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“Stop kissing me!”
He s over its prey She was lunch apparently
“But I like kissing you and I try never to deny myself life’s little pleasures”
She rolled her eyes then caught herself before she laughed
“Dame”
He held his hands up in surrender “Okay, okay I won’t touch you”
She crossed her arms protectively over her chest and reed to lunch with him? Why?
Because you’re a masochist and you can’t resist him
There was that
She’s always thought it was a myth The out-of-control horent woman make waste of her brain cells every time she came into contact with the one
She was certainly proving the waste of brain cells to be true
The rest of the journey was spent in brooding silence Evan was silent and Celia brooded When they finally pulled up to a restaurant that boasted the best seafood on the west coast, she raised a skeptical eyebrow
“Try it first and then tell ree,” Evan said in amusement
He was beco her and it annoyed her to no end, especially since she had no idea ent on in his head She was afraid to find out
When she stepped out and glanced around, she had to hand it to hiether or not and certainly didn’t have the objections she had, he’d chosen a restaurant where they weren’t likely to be seen by anyone who knew them
Evan guided her in to the rustic cedar building with its quasi-southern charm mixed with California décor
It was an odd blend that, to her surprise, worked well
The two sat in the far corner where the lighting so was so dim a small kerosene lantern sat in the middle of the table to offer ambience
“I feel like I’m on a first date,” she said ruefully after Evan had ordered the wine
He sestively “Would it make me less of a jerk to be up front about the fact I plan to have you in ht?”
She sucked in her breath until she felt curiously lightheaded She suspected of course, but to hear hiht ay sexier than it should have been
“I have to go back to work,” she murmured
He nodded “Of course I didn’t intend to spirit you away for an afternoon tryst, though the idea has merit I wonder if your coworkers would call the police?”
She glared at hih But even her scoitched Irreverent bastard
The waiter appeared with food, and she blinked because she hadn’t relass and couldn’t for the life of her re so much as a sip Evan was bad, bad for her brain He was as bad as so disease She wouldn’t survive, either
“Evan,” she began again, and promptly shut up when it came out more as a plaintive wail than a protest
“I’ll send a car for you, Celia No one needs to see you getting into a vehicle with me I’ll have my driver pick you up from work, or if you prefer, you can drive your car to your apartment and I’ll have him pick you up there And I’ll have him take you home in time for you to prepare for work”
Why wasn’t she i hi, she found herself conte how decadent it would be to dash off to an elicit rendezvous with her lover
She shivered at the wordloverEvan was a superb specimen of a man He was fantastic in bed and insatiable to boot He kne to pleasure a woman and was as unselfish a lover as she’d ever had
The ht with hie therapists to work them out
She chewed absently at the food, not registering the taste or even what she ate Her throat was as dry as the desert and her tongue ollen and clumsy
“You act as though it’s a crime for us to make love,” he said in an oddly tender voice
If it had been coaxing or wheedling, she could have been cold to hi to allay her fears
She licked her lips and raised her gaze to meet his Awareness hit her square in the chest In his eyes she saw undulating bodies Hers and his In perfect rhythm So beautiful and so pleasurable that she closed her eyes to further immerse herself in the memory
“Say yes”
His voice stroked her as surely as his fingers had done A prickle of goose bumps spread rapidly over her shoulders and down her chest until her nipples tightened into two painful knots
“Celia,” he prompted
Finally she opened her eyes and fixed hiaze
“Yes,” she whispered
Thirteen
Celia entered her office with a heightened sense of anticipation She already knew she’d be clock watching until it was quitting tie and look her best for her naughty escape to Evan’s
Her htiness of her and Evan’s plan It icked, forbidden, and she was so turned on that she was ready to fidget right out of her shoes
With a sigh, she sank into her chair behind her desk, kicked off her shoes and logged on to catch up on e-o out for lunch at all and had, in fact, brought food fro Friday, she’d spent the s he covered and then she’d gone through es
She groaned as her in-box stacked up with e-mail after e-mail She started at the bottom and worked
up, deleting several after cursory glances Those requiring a lengthy response she flagged to respond to later and the ones she could just do a one-line response to she typed furiously and sent on their way
She was nearly to the end when her gaze flickered over the name Lucy Reese She did a double take
Evan’s otten Celia’s address?