The Bouquet List (11 page)

“But you were so hesitant,” she whispered. “So sure that it would be a mistake, and I believed you, even though I wanted it to come true.”

He reached up and touched the creamy skin of her neck. “Did you take me off your list after that?” He held his breath as he waited for her answer.

She pressed her finger over his mouth and then replaced it with her lips. He groaned. This time he brushed her mouth with his tongue and she opened to him, offering but taking as well. He cradled her head in his hand and then took her hand in his.

“Of course I didn’t take you off my list,” she said against his mouth. “Tall, dark, and way out of my league, I wasn’t going to give up on you that easily.”

She kissed him again and when she leaned back to look in his eyes he said, “I’m not out of your league, Yas. I never was.”

“But—”

“Tonight I’ll be whatever you want me to be.” With her hand firmly in his, he led her back to her parents’ apartment.

…

The journey back across the courtyard to the apartment in the dark took far longer than it should have. She wanted him in her bed but she couldn’t get enough of him here and now.

They kissed right outside the restaurant, Lane nearly stumbling over a bush as Yasmin refused to remove her lips from his while he walked backward. Against a whitewashed wall, blind to everything around them, they kissed among the magenta bougainvillea leaves, the light of a waning moon shrouding them in shafts of silver.

“Toast the bridesmaids, toast the bridesmaids!” Monty squawked, when farther on, Lane pulled Yasmin into his arms again and kissed her mouth, her throat, and every bit of skin between. Just when she felt she would drown in him forever, he clasped her hand in his, and finally they hurriedly covered the short distance to the apartment.

Inside, they stopped again on the stairs, Yasmin two steps up so they were eye to eye and lip to lip, losing track of time as one kiss, one caress slid into the next. This…
he
, was more amazing than she’d imagined.

She smoothed his hair back and looked in his eyes, hardly believing that her wish was finally coming true as every fiber in her body demanded to be closer, her breasts aching and every scrap of her skin begging to be touched. He smiled back at her, an open, eager smile that let her know he wanted this as much as she did.

At last, and with her hands linked around his neck, Lane lifted her onto his waist and carried her to the bedroom, all the while kissing her lips, her cheeks, her eyelids.

Just inside the door, and still with her arms around his neck, he stopped and she slowly slipped to the floor. The sound of their labored breathing filled the room as the frenzied movements of the last few minutes crashed into an expectant silence, and the only sound was the racing beat of her heart.

Lane tipped his head nearer so their foreheads gently touched. “I want you more than I’ve wanted anything in my life,” he said, his voice low and husky. “More than I thought it was
possible
to want.” He cupped her face with both hands and slowly brought his lips down on hers once more.

The taste of him, cool and sweet, seeped into her mouth. While their tongues met, he trailed his hands down the length of her back, then slowly, so slowly and gently, he kissed along the curve of her mouth, and the exquisite beauty of it caused her to moan.

“That moan has been driving me crazy for two weeks,” he whispered in her ear.

She laughed and turned her face to look into his eyes. “What moan?”

He threaded a hand through her hair and she tilted her cheek to rest it in his palm.

“It’s more than a moan, it’s a saucy, sexy noise that sounds as though you’re having the most intense experience of your life.” He trailed a finger down her cheek. “And for two whole weeks I’ve wanted to make you feel that way.”

She ran her hands over his shoulders, feeling the strong shape of his muscles beneath, letting her palms trace the fine hairs on his arms.

“And for two weeks I’ve been anticipating doing this.” With both hands on his back, she pulled him closer until his chest was molded to hers. His breath loud and shallow, he claimed her mouth once more, and giddy, she kissed him back, thrilled at the power of his touch, the desperation in his movements. The locked-down desire of the last two weeks spilled over and it was all she’d imagined, his reaction—all she’d dreamed.

Lane trailed his hands along the length of her silky dress, swiftly and deftly, and she ached for him to reach the skin beneath. In turn, she pushed his jacket over his shoulders, then tugged hard at his cotton shirt, releasing it from the waistband of his pants, and sighed as her palms smoothed the expanse of his back. Each stroke against his skin warmed her fingertips, the firmness of his body a promise of what the rest of him would reveal.

He groaned in her ear, then with his hands behind her, unzipped her dress, and she let it fall to the floor.

He dropped to one knee and, holding her close, kissed across the quivering plane of her stomach. She threw her head back and rested her hands in his hair. Each time he pressed lips to her flesh, each time his tongue trailed a new line across her skin, scorching sparks radiated through her veins.

