Hot Licks (9 page)

Through the storm window in Gwen’s living area,
lightening flashed bright enough to illuminate the turbulent
waves crashing against the far-off rocky beach. Situated on
a bay, the orchard was generally protected against the
harsher winds from ocean storms. She could only imagine,
if the storm was near hurricane proportions in this inlet, how
terrible it must be lashing at the open coastline.

“One. Two. Three. Four,” she counted quietly until
thunder boomed overhead. Gwen lay her forehead against
the glass, unsurprised to find it warm. Lately everything felt
warm to her, and she couldn’t blame it all on the late
summer season. The air conditioner pumped out cool air,
keeping her suite at comfortable levels, but no matter how
low she put the thermostat, her body felt as if she’d been
staked out under a desert sun. Too hot, too tight, and
heavy.

Though she and Santos had finished the fence
inspection in record time, it was all due to Santos and not
Gwen, which in itself was mortifying. It was her job after all.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t concentrate for longer than five
minutes and moved like the air around her was thick as
molasses.

Sick? No. Horny? Oh, yeah.

Which simply sucked. She couldn’t deny she had the
hots for Rome. Simply thinking about him increased her
core temperature and caused a liquid pull of desire to swirl
in her tummy. She was not happy, uncomfortable and
downright agitated at the whole mess.

To soothe herself, she lifted her hair, slightly damp
from her recent shower, and ran a hand along the midnight
length. Unbound, it cascaded in a straight fall almost to her
waist. Most of her siblings had inherited gorgeous, near
blood-red highlights Gwen always envied, and though her
own was an unrelieved black, it was thick, smooth and silky
to the touch.

The repetitive motion had a calming effect, like
stroking the fur of a cat. It also reminded her of Rome, and
how he had run her thick braid through his enclosed hand,
over and over again.

What would he think of it loose?

Aaaannd
she was right back to agitated. With a soft sound of disgust, she pressed the heels of her palms against her eyes. She shouldn’t care what Rome thought of her hair. She shouldn’t be thinking of him. At all. Mooning over a man was not a common pastime for Gwen. She was logical and cautious, especially after the Steven debacle, and not given to feminine sighs or lost to her emotions.

Except when it came to Rome it appeared, and all her calm and cool-headedness flew out the proverbial window.

The thinking of Rome was followed by the imagining of him.

Always with the naked, sweaty and in bed fantasy. Which in turn made her feel all girly and want to sigh with feminine appreciation and longing.

“I will not be ruled by my body.” She snarked at the pale image of herself reflected in the dark window. “And I will not do anything to put my job here, which I happen to like very much, in jeopardy. Sex is not worth it.”

Mother nature responded to her vow with another jagged lightening flash, nearly blinding her with its intensity, and she counted again. “One. Two. Three.”
Boom
. The storm was getting closer, which was fine as it suited her current mood. Restless and broody. And while she wasn’t particular afraid of storms, she was feeling strangely alone.

Turning from the window, she bypassed the door leading to the separate bedroom, knowing sleep wouldn’t come any time soon. Maybe she could find something on TV or put in one of the movies she had at her disposal.

When a knock sounded on the main door to her room, she frowned and glanced at the clock on the DVD player situated beneath the flat screen on the entertainment center. Just after ten. Not really late, but still. She rarely had visitors and since the Merchin family had left late that afternoon, she once again had the whole second floor wing to herself.

That knowledge had to be why she suddenly felt lonely.

She certainly wasn’t wishing for the company of a particular male she hadn’t seen all damn day.

Striding over to the front door, she placed her eye to the peephole – thank you Melinda for thinking of that little detail in the remodeling of the house. Her mouth opened on a silent gasp when she saw Rome on the other side.

Dammit. And there went her heart, racing at top speed. For the tiniest second she thought about ignoring the knock, pretend she was asleep or something, but that would be cowardly and she wasn’t a coward. She could handle Rome, and for that matter, she could also control her wayward lust when it came to him.

