No Denying You(16)

Emma woke slowly. She was in the middle of a yawn when she noticed the time on the alarm clock. Was it really after eleven already? She rarely slept that late—even on the weekends. As she stretched she noticed that her body ached in all of those long-neglected places from the previous night. Just remembering how she had practically attacked Brant made her groan and bury her head in the pillow. The man never stood a chance.

Reading an erotic book got to her every time, and last night had been no exception. Even with her mother’s book club taking some of the thrill out of it, she had still been turned on from reviewing the hot and heavy scenes of Fifty Shades of Grey. If he had been asleep, she might have left him in peace, but there was no way she could stop herself when she saw him standing in the bathroom almost naked. Heck, nothing short of divine intervention could have stopped her at that point. The man had a drool-worthy body and, oh baby, did he know how to use it!

Most of her past orgasms had been at her own hands. With Brant, though, she could feel her orgasm building from the moment he entered her. She had now slept with her boss twice. There was no way this could end well. Their whole relationship was built on mutual disrespect. She was now taking the term “sleeping with the enemy” to a whole new level. It had to stop . . . didn’t it? So what if he was God’s gift to women in bed? He was still the same Brant Stone that she loved to loathe.

She had put in yet another transfer request before they’d left together for Florida. Yeah, it really looked like she wanted out from under him, didn’t it? Ugh, I’m the office slut now. It felt like everything was catching up to her as she walked dejectedly toward the bathroom to shower and then hunt down the missing Brant. Maybe the situation was still salvageable. She could stop anytime she wanted to, right? She had complete control over her body. There was no way she was going to lose it just because she lusted after him.





Chapter Nine


Her whole pep talk was in danger of going up in flames simply from looking at Brant sitting on the deck with her father reading the morning paper. Oh yum! Why does casual have to look so good on him? Emma wanted to turn around, run upstairs and jump back in the shower . . . this time for a cold one. He was in another pair of cargo shorts paired with a black T-shirt. The thin cotton of the shirt showed clearly defined muscles, and she knew from experience that his stomach was a perfect V-shape. He had mentioned previously that he liked to run every morning. Since finding out by accident that he lived on the beach, she now knew where those runs took place.

Her father looked up with a smile. “Good morning, sleepyhead. We all slept in, but I think you and your mother took it a bit too far. Brant here had already been running on the beach and made a pot of coffee when I wandered down.” It was obvious from her father’s warm tone that Brant had been accepted into the family fold. They were going to be disappointed when she pretend broke up with him.

Brant held up the coffeepot and motioned her to the seat beside him. “Morning, baby, coffee?” When she nodded, he poured her a cup and leaned down to give her a hard kiss on the mouth before putting the pot back. She was momentarily surprised at how natural it felt to be greeted by him in that manner. While Brant had a lively discussion with her father on who was going to win the Florida–South Carolina game that evening, he absently ran a hand up and down her back. It felt too good for her to pull away.

“So, you two ready for the big event tonight?” Emma looked at her father blankly before it registered that he was referring to the reunion  .

“Er . . . yeah, I guess.” Emma had never felt less enthusiastic about anything—except maybe for her recent root canal. The thought of having to make small talk with people she hadn’t seen for years held little appeal now. She would much rather be somewhere alone with Brant and that, she thought dejectedly, was the problem. Just last week, she would have rather been anywhere in the world than with her insufferable boss. Now she couldn’t think of anyone else that she would rather spend time with. She knew in her heart that as soon as they returned home, this strange new thing would be over.

But it shocked her to realize that she could hardly stand to think of him going cold on her again. Did he feel anything at all toward her or was he just a good actor? She could have sworn she saw real affection in his gaze this morning. It was probably just for her father’s benefit, but it had made her heart beat madly.

“Penny for your thoughts . . .” She looked up flushing as she realized that her father had left the table and Brant was looking at her curiously. “You looked like you were a million miles away.”

“I . . . sorry. I think I’m still tired.”

He gave her what she could only call a wicked grin. “Something wore you out last night, huh? Maybe a shower would help wake you.”

