Authors: Brenda Grate
“I didn’t know if Auntie Con would be in or not.”
She knows I’m always here.
Connie patted Dimitri’s arm, then gave Jen a little stronger than necessary shoulder squeeze. She stared hard at her, then stepped back and smiled at them.
“Well, I’ll let you get on with your dinner. Buon appetito!”
“Thanks, Auntie.”
“Yes, thank you, Connie. It was nice to meet you.”
She waved and headed back to the kitchen. She’d have to keep an eye on that young man. She’d never worried for her niece before. Jen had always been able to handle herself around men. She’d kept the upper hand, so Connie had never worried for more than a few minutes that her heart would be in danger. This man, this exotic-looking man with built-in charm to spare … he could do damage—on a nuclear level.
Chapter 12
As Connie swung open the kitchen door, someone caught her eye and she paused before entering, her heart leaping into her throat.
Damn!
It was Archie McDougall, the owner of The Bar, a chain of restaurants that, in her opinion, littered the streets of Toronto. He was a self-made millionaire and had no qualms about telling everyone how he’d made his money and how one day he would also own Il Giardino.
She continued into the kitchen while she thought about what to do. She opened the walk-in cooler door and closed it behind her. It could be opened from the inside and it was quiet, so it had become one of Connie’s favorite places to think, especially when she got hot under the collar.
McDougall was having dinner alone in one of the coveted spots near the large window overlooking a beautiful park, which meant he had to have booked the table at least a month ahead. A month ago, Connie had thrown him out on his pudgy ass for insisting yet again that she would eventually sell him her beloved restaurant. He’d finally pushed her too far and Connie yelled at him to get out of her restaurant and never come back. And there he sat like he owned the world.
Connie flew out of the cooler, fists balled, seeing red. A pair of arms grabbed her around the waist and she landed back against a solid male body. She smelled a familiar scent.
“It’s not worth it, Con,” Rick whispered. “He’ll just keep coming back.”
She swung around and out of his grip. “Can’t I get a restraining order or something?”
“Seriously? He’s never caused any public disturbances, and you run a restaurant that is open to the public. You’d have to have more to go on than that he wants to buy the place.”
“He’s harassing me,” Connie sputtered.
“Maybe. But he’d have to come here more often than once every few months to constitute harassment, don’t you think?”
Connie stamped a foot, and Rick laughed. “I love it when you do that. I can suddenly picture a six year old Connie who isn’t getting her way.”
Connie struggled to hold back the smile, but it broke through anyway. She slumped in defeat and leaned back against the cooler door. The kitchen staff bustled around them, too busy to notice their discussion.
Dammit, she loved this place and she wasn’t going to sell out, no matter how routine it had gotten. Not to Archie McDougall anyway.
“Are you sure about this, Con?”
“About what?”
“Are you sure you don’t want to sell?”
Connie stared at Rick with her mouth hanging open. She snapped it shut and glared at him. “How could you ask me that?”
Rick looked at her with knowing eyes.
“You’re losing your fire. Plus, you’re fighting awfully hard with McDougall when all you have to do is say no with conviction.”
Connie looked at the floor.
“I think he’d stop coming back,” Rick added. “If he actually believed you weren’t going to sell to him.”
Connie grabbed Rick’s arm and dragged him down a short hallway from the kitchen into her office. She pushed him into the chair in front of her desk and stood over him with her arms crossed. “How can you say that to me? I love this place.”
“Methinks the lady doth protest too much,” Rick said with a smug look.
Connie fumed while she paced. Her desk phone rang. She stomped over, gave Rick another glare and then snatched it up.
“Il Giardino.” Connie had to give herself props for being able to sound so calm considering the storm raging inside her.
“Con? It’s Em. Do you have time to talk? Or can you call me back when you’re free?”
Emma always did that. Connie’s temper rose another notch, but she held it back. Emma always put herself last, like the least important person on the team. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to bring her thoughts into focus.
“Con? You there?”
