Chapter Fifteen

“I have a surprise for you.”

Dana shivered as she stood at the bottom of the stairwell. Her blue evening gown billowed out with the breeze from the ocean, and he looked absolutely delicious in a tux. She assumed that they’d be meeting some of his business partners since he’d advised her to wear her favorite dress to dinner.

He had one arm hooked around her waist to prevent her from going up. Her stomach rumbled. “Please tell me the surprise involves food.” She skipped lunch after they’d spent the afternoon devouring each other in the shower.

Cole kissed the side of her neck, and his lips lingered. “It does involve food. After finding another man in our bedroom…”

“He was just there to get a book,” she protested for the hundredth time.

Chuckling darkly, Cole kissed her neck again. “God, I miss your curls. When do they come back?”

“Two to three months. Focus. Food. Surprise.”

“Why do I get the feeling that you would have pretended to be my girlfriend if I’d just offered you a decent steak dinner?”

Laughing, she whirled around in his arms. “It would have taken two dinners. I’m not that cheap.”

Cole tucked an escaped tendril behind her ear. “After discovering another man in our room with you this afternoon, it has occurred to me that it’s far too dangerous to leave you alone for too long. I thought a nice private dinner with just the two of us might help.”

Dana widened her eyes. “Really? Like a date?”

“Like a thank-you.”

There was a hesitation in his face, but this was a huge improvement on his former mood. She hugged him. “That sounds wonderful.”

Turning back around, she gripped the railing and headed up. The sight that awaited her stole her breath away. Date or not, this was the most romantic thing that anyone had ever done for her. The small deck held nothing but a single table next to high opaque glass walls that would protect them from the window. There was a bottle of wine on the table as well as two glasses of sparkling water. A single candle flickered in a hurricane glass, and everything was bathed in moonlight. There were faint echoes of music playing below them, but it felt like a million miles away.

“Beautiful,” she breathed as she looked out at the water. She had a feeling that she’d never feel anything like this ever again.

“Yes, it is.” His voice was husky, and she had a feeling that if she turned around, she’d find that he wasn’t staring at the view. No. She wasn’t brave enough to see that. It was already hard enough to separate the man who had hired her and the man who made her scream with pleasure. If she turned around, she might actually fall head over heels in love with Cole Parker.

Instead, she walked to the table on unsteady legs. Cole hurried around her and pulled out her chair. “Why do I feel like it’s the first time that you’ve ever done that?” she chuckled as she sat down.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I know my manners. It’s just that I’m usually in restaurants where the host does that for me.” He grinned and sat down. “I wasn’t sure what your favorite was, so I ordered a variety of foods. If there’s anything else that you want, you can ring the bell.”

Dana was amazed. “You have someone on standby?”

“Yes, but they’re not to interrupt unless we need them. I wanted this to be as private as possible.” He uncorked the bottle and poured himself a glass. This time, he didn’t bother with filling hers. She sipped her sparkling water and smiled as he leaned over and uncovered the cart. “I’ve got a porterhouse steak and a filet mignon. I’ve also got a stuffed chicken breast, a Cajun pasta dish, potato-crusted shrimp, and mahi mahi.”

“Can I have a little bit of everything?” she asked with an impish grin. He widened his eyes but nodded.

“Okay. Keep in mind that there are also some dessert options waiting for us as well.”

“I always have room for dessert.”

Her heart skipped a beat as she watched him awkwardly serve the food. He’d probably always had servants around him, and if he rang the bell, one would come out now and make things a lot easier for him, but he seemed determined to do this on his own.

She loved it.

The food was absolutely delicious. A few bites in, she leaned back and moaned. “You know, when I was a kid, I told my parents that I wanted to be a cook. My mom, who waited tables all her life, was horrified because she thought that meant that I wanted to be a short-order cook. My father was thrilled because my mom never had time to cook for us.”

“You certainly enjoy food enough. I love watching you eat. You take pleasure in everything, don’t you?”

“I do love to eat, which is a shame because it turned out that I am a terrible cook.” She laughed. “I could burn boiled eggs.”

“All your dreams, dashed.” He took a sip of wine and studied her. “I get the feeling that you didn’t stay down for long.”

“Nah. I move on pretty quickly. If something doesn’t bring me happiness, I push it aside and move on to the next thing. Cooking didn’t make me happy, so I figured instead I’d be a stuntwoman in the movies. Of course, that dream ended when I tried to ride my bike off the roof and broke my arm.”

