the look on his face said she wasn’t going to get any of those things. His hands were shoved in his pockets, his tongue was back in his mouth, his lips were sealed tight and turned down in a frown.
He was trying to pretend he regretted the kiss.
She knew he didn’t.
“That was…unexpected,” she admitted, hearing the weakness of her voice.
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”
“Oh, of course you meant to. Just as I meant to.”
“Maybe you’re right. But that doesn’t mean it can happen again, or go any further.”
She opened her mouth to argue.
“You’re only here for a short time, you’re my boss’s granddaughter and he trusted me to look after you.”
“I think he was sort of hoping you would romance me,” she said, her tone dry.
“Yeah, but not bang you up against the front door.”
“Is that where we would have ended up? Gee, and the sofa is right in the next room.”
“Damn it, Candace.”
She held a hand up, palm out, stopping him from saying anything more. “Forget it. I know you’re right. I have reasons of my own for not insisting you rip off your clothes and do me until I can’t remember my own name.”
He coughed and laughed, both at the same time. Then, as if the laughter—and her saucy words—had snapped some kind of spell, he reached out, put his hands on her shoulders and spun her around so she faced the staircase. Gently pushing her, he ordered, “Go.”
She spun back around. “I can’t.”
His jaw turned into granite. “You’re being ridiculous.”
All because he needed her to be the one who walked away and ended this before it really began? As if he had no free will? As if he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from doing to her exactly what she’d practically dared him to do unless she removed herself from his presence?
You don’t want him to do it, either, remember? You know you can’t do this.
Her grandfather was being moved to a rehab facility today. He’d be there for about a week, and then he would be coming home. But coming home to what? Her having an affair with his groundskeeper, then the descent of the paparazzi once her engagement was announced? Did he really need that while he recovered? Did Oliver, who was obviously here for reasons he hadn’t yet revealed to her? Did she need the scandal? Did Tommy?
No. She might want Oliver, and having sex with him might even be worth what she would go through afterward if people found out. But nobody else deserved it. She needed to cool this, here and now. She had to be the one who walked away.
Which still wasn’t going to be easy.
“I’m telling you, you really don’t want to watch me walking up those stairs.”
“Yes. I really do.”
“And you’re honestly not going to get out of here until I do?”
“No.”
“You’ll regret it.”
“Hell, I already regret it,” he said, tunneling both his hands through his hair this time, leaving it more tousled than before.
“Not as much as you’re about to.”
A helping of anger had been heaped upon her sexual frustration. Yes, she’d decided she couldn’t have him, but did he have to be so damned insistent about it?
She hadn’t been kidding that he was going to regret it. Because she was ready to give him what he was asking for…and wondered if he was ready for what came along with it.
Without another word, she spun around again, squared her shoulders, stiffened her spine and ascended the stairs. He stood below, watching her, and when she reached the fourth one, she couldn’t help pausing to glance over her shoulder at him.
“Oh, Oliver, do you want to know why I didn’t want to walk up the stairs until you left?”
He didn’t reply, just gave her an inscrutable look.
She told him anyway. “Because of this.”
Candace took another step, knowing she’d reached the point of no return. Knowing full well he could now see what she was not wearing beneath her robe.
She wished she could say his strangled, guttural cry of helpless frustration made her feel better about walking away from what she sensed could be the best sex of her life.
But she just couldn’t.
EVER SINCE HE’D started getting involved with females, Oliver had known how to handle them. Maybe it was because he’d had sisters, lots of girl cousins and parents with an honest, loving marriage in which nobody held the upper hand. Maybe because he’d had girls after him since he hit puberty. Maybe he’d just been born with the gene.
The point was, he’d always been sure of himself when it came to women. He’d always known when one was interested and when she wasn’t, been able to gauge how soon was too soon, or when it was too late and he’d missed his shot. He’d set the pace, led the dance, taken the right steps at the right time.
Until now. Until her. Until Candace.
She had him twisted inside out and upside down, not knowing what to do or say next. He didn’t know whether to resist or keep on fighting. Part of him wished she’d never shown up at Buddy’s house, and another part dreaded the day she would leave.
“God, what a mess,” he muttered that evening as he finished taking inventory in the wine cellar. He hadn’t even realized there was one in the house until today, when he’d gone to visit Buddy in the rehab center. He’d watched for Candace to leave the room, heading to the cafeteria for lunch, and then stopped by, not wanting to run into her after what had happened this morning. Coming face-to-face with her would have been more than his heart could have taken, even a couple of hours after she’d marched her bare little fanny up the stairs.
No, not little. Round, supple, perfect.
Just right for cupping in his hands, or pounding against as he took her from behind, the way he’d been dying to as he’d watched her sashay back to her room.
He swallowed hard, wishing he hadn’t allowed himself to go back there in his mind. He’d managed to avoid thinking about her most of the day, but now the images came washing in. He was again overwhelmed by the memory of the gorgeous, naked ass she’d flashed at him as she’d ascended the stairs. He suspected he would keep seeing that vision for a long while, every time he closed his eyes. “You’re a complete idiot,” he muttered to himself. “You’re the one who
