Champagne Cravings (3 page)

When he returned from my room, his blazing blue gaze eased
over me again, from head to toe. He took his time sizing me up, as though
enjoying the view. It hardly compared to the one I’d had of him, but he let out
a low whistle of appreciation anyway.

“You look sensational, by the way.”

His eyes dropped indiscreetly to my breasts, brazen man who
he was. I wouldn’t be surprised if my hard nipples tented the silver satin,
given the thin material of the gown and my bra. I didn’t spare a look to
confirm my suspicion.

Seemingly reluctant to do so, he pulled his gaze from my
ample chest and glanced up at my face. “How’d the shindig go at the
Montlimiere?”

I’d forgotten about the crazy night I’d had. He distracted
me beyond all belief. “Took a shocking turn no one expected.”

“Interesting.”

“Yes. Now if you’re done here…” I could use a reprieve from
his overwhelming presence and all the riotous sensations he evoked.

He didn’t budge. He continued to stand close to me. Too
close. I could smell his masculine scent along with a hint of my pomegranate
shampoo, which he’d clearly used. I pressed my back against the molding of the
archway, shrinking away from him. I also needed the support as my knees knocked
together.

Mike didn’t back off, as he typically did when the flirting
escalated to an uncomfortable level for me. In fact, he propped a forearm above
my head. “You know, Lace,” he said in his deep, intimate tone, all traces of
his earlier amusement over our awkward predicament vanishing. “You don’t always
have to play the tough girl with me.” His blue irises glowed seductively as
they held my gaze. His other hand rested on my hip. He bent his head to mine
and my breath caught. “I’d never hurt you.”

“Not intentionally.” My chest rose and fell sharply as my
breathing turned shallow. “But I’m all too familiar with your kind, remember?”

His jaw clenched briefly. “Don’t lump me in with Chase and
Brandon. When it comes to you, I’m not looking for a quick fuck and an easy
escape.”

My teeth clamped down on my bottom lip to keep it from
trembling. His words lingered between us, making me want to believe in them. I
knew he wasn’t an asshole. We’d been friends from the moment we’d met. I
trusted him with the key to my apartment, for God’s sake.

Trusting
anyone
with my heart, however, was an
entirely different matter.

Releasing my lip, I said, “I’m not calling you a schmuck.
I’m just not traveling a path outside of friendship with you.”

“And you’re never having sex or a relationship again?”

I stared at him, taken aback. His interrogation was much too
personal. Not the subject matter, per se. We’d discussed this before. Many,
many times before. It was the way he touched me while he spoke, his thumb
skimming over the thin material of my dress where his large and oh so warm hand
gripped my hip. It was the way he leaned in, his breath teasing my skin, his
lips dangerously close to mine. It was the way he stared deep into my eyes,
making it impossible to look away. All of these things caused my heart to
hammer in my chest and my pussy to continue to throb with an intensity I’d not
felt before.

In fact, it seemed as though a palpable shift had just
occurred in the universe. Or at least in my small dressing room. He’d never
pushed me this far and I’d never let him. He knew to keep his distance,
physically. But even his eyes held a different emotion, one he’d not shared
with me before. Curiosity mixed with…the inevitable. Like something profound
and inescapable had just clicked in his mind.

I knew better than to ask what he was thinking. Instead, I
finally said, “I’m not banning either one eternally. I’m just…taking a break.”

“Long break,” he mused. “Three years?”

“Safer this way.”

“Actually, it’s a damn shame.”

My eyes closed. He had no idea what a shame it was, but such
was the bane of my existence.

“I’d give up the women, you know,” he said in a low voice as
his hand moved slowly up my side, until the skimming thumb brushed the
underside of my breast. Back and forth, it swept across the full swell of
lightly covered flesh, making my nipples even tighter. “If you’d just give me
the time of day.”

His admission was a shocking one. But it explained the look
I’d seen in his eyes, the shifting of tides I’d felt a moment ago as he’d gazed
so intently at me.

