“You’re not worried about getting ice cream all over your car?” she asked
“No.” He handed her the second cone.
“You not having one?”
“I’ll share yours.”
“I might want it all myself.” She licked the cold ice cream, peering up at him from under her lashes. He was watching her intently, and she swirled her tongue over the top, then sucked the sweetness into her mouth. She was teasing him, but somehow it felt safe out here, with Mike only feet away.
He stepped up close, pushed her gently back against the tree, and she didn’t feel so safe anymore. Then he leaned in and swiped his tongue across her lips.
“Later,” he whispered against her mouth, and she wasn’t sure whether it was a threat or a promise.
…
Back at the house, Lia sat on the steps and watched as Luc showed Mike the engine and explained how it worked. They were far enough away that the murmured words washed over her. Resting her chin on her hand, she relaxed in the afternoon sunshine, only glancing away as Sally came out of the house and sat down beside her. “You okay?” Sally asked.
“I guess.”
“I was worried about you. This”—she nodded in Luc’s direction—“all seemed too sudden. But he seems like a nice guy.”
Lia considered him for a moment. He was laughing at something Mike had said, and he looked utterly gorgeous. But nice people didn’t use blackmail or keep secrets.
“No, he’s not nice.”
At that moment, he leaned over the hood to point at something, the denim of his jeans stretching tight over his butt.
“Well, he’s got a nice ass,” Sally said.
Lia let out a shocked laugh. “Sally!”
“What? I’m not allowed to recognize a nice ass when I see one?” She leered. “I’m betting it’s not the only nice bit of him.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes. “Seriously, though,” Sally said, “I’m not sure what this is about, but if it’s not working, come home.”
Lia sighed. “It’s not that easy.”
But maybe it was. Did she really still believe Luc would go through with his blackmail threats? She could walk away. Take her chances. Trust him. Never see him again.
No, she wasn’t quite ready for that yet.
…
Lia watched him out of the corner of her eye as he threw the car keys onto the table by the door. She’d seen a whole new side to him today. Mike had loved the trip and seeing him happy made it worthwhile.
“Thank you,” she said. “You were good with him.”
“I’ve had a lot of practice.”
“You have?”
“I have a brother the same age as Mike.”
“No way.”
“Well, a half-brother and two sisters. My mother went back to Italy after my father died. She married an Italian. They live in Rome, but I spend as much time as I can with them.”
“I never imagined you with a family.”
“What, you think I materialized fully formed out of a puff of brimstone?”
“Something like that, though I suppose I knew you had a mother.” She frowned. She didn’t want to see him as human, with brothers and sisters.
He walked past her into the sitting room.
Lia loitered in the doorway. Common sense told her she should head straight to her room, but she didn’t want to. She didn’t know what she wanted. Or maybe it was more truthful to say she wasn’t willing to admit what she wanted.
How could she desire him when he still held those pictures over her head? When she knew that at any time, he could turn on her—post them for all to see and ruin her image. Those pictures would make things very difficult, especially with the sponsorship deal hovering on the brink of being signed. She was coming up to a crucial time in her career—she couldn’t afford any distractions. And what a distraction he was becoming!
Mike wouldn’t be happy when she and Luc went their separate ways. Her brother had managed to drag a promise of a repeat trip out of Luc, and she hadn’t had the heart to tell him that the relationship was temporary, that with luck, in the not-too-distant future, this would all be somehow resolved, and she and Luc would part ways forever.
Why did that thought not make her happy?
Still, she couldn’t make herself leave. Instead, she stepped into the room and looked out the window, her whole body tense, as though it knew something was about to happen.
Luc came up behind her, so close she could feel the heat from his body. A deep, burning craving awoke inside her. Her breasts felt heavy and swollen, and a pulse throbbed between her thighs. When his hands came to rest on her shoulders, she almost jumped. His fingers kneaded her tense muscles, then he lowered his head and his open lips brushed the side of her neck. Every nerve ending quivered as he licked the skin of her throat, then nipped the sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulder. His hands glided from her shoulders to her rib cage and she looked down.