Bad in Bed (3 page)

Of course, then her colleagues had spent the
morning ragging her about her good fortune, which included being trapped in a
broken down elevator with the biggest hunk to grace the building in eons and
then being invited out by him. Since they knew she’d recently broken her
engagement, Amber realized they were only being supportive and encouraging. Yet
it was hard to ignore the boost of confidence it gave her to be the object of
their envy.

Almost ten minutes early, Amber headed straight
for the ladies room as she hit the restaurant. On the way out, she noticed the
birthday banners and balloons swamping the small foyer.

“Hey.”

Turning, she came face to face with Ethan. He
was taller even than she remembered, bigger and more imposing. His eyes, the
same vivid blue, seemed warmer and so desperately potent that her stomach
enjoyed a lovely slow spin as she met his gaze. Soon her pulse decided to
participate and began thundering beneath her flesh.

“You look,” he said softly, “beautiful.”

Beneath his speculative gaze she
felt
beautiful, which was pretty amazing
seeing as she’d spent the past few weeks suffering varying degrees of
self-analysis ranging from abject criticism to gentle acceptance of her flaws.

Tonight, it seemed, she could err on the side
of acceptance. “Thank you.” She ran her gaze over the loose white linen shirt
and light grey trousers. “You scrub up pretty nicely yourself. You’ve shaved.”
At his raised eyebrows, she laughed. “I sort of liked the designer stubble you
sported in the elevator.”

“It’ll be back by morning. Want to stick around
and watch it grow?”

She laughed again. Yes indeedy, there was
definitely something about him. Maybe her friends were right and she did
deserve to cut herself a break and get back into the game. If only to prove
that Trevor’s taunts were so far off base it was laughable...except she
couldn’t shake the little voice that cautioned otherwise. Despite the girls’
attempts to convince her that Trevor was the last person she should let
influence her life, his insult had struck deep like a sword to the heart.
Finding him in bed with her best friend hadn’t helped much either, and as if to
add insult to injury he’d—

“Ready to join the party?”

Ethan’s deep voice and his hand on the small of
her back brought her hurtling back to the present. “Party?”

He nodded toward the array of banners and
balloons. “Marco’s birthday. He’s thirty today and hates the very idea of a
party, which is why we’ve thrown him one.”

Bloody hell. She wasn’t in the mood for a
party
. “You should have said. We could
have made it another night.”

“You kidding? Marco’s going to lose his tongue
when he sees you. And any way I can stick it to him, especially on his
birthday, is an added bonus.”

“You don’t like him?”

He turned, leading her toward the entrance to
the restaurant. “Love him like a brother. Best man I know.”

As long as she lived, she’d never understand
the male psyche.

The restaurant was decked out the same way as
the foyer, with the addition of streamers hanging from the ceiling and
photographs plastered all over the walls. People were milling around the
bedecked tables, laughing, kissing, and generally enjoying themselves.

As they made their way through the restaurant
toward the back of the room, several people greeted Ethan. A few times they
stopped so that he could make introductions. Everyone seemed friendly, and
Amber noted the variations in age from early twenties up to people in their
eighties. Along the way, she learned that Zutini’s was one of a string of
restaurants owned by Marco’s parents and that the restaurant had been closed to
the public for the evening to celebrate their youngest son’s birthday.

A group of people at the main table in the
centre of the room indicated for Ethan to come over.

Ethan introduced Amber and she received the
same friendly response as she had while circumnavigating the room.

“Where’s the birthday boy?” Ethan addressed the
group at large. “Hiding in the nearest closet?”

“No. We’ve already checked them.” A very
heavily pregnant woman about Amber’s age gave Ethan a wry smile. “He’s out back
taking the candles off his cake as fast as his mother’s putting them on.”

As a cheer went up, Amber turned to see who she
assumed was Marco, being forcibly led into the restaurant by an older woman who
was obviously his mother. They had the same dark looks, the same lush black
hair that fell to their shoulders, the same chocolate eyes.

Amber’s first thought was that he looked
younger than his thirty years, her second that he was damned beautiful. Less
rugged than Ethan, not as muscular, but beautiful nevertheless.

As he reached their table, Ethan pulled him
into a bear hug. “Surprise,” he said to Marco with a grin. “You’ve got your
very own birthday party, my man.”

Marco’s muttered “fuck you” earned him a clip
around the head from his mother and a slap on the back from Ethan.

Marco winced at his mother, glared at Ethan,
then turned his attention to Amber. “Tell me that this is my present,” he said
to Ethan as his eyes stayed on his friend’s date, “and I might actually enjoy
this farce.”

Amber’s smile faded and the ‘happy birthday’
died on her lips as she stared at Marco.

He stared back with those chocolate eyes, the
dark slash of eyebrows making them even more devastating. In his left ear, a
silver loop flashed.

Ethan’s hand slid around the back of her waist
as he addressed Marco in a tone meant only for his friend’s ears. “Not this
time.”

Amber glanced up at him and noted the smile he
offered Marco didn’t reach his eyes. Interesting. Was he being a little
possessive of her? She decided to believe that he was.

 
Through dinner
she enjoyed his attention. He was great company. He made her laugh, made her
feel like she was the most desirable female in the place. While he flirted
outrageously with other women at the huge circular table, punctuated by affable
banter with Marco and the men, his attention rarely strayed from her for more
than a few seconds at a time.

When the evening ended, she said goodbye to
Marco’s parents, thanked them for a lovely evening, and then turned to the
birthday boy.

Before she could open her mouth, he took her
hand and drew her fingers to his lips. Chocolate eyes bored into hers.
“Apologies for the earlier remark. Parties aren’t my thing.”

Amber nodded and tried for an agreeable smile.
He was quite unsettling, with his dark good looks, penetrating eyes, and hint
of Italian accent. Her insides quivered. “Apology accepted.”

