“Then let’s see if I can’t rig it.”
“What?”
He was standing up and his hand was outstretched. “Come for a walk with me and let me turn some of this charisma on you.”
He was teasing, but it wasn’t a joke. The man was way too attractive for Tara’s own good. And as docile as any lamb, she still put her hand in his and let him lead her toward the main part of the rose garden—that had been closed off for their enjoyment alone. Its lush beauty in the fading light awed her.
“It’s incredible here,” she said after several minutes of silence.
“I think so, too. It’s one of my favorite places.”
“Did you visit when you lived in Seattle or discover it when you bought Primo Tech?”
“When I was a kid, we came every summer. It was like a pilgrimage.”
And he was sharing this special place and his precious memories with her. That meant something. It had to.
“My mother loved the Rose Festival and we drove down for it,” he continued, “I liked the rides.”
“I can’t imagine you on a carnival ride.”
“I was a little boy. Even tycoons had to be children at some point.”
“It’s hard to picture. I see you trading companies from your crib.”
“Actually I didn’t get interested in the business side of things until I was twenty. Before that, I thought I would be an engineer like my father had been.”
“What changed your mind?”
“Life.” He put his arm around her waist and pulled her into his hard, warm body. “My father was technically brilliant. He developed several new designs and started his own company.”
“I’m surprised he was a success. A lot of engineer types aren’t good when it comes to the day to day operations.” She’d seen it over and over again at Primo Tech.
“He wasn’t the greatest businessman, but he made do.”
“Whereas you are brilliant business wise.”
“And a mediocre engineer.”
“There are always trade-offs in life.”
“Yes, there are.”
“What’s the name of your father’s company?”
“It doesn’t exist anymore. It was absorbed into a bigger company.”
That surprised her. “I would have thought you would keep it intact. A pride thing.”
“I didn’t own it at the time.”
“I’m sorry.” She sensed that caused him a lot of pain.
He turned to face her. “Let’s not talk about business right now.”
“What do you want to talk about?”
His head lowered. “This,” he said as his lips pressed against hers.
It was unlike any of the other kisses had been. This was both tender and passion driven. Desire vibrated off of him and against her mouth, but he didn’t push for a deeper kiss. When he was done, he lifted his head. “You are so sexy, stellina.”
“You make me want to be.”
Triumph rippled through Angelo. For two years this woman had wanted to be anything but sexy. She had avoided men and intimacy completely, but in his arms, she wanted to be a woman.
She was so close to being his—he could sense it.
“Come on, there is something I want you to see.”
She let him guide her toward the lower part of the rose garden. He kept his hand on her shoulder, his thumb brushing her nape. Triumph flared through him when she shivered despite the warmth of the air and shifted toward him infinitesimally.
Experience had taught him that often it was the small touches which seduced a woman, not a blatant show of passion. She already knew how much he wanted her. He’d shown her that in the pool. Now he had to show her it was okay to want him too…because he knew what to do with her wanting.
He leaned down so his breath caressed her ear when he spoke. “I know how to satisfy your craving to be a sensual woman, Tara. It will be very, very good between us.”
“I…” Her voice trailed off as if she didn’t know how to respond to his comments.
He wasn’t so reticent. “I will give you more pleasure than you have ever known. Believe it.”
This time it was a full blown shudder that rippled down her spine. “Angelo.”
He was not even kissing her, but already her arousal was making her voice husky and her heartbeat quicken. He smiled. She didn’t know it, but they had just passed first base on their way to a home run.
BY THE time they returned to the car, Tara was a mass of throbbing sensation.
Angelo and she had lingered in the garden for quite a while. He had shared a surprising knowledge of the different species of roses, having her smell them and feel the softness of their petals as he explained their differences.
All the while, he had been touching her and saying things in that husky, deep voice of his that promised the sun, the moon and the stars all wrapped up in one ultra masculine package.
As battle strategies went, it had been extremely effective. He’d vanquished her resistance and moved her toward surrender with the speed and efficiency of a well-armed, seasoned campaigner. It was the recognition of her comparative lack of experience that made her hesitate to give total surrender.
Could she really be sure of what she wanted and what was best for her when she was under the influence of his charismatic presence? When her hands were literally shaking with the need to touch him?
She turned toward him as his car slid into a parking spot in front of her brownstone and was struck anew by his sheer masculine perfection. So sexy. So strong. So much a man. She wanted him more than she’d ever wanted anyone, including Baron.
Which made it all the more imperative that she not dive into an emotional commitment without knowing where he was at in that regard.
She could remember all too clearly the times she had said she loved Baron and gotten no response or an, “I know.” She could see now that he’d only said the words to her when it suited his strategy for manipulation.
She no longer had such naïve illusions about love, but sex wasn’t a simple slaking of physical needs for her, either. It never could be. She needed to know that more than Angelo’s hormones were engaged. She wasn’t giving her body to another man without being sure he saw her as more than an occasional bed partner.
Angelo switched off the ignition.
“I’m not going to ask you up.”
He tensed and turned to face her, his jaw set, surprise making his eyes darken. “Why not?”
Time for total honesty. She sensed any attempt at prevarication would only give him the final leverage he needed to bring about her surrender. “Because if I do, we’ll make love and I’m not ready to do that yet.”
He reached out and cupped the back of her head, his thumb tracing the shell of her ear and making her tremble even more. “You want me.”
No way could she deny it. “Desire isn’t enough.”
“What is enough?”