“She’d not have to live there,” Griffin stressed. “There are nice apartments just down the street.”
“You just don’t get it, do you? Even without considering the expense for her, neither of us has the time or energy to commute, even if it’s no more than half a block. Christy Joy walks Twink to the best preschool in Monarch Bay, and still she’s pressed for time. We also have clerks who walk to work, and being on the edge of town wouldn’t work for them either.”
Griffin leaned against the counter beside Darcy and folded his arms across his chest. “Can’t you see how easily you could grow your business in a larger setting?”
“What I see is that you want us to move into a building we can’t afford and tourists will fly right on by, in the hope our business will improve. Somehow that just doesn’t seem like a smart plan to me.”
“Has anyone ever commented on the fact that you’re as stubborn as your cacti?” he shot back at her.
She stepped in front of him. “I am not stubborn! I’m merely focused. And right now, I need to be outside. I’d like to plant the wisteria vine today, hang the iron fish and wrap up our work here.”
Griffin pushed away from the counter. “What about the fountains?”
Darcy just shook her head. “You weren’t actually serious about putting one in, were you?”
“Of course, I’m serious. I told you I might want two, remember?”
“Yes, but I didn’t think you really meant it.”
“Well, I did. The wisteria vine will be colorful and fragrant, but water cascading into a fountain provides soothing music.” He took a step toward her and inclined his head. “Did I mention how glad I am to see you?” he whispered against her lips.
Darcy had been so worried about him, which she refused to admit, but she wouldn’t apologize for rejecting the old market site. She would simply welcome his kiss and hope he’d see the wisdom of her argument later.
She expected only an affectionate hello, but when he pulled her into a fond embrace and unbuttoned her overalls, it quickly became apparent he had something far more intimate in mind. In one easy motion, he yanked the flower-bedecked garment and her lacy bikini panties down to her knees, picked her up and angled her face-down on the counter.
“Griffin! What are you doing?” she squealed, but she was more amused than alarmed by his sudden ardor, and her exclamation was tinged with laughter.
“You know damn well what I’m doing.” He dropped his pants, stepped between her dangling legs and stroked the length of her cleft with the smooth tip of his cock.
Despite his haste, it felt so right to have him jammed between her legs. She braced herself on her forearms, but as she raised her head, she was appalled to find they were directly opposite one of the kitchen windows. Any second one of her crew might glance their way and realize exactly what they were doing.
“They’re going to see us!” She stretched to catch hold of the cord on the mini-blinds, but it was just out of reach.
“Come back here,” he urged in a husky drawl.
He was easing into her, inch by delicious inch, but she knew one glimpse of this wild sex on the counter and her crew would never stop teasing her.
“Can’t you perform without an audience?” she hissed at him.
Griffin leaned over her back, caught the cord and jerked the blinds shut. “I need only you,” he emphasized with a quick thrust that took him deep. He slid his arms around her, held her pressed against him and plucked her puckered nipples.
Balanced on the counter, she felt not only his strength, but his desperation to melt into her. It didn’t matter where he’d been that day when he was with her now. She was frightened for him, not of him, and she twisted her hips to increase the friction along his shaft.
“That’s it,” he breathed against her nape, and he shortened his strokes to a playful flutter.
He filled her so completely that each time he began to withdraw she felt an aching loss and slammed her bottom back against his thighs. His breathing was quick and shallow, but his every stroke was calculated to carry her with him toward completion. When her climax at last spiraled around him in a heated gush, he rode the slippery wave one last time, then tensed and thrust deep. He held her as the most primitive of thrills shuddered through them both, then waited a long while to withdraw and put his clothes in order.
Had he not caught her, she would have slid right off the counter in a languid heap. Weaving s
lightly, she pulled up her panties and overalls then headed straight for the nearby bathroom. “Give me a minute,” she called over her shoulder, but when she returned, Griffin was already outside on the terrace.
She struggled to adopt a carefree stride as she approached him, but two of her crew were grinning with what looked like rapt envy, and she feared even without an eyeful they knew precisely how she and Griffin had spent the last half hour. She nodded to inspire them to get back to work and looked up at Griffin.
“The ocean’s roar is so loud here that I doubt you’d hear any gentle bubbling from a fountain. Let’s go scout locations at the front of the house.”
He gestured for her to precede him, but as they rounded the corner, he caught up with her. “Don’t you think your men already know that you’re sleeping with me?”
“Not from me they don’t,” she scolded.