Hesitation never even entered her mind. She undressed right there in his kitchen and handed her clothing to him and he folded each piece and laid it aside. A blush heated her cheeks when he held her gaze as he pressed the satin cup of her bra to his nose and inhaled slowly.
His eyelids flickered and then he looked up at her again. “I love the way you smell, Luce. Your scent…”
“My scent…what?”
“It makes me hard.”
She hummed softly, a purring sort of sound, as she drew close and kissed his throat and nuzzled him with her nose. Her nipples hardened and she could already feel her juices slipping from her cunt, wetting her inner thighs. “Yours makes me hot, too. What now?”
“Now that you’re undressed, open the box.”
With a little squeal of glee that made him chuckle, she scooted back over to the bar, thoroughly enjoying the sensation of air floating over her bare skin and his gaze stroking her just as surely as if he was touching her.
She lifted the lid on the box and gasped. “You didn’t!”
Patrick grinned in enjoyment as she reverently laid her hands on the lace. “I did, baby.”
She lifted the long, black sheer lace robe from the white tissue paper and moaned as she slid her arms into the sleeves. The silky lace was like a caress as she drew it up over her shoulders and held the front edges to her. Tears stung the backs of her eyes as she went to him, the lace billowing around her. She wrapped her arms around him.
“Thank you.”
She’d remembered that robe, coveting it over the last few weeks, and had even tried to rearrange her budget so she could purchase it but common sense had overruled the nonessential purchase.
“Now it’s yours, little tiger,” he whispered as he kissed the top of her head and hugged her back.
She looked up at him. “This was ridiculously expensive, Patrick. I don’t want you going broke buying such lavish gifts for me.”
He tilted her chin up and kissed her. “The expense was worth it to see your reaction.”
“You’re struggling with your business right now, too. You don’t need to spend so much money on me.”
“Well, I did, and I want you to enjoy it. You’re worth it.”
Her voice was muffled against his shoulder. “I wanted it so much.”
“I was in Morehead and stopped in to Discretion on a whim. Teresa mentioned to me how much you’d wanted it but wouldn’t buy it for yourself.” He held her at arm’s length and looked her over. “I think you make it look beautiful.”
She hugged him again. “You are the sweetest man, Patrick.”
His eyes twinkled devilishly and he grinned. “It’s a burden.”
He cuddled her to him and gave her a hot kiss that lingered long enough to make her even hotter and then released her to open a cupboard. He took down a wineglass, rinsed it, and poured her a glass of Sangria.
Lucy held up the crystal. “This is beautiful.”
“Isn’t it? Maizy got the set for…us…a few years ago. They’ve never been used, to my knowledge.”
Lucy tilted her head and gazed at him, content to let the brief reference to Elizabeth go. She was the past. “Why is that?”
“I don’t know. Not that many romantic nights, I guess.”
“I can’t imagine, Patrick. You’re one of the most romantic men I know.”
“She wasn’t wired that way and didn’t respond…well. I never understood why.”
“Oh.”
“Never mind. They’re yours to use every day if you’d like.”
Patrick took the steaks out to the grill and kept an eye on them while Lucy tended to the next thing on his agenda. He’d sent her in the bathroom and she discovered that his big tub was full of jasmine and vanilla scented bubbles.
Her lip trembled as she slipped the robe from her shoulders. “Oh, those men.”
Two containers sat on the corner of the tub. Beck had also made her jasmine and vanilla scented mineral salts for her bath, and crème bubble bath.
The steaming water was deliciously hot as she slipped into it. She gathered the frothy bubbles to her in big fluffy clumps until all that was visible of her was her head. Then she slid back against the sloped edge of the tub and sighed in the luxurious decadence of the moment. She smiled, finally understanding the twinkle in Beck’s eyes as he’d told her to enjoy her evening.
She was sipping from her wineglass when she heard the back door open and the sounds of Patrick moving around in the kitchen. The scent of perfectly grilled steak wafted in the air and she laid her head back, wondering at her luck to fall in love with this man. This man and his best friend, who kept life interesting and always exciting.