Delectable Desire by Farrah Rochon Page B

crossed his arms over his chest. The defensive stance was not the least bit encouraging.
    Lorraine glanced to the right and found his cousin Monica staring unabashedly at them.
    “Is there somewhere we can go to talk?” Lorraine asked. “Perhaps that office we visited before, if it’s unoccupied?”
    He hesitated for a moment, then nodded and motioned for her to follow him. As soon as Carter closed the door to the office, Lorraine started to apologize.
    She never got the chance.
    Carter spun her around, pinned her against the door and attacked her mouth with a deep, stirring kiss that had her knees weak and her entire body quaking with want. He pushed his tongue past her lips, surging in and out of her mouth with delicious strokes. His hands climbed up her sides, resting next to her breasts for a few moments before covering them. His thumbs grazed her nipples, causing them to pebble despite the barrier her bra and sweater created.
    Lorraine glided her hand up to the back of his head, cradling it. She held his head firm, needing to keep it right where it was.
    After another full minute, Carter finally ended the assault on her mouth and her senses. He took a step back, his eyes as dazed as she knew her own must be.
    “I needed to get that out of the way first,” he said, rubbing his hands against his thighs.
    “O-okay,” Lorraine stammered, a bit dazed.
    “How did everything go with your sister’s shower?” he asked, much quicker on the recovery than she was.
    “Quite well,” she said. “Trina was very happy, and everyone loved the cake.”
    He nodded. “Good.”
    “Carter—” Lorraine started, but he cut her off.
    “Don’t worry about it,” he said.
    “No.” She shook her head. “I must apologize for the way my mother treated you. She...” Lorraine decided to be honest. “She is one of the most shallow, self-absorbed people you will ever meet.”
    “Sounds lovely,” he said sardonically.
    Lorraine couldn’t help feeling horrible for painting her mother in such a light, but it was the truth.
    “Carter, my family life is...complicated,” she said.
    “You think mine isn’t?” He laughed, then stretched his hands out, as if trying to encompass the room. “You just stepped into the den of complicated family life. You hear how nice and quiet everything is right now? Just stick around for another twenty minutes or so. It’ll be pure chaos.”
    “Everyone has their share of family drama,” she agreed. “I suppose there are varying degrees of it.” She took a deep breath, lacing her hands in front of her. “As much as I resent it, I have a certain obligation as a Hawthorne-Hayes. I didn’t ask for it. I was born into it, but it’s there.”
    “Which means you can’t be seen with a guy who’s just a baker? Is that it? Are you trying to tell me that I’m not good enough for you, Lorraine?”
    “No!” she practically shouted. “Carter, you are one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. No one has made me laugh the way you do. You are exactly what I need, even though I had no idea how much I needed it.”
    “So, even though your mother doesn’t approve, you’re not going to kick me to the curb?”
    She stepped up to him and cradled his face in her hands. “Never,” she said. “I’ve had to sacrifice too much of myself already because of my obligations as a Hawthorne-Hayes. I will not sacrifice you, too.”
    She touched her lips to his in what she’d intended to be an easy, sedate kiss, but she was quickly learning that easy and sedate were not parts of Carter’s vocabulary. The kiss quickly became more heated, and several minutes later, when she was finally able to tear herself away from his tempting mouth, Lorraine had come to a conclusion.
    She wanted this man. She wanted him in a way she had never wanted another man. It was more than that; she deserved Carter. She’d sacrificed enough; it was time she go after what she really wanted.
    “How much longer will you be here at