Riptide Love ( (10 page)
He’s hot. He’s young—way too young. But he’s playing for real.
Querida
© 2008 Jamie Craig
Maddy Terrell is forty years old with an adult son and a time-consuming career. The last thing she is looking for is a relationship. In fact, all she wants is a ride—from Los Angeles to San Francisco so she can attend her niece’s wedding. But the ride she was counting on has just stood her up, and her only choice is to accept a lift from Tonio Herrera.
He’s Latino. He’s hot. He’s also twenty-four, just too much of a stretch for Maddy to even contemplate, no matter how attracted she is to him.
Tonio’s not driving Maddy to San Francisco out of the kindness of his heart. In fact, he has a very specific ulterior motive. Maddy is the most attractive woman he has ever met. After months of flirting, he’s determined that this weekend in San Francisco will finally get her attention.
Then comes the hard part—convincing Maddy he wants more than just a weekend fling.
Warning:
Shameless flirting, public sex on the San Francisco Bay, road trip fun, and a May/December love affair.
Enjoy the following excerpt for
Title:
Maddy was certain the food was delicious, but she couldn’t really taste it. It seemed she didn’t have enough concentration to focus on the food because her other four senses were drinking Tonio in. She wasn’t sure when she had officially made the decision to throw caution to the wind and have a weekend fling with a boy almost half her age, but the decision had been made, and she couldn’t go back on it. Not now. Not with her entire body aching for another touch. Not while her pussy clenched and fluttered every damned time he smiled at her.
And he smiled at her a lot.
Maddy had had other flings like this one—well, not exactly like this one. Her lovers tended to be her peers, age-wise and professionally. After Bill died, she didn’t have the energy to raise a teenage son on her own, work full-time as a hospital administrator and nurture a relationship with a new man. But none of those other men made her half as nervous and excited as Tonio did with his sly smiles.
Once the plates from their entrée had been cleared, Maddy realized she wouldn’t be able to suffer through the next course. “Do you want to ask them to box up dessert?”
His long fingers toyed with the stem of his empty wineglass. Instead of answering her, though, he gestured for the waiter to return.
“We’d like the cheesecake to go, please. But no forks.” He glanced at Maddy. “We won’t need them.”
If Maddy wasn’t already sure about her decision before, she was convinced now. This felt like a good idea. She idly wondered if Tonio did this sort of thing regularly—seduce the mothers of his friends. The thought didn’t really bother her, but she dismissed it anyway. Despite Tonio’s blatant sensuality, he didn’t seem interested in collecting trophies.
“I hope you plan on sharing that cheesecake.”
Tonio leaned forward, capturing Maddy’s hand and bringing it to his mouth. He turned it upward and kissed her palm, letting his tongue linger and trace along her lifeline as he gazed up at her through his lashes. “Trust me. I’m a selfish bastard. Half the reason for picking cheesecake was wanting to feel you eat it off me.”
Maddy thought it was a good thing she wanted a chance to do just that, because otherwise she would have dragged Tonio out of the restaurant before getting dessert or paying the bill. She already had the feeling that pulling herself out of bed the next morning for the wedding was going to be hell.
The waiter arrived with their to-go container and the check. Maddy automatically reached for her purse, but Tonio quickly and calmly beat her to it, passing the waiter his card. Maddy couldn’t help but smile, but a small voice nagged at her. Could he afford a meal like this? Most of Shawn’s friends didn’t even have spare change for a cheeseburger.
“So what do you do that allows you to enjoy only the best in life?”
“I’m in computer animation. Games, mostly.” He grinned at her, a twinkle in his eye. “So the next time you see a gorgeous redhead with long legs shooting an alien’s head off on the front of a game box, you’ll know who inspired her.”
“You can make me famous. That doesn’t sound too bad.” Neither did his career. Young, handsome—handsome enough to be beautiful—and successful. Tonio would have been quite the catch if she was looking for anything to last beyond the weekend.
The waiter returned with the receipt, and Tonio signed off on it, barely looking at the scrap of paper. He rose and held out his hand, waiting for her to take it before picking up their dessert and heading for the elevator. His fingers closed possessively around hers, warm and sure, so that by the time they stood in front of the doors waiting for them to open, Maddy’s skin had gone hot yet again.
He didn’t speak as the elevator arrived, didn’t do anything until after he’d pressed the button for their floor. Then, the hand that held hers let go, his arm curling around her waist. In the next instant, she was flush against his chest, his dark eyes burning into hers.
“I’m sorry, Maddy. I’ve waited too long already.”
She didn’t have time to protest before his mouth covered hers, or before he pushed her back against the wall, or before his lips parted and his hungry tongue demanded entry. She didn’t have time to breathe before hers parted as well, but she did have time to lift her arms and wrap them around his neck.
Their first kiss had only teased her senses, but now he overwhelmed her. She smelled his aftershave, something sharp and spicy, and tasted the wine on his tongue. She felt his body hard against hers, hotter than she expected, holding her firmly against the wall. She heard her own heart thundering in her ears, and she was certain it echoed his. She vaguely heard the elevator chime and realized that was probably their floor. She couldn’t pull her mouth from his.
When the door began to whisper shut, his hand shot out to jab the button to keep it open. Tonio licked along her lower lip one more time before easing back, but the rapid rise and fall of his chest told her how badly he didn’t want to.
“Whose room?” he rasped.
“Mine.”
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