Maid in the USA(27)

“Pierce, do you mind if I ask you something?” she asked.

“Sure. Go ahead.”

“Earlier today you mentioned your mother. Why doesn’t she come over to visit?”

“I wish she could,” Pierce said. “My parents decided to retire in Hawaii. I talk to them every few days but as you can imagine visits take some advance planning, particularly with my busy schedule.

“And your brothers and sisters. What about them?”

“No brothers, one sister. Happily married, living in San Diego with her husband and two kids.” He gave her a smile of amusement. “Anything else you want to know?”

She groaned inwardly. She’d been Miss Nosy Parker again.

“Don’t worry, I’m not offended. Flattered, actually. What makes you want to know about my family?”

She glanced at him then looked away again, a sudden shyness seizing her. “I just want to know more about you.”

He seemed pleased at that and her heart soared. She really did want to get to know Pierce and she had so little time. The end of the summer was fast approaching. When she left his home she wanted to take all these memories of him with her. “What were you like as a boy?”

He chuckled. “Very much a geek. I was the kid with the glasses who was always hanging around the computer lab begging to be allowed to create new programs.”

“Aw, that’s so sweet,” she said, laughing.

“No, it wasn’t.” He shook his head. “I can laugh about it now and I can be grateful for all those hours in the lab. I started my software company back in high school.”

“You did?” Celine could have guessed he was the genius type but he’d far exceeded her expectations.

“Your parents must have been so proud.”

“They were, but at the time I almost wished I could have been a normal kid. It wasn’t easy being the school geek.” He shrugged but there was a pain in his eyes that he could not hide.

“You were bullied?”

“Yeah,” he said casually. “Like most nerdy kids I was the brunt of jokes. Got beat up a fair number of times.”

“Oh, no,” she whispered. Her heart went out to the kid he’d been. He must have suffered so much.

“But, hey,” he continued, “it all worked out great. It was all those hours spent hiding in the computer lab that made me the man I am today.”

And what a man that was. He was as far from geek as could be. He had a sophistication about him, an aura of self-assurance that made him compelling. And it didn’t hurt that he was extraordinarily handsome. No wonder she found him irresistible.

As if thinking similar thoughts Celine and Pierce turned to each other at the same time. When their eyes met she knew he was thinking exactly what she was thinking. She wanted him so much her mouth went dry.

There was nothing she wanted more right now than to have his arms around her, his lips on hers. But as she gazed back at him she knew he would not make that move.

So she did.

With newfound boldness Celine slid across the sofa, closing the few inches that separated their bodies. Then before she could change her mind she reached her hand up to touch his cheek.

He stared down at her, his green eyes sparkling with emotion, but still he made no move. He was waiting for her to take the lead.

Sliding her hand to the back of his head she tilted it down until his lips touched hers. She moaned as her body tingled in anticipation.

Only then did he move. Sliding his arms around her he leaned into the kiss, taking full control as she knew he would. She gasped as his tongue slid past her lips to taste her, tease her then plunder her till she felt like her very bones had turned to liquid.

As they kissed, Celine slid her hands inside the neck of his T-shirt to caress his shoulders and then as the passion of his kiss intensified she clung to him as if for dear life.

The moment he lifted his mouth from hers she dipped her head and caught his ear lobe between her teeth. She felt a thrill of satisfaction when she heard him groan. She pressed her advantage, sliding her lips down his neck. Then she was lifting his T-shirt to feather soft kisses across the broad muscles of his chest now bare to her gaze.

She did not meet his eyes. She refused to look at him, knowing there’d be questions there. This time she wanted nothing to get in the way. Just as he’d done to her she moved her lips lower, lower until she’d caught a taut flat nipple between her teeth. When he moaned she smiled and she did not stop. She covered that sensitive part of him with her lips and sucked and nibbled until his chest heaved and his heart pounded in his ears.

Next, she slid her hands down his taut, muscled belly and stopped just shy of the top of his sweatpants. Dared she go farther?