Chapter 8 #2
I pressed my lips together, wondering if I’d shared too much. Sometime during my monologue, I’d started my third glass of wine. I glanced at Rob. Holy hell, there was so much heat in his gaze. My whole body reacted to him: my nipples tightened, and my belly flipped twice.
“Anyway, so Tess and I work with factories that also have small design teams. We create the initial product, experiment on ourselves and see how it looks and feels. Then we finalize it with said design teams and commission a small batch to gauge the feedback from our customers. If they love it, we order a large quantity, and if it continues to sell over time, we keep it as a permanent item in our merchandise line.”
“Very smart.” His voice was a little rough, and the heat in his eyes was not lessening in intensity.
I needed to shift the focus to him. “What made you decide to come back to New York?”
His gaze clouded. He set his glass on the table, crossing his fingers in front of him. “It’s complicated. My sister just divorced, and her ex-husband was leading the operations of the East Coast restaurants. He’s gone now. I replaced myself in LA and took over the reins here.”
“It would’ve been easier to replace him though, right?”
“Yes, but I also wanted to be here for my sister and my niece. They’re going through a tough time.”
He cared enough about his family to make such a drastic change? I was simply melting. I was in over my head. Whatever he had in mind for tonight, I wasn’t going to be able to resist him. I was sure of it.
My body had been on edge the entire evening. And now, when he trapped me with that determined gaze, I didn’t know what to do with this heat billowing inside me.
“That’s very thoughtful of you. It’s important to stick together when the going gets rough,” I said.
“Exactly.”
“Your sister runs Dumont Gourmet, right? I looked you up and also found her.”
“Yes.”
“I love the products there.”
“I’ll tell her. Anyway, I want to be here for them in any capacity possible. Before, I just saw them on vacations, but now… I want to be a bigger part of their lives. My niece is already— What’s with that smile?”
I caught myself smiling from ear to ear. “I just really like that you’re a great brother and uncle.”
“That’s all?”
“What did you think I was thinking?”
“You really want to know?” There was a playful glint in his eyes again.
Wait, no—it turned from playful to smoldering in a fraction of a second.
Oh, goodness. I’d come here tonight hoping to establish a neighborly relationship with him and smooth over my blunder.
Okay, so maybe those weren’t the only reasons, but I hadn’t expected to be completely smitten with him.
Why was I being inappropriate? Then again, my appropriateness compass wasn’t working quite properly after all that wine.
I blushed, focusing on my glass again. “Maybe not.”
“Good. I’ll keep that info for the next dinner.”
“You’re not letting that go, huh?”
“Absolutely not.”
Rob
Once her plate was empty, she rose from the table with it.
“I’ll deal with this later. Sit down with me.” I didn’t want to waste one minute focusing on anything but her.
“I like doing it,” she murmured. I watched her intently, rising too, joining her at the counter with the rest of the dishes. It took no time to clean up.
Skye checked her watch when she returned to the empty table. She didn’t sit down, just leaned against it, sighing. “It’s so late. I’m going to go. This dinner was really delicious. Thanks.”
“Happy you enjoyed it.”
“Is it your secret weapon to charm women?”
“So you’re charmed?”
She chuckled, blushing, but didn’t respond. I moved closer until our hips were touching, leaning in.
“My answer is no. I haven’t done this in years,” I said.
“Why not?”
“You’re different from anyone I’ve met, Skye. You do things without expecting anything in return, like going to all this hassle for your neighbors. And you’re so sexy that it drives me crazy. I want you. From the moment I saw you, I wanted you. And now? I can barely think straight.”
“Rob…,” she whispered.
“I’m Rob now? Not Robert. Good to know.”
Blinking a few times, she rubbed at her eyes. “Oh, why did I have so much wine?”
She’d had a little too much, and I wasn’t going to take advantage of it. I had to clasp my hands behind my back to make sure I wouldn’t be tempted to touch her. But damn it, it was the hardest thing. All I wanted was to be closer, erase any distance between us.
“Come on, I’ll walk you to your door.”
“Afraid I won’t find the way?” she teased.
“Something like that.”
“I’m not that drunk.”
“I just want to spend a few more minutes with you, Skye.”
I tilted forward a few more inches, until I smelled her faint perfume. Damn, I was playing with fire.
Clearing her throat, she took a step back, pointing at me. “Just walk me to your door.”
“Why, afraid you’ll invite me in if I come to yours?”
“Maybe,” she whispered. Fuck, her lips and smile looked absolutely delicious. The knowledge that she wanted me just as badly was driving me insane.
“You bite your lip every time I look at your mouth. Think I didn’t notice?” I feathered my fingers over her cheek, then slowly over her lower lip. I was seconds away from kissing her.
She parted her lips on an exhale. My eyes flared, and I captured her mouth.
She fisted my shirt, taking it out of my pants before slipping her hand underneath it, over my abdomen.
I needed more than this kiss. I needed to touch her.
She moved her hand farther up my chest before descending back down, right until she reached the metal clasp of my belt.
“Skye, fuck,” I exclaimed on a groan, cupping her ass. Her short dress shifted, and I touched her bare ass cheeks. The next second she pressed her thighs together. She’d drenched her panties, I was sure of it.
She arched her hips into me, biting my lower lip lightly before kissing me again.
She was pressed against me: her breasts, her hips.
I moved my hands over her buttocks to her hips, then back down to her ass cheeks, dangerously close to the strap in between them.
A light tremor coursed through her. I was so turned on that I could barely breathe.
Groaning, I tore my mouth from hers. “You’re driving me crazy.”
Her eyes were hooded, but when I pulled back a few inches, she exhaled sharply, glancing at the door. It was my cue that she wasn’t ready for more tonight. Her body might have been, but she wasn’t.
“After you,” I said, tilting my head toward the door.
I walked slightly behind her but reached ahead of her and opened the door. I made to go out with her, but Skye pointed at me again.
“No. You stay here.”
“Or what?” I teased.
She licked her lips. Fucking hell, was she trying to kill me? I clutched the handle tightly. It was either that or kiss her against the doorframe.
“I don’t know. Just seems the smart thing to do.”
“Fine, but first, I want you to promise we’ll do this again soon.”
“Maybe.”
I laughed when she closed the door quickly, as if it was the only thing she could think of to cut through the thick sexual tension between us.
Hell, tonight had taken me by surprise in every way possible.
I’d been attracted to Skye from the first time I saw her, but then again, a man would have to have ice running through his veins not to be attracted to her.
She was beautiful and sensual, but tonight, that attraction had magnified by a factor of one million.
When I’d spoken about Anne and Lindsay, she’d understood exactly what I was saying.
Back in LA, some acquaintances told me point-blank that I was crazy to change things so drastically just because my sister was going through a divorce. But Skye… Skye was one of a kind.
She’d only said maybe to a repeat of tonight. But I was excellent at turning maybe into yes.