The Seduction Vow (6 page)

He returned the favor, breaking off a piece
of his cranberry muffin and offering it to her with his
fingers.

Graci hesitated only a
moment. Eating from someone’s hand was an intimate,
personal-space-invading thing.
You’ve been
considering having his tongue in your mouth, his cock inside you,
and you won’t accept a bite of muffin from his hand?

She opened her mouth, and Neal’s fingertips
grazed her lips. The muffin crumbled sweetly on her tongue, crunchy
when she bit a walnut and tart with cranberries. But all she was
really aware of was that slight brush of Neal’s fingers and the way
his gaze focused intently on her lips. He appeared ready to lean
over the table and kiss her.

Graci found herself inclining forward as if
reaching for that kiss. A magnetic force shimmered in the air
between them, an unspoken sensual connection stronger than anything
she’d ever felt.

“
Half price on biscotti.”
Their waitress interrupted the moment. “You could take some to
go.”

After the waitress left, Graci settled back
into her seat and normal conversation resumed. They chatted about
the flash mob and about music, discussing what kinds they liked.
Graci feared he’d roll his eyes at some of the bands she liked, but
Neal’s taste seemed very eclectic. He loved all music, across the
board.

He was so easy to talk to that any first-date
awkwardness quickly faded. Being with him was as comfortable as
being with an old friend—except for the constant current of lust
buzzing just underneath the surface.

She told him about her checklist—all but the
virginity item—and he promised to take her to karaoke whenever she
wanted. They talked till the sun went behind the buildings and the
streetlights glowed, then Neal checked his watch again.

“
I have rehearsal. Can we
get together again soon?”

“
Yes. I’d like that.” She
smiled, and continued smiling as they walked down the street to
where her car was parked. They stood beside it talking, but chat
about the weather couldn’t mask what both of them were really
thinking about.

Wired, vibrating with adrenaline, ready to
spring into action, Graci tuned up her lips and waited for a kiss.
But though he stood very close, his body boxing her against the
car, Neal didn’t lean in. Did he plan to kiss her or not?

But New Graci didn’t wait for a man to make
the first move, did she? New Graci was completely capable of taking
what she wanted.

She stepped forward, slipped a hand around
the back of his neck, and pulled his face down to hers. Their
mouths touched, lightly at first, then deeper. Tongues explored,
lips fused together in a powerful, mind-altering kiss…

At least that was how it happened in her
imagination.

In reality, just as Graci lunged, Neal did
the same. Rather than come together in perfect harmony, their
foreheads cracked and their noses clashed.

Sharp pain shot through her face. Graci
pulled away and slapped a hand to her forehead. “Ow.”

Neal rubbed his nose and
laughed. “Sorry. Not at
all
sexy. Let’s try again.”

He lowered his head slowly,
one hand cupping her face in a warm caress. In that hushed moment
just before his mouth covered hers, Graci caught her breath, and
this time, it
was
magic. His lips brushed hers before settling more firmly.
Warm. Soft. And the hair above his upper lip tickled hers. He
kissed her once, twice, politely—no tongue—then pulled back as if
awaiting her okay to go further.

Graci exhaled and leaned in again, lips
parted. This time, Neal’s tongue swept over hers, not intrusive,
just an invitation to play—nibbles and pecks and then deeper and
longer and sensual and demanding and oh…her legs were quivering. No
thought but this moment. No worries beyond where to put her hands
next. Nothing but sensation and pleasure filling all her empty
spaces. She could cling to him and kiss like this for…well, maybe
not forever, but for a really long time.

Lost in the kisses and in Neal’s touch on her
neck and kneading lightly at the base of her spine, Graci melted
into his sinewy body. So different from the body she’d thought
would be the last she’d ever make love to. But any Joey comparisons
were a mere flash in her mind and disappeared again so quickly they
barely registered. Absolutely in the moment, there was no place
she’d rather be.

Neal released her mouth and gasped for air.
“I could call and tell them I can’t make practice. We could go to
my place. Or yours.”

