“In a minute. Right now I don’t think I could stand.” He delivered the words with a rueful but naughty smile that practically turned her wrong-side-outward.
The scent of their lovemaking permeated her bedroom. The lingering fatigue of a busy night weighted her muscles. Amanda wasn’t sure she had the strength to crawl to the shower and prepare for her morning appointment. Alex had even farther to go.
“How will you make it to Connecticut and back in time for work?”
“I keep a spare suit at the office. I’ll shower here. With you.”
A thrill raced through her, but she choked out a laugh. “I don’t have to be psychic to know how that’ll end up. With both of us being late for work.”
He grinned and rolled onto his side. But then his smile faded. He gently brushed the hair off her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. “Come home with me this weekend.”
Her lungs refused to work.
“We never discussed Zack’s party. He’s a great kid. If you meet him you’ll get a feel for what he likes, and we’ll have a better chance of surprising him with something that’ll blow his mind.”
Work. He’s talking about work. Focus. “You want this to be a surprise party?”
“Yes. Spend the weekend at my place. You can meet Zack and my parents.”
She recoiled. The last thing she needed was for her mom and dad to get wind of her dating Alex. He would be the only man she’d ever hooked up with that they would consider suitable. And she was throwing him back just as soon as she came to her senses.
“Alex, we don’t have and will never have a meet-the-parents kind of relationship.”
He shook his head. “That’s not what I’m implying. You need to visit my parents’ house. That’s probably the best place for the party if we want to keep it under wraps. If after you see the place you don’t like that idea, then I’d like to have the party somewhere else in Greenwich so Zack’s friends can come. You’ll have to help me choose an alternate location.”
Why did he keep making offers she couldn’t afford to refuse? She sighed. “If I say yes to spending the weekend with you, you’re not going to take it the wrong way and think this affair is more than temporary insanity, are you?”
He rolled over her, planting his knees between hers and propping his elbows on either side of her body. His eyes held hers and his breath teased her lips. Desire stirred anew. “This relationship will last only as long as it’s beneficial to both of us.”
And with his body intimately connected to hers it was hard not to appreciate the benefits of their association. But uncertainty nagged her, tensing muscles that had been completely lax just moments ago.
She forced herself to relax. She needed this job and any other that Alex could throw her way. She could handle whatever else came up. And he was hellaciously good in bed.
“Okay. I’ll come to Greenwich with you.”
Amanda had known Alex was loaded, but she hadn’t expected his home to be a large estate at the end of a winding, white-fenced, paddock-lined road in the Greenwich backcountry.
She followed him into the sprawling stone center hall colonial Friday evening and paused in the two-storied marbled and wainscoted foyer. To her left she could see a living room with a soaring stone fireplace, a wet bar and a suede sectional sofa.
“Alex, this is nice.”
“Were you expecting a bachelor pad?”
She wrinkled her nose. “You do have a reputation as a guy with a short attention span.”
“Is that why you kept playing hard to get?”
“I told you I wasn’t playing. I am hard to get. Not that you’d know it by this week’s performance.”
His lips tilted in that sexy, I’m-going-to-get-you-in-trouble-and-you’re-going-to-love-it smile that made her insides hum like a beehive. He set their bags at the foot of the stairs and strolled toward her, lazily, but with a predatory glint in his eyes that quickened her pulse. “I have no complaints with your performance.”
Her body flushed from her center to her fingertips, which she pressed to his chest to stop the embrace she saw coming. “Nor I yours, but we’ll never get the details of your party finalized if you don’t quit distracting me.”
Alex had come to her place two of the past three evenings after work under the guise of planning his party. He’d spent the nights, but not working on arrangements. She hadn’t started regretting the involvement yet. But she knew she would. Her relationships always came back to bite her.
He captured her hand with his, lacing their fingers. “I’ll give you a quick tour.”
“Don’t we have to be at your parents’ for dinner soon?”
Mischief glinted in his eyes. She’d seen that look often enough recently to know it meant he wanted her naked, and if she gave him about three seconds’ leeway she’d want it, too. Anticipation made her pulse stutter.
“That’s why you’re getting the abbreviated tour. Otherwise I’d be showing you my bedroom from beneath the sheets. You wouldn’t see much of the house that way.” The man oozed sexuality.
Desire pulsed through her. She tamped it down. “Lead on.”
Her heels tapped out a beat on the hardwood floors as he whisked her past a cherry-paneled study, formal living and dining rooms and through the gourmet eat-in kitchen with black-granite countertops. The place begged for a family to fill it and for a woman to soften the stark decor with a vase of flowers here and there or a few knickknacks or framed photographs.
Did Alex plan to marry and have children? She’d never heard of him staying with anyone long enough to get close to settling down. But why own a place like this if he didn’t plan to start a family?
And why do you care?
You don’t.
She followed him outside onto a limestone-tile patio. Her breath clouded the cold night air. Outdoor lighting illuminated a lap pool that had to be at least fifty feet long. In the shadows beyond the subtle glow she caught hints of lawn and in the distance a low stone wall like the one out front. Evergreen trees mingled with the bare-limbed deciduous variety—one of which had a huge branch perfect for a rope swing. Alex’s home would be the perfect place to raise children.
Children. She’d never thought about having them. And couldn’t now. Her life was a mess. Until she had that straightened out, she couldn’t think about adding complications. But she suddenly wondered if she was missing out.
Of course not. What do you know about good parenting? Nada.
She hugged her coat tighter around her to ward off the frosty air. “You said bring a swimsuit, but it’s too cold to swim.”
“I have a hot tub if you want to brave it later.” He pointed toward a sheltered corner of the patio. “But my parents have an indoor pool. Tomorrow we can swim with Zack, and you can try to get a feel for what kind of party he’d like.”
He led her back inside and up the stairs to a vaultedceiling bedroom decorated in black, white and grey. A king-size bed with a raw-silk pewter bedspread and a massive, carved cherry headboard took up only a quarter of the large room. A gas fireplace with a cozy sitting area had been centered on the wall opposite the bed, and French doors led to a Juliet balcony overlooking the pool and large backyard. She suspected the view from the windows would be beautiful and green in summer.
The room reminded her of Alex. Luxurious, but no frills, no clutter.
Her gaze returned to the bed she’d be sharing with him.