Giving an unladylike snort, she said, “I’ve already had a shower.”

Brant lowered his voice and let his hand slide against the curve of her ass. “I didn’t mean alone.”

Oh my God, the sexy Brant from the previous night was still very much front and center this morning. He moved her hair aside and nibbled her ear. Shivers raced up her spine and her body caught fire. “Mmmm,” she moaned quietly before she could stop herself. Her hand tangled in his hair without conscious thought and next thing she knew she was out of her chair and on his lap. She felt him hard against her bottom as she wrapped her legs around his waist. His eyes blazed into hers for a moment before their mouths met, tongue to tongue, all-consuming. “Brant . . .”

His tongue took control and dominated hers. She was helpless to deny him anything as he plundered her mouth. The voice in her head was screaming loudly, What are you doing? It was going to have to come up with something better than that if there was any hope of making her back away from the amazing mouth devouring hers.

“Good morning, kids!”

Yeah, that would do it, Emma thought as she jerked away from Brant. Her mother’s loud, chipper greeting was enough to douse the flames that had been consuming her.

To his credit, Brant continued to hold her loosely in his lap as he smiled a greeting at her mother. “Good morning, Kat.” Emma was relieved to note that her mother had her purse and keys in her hand. Thank God for small miracles. She wasn’t up to a grilling session over her relationship with Brant.

“I have to take Sandra for her laser eye surgery. Her daughter was supposed to take her, but she canceled at the last minute. What time are you leaving tonight? I wanted to be here to take pictures.”

“Mom,” Emma groaned, “it’s a reunion  , not the prom. We’ll probably leave early so we can have dinner first.”

“Honey, I need to capture you and this hunk beside you on film. I have the picture I took of you two last night with my phone, but I need a better one for Facebook.”

Emma felt Brant’s body shaking as he laughed. She couldn’t believe Mr. Conservative wasn’t freaking out at the thought of having his image plastered all over Facebook.

“You’re no help,” she grumbled to him. Then turning back to her mother, she added, “If we don’t see you before we leave, I’m sure we will when we get home. Now you’d better hurry so Sandra isn’t late to her appointment.”

Her mother gave her a hug and a kiss on the forehead and then surprised her by repeating the gesture on Brant. “Enjoy the beach today. Your father is working for a while, but Robyn said she would stop by sometime.”

Emma untangled herself from Brant’s lap when her mother left. “I don’t know about you, but that was the equivalent of a cold shower.” Taking his hand, she pulled him up behind her. “Let’s go change and grab a paddleboard.”

She smiled when she heard Brant ask warily, “Paddleboard?”





Chapter Ten


Brant’s breath caught in his throat as Emma made her way down the stairs. She was wearing a white, above-the-knee dress that made her legs look a mile long. The dress hugged her figure and showed off her tanned skin to perfection. Her brown hair cascaded down her back in a jumble of loose curls. He wanted to bury his hands in the soft mass and devour her. He wanted to take her somewhere and just lose himself in her until he could no longer remember all of the reasons that getting involved with her was wrong.

But he had been down this road before and he knew where it led.

Emma was even more of a risk than Alexia. Standing before her in his black suit, he had never felt more unworthy of someone. She was beautiful, sexy, a free spirit . . . and he didn’t have the first clue as to what to do with her. If he wasn’t enough for his first love, there was no way Emma would ever be seriously interested in him. She would be back to hating him as soon as their play-cation was over. The person he had been pretending to be while they were here wasn’t who he really was. In reality, he was the tightass that she had so often accused him of being. The surprising thing about this trip was how much he had enjoyed acting like someone who didn’t take everything so seriously. He hadn’t even bothered to check his company e-mail this morning, which was a first for him.

He knew their time was coming to a close soon and he wanted to enjoy every moment of being the man that she seemed to want. He took her hand when she reached the last step and pulled her against him. “You’re stunning.” When he picked up a box from the table beside him, she gave him a questioning look. “I know you said this wasn’t the prom, but I decided to cover my bases.” In truth, he had called a local florist earlier and bribed the owner to make a late Saturday delivery.