Just Deserts (6 page)

She didn’t want to make things uncomfortable for Tristan, though. Opening up and letting him know of her needs had been serious enough. Now he knew what she wanted and she was pretty convinced he would eventually give it to her. However, it was up to her to make sure he didn’t get cold feet or drag things out.

She glanced across the table at him and almost lost her breath when his eyes caught hers in a heart-stopping gaze. It didn’t seem real for her to encounter these types of vibes. The chemistry. Where had it come from? Had it been there all the time but she just never realized it? Or was she noticing it now simply because of her own physical needs?

So many questions with no answers, at least not any that she could provide. She was seeing Tristan through different eyes and couldn’t help wondering when those eyes had opened. And why.

“What are you thinking about, Dani?”

His voice, low and seductive, stirred something inside of her, made heat settle in certain parts of her body. “I was thinking about us, Tristan, and what brought us to this.”

He lifted a brow. “To what? Dinner?”

She knew he was teasing her. He fully understood what she was trying to say. “No, what brought us to sitting here, trying to kill time until we get back to our hotel room, and then wondering what will happen when we do.”

“I already know what will happen when we do.”

She did, too, and the thought sent heat through her body. “What happened to your suggestion about not rushing into anything and letting nature take its course?”

He smiled. It was a nice smile that went from one corner of his lips to the other, making her fully aware of him and his mood. “What happened was that killer dress you’re wearing. I’m looking forward to taking it off you.”

Danielle was glad their table was in a secluded spot, far away from others. She would have hated for anyone else to have heard what he’d just said. He was bold and deliberate, and she liked it. “And I’m looking forward to taking your clothes off, as well.”

She saw the way his eyes darkened, noted the hand that moved to pick up his wineglass and watched his mouth as he took a sip. Tonight was a night of awareness, responsiveness and total focus. She didn’t intend to miss a thing.

“So, what do you want to talk about other than the two of us getting each other naked when we get back to the room?” he asked in a husky tone.

She smiled, liking the thought of that. “I guess we can talk about what happened to bring us to this point.”

He raised a brow. “You asked me to be your lover. I would say that was good starting point.”

“Yes, but I really wasn’t sure you would go along with it.”

“Why not?”

“Because of our friendship.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment. Then, “It’s because of our friendship that I feel comfortable doing it. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you, Dani. I think you know that. Besides, I understand the workings of the human body. You’re a grown woman who knows what she wants and what she needs. And I also know what you’ve been going without. I’m glad you turned to me and not someone else.”

Her lips curved into a smile. “To be honest, I hadn’t thought of going to anyone. My first inclination was to purchase a…a toy. But then…”

When she hesitated, he inquired, “But then what?”

She waited for the flutters to cease in her stomach before saying, “But then I remembered how deep our relationship goes, and how comfortable we are with each other. Some might see what I’ve asked of you as taking advantage of our friendship, but I know it’s not that at all. Although I wasn’t sure what your response would be, a part of me felt comfortable asking.”

Tristan didn’t say anything. Instead, he thought of how many agonizing nights he had lain in his bed after she’d married, knowing he had lost her, yet knowing he had to find it in his heart to want what was best for her. He’d wanted her to be happy, even if that happiness was with another man.

Nothing had changed in that regard. He still wanted her to be happy. If he could take away what she’d had to endure for the past couple of months, he would. There was no way he could undo the past, but what he could do was build on the future. One step at a time. He would give her the time she needed and would be by her side when she finally brought closure to this complicated part of her life. Then he would become a part of her life in the way he’d wanted for a long time.

He knew what his own needs were, but he’d hold them at bay to take care of hers. She didn’t know it, but his went deeper than just the physical. They would never get worked out of his system no matter how many times they made love, simply because it wasn’t just an itch he needed her to scratch. It was something so monumental it was almost overpowering. It was so deep that the bottom seemed endless, and so strong he felt like Samson on one of his better days, before his hair had been cut.

“How would you feel if I suggest we forgo dessert?” he asked, knowing she would get his meaning. He felt the sensual heat of her gaze when it touched his face.

“I was going to get a slice of key lime pie. It’s my favorite.”

A smile touched his lips. “I know. But I promise to give you something just as good.”

Their gazes held. “Just as good?” she asked as if intrigued by his claim.

“Yes.” And at the risk of sounding rather cocky, he gave her a level look and said, “Key lime pie has nothing on what I’m prepared to give you.”

She smiled and felt the slow stirring of heat between her legs. “You have me convinced. I think we should leave now.”

“And I totally agree with you.”

A
lthough it was July, the night air off San Francisco Bay was cool, so Danielle wasn’t surprised when they exited the restaurant and Tristan took off his jacket and placed it around her shoulders. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

And then they walked toward the car with his arm around her shoulders, which wasn’t an uncommon thing for them to do. She couldn’t help but reflect on other things they had done that could have put ideas in other people’s heads besides Alex’s and Renée’s.

Port St. Lucie wasn’t a huge town and most of the people knew of Paul and Tristan’s close friendship, just like they knew of her and Tristan’s close friendship. Even Marc had questioned her about it once, and she had explained that Tristan was like a big brother to her. At least he had been at the time. When had that stopped?

