Authors: Anne Rainey
He’d driven into their complex in a black convertible
BMW
and
he’d
looked
mysterious and alluring, drawing all the ladies’ attention right away. But she hadn’t seen him since.
Sarah reached out and shook his hand, smiling a friendly greeting. “Good to meet you, Blake. I’m Sarah Templeton and this is Greg Stiles,” she explained, indicating Greg, who’d been staring at the man, frowning something fierce, and being entirely too rude for her comfort. “Welcome to the neighborhood.”
A wicked grin spread across Blake’s face. “Why thank you, Sarah.”
The way he said her name, as if savoring it on his tongue, seemed intimate a n d a too forward to her. Her thoughts scattered as Blake turned his attention to Greg, holding his hand out to him as well.
Greg stared another few seconds before clasping his hand in a firm grip.
“Welcome
to
the
neighborhood,
Blake,” Greg hissed, his voice low and dark, as if he’d had to force the words out.
Suddenly, Greg dropped Blake’s hand and turned back to her, dismissing the man entirely, and pinned her in place. “Sarah, I wanted to ask you, if you don’t have any other plans that is, if you’d have dinner with me tonight?”
That stunned her speechless. Greg had always seemed to take great measures in avoiding her. She had even wondered if he disliked her for some reason. Hearing him invite her to dinner now was not at all what she would have expected. In secret, she’d wondered more than a few times what it would be like to have Greg Stiles alone.
She’d seen him with other women. It wasn’t a lot of women, and Greg was always very discreet, but she’d secretly envied those girls. And hadn’t she just been thinking that it was time for her get on with her life and quit dwelling on the husband and children dream? Oh, she still wanted those things, but if she sat around and waited for them to come to her, she’d be old and gray and very much alone. She didn’t want to end up bitter like her father, shunning the very idea of love and happiness.
“I’d like that, Greg,” she blurted out before she could change her mind. Sarah watched in fascination as a slow, intimate smile came over his face, changing the harsh planes and angles in an instant. Now he acted more like the playful flirt she’d witnessed just moments ago. She cleared her throat and got her mind back on track her throat and got her mind back on track in the process. “What time should I be ready?”
“I can pick you up at seven; does that work for you?”
Her heart beat faster at the idea of having a date with the rugged Greg Stiles.
“Sure,” she stuttered out , then as an afterthought, “What should I wear?”
He examined her from head to toe and Sarah could feel the heat of his chocolate-brown eyes all over her body. It was the first time she became aware of how dirty and awful she must look. Especially after falling into the wet mulch. Surely he’d change his mind once he came to his senses… She was really hoping he wouldn’t change his mind.
When his heated gaze came back to hers there was a most sinful curve to his lips and the sweet cadence in his voice fairly vibrated all over her as he murmured,
“A skirt. Definitely a skirt.” She blinked several times, wondering what had suddenly come over her neighbor, and her face grew hot when she saw the amusement on Blake Richards’ face. She’d practically forgotten he stood there!
“No, what I meant was, do I wear casual or dressy, Greg?” she bit out, angry that he could be so forward as to dictate what she wore, but he was already sauntering off, whistling of all things, which left her alone with their new neighbor.
Great, just great
.
She swallowed her embarrassment and reached for something to say when she thought of Blake’s sweet, classy car. “I love your car. What do you do for a living that affords you that little beauty?”
“I’m in banking. Not exactly an exciting job, but it manages to pay well.”
He reached out and wiped at a smudge of dirt on her nose. “What about you, Sarah?”
“We have something in common it seems; my job isn’t anything glamorous either. I’m a manager in a dental office.”
He nodded, as if sympathizing.
“Insurance companies and files all day?”
She laughed. “Yep, that pretty much sums it up.”
He quirked his head to the side. “So, what did you want to be when you were a little girl?”
She sobered instantly. Looking down at her clothes, Sarah started swiping at her shorts and shirt, attempting unsuccessfully to get the already ground in dirt off, as she considered whether or not she really wanted to get into this touchy subject. “It’ll sound really lame, I’m afraid.”
“Try me, Sarah.”
The deeply whispered words made her wonder if he was still talking about childhood dreams. She shrugged, figuring it couldn’t hurt to tell him. “I wanted to be a wife and mother. I used to dream of being a stay-home mom. The kind who’d have cookies hot and fresh from the oven when the kids got off the bus. A mother who would tuck them in at night with a bedtime story. I used to imagine myself cooking dinner and greeting my husband with a kiss every day when he got home from work.” She sighed; thinking of that dream made her wistful. “It’s not at all politically correct, but there it is.”
He reached a hand out, touched her cheek with a finger and stroked. “No, it’s not very PC, but it is very appealing all the same.”
She mentally smacked herself for her fanciful notions and asked, “So, how about you?”
He
frowned,
as
if
suddenly
uncomfortable with the conversation. “I wanted to be what a lot of boys long to become. A firefighter.”
Now that did surprise her. The handsome and well-dressed man standing in front of her could easily pose for
GQ
.
He’d look perfect sitting in a boardroom, but wearing a firefighter suit with soot streaking his face? She honestly had a hard time picturing it. It just went to show that you should never judge a book by the cover.
She smiled, feeling genuinely at ease, as if she’d known him much longer than just a few minutes. “Well, I don’t know about you, Blake, but I’m not quite ready to give up on that dream.” Blake grinned right back. “You know, Sarah Templeton? I think I’m going to really enjoy living at Willow Glenn.”
