When She's Bad (14 page)
Hit by too many emotions to name, she shifted uncomfortably. “No,” she admitted in a small voice.
“Did you like the foot massage?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
He nodded. “G’night.”
“Night,” she said and listened as he walked out of the bathroom and through the foyer. As soon as she heard him close the door behind him, she dunked herself under the water.
Oh, wow
.
Lilly stared at the two-carat diamond ring sparkling on her finger and pinched herself. She still couldn’t believe that she was engaged to marry Robert Huntington. In his darkened car, she stole a glance at him and felt her heart flutter wildly in her chest.
He was going to be her husband.
Lilly could barely contain her excitement. She sensed that Robert’s feelings for her weren’t as strong as hers were for him, but she was determined to change that. She would be the best wife Robert could imagine, she swore to herself. She would be exactly what he needed and that included getting the dirt out of her life—Delilah Montague.
Robert pulled into Lilly’s driveway and cut the engine. He looked at her and touched her hair. “Your hair is so pretty.”
Her hair colorist at the spa was responsible for that. “Thank you. You’ve been quieter than usual. Is something on your mind?”
“The usual,” he said. “The campaign.”
She nodded, trying not to feel a little disappointed that she wasn’t included in his thoughts. She stretched toward him. “I loved being with you tonight.”
His eyes lit. “Did you?”
He tugged a strand of her hair to pull her toward him and lowered his head. “You’re so sweet,” he said, brushing his lips back and forth over hers.
Her lips buzzed from the sensation. Other parts of her buzzed too. She wanted more. She pressed her mouth against his and he rewarded her with his tongue.
Lilly sighed, shyly rubbing her tongue over his in response. Robert deepened the kiss and pulled her closer. Her breasts tingled with arousal and her skin heated beneath her winter coat. Lilly heard a low moan, then another. A full moment passed before she realized
she
was making those sexual sounds.
Restless and hot, she wished Robert would touch her breasts. She wished he would rip off her clothes and make savage love to her. She wished …
As if he’d heard her thoughts, he cupped her breast through her coat. Lilly tugged at the coat. She wanted his hand closer. His hand slid away and she nearly wept in protest. Desperation made her bold. She lifted his hand to her sweater and his thumb immediately found her hard nipple.
He gave a low murmur of approval.
“Robert, do you want to stay the night?” she whispered, her heart beating a mile a minute.
He continued to massage her nipple until she couldn’t resist the urge to squirm. “Oh, Lilly you tempt me.”
Thank God
, she thought. “I want you to stay the night.” She gave him a thorough French kiss.
Robert groaned and pulled away slightly. “But Lilly, you’re so sweet. You’re innocent. I don’t want to take advantage of you.”
Please do
. “We’re engaged. How can you be taking advantage of me?”
“I don’t know. Don’t you want to wait until our wedding night?”
Why would she want to do that? She swallowed. “Do you?”
He leaned his forehead against hers. “Lilly, you’re so innocent. I want it to be right for you.”
“When I’m with you, everything is right,” she said.
Twenty minutes later with her body on fire, Lilly was tearing off her clothes beside her bed. Alone, except for Maxine, who watched her warily from beneath Lilly’s bed. Frustration roared through her like a forest fire and she wanted Robert to put out the flame.
Her need was overwhelming, both sexual and emotional. In her softly lit room, she glanced into her bureau mirror and looked at her half-naked body. Her eyes were black with arousal, and her cheeks were flushed. She lifted her hands to her aching breasts. They were heavy with need, the tips sensitized. She looked like a woman ready for sex.
Lilly let out a shriek of frustration and turned away from the mirror. She darn well was ready for action, but her fiancé wasn’t cooperating. Lifting a hand to her forehead, she wondered if Robert wasn’t consummating their relationship because he wasn’t totally committed.
Lilly wanted the physical reassurance of their commitment to each other. She glanced at the diamond ring on her finger. Maybe that should be enough, but it wasn’t. She wanted Robert’s body pressed against hers. Then she would be more certain.
Lying awake in her bed, Delilah wondered if one more night of quick, hot, uncommitted sex with Benjamin would relieve some of the frustration that gnawed at her. Her feet were still tingling from his touch. As were other parts, she thought with a groan and flipped over in her bed again.
She was still surprised at how he’d handled her feet as if he’d known the exact spots to press to relieve tension, the exact level of pressure to bring her maximum pleasure.