Cole arched an eyebrow. “You seemed pretty unhappy when you got fired. You didn’t move on so quickly.”

“Give me a break!” She laughed. “It wasn’t even twenty-four hours later that I saw you! I needed to blow off some steam, and now I’m taking the time to figure out what might make me happy. I really enjoyed the spa date with Kathryn. Maybe I’ll try my hand at being a masseuse.”

Wincing, Cole returned his attention back to his plate. Dana narrowed her eyes and studied him. “What?” she demanded. “You think that’s a bad idea?”

“I don’t have an opinion for or against,” he said diplomatically. “If that’s your idea, go for it!”

“But?”

“I would just prefer that you not practice on me. I know you meditate because you think you’re a stable person, but you’ve got the worst temper, and I would hate to be at your mercy if you’re mad.”

Gasping in mock outrage, Dana picked up her napkin and chucked it at him. He laughed and caught it easily. “Why don’t you do more with plants?”

“What do you mean?”

“You didn’t think I’d notice the dozen plants that now sit in my condo or the worried expression on your face whenever you think about them? They’re in great shape, and you clearly love them. Why not work at a nursery? Or start your own?”

“Starting your own nursery costs money. A lot of money. I actually looked at several of the nurseries in the city, but they’re a joke. They only sell items that I could go into the woods and pull up myself.”

Cole shrugged. “I would think that fifty grand would go a long way in making that dream a reality.”

It got the wheels in her head turning. He had a point. “I would just hate to fail at doing something that I loved so much.”

“You’ll never know unless you take a chance.”

She couldn’t help but stare at him. There were so many things that she wanted to take a chance on, and at the moment, most of them centered around him.

“What do you want to do after dinner? There’s a concert starting in an hour, and I think there’s some sort of light show happening around the pool.”

“I want to go back to the room,” she said instantly.

His gaze heated, and she smiled. She didn’t care about the singers or the entertainment. If she really wanted to, she could scrape up enough money and go on another cruise to experience all of those things, but she didn’t have many more chances to spend in Cole’s arms, and she didn’t want to miss any of them.

Back in the room, his touch was light. She stood in front of the window, watching the ocean below as he kissed her shoulder, up the column of her neck, and nibbled on her ear. His knuckles skimmed over her spine, up and down, until he finally caught the zipper of the dress and tugged on it. The fabric fell around her ankles, and he turned her in his arms and pressed her against the glass.

“I think you are the most beautiful thing that I’ve ever seen,” he said hoarsely.

She wanted to push his words away, remind herself that this was just temporary and he probably said that to all the women, but she couldn’t help but relish the compliment. Pushing on him gently, she backed him up to the bed. “I want to love you tonight, too.”

With his help, they stripped him from his clothes. Naked and bathed in moonlight, he leaned back on the mattress, and she crawled over to him. Kissing his chest and abdomen, she moved lower and lower until she wrapped her hands around him and squeezed.

“Fuck, Dana,” he gasped. “I’ve been dreaming of your mouth. Scoot over and straddle me. I want to taste you again.”

She almost objected, but he was already pulling her legs over. Straddling him, she lowered her pussy to his mouth and leaned over to lick him again. She still ached from the day’s activities, and he seemed to realize it. He was gentle, creating a slow build of need as she took him in her mouth and sucked.

Their muffled moans filled the room until he finally whispered for her to stop. She complied and sat back, gently swaying over the ministrations of his wicked tongue. Closing her eyes, she fell into the gentle swirls of pleasure until a low and steady orgasm flowed through her.

Dismounting, she laid down and let him cover her. As he kissed her, she lifted her knees and sighed with pleasure as he entered her.

He was the strangest mix of power and beauty as he thrust into her, his eyes glittering with need. Reaching up, she ran her hands through his hair, bringing her fingers down to trace his lips. Cole caught a finger and sucked it as he moved inside her.

Slow and steady until she needed more. “Faster,” she pleaded. “I can take it.”

Hooking an arm under her knee, he lifted it until he could deepen the angle, and he moved faster and harder. When the sound of fireworks burst overhead, and the light rained down on the ocean and lit up their room, he groaned hoarsely.

“Dana,” he chanted, over and over again, until they lost control together. Clutching his neck, she rode the waves and pleasure and hoped desperately that she was wrong, and that she wasn’t falling in love with Cole Parker.