All she had to do was gather up the courage to try.
Gabriel tapped her foot with his under the table. “That’s a very guilty look I see. What exactly are you thinking?”
“Nothing.” She pretended to be very interested in her meal.
“Charlotte.” A coaxing murmur that reached all sorts of places it shouldn’t reach. “Tell me.”
“Eat your dinn—umph.” Chewing on the mouthful he’d fed her, she glared at him. “Stop doing that.”
“You barely ate anything you were so worried about being nice to me.” He leaned back in his chair. “I know how much is normal for you, so don’t tell me otherwise.”
Eyes narrowed, she put some more rice and stir-fry on her plate. Not because of his words, but because she was hungry now that the knot in her stomach had been replaced by butterflies drunk on the sinful ideas circling her mind. Gabriel didn’t say anything until after she was done, and the two of them were nibbling on the berries and grapes she’d put out for dessert.
“What made you blush?” He ran the back of his index finger down her cheek.
Charlotte immediately blushed again.
“Oh, now I have to know.” His shirt stretching across his shoulders, he braced one arm over his chair back, turning to angle his body toward hers. “What makes my Ms. Baird go that sweet pink shade that makes me think about the tips of her nipples? Specifically, if they’re the same color.”
Those nipples throbbed as if he were tugging at them with his fingers and not his words. Rising on a hot flush, she went to clear the table, but he put his hand on the back of her chair in a gentle restraint. It didn’t make her afraid, not when he had that hungry T-Rex smile on his face.
“Are you sure you want to know?” she asked, deciding to fight fire with fire.
“Of course.”
“Don’t blame me for your frustration then.”
“I’m sure I can handle it, Ms. Baird.”
Charlotte bit down on her lower lip on purpose. His eyes went straight to her mouth, and her breasts grew even tighter, her nipples stiff points. It was nerve-racking to flirt with Gabriel so provocatively, but in a good way. “Well,” she whispered, leaning toward him, “I was imagining what you’d do if…”
“If?” His hand flexed on the back of her chair, the tanned skin revealed by the open collar of his shirt inviting her kiss, her caresses.
“If I served you dinner wearing an apron and nothing else.” The words came out in a rush.
Gabriel’s chest rose and fell in harsh breaths. “You are a bad, bad woman, Ms. Baird.”
“I wasn’t until I met you.” Sliding out of her chair on the side he hadn’t blocked with his arm, she cleared the table. “Aren’t you going to help?” she asked sweetly.
“When I can walk again, we’ll talk about your new sass.” He hauled her into his lap when she came back to the table, the hard ridge of his erection pushing against her buttocks. “Do I get you for my real dessert?”
Charlotte rubbed her fingers against her thighs.
Nuzzling at her throat, the roughness of his jaw scraping her collarbone and sending shivers over her body, Gabriel said, “Am I coming on too strong?”
“No.” He was who he was, and she liked him that way. “I just… I want to.” There, she’d managed to get it out, even if it wasn’t particularly coherent.
Body going absolutely motionless, he said, “What?”
“Have sex. With you.” Breath so shallow she’d hyperventilate if she wasn’t careful, she stared at the wall instead of at him. “I don’t want to be scared and missing out and hiding. I want to cut through the scar in a quick, clean move.”
“By having sex with me?”
“Yes.” Biting her lip again, this time because of nerves, she forced herself to turn to face him. “Are you mad?” Her proposal wasn’t exactly romantic.
“Why would I be mad at the idea of having you hot and wet and tight around me?” It was a rough purr of a question. “But Charlotte, are you ready? I don’t want to scare you off being with me because we rushed it.”
“Molly says we’ve been engaging in foreplay for months.”
“Molly is a smart woman.” Another nuzzling kiss to her throat, those bristles rasping over her skin in a caress that went straight to her breasts. “How about here?”
“What?” It came out a squeak.
“Kitchen-chair sex seems appropriate after that crack about the apron.”
Charlotte had been building up the guts to go into the bedroom with him, and he wanted to do it right here? Under the bright white kitchen lights? “I don’t know if that would be very comfortable.” It was the only thing she could think to say, her mind a mess.
29
CHARLOTTE CONFESSES HER MISDEEDS
SHE WAS ADORABLE. SEXY and adorable. And his. Gabriel much preferred her flustered and blushing to scared and stiff. He figured the instant they hit the bedroom, she’d get nervous, start to worry. Right now, she was so scandalized at his suggestion that she hadn’t remembered to be afraid.
“There’s just one problem,” he said, sliding his hand under the edge of her dress to place it on the silky skin of her thigh.
“One?” Her hand clenched on his nape. “You’re asking me to have kitchen-chair sex and you say there’s one problem?”