Part 21 (1/2)
”I got a mini-suite with a separate bedroom-why don't you both come over for the night?” he said when she answered.
”Oh, Nate. Well...”
It cost him a large chunk of his pride to say, ”I know I should've asked before I even left Bounty Bay, but I didn't think. I miss you, Lauren. I miss you both already.”
Then he tried to lighten the desperation in his voice by adding, ”It'll be like a sleepover. You and Drew take the queen bed, and I'll sleep on the couch. Tomorrow Drew'll have a blast in the hotel's swimming pool-it's got a waterslide and everything.”
Another pause hissed down the line.
”Todd and Kathy have taken Drew for a couple of nights,” she said. ”They've gone to stay with one of Todd's friends.”
She was alone? Nate's pulse accelerated, and he licked suddenly dry lips, pressing the phone hard against his ear as if it would somehow bring her closer.
”Come and stay with me, baby. Just the two of us, no distractions. Let me hold you all night instead of having to leave your bed by morning.”
Her soft gasp punched a hot, fistful of l.u.s.t low into his gut. Right then, he knew if she said no, he'd dump the a.s.signment and drive back.
”I can be there in three hours.”
Her breathier-than-normal voice made him grin like a man who'd just won the lottery.
”I'll be waiting.” He rattled off the hotel's address and said goodbye.
Three hours until he could see her smile, taste the softness of her mouth. Two nights to spend making love to her.
As he crossed the road to his hotel, Nate told himself it was enough. That two nights with Lauren would get him through the endless nights alone once he hit the international airport with his camera and backpack.
Chapter 10.
After driving for hours, nerves a jittering accompaniment to the blast of the stereo, Lauren parked the station wagon and crossed the parking lot to Nate's hotel. The small carry bag in her hand felt too light without the kid paraphernalia that usually accompanied her everywhere. Meeting her lover for a weekend in his hotel room-she'd never done that before. Why had she agreed? And what were the unwritten rules in this situation?
She glanced at her shorts and sandals and s.h.i.+vered in the cool night air. Maybe she should've dressed up-or at least swiped on some makeup instead of racing out of the house after he'd called, desperate to be with him.
The ride up to his room took forever, the piped-in music scouring away the last of her composure as she exited the elevator and followed the room numbers. Outside his door, she was seconds away from turning tail and making a run back to her car. Then the door opened to Nate, hipshot and bare-chested, dressed only in cargo shorts.
Total yum. Even from the hallway, she caught the scent of shampoo and delicious, clean male. Would it be rude to shove him backward and pounce? Now she really was acting crazy-swinging from nerves to thigh-squeezing desire and back again.
”Good timing.”
He pulled the door open farther, and she stepped inside, the hairs on her arms standing to attention.
Offering him a wan smile, she scanned the room. The switched-on table lamps provided a gentle glow against the darkness pressed up against the outside windows. No champagne bottles on ice, no over-the-top bouquets, and as she followed him through the small living area to the bedroom, no rose petals strewn across the bed's white comforter. Thank goodness.
Nate took the overnight bag from her hand and tossed it onto a chair.
”Come with me.” He towed her into the gleaming, white-tiled bathroom, the rough calluses on his fingers sending an erotic thrill through her. ”I ran you a bath.”
Strawberry-scented white bubbles foamed in a large corner bathtub. The foamy puffs hissing softly as tiny bubbles burst drew some of the tension out of her muscles. ”Oh, that's so sweet.”
Clapping a hand to the back of his neck, Nate slanted her a glance. ”I knew you'd be tired after that drive, and I didn't want you to think I'd planned to jump you the minute you walked in.”
His phrasing sent a flush of heat through her. Would she have complained if he had? She smoothed her car-wrinkled clothes with a grimace. ”I kind of wondered if I should've worn a c.o.c.ktail dress. I feel underdressed for the occasion.”
He chuckled and looked down at his shorts. ”Uh-oh. Should I have gone for the tuxedo and caviar?”
Pressing her lips together to stop a smile, Lauren shook her head. ”But you'd be a total fox in a tuxedo.”
”You're not the champagne and tuxedo type. I know this, because I know you.” His voice caressed her as he reached out and twisted a lock of her hair around his finger. ”Now take your bath before it gets cold.”
Nate left her alone, and Lauren stripped, feeling more naked than she had at any other time during their weeks of lovemaking. It'd been easier to avoid real intimacy when they were forced to work around Drew, easier to keep her vulnerable parts hidden away. Because falling in love with Nate left her heart raw and exposed, wide open to fresh scars that he wouldn't even realize he'd created.
After piling her clothes in the corner of the room, she sank into the bathtub with a groan. She wouldn't think any more about that tonight. He didn't love her, he wouldn't stay and he'd undoubtedly break her heart. But tonight, he'd cared enough to run her a bath and- Nate walked back into the bathroom with a steaming mug and said, ”Chamomile tea?”
And he cared enough to make her tea.
”Put the tea down and come here.”
Nate placed the mug on the counter and sat on the edge of the bath, wiggling his eyebrows. ”Want me to wash your back, pretty lady?”
”Not just yet.”
Running a toe over his hand gripping the bath edge, Lauren arched her back so her b.r.e.a.s.t.s bobbed up through drifts of white froth. A sharp intake of breath from Nate as his eyes hooded in sensual appreciation. She lifted her foot from his hand and curled her toes into the ridges of his abs. The man was far too dry, far too smug, and she hadn't forgotten his accusation at the beach that she didn't have enough fun.
When he stroked his palm down the underside of her calf to the sensitive spot behind her knee, Lauren surged upright, grabbed his wrist and tugged. With a startled yelp, Nate slipped into the bathtub.
Who knew one man could displace so much soapy water? Who knew she could rocket from mildly aroused to turned-on-and-needing-him-right-now in a matter of moments?
His skin slick against hers in a tangle of limbs, Nate pulled her into his lap. ”No back scrub for you.”
She laughed and smoothed puffs of white bubbles off his face. ”That's okay. I've got you exactly where I want you now.”
He squeezed her bottom, and she squirmed up his thighs until his erection wedged against her hip. As he grinned down at her, the desire darkening his eyes made Lauren's heart thump wildly into her ribs.
”I think you've lost control of this situation, Laur.” Nate ran his lips down her temple before one soap-covered hand gently gripped her jaw and tilted her mouth to his.
Warm breath teased her, and she couldn't pull her gaze from the siren-call of his eyes. And like a siren that s.h.i.+pwrecked sailors of old, he drew all resistance from her, promising heaven if she'd cast herself adrift in his arms.
Sealing his mouth to hers, he took her under. The chance to pull back and steer toward safer sh.o.r.es vanished like the delicate froth of bubbles around them. Roughened hands slid on wet skin, up over her hips, tracing along her waist and skimming the underside of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Her nipples ached as he brushed his fingers over the puckered tips then delicately rolled the sensitized buds between his thumb and forefinger. Too many sensations cascaded through her body at once.
Lauren gasped into his kiss, lacing her fingers in the damp hair at his nape. Held on tight before the feel of his hands on her b.r.e.a.s.t.s blew the top of her head right off.
His tongue danced with hers then he pulled back, moving those super-s.e.xy lips down to the column of her throat. ”You're so beautiful; you drive me crazy.”
A sharp jerk of his hips made it clear he told the truth. Releasing his hair, she ran a fingernail over the bunched muscles of his shoulder, down the planes of his chest and circled his nipple. Another hip twitch.
”And you've got too many clothes on.” Lauren wriggled off his lap to her knees. She tugged off his shorts, dropped them over the side of the bathtub. ”Much better.”