It made her remember how he had handled other parts of her. And his body. She felt her temperature climb.
Oh, wow
. Delilah pulled her sheet over her head.
She wondered if she should just go ahead and hit the sack with him again. Even though he’d been Mr. Honorable Huntington nearly every step of the way with her, Delilah harbored no illusions that anything she shared with Benjamin would be more than a fling. Which was all she wanted. If she even wanted that. Then she remembered how he’d made her tremble when he’d made love to her. It wouldn’t be just hot sex with Benjamin, and that really pissed her off.
“Are we done for tonight?” Paul asked Sara.
Sara nodded, glancing at the clock. Paul was probably eager to hit the singles’ scene. She was certain he turned every female head when he entered a bar.
“You’re making great progress,” she said, rising from the chair of her dining-room table. Her townhouse was a work in progress since she’d left her husband. She didn’t have a lot of money, but she never stopped being thrilled with having the choice to decorate her small living space the way she wanted.
“I have a great tutor,” Paul said, rising with her, his dimple creasing his cheek.
“Thank you.” Her heart skipped a beat, but she ignored it. Paul Woodward was a huge flirt. He would flirt with her ninety-year-old grandmother if he had the chance.
“I left something in the car, but I want to bring it to you now. Is that okay?”
Surprised, she shrugged. “I guess.”
“Okay,” he said, heading for the door. “Don’t lock me out. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay,” she said, curious. She followed him to the door.
He whipped around just before he left, catching her off-guard. She stumbled and he caught her shoulders. “Don’t watch me. This is a surprise.”
She couldn’t resist smiling at his enthusiasm. “Okay.”
“Go back to the table.”
“Are you ordering me?”
“Yeah. You’ve given me a lot of orders, so I’d say it’s my turn.”
His playfulness made her feel as if someone had turned on a light inside her. “Okay,” she said, returning to the table. Pressing her hands to her hot cheeks, she made a sound of exasperation with herself. He made her feel like a teenager, and he probably had no idea. Gosh, she felt silly. She’d been surprised at how often he’d wanted tutoring, nearly every other night. She dreaded the time when he decided he didn’t need any more help.
Paul swept through the door with a huge grin on his face. One of his hands was tucked behind him as he walked toward her. When he stopped directly in front of her, he pulled his hand from behind him, revealing a beautiful bouquet of pink flowers.
Shocked, Sara put her hand to her throat. “Omigoodness, they’re beautiful.”
“You like them?”
“Of course,” she said and looked at him in disbelief. “You shouldn’t have.”
“I wanted to. I’ve taken up a lot of your time and you’ve been so patient and encouraging.”
“But it’s been my pleasure,” she argued. “It’s been very rewarding for me to see you progress so quickly.”
His handsome face turned serious. “But I’ve been the one who benefited. These are just a token of thanks. I want you to accept them.”
“I will,” she said, full of conflicting emotions. She was delighted, but also afraid. “I should get them in some water.” She took the flowers from him and searched a cabinet for a vase large enough to accommodate them. Finding a white milk glass vase, she filled it with water. Her chest tightened with a disconcerting knot. Usually someone said thank-you after a favor was complete. Did this mean that Paul felt he was finished?
She swallowed hard. “They’re so beautiful,” she murmured to fill the silence and cover her anxiousness. “I hope they’ll last a long time. You really shouldn’t have—” Her voice broke and she bit her lip in horror.
“Sara?” Paul asked.
She felt him close behind her and the earnestness in his voice unraveled her self-control a little more. “They’re wonderful,” she said, but her voice sounded unsteady to her own ears.
“Sara? What’s wrong? Are you allergic? Do they remind you of your husband?”
“No, no, no,” she said, a chuckle escaping her throat that could have passed for a sob. Steeling herself, she turned around and faced him with a smile. “I’m not allergic and I can’t remember my husband giving me flowers except for after I left.” Her throat tightened up again, but she was determined to keep smiling. “I’m just—” She took a shallow breath. “I’m new at this and I’m very proud of you. But I didn’t know we were—” Despite her deter-mination, her voice wavered and her eyes filled. “I didn’t know we were done.”
“You’re crying,” he said in surprise, lifting his thumb to her cheek.
Cringing inwardly, she closed her eyes and felt a tear slide down her cheek. “I’m sorry. I know it’s silly and—”
“Look at me,” he said.
