His Reluctant Lover (5 page)

Dylan was not! 

Dylan was in a class by himself when it came to the male population.  She didn’t think he would be very kind at all.  And geeky?  There wasn’t a geeky bone in his body although she suspected he was extremely intelligent.  As for easy to handle, the man was a beast!  She shivered, thinking of him biting her.  And the fact that she might like it.

Clearing her mind of that possibility, she stepped back when Doug moved forward, unconsciously moving closer to Dylan.  She wasn’t aware of her actions, but Dylan was and he didn’t mind.  Not one little bit, he thought as he put his arm around her waist possessively.  The action was not lost on Doug who looked like a lost puppy all of a sudden.

“Doug, it was great seeing you again,” she said, reaching up and kissing him on the cheek.  “I know that Dylan has an early meeting tomorrow so I’d better get him back to his hotel so he can get his beauty sleep.”  She chuckled when Dylan’s black eyebrows went up in response but thankfully, he didn’t contradict her story. 

What he did do was probably worse.  When she turned to him, he winked down at her as he put his arm around her waist.  Low on her waist.  Too low in her opinion. 

“Your hand is on my butt,” she whispered, as if he didn’t already know that.

He pulled her closer.  “No.  It is low, but it definitely isn’t on your butt.  You will know when I put my hand on your butt because I will have done a whole lot more before I get to that portion of your body.”

She couldn’t come up with a sufficiently scathing reply, especially when his hand felt like a heated torch.  All she could get out was, “You’re not ever…”

“Don’t kid yourself, Georgie,” he interrupted her, using that hated nickname.  “We’ll be in bed together.  It is inevitable.  There’s just too much chemistry going on between us.”

She turned around and started walking out of the gala, desperate to get some fresh air all of a sudden.  She also tried to out-pace him but he wouldn’t let her.  When she tried slipping between guests, he simply pulled her back to him and they walked together through the crowds. 

“I don’t bow down to the needs of my body,” she said as they were finally leaving the building.  The night was chillier than she’d anticipated and she wrapped her arms around her bare shoulders. 

Dylan caught her shiver and immediately took his jacket off, gently placing it over her shoulders.  He then stood in front of her, grasping the lapels and pulling her closer.  “Not only are we going to be lovers,” he said as he bent lower and kissed her stiff lips.  “But it is going to be incredible when it happens.”   And he kissed her again.  This time, her lips weren’t as stiff but she was still startled that he would do something so outrageous. 

When Dylan pulled back, she felt almost…disappointed?  That was ridiculous.  She wasn’t here on a date with him.  This wasn’t a romantic relationship, she was doing a favor for her grandfather.  She definitely didn’t want to be kissed by Dylan! 

She looked around, painfully aware of the others that might be milling about.  But the night was early so they were basically alone.

He caught her look and wrapped his arm around her again, underneath his enormous jacket.  “Don’t worry.  No one saw us.” 

She started to pull back, but his heat was…more than nice.  It was really wonderful.  She wasn’t giving in on anything but his heat though.  “There was no ‘us’ a moment ago.  That was just you taking advantage of my surprise.”

His car pulled forward at that moment but he paused to give her a look.  She wasn’t sure what that look meant, but her stomach tightened with anticipation. 

“Another challenge, my dear?”  He smiled, slow and sexy.  “You keep tossing those out to me, daring me to rise to the challenge.”

His driver was right there, holding the door open patiently.  Georgette wasn’t sure how to react so she just ducked into the back, settling on the seat as far away from him as possible. 

Dylan came in right behind her, his large frame taking up too much of the space.  And he sat too close to her.  “So you like Doug, eh?” he asked, already know the answer.

“What?”  she glanced at him, startled by his question.  “No!  Doug is just a friend.”

“Then what kind of a guy are you interested in?  Besides me, of course.”