“Sorry Em, it’s really busy. I would love to talk, but I’ll probably have to call you back. Just give me about ten or fifteen minutes, ‘k?”
“No problem. Take your time. I’ll be here all evening. You okay? You sound pretty stressed.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. No worries. Just a busy night. I’ll call soon.”
Connie hung up, dropped into her chair and put her head on the desk.
Rick stepped around the desk and massaged her neck. Connie moaned and moved to give him more access. He took her shoulders, pulled her upright and dug in with his strong fingers. A ripple of pleasure ran over her skin, and her muscles loosened a fraction. Rick had magic fingers.
“You need some time to chill, woman.”
Connie whimpered in protest as he stepped away, but he was soon back after locking her office door.
“Just take a few minutes to calm down and everything will look much better when you step out again.” He went back to massaging her neck.
Connie let her head drift back until it rested against his hard stomach.
“Mmmm …” she sighed. “You’re so good at that.”
“I know, baby,” he said, softly, suggestively, while his hands roamed lower. Connie’s eyes snapped open when they cupped her breasts.
She struggled to get away, but he used his forearms to push her back in the chair.
“Let me soothe you, this is what you need.”
“Rick,” Connie protested despite the delicious sensations curling up in her. “We don’t do this anymore.”
He laughed, a rumble in her ears. “Why not? We’re very good together. You’re free, I’m free. We’re both adults and friends.”
Connie looked up at his face over hers. “Free? You’re not with Rebecca?”
“Nope.”
Connie didn’t miss the pain that flashed in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Rick. I know you really cared about her.”
“It’s okay, wasn’t meant to be.” He dropped closer and kissed down her jaw and left a wet trail of kisses over her neck, ending on her collarbone.
Connie shivered and gave up the fight. Rick was exactly what she needed.
He stepped back and spun her chair toward him. He took the hem of her T-shirt and slid it smoothly over her head. “You’re going to need more than fifteen minutes, babe.”
“Hmmm?” Connie mumbled from deep in the fog of desire.
“To call Emma back. You’re going to need at least a half hour, maybe more.”
Connie smiled down at him as he crouched between her legs and reached for the button on her jeans.
“Oh, yes, right.”
Rick laughed and pulled her to her feet. He stripped off her jeans and panties in one smooth move then grabbed her hips and placed her on the edge of the desk. Connie didn’t even care that she sat on invoices and utility bills.
She reached for Rick’s jean’s button as he pulled his shirt off. Soon she sat in only a bra and he stood naked in front of her, very obviously desiring her. She arched her back and undid the clasp of her bra. Rick pulled her to him, her bra getting caught between their bodies. He left a hot trail down her neck with his lips, and she gasped as he captured her nipple between his teeth.
“Rick, hurry,” she moaned. She wanted him more now than she ever had.
He grabbed her hips, lifted her slightly and slid inside, both of them moaning together.
“Ah, Connie,” he groaned, “you’re so ready for me. You always were.”
Connie dropped her head back and let herself be swept down the river of their passion.
They climaxed together and Rick slumped over her shoulder. Then someone knocked at the door.
“Hey, Connie, is Rick in there with you? We need him in the kitchen.”
Guilt shot through Connie and she tried to push Rick back. How could she be so selfish, taking her second in command away during dinner hour? He wouldn’t budge, just called out in a weaker than normal voice.
“I’ll be there in a sec, Angela.”
They both heard her footsteps recede and Connie tried again to push him off.
“Give a guy a break, Con.”
“I think I just did.”
Rick laughed and pushed himself upright. He grabbed the tissue box off her desk, handed it to her and took a few to clean up. He kissed her and grabbed his clothes.
Connie finished dressing and Rick paused at the door to make sure she was decent.
“I’ve missed you,” he said, then closed the door behind him.
Rick had wanted to take things with her to the next level. That’s when she’d broken it off with him. They had a great sexual relationship, but she could never get past best pal with him and fall in love. It wasn’t fair to him. But neither was what they’d just done. She’d given him hope again and for that she mentally kicked herself. What a selfish bitch she was being today.
