“Stop.”
“I’m serious.”
“You and your friends didn’t appear to be eating much.” Tiberius hid his hands in his pockets and hoped she didn’t catch on to how curious he was.
“I promise you we all enjoyed it and there’s
always
loads of rowdiness when I go out with my crew.”
“Your crew?”
“My photography crew.” Capri switched her camera bag to her other shoulder. “We were discussing one of our models.”
Tiberius wouldn’t let himself dwell on the fact that her clarification made him feel much better. “So what’s your job like?”
“Ha! Full of prima donnas. Mostly male ones.”
Tiberius laughed. “So, do you ever regret being behind the camera instead of in front of it?”
“No.” Capri took a deep breath and enjoyed the shadows cast by the tall palms lining the sea. “Photography fascinates me. I truly believe in the phrase ‘the camera doesn’t lie.’ In the perfect shot there’s a raw beauty that…I don’t know…it captivates me.”
“So are you captivated by
all
your subjects?” Again, Tiberius hoped she couldn’t tell what he really wanted to know.
“Captivated? By
my
subjects? No, lately no,” she quickly stated and joined him in laughter. “The joy for me is working until I come across the few who
do
captivate me.” She slanted Tiberius a glance. “I wouldn’t mind shooting you sometime.”
“Forget it.” He waved a hand about his head. “I could never compete with those guys who pose for you.”
In truth, Capri thought, those guys could never compete with him. She took a moment to observe him again and the rest of the walk passed in sweet silence.
Capri’s voice echoed loudly in the air when her musical accompaniment was shut down in mid chorus. She whipped her head around to find Tiberius standing near the MP3 player she’d carried out to the patio.
“What are you doing?” His expression was curious and awed as he watched her.
Capri waved a hand toward her soapy Pathfinder. “Isn’t it obvious?”
“What about that foot?”
“Do you recall how long ago that was?”
“And here you are doing something else dangerous.”
“It was only a few scratches and, as you said yourself, it was long past time you had that step repaired.” She slapped the sponge to the roof of the truck.
Tiberius had already zoned out of her explanation as her attire
struck him speechless. The cutoffs and bikini top held him entranced. He didn’t even realize he’d been gawking until he tuned into her calling his name.
“I don’t feel right about you on that foot, a few scratches or not.”
Capri judged her position atop the SUV. “Technically I’m not
on
it, you know?”
“Right,” he watched as she continued the scrubbing chore. “You should let me do that,” he said when she caught him staring again.
“Tibe…for the last time, I’m fine.”
“I believe you but you’re only spreading around the dirt the way you’re doing it.”
“I’ve done this before.”
“Then don’t you think it’s time you learned how to do it right?” he smirked.
“All right.” She threw the sponge at his chest and smiled when he fielded it easily before it hit his T-shirt. “So what do you suggest, Doc?”
“First…” Surprising, exasperating and amusing her, he effortlessly plucked her from the roof of the car and sat her to her feet.
There was no arguing that his elbow grease was far more powerful than hers. But rather than stroke his ego further, she kept all compliments to herself.
“So should I be a good little girl and go get refreshments?” she asked instead.
Tiberius overlooked her sarcasm on purpose. “Now you’re learning.”
Capri waited until he’d turned back to scrubbing and then doused his back with the bucket of soapy water.
Tiberius took his revenge swiftly and in moments he had her on her back and begging for mercy as he tickled her.
Capri pretended to lose her breath as she pleaded. The second
he eased off, she grabbed the hose and sprayed him square in the face.
Tiberius relieved her of the hose easily and repaid the favor tenfold. Soon Capri’s hair was a mass of limp coils and everything was wet. It was all in fun, but amidst the play and laughter, their bodies betrayed them.
With Tiberius sprawled between her thighs, she could feel every bit of his chiseled length. There was no mistaking his arousal, hard and heavy against the middle of her cutoffs. His chest was a granite slab presently outlined beneath his soaked white T-shirt. Capri couldn’t resist the temptation to knead his flexing pecs and arched into the rigid abs sealed against her stomach.
The moment was just as arousing for Tiberius who relished the feel of her ample breasts rising against him almost as much as the sight of her nipples deliciously rigid beneath her soaked bikini top. The front ties of the racy garment had come loose during their play and the material barely covered the part of her he was almost desperate to see.
Bowing his head, he uttered a brief prayer to request more willpower and then he pushed off her.
“You should, um…you should go change out of those…those clothes…” He cleared his throat. “Before you catch a cold to go along with that bruised foot.”
Capri nodded and let him help her to her feet. “Well, thanks…for the help.”
“Any time.” He pushed a hand through his dark hair while continually raking his light eyes across her. She could barely keep the ties closed over her full chest. When she mercifully left him alone, he reached for the hose and gave himself a quick cold shower.
“Looking good,” Pepper remarked as she strolled into Capri’s kitchen a few days later.
Capri only sipped from her coffee mug and waited for Pepper to continue, knowing remarks on the loveliness of the home weren’t the only thing she was bursting to comment on.
“Had dinner with the good doctor lately?”
“No, I haven’t seen him in a few days actually.”
Now it was Pepper’s turn to wait for further comment.
“Not since he came over to wash my car.”
Folding her arms over her black halter, Pepper nodded in satisfaction. “Now this is conversation worth driving all the way out here for. Dish.”
“Nothing happened…well, nothing much.”
“How much?”
“Pepper…”
“You like him. What’s wrong with that?” Pepper took her place at the table and fixed Capri with confused eyes.
