She immediately caught her bottom lip between her teeth, obviously regretting making that remark.
He regretted it, too. Mainly because, as he took the bottle from her extended hand, and lifted it to his mouth, all he could think about was giving her that instant orgasm.
He could. Of that he had no doubt.
Trouble was, he knew he shouldn’t. He didn’t have that right. He was in no place to offer her anything and in no condition to take anything. Having sex with her would be about one thing and one thing only—instant gratification. And she just didn’t seem like the one-night-stand type. Nor was that what he suspected his matchmaking boss had in mind for them.
He placed his lips right where hers had been, tasting her lipstick, wishing it wasn’t via second degree of separation. Then he sipped, and felt the most delightful burst of flavor in his mouth. He caught smoky undertones, but the tannins were light, unobtrusive. There was also a hint of cherry, or plum. Not sweet, just rich and full-bodied. It went down smooth, the finish just as perfect as the opening, and he couldn’t resist taking another healthy sip.
“Fantastic,” he said when he lowered the bottle. “Should we go for the decanter?”
“Absolutely!”
She spun around and hurried out the door, leading him up the stairs to Buddy’s living room. They were like a pair of kids who’d been given their favorite candy and could hardly wait to dig in.
And they definitely dug.
An hour later, they’d finished off the first bottle, and most of a second one he’d gone down to grab. The second hadn’t been quite as perfect as the first, even after a fifteen-minute decant, but it beat anything he’d ever ordered at a fancy California restaurant, hands down. And the book only valued it at forty bucks. Something about age definitely made all the difference.
Dividing what was left between their two glasses, he listened as she went over a list of things they needed to check and do tomorrow. That included finding the closest expert who could come out and do an appraisal. By their own unscientific research, Buddy should come out of this at least two hundred thousand dollars richer. One bottle in particular, a 1945 Château Mouton Rothschild, could very well bring in fifty thousand on its own.
Fifty. Thousand. Dollars. For a freaking bottle of wine.
Damn, he was glad he’d bought the reference books and hadn’t dared to just grab a bottle and open it!
Candace sat beside him on the couch. She’d been bouncing with excitement every time he flipped a page and spied a familiar name, pointing to its corresponding mention on his list of Buddy’s wine cellar. Her excitement had been infectious. It had also been so spontaneous that, once, she grabbed his thigh and squeezed.
He’d managed to hide a groan, wondering if she was really clueless about the effect she was having on him. And it wasn’t just a wine-inspired reaction. Oh, no. Everything about her simply called to something inside him. Her soft scent filled his every breath; her long hair brushed his bare forearm. Their legs touched, hips, too. She filled his every sense, and if he’d thought the attraction was dangerous when they’d first met, he knew he was really in trouble now that he liked her so much.
She was delightful, smart, funny and so sexy it hurt to look at her. Their nearness—and, okay, maybe the wine—made the idea of never having this woman seem not only a shame but a crime against humanity.
“I am thrilled for Grandpa,” she said when they’d finally reached the end of the list. She tucked one bent leg beneath her and turned toward him on the couch. “This is going to help him make all his dreams come true.”
He nodded, unable to take his eyes off her burgundydrenched lips, feeling the thrum of excitement that reverberated from her. She was relaxed and happy and he’d never seen her looking so beautiful.
“Thank you,” she said, reaching out to grab his hand and squeeze it.
He couldn’t resist. Twining his fingers in hers, he lifted her hand to brush a kiss on her palm.
She sucked in an audible breath and edged closer. He continued to kiss his way across her palm, until he reached her wrist. Pressing his lips there, he noted the frantic thumping of her pulse and realized her heart was racing.
He dropped her hand. “I didn’t mean to go there.”
“Don’t stop.”
“It’s a bad idea, Candace.”
“What is? You kissing my hand?” She licked her lips and lowered her voice to a sultry whisper. “Or my mouth?”
Or any other part of her? Every other part of her?
“Kiss me, Oliver,” she dared. “One real kiss to celebrate. What do you say?”
Intriguing. “Only one?”
“Yes. Just one. I promise I won’t ask for more.”
He stared into her deep green eyes, wondering whether she was telling him that one would really be enough, or that it would do for a start. Nor could he be sure what he wanted her answer to be.
Not until he spied the list on the table, with Buddy’s name scrawled across the top. He was in his friend’s home, a little high on his prized wine, contemplating kissing his granddaughter. That alone was enough to convince him he couldn’t take any more than the single kiss she’d asked for.
“All right, Candace. Just one.”
“You’re sure that will be enough?”
Hell, no, it wouldn’t be enough. But it was all he was going to allow himself. Period. At least until he didn’t feel like the biggest heel in the world for taking advantage of his boss’s granddaughter…and for letting himself get close to a woman when he knew he had absolutely nothing to offer her.
He didn’t just mean financially. It wasn’t just his lack of a career or a house or even his own car, all of which he’d left behind in L.A. He meant himself. He didn’t have any emotions to offer any woman. He’d felt adrift for months, and it would take more than a hot flirtation with a beautiful brunette to change that. So he wasn’t about to allow himself any more than one small glimpse of the physical pleasure he knew he wasn’t entitled to and didn’t deserve.
“I’m sure,” he finally told her. “One. And then we say good-night.”
“If you’re sure. I mean, remember what we talked about the other night, if you give a mouse a cookie…”
“He’s going to say thank-you and walk out the door.”
She studied him, gauging his seriousness, and nodded. “All right, Oliver. One kiss, and then we say good-night.”
They might have shaken hands given the serious way they made their deal. And a deal was all it was.
One kiss. One and done.
God help him.
ONE KISS? Yeah. Sure. Right.
She couldn’t
