Chapter 16
VAL
“Let’s get out of here,” Carter said. “I heard what you said to Anne about the sandwich. I’ll feed you, and you relax and don’t think about any of this.”
I placed my hands on my hips. “You can’t just barge in here and take charge.”
His eyes flashed. The corners of his mouth twitched.
“Yes, I can, especially if you need it.”
Well, how could I argue with that? I was dying for time out.
“It’s early.”
“It’s four o’clock, and you told Anne that you don’t have any other meetings today.”
“Doesn’t mean I don’t have anything else to do.”
“You own this business. You can’t give yourself a few hours off?”
“How about you? Don’t you have to clock every hour?”
“I cleared off my schedule.”
The fight went right out of me because I distinctly remembered he’d had meetings into the evening today. It was the reason we were supposed to go out tomorrow.
He picked my bag from my desk and my jacket from the hanger, holding both out for me.
The man was unbelievable, but the fact that he’d taken the afternoon off and was here for me disarmed me faster than I would have thought possible.
I let him slide the jacket on my back. He lingered with his fingers at the sides of my neck, pressing gently. I released an audible breath.
“Come on, Val. I’ll take your mind off it.” He lowered his hand to the small of my back and kept it there on the way to the elevator. We ran into Anne as we headed out of the building.
“You’re leaving?” she inquired as she handed me the sandwich.
“Yes, but call me if anything urgent comes up.”
“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
After she left, Carter pointed to the sandwich.
“This is supposed to be your lunch?”
I nodded, too busy devouring the tiny turkey sandwich to answer. He was right, though. It was so small that I finished it just as we went out of the building. I felt even hungrier than before.
“What do you want to do?” he asked.
I blinked. “You bossed me out of my own office, and now you’re asking me what I want to do?”
“The important thing was to get you out. You were so tense that your shoulders were up to your ears. I can make dinner reservations, but I’m sensing you’re not up to it.”
He came to a stop on the sidewalk, and I stopped too. God, no one had looked at me the way he did. What would it feel like to have this man inside me? To have him in my life? Would he make me feel things no one else had?
“Honestly, I just want to go home.”
“Then that’s where we’ll go.”
“We?”
“You don’t honestly think I’d let you go on your own?” He cupped my face gently, caressing my cheeks with his thumbs. “Let me be with you today, okay?”
I sighed and nodded, already looking forward to it.
He didn’t immediately let go of my face, and I started to warm up at all those contact points.
My eyes were at the same level with his lips.
I remembered how they’d felt on my skin.
A current of awareness passed through me.
The look in Carter’s eyes told me he knew exactly what was going through my mind.
Sexual tension filled every single inch of distance between us.
I was lost in this man: his touch, the seductive tone of his voice.
When he let go of me, I immediately missed him.
We drove in separate cars, and every time I peeked in the rearview mirror to check if he was still tailing me, my heart sighed.
There were no major traffic jams, so we arrived at my house in no time. We locked eyes as we climbed out of our respective cars.
“Welcome to my home.” I pushed open the gate, and then climbed the stone steps in my yard.
“This yard is fantastic,” he commented.
“I know. I love it.”
Carter brought a hand to my back, and I felt as if the contact was skin to skin. All the messaging this past week had felt like foreplay, and now my entire body was so responsive to that one small touch that I was ashamed.
“Want a tour?” I asked nervously once we were inside.
“Sure.”
I showed him the ground floor quickly, and then the upper floor. I could feel myself becoming jittery.
“I don’t have any food in the fridge, but we could order something, even though it takes ages for delivery in this part of the city.”
“We’ll figure it out.”
As I was showing him the master bathroom with my beloved tub, Carter brought a hand to my chin, tilting it up.
“What do you do when you come home to relax?”
“I take a shower and change in comfy clothes. Or… I walk around naked. My dad liked to say ‘your sweatpants will never be tight if you don't wear any,’ and that’s one of my favorite sayings.”
“Let’s make a deal. I’ll run to that small convenience store up the street, buy some food. You shower and relax.”
My pulse went from zero to holy hell in two seconds. I chose to concentrate on the neutral part of the sentence.
