over her pomegranate martini. “I don’t fish.”

He stared right back at her over his glass of whiskey. “You’ve tried it before and hated it.”

“Not exactly.”

“You’ve never fished.”

“I’ve never fished.”

“So I’ll teach you. You’ll love it.”

Challenge. Again. “If you want me to go out on a boat with you, great. I’ll sunbathe. You fish. And don’t you have to play baseball or something?”

He smirked. “I still get free time and use every minute of it.”

“Once spring training starts, you’ll have games almost every day.”

“Not every day. And games don’t take up the entire day. Why, are you trying to get out of our agreement?”

“I said I’d stay, didn’t I?”

“Good. You can come to my games. Or do whatever work you have to do. Schmooze some clients. Pick up new ones. Plenty of teams play around here. Do what you do best, as long as you’re in my bed every night.”

Her body zinged with awareness. She’d wanted to be with Gavin since the first moment she’d laid eyes on him, when he was twenty-two and she was almost twenty-six. She had felt like a dirty old woman back then.

Now he was twenty-nine and she was almost thirty-three.

“I’m older than you are, you know.”

He laughed. “Where did that come from?”

“I just don’t get the sudden attraction. You’ve never paid any attention to me before.”

“Oh, I noticed you before.”

“Still, we don’t have anything in common. The fishing thing, for instance. Plus the age difference.”

“I know how old you are, Elizabeth, which isn’t even a factor. You think I can’t handle you? Want me to show you again?”

She laughed and took a sip of her drink. “No, thank you.”

He leaned back in his chair. “Bored with me already?”

She inhaled a shaky breath. “Not quite. You still have a little tread on your tires.”

His gaze went dark. “Yeah, I’ll show you a little tread on my tires. Go in the bathroom and take off your panties.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“No.”

“You want me to take them off of you out here?”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Wouldn’t I?” He finished his whiskey and slid his hand under the table, lifting her sundress.

She slapped his hand away, then the realization hit.

He’d asked her to change clothes.

“You planned this.”

His lips curled. “Maybe.”

She looked around the fairly crowded restaurant. Granted, no one was looking at them. They had a semicircular booth, which meant they could scoot together and . . .

No. She wouldn’t dare.

“Do it, Elizabeth. You’re already wet thinking about it, aren’t you?”

Her gaze shifted to Gavin, her thoughts gravitating to how he would do it. What if they got caught? How could she stay quiet?

The danger aspect of it thrilled her. She wanted it, wanted him to shove his fingers inside her and make her come. Now. “Yes.”

“Go take your panties off and let me make you come.”

She grabbed her purse and hurried to the ladies room, dashed into a stall and slipped off her panties, tucking them into her purse. She stopped at the mirror on her way out. Her face was flushed, her pupils dilated with arousal. She was back at the table in no time, her pu**y throbbing, her ni**les beading against the soft fabric of her dress.