Unfortunately, I didn’t know if a man like him was capable
of keeping his promise. Experience told me no, though I’d never heard of Mike
cheating on his past lovers. He moved on quickly, which was almost the same as
being unfaithful in my book. No one held his interest for long. I’d always
believed I had because I seemed to be the only single woman in Manhattan who
hadn’t succumbed to his sexy grin and sinfully delicious body.

Until tonight. I was doing a piss-poor job walking the walk
when it came to not crossing that critical line I’d drawn in the sand years
ago.

I should have pushed his hand away. I should have moved from
his reach. I should have kicked his ass out. I did none of those things. The
physical contact and intimate connection with him was addictive and,
admittedly, welcomed.

That realization, and his ability to make my desire climb
the charts, caused alarm to skitter through me. Every second I stayed in his
web of seduction made it more difficult to untangle myself from the sticky
bonds.

Even knowing this, however, I couldn’t rally the strength to
shove him away.

He said, “I keep trying to find a woman who will help to get
you out of my head, but they all leave me wanting more. They leave me wanting
you
.
That’s why it never lasts. I know you’re scared, so I don’t push. I try to find
someone to counteract how I feel about you, but she’s just not out there,
Lace.” This was all startling news to me. I’d thought all he’d ever wanted from
me was sex. He added, “That’s a fact I’m willing to face, and I’ll do whatever
I have to in order to prove I’m serious.”

“Don’t say that,” I whispered as my eyes opened. There
wasn’t much protest in my voice. I’d about reached my resistance threshold with
this man. And quite clearly, he’d reached the end of his rope as well, making
the situation even more difficult.

“Not saying it won’t mean I’m not thinking it.” He paused,
seemingly considering how much more to divulge, then added, “Come on, Lace. I
know where you stand. But the way you look at me…” He let out a low groan that
further stirred my senses. “You can’t hide your attraction to me. It’s always
been there, in your eyes. There’s something between us. Something you fight
every day. In turn, I try to get you out of my mind, because you insist we
can’t be more than friends. But tonight—”

“I’ve had a weird evening. You caught me off guard during a
moment of weakness,” I reasoned, though it was a crappy defense, especially
with my heart pounding so loud I was certain he could hear it.

“I know your past haunts you in a lot of different ways. And
I’m always here when you need me. All I’m asking for now is to just…test the
waters with me.” His lips brushed over mine. A whisper of a kiss. A mere hint
of one. But I felt its effects to the very depths of my soul. Yeah, I was nuts
about this guy. The precise reason I’d avoided situations such as this in the
past. We’d arrived at this point, anyway, regardless of my previous efforts to
maintain an even keel with him.

Perhaps I’d had too much champagne at the Montlimiere. Maybe
three years without sex, and three years of living next door to the most
gorgeous man I’d ever laid eyes on—who
wanted
me—along with being
aroused by a supermodel whose plastered-to-her-body dress had revealed a figure
worth fantasizing about even if you weren’t a lesbian, bisexual or even the
tiniest bit interested in women were impossible-to-deny catalysts. I didn’t
know. But when Mike gravitated toward me so his chest, now covered with a black
T-shirt that pulled tight against his muscles, pressed to my breasts, I ignored
many of the reasons I’d fought this attraction for so long.

A sigh of yearning escaped my parted lips as he nibbled the
corner of my mouth and then engaged me in soft kisses that didn’t involve
tongue but had our lips twisting together as we teased each other. My eyelids
fluttered closed again and hot lava flowed through every inch of me. My inner
thighs quivered and my pussy clenched and released as though trying to grasp
something that wasn’t there. Something that hadn’t been there in so very long.
Something that
could
be there, if only I’d utter that one magical word
that would release me from my terrified-to-be-played-again captivity.

Yes
.

There it was.
The
word. It danced through my mind,
taunting me. It lingered on my tongue, tempting me.

But I kept my mouth shut. Well, not literally, because
Mike’s tongue finally slipped past my parted lips and delved deep. His kiss was
nothing short of electric. Slow. Hot. Deep. Wet. Hot. Oh wait. I’d said that
already. But okay, yeah. Hot. So very, very hot.