She bit her lip. “Another order.”
“Please?”
As if she could turn him down. She opened her eyes and prayed he couldn’t see that his tutor had a mile-wide crush on him.
He traced her tear with his thumb then moved his finger over her bottom lip. She held her breath.
He looked at her with a sensual question in his eyes that nearly buckled her knees.
“I’m too old for you,” she whispered.
He shook his head. “No, you’re not.” He lowered his mouth to hers and took her lips in the sweetest of kisses. There was gentleness. And need. She felt it under the surface, rumbling between them, catching her by surprise.
She pulled away. “I don’t think I can be like you.”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I mean I don’t think I can be casual about—” She groped for a word. “About things as you can.”
He looked at her with a sensual conviction that would have rocked her onto her rear end if he hadn’t been holding her shoulders.
“I don’t feel casual about you at all, Sara.”
For men: How to make a woman weak in the knees (or get her flat on her back)—treat her like she’s water and you haven’t had a drink in days.
—D
ELILAH’S
D
ICTUM
C
hristmas shopping for Willy was so much fun it could almost replace sex, Delilah decided as she dressed him in his new little Santa PJs and danced with him to a song by The Wiggles. Since it was a week before Thanksgiving, she was probably rushing the Christmas thing a bit.
Her phone rang and she picked it up.
“Delilah, I was starting to wonder if something terrible had happened to you.”
Delilah winced at the sound of her older sister’s voice. She was usually delighted to talk to Katie, but she couldn’t quite figure out how to explain everything that had happened in the last two months. “I’m fine,” Delilah said. “Just obscenely busy.”
Willy let out a shriek and Delilah bit back an oath.
“What is that noise? It sounded like a baby,” Katie said. “Delilah, you haven’t—”
“Of course I haven’t. That’s the television.” Delilah set Willy in the playpen with a baby cookie and walked into the foyer. Willy shrieked again and Delilah stepped outside her front door.
“You’re sure you’re not in trouble? You sound out of breath,” Katie said.
Delilah frowned. Her sister was entirely too observant and perceptive. “I’m fine. Just super busy with the spa. How are you and Michael?” she asked, referring to Katie’s security consultant husband. “How’s Jeremy?” she asked, her heart twisting at the thought of their young hearing-impaired brother.
“Michael and I are fine. Jeremy is here every weekend. We’re starting to think about babies,” Katie told her.
“Oh, wow,” Delilah said, filled with a mixture of feelings. Having Willy had made her wonder what it would be like to have a baby and a husband. The thoughts had taken her off guard. “After all the parenting you had to do I thought you might wait forever.”
“Me too,” Katie said. “But Michael is changing my mind. He’s so good with Jeremy and he likes the idea of me going to college during the pregnancy and early years. I kinda do too.”
Delilah felt a slice of envy. She knew Katie and Michael shared a rare love, one that most people never experienced. Certainly one she never expected to experience.
“We want you to come up to Philly for Thanksgiving,” Katie said.
Delilah shook her head. “I don’t know. I’m pretty slammed at the moment.”
“But it’s a family holiday. You should be with family.”
“I know, but the spa is so busy right now.”
Silence followed. “We made a promise to stick together,” Katie said, reminding Delilah of the emotional reunion they’d shared two years ago.
She felt a sharp twinge of guilt. “I know. It’s just really crazy here right now. I’ll tell you about it at Christmas.”
“You promise?”
“I promise. Give my love to Michael and Jeremy, and tell Jeremy to keep the emails coming.”
“Have you been in touch with Lori Jean?”
“Through email. She’s going crazy at that girls’ school where her father sent her. If he doesn’t loosen the reins a little, she’s going to rebel and end up on one of those
Girls Gone Wild
videos.”
Katie chuckled. “He’s determined to keep her pure as the driven snow.”
“Yeah, well he forgets that we don’t have Snow White among our ancestors.” Feeling antsy about leaving Willy in the pen, Delilah cracked her door. “I should go. Thanks for calling. Keep me posted.”
“I will,” Katie said. “No backing out on Christmas.”
Delilah’s heart twisted. Having been jerked away from her sisters at such a young age, she still wasn’t accustomed to the idea of family. “No backing out. Take care. Bye now.” She turned off the phone and stared at it. “Waiting for a genie to pop out?” Benjamin asked from behind her.
