Conference Cupid (5 page)

Peter looked at him. “Don’t do it, man.
You’ll regret it.”

“Thanks for the advice. And thanks for
being more conservative this time. I was afraid you’d trash the place. What’s
the matter, you didn’t score?”

“I found someone to occupy my time.” Peter
pulled the polo over his head and adjusted the collar.

“Just one?”

“Yeah, one fascinating
lady.
She’s been on the bestseller list. Since she’s a speaker here and
on the planning committee, she has her own room. I’ve spent some time there.
When she’s been available, that is.”

Peter frowned and Devin wondered if he’d
matured or just met his match. “What’s wrong? There’s a lady out there that’s
less into you than
you’re
into her? Impossible.”

Peter’s dark brown eyes appeared black and
Devin saw what his own eyes must look like when pissed off. Pitch black
thunder. “I was kidding.”

“Maggie hasn’t had much time for me. She’s
five years older than me and you’d think it was a century. Turned thirty last
month and thinks she’s ancient.
Thinks I’m some baby boy
toy.”

“I thought you were the one who
perpetuated that image?” Devin gulped down the last of his coffee and threw the
container in the trash.

“Funny. You should do stand up. Do open
mike night at the bar. Why don’t you go practice in your office?” Peter placed
his hand on Devin’s shoulder and turned him to face the door.

“Booting me out of my own place?”

“Yeah, pretty much. I wanted to impress
her so I gave her the room number. She’ll be here soon.
Little
afternoon delight.”

“So much for you
changing.
Try not to break anything.” The last time Peter was allowed
access to Devin’s apartment had been prior to him owning the hotel and the
place had been left in a shambles.
Probably because Peter had
been trying to service two women at the same time.

Devin liked easy tail as well as the next
guy, but couldn’t join in on a group scene. He cursed himself for wanting more,
for needing to care about a woman he bedded.

Peter eyed the couch and grinned. “Don’t
worry; I take them one at a time now.”

Devin shook his head and left the suite.
Halfway down the hall a leggy brunette did a double take, smiled at him, then
knocked on the door of his suite.

One thing he could say about his cousin
Peter, he had exquisite taste.

* * * *

Keary
lifted the
single red rose to her nose and inhaled. The sweet scent and Devin’s
thoughtfulness seduced her. She placed it down on the table and gazed into the
eyes of the giver. The dark eyes glowed—but not with lust. She’d witnessed his
deep brown eyes, like melting chocolate, covet her body. His hunger had been
impossible to mask.

His yearning empowered her. For too long
Keary
had lived a non-sexual, non-sensual life. In the
presence of Devin, she was a goddess. He looked at her the way one would a
masterpiece, amazed and appreciative. Somehow it was more than that tonight. If
she didn’t know any better she’d swear love shone from his eyes.

Stop those crazy thoughts. It’s the
candlelight. A romantic restaurant can play with your head.

“So do you like steak? This place is noted
for their steak but the entire menu is good if you’d prefer seafood or poultry.
I’ve heard the Cornish Hens are good.”

The menu boasted a smorgasbord of delectable
meals. The toughest part for
Keary
would be making a
choice. “Have you eaten here before?”

He nodded. “It’s one of my favorites.”

“Then tell me what’s good. There are too
many things I like. I could come here once a week until I’ve tried everything
on the menu. “

“I’d like nothing more so we’ll have to
find a way to keep seeing each other until we work our way through the menu.”
His voice hitched at the end of the sentence as if he turned the statement into
a question.

Keary
laughed,
not knowing any other way to respond. If only there was a way to make that
happen.
“Steak then.
How about the
filet mignon?”

“Perfect choice.”
Devin looked up as the waiter approached with a bottle of champagne. Devin
nodded at him to pour two glasses.

After they ordered, Devin took her hand
and caressed it. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world. He grinned
as if he was deliriously happy. He looked the way she felt.

Am I imagining this? It’s the most
perfect night I can ever remember. Is it real or is it fantasy? Stop
questioning and simply enjoy it. Life is too short to second guess the good
times.

He picked up his glass and raised it to
her.
“To a wonderful evening.”

Keary
lifted her
glass and brought it to his. She couldn’t have imagined anything better. Not even
in her romances. Was it just the thought of love?

Or was she really falling?

* * * *

Normally Devin wouldn’t have ordered a
filet. He preferred the porterhouse. Tonight, however, he ordered the same as
Keary
so that he could even taste the same things she
tasted.

He wanted to know her. He needed more than
just an understanding of what she liked in bed. He needed to
know
her.

The real her, the person
rather than the childhood fantasy.

Peter’s father always said you could tell
the most about a person from the type of house he’d choose and his favorite
room in it. Devin figured it’d be a good enough place to start. “Now this is
going to sound a little strange, but if you could have any kind of house, what
would it be like and what would your favorite room in it be?”

“I’ve heard stranger. Let me think about
that.” She took her last bite of steak and looked far off in thought as she
chewed.
“Any kind at all?”

Devin nodded. “Make it your absolute
ideal.” He tried to imagine what she’d choose and if it’d be the kind of place
he’d like living.

“I guess I’d pick an English Tudor. I’ve
always loved them. It wouldn’t have to be a massive one. “

He’d grown up in one.
A
huge one.
He hoped the one she dreamed of would have more warmth. “And
what would your favorite room be?”

She took a sip of water. “I was just
getting to that. Come on, this should be an easy guess.
The
library.”

“Library?”

Keary
giggled.
“Okay, so really it would be a study but
I’d
consider it the library. I
love being surrounded by books.
Big surprise, huh?
That should have been an easy one. That’s a room would any writer would be
happy in. I see bookshelves on three of the four walls, great lighting, a
computer station and a couple of recliners.”

