9781631050275TheirPerfectMatchMarshNC (12 page)

More importantly, it fueled his conviction that Alaric was way off base about her. More than ever, he felt more confident in his original plan to come clean with her and see if they could start fresh.

He waited by the register until the curtain trembled, and Molly stepped out with a white box under her arm. Antoinette slipped behind the counter to accept the gold credit card Zane offered her. He noted with satisfaction that Molly quickly intervened and completed the transaction with her own funds. She even produced a coupon she had somehow crumpled almost beyond recognition.

“I think it’s my turn to pay, don’t you think, sweetie?” she teased him with a coy glance over her shoulder. “You’ve been so patient with all this girl stuff.”

“Oh, I didn’t mind a bit.” Zane grinned and winked. He saw Antoinette suppress a smile of her own.

“Thank you for playing along,” Molly said once they were back on the sidewalk. Luckily, she seemed to accept his explanation that he had spotted her driving into the lot and had stopped to talk. In return, he decided to believe her assertion that she had mistaken Antoinette’s for a very different sort of clothing store. “I have no idea what just happened in there, but I never expected my little shopping trip to turn into such an…ordeal.”

“It wasn’t an ordeal…at least, not in the way you mean. Women’s undergarments are a universal mystery to most guys. I suppose I was kind of an ambassador for the entire male species.”

“You probably didn’t visit many lingerie shops when you were in the service.”

“True enough. Although I did visit a few ports where the women would come to meet the ships wearing stuff like that…and little else. Not that I paid much attention,” he added when he saw her face tighten. “Teddies and camisoles are nice, but I prefer women with a little more substance.”

“Yes, you amply demonstrated that while Antoinette showed you those stockings.”

 “Like I said, I was standing in for bewildered guys everywhere. Naturally I was a little awe-struck.”

“That’s one way to put it.”

Zane watched closely as she tried—and failed—to bite back a grin, then hitched the box more tightly under her arm. He recalled that she’d also refused to let him carry it when they’d first walked out of the shop. Maddeningly, he still had no idea what, exactly, she’d purchased. He longed to know whether she’d gone with the vixenish red, the tried-but-true black, or one of the safer shades of cream. And had she worked up the nerve to throw in the garter belt?

For now, all he could do was fantasize—and so far he was doing plenty of that.

* * * *

She stopped beside her car.

“All right,” she said, after glancing at the shop to make sure no one was in hearing range. “You said you wanted to talk to me. You follow me here and embarrassed me beyond belief in order to do so. Talk, then. What can I do for you that couldn’t wait until business hours tomorrow?”

Zane hesitated, but decided to take a deep breath and plunge ahead. The way his blood was racing, he couldn’t have been sly and subtle even if he’d wanted to. “Okay. Here’s the thing. I wanted to tell you thanks for the dates, but after three of them—each worse than the last—I‘ve realized that this computer thing just isn’t working for me. Not that I blame you. Quite the reverse. I think the problem is that I really want to date you instead.”

He couldn’t tell if her surprise was genuine. “Me!”

“And since you won’t date clients, I have to drop out of the service. So I’m prepared to do that. I won’t even ask for a refund. All I ask is that you stop looking at me as a customer, and look at me as a man instead.”

Molly looked down at the box in her hands, but then seemed to think better of that and dropped her gaze to the ground instead. “I already do, Zane. I have from the beginning.”

“Okay, then. It’s settled—but I hope you don’t mind if I do one last thing to seal the deal.” He stepped forward, tilted her chin up with his fingertips, and kissed her hard.

Molly closed her eyes as the heat from his lips seared through her, awakening passions she’d suppressed all week. Every night, despite what she now recognized were her efforts to fix him up with women he would not find appealing, she’d wondered if he was in bed with one of them. It had been torture.

“We want each other,” he whispered when they broke apart. “Why deny it? Don’t you think about us now and then…about how good we could be together?”

“Yes,” she said in a husky voice, too overcome with emotion to prepare any sort of witty or evasive answer. “I have thought about it. Have you?”

“Just about every waking minute, and then some.”