“You’re quiet.”

Tristan’s words broke into her thoughts as he opened the car door for her. “I’m just thinking,” she said.

When she slid into the seat he bent low to place the seat belt around her, bringing his face close to hers. “About this, I hope.” And then he kissed her, just as easy and just as quick. It was over before she could sneak in some tongue time. She was tempted to pull his mouth back to hers, but he had closed her car door and was moving around the car.

When he slid into the driver’s seat, she narrowed her eyes at him. “That wasn’t fair.”

He smiled as he switched on the engine. “What was unfair about it?”

“Too short.”

His smile widened as he pulled out of the parking lot. “I’m saving the longer version for when we get behind closed doors.”

“Very well, then,” she said, finding a comfortable position in her seat. “I plan to hold you to it.”

“Trust me, Dani, it will happen.”

She believed him, and that was what she thought was the weirdest thing. She and Tristan were always a pair. They had traveled together numerous times and had even shared hotel rooms during most of them. But nothing had ever happened between them. Again she couldn’t help but wonder, why now? Part of her believed it had a lot to do with her asking him to be her lover. Since then, things had certainly gotten hot between them. They were contemplating sleeping together as if it was nothing.

Well, to
her
it was certainly something. She had gone without for almost eight months. Marc had been just that neglectful. She had been satisfied with the promise he’d made, so she hadn’t nagged him about the times they hadn’t been intimate. But now she knew he hadn’t been with her because he’d had two other wives to sleep with. How could she not have detected something?

“You okay?”

She glanced over at Tristan. There was no way she was going to tell him what she was thinking. Mentioning Marc might dampen the mood and she didn’t want that. So instead, she said, “I was wondering why it took me so long to seek you out as a lover.”

He glanced over at her when the car came to a traffic light. “I think the main reason, Dani, was that you were married.”

“Before then, when I was single and living in New York. You even came to see me a few times, spent the night at my place.”

“Yes, but if you recall most of the times I showed up, Paul was with me. That one time I showed up by myself you were sick.”

She nodded, remembering, surprised that he did. “I thought I was going to die.”

He chuckled. “It was a toothache. Most people don’t die from it, Dani.”

“Well, there was more to the story than I was telling at the time.”

“You don’t say? What else was there?”

She turned toward him. “Because of the toothache, I had to be replaced for a photo shoot by the one person I hadn’t wanted to replace me. I think she deliberately wished that toothache on me.”

He raised a dark brow. “Boy, that’s deep. She must have been a real witch.”

She knew he was teasing her, but she didn’t care. As far as she was concerned, she was serious. “Yeah, I thought so at the time, but it doesn’t matter. She can have all the photo shoots she wants. That’s not my life anymore.”

There was a lot of traffic flowing in their direction, which caused Tristan to slow down again. Keeping his eyes on the cars in front of him, he asked quietly, “And what do you see as your life now, Dani?”

She gave a small shrug. “First I want to make sure I have one. Once I can finally put the past behind me, then I want to move on. I like what I’m doing at A&T, but I want to do more.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Possibly start a foundation in Paul’s name. He was a big soccer fan, so I might give a soccer scholarship each year to a deserving student who needs it for college.”

“That’s very generous of you.”

She grinned. “It will be generous of you, too, since it’s also your money. I wasn’t going to just give it out of my share but ours.”

“Ours?” Tristan asked, coming to a stop at a traffic light and looking over at her.

She met his gaze. “Yes,
ours.
”

Their gazes held and for some reason she felt there was a deeper meaning in what she had said and she didn’t know why. Since she had stepped in after Paul’s death, they had always thought of the company as theirs. They were partners, true enough, but she never considered that she had just a share of the company. In her mind it was theirs. Together.

Tristan released Danielle’s gaze when traffic began moving again. He figured she might not have realized the significance of what she’d just said, but he had. Whether they had acted on it previously or not, they had always shared everything, and tonight they would share each other in the most intimate way. He got turned on just looking at her. And he had no idea what perfume she was wearing, but the scent was like an aphrodisiac, making him fully aware of just how breathtakingly sexy she was. Even when she had sipped her iced tea at dinner, he had gotten aroused. Seeing that straw between her lips, watching her suck on it, had sent all kinds of erotic images crashing through his brain. He could imagine those same lips on—

“Tristan?”

Her voice cut into what he was thinking, and it was a good thing it had. He was fully aroused. He glanced over at her as he pulled into the hotel’s parking garage. “Yes?”

“I asked whose bed we’re sleeping in tonight.”

He brought the car to a stop and cut the engine. He shifted his body to give her his absolute attention. “It really doesn’t matter, sweetheart, because I can guarantee you that neither of us will get much sleep.”

A short while later while riding the elevator up to their suite, Danielle remembered Tristan’s words and shuddered in anticipation. Earlier that day, kissing him back had been natural, as if it was something her body had wanted to do for a long time. It had been one of the most mesmerizing things she’d ever done in her life. She was being swept up in a storm of excitement thinking about what was yet to come. If those subtle hints and sex-laced innuendos he’d made all evening were true, then she was in for the time of her life. And for her it was long overdue.