Two
Sarah felt panicky. She’d changed clothes four times and still wasn’t sure. Her final decision consisted of a simple black skirt that sat just above the knees and a white silk blouse. She’d left her hair down, blow drying it straight and tucking it behind her ears. It was simple, but feminine. She debated over the shoes the most. She had a pair of black flats, two-inch black pumps, and black high heels. She’d gone with the pumps, not willing to break her neck by attempting to wear the taller ones.
Good Lord, there was simply too much stress involved in dating.
She heard a knock on her front door and she fairly leaped out of her skin. She gave herself one last glance in her bathroom mirror, grabbed her purse, and left the room. Sarah took a deep breath, then opened the front door and proceeded to drool.
Greg stood on her front step, his broad shoulders braced against the doorframe, wearing a clean pair of snug jeans that appeared nearly new, a long-sleeve, navy blue button down shirt and brown, leather work boots. She’d never seen anything quite so magnificent. He’d even tried to comb the wild mane of his hair into some semblance of style. She could have told him he shouldn’t have bothered, though. She liked his messy brown hair; it always made her want to dig her fingers in and play.
“You
look
great,”
Sarah
complimented, hoping her voice didn’t sound quite as throaty as she suspected.
His grin, laced with just a shade of masculine need, melted her insides as he stared down at her, leaving Sarah suddenly tongue-tied. “I’m pretty sure that’s my line, sweetheart.” He checked her out from head to toe and whistled low. “You skipped right past great though, didn’t you? Truth be told, you look sexy as hell.”
She smiled, feeling her confidence level rise a notch. She was going to do this.
Finally, Sarah would have sex with a man and she’d get to see what all the talk was about. Something very female inside of her told her that Greg Stiles would make it a very enjoyable experience too.
* * * *
Sarah was having the time of her life with Greg
.
They had gone to see a movie and, much to her surprise, he’d picked a comedy. They’d laughed themselves silly.
She hadn't laughed and had such a good time with a man in…well ever. They were back in his black Blazer and on their way home, but he turned down a different road.
Puzzled, she glanced over at him.
"Where are we going?"
"Oh baby, the evening is not yet finished. You aren’t going to turn into a pumpkin are you?" he asked teasingly as he looked over at her for a brief moment.
Sarah saw mystery in his eyes and something else pooling in their devilish d e p t hs . Hunger? But for what, Sarah wondered. Or maybe the correct word was, for whom?
She decided not to think too hard about tonight. Just to go with the flow for once. "Well no, but I would like to know where my prince is taking me on such a lovely evening as this?"
"Now that would certainly spoil my lady's surprise, would it not?” he murmured, keeping up their lighthearted role-playing.
"Yes, I suppose it would, and I certainly wouldn't want to spoil it. Shall I close my eyes too? So your surprise will be complete and untainted?” She laughed, full well expecting him to laugh along with her.
"Yeah, close your eyes, fair lady,” he whispered lustfully, “trust in me to tell you when to open them again.” He paused, then asked a little too seriously, “Will you trust me, Sarah?"
"Yes, Greg, I trust you." She breathed out, then proved it by closing her eyes and leaning her head back against the seat.
Greg hadn't expected the conversation to
take
such
an
interesting
turn.
Nevertheless,
he
couldn't
let
the
opportunity to observe Sarah up close go by. She was so pretty. Especially when she laughed. She made him feel like the luckiest man on earth when the smiles were directed towards him as they had been tonight. He’d taken her to a comedy for two reasons. He wanted to take her mind off her nervousness because he knew she had been apprehensive at first. He didn’t quite understand it. She was a knockout and she seemed so confident, but around him she stuttered like a jumpy schoolgirl. The second reason was so he could watch the way her face changed as she laughed. There wasn’t anything more beautiful than a woman’s smile. Well, except for maybe a woman in the throes of a climax, obviously.
What he hadn’t expected was the raging hard-on he’d gotten when her face had split into a disarming grin. Who would have thought that laughter from a woman could make a man as hard as granite? Hearing her in the theatre made him glad that it was dark. He would've made a spectacle of himself if it weren't. Hell, he was so horny by the time they’d left that he knew if he took her straight home, he'd have her stripped down on the floor, and would’ve been inside of her within seconds.
That’s when the thought had struck to take her to his brother’s bar, The Trouble Spot. As appealing as it was to take Sarah in such an abandoned way, he didn't want her to think he had no finesse at all, that he was no more than a crazed animal.
Although, that was pretty much the way he felt at the moment.
Of course, Sarah wasn’t just any woman either. She was special. Sweet and kind and so fucking sexy sitting next to him with her eyes closed and her legs pressed tightly together. He couldn’t wait to get her alone, to get her out of her clothes and explore her petite body. Watch as she spread her legs wide just for him. As they turned the next corner and began traveling down the street where the bar was located, Greg peered over at Sarah to see if her eyes were still closed. They were. In fact, she had a sexy little smile on her lips and her hair was like satin, falling down past her shoulders, giving him a perfect view of her slender, delicate neck. He may well have been a vampire in some other life because the need to taste her pulsing vein with his tongue and bite into her pale, ivory flesh there,
marking
her,
was
nearly
overpowering.
He pulled into the parking lot of the bar and drove around to the back, so they could enter from the private entrance. He stopped the Blazer and put it in park, but didn’t turn off the engine. He leaned closer to Sarah and whispered, "You’re turning me on right now, Sarah Templeton."
He wanted to seduce her, to mesmerize her into doing as he wished. Her lashes began to flutter open, but he touched each lid with a kiss, effectively keeping them closed. "You trusted me to say when, and I have yet to do so, my lady."
She remained quiet, but her lids never lifted, thrilling the hell out of him by her sweet submission. He caressed her hair with his fingers and stroked her silky tresses.