A coy smile tugged at her lips. She hugged the box from the lingerie shop closer to her side. “Well, then. It would be insensitive of me to turn down an ambassador for the male species, don’t you think?”

“You mean that?” He paused for her to nod. “That puts the ball back in my court, doesn’t it? I have to come up with some evening extravaganza that will sweep you off your silk-covered feet.” His gaze flicked to the box in her arms.

“Oh? Don’t tell me you think the man should be in charge of every aspect of every date.”

“I wouldn’t go that far. But I do think it’s my duty to impress you, especially since you’re the dating expert.”

She offered an uneasy laugh. “Hardly.”

“Your business cards say different. Anyway, in this case I have to insist that I make the arrangements. I want to make sure we go someplace where you can wear those new stockings.”

“To tell you the truth, I’m not even sure I’ll have the nerve to wear those in private.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” Zane grinned. “It means you chose the naughty ones.”

“They all seemed naughty to me.”

“Naughty can be fun.” Zane smoothed a single strand of hair away from the delicate lobe of her ear. She shuddered as his touch ignited her skin and sent a spark of need pulsing down the core of her body. “I’d like to help you discover that for yourself.”

“I never doubted it. It’s just…not me. It never has been. I’m not the naughty type, any more than I’m the sexy-stockings type.”

“I think you’re all that, and more.” His fingers drifted lower to stroke her cheek. “How about a detour to my place? You can try your new purchases on there. Antoinette said they were for both of us. Remember?”

“So that’s your idea of the perfect date?”

His voice dropped to a growl. “Yes. Especially the taking you home part.”

Molly sucked in a breath. “I don’t know,” she sputtered.

“Risks, Molly. Risks are what you need. You told me so yourself last week.” His lips returned, smearing away her doubts, igniting things deep inside that she swore she’d never feel for any man.

“All right, then,” she said. The words came out in a gaspy rush as the force of her desire left her lightheaded. “Let’s go for it. There’s only one condition—I want to take my own car.”

“All right.” He stepped back, letting his hands drop to his sides with obvious reluctance. “Just promise me you won’t lose your nerve and turn around along the way.”

“I won’t,” she told him.

“Follow me, then.” He backed away toward his own car, his hand stretched out in the air between them, beckoning her.

“Anywhere,” she whispered.

Chapter Seven

She felt her stomach do another flip as she walked into Zane’s apartment. Though she’d arrived only a few minutes after he had, he already stood waiting with a glass of white wine extended. Her fingers trembled as she accepted it from him with her free hand. The other still clutched the lingerie box.

“I’m sorry,” she said, desperately trying not to spill the entire drink.

His voice soothed her. “A little nervousness can be a positive thing. It shows you that you’re testing yourself, stretching your boundaries.”

 “And I suppose raw terror is even better?”

“At times.”

 “Is that something you learned at sea?”

“You mean the value of fear? Absolutely. It can even keep us alive under certain conditions.” He watched as she gulped down her drink and then took the empty glass and lingerie box away and set both on an end table. When he straightened up again, Molly lifted both hands to his chest, tucking her fingers under the butter-soft flaps of his leather jacket. Zane’s thumb brushed her cheek and glided over her lower lip, then moved lower, strumming the top button of her blouse. Though he never actually touched her neck, the effect was the same. Heat gathered between her breasts and tentacled slowly through her, making her pulsate with awareness. The pressure of his body increased against hers, stoking her need until it had leapt from a slow burn to a feverish blaze.

She was about to combust when his mouth crashed down on hers and she sank, breathless, into his embrace. The moment her lips parted, Zane’s tongue curled around hers and suckled gently. Urgent hands roamed up her back, then drifted down to cup the swell of her backside. While Zane’s kiss deepened, Molly coasted along on the powerful current that sealed them together and savored the crisp masculine scent that flooded her senses.

The strength of his hunger mingled with her pent-up desire to create a force that rivaled gravity. Seduced by the rocking movements of his hips and tongue against hers, Molly leaned so deeply into him that for a moment she lost all consciousness of where his body ended and hers began. A rush of raw, wet heat swept away the last of her inhibitions. A soft moan escaped her throat when she felt desire strain the zipper of his jeans.