Graci blinked as his words
and cool evening air slapped her into reality.
My place or yours
meant sex in any
language. She could do it with Neal. Losing her virginity with him
would be easier than the random stranger she’d originally
planned.

But her euphoric lust-haze rapidly dissipated
at the possibility of tonight being The Night. She’d waited so long
for reasons she could hardly remember and now… God, a fit of nerves
shook her.

“
No. You shouldn’t skip
your rehearsal,” she said.

“
There are always more
rehearsals.” He rested his forehead against hers and murmured, “I’d
rather be with you.”

Yes. No. Two sides of a coin.
Yes-no-yes-no-yes-no. Anticipation and fear wrestled inside
her.

Fear won. “Not tonight. But I’d like to get
together again soon.” She opened her car door, ending the
discussion. “I had a really nice time.”

He put his hands in his jacket pockets and
walked backward a few paces, nodding. “G’night. I’ll call or text
you, okay?”

“
Sounds good.” Graci got in
the car and started it. Her heart thudded like a jackrabbit’s hind
foot. It would have been so easy. She’d had exactly what she’d
wanted right in her grasp. People had sex with partners they barely
knew all the time, and she
liked
Neal, so why couldn’t she just do it?

Her fear of taking a leap tied her up in
knots. But one day soon she was going to swallow that fear and make
a hang-glider’s plunge.

Chapter Five

Corinne and Graci stopped in front of a
painting of a pair of nude lovers in a passionate embrace. The arch
of the woman’s back, her half-closed eyes, and open mouth suggested
she was on the verge of orgasm. Her partner bent her over one arm
at an impossible position to achieve in real life, half covering
her body with his. His face lay in profile against one breast, his
expression ecstatic. The highly sexual pose riveted the
attention—as did the knife the man stabbed in her back at the same
time he screwed her.

“
An interesting work. Kind
of turns you on and turns your stomach at the same time,” Corinne
said dryly.

“
I think the artist is
making a statement about our cultural fascination with serial
killers,” Graci said.

“
Or he’s thinking about an
ex.” Corinne led the way to the next painting, full of sharp angles
and angry splotches of red. “I want to ask you something as a
person in the aftermath of a breakup.”

“
Okay. Fire
away.”

“
How long do you think is
appropriate to wait before asking someone who’s almost divorced
from his wife if he wants to go out?”

“
Almost?” Graci asked. “I’d
say after the papers were signed, at least.”

“
But what if they’d been
separated for a long time? And what if it was starting to seem as
if he was interested in another person? Wouldn’t it make sense to
seize the day before the window of opportunity slammed shut on your
fingers?”

Graci stopped to study a statue, a nude white
marble man with meticulously sculpted muscles. “Would this
window-slammer be a man you know? And would the fingers happen to
belong to you?”

“
Maaybe.” Corinne circled
the statue, eyes focused on the fig leaf. “This guy couldn’t
possibly be hiding much junk under there.”

Junk. Dick. Penis. Cock.
Rod. Erection
.
Man meat.
All the descriptions of
male genitalia she could think of had crossed Graci’s mind at one
point or another over the past few days. She was becoming obsessed
with sex and sex parts and, in particular, Neal’s parts and what it
might be like to become better acquainted with them. She squirmed a
little at the tension tightening between her legs.

“
So, who’s this guy you’re
into?” Graci asked. Corinne’s job coordinating conferences and
corporate training events took her to various cities, but Graci
doubted she’d fallen for someone she’d met while
traveling.

“
He’s at the home office.
Being out of town all the time makes it really hard to meet someone
or start a relationship. Ian understands the nature of the job
because it’s his job too—or was before he got promoted.” She stared
at the statue’s foliage-covered package. “Plus he’s smoking hot. I
can’t get him out of my head.”

“
But he’s still officially
married.”

“
Yeah, I know. My friend
Seth always reminds me of that too,” Corinne said glumly. “What
about you and Neal? Have you gone out yet?”