She glanced up at him, something inside her easing at the sight of his solid features and level gaze. “I wouldn’t mind three wishes,” she said, walking into her foyer.
He caught the door and followed her in. “Talking to one of your brainless boy toys?”
She threw him a sideways glance. “Why would you think that?”
“You didn’t want whoever it was to hear Willy in the background.”
Irritated by his partially accurate deduction, she considered letting him think the worst, but something inside her wouldn’t allow it. “My sister in Philly. She has an overdeveloped sense of responsibility. She would feel like she needed to rush down here and rescue me.” Every once in a while, Delilah wouldn’t mind being rescued.
She glanced at Willy, who had happily smeared his face and PJs with soggy cookie, and smiled. “I see you enjoyed your cookie from head to toe,” she teased the baby.
He smiled in return and bounced on his bottom.
“Don’t say anything about the cookies,” she warned Benjamin before he could open his mouth. “After a hard day of teething, he’s due a cookie.”
“What about you? After a hard day at the spa, what are you due?”
“Champagne cocktail or a soak in the Jacuzzi.” She winced at her boring life. “Sleep is good too.”
“I have a favor to ask.”
She glanced at him warily. “What?”
“I’ve been invited to a small party tomorrow night. Would you go with me?”
She gaped at him in surprise. “What kind of party?”
“My brother just got engaged. My family is having a get-together of about fifty people to celebrate.”
Delilah felt the smack of shock.
Engagement party
.
She blinked. “So he went through with it. Lilly Bradford?”
Benjamin nodded.
Yay, maybe wedding planning will keep Lilly away from the spa. Boo, what if Guy adds up Lilly and Robert’s collective fortune and asks for more money?
“So will you go?”
Delilah blinked. “To the engagement party?” A hysterical giggle escaped her throat and she nearly strangled herself swallowing the next one. Oh, Lord, the irony would be rich. She could just imagine the number of colors Lilly’s face would turn if she walked in with Benjamin.
She shook her head and cleared her throat. “No. I can’t. I don’t think I should leave Willy at night, yet. He’s had a lot of change and I think it’s better if we stick to his evening schedule.”
“You could bring him with you.”
“Oh, right, to an engagement party at your mother’s house. It would be like bringing a screaming alien to the opera.”
“My parents have seen babies before. My mother even gave birth to a couple.”
“Yes, but you and your brother probably never had colic, and never cried for more than five minutes and slept through the night as soon as she came home from the hospital. I’d put money on the fact that you weren’t allergic to disposable diapers.”
“And we never spit strained peas when nanny used the silver spoon to put them into our perfect little mouths,” he said, mocking her assumptions.
“You said that. I didn’t.” She shrugged, a wicked visual of his near-perfect naked body floating through her mind.
Moving his near-perfect body close to hers, he picked up her hand and rubbed his thumb over the place that betrayed her skipping pulse.
“I wonder what it takes for you to tell the truth,” he said. He lifted her palm and pressed his mouth against it. “I wonder why it’s so important to me to get the truth from you.”
“Me too,” she managed and pulled her hand from his, barely able to resist the urge to rub his kiss from her palm. “We’ve already established that I’m not your kind and you’re not mine.”
“If that’s true, then why do I think about you in the middle of when I’m lecturing?”
“Because you’re speaking on a very boring subject,” she said bluntly.
He chuckled. “Maybe. But if I’m not your kind of man, then why were you reading a book about opera?”
Delilah stared at him. Her brain locked. She felt stripped, deeper than her skin. But her skin burned worse than the time she’d blistered swimming in the lake when she was a kid. How horrid. She was blushing. She swore.
“My clients discuss opera,” she mumbled, wishing for that telephone genie Benjamin had mentioned moments ago.
He shook his head slowly. “How can I not be fascinated by a woman who rescues me, takes on the care of a baby that’s not her own, and secretly reads a book on opera.”
Her heart twirled and thumped at the expression on his face. “It obviously wasn’t a complete secret,” she grumbled. “Don’t take it personally.”
“I do,” he said. “But why’d you choose a book for dummies when you’re no dummy?”
Delilah tried to steel herself against his effect on her, but her insides were feeling suspiciously gooey.
Because I don’t want to feel like a dummy
, she thought, but couldn’t bear to say it aloud.
He could see it though. She knew by the look in his eyes.
