Tempt Me (10 page)

Until now ...

“
Second thoughts?”

They'd reached
Cole's car. And he was staring at her. Looking over at him, she
smiled slowly. “Not on your life.” Toying with the lapel
of his coat, she studied him in the dim, silvery light. It was a
strange light, one that appeared only on snowy winter nights. “Your
place? Mine?”

“
Mine. If that's
okay. It's only four minutes from here, and I'm going to
die if I wait much longer than that,” he said flatly.

Rocki chuckled, but the
laugh ended abruptly as he caught the back of her head and pulled her
against him. His tongue pushed between her lips and she gasped,
caught off guard. The sheer hunger in his kiss had her shaking, left
her head spinning—oh, damn. Oh, oh, damn. This was...this. Just
this. She'd missed this.

Desperately for more, she
moved closer only to have him pull away. “Damn it,
now
.
We're leaving
now
,” he growled. He jerked open the
door for her and she stared at him, a little bemused, still dazed
from that kiss.

“
You're
making my head spin.” Groaning, she slid into the car. She
wanted to wilt back into the plush leather, but the bad thing about
the corset she wore—there was no wilting. She settled for
closing her eyes and resting her hands on her thighs to keep from
reaching for him. She was afraid if she did that she might end up
trying to crawl all over him in the damn car—with
her
luck, somebody would see them and word would get all over. She'd
never live it down.

Even with the snow, Cole
made it in good time, although it took longer than four minutes.
Close to six, she decided. Six long minutes. The entire six minutes,
she was reliving that kiss, the way he'd looked at her, the way
her skin buzzed when he touched her. Her body was all but vibrating
with arousal by the time his car came to a halt.

She opened her eyes, but
the soft, golden glow of lights distracted her before she could look
over at him. She did a double-take. “Ah...you live
here
?”

“
For the time
being.”

She stared. He lived at
the Centre. It was like...well, hell, the
rich
lived there.
The young rich, generally. Once upon a time, she'd daydreamed
about having the money to live someplace that nice. But that had been
before reality and life had intruded. Still ...

She couldn't help
but stare as a uniformed doorman came out to open the door for her.
Oooo-kay.

As he came around to join
her, she slid him a narrow look. Cole Stanton was seriously loaded.
Nerves hit her then, hard and fast. His hand came up and touched her
back. “You okay?”

She swallowed. Wondered
if she should back out of this ...

No
—

“
I'm fine.”

Something had made her
nervous. The way her eyes had tightened, gotten darker, the way
she'd nervously glanced at him and Billy as he'd opened
the door for her, all of it. Cole suspected he even knew what it
was—some women just loved the fact that he had money. Some
didn't care. Others…well, it made them uncomfortable. He
wasn't going to worry about it now.

Not now, because it
didn't matter.

They
mattered.
Everything else was small stuff as far as he was concerned.

He tossed his keys to
Billy without another word. If they lingered too long, she might
change her mind again. Damn it, he'd died of perpetual
horniness if that happened. He didn't think he'd been
stuck in this state since high school.

It took sixty seconds to
get her inside the elevator—the ride up to his floor would take
another sixty. As the door closed behind them, he came up behind her
and rested his hands on her shoulders, staring at her in the gold,
mirrored reflection along the back wall of the small box lifting them
higher and higher. “You ever made love in an elevator?”

Rocki stared at him for a
split second and then she started to laugh. “No. Ah...no. Nor
do I intend to.”

“
Why not?” He
slid his hands down a little lower, letting his fingers tease the
very edge where her corset stopped, dipping inside. She shivered.

“
Ah...elevators are
public.”

He lowered his head and
pressed his lips to her shoulder. “This one isn't.”

She tensed. “You're
serious?”

“
Nah.” He
shrugged. The door opened behind him and he stepped back, waited for
her to turn. “Shall we?”

“
Oh, yes ...”

As the door closed behind
her, Rocki told herself,
Don't think. Relax. Don't
think. Relax…

Except she couldn't
stop thinking. She couldn't relax. She hadn't expected
this…elegance. Or the obvious wealth that surrounded her.
She'd grown up strictly middle class and this was…well,
kind of unsettling. But not unsettling enough, because even as
uncomfortable as she was, she couldn't stop thinking about
Cole.

Couldn't stop
thinking about how damn beautiful he was…that rumpled silk
hair and those whiskey-gold eyes, about how he made her heart do the
damnedest little flutter when he looked at her, his mouth quirking up
at the corners.

But then he touched her.
Breath lodged in her lungs and thought…stopped. It just
stopped.

As he lowered his head,
Rocki stared at him. Panic exploded through her. She licked her lips,
tried to make herself breathe, at least
one
breath, before he
kissed her so she didn't pass out.

He didn't kiss her
mouth, though.

His lips came down on her
shoulder, brushed against the skin left bare there, coming up against
the strap of her corset where it hooked to the sleeve. “The way
you smell,” he muttered. “It drives me nuts.”

Turning her face toward
him, she breathed him in. “Hmm. I could say the same thing
about you.” She couldn't even define what it was about
him...just musky. Male. She could smell whatever shampoo he used—it
smelled expensive, she decided, but understated and subtle. Made
sense, considering the lay of the land, she mused. The same for the
aftershave. She rubbed her cheek against his and shivered a little at
the roughness there. Damn it, Rocki loved that five o'clock
shadow on a man.

A long-fingered hand
stroked down her shoulder, toying with the laces that held her
sleeves on before moving down. “You want a drink?” he
murmured.