Connie sat in her chair, composed herself as best she could and picked up the phone. At least she might be able to redeem herself by being there for her best friend.
Even through her anger, she’d heard the need in Emma’s voice.
Chapter 13
After her aunt stepped away, Jen looked across the table and was met with Dimitri’s delighted smile. She frowned back at him.
“Why are you so happy?” she asked.
“It’s fun to see you nervous. If you didn’t want your aunt to meet me, why did you bring me to her restaurant?”
“I didn’t say I didn’t want her to meet you.” Jen twirled her fork in the steaming pasta on her plate.
Dimitri chuckled, but didn’t push it.
The man could be irritating.
He thinks he knows what’s going on in my head, but he doesn’t.
“Besides, why wouldn’t I want her to meet you? We’re just out on a first date. It’s not like you’re my boyfriend or anything or like this is going anywhere.” Jen took a sip of her wine and kept her eyes on her plate.
“Ah.”
Jen met Dimitri’s dark eyes. His smile was gone.
“So, that’s how you want to play this?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Who hurt you, Jen? Your father?”
Jen clenched her teeth before she could show her surprise. “I don’t think that’s any of your business.”
“I think it is. You and me, we’re going to be together a long time.”
A nervous flutter started up in her stomach. Jen looked away from him while trying to school her features into a semblance of not caring. She didn’t understand how he’d gotten under her skin so quickly, but his confidence irritated her.
“You don’t know that,” she said.
Dimitri took a bite of his lasagna. He picked up his glass and waited for Jen to pick up hers.
“To the future and all her possibilities,” he said.
Jen didn’t move, so Dimitri reached a long arm across the table and tapped his glass with hers, the crystal ringing like a wedding bell. Jen lifted her glass and sipped, trying to ignore the fluttering in her stomach.
She found him attractive. A woman would have to be either ninety or half dead not to, and the ninety-year old just might be attracted to him too. But that didn’t mean Jen would let him assume things about their future. Jen needed to get him firmly in control.
Her decision made, Jen tucked into her pasta and drank more than her share of wine while she tried to relax and talk about superficial things. Dimitri went along with it, but she had a hard time escaping his probing eyes. She’d never met a man that could look to her core as though she stood naked before him. She didn’t like it.
A distraction was all she could come up with. She refused to think too deeply about what it would be like to be naked in bed with him.
Jen gave her aunt a wave as they left the restaurant. Dimitri had his truck parked in front of the well-lit entrance. He opened the door and helped her step up into the cab. He waited while she got settled, then closed the door.
Jen wasn’t sure how she felt about all this chivalry. She’d never had a boyfriend open doors for her or treat her like she was a … what? A female. There was something to be said for that.
Being in law school was much like being in an ocean full of sharks. Jen had learned to be tough in order to survive. She’d grown up tough trying to be the son her father didn’t have in Brad. Law school had only cemented the fact that if she didn’t have female parts, she could easily have passed herself off as male.
As a result, Jen often dated men who were softer than she. The relationships never worked. She had no respect for a man who didn’t act like one. But as her last boyfriend told her, a real man wouldn’t be attracted to a woman who didn’t just want his cock, but his balls, too.
Dimitri was exactly the kind of man who wouldn’t give up his balls for any woman. Jen wondered how she’d fare with a man like him. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye as he drove. His large hands held the steering wheel with confidence.
I wonder how he touches a woman? Would he be gentle or strong? Take what he wants and leave her wanting, or satisfy her to within an inch of her life?
Jen shifted uncomfortably on her seat. She squeezed her legs together trying to block the image of him kneeling between them and watching her with those knowing eyes.
“Do I pass?” he asked.
“Hmm?”
“You’ve been examining me. Are you pleased with what you see?”
“Oh, somewhat.” Jen gave him what she hoped was a seductive smile. Dimitri gave her a funny look and turned back to watching the road.
“Would you like to come over to my place for a while?” Dimitri asked.