Without taking his gaze from hers, he touched
full lips to her fingers. He kept hold of her hand as he turned to Ethan. “Night’s
young. Few of us are heading to Papa Niko’s.”

Amber noticed that Ethan glanced at the way
Marco still held her hand, but he gave no sign he had a problem with it. He
turned to her. “What do you say?”

Since she’d thoroughly enjoyed herself and
relished the idea of a couple more hours in Ethan’s company, Amber nodded.

“We’ll meet you there,” he told Marco, then
promptly steered Amber through the foyer and into the street.

Since Papa Niko’s bar was a twenty minute drive
along the coast, Amber opened her bag and prepared to dig for her keys.

Ethan stayed her hand. “Makes no sense us both
taking a car. Why don’t I drive?” he said, digging in his pocket. “I’ll bring
you back later.”

She hesitated, unsure that she wanted to be
without her means of escape should it be needed, but what could happen at a
crowded bar? Except that wasn’t the only place where danger lurked, was it?
There was his car to negotiate. Lots could happen in a dark, cramped space. But
then the operative word was dark, the thought of which seemed to allay her
nerves. “If you’re sure.”

“Car’s around here.” They turned the corner and
crossed the quiet cobbled road. Ethan had his arm around her waist and as they
approached his car her nerves kicked in again.

Ethan owned an SUV. There was plenty of space
for things to happen.

He turned her so that her back was against the
passenger door, then he leaned in. “Enjoy yourself?”

“Yes. Very much.” She pressed against the door,
trying to get some space between them, but he only leaned in and slid his hands
up her forearms.

“Enjoy your pizza?”

She was about to nod, when she saw the gleam in
his eyes and caught the innuendo. He had his hands on her shoulders, his thumbs
toying with the edge of her bolero. Nerves danced, edged with a shiver of
awareness at the brush of his hands against her flesh. She moved her shoulders
away from him and felt herself tense beneath his touch.

He hesitated a moment, then lowered his head
and brought his mouth to hers, pulling her up against him as he deepened the
kiss. His tongue slid along her lips and she let them part, eager for more.

As she touched her tongue to the tip of his,
she felt the impact all the way through her body until it settled between her
legs. Dampness swamped her panties. If he could do that with just a kiss, what
could he do with other parts of his anatomy? It looked like she was in very
serious trouble.

Ethan eased his thigh between her legs, and she
felt his erection push into her. He deepened the kiss, his mouth open against
hers, his tongue exploring and his teeth nipping. His arms banded around her, trapping
her breasts against his chest.

Breathing, something she’d always taken for
granted, became almost impossible as need drove through her. Her hormones raged;
her blood soared. Every part of her felt alive, devoured. She didn’t want it to
end.

Only when Ethan reached for her skirt and
started to tug it upward, did she find her voice and regain her sanity. “We’re
supposed to be meeting your friends,” she managed between snatches of breath.

Ethan didn’t seem overly perturbed about that
little detail and tried to kiss her again.

“Ethan…” It cost her, but she eased him away.
“Your friends?”

His hooded eyes bore into hers. “What friends?”

She laughed and he kissed her again.

Seconds later, he drew away. “Shit.”

It was gratifying to see how, like her, his
breathing was erratic and fast. He looked pretty shell-shocked, which ratcheted
up her sense of sexual power and allure.
She’d
done that to him.
Her
. Amber Green,
who couldn’t, according to her bastard ex-fiance, keep a man satisfied because
she was rubbish in bed.

The thought was like a wet blanket covering her
escalating confidence. She might be okay in the kissing department— and God,
how could she not be with Ethan as a partner—but things would change if they
got naked. While it was easy enough to get a man hot and bothered, it was an
entirely different matter to keep him that way.

She sidestepped Ethan. “Actually, I think I
might give the drink a miss and call it a night.” Her tone was sharper than she’d
wanted and she felt herself tense as Ethan reached out for her again.
 

“You’re giving me mixed signals, gorgeous. One
minute you’ve got your tongue down my throat, the next you’re freezing me out.”

“I didn’t plan on being groped.”

“Bullshit.”

She hoisted the strap of her bag on her
shoulder and tugged the edges of her bolero together. “Okay. You’re right. That
was bullshit. I wondered if I’d have sex with you tonight.”

He went to take her hands but hesitated. “And?”

“And?” She sighed. “Let’s just say, I doubt it
would have lived up to your expectations.” Hell. Why was she telling him that?
Did she want to humiliate herself all over again?

“One, you don’t know anything about my
expectations. Two, why the hell would you say that?”

“Because I’m not long out of a messy break up,”
she improvised. “And I don’t do one night stands.”

Although why in heaven she couldn’t do a one
night stand for once in her bloody life was beyond her understanding. If she
couldn’t allow herself one quickie in her entire, careful, boring existence,
then she might as well give up now, get herself a supply of cocoa, and buy
herself a cat.

A one night stand, she thought as she looked at
him. What could it damn well hurt? But what would happen when he saw her naked?
Even in the back of his car, in the dark, he would feel her scars, the marks
that blistered her skin. Even if he could get past her flaws in the throes of
passion, he might still be disappointed with her lack of prowess in the sack.

As she debated her moves, Ethan took her hand.
“Who said anything about a one night stand?” He looked like a man with a gun to
his head and she wanted to smile, assure him that he was in no danger of
anything lasting longer than a night so he needn’t worry. “Why don’t we just
have that drink?”

In the distance Amber heard car doors slamming
and people calling to each other as the rest of the party left the restaurant
and headed either to Papa Niko’s or home. Since she didn’t much like cocoa or
relish the thought of keeping a cat, she decided it was time to take a chance. Now
or never. “There’s something I need to tell you.”