what Farrah didn’t know was that he hadn’t been sexually involved with a woman since her, and Beth would have only been a substitute for the one woman he truly wanted. The woman he was sitting in the lobby waiting for at that very moment.
As if he conjured her, the elevator door opened, and Farrah stepped out. He blinked as he stared at her. She was wearing a long coat so he couldn’t see her outfit, but just seeing her made his erection spring to life. He was grateful his briefcase was still placed across his lap, and he kept it strategically placed in front of him when he stood, trying to get control of his mind and body.
“You look nice, Farrah,” he said, reaching for his coat on the sofa beside him.
“Thanks. If you’d like, you can leave your briefcase and wine at the front desk until we return, or I can take it back up to my room,” she said sliding her hands into a pair of black leather gloves.
He preferred her taking it back up to her room so he’d have an excuse to go up there when they got back. Or he could go back up to her room with her now to leave the items. But if he were to follow her up to her hotel room, that would be asking for trouble. Seeing Farrah made him realize just how much he’d missed her. How much he still wanted her.
“I can leave them at the front desk. That’s no problem,” he heard himself saying, knowing that was the best option.
“You sure?”
Yes, he was sure—if she wanted to keep her clothes on for the rest of the night. “Yes, I’m sure. Ready to go?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
Together they strolled over to the front desk, and he completed a claim slip for his belongings. Moments later they were walking through the hotel’s glass door to exit the building. The temperature had dropped dramatically, and the cold air seemed to blast down on them the moment they stepped onto the sidewalk.
“Wow, it’s freezing out here,” Farrah said, tightening her leather coat around her.
Instead of responding, on instinct Xavier wrapped his arms around her waist to bring her closer to his side. The moment he touched her, a shot of something akin to hot liquid fire exploded through his veins and he nearly groaned out loud. But he kept his arms around her to share his heat, grateful for his own wool coat. However, nothing could stop his reaction to the feel of her being plastered to his body.
That made him remember how it was being skin to skin with her while they made love, sliding in and out of her body, feeling her moist heat clench him in a way that could make him moan out her name.
She didn’t look over at him. Instead she stared straight ahead. He didn’t have a problem with that; in fact, he much preferred it. If their gazes were to connect now, he would be tempted to take her mouth and to tongue her right in the middle of the sidewalk.
He decided talking would be much safer, so he asked, “Warmer now?”
She nodded. “Yes and thanks. We have cold weather back in Charlotte, but this seems to be a different kind of cold. I’m even wearing an extra layer of clothing.”
Telling him what she had on her body wasn’t helping matters, he thought, especially when he was having visions of her not wearing anything at all. He always enjoyed seeing her naked. But then her clothing was known to be sexy as well. He recalled arriving one night when she’d worked late at the office and she’d been wearing a two-piece suit. She’d looked professional as well as sensual.
Even now he couldn’t help wondering what she was wearing underneath her long coat. All he could see was a nice pair of chocolate-colored suede boots.
“Is the restaurant far?” she interrupted his thoughts to ask.
He smiled, hearing the shiver in her voice. His woman was cold. He frowned. He’d never thought of any female as “his woman” before. That had definitely been a slip of the senses.
“No, in fact it’s right on the corner. Otherwise, I would have called for a car. However, I did call ahead and make reservations while you were upstairs getting dressed.”
“Good. I could eat a horse about now.”
And he could eat her. Pushing that thought out of his mind, he tried dwelling on what she said. One of the things he’d always liked about Farrah was that she had no problems filling her plate with the takeout he’d bring with him to her place. How she managed to stay in such fantastic shape was beyond him. She had the kind of curves that would make any man take a second look and moan, then take another look and wish.
“Here we are,” he said, opening the door to the Chinese restaurant. He knew how much she enjoyed Asian foods and had immediately remembered this place. He had eaten here a few months ago while in New York on business and had thought of her then. But to be honest, he’d thought of her a lot since they’d ended things between them.
“Nice place,” she said, glancing around.
He followed her gaze. Like them, several couples had braved the cold temperatures to eat out this evening.
After providing the hostess their names, they followed the woman to an area in the back where a fireplace had a blaze roaring, emitting plenty of heat. He assisted Farrah in removing her coat to hang it up on a nearby rack. When he saw her outfit, his heart began pounding in his chest and his body tightened in ways only she could make it do.
She was wearing a short tan-colored wool skirt, brown tights and a multicolor V-neck cardigan sweater. The way the sweater draped over her skirt emphasized her small waist and those nice curves he’d been thinking about earlier. His gaze traveled the full length of her physique, from the curly shoulder length hair, past a well-endowed chest, down her thighs and to shapely legs encased in a pair of knee-high boots.
While removing her gloves, she seemed not to notice the way he was staring at her. A muscle jerked in his jaw as he watched her slide into her chair. He felt sort of off balance, and he realized the depth of his desires for this particular woman was … well, getting exposed. Trying to get a grip, he moved away slightly to remove his own coat and proceeded to place it on the rack next to Farrah’s before taking the chair across from her.
“How did you find out about this place?” she asked, smiling, while picking up the menu a waitress placed in front of them.
He met her gaze, and a sensual shiver ran through him. He had been attracted to her from the first time they met, and over a year later he was still very much attracted to her now. “Cameron and I came here for a business meeting in September. Like you, he enjoys Chinese food, and not surprisingly, he knew about this place.”
She nodded. “And how is Mr. Cody doing these days? Natalie mentioned Vanessa’s pregnant and they’re expecting a baby in the spring.”
Since Vanessa was Donovan’s cousin, Xavier was aware Farrah had met Vanessa at a bridal shower given for Natalie last spring, but Farrah hadn’t met Cameron until the wedding.
“Cameron is fine, and yes, Vanessa is due in April, and they already know it’s going to be a little girl. He’s excited about that. I can see her wrapping her dad around her little finger.”
During one of their pillow talk sessions, he’d told her a lot about Cameron, and how their friendship began back at Harvard. He’d even shared with her how determined his friend had been to win Vanessa Steele’s
