Match Me If You Can (Chicago Stars #6)(53)

She didn’t try to get away, didn’t move. He kneaded her bottom through her tap pants. He ran his thumbs down the crack, then up, then down again, taking his time. A light flicked on in the window across the street, and golden palms opened like umbrellas in the sky. She caught her breath as his thumbs slid between her thighs.

Just when her legs felt as though they were giving out, he eased his mouth from her neck and glazed his tongue over the place where he’d held her prisoner. He knelt behind her. She stayed where she was, gripping the rail, staring out as orange and silver serpents uncoiled against the clouds. He touched her calves, then slid his hands up beneath her skirt to skim her outer thighs, then her tap pants. He hooked his thumbs over the waistband and drew them down to her ankles. He lifted one foot and pulled the panties over her shoe. They pooled around her opposite ankle where he left them. He rose.

A forest of blue and green willows dripped from the sky. She felt his hand against the center of her back. He pressed, but it took her a moment to understand what he wanted her to do. Slowly, he bent her over the rail. Below, a taxi slid along the street. He pushed her floaty skirt up to her waist. From the front, the fabric covered her modestly so that anyone glancing out an opposite window would only see a woman leaning over the balcony rail with a man standing behind her. But from the back, she was fully exposed to him.

Now when he traced her, no silky barrier lay between her flesh and the pads of his thumb. He opened her like the segments of an orange. Played in the juice. Her breath came shallow and fast. She moaned. He stepped back. She heard a rustle as he dealt with his clothes, dealt with a condom that told her he’d planned this from the beginning. And then he dealt with her.

She caught her breath against the thrilling indignity of his fingers. Comets shot into the sky then raced to their death in the water. She gripped the rail tighter and gasped as he spread her with his thumbs, toyed, then thrust deep inside her. He drove from behind, gripping her hips, holding her where he wanted her to be, where she wanted to be. He stroked…stretching her, filling her. She soared with the comets …bloomed with the willows…exploded with the rockets. And in the end, she tumbled to the earth in a shower of sparks.

Afterward, he smoothed her skirt back in place then disappeared into her bathroom with its antique vanity, Italian mirror, and Colefax & Fowler wallpaper. When he came out, he looked cool and unruffled. She wanted to weep. Instead, she gave him her iciest glare, strode to the door, and yanked it open.

The corner of his mouth twitched with amusement. He made his way to her side and traced the lipstick smear on her cheek with his finger. She refused to flinch. With another smile, he stepped into the hallway and walked toward the ornate brass elevator. Before he got there, he turned back and spoke for the first time.

“Are we clear now?”





Chapter Twelve




Annabelle and Heath left Chicago Friday afternoon. The Wind Lake Campground was located in northeastern Michigan about an hour from the pretty town of Grayling. Kevin and Molly had been there all week and the other book club members were driving up, but Mr. Super Agent couldn’t spare that much time, so he’d snagged a ride for them on a friend’s corporate jet. While he made phone calls, Annabelle, who’d never been on a private jet, gazed out the window and tried to talk herself into relaxing. So what if she and Heath were sharing a cottage for the weekend? Most of the time he’d either be hanging out with the men or trying to impress Phoebe, so she’d hardly see him, which was definitely for the best, because all those male pheromones he emitted were getting to her. Fortunately, she understood the difference between biological attraction and lasting affection. She might be horny, but she wasn’t entirely self-destructive.

A gray rental SUV waited for them at the small airstrip. They were only about eighty miles from Mackinac Island, and the warm afternoon air carried the crisp, piney scent of the north woods. Heath grabbed her bag along with his own and carried them to the car, then went back for his golf clubs. She’d strained her budget to buy a few new things for the trip, including her buff slacks, which had thin brown stripes that made her legs look longer. A flirty bronze top set off tiny amber eardrops, a Christmas gift from Kate. She’d gotten her split ends trimmed, and for once her hair wasn’t giving her trouble. Heath wore another of his expensive polo shirts, this one moss green, along with stone-colored chinos and loafers.

He set the suitcases in the back then tossed her the keys. “You drive.”

She repressed a smile as she climbed behind the wheel. “With each passing day, your reasons for wanting a wife become clearer.”

He shoved his laptop in the back and settled into the passenger seat. She consulted Molly’s directions, then pulled out onto a winding two-lane highway. She wondered how he’d spent the Fourth. She hadn’t seen him since Wednesday, when she’d introduced him to the De Paul harpist, whom he found intelligent, attractive, but too serious. After the date, he’d pressed her for more information about Gwen. Someday very soon she’d have to tell him the truth about that. Not a pleasant thought.

As he made another call, she concentrated on the pleasure of driving a car that wasn’t Sherman. Molly hadn’t exaggerated when she’d described how beautiful it was up here. Woods stretched on each side of the road, stands of pine, oak, and maple. Last year, Annabelle had been forced to cancel her plans to attend the retreat after Kate had shown up in Chicago unannounced, but she’d heard all about it: the walks they’d taken through the campground, how they’d gone swimming in the lake and held their book discussion in the new gazebo Molly and Kevin had build near their private living area, which was attached to the B&B. It had sounded so relaxing. But she didn’t feel relaxed now. She had too much at stake, and she had to get her head together.