When the torture became too much, she guided his head higher and he stood, reached around, and unclipped her bra.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered, and the sincerity in his voice radiated warm beats through her. Her heart soared at his breathtaking smile. This man, this beautiful man whom she trusted more than herself, was melting her from the inside out.

“My God, I want you,” he said.

She grabbed the waistband of his pants and pulled him closer.

Lane gasped as she played her hand along the top of his pants before she pulled the shirt up and over his head.

Now, desperate to have all of him, Yasmin steered him toward the bed. The moonlight from the window outlined his naked torso, and she wanted more. “Take off your pants. Quickly.”

He undid the pants and flicked them away. “Now you.” His voice was a low command.

She kicked off her panties, and as he kissed her neck he pressed her back into the mattress.

Closer. She needed to be closer. Now.

Quickly, she rolled to the side, reached into the bedside drawer, and pulled out a condom in a silver package. “I might like to live in the moment, but I also like to be prepared.”

When he was sheathed, she held her breath as he balanced himself above, then eased himself into her, their gazes locked. Filled with him, she closed her eyes, but his voice was insistent, a low, throaty rumble. “Look at me, Yasmin.”

The deep softness on his face pulled at her heart, and he kissed her again. As he drove deeper, every sensation was magnified, electrified. She concentrated on each piece of bliss swirling through her.

Lane. This was Lane, the man who already owned a piece of her heart and was stealing more of it with each passing second. When his breath came quicker, she held him tight, so tight, as wave after wave pounded every inch of her body. Finally, he let out a rasping moan. Spent, he fell forward onto her chest, burying his face in her neck as his breathing subsided.

She pressed into his body, his racing heart so close to her own. She reveled in the exquisite moment and the sublime beauty of what they’d just done.

Chapter Nine

When Lane woke, it took him a moment to work out where he was. Bright sunlight filtered through a gauze curtain at a window and he was spooning someone warm, someone who was making soft breathing noises in her sleep. He sighed happily. Yasmin fitted him perfectly. Something moved in his chest as if settling into place, and he smiled.

The smile only grew wider when he thought back to last night, and how minutes had dissolved into hours while they were wrapped in each other’s arms late into the night.

His gaze drifted around the bedroom with every corner draped in Yasmin’s wild clothes. Two weeks ago this would have been the last place he’d imagined waking up, but two weeks ago he hadn’t been drawn into the colorful and crazy world of Yasmin Katsalos. It might have started with the list and her intriguing plan to seduce him, but that had very little to do with why he was waking up here. This was exactly where he needed to be. He could see that now.

Being on Yasmin’s list was certainly flattering, but since he’d come to know her, laughed as they worked side by side, he didn’t want their time together to end.

And why should it have to? He was happy, and surely she’d want things to continue. She might have only put him on the list as a fling, but the important point was, she
had
put him on the list. She’d been thinking about them together long before he had. He pulled her closer and nuzzled her neck. Yes, he had a very good feeling about where this was going.

Noises from outside reminded him there was a lot to do today. It was time he was up and putting the final touches on the relaunch this weekend. But he didn’t want to move. He stroked the glossy black-and-purple hair that washed over Yasmin’s shoulder, and then she stirred and rolled over to look at him.

“Morning,” he said, and leaned in and kissed her sweet mouth. She still tasted as intoxicating as she had the night before, and he pulled her closer.

“Ciao,” she said, her voice low and husky. “I thought you might have taken off in the middle of the night. I did check on you about three, though, and you were snoring loudly.”

He leaned back so he could see her better and narrowed his gaze. “Number one, I don’t snore. Number two, why were you up at three a.m. without me? And number three, what sort of men have you entertained in your bed that leave you in the middle of the night?”

She gave him a lopsided grin. “Apparently, seduction of tall, dark men is a little more complicated than I’d planned. I hadn’t anticipated that a wedding followed by a night of passion would take so much out of me, and I woke with a terrible headache.” She pushed a piece of hair back from his face and batted her eyelashes. “For the record, you do snore, but it’s a very refined noise. And in terms of your last question, I’m not in the habit of spur-of-the-moment lovemaking, so I didn’t have a lot to go on other than chick flicks and bad first date stories from my friends.” She put her hands over her head and stretched like a cat in the sun.

He left his hand resting at her waist as she wriggled. “I’ve told you before that a certain Greek man taught me how to treat a girl, and while we didn’t get down to the specifics of what to do should I be seduced by his daughter, I figured being a gentleman wasn’t a difficult thing to do. And besides,” he said as he rolled closer again and she relaxed into him, “if I’d left, I would have missed you doing your cat routine in the morning.” He tickled her stomach and she chuckled and coiled back into him.