“You okay?”

She glanced up at him. “Yes, I’m fine.”

They had stepped out of the elevator and were walking down the long hallway to their room. Tristan was always asking about her well-being; her physical and mental state had always been of concern to him. They still were. He hadn’t known just how she would react when she’d discovered the extent of Marc’s deceit. A part of her still didn’t want to believe it. She just couldn’t accept that any man could stoop so low and be so devious. But her dead husband had, and now she felt obligated to clean up the mess he’d left behind. Chris still wouldn’t say which of the three wedding bands Marc had choked on. She figured Chris didn’t want her, Alex or Renée feeling guilty. If only he knew just how non-guilty she felt. As far as she was concerned, choking on one of the rings seemed like a fitting way for him to go.

“Let it go, Dani.”

She snatched her gaze up to Tristan, wondering how he had known what she’d been thinking. As if the question was in her eyes, he said, “Your breathing shifted from calm to turbulent. At first I thought it was for another reason—until I looked down and saw you frown. Whatever you were thinking about him were unhappy thoughts. Let it go. When we cross over that threshold into our room, I want your complete attention. I don’t want to compete for it.”

“You won’t have to,” she assured him, trying to redirect her thoughts and dismiss Marc from her mind. She turned her attention to Tristan and what lay ahead. “Other than the fact we won’t be getting much sleep, what else do you want to tell me about tonight?” she asked, smiling.

He looked down at her with those dark, intense eyes she’d always thought were gorgeous. “I intend for it to be special.”

“And I have no doubt that it will be,” she said.

“And for us things will go beyond me satisfying your needs, Dani.”

That statement somewhat confused her, since she thought that was the main reason they were doing it. He would be satisfying her needs and she would be satisfying his. They had both admitted to being in desperate need of a lover and had turned to each other because they trusted each other implicitly.

“I don’t understand what you mean,” she said truthfully.

He smiled at her when they stopped in front of the hotel door. “That’s fine, but one day you will, Dani. I’m going to make sure of it.”

She pondered his words and could only come up with one answer and hope she was right. He knew more than anyone what she wanted, what Marc had cheated her out of. Was Tristan hinting at the possibility he would give her the child she’d always wanted?

She would not have asked that of him, no matter how much she wanted to become a mother. Asking him to be her lover had been bold enough, but she knew where to draw the line. However, the sheer excitement of that possibility had her mind racing, her heart overjoyed, to the point that she felt all misty-eyed. She reached out and touched his hand. “It’s a baby, isn’t it? You’re going to give me a baby?”

Tristan blinked, trying to keep the shock of her words from his face. Making a baby with her had been the farthest thing from his mind. He had a wallet packed with condoms to prove it. The subtle hint he’d given her a few moments ago, when he’d said that what they would share would go beyond satisfying their needs, was mainly about the love he felt for her. A love that he had held inside for years. He had wanted her to eventually see that their lovemaking had nothing to do with just enjoying sex together. In his mind they would be making love in the purest sense of the word.

But a baby?

On more than one occasion he had thought about being the one to give her the baby she wanted, especially when he’d seen how discovering Marc had been sterile had left her broken, nearly destroyed her spirit. That’s when the idea first took shape in his head and it had stayed locked in the back of his brain. Now she was bringing it to the forefront. Personally he wanted more between them than satisfying needs and making a baby. He wanted her to come to the realization that he loved her. That was what drove him to do whatever it took to make her happy. On the other hand, he knew more than anyone that a baby would make her happy.

He inhaled deeply; deciding not to burst her bubble by telling her that making a baby with her before they got married was not part of his plan. But then, he wasn’t ready to tell her exactly
what
his future plans for them were until she got the closure she sought concerning Marc.

He took her hand and brought it to his lips. There was no need to ask her if she was sure she really wanted a baby. But he had to make sure she truly wanted
his
baby. “Do you really want my baby, Dani? What if he or she is born bad-tempered like me?”

He watched her smile. “Tristan, you are the most mild-mannered person I know, and yes, I truly do want your baby. Just the thought of being pregnant fills me with profound happiness and joy.”

There was something about her that let him know what he’d always known. She would make any child a good mother. She would make his child a good mother. She’d had a good role model. Her parents, especially her mom had been the best. He had spent many a night over at the Timmonses’ house. And when the grandmother who had raised him died when he was in his senior year of high school, it had been the Timmonses who had taken him in. He never knew his father and his mother. They’d been teenagers who, after he was born, only showed up when looking for a handout. Nothing about that had changed, except now when his mother came looking for a handout she usually had some man trailing behind her.

“Aren’t we going inside?”

Tristan heard the anxiousness in her voice and couldn’t tell whether the thought of them making a baby was the driving force behind it. Did he really care? The answer came quick. No, he didn’t. He loved her and wanted to bring peace and happiness into her life. It was happiness that she deserved.

He tried to downplay the trembling in his hand when he inserted the card into the lock. How long had he dreamed of this moment, actually thought it would never come after she’d gotten married? Now it seemed he was being given another chance.

He took a step back so she could walk in ahead of him. And then he entered and closed the door behind him, locking it.