He held out the bouquet and she accepted it. “Thank you,” she said before inhaling all the different aromatics.
“It’s not enough. Not nearly enough. But it’s a start. I know I have a lot of explaining to do, but I really hope you’ll hear me out. I’ve spent the last twenty-four hours trying to figure out how to tell you how I really feel about you. If you’d just give me the chance.”
A thud sounded over Lauren’s shoulder and when she looked to see what made the sound, she saw her purse lying on the curb behind her. Amy waved at her through the window and the next thing she knew, the food truck engine roared to life. Amy left, leaving her with no choice but to listen to him or walk home.
Sutton gestured over to a nearby park bench. She grabbed her purse and followed him over there. Sitting side by side, she focused her eyes across the street at the line of closed shops. If she looked at him, she would give in too easily. She needed to be firm. Stand up for herself.
“Go ahead. I’m listening.”
“Being a Wingate is a complicated thing,” he began. “I’m not using it as an excuse, I’m just trying to explain what it’s like. When we were rich and successful, it was hard to trust people because someone always wanted something from you. Whether it was someone looking for an investor, or a handout or a Sugar Daddy, it was hard to tell who was really your friend and who wasn’t.” He cleared his throat. “So when everything fell apart with the business, there was a new layer of suspicion added. Who was behind it all and why would they do something to us like that? It had to be someone we knew. Someone we trusted. It was a hard pill for all of us to swallow.
“That night at the masquerade party, I was not having a good time. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me, judging my whole family for things we didn’t do. And then I saw you and everything changed.” He stopped speaking for a moment.
Lauren couldn’t stop from turning to him then. He was looking at her with a pleading gaze. Desperate for her to listen and understand. Fighting the urge to reach out and touch her before she was ready.
“You didn’t look at me like that,” Sutton continued. “You had no idea who I was. You weren’t after a lifetime of alimony payments or someone to front cash for your latest sure thing. You just wanted to dance with me. To kiss me. To give yourself to me. And that felt amazing. I couldn’t wait to find out who you really were. And then you disappeared on me, leaving nothing but a mask to prove you were even real.”
Lauren’s gaze dropped into her lap. She felt guilty for leaving now, even though at the time it seemed like the best thing to do. The real Lauren just wasn’t that ex
citing. Or glamorous. Or so she thought. Was it possible that he was more than interested in her, without the mask and gown?
“I thought I might never figure out who you were,” Sutton explained with a sad shake of his head. “And then my brother told me that the woman he’d had a fling with at the party had showed up on his doorstep. I was so incredibly jealous. But he kept insisting it didn’t feel right. So we started to wonder if there was more to it. Had we both been seduced by a woman or a pair of women set on getting information from us? Was it related somehow to the company’s troubles? We had no way of knowing. So he suggested I go out with you once and see what I thought.
“The minute I laid eyes on you, I knew the problem was that you were my mystery woman, not his. And when I touched you, it was all over for me. I was so excited to have found you, Lauren. Until you called me by my brother’s name and I realized I had a big problem. I wanted to tell you the truth, but I didn’t know how. So I kept my distance. I didn’t want to let things go too far while you thought I was Sebastian.”
She closed her eyes as she realized the truth of why he hadn’t kissed her again since that first night. “I thought maybe you didn’t want me. That without the excitement of the mask and my makeover, you just weren’t that into it. I’ve felt like an obligation since the beginning, especially with Sebastian.”
Sutton reached out to cup her cheek and turn her gaze to meet his. “That couldn’t be farther from the truth, Lauren. I’ve wanted nothing more than to hold you. And kiss you and make love to you again. But when I did it, I wanted you to call out my name, not my brother’s.”
She gasped at his words. They were sincerer, more intense than she ever could’ve imagined. A man had never spoken to her that way before.
Lauren couldn’t resist leaning into him. He met her advance with his mouth, pressing his lips firmly against hers. It was just like she remembered from the club. Passionate. Hungry. He groaned as her tongue slid along his and invited more.
His arms wrapped around her waist, tugging her closer to him on the bench. Lauren ached for the feel of his fingertips pressed into her flesh and the hard wall of his chest beneath her own. She wanted to unbutton his collar and touch him like she had before. But not here, on a city park bench. If she’d learned nothing else from her conversation with Gracie today, it was that people were always watching. She wanted to take him home and do whatever she wanted without witnesses or a hard pool table limiting her.
Lauren pulled away from his lips, near breathless. “I know your name now,” she said with a wicked smile.
Eight
As they drove back to Sutton’s house, Lauren wasn’t entirely sure this was a good idea. He had apologized for deceiving her, and she had accepted his apology, so they were okay there, at least. But she wondered if it was too soon to sleep with him again. She was just coming to terms with him being who he really was.
But in that moment, when Sutton looked at her with desire blazing in his eyes, she didn’t care about whether or not it was the wrong thing to do right now. None of those reasons mattered anymore. She had spent every night since the masquerade ball lying in bed, thinking about being with her big, bad wolf again. When she met Sebastian and her expectations crumbled, she thought she might never have that chance again.
And now here she was, standing in Sutton’s luxuriously appointed bedroom, slipping out of her chef’s jacket. And it was about to happen. She couldn’t deny herself what she’d fantasized about any longer when it was here for the taking.
His green eyes never left hers as he shrugged out of his own coat. He was trying to focus on what he was doing, but she could tell it was difficult for him, with her slowly pulling her shirt up over her head and exposing the red-and-white floral bra she was wearing underneath. She tossed the top over a chair with her coat. Then she reached down to unbutton her jeans.
It was at that point that Sutton froze in place, no longer able to undress himself while watching her at the same time. She supposed this time was different for them both. They not only knew each other’s names, but the lights were on. They could see everything the other had to offer. All of the things they’d felt, but not seen, were on display.
Despite how much she wanted to quickly slip out of her clothes and press up against him, she was going to take her time. She turned her back to Sutton, giving him a full view of her rear end as the denim peeled away and exposed the red cotton bikini-cut panties she wore beneath them.
She hadn’t had seduction on her mind when she dressed this morning, but he didn’t seem to mind. Sutton groaned aloud as she bent over and stepped out of the pants. And when she turned back around to face him wearing nothing but her bra and panties, he was standing exactly as she’d left him.
Walking over to him, she pushed his shirt off his shoulders until it slipped to the floor. She let her hands run over his bare chest and arms, something she hadn’t been able to do before, and enjoyed the firm muscles that twitched beneath the silk of his skin. He seemed to almost be holding his breath the entire time she touched him, yet still cooperating with her exploration until Lauren reached for the button of his trousers. Then his hand came to hers, covering her fingers and keeping her from going any further.
“Not so fast,” Sutton growled. “We’re not in a rush tonight.”
Lauren pouted for a moment but had to admit that she was looking forward to a long, leisurely night of lovemaking in a real bed with all of their clothes off. The quick, passionate tryst they’d had at the club was the kind that sacrificed comfort for a driving need, but tonight, they could do anything and everything they wanted without interruption or discomfort.