Guilty Pleasures by Cathy Yardley Page B

had been at his house, so he took in the surroundings. She had a four-poster bed, piled high with a mountain of pillows in a pale peach color. There was a filmy white canopy that made the whole thing seem dreamlike. She sat down on the bed, still smiling.
    â€œWhat did you have in mind?”
    â€œI thought we’d talk a bit first,” he said, trying hard to put a leash on his desire.
    â€œTalk.” She seemed to think about it. “Okay, let’s talk.”
    He took a deep breath. At least she was cooperating…
    She stood up and started to tug off her shirt. “You don’t mind if I get comfortable while we…talk?”
    He shook his head, and she pulled her shirt off slowly, revealing a pink bra edged in lace that pushed the globes of her breast up, taunting him.
    â€œSo what did you want to talk about?” she said casually, as she unbuttoned her jeans and stared at him.
    He felt his pulse accelerate like with a hit of adrenaline. His mouth watered. “I wanted to talk to you about last week.”
    She nodded, unzipping her pants slowly and then inched them down her thighs, revealing a matching set of panties, tiny wisps of pink silk. “Okay.”
    It was getting hard for him to focus. It was getting hard, period. He fought doggedly to keep talking. This was too important to ignore.
    â€œDo you trust me?”
    She’d just kicked off her jeans, but now she froze like a startled deer, sitting on the edge of her bed in her enticing outfit. “What?”
    He sat down on the edge of the bed, careful to leave some space between them. “Do you trust me?”
    Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Do we have to talk about this now?”
    â€œMari, it hurt when you didn’t come to me. When you made it seem like if anything bad happened, it was just happening to you. ” He kept his voice low and steady, but the pain of that incident still lashed at him. “I know you don’t think I have as much to lose as you do…and you’re right. But the fact of the matteris, I care what happens to you. If you’re hurting, you don’t have to be alone.”
    She looked away, biting her lip unconsciously. “Okay. Can’t we just…”
    â€œI wanted to try something different tonight.”
    She looked back at him, and he swore he saw relief in her face. “What’d you have in mind?”
    â€œDo you mind if I look around a little bit?”
    She nodded, relief sliding into puzzlement.
    He rummaged through the drawers of her small dresser, feeling a shock of erotic awareness as he saw the wide variety of lingerie the woman owned. Finally, he got to what he was looking for. “I thought so. Artistic types always have scarves.” He pulled out three.
    Now her expression turned wary. “What do you plan to do with those?”
    â€œLie back.”
    She stood up instead. “I’m not so sure…”
    â€œMari, you’ve got this need to be in control. You might not always be on top, but you’re always in charge. You want everything to be your call. You don’t want anybody’s help.” He stroked her skin, kissing her lightly, keeping his hunger in check. “I want to show you that sometimes, it’s good to just let go, let somebody else take care of things.”
    She looked away. “I’ve let you…er, take care of things. ”
    He thought back to the first night, on her couch, when he’d brought her to orgasm. “Yeah, but it was your idea. You jumped me first.”
    She giggled at that one. “And I’d do it again.”
    â€œJust lie back,” he said persuasively. “I’m not going to do anything you don’t like. I promise.”
    For a second, when her gaze slid to his, she looked vulnerable…much less the tough restaurant owner she tried to project. She looked young.
    â€œAll right, Nick.” She went to the bed and stretched out.