“Do you remember the way to my house?” he asked as he buckled his seat belt. He wasn’t comfortable having her as the one driving, but he’d keep his mouth shut.
“Yes.”
His heartbeat accelerated slightly at her quick response. She wasn’t as over him as she wanted him to believe. He wondered if she’d ever driven by his house during the night. Had he ever stood at his window as she was passing?
No. He surely would have felt it to his very soul.
The two of them had a connection, a bond that couldn’t be broken. The ties might have been loosened, but every moment they were together, the bonds were growing strong again. It was only a matter of time before she realized this and let him back into her life. They needed each other. It was as simple as that.
“You do realize that red means stop, right?”
Ari slammed on her breaks, obviously flustered. The flush in her cheeks made him want to lean over and kiss her. Damn, he wanted to touch her like nothing else. He wanted to run his hand up the lean muscles of her legs, and not stop. Next, he wanted to lean over and slide his tongue along the silky skin of her neck before pulling her against him and kissing her the way a woman should be kissed.
He was making her nervous. It was time to see how in control she really was. He leaned over, which wasn’t very far in her compact Toyota.
“Green means go,” he whispered in her ear, delight filling him as an army of goose bumps appeared on her flesh where his breath had danced across her skin.
She slammed her foot against the accelerator, throwing him back and causing him to fight the laughter that wanted to spill forth. Knowing it would have her hackles up, he held it in, but the more she fought her attraction, the harder it was for him to hide his joy. She brought him so much pleasure, from the smallest things she did to the little quirks that belonged to only her.
What a fool he’d been ever to want to tame her, ever to want to extinguish even the smallest flame from her eyes. No. He would embrace her passion, stoke the flames of her desire, and together the two of them would soar to new heights.
The breath she let out as they arrived at his home was filled with relief, and he couldn’t hold back a light chuckle, though he was quick to cover it up with a cough. She looked at him with suspicion, but didn’t say anything.
His body was hard and aching, but she seemed to be in even worse shape. He would have enjoyed riding around in her tiny car for much, much longer. He’d thought the ride would be miserable, but he’d been very wrong.
Ari jumped from the car before he could say anything.
“I can’t stay long, so let’s do this,” she said briskly as she moved toward his front door as he was struggling to pull himself from her car. It was much harder crawling out of the small thing than it had been for him to get in. He just didn’t fit.
Rafe took his time walking up behind her, enjoying the view of her h*ps swaying as she marched up the front steps. He wished she were wearing a skirt so he could see the muscles flexing in her toned calves. Why a woman’s calves were sexy, he didn’t know, but everything about Ari was sexy — absolutely everything.
“I have all night,” he said, standing only an inch behind her and one step below, aligning the two of them perfectly. Her body jerked, and for a moment the back of her pressed against him, her delicate behind rubbing against his hardness.
The satisfaction of her quickly indrawn breath wasn’t enough to relieve the ache. What he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her and pull her tightly against him, while his hands moved up her flat stomach and caressed her impressive br**sts.
He had to get some control over himself. He wasn’t a horny teenager.
“No touching,” she snapped, but it came out too breathy to have any effect.
“You did that; I didn’t,” he said as he stepped around her with his arms raised in innocence and proceeded to unlock his door.
She didn’t say anything as he opened the door wide for her to go in ahead of him. This night might test the very limits of what he could handle, but he didn’t care. The torture was worth it just to be close to her.
“Would you like a drink?”
“Yes. A glass of wine…please,” she said with a hint of desperation. He was sure her nerves were raw.
Rafe led her into the parlor and poured her a glass of red, then waited for her reaction.
“This is fantastic,” she said as she took a sip, then placed her beautiful lips on the rim of the glass and sampled more.
“I hope so. That’s a 1945 Château Mouton Rothschild. I’ve been waiting to open the bottle until the day I could drink it with you.”
Ari’s eyes widened as she looked at him, and then moved closer to examine the venerable old bottle. He’d taken her by surprise, which pleased him greatly.
“Rafe…”
“No. Don’t say it. Let’s just enjoy the moment.”
“I didn’t mean to mislead you, Rafe, but I only came here to look through the journal. I’m not interested in resuming our relationship.”
She wouldn’t look him in the eyes while she spoke. She just wasn’t the type of person who told a lie very easily. He could call her on it, but he knew that would cause more harm than good. He was much better off to just ignore the statement — get her mind occupied on something else for a while.
“Please get comfortable while I find the journal.”
He didn’t want to hear her tell him all the reasons this was impossible. They would be together; it was only a matter of time. It wasn’t easy for Rafe not to push her, but if it meant that he got to be with her for the long haul, he would put his immediate needs on hold even if that meant his body was on fire 24-7.
Returning to the room with the carefully preserved journal, he felt a thrill at the rapture on Ari’s face. He could even overlook that he might as well have been invisible at that moment. She had eyes only for the journal. Never had he been so happy to own a piece of leather and a bunch of yellowed paper.
This was a beginning and he was taking full advantage of it. Thank you for my in, Great-Great-Whatever-Grandpa, he thought silently.
Chapter Eight
Rachel
Rachel Palazzo dived into the water, reaching down farther and farther until her fingers touched the silken sand on the bottom. She’d been practically born in the water and had frightened her family many times over by showing off how long she could hold her breath.