My body trembled from head to toe. I pulled away from the
archway and pressed myself more firmly against him as one hand slid around to
his muscular back while the other gripped his rock-hard bicep. In turn, his
hand beneath my breast moved higher so his skimming thumb could sweep over my
hard nipple.

I should have torn my mouth from his to drag in some
much-needed oxygen and to break the too-intense moment, but couldn’t do it. The
fire that roared through my body at his erotic touch seared me to the very core
of my being, but I refused to give up the intimacy of his kiss. It was the most
perfect first kiss ever delivered. There was meaning behind it. Emotions
conveyed similar to what I’d sometimes see in Mike’s eyes when he listened to
me talk about a life I’d thought I was supposed to live back in Phoenix, the
career I’d believed I would excel at with the TV station and the love I’d
thought I’d had with Chase. And then with Brandon. Empathy, understanding and
support, mixed with a healthy dose of desire and admiration.

With this all-consuming kiss, I could forget Mike was a
playboy. I could forget he seemed to have a different girl on his arm every
month. I could forget he practically gave himself whiplash every time a
beautiful woman walked by.

I could forget he’d break my heart.

When he finally pulled away, everything inside me had
unraveled and my needs spiraled out of control. Breathing wasn’t really an
option for me. In fact, I felt lightheaded after that scorching-hot lip-lock.
My hand at his back moved to his wide, muscular chest, my fingers curling
around the material of his T-shirt.

“Whoa,” was all I could say. And it wasn’t of the “back off,
buddy” variety. No, it was strictly the “my thighs just went up in flames and
if you keep kissing me and rubbing my nipple, I’m going to come” variety.

Mike said, “I knew it’d be hot between us.”

I didn’t trust my voice. It would betray me. My words would
tell him he should go, but my tone would suggest he take me to bed.
Pronto.

I tried to get a grip on the fluttering sensations in my
stomach. Tried to breathe.

The corner of Mike’s mouth lifted into another sexy-as-sin
grin that kept my temperature spiking in the red. “I know you want to deny the
chemistry between us,” he said, as though reading the contradictory thoughts
racing through my mind. “But it’s not going to work anymore.”

His head bent and his lips touched mine. So soft, so sweet.
Not at all demanding and persistent, as I’d expected, given his alpha-male
tendencies.

God, how I wanted him. He was right—I couldn’t deny it any
longer. I wanted to drag him down to the floor and climb on top of his glorious
hunkiness. Beg him to do things to me that only bad boys like Mike Lucas knew
how to do. I more than wanted him. I
needed
him.

I’d lost this war completely.

I was hooked on his kisses, but found myself pulling my
mouth away to say, “Fuck me.” I craved his touch, plain and simple. To hell
with the consequences. “Just once. One night of sex, nothing more.”

His smile faded, though he continued to stare deep into my
eyes, the way I liked. Some sort of inner turmoil brewed in his usually
shimmering irises. He gave me another look I’d not previously seen from him and
it caused a bout of panic to rise within me.

“No, Lace,” he said on a ragged breath before working down
what appeared to be a hard lump in his throat. “Haven’t you been listening to
what I’m saying? I know I’ve hit on you a hundred times before, but now you’ve
finally come around. This is the shot I’ve been waiting for. I don’t want just
one night of hot sex. I want more than that with you.”

I felt a stab of rejection that cut deep, even though I knew
it shouldn’t. He was doing the right thing, actually saying the right words to
prove he didn’t intend to use me. And hadn’t he said he just wanted to test the
waters tonight? I had to respect all that.

Maybe it wasn’t so much rejection that tore through me. More
like mortification for having put myself out there when I’d told him what I
wanted from him and disappointment he hadn’t pounced on my offer.

I couldn’t take it back was the problem. He’d gotten what
he’d
wanted from
me
. The invitation he’d been angling for since the day we’d
met.

Regardless of everything he’d said—again, all the right
things—I still felt stupid for propositioning him. I’d tried so hard for so
long to stay out of his trap but had fallen prey to it anyway. Damn that
champagne and the supermodel. If I hadn’t been turned-on earlier, I might have
been able to stand my ground against Mike. I adored him, no doubt about it, but
I couldn’t take a chance on him. Not the way he was asking me to.