I told myself I knew what I was doing. I was wrong.

When her lips parted beneath mine, something deep inside me shifted. I tasted chocolate on her tongue… and that mysterious, sweet spice I could smell on her skin… in her hair. But something shifted again… when I felt her pull back.

“It’s late,” she said, knowing full well that it wasn’t. “My grandmother’s not well… I should get back…”

Her lips were still only inches from mine, but I reached into my jacket and tossed a handful of bills on the table. A war was raging inside me… part of me unable to deny the best thing would be to take her home and forget all about her. But the other part of me, the part that could never resist a fucking challenge had already been aroused… as powerfully as my desire.

“Walk with me...down on the beach…

A meal at Le Prix is hardly complete without a moonlight walk.” I took her elbow lightly and guided her to her feet. “I’ll have you home within the hour…”

I followed her down the long, narrow stone steps that led to the sand below. A couple was walking with their dog in the surf, another couple stood by the rocks, the man leaning his hips into hers. I caught Emily’s hand in mine, and drew her toward the water’s edge.

“How is it you decided on your… unusual line of work?” I asked over the gentle rushing sound of the waves. “You mentioned at the party that it was the largest event you’d done so far…”

“It was,” she answered. “At least since we made the shift from full catering to just bakery and bar.” She gave me a sidelong look. “The erotic sweets are meant to keep the bills paid, and to make sure Gran has the medicine she needs. But I was trained as a proper chef.”

“Is she alright?” I asked, surprised at my own sincerity. “Your grandmother… it isn’t serious…?”

“I think sometimes that she might not be quite as bad as she makes out,” I replied. “She gets lonely, I think… And she needs to stay calm and rest, most of the time. It’s always been my job to take care of her… She doesn’t exactly approve of the jobs we’re taking on now.” She reached up to brush the hair out of her eyes and I watched the swell of her breast lift with the movement. I wanted to reach out and take her, right where we stood.

“Thank you, Chase,” she said, turning to meet my eyes. “For dinner, for listening to me… Especially for the work you and your partner have sent our way. I’m not sure where Gran and I would be right now, without it. It’s like you came to our rescue… right when we needed it most.”

She was close now, not because I’d closed the gap, but because she had. She was standing so close I could see the moisture on her lips, shining in the moonlight. Her scent mixed with the salt of the sea and formed an earthy musk that made me wonder again how she tasted, between those slender, curving thighs. I watched her and she didn’t back away. Not this time. Not from my body… not from my gaze. She could be mine for the taking… I knew it in my core.

But she was sweet and kind… and in way over her head, with a man like me. I cursed myself for kissing her even once, for going against my own fucking better judgement. For putting her at risk… and for making her want what could only be wrong in the long run.

But when she stood up on her toes to drop a gentle kiss on my cheek, the demon inside was freed. I gripped her and pulled her soft, yielding body to the forceful hardness of my own, and kissed her long and deep. In that kiss was both warning and promise, equally met. She lifted one foot off the ground and I caught her thigh in my hand, lifting it up, pulling her into me demandingly. When she wrapped her ankle around the back of my leg, I groaned into the sweetness of her mouth and plunged deeper. Her thin knit dress offered little protection against the raging, heated erection I ground into her belly. I slipped my hand under the hem of her dress and touched smooth, hot thigh. The jolt of such delicate flesh against my palm shocked me into pulling back. I saw, just over her shoulder, the couple from the rocks… watching us…

“I promised to take you home,” I said, my voice ragged and breathless. I caught her face in one hand and forced her to look at me. “Forgive me, Emi. I never should have… I don’t want to hurt you…”

She blinked, her mouth looking swollen and bruised, her lips still parted invitingly. “You didn’t,” she said softly, quietly. “You didn’t hurt me… I wanted it too…

and I want it again…”

I stared down at her, barely able to hold back. I wanted to drag her down onto the sand with me and I despised myself. Instead, I took her hand and led her back up the stone stairs, almost faster than she could keep up.

“No, you don’t, Emi…,” I said, too harshly. “Trust me…

You have no idea… what you’re asking for…”