“They don’t have a lot of options.”
“I’ll make do. Don’t think about it. Stay here and relax. But do put on clothes after your shower. We can try the no-sweatpants thing another time.”
I couldn’t tell if he was inviting himself into the shower or not, but my pulse was erratic now. He stroked his thumb over my lips, and then his mouth captured mine. My knees weakened from the first stroke of his tongue.
My clit throbbed, and my nipples turned hard as if they were anxious for his tongue too.
“I’ve been dying to kiss you all week,” he murmured before diving in for a second kiss.
This one was hotter, more urgent. I rose on my tiptoes, gripping his shoulders for leverage as I feverishly kissed him back.
I became aware that both of his hands were on my waist, and he was walking me backward until my back was against the wall.
The tiles felt cold even through the fabric of my dress, and my hips arched forward.
He was so close that I slammed my lower body right into his, and sweet heavens, his hard-on was impressive.
A groan tore from him, and then he took a step back.
“Now, now. Be a good girl and relax.”
He winked and left the bathroom. I was so worked up that I almost called him right back to demand more of those scorching-hot kisses.
Then I decided to focus on the shower. I pushed down my clothes, and I became more worked up with each layer I took off.
I showered quickly, then rubbed my favorite body cream on my skin, wrapped a towel around myself, and headed to my bedroom.
I sank into the leather armchair opposite my bed, hoisting my legs up on the ottoman and just allowing my body to cool down and the cream to sink in.
I’d left the door cracked open, figuring it was the only way I’d hear if Carter needed something when he returned from the store, and grinned when I heard him singing a while later. Oh, hell. That sexy man was singing in my kitchen, and I was missing the show?
Forget the bubble bath, that would be the utmost relaxation. Watching him… and possibly climbing right into his arms.
No, no. I had my instructions. I couldn’t deny it. It was fun not to know what was about to happen.
Sometime later, I heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and the muscles in my belly strummed together.
“I’m in the bedroom,” I announced.
Was he coming inside?
Yes, yes, he was.
My breath hitched when he appeared in the doorway, looking all enticing and holding a plate with a sandwich.
He placed it on the small table next to the armchair.
I didn’t miss the way his eyes roamed over the length of my body. A towel covered me, but I was still stark naked underneath it, and my nipples tightened when his gaze focused on them.
I salivated at the sight of the sandwich with slices of avocado and ham and quickly took a bite, then let out a long sigh. “This is delicious.”
He perched on the edge of the armchair, watching me intently. I was pretending to keep my eyes on the food, but I wasn’t doing a great job. The air seemed to thicken with sexual tension with every minute we spent together in this intimate setting, and I wasn’t sure I could take it any longer.
“This is my reading armchair,” I informed him.
“I see. So this is where you read all those scandalous books.”
“Yep.”
As I downed the last bite, Carter clasped one of my ankles. I felt his touch all the way up to my inner thighs. Our eyes locked. I swallowed, aware that I was breathing faster.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“You’ll see.”
Bliss. Pure and utter bliss. He massaged my foot, applying pressure on the arch and on the pads, then on each toe.
He moved his hand a little further up my ankle before returning it to caress my heel. Then he switched to the other sole. His fingers were pure magic… and he was turning me on. Did a foot massage count as foreplay? Everything felt like foreplay with him.
“Tell me what you’re thinking.”
I licked my lips, unsure if honesty was the best policy right now because my thoughts were so far past X-rated, they deserved their own rating.
“That bad, huh? It’s okay. I know exactly what you’re thinking.”
“And how do you know?” I teased.
“I can read body language very well. Our bodies usually betray us.” He wiggled his eyebrows, and I felt myself blush even more.
“But you can’t see anything.”
He lowered my foot back on the ottoman, then slid closer to me, placing my plate on the small table.
There was nothing between us now, and when Carter leaned in to kiss me, I pushed myself up, fully aware that my towel was sliding down and my breasts were on display.
God, the man kissed like no other. He buried one hand in my hair, tilting my head while he ravished me with his lips and tongue.
I needed his touch desperately. My body was begging for it.