“You know why, you’ve seen him. You’ve met him.”
“Right, not only is he gorgeous, but he’s intelligent and he’s decent.”
Capri topped off her coffee and came to join Pepper at the table. “The only problem is he still strikes me as a playboy.”
Pepper laughed. “Newsflash, hon, but there’s no way a man can look that way and not fall victim to playing that role at least once in his lifetime.”
“Which makes him dangerous.”
“Why? Because he’s got you questioning certain decisions you’ve made about your body and who you’ve decided to give it to?”
“You pretty much hit that one on the head.”
“I’m not a bartender for nothing.”
Capri held her head in her hands. “I’m doing more than questioning, Pep. I’m imagining, daydreaming about…” She winced as a few of those images popped into her mind.
Pepper only leaned across the table to pat the top of her best friend’s head.
Capri had always enjoyed taking time out to plant. She’d often indulged in the activity and her former condo, had resembled a veritable greenhouse before she moved. The pots of gaily colored flowers decorating her condo, however, couldn’t compare to the feel of toiling away in her very own garden. Capri finally managed time to plant some bulbs around her house. She was having a marvelous Saturday morning working in the rich soil, but welcomed the company from Lewey and the friend he brought along.
“Does your dad know you’re over here, miss?” Capri asked Droopey and laughed when the lovely collie bounded over to cover her arm in licks.
“All right, all right I’ll keep quiet!” Capri giggled.
The dogs must have believed her for they left Capri to her gardening and went about their frolicking a short distance away.
“Droop?”
Capri smiled but continued her work when she heard his voice.
“Droopey? Where are you?”
“Looks like the jig’s up, girl,” Capri warned.
“Droop?”
“She’s okay.” Capri waited for Tiberius to emerge around her side of the house.
“She bothering you?” Tiberius asked as he noticed her gardening.
Capri hesitated, taking stock of her work. “Sorry about this, I um…didn’t bother to ask before I started to plant these things.”
Tiberius grinned. “You never had to ask me that anyway.”
“So it’s all right?”
“Very all right. This is your home and you can do whatever you like to put your own mark on it. Well, anything except drawing a big red
C
on the roof, that is.”
Capri snapped her fingers. “Guess I’ll need to cancel the painting crew that was heading over this afternoon.” Her laughter softened.
“Thanks, Tibe.” She watched him shrug and then she took another look at her work. “I hope it’ll be a good mark. I’m really only experimenting here.”
“I think you’ll have positive results.” Tiberius eased a hand into a side pocket of his walnut-brown trousers.
“I’m still a novice at this so I’m afraid my gardening skills are nowhere near as primed as whoever you paid to do
your
yard.”
“Now I’m really offended.” Tiberius pressed a hand to the front of his crisp mocha shirt and fixed her with a pained look. “Are you saying I couldn’t do that myself?”
“Well I didn’t mean to—” Capri stopped herself when she looked up and noticed him smirking. She slapped his leg in response to his teasing.
“So, what are these?” Tiberius knelt to expect more closely.
“Bulbs. They come in their own special packet. You only need to plant it as is and water it. Then move them out here once the roots grow.”
“Lemme see one of those.”
Capri moved to grab the last packet which was snatched up by Lewey just as her fingers grazed it. “Sorry,” she gasped amidst the laughter that fluttered in response to the dog’s play.
Tiberius couldn’t have cared less. He was far too taken by Capri in that moment. Without a care for his clothes or the meeting he was already late for, he tugged upon the hem of her T-shirt and gently settled her into the grass. A deep kiss followed.
Capri’s response was eager as she met the deep lunges of his tongue with a force of her own. Wantonly, she arched into a soft bow when his fingers plied her firming nipples with merciless manipulation.
“Tibe…” Her voice quivered when he ground his powerful frame against her.
He broke the kiss then, and his mouth journeyed along the satin line of her cheek, jaw, neck…and farther still across the rise of her
breasts and beneath the snug fabric covering her chest. She thrust her hips hard, shamelessly erotic beneath him when he rooted his lips against her top and suckled her nipples.
Tiberius’s hands skirted over and under her clothes. They moved to curve about her bottom where he caressed the lush curve visible thanks to the hem of her black shorts. Capri felt him groan into her mouth and knew he’d discovered she wore nothing beneath. She tugged at his bottom lip, relishing the pleasure of his fingers on her bare skin. She whimpered his name when they brushed the petals of her sex.
The sound of her voice brought Tiberius to his senses. He uttered a sharp curse and thought about where they were, sprawled out in her yard where anyone could happen upon them. She deserved better than that. She deserved better than him.
Capri pushed herself up and watched as he called for his dog and left without another word.
Capri stopped second-guessing herself and rang the bell. It had been a few days since she’d seen Tiberius and she admitted to herself that she had missed him.
The bell went unanswered, but the Navigator was parked at its familiar angle in the driveway, so chances were good that he was still here. Setting her head at a determined angle she decided to bite the bullet and push onward.
Success. She found Tiberius on a lounge on his patio. He appeared to be frowning over a folder he held and Capri felt what little courage she’d mustered seep away then. He looked too busy to be bothered, she told herself, and was in the midst of backing away when Droopey caught sight of her and barked happily.
“I didn’t want to disturb you,” she explained with a painful wince when he looked up.
“No, no, you didn’t.” He was already setting aside the folder.
Capri was struck. She could only think of how adorable he was in the gold-rimmed glasses he was wearing.