She shrugged, uncomfortable with this topic.  “Does it matter?  You’re not the…”

How she ended up on his lap, she had no idea.  But before she could protest about the position, his mouth was covering hers.  This wasn’t a swift, gentle kiss either.  This was a hard, demanding kiss that melted her insides.  Her hands were holding onto his neck as he pressed her backwards with the intensity of his kiss and she didn’t have a chance to stop him.  Before the thought even occurred to her that she should stop him, her hands were reaching higher while her fingers tentatively explored the hot skin of his neck, then moved into his hair, gripping the soft strands as if they were her only lifeline in this chaotic episode. 

He lifted his head, looking down at her and his mind recognized the dazed look in her eyes because he was feeling exactly the same way.  “What were you saying?” he asked, his hand sliding up her waist, resting just below her breasts.

“Ice cream,” she whispered, her mind completely focused on that hand, wanting so badly for him to move higher.  She honestly had no idea what she was saying, only that his kiss and that hand had ignited something inside of her that she didn’t understand.  In fact, at this moment, she didn’t want to understand anything.  She just want his damn hand to move higher. 

She thought about shifting her body, but she wasn’t sure how, or what to do.  She was completely lost. 

Dylan heard the words and blinked, startled.  “You want ice cream?”

“Chocolate syrup and whipped cream,” she said through stiff lips, her eyes begging him to move that damn hand! 

He chuckled but bent down and kissed her again, slower this time, more thoroughly.  “Ice cream you shall have then,” he told her as he nibbled on her collar bone.  He lifted her up, still holding her on his lap while he pressed a button.  “Jimmy, we need an ice cream parlor.  Can you find one that is open this late?”

“Absolutely, Mr. Alfieri.  There is one just five minutes away.”

“Excellent,” he replied, then closed the windows once more.  “I’m happy to fulfill all of your desires,” he told her, looking down into her indignant expression.  “Is something wrong?”

She cringed and tried to slide off of his lap but he put a hand on both sides of her hips, keeping her in place.  “Not at all.”  She tried to sit there primly, as if she weren’t affected by his strong legs right under her bottom, but that was harder to pull off than she expected.  “I can sit on the seat,” she told him haughtily, but the impact was lost when she almost groaned with the aching need as his muscles flexed.  She actually reached out, one hand gripping his knee while the other grabbed at his shoulder, just trying to keep from throwing herself at him. 

“I like you right here,” and his hand moved to her bottom, sliding along the curve that wasn’t pressed against his thigh muscles.  She squirmed but that only added friction into the messy feelings that were zooming around in her.  “Let me down,” she whispered vehemently, but her eyes gave her away.  Her eyes told him the opposite of her words and his hands moved up and down her thigh, feeling her body soften as she fought against responding to his touch. 

“We’re here.”  He almost laughed at her jerk of surprise. 

She looked around, not sure where ‘here’ was.  When her eyes were able to focus through the sexual haze, she spied the bright lights of an ice cream shop.  “Ice cream?” she squeaked.  “Why are we here?”  But she was already sliding off of his lap, eager to devour about ten scoops of ice cream.  With caramel.  And strawberry syrup. 

Absolutely no chocolate syrup and no whipped cream! 

She was grateful for the darkness of the night so that he couldn’t see her blushing as her mind whipped through all the possibilities available with whipped cream and chocolate syrup.   She was going to have to throw those two ingredients out.  There was no way she could have them in her house now that her mind had gone down such a naughty, and delicious pathway. 

No!  Not delicious!  Inappropriate!  She was basically cheating on Charles.  He might not be here, and she wasn’t really touching Dylan…well, not anymore…but it still wasn’t fair to Charles that she was having such thoughts about another man. 

Of course, she wouldn’t care if Charles was thinking about another woman in that way.  But that’s just the kind of relationship they had with each other.  He couldn’t actually have sex with another woman while they were together, but he could think or fantasize about anyone.  If it ever progressed to the point where there was something physical, she would want him to tell her so they could each go their separate ways.

Dylan opened the door to the ice cream shop for her and she eagerly entered the shop.  She was cold, but his jacket had disappeared somewhere during the drive over here and she was too embarrassed to ask him for it again. 

“Evenin’ ma’am,” the teenaged boy behind the counter called out as soon as they entered the brightly lit, red and white ice cream shop.  “What’ll ya have?”