She shook her arms, bracing herself for the impact of him, which, intellectually she knew was dumb because he was just a man. But her reaction to him was far from intellectual. It was pure chemistry, with a ton of physical attraction to boot. Okay, and maybe a little emotion added to the mix. Regardless, she would guard herself against his magnetic draw.

Magnetic draw?
That ridiculous thought made her mouth twitch and so when she opened the door and peeked out, her lips were curved up rather than twisted in the scowl she had on before.

“Hi.”

“Hi. I saw the light on and figured you hadn’t gone to bed yet.”

“The light?” She looked over her shoulder to the far window and back again, brows arching in disbelief. “You were out in this?’

His grin was deadly to her willpower. “Your hair is down. It’s gorgeous. Like midnight satin. And no. I saw the light from under the door.”

So he liked her hair down and had purposely come to her room. Her stupid heart skipped a beat. “Is everything okay? Nothing’s wrong with Melinda or...”

“No, no.” He waved that away. “Everyone’s fine. With the storm I knew you wouldn’t be able to have your nightly sojourn in the garden, which made me think of something.”

Gwen narrowed her eyes. Oh yeah. She bet he could think of something. So could she, and it wasn’t going to happen, no matter how much she wanted it to. “Uh huh.”

“So suspicious.” The twinkle in his eyes was a stark contrast to the solemn tone of his voice. “Don’t you trust me?”

She didn’t hesitate. “Not as far as I can throw you.”

Rome glanced down at the arm she had propped against the door-frame, an unconscious barring of his entrance. Gwen knew what he saw. She was a far cry from delicate. Big-boned, her mother said. Her breasts were generous, her butt, while not huge, wasn’t hard to miss, and the slight curve of her belly something she’d never been able to shed.

So she liked to eat, what could she say? Thankfully she’d entered a profession that kept her weight from exploding as it had in her teens, with the added benefit of toning her muscles into a sleek definition of strength and agility.

Evidently Rome liked what he saw because there was enough heat and male appreciation in his eyes when they returned to hers to make her insides quiver in response.

“While I don’t doubt your ability to do just that, I simply wanted to show you something I thought you might like.”

Somewhere between the internal fight to tamp down her body’s reaction to the two-hundred plus pounds of seductive male standing before her and caution at the intentions of said pure masculine temptation, curiosity reared its head. “And where would this something be located?”

Another bone-melting grin. “Upstairs.”

Before she could even form a frown, Rome held his arms out at his sides in an innocent gesture. Well, as innocent a gesture as a sexy, virile and drool inducing male can get.

And could she please just stop noticing his hotness factor? It might be hard to miss, but she was making her feminist side sick.

“Not even close to my bedroom.” His voice dropped low and thick. “Which is a definite shame.”

Gwen felt her cheeks heat. Did he have to keep throwing their chemistry out in the open like that? “I’m not...”

“I promise to be the perfect gentleman.” His lips curled into a decidedly wolfish smile. “Mostly. You’re not afraid to be alone with me, are you?”

Far from dumb, Gwen knew the taunt for what it was, a way to get her to come with him. Unfortunately, it worked.

Straightening, she said, “Of course not. Give me a minute.”

And then she closed the door in his face.

With anticipation vibrating along every nerve, she padded to her bedroom and slipped a bra beneath the loose, thin material of her tank top. It wasn’t so much the idea of being decently clothed in case they ran into anyone as it was a sort of armor against Rome’s charm and her own desires. More clothing meant a longer time period to get naked, hopefully giving her a chance to gather her wits before she did something she might regret.

Or not regret, because in all honesty, she couldn’t fathom how having sex with Rome would be regretful, other than the whole banging the boss’s son thing. However, one thing was for sure, at least for tonight. There would be no accidental nipple showing.