“
We met for coffee the
other day. There was a flash mob outside the café and we joined in.
It was fun.”

“
You like him. I can tell.”
Corinne parked herself in front of Graci and studied her. Corinne’s
eyes widened. “You
really
like him. I always could read your face like a
book. The more casual you try to act, the more I know something
matters to you.”

Graci shrugged. “He’s nice enough.”

“
Does he kiss good? I bet
he does. Did you… Oh my God, Graci, did you
sleep
with him?”

“
No.” She gazed past
Corinne at the marble statue’s perfectly sculpted ass.

“
But you’re thinking about
it. Graciela Estella Ramirez, what would your mother
say?”

“
Cut it out.” Graci stepped
around Corinne and headed toward a sculpture that looked as if it
were made from Pixy Stix. “Yes, I’m attracted to Neal. I don’t know
where it’s going yet, and I don’t want to talk about
it.”

Corinne hurried after her. “Well, good for
you. Have fun. He’s the perfect transition guy. No strings, no
expectations for a future. Just a good time.”

“
Anyway, I may not even see
him again.”

“
He didn’t call after your
date. Well, that doesn’t always mean anything. Sometimes it takes a
guy a couple of days.”

“
No. He called. And texted.
I just haven’t really responded yet. I mean, I did, but only the
bare minimum. I told him I was busy and I’d get back to
him.”

“
Why in the hell not go out
with him, if you like him?”

Graci stared at the jumble of colored sticks
and the airy spaces between, looking for some sort of
organizational pattern, some point to the piece. Her feelings were
as snarled and jumbled as the artwork. For two days, she’d
pretended she was too busy to follow up. Oh yes, sooo busy with her
nine-to-five job and her sewing and TV in the evenings. What was
holding her back from finding out where this Neal thing might lead?
Probably the fact that she liked him too much already. It would be
too easy to fall for a nice guy like him.

“
Listen to me, Graci.”
Corinne put her hands on Graci’s shoulders, forcing her to meet her
gaze. “Remember your
quinceanera
and how much you wanted to dance with Eduardo
what’s-his-name? You were so busy agonizing about it you hardly
enjoyed your party. All of us kept telling you to just ask him. But
you wouldn’t. You still believed what your mom said about the way
‘nice’ girls should behave.”

“
This isn’t like that. I’m
just not sure I’m ready to plunge into something right now.”
Whether she meant easy sex or another relationship, Graci wasn’t
sure. If she waffled on the matter anymore, she could open her own
diner.

Corinne nodded. “I understand. You’re still
raw after Joey. He really messed with your head. But you have to
wade back into the dating pool some time, and this Neal seems like
a perfect opportunity for practice. It’s not as if you would have a
serious relationship with a guy like that.”

Graci frowned. “Why not?”

“
Because he’s a
musician
. They’re out
playing gigs about every weekend and have groupies hanging around.
He’s not your type, Graci. You’re built to have a relationship with
someone steady, dependable, and with a plan for the
future.”

“
Someone like Joey? Yeah,
that turned out well. Anyway, you don’t even know Neal. He’s not a
stereotype. He’s a person.”

Annoyance heated her as, once again, she and
Corinne argued about a man. Graci took a deep breath and chilled
her rising irritation. “I don’t know whether I’m going to see Neal
again or not, and if I do, I don’t know if it will be a fling or
something more. But either way, it’s my decision to make. You don’t
hear me telling you not to get involved with a married man, do
you?”

Corinne grimaced. “Nope. I don’t hear that at
all. Point taken. So, are you ready to move on to the
Impressionists?”

Graci took a last look at the wild array of
Pixy Stix. “Absolutely.”

****

Whether it was the talk with Corinne or the
fact that Graci had thought of Neal about a thousand times a day
ever since their date and fantasized about him in bed at night, she
finally came to a decision. Not only would she apologize for
stalling, she would ask him over to her place for dinner. If
something carnal came of that, well, who was she to stand in
nature’s way?