“Actually I’m not feeling the greatest today. What do we still have to do?”

“No days off yet, sorry. The people are coming to put in a new fountain and I want you to make sure it looks right. You can have a day off after the relaunch.”

He kissed her on the forehead and then she shifted and propped herself up on her elbow. Her face became more serious. “Lane, I have no regrets about last night, but I hope it doesn’t change things between us. We’ve got so much still to do before the weekend, and I’d hate it if things got difficult.”

He smiled and reached for her hand. “Of course it’s changed things between us, but it’s most certainly not in a bad way, and we don’t need to spend too much time analyzing it. As long as we’re still committed to the same thing, and that whatever’s going on between us doesn’t impact that, then I don’t see a problem.”

She gave him a mischievous grin.

“What?” he asked indulgently.

“This isn’t the sort of reaction I expected from you.”

“What did you think I’d do?”

She sighed. “Oh, I don’t know. I expected you to take this very seriously and worry about the consequences for your friendship with Nick. I didn’t expect you to be as happy and relaxed as you seem to be.”

He stroked her face. “I might have reacted that way a couple of weeks ago, but I don’t mind admitting that you’ve had an influence on the way I look at things now. You’ve become my own little mindfulness bell.”

Besides, this felt right, what was between them, and the last thing he wanted to do was throw up reasons they couldn’t repeat the experience. Often.

A small frown creased her forehead. “What do you mean?”

Whether it was the warmth of the sun on his back, or the feeling of relaxed calm as he lay here with Yasmin, for the first time in years he felt okay about opening up to another person.

“I’ve seen the excitement you experience from living in the moment, enjoying things now rather than worrying too much about the future.” He let his fingers trail down her hip. “When I first heard that damned mindfulness alert going off I thought it was kooky, but I can now see there are benefits in not thinking about things too hard.”

She rested a palm on his cheek and her face broke into a bright smile. “It means so much to hear you say that, but…” The smile was replaced by a frown. “I guess we should still keep this quiet for now.”

He shrugged, and his hand continued its path over the contours of her body. “I don’t think it’s a big deal, and we’re working nights when there’s no one around to see us, so it’s not going to be an issue yet.”

She winced. “You were going to let the electricians in early. And I’m sure Leo wasn’t fooled by our routine last night.”

“If Grace and Leo figure anything out, they’re too polite to say anything.” But he had no problem with their knowing. His fingers caressed her shoulder, and he smiled with contentment. When everyone knew Yasmin was his, he’d walk around ten feet tall.

“And Nick? What do we tell him?”

Lane grimaced. He didn’t want to lose Nick’s friendship, but he’d explain that he wasn’t playing with Yasmin, that he was serious; then surely Nick wouldn’t have a problem. Nick knew how much Lane’s restaurant project meant to him; he’d understand that if something was happening with Yasmin now then it must be pretty serious. That is, if he could juggle his dream and Yasmin. The thought made the bliss start to dim, so he pushed it away and touched Yasmin’s face. “Where’s that bell when you need it?”

“Okay, okay.” She leaned in and kissed him again, and suddenly, living in the moment, many moments just like this one, was all he could think about.

…

Lane was halfway to the offices of
Wedding World
before he realized he’d left his briefcase at the Palace restaurant. Hopefully Yasmin would still be there to let him in, unless she’d gone out to speak to a new linen company as she’d planned. They’d had a disagreement over which company to use but he’d finally let her go with her choice. He only hoped she’d choose something functional. He’d been heading to the magazine to discuss an article for the relaunch and wanted to make sure they had all the necessary information before they visited in a couple of days, so he turned his Mercedes around and drove all the way back.

He got to the Palace just in time to see Grace driving away. As they’d be staging the restaurant with the last of the new drapes and tables tomorrow, they’d decided to close the restaurant for tonight so Leo wouldn’t be there, either.

He walked across the courtyard, said a quick hello to Monty in his cage, admired the sleek new water feature, and then stopped outside the window of the restaurant. He could see Yasmin inside. He moved to go in but the sight of her made his heart stall in his chest, so he gave himself another minute to watch her.

Late-afternoon sun was streaming through one of the windows that was yet to have its curtains fitted, and shafts of light hit her hair. She wore a plain white dress and her hair was back in a loose ponytail. She was moving around a long table with bench seats on either side, furniture he’d never seen before, and she was smoothing a white tablecloth on top. Short, squat candles sat at each end of the table, and a bright jumble of flowers in a low vase was in the middle. It looked like something from a movie about long Italian lunches or the home of a family getting together at Christmas.

