Maureen Child – Wanted by the Boss: Sleeping with the Boss / Cowboy Boss / Billionaire Boss (страница 13)

‘‘An hour,’’ he said tightly, and watched her go.

* * *

Standing under the pulsating jets of hot water, Eileen struggled to clear her mind. To push the night’s memories into a dark corner, where they couldn’t sneak out to taunt her. But it was no use.

Hot, needlelike punches of water beat on her body in staccato bursts from the shower massage and reminded her of his hands on her. Of his mouth. Of his touch. Of the fires he could stoke with a look.

And she ached for him.

At the slide of the curtain rings on the metal pole, she turned in time to see him step naked into the shower behind her. ‘‘Rick—’’

He grabbed her and pulled her close, sliding her water-slick body along his. ‘‘Sun’s not all the way up yet. Night’s not over.’’

She stared up at his taut features, swallowed hard and said, ‘‘Works for me.’’

Turning her around, Rick pressed her back up against the shower wall and lifted her off her feet. Steam from the shower rose up like a soft fog, enveloping them in a small, private world. Water pounded on his back like a heartbeat. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he entered her with one quick lunge that stole his breath. He’d tried to stay away. But hearing the water, knowing she was naked and wet and warm, was simply too much of a temptation to ignore.

Now he moved within her, racing toward the ecstasy that had become familiar during the long night. Burying his face in the curve of her throat, he gave himself to her and took all she had to give.

* * *

An hour later, they were in her bed, having breakfast. Wrapped in the thick terry robes, they shared strawberries, Belgian waffles and hot coffee.

‘‘When does your first client get here?’’ Eileen asked, biting into a fresh ripe strawberry direct from the inn’s greenhouse.

Rick checked the bedside clock. ‘‘About an hour.’’

She nodded. ‘‘Probably a good thing, huh?’’

He looked at her and all he could think was that he wanted to taste her strawberry-stained mouth. His body stirred and even he was amazed. He should be exhausted, yet he felt more awake, more alive than he ever had before. She was like a jolt of pure electricity. She kept his body humming and his blood pumping and he hadn’t had nearly enough of her yet. ‘‘Yeah,’’ he murmured. ‘‘A good thing.’’ Pouring more coffee into both their mugs, he said, ‘‘There are three meetings today and one tomorrow morning.’’

‘‘Okay.’’

‘‘If you want to, later we can go out. There’s an Indian casino near here. We can catch a show.’’

‘‘Sounds good.’’

Rick winced at the stiffness in her voice. Hell, in his voice. ‘‘Look, we don’t have to be this polite and formal with each other,’’ he said, hating the distance springing up between them, even though he knew it was for the best. No point in dragging this on, right? Not when he knew damn well he’d be saying goodbye to her in another week. And he would say goodbye.

That’s what he did.

He didn’t stick around and give women the chance to leave him. Not again. Not ever again. ‘‘We had a good time,’’ he said. ‘‘Now it’s over.’’

‘‘Right,’’ she said, and relaxed back against the headboard. ‘‘We’re adults—neither one of us is committed to someone else. No reason we can’t walk away. We can do this.’’

He smiled at her. ‘‘Just as well we’re not going to be having another night like last one.’’

‘‘Why?’’ She cradled her coffee cup between her palms.

Rick grinned and took a sip of the hot, rich brew. ‘‘When Mrs. Hammond brought the breakfast tray up here, she asked me if I’d heard anything unusual during the night.’’

Eileen’s eyes went wide. ‘‘Unusual?’’

‘‘Uh-huh. Seems that just before the rain started, she heard a loud yelp.’’

She clapped one hand across her mouth. ‘‘Oh, God.’’

He chuckled and shook his head. ‘‘Don’t worry. She thought a coyote had gotten hold of some small animal.’’

‘‘A coyote?’’

‘‘Yeah. Apparently, you hit just the right note to sound like a dying rabbit.’’

She bounced a pillow off his head.

* * *

‘‘Okay, this no more sex thing just isn’t working out.’’

‘‘Yeah, I noticed.’’ Rick rolled to one side of her and lay on his back, struggling to catch his breath.

Lying naked on the braided rug in front of the fireplace, Eileen winced and reached beneath her. She pulled a ballpoint pen out from under her bottom. ‘‘That’s what that was.’’

‘‘Huh?’’

‘‘The pen your last client lost?’’ she asked, holding it up. ‘‘I found it.’’

Rick chuckled, then shook his head. ‘‘What the hell are we doing, Eyeball?’’

‘‘Beats me, Hawkins.’’ Holding the stupid pen, she let her hand drop, falling across her abdomen. ‘‘But if we don’t figure it out soon, we’re gonna end up killing each other.’’

The last client had only left the inn an hour ago and already, Eileen and Rick were naked and exhausted. Sexual heat still shimmered in the air and Eileen felt the first stirrings of need building within her again. Much more of this and they’d be too weak to drive home.

They’d made it through the long day, though the tension between them had been thick enough to chew on. Eileen had taken notes, typed them up and helped Rick draw up the paperwork for two of his clients to diversify their stock holdings. She’d made small talk and tried to avoid meeting Rick’s gaze. She’d felt him watching her as his clients came and went. She’d smiled and visited with the older men who, each in turn, told her what a great catch Rick Hawkins would be. How smart he was. How rich.

Of course, when the talk had turned in that direction, Eileen had actually seen shutters drop across his eyes. As if he was distancing himself from the conversation, even though he had to know the men had only been teasing. She’d had the urge to tell him that he was safe. She wasn’t interested in a ‘‘great catch’’ or any other kind of catch. But in front of his clients, that hadn’t seemed appropriate—and once she and Rick were alone…well, the subject hadn’t come up.

‘‘Well,’’ he said finally, ‘‘our one-night bargain is shot.’’

‘‘Pretty much,’’ she agreed.

‘‘Do we make a new one-night agreement?’’

‘‘That would technically be a two-night bargain.’’

‘‘Fine. Two nights. Whatever.’’

She turned her head to look at him. ‘‘Whoa. Lack of sleep making somebody cranky?’’

‘‘No.’’ He met her gaze. ‘‘It’s not sleep I’m craving.’’

Eileen’s stomach flip-flopped, then did a slow whirl. ‘‘Me neither, big boy,’’ she admitted, then added, ‘‘but before this turns into the Lost Weekend, we’d better have some ground rules.’’

He rolled onto his side and propped his head on his hand. ‘‘Rules are good.’’

Eileen chuckled. Now there was a statement on his personality. ‘‘Figured you’d say that.’’

She too went onto her side and lay facing him. Flames danced in the hearth behind him, sending ripples of light around the room and gilding the ends of his hair until he looked almost as if he were wearing a halo.

Rick Hawkins? A halo?

Okay, rules were definitely in order!

Idly he reached out one hand to stroke her breast. Eileen hissed in a breath and let it out again. ‘‘First,’’ she said, a little more loudly than she’d planned, ‘‘no strings.’’

‘‘Agreed,’’ he said, his now-narrowed gaze focused on hers. ‘‘I’m not looking for anything permanent.’’

‘‘Ditto.’’ She caught a flicker of surprise in his eyes and addressed it. ‘‘What? You think every woman you meet is trying to lure you into a bear trap?’’

One dark eyebrow lifted, managing to convey a world of comments.

‘‘You can relax on that score, Mr. Wonderful,’’ she assured him. ‘‘You’re completely safe.’’