“I’ve never met anyone like you, Molly.” His lips hovered only inches above hers, so close she could feel the light rasp of the stubble that smudged his upper lip.

Molly blinked up at him, her mind a kaleidoscope of flame-colored glitter. “I don’t think I know many men like you, either.” Her voice was strained, husky. If she hadn’t been so turned on, the raw need she heard in it would have embarrassed her.

Zane raised the hem of her skirt an inch or so and skimmed a palm along the silky surface of her hose-covered thigh. Gradually, he traced the raised line of her panty. His fingers stopped just shy of her throbbing center. She imagined, just for a second, how much more intense his caresses would feel against the sheerness of the lingerie in the box.

“Tell me what you want me to do to you.” His husky voice rumbled against her skin. “I want to hear you say the words. Details.”

“Why?” She paused, suddenly uncomfortable. Sensing the change in her mood, he stepped back and let his hands drop.

“What’s wrong?”

“Why would you ask me to do that? Can’t you guess what I want…need? You took me this far and now you’re humiliating me.”

Zane raised both brows in surprise. “Why is it humiliating to talk about your desires?”

“I…I don’t know. That kind of thing seems somehow…private.”

“It shouldn’t be private from me. I want to share every moment, every sensation.” He frowned. “Is this about Todd?”

“Todd!” This time she drew back in shock. “What has Todd got to do with this?”

“I suspected there was something between you two once. Did he hurt you that badly? Because I’m not him, you know.”

She averted her face, suddenly finding herself unable to look into those intense gray eyes. They seemed to see far too deeply into her, as though Zane were trying to read her thoughts. “You make it sound like this is some kind of…I don’t know, test or something. And I graduated from college a long time ago.”

“I didn’t mean for it to be intimidating. I just want to know where you stand…where I stand. I want to know what would please you most. And then I want to do it for you.”

Her cheeks burned as hot as other, less visible parts of her. “I…I want you to kiss me. Touch me. Everywhere. Is that what you want to hear?”

“Actually, yes. It is.” He came closer again. His arms slid back around her. His hands slowly moved up her sides and came to rest on either side of her breasts. “Molly, why do you find it so hard to believe that I’m attracted to you?”

“Because that’s generally not the way my life has worked up until now. Things like this just don’t happen to me. My attractions to people are generally one-sided. They don’t work out.”

“Not in this case. What you’re feeling is the same thing I’m feeling, I’m pretty sure.”

“I’m…I’m glad to hear that. I think.” Her body was on fire. Molly sensed that the slightest movement of his hands, still encircling her breasts, would have sent her straight over the edge. “I want to make sure everything’s…you know…all right between us before we get into something we can’t handle.”

“Do you want to know what I want?” He leaned closer, grumbling the words into her ear. “I want to undress you. Slowly, bit by bit, savoring every inch of your body. Then I want you to lie still and let me look at you for as long as I want to. As long as it takes to convince you that you’re a beautiful woman worthy of a man’s desire.”

“I’m not sure.”

“All right. Let me start. If you want me to stop, just tell me, and I swear I will.”

He took off his own jacket and tossed it on the sofa as he led her into his bedroom. Molly barely had time to note that the room was clean, sparsely furnished, and undeniably masculine. Brown and blue colors dominated, with no decorations aside from a few nautical-themed prints on the walls. Then they were on the bed and she didn’t have any further interest in the room itself. She wanted to focus only on Zane.

Slowly he eased off her shoes, then her jacket, then started in on her blouse buttons. His lips followed, trailing down her neck and shoulder as each was slowly bared by his tugging fingers. Molly didn’t think she’d ever felt anything so intense when he eased away the straps of her bra. Her dark nipples stood straight up as though they were two fingers beckoning him closer. His breath caressed them and she longed for him to take them into his mouth as much as she feared it.

He didn’t tug down the cups though. Instead, he moved to her skirt and undid the side hook and zipper. The skirt dropped away easily, leaving her only in hose and her bra. Slowly, the hose came down.