She glanced down at her long, dark blue shorts, satisfied they covered enough skin, and slid her feet into a pair of white canvas shoes. The white plastic keycard to her suite she unhooked from the keychain sitting on her dresser. From there she moved to the bathroom and snatched up an elastic band, putting her hair in a low ponytail as she made her way back to the door. And Rome.

Who was leaning nonchalantly against the hall wall as if he hadn’t a care in the world. “Ready?”

Not even close.
“Are you going to tell me what this is about?”

“It’s a surprise.” He eyed her hair with a frown.

So he liked it better loose? Tough. “You should know I’m not real fond of surprises.”

“That’s because you like to be in control.” Rome led her to the far end of the hallway to the emergency stairwell and elevator which had been added in the renovation. His smile held a hint of male smugness as pushed the door open. “But you’ll like this one. Have you ever been upstairs?”

Gwen shook her head, a little peeved at his comment about her wanting to be in control, because honestly, she didn’t see the problem.

In the stairwell he guided her up one flight and pressed his thumb against a small panel to the right of the door. “We generally use the back stairs in the kitchen as they go straight to the third floor.” She went through the door when he held it open and found herself in a dim hallway. The walls were painted a soft green and lush tan carpeting covered the floor. The faint scent of amber and honeysuckle tickled her nose and she breathed deep to take in more of the delicious combination. Before curiosity led her astray, Rome caught her hand and pulled her to yet another door.

“Tonight I’m taking you to the attic.” His voice was pitched low, and, opening the door, he flipped a light switch to reveal a set of wide wood steps that went straight up. To her left at the top was a wood railing. “But I’ll give you a tour of the house at a later date if you want. When my parents aren’t sleeping.”

Ah. Some of her tension eased. If Rome’s intent was to ravish her, he would have done his best to wrangle his way in her room and do the deed there. But why the attic?

“What’s up there,” she asked quietly as they ascended, the humidity growing with each step.

He only winked, a selfsatisfied expression on his face she wanted to slap off. Or kiss off. She was tempted to do both. “You’ll see.”

“That’s really getting old, Rome.” She informed him.

Irritation turned into confusion as she breathed in a new scent. Or more accurately, a mix of warm, citrus and earthy scents that had nothing to do with Rome at her side. This was....

“Oh,” she breathed out in delight when, with another flip of his wrist, the attic transformed into a garden. “My God. I never knew this was here.”

“That’s how it was designed.”

Gwen edged forward over a wood pathway that shifted slightly under her feet and she paused, moving slower until she found her footing. In the center of the attic sat four raised bedding plots, divided by the strange flooring and with an open square space right in the middle. A variety of roses in colorful bloom made up one bed while another contained lilacs, honeysuckles and jasmine. Another held geraniums, hibiscus and several other budding bushes and the fourth sprouted dwarf umbrellas, monsteras and other green, leafy plants. A flat wood bench, two dwarf lemon and two dwarf lime trees rested in that open space.

She touched vibrant flowers and large, healthy leaves as she made her way through the center of the beds to the other side. There, along the wall was another plot. This one made up of more herbs than she could count. Identifying the rosemary, peppermint and sage, she realized just where all the spices Annie used in her cooking came from.

Continuing on in amazement, not completely unaware that Rome trailed behind her, she bypassed small palm and rubber trees in large clay urns. On the south side of the attic yet another bed held several succulents, including aloe.

“It’s gorgeous.” She stopped next to some elephant grass and looked over her shoulder to see Rome grinning at her. “How?”

“It wasn’t easy, that’s for sure. But mom only had to wish out loud for it once before dad started the design.”

Gwen let out a wistful sigh. To have a husband so intune with your wants and needs, and then have the werewith-all to obtain those desires was every woman’s dream.

And in that moment she realized Rome was even more like his father than she’d thought. After one brief encounter on a swing, he’d realized how much she would enjoy this secret garden on a stormy night. He didn’t need to take the time to show her, bring her into his private home and share what she would otherwise never known about. It was a kind of gift.