There hadn’t been enough money to attend the after-party with their friends. He’d felt like crap for shortchanging her. But she’d sworn she didn’t mind.
The next thing he knew, she’d skimmed aside the spaghetti straps on her gown and bared her breasts. He could still remember the smell of her wrist corsage, the feel of how she’d dug her kitten claws into his back with a sweet sigh.
Then he’d learned she was drunk because someone had spiked the punch. Their evening ended abruptly and he’d driven her to his house for sobering coffee.
Rafe skimmed a finger along his shirt collar. “Um, I’ll take you up on that drink offer while I wait for Chase to finish his call.”
Sarah smiled full out and with his brain too fogged with memories of her tight nipples against his chest he didn’t bother analyzing what had made her grin.
She gestured to the silver drink cart a few feet away. “Some iced tea … or coffee perhaps?”
“Tea, thanks.” He didn’t need any more heat coursing through his body right now.
“Coming up in a jiffy.” A gleam in her eyes, she hefted the cut-crystal pitcher full of amber and ice.
He picked up his empty glass and held it out for her. “Thanks.”
“My pleasure.”
The sparks in her jade eyes gave him a scant second’s warning that she wasn’t done with him yet. He should have remembered that Sarah didn’t back down. He should have shaken off the mind-numbing memory of seeing her half-naked. Green eyes jewel-tone hard, she upended the pitcher ….
And poured iced tea squarely onto his lap.
Two
Rafe jerked back in shock as Sarah dumped the pitcher full of iced tea over his lap. He dodged most of the contents, his chair clattering back against the floor. All the same, a hefty splash caught his legs, leaving his Brioni suit pants cold and clammy against his skin.
Sarah had always delivered the unexpected, something that apparently hadn’t changed in fourteen years. Not many dared stand up to him these days and he had to confess he found the challenge refreshing. Chuckling softly, he swept beads of liquid from his thighs.
Around the room, silverware clattered against plates and chairs scraped back as curious diners zeroed in on them. Not that Rafe had ever cared what anyone else thought.
The manager charged toward him, face red. Rafe held up a hand stopping him in his tracks, then waving him away. He didn’t have to bother checking to see if the manager honored his request. No one argued with him anymore.
Except Sarah.
Right now his entire focus stayed on the female in front of him, the one woman he could never forget. Fourteen years ago, she’d been a great big risk to his ambitions.
And now? Apparently he was every bit as drawn to her as ever. He laughed—at himself this time, because staying away from Sarah hadn’t done him a damn bit of good.
Sarah slammed down the pitcher, anger steaming off her. “You think this is funny?”
Standing, he dipped his head close to her ear, close enough to catch a whiff of her floral shampoo. “I think I got under your skin.”
Awareness crackled and the bustle of the dining room faded away. Her breasts swelled with each rapidly increasing breath. If he stepped so much as an inch closer, their bodies would brush, tempt, ignite. Her pupils widened with arousal, pushing through the sparkling green. Once he’d dreamed of draping her in emeralds to accent her eyes and making love to her naked other than the jewels. As a man who prided himself on reaching every goal he set for himself, leaving loose ends grated. But there wasn’t going to be a positive outcome with Sarah. Only frustration piled on top of more frustration.
This was the very reason he’d stayed away from the Tennis Club and away from Sarah. He didn’t need the distraction of an unresolved attraction dogging him,
especially not now when he was so close to finally having his revenge on Ronald Worth.
Hauling his eyes off her, he snagged his suit coat from the back of his chair. “I’ll need a to-go box for my lunch. How about you just have them pack up the daily special for both Chase and me? I’m not picky, but I am now in a hurry.”
“Happy to accommodate that request.” She smiled tightly.
“And put a lid on my tea,” he couldn’t resist taunting. “You’ll have to pardon me if I’m suspicious of open containers around you.”
“You’re lucky I didn’t pick the coffee,” she said softly between gritted teeth.
He blinked back his surprise at the level of her anger, all because he hadn’t been able to leave well enough alone. Including that one last urge to call her Kitten. Apparently that had crossed a line for her. While he knew she still stirred up a helluva fire in him, seeing that he ignited such a strong reaction in her as well gave him pause.
A hand on his shoulder startled him. He glanced back to see his stepbrother. Chase Larson didn’t even bother hiding his surprise about the whole tea-soaked situation.
Anger faded from Sarah and a pink blush stole up her face as if she’d only just realized the magnitude of the scene she’d caused. Without a word, she spun away, sidling past the wary manager. She whipped her apron off and thrust her way through the double doors leading to the kitchen.
“Chase,” Rafe said, pulling his eyes from the swinging doors and back to his stepbrother, “we’re going to have to put the rest of our luncheon meeting on hold. As you can see, I need to change clothes.”
Chase Larson was not only his stepbrother, but also handled Rafe’s personal finances and some of his business dealings. They’d become stepbrothers when Rafe’s dad married Chase’s mom fourteen years ago. They hadn’t spent any time living in the same house, but they shared a healthy rivalry that had helped propel them both out of poverty.
His stepbrother pulled his suit jacket from the back of the chair and shrugged it on again. “What the hell happened to you? Did you drop your drink or what?”
“Something like that.” His eyes gravitated to the kitchen doors again where Sarah had disappeared seconds earlier.
He wasn’t normally a man who wasted time on regrets, instead opting to charge forward and tackle the future. But right now, he couldn’t ignore a whopping big regret—that he’d never slept with Sarah Richards.
The next day, Sarah folded and refolded a towel in her kitchen while her grandmother sat serenely shaping ground beef into patties to be frozen. Individual patties for lonely meals. Her grandmother and parents invited her to their homes often, or came over to hers like tonight, but nothing could replace the daily companionship of the husband she’d lost.
Tonight, she and Grandma Kat had eaten salads and discussed last-minute details for her grandmother’s upcoming sixty-fifth birthday bash this weekend. Yet still Kathleen didn’t leave, offering to help with small household chores. Normally, Sarah would have insisted she was fine, but after the day she’d experienced, facing her empty house seemed tougher than normal.
Silently,