“A couple?
So
you’d allow someone else in this library while you wrote?” Devin wondered what
it would be like to watch her work, to see the changes in her facial
expressions as her visions unfolded.

“Of course.
As long as he was very quiet and
very
cute.”

They both laughed.

It became critical that he learn where she
did her writing. He needed to be able to imagine her in that room. His heart
hitched. He needed to be able to imagine her there after she left the
conference, when she went home to her real life. “So where do you write now if
you don’t have a library?”

She made a face. “I don’t have a study of
any kind. There’s a small area in the corner of my kitchen. At least I’m always
close to the coffee pot.”

“Speaking of coffee…”

“I’d love some.”

So they drank coffee and Devin went on to
ask about all of her favorite things, from her favorite dessert to her favorite
sport. They were the last two people to leave the restaurant. When they
returned to the hotel it wasn’t only getting in bed with
Keary
that was on his mind, it was having her wake up in his arms.

Chapter Eight

The shower door opened and
Keary
feasted her eyes on a naked Devin. His eyes locked on
hers and she knew this shower would take longer than anticipated. Her heart battled
with her head.  “I have to make it to the workshop, Dev.”

He grinned at her and stepped into the
shower, shutting the stall door and keeping out the cold air. “You will, I
promise.” He picked up the soap and started cleansing her body while the water
from the rain bars hit every inch of her. He washed himself and stepped back a
few inches so
Keary
could watch the process. He
soaped his cock and raised his eyebrows. “Are you going to send me off to work
this way?” he asked glancing down to his engorged penis.

“It’ll have to be a quickie.”

“I’ll do my best.” Devin pulled her close
to him and kissed her. The warm mist from the shower enveloped her body as his
hands explored her flesh.

He dropped down to his knees and buried
his face between her legs. Instinctively she spread them to give him better
access. She placed her hands back so that her palms splayed against the wall
behind her. The water splashed her breasts as his tongue circled her clit. He
licked and lapped at her until her legs became a little wobbly. It wouldn’t
take long.

Devin rose and a groan escaped her.

“Wrap your legs around me.” He lifted her
up and slid her down the length of his cock. Impaled, she tightened her legs
around him as he backed them into the wall of the shower stall.

“Shit. You’re not wearing a condom.”

“We’re both clean. We discussed it last
night. You were checked out after the divorce and I was after my last
relationship.”

“That’s still no reason to take a risk and
I’m not on birth control. Until I met you I had no reason.
Although
there’s not a big chance at this stage in my cycle.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll pull out in time. I’m
deep inside you now anyway. Trust me.”

In her right mind,
Keary
would have crawled off of him. She wasn’t one to take risks. But she trusted
him, believed in him, wanted him more than she could wrap her mind
around. 

“Now hold on tight.” He let go of one hand
and turned the knob a little hotter. Placing that hand back under her ass to
hold her he pulled back and bucked his hips in a frenzied pace. Steam built in
the shower as tiny pieces of fire pierced her skin.

The heat intensified all around her until
she burned inside and out.
Keary’s
back slammed
against the stall but she felt no pain, just an inferno of passion. Her mind
had become mush, cooked like her body. Incinerated, she collapsed limply
against him. Three more thrusts and his grunt of release echoed amidst the hiss
of the water.

They clung to each other. The desperate
coupling rocked her body and mind. His grip on her, the attempt to keep her
close, mirrored her emotions.  Their fusion became so much more than just
sexual abandon.

He couldn’t have driven any deeper into
her, as if the further he plunged the deeper their emotional connection would
be. More than just a union of bodies, theirs was a union of souls.

She needed to stop reading more into it.
She’d be a fool to fall for a man that she’d only have for a few more days.

Just enjoy it. Damn it. Enjoy it now.

There will be plenty of time to miss him
later.

* * * *

Devin clung to
Keary
so tightly he feared he’d leave marks. The thought of letting her go caused his
stomach to knot. It started out so simple.

Seduce her, fuck her,
forget
her.

It made sense at the time. Why had he
thought that taking her sexually would release the hold she maintained on him
since adolescence?

She’d been a fantasy he learned to do
without.
A dream that he overcame because it could never be
more than that.

Now everything had changed. Devin knew
he’d never be able to let her go. But that meant he’d need to reveal his true
identity and that he lied to her.

He needed to find a way to make her love
him, because he loved her. He’d sensed it since the ninth grade. He knew now
he’d die in a cloud of loneliness. Nothing would be the same without her.

Lifting her chin up, he brought his lips
to meet hers and grazed her mouth with his.
Gentle kisses.
Sweet to balance the hunger they fed on a few moments before. Neither of them
spoke but he willed his eyes to impart the depth of his emotions. Surely she’d
be able to see his love.

She buried her head in his neck and kissed
it. “Now I have to get the workshop before I miss another session.”

“Let’s get out of here tonight for dinner.
There’s a great restaurant downtown...”

“No.” She licked the water off his
shoulder. “I want to stay here. We can have room service.”

“Insatiable little wench, you planning on
having your way with me?”

“And then some.”
Keary
opened the shower stall door and turned back at him to wink.

She didn’t notice he never pulled out in
time. He wondered if she would later. Feel his come dripping out of her body.
He hadn’t even tried to pull out. He’d pumped his seed deep and hadn’t let her
off until there was nothing left to spill.

Despicable.
What
kind of man deliberately tried to impregnate a woman to keep her?

A desperate one.

* * * *

“Antacid and a t-shirt?”
Keary
eyed the gifts suspiciously. Why in the world
would he be giving her these?