“You’re not,” he said in a low voice.
She held her breath at the emotion that surged through her. It was so sweet and sharp it brought tears to her eyes. This was the closest a man had gotten to her in maybe forever. Benjamin was different. Being with him made her feel differently about herself. Being with him made her think differently. In secret moments, she’d watched him hold Willy and wondered how it would feel if he were the father of her child. She wasn’t sure she liked the direction her head and heart were taking her. She knew she didn’t like it. Surely sex was less intimate than this.
Inhaling to steady herself, she caught a whiff of a slightly pungent scent. She wrinkled her nose, trying to place it when she heard Willy make a grunting noise.
She shook her head. Rescued by a poopy diaper. Who’d have thunk it? “I believe Willy has answered nature’s call and he’ll definitely need a diaper change.” So
vamoose, go
, she silently said to Benjamin.
He didn’t budge, so she walked through the foyer and opened the door. “Sorry I can’t help you with that party. Thanks for thinking of me,” she lied.
Benjamin strolled toward her and she told her heart not to jump. “Let me know when you finish the book,” he said. “Graduation will be me taking you to the opera.”
Not in a million years
, she thought. “Good night,” she said and closed the door.
Standing beside Robert, Lilly accepted congratulations and best wishes from the top twenty-five relatives and friends on the Huntingtons’
list
.
“She’s lovely,” one woman said, shaking Robert’s hand. “I can tell she’ll be an asset to you.”
“That she will, Mrs. Oliver,” he said. “I’m glad you could make it tonight.”
“Thank you,” Lilly murmured as the woman shook her hand and walked toward Robert’s parents.
“How are you doing?” Robert asked in a low voice.
“Fine,” she said. “But I need cue cards. How will I remember all these names?”
“Try to repeat their name three times when you speak to them and find something about their appearance to associate with their name,” he told her.
Impressed, she smiled at him. “How did you know that?”
“I read it. I was horrible at remembering names and knew I’d have to improve if I was going to run for office.”
She nodded. “How did you remember Mrs. Oliver’s name?”
“I have to swear you to secrecy.”
“Consider me sworn.”
“O for owl,” he said.
Lilly laughed because the woman had resembled an owl. Chuckling, Robert snagged her hand and she felt a tiny bit of the connection she craved with him.
The evening wore on and she and Robert became separated. The women’s smiles all began to run together. Robert’s father’s laugh sounded a little too loud, a little too hearty. She felt like she was on display in a carnival.
“Lilly,” a male voice broke through her daze.
She glanced up into Robert’s brother’s eyes and felt a thump of disappointment mixed with relief.
“Come and let me get you a glass of wine,” Benjamin said. Lilly had met Robert’s brother a few times before. He had a confident, intelligent air about him and from what Robert said, he didn’t bow to family pressure very often. He was his own man. Even at this party, something about him set him apart from the crowd.
Feeling claustrophobic, she gladly allowed him to lead her away from the cackling crowd of women. “Thanks,” she murmured. “Where’s Robert?”
“Surrounded by some of his benefactors,” he said dryly. “White wine or champagne? My father will be making a toast soon.”
“Champagne,” she said. “I may as well gear up.”
“Are you okay? You looked a little woozy over there,” Benjamin said, taking a glass of champagne from a tray and offering it to her.
Lilly swallowed a long sip of the bubbly liquid and prayed it would go to her head. She had thought she would feel ecstatic. She had thought that once she got engaged to Robert, she wouldn’t feel lonely anymore, but she felt just as disconnected as ever. “I guess the hot air got to me,” she managed with a smile. “It feels a little like a circus.”
“And it’s just starting,” Benjamin warned her. “Don’t get pushed into anything you don’t want to do.”
“I want to marry Robert.”
He nodded, but remained silent.
“Sometimes I’m not sure about him,” she confessed, then abruptly stopped, embarrassed at what she’d revealed. “I’m being silly. I’m sure it’s all the excitement,” she said. “Look, there’s your father signaling for the waiter. It must be toast time.”
“Lilly, come out of that corner and stand here with Robert,” Mr. Huntington said in a booming voice.
Taking a deep breath, she walked toward Robert. He offered her his hand, thank God. Hers was trembling. “My wife and I are delighted to announce the engagement of Robert Huntington and Lilly Bradford. May theirs be a match made in heaven.”