Before he had a chance to go in to speak to her, his phone rang in his pocket. He stood away from the window and raised it to his ear. “Griffiths.”

“Hey bud, how are the bridezillas?” Nick Katsalos said.

“I’m keeping as far away from them as possible.” Lane laughed and moved to sit at an outside table. It was the first time they’d talked since he and Yasmin had spent the night together, and dry guilt gnawed at his gut. He wanted to tell Nick what was going on, but he had to choose the right time—there was a lot riding on this. He wouldn’t give Yasmin up, but he was hoping he could keep his best friend, too.

There was a creak over the line as if Nick was leaning back in his chair. “What about the restaurant?”

“We’ve got no wedding today or tomorrow, but the new decor will be complete for dinner service tomorrow night.”

“Everything on track for the relaunch?”

Lane looked up to see Yasmin gesturing at something with her hands, and his heart squeezed. “Yep, things are looking pretty good. I’ve been checking in regularly with your dad.”

“And Yasmin hasn’t driven you too crazy yet?”

Of course she had driven him crazy, just not in the way Nick meant. More in an I-can’t-keep-my-mind-or-my-hands-off-her kind of way. “Not entirely,” he said mildly.

“Good,” Nick said, obviously not suspecting anything. “Listen, I’ve just had a call from Dad. Things are not good over in Greece, although Dad says you might already know that. Mom’s started working part time in my uncle’s restaurant and she’s saying she has no plans to come back. Dad doesn’t want to come home without her, but he’s worried about things at the Palace.”

“Things are fine. Grace has the day-to-day stuff under control, and Yasmin and I are getting set for the relaunch.”

“That’s the thing.” Nick let out a long breath. “I don’t know if there will be a relaunch. I suggested to Dad that it could be time to sell. What do you think? You’re there on the ground. Do you think we should investigate selling?”

Lane looked back through the window at Yasmin. It was then he noticed she had headphones on, and as she was laying the table with plates and cutlery, he could hear her speaking in Italian, her arms moving as she spoke. It was another thing on that list of hers, and she’d begun greeting him with a
buongiorno
or
come stai
whenever she saw him.

What would this news do to her? She’d grown to love this place again; they’d both worked so hard to get things turned around. He was certain when Nick came here for the relaunch he’d see that too.

“We’ve got things covered at the moment,” he said and stopped as he realized Yasmin had seen him. “Let’s run with the relaunch. If nothing else, it’ll give the Palace good publicity and get everyone talking about it again. If things are becoming too tough financially I’d like to help out.” If he had to buy the place for Yasmin, he would. She was special. He’d give her the world if he could.

“No, it’s not that. I can put money in if necessary, it’s just that if Mom’s not coming home there’s no point in trying to prop things up. I just wanted to make sure you were in the loop before I talk to her and we make the final decision.”

Lane scrubbed a hand through his hair and looked up in time to see Yasmin waving at him through the window. No, she wasn’t waving, she was shooing him away, as if she didn’t want him to see what she was doing. He stood, and a grin spread across his face at the beautiful sight of her.

“Have you spoken to Yasmin about it?” Now she was spread-eagled across the window in an exaggerated attempt to keep him from seeing what she’d been doing with the long table, but she was laughing, and now he was chuckling too. He couldn’t ever let her lose this place.

“No, and I’d prefer you didn’t say anything, either. She seems so positive and happy lately. Mom and Dad are relieved she’s back from all her globe-trotting, and they wouldn’t want her leaving again before all this is settled.”

Lane’s blood heated, thinking about what, exactly, was making her positive and happy. He hoped she’d stay that way for a long time too. Maybe even for the rest of her life…

He stilled, body tense.

The rest of her life?

He relaxed, fixed his gaze on Yasmin again, and smiled. Yes. One hundred percent yes.

He’d been fighting his attraction to her ever since they’d met again in the caf
é
, but now that he’d stopped fighting it, he realized what his heart had probably known for a long time. He wanted Yasmin in his life permanently. She’d told him he was an all-or nothing-guy, and she was right. Now he wanted it all with her. He wanted Yasmin in his bed every night and across the breakfast table every morning. He wanted little babies with glossy black hair, and a big, stable home for them to grow up in surrounded by her noisy, crazy family. He wanted to be the one she laughed with, the one she stretched like a cat with, the one she grew old with out on the porch.

He filled his lungs and smiled. Everything around him suddenly seemed brighter. The glass sparkled in the sun, and even Monty’s screeches sounded sweeter. This felt right, more right than anything in his life ever had.