Georgette walked to the freezers with the bins of ice cream, her eyes devouring the possibilities.  “I’ll have a scoop of cherry vanilla and another of peach.  Can you put caramel sauce on both of those?” she asked. 

She heard Dylan’s chuckle behind her but ignored him.  Georgette needed this.  She needed the ice cream badly.  She wouldn’t admit that Dylan had aroused her to the point of needing comfort food though. 

“So you’re a fruity ice cream person,” he said and peered over her shoulder, his hands resting lightly and familiarly on her hips.  “I’ll have rocky road ice cream with chocolate syrup and whipped cream,” he told the clerk.

“No!” she gasped, spinning around.  She’d known he was close, but she hadn’t realized he was this close.  His hands had allowed her to spin, but now she was trapped with the freezer behind her and Dylan in front of her.  Fire and ice.  Dylan and ice cream.  The dichotomous feelings were making her more than a little crazy.

Or was that just his hard body pressed against hers?  She wasn’t sure about anything anymore. 

Georgette stared up at Dylan, her mouth slightly open in surprise.  He was so close and that kiss was fresh in her memory.  Would it be the same if he kissed her one more time?  Would she lose control?  Or would it be just an ordinary kiss?

Her eyes inadvertently dropped lower, looking at those hard lips that had created such havoc inside of her. 

“No rocky road ice cream?” he asked softly, his voice husky and his eyes dropped to her mouth as well. 

“No chocolate syrup,” she whispered, completely caught up in the tension.  “No whip cream,” she stated softly. 

“You don’t like chocolate and whipped cream?” he asked, his hand sliding higher, moving her closer. 

“Love them,” she replied, unconsciously licking her lips.  It was as if no one was here, it was just the two of them.  Just the moment.  There were no problems to face in the morning, no danger signals screaming in her head.  It was just Dylan and her.  And this intense need to kiss him again. 

“I like them too.”

She smiled slightly.  “Something in common, I suppose.”

“Will you let me have the chocolate syrup and the whipped cream?” he asked.  And Georgette instantly knew that he was asking about something completely different. 

She was about to say yes but something stopped her.  She couldn’t speak, couldn’t deny him or agree with him.  The moment was suspended, the tension building. 

“That will be six, forty-nine,” the clerk said.

Georgette jerked out of his arms, the world coming back into sharp focus once more.  She looked around, realizing that they were still in the brightly lit ice cream shop and she was standing in Dylan’s arms.  Stepping back, she took a deep breath, her eyes blinking rapidly as she tried to make sense of what had just happened. 

“This is delicious,” she said as she took her ice cream over to one of the tables.  “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Dylan replied.  He knew that the moment was gone.  Something had happened, although he wasn’t sure what.  This woman was complex and fascinating.  A part of him wanted to get to know her, to understand how she thought, but this sexual tension just kept getting in the way.

Not that he minded, he thought as he talked to her, got her to relax once again.  He kept the conversation light, asking her about the various people, how she knew them and what they did, but underneath all of it, he was trying to figure her out.  He wanted to know her. 

Which was strange.  He liked the ladies in his past, but none of them had ever interested him like this sweet, complicated southern lady had gotten to him. 

They ate their ice cream but neither of them made any move to leave the ice cream shop.  They were too busy talking.  For Georgette’s part, it was just so nice to sit across from him and not feel that dangerous tension.  It was still there, an almost tangible tension, but it wasn’t a white hot need at the moment.  And she was enjoying a conversation with Dylan that wasn’t spun up with sexual innuendos.

For Dylan’s part, he was transfixed by the beautiful woman sitting across the table from him.  Women were a lovely, enjoyable aspect of life and he loved being with them, but that meant he was moving them towards his bed.  With Georgette, there was no doubt that he was going to get her into his bed.  That was a foregone conclusion.  But he was actually enjoying talking with her.  Making her laugh sent a jolt of a different kind throughout his body.  The first time it happened, he thought that feeling was a fluke but it was so enjoyable, he tried hard to do it again and again.  Her soft laughter lit up her eyes and her lips, when they smiled, did something odd to him.