“
No.” Rocki
eased back, staring into his eyes. “I just want you.”

Those golden eyes could
flash so hot, she thought. Her belly went tight and her knees weren't
feeling all that steady, either. Damn it. Licking her lips, she
lifted her hands and gripped the front of his shirt. Hoarsely, she
repeated, “I just want you.”

Cole closed his eyes.

His hand curled around
the nape of her neck, warm and hard, calloused just enough. “You
want to drive me insane, I think,” he whispered, pressing his
brow to hers.

“
Now why would I
wanna do that?” She smiled, leaning close enough that their
mouths touched.

“
Because I suspect
you enjoy driving people crazy.” Cole eased away. “Do I
pretend interest in showing you around the place or do you care?”

“
I don't. Not
in the least. You can do that later. Or on our second date.”

“
The second?”

“
Yes.” Rocki
grinned at him. “I don't sleep with guys on the first
date. And this isn't a date, remember, so it doesn't
count.”

Cole stared at her for a
long moment and then started to laugh. “I think
you
might be insane.” Then he held out his hand, just like he had
earlier—and also just like earlier...she accepted.

Not since the night of
high school graduation had Cole been this nervous. It had been at
Sandy Kempff's beach party that he'd lost his virginity,
in the pool house after everybody else had left. He'd been
eighteen, a bit of a late bloomer compared with some of his friends,
but he'd still been more geek than anything else.

And Rocki was going to
blow that experience with Sandy out of the water, he already knew.

Shit. He shouldn't
be this nervous. He knew he shouldn't. Trying not to let it
show, he led her to his room, hitting just one panel of lights. They
came on in a soft, warm glow. Along the eastern wall, the windows
faced out over the city and he watched as she wandered over to it, a
smile on her lips.

“
Beautiful view,”
she said quietly. “I love the city at night. It's so
peaceful.”

“
Well, until you
hear sirens wailing.”

Rocki made a face at him.
“Pessimist.”

“
Realist,” he
corrected. He went over to the gas fireplace and hit the switch,
watching the flames leap to life. “Screaming sirens don't
happen too often, but they do shatter the peace.”

Rocki laughed. “Well,
there is that.” She turned and sauntered over to him. “We'll
just have to make sure we're too preoccupied to notice them
tonight.”

“
I can handle
that.” He had no problem blocking out the wail of a siren. The
problem was he wasn't so sure he could handle
her
. His
throat was tight and dry, his hands sweating. And, damn it, he knew
he needed to be talking, needed to be saying things—responsible
things, adult things—but all he wanted to do was go to his
knees and just stare at her.

No. Not right. He wanted
to go to his knees after he'd stripped her naked and fucked
her. But responsible—Damn it, he'd be responsible.

Swallowing, he turned
away and moved away from her.
Not
toward the bed. The
fireplace again. Safer. Wasn't close to her, wasn't close
to the bed. Safer. Right.

Until he looked into the
mirror that had come with the apartment and saw her coming closer.
Aw, shit.

Get it over with—

Although it was hard to
do without grabbing her, he made himself do it anyway. Turning, he
looked Rocki square in the eye.

“
I've got
protection here,” he said, forcing the words out before he
couldn't speak at all. “Also had a blood workup done just
a few weeks ago. Needed it for a life insurance policy I was doing
for...well, something that's not going to happen now.”

She stopped in front of
him and touched his cheek. “It still makes you sad,” she
murmured.

He caught her hand. “No.”
Pressing his lips to her palm, he stared at her. “It really
doesn't. I just don't want to be thinking about anything
else now except you. The logical, adult part of me insists I be
logical and adult, though.”

Rocki smiled at him.
“Very responsible of you, Cole. I admire that. I'm
healthy as a horse.” She sighed and gazed at herself in the
mirror, although he doubted she saw her reflection or much of
anything. “There's been nobody since my husband died.”

He'd suspected
that. Hearing it, though, left him rather floored.

Somehow, it managed to
cool the fire in his blood...even as it made him that much more
nervous. Reaching up, he cupped her cheek in his hand. “You
sure you want to do this?”

“
I've never
been more sure of anything in my life.” Rocki covered his hand
with hers. Her dark eyes stared into his, and a faint smiled curled
her lips. “That may sound insane...but very often life is. So
there you go.”

“
Life's
insane?” He stroked his thumb over her lower lip. “Does
that mean this is, too?”

“
Oh, I'm
quite certain this is insane.” She caught his thumb between her
teeth and bit down gently.

“
Seems rather right
to me.”

Rocki leaned against him
and Cole suspected the ability to think, to talk—hell, even
breathing—
might become difficult here in the next few
minutes. “Most insane people think they are perfectly sane.”
She hooked her fingers in his waistband. “Come on. Lets go lose
our minds together.”

It was, without a doubt,
one of the most appealing invitations he'd ever received.

Without letting himself
think about it another second, he caught one of her hands and twined
their fingers, leading her to the bed. The black silk she wore glowed
against her skin and unable to resist another second, he closed his
hands around her waist, stroking up, then down. “You know, I
still say I could easily develop a fetish for these things. As long
as you're the one wearing them.”

Rocki chuckled. “Well,
I tend to wear them more for the store than anything else. But I have
to say, I did like seeing the look in your eyes.” She caught
her lip between her teeth and reached up, catching the dark wealth of
her hair in her hands. Slowly, she turned around, baring her back.