Always - Iris Johansen [41]
“I like it,” he said softly. “I’m just having a little trouble adjusting to it. I wonder what other surprises I have in store for me.” His gaze returned compulsively to her breasts. “Could I persuade you to put on your blouse? Looking at all that lovely bounty is putting me in a very painful state.”
She reached down and picked up her blouse, then slipped it on and began to fasten the pearl buttons.
“Haven’t you forgotten something?” He nodded to the lacy scrap of a bra on the seat.
She shook her head and calmly picked up the bra, stuffing it into her tote bag beside the seat. “Nope.” She picked up her linen blazer and slipped it on. “I’m taking out insurance.”
“Insurance?”
“The way you’re behaving is entirely too gallant and noble to suit me. I’m not at all sure how long it’s going to take you to set up this ‘special’ situation in which to make love with me. So I thought I’d add a little incentive. This jacket maintains a façade of respectability, but I want you to know it’s only a façade. That I’m naked and available for you.” Her smile was both mischievous and wickedly alluring. “That all you have to do is reach out and undo a button or two and you’ll have whatever you want. Anytime you want it,” she whispered. “Is that enough of a goad to your initiative, Clancy?”
He gave a low whistle. “Why, you little devil. Hell, yes, that’s enough of a goad.”
“I thought it would be.” She leaned forward and began to fasten the buttons on his shirt. Her hands were still trembling, but she didn’t try to hide it. She wanted him to see how much she wanted him. She couldn’t tell him she loved him as yet, but she could give him that. “Of course, I don’t promise to keep my hands off you.” Demurely, she lowered her lashes to veil her eyes. “But I’ll make an effort. It depends on how long you make me wait.”
“Well, I promise it won’t be long. You’re a tough lady to go up against.”
She sat back in her seat and picked up a magazine from the table beside her. “But I guarantee you’ll enjoy it when you do go up against me,” she said softly. “You certainly didn’t seem to have any complaints before you got that sudden attack of conscience.”
“Lisa, dammit …”
She smothered a smile. “Sorry. It’s not too late to change your mind about me. You didn’t really know what you were getting when you made me that offer. The lady you knew on Paradise Cay was only the tip of the iceberg. Now the part of the iceberg that was submerged is breaking up and bobbing to the surface.”
“How does it feel?” he asked, smiling gently.
She thought about it. “Mostly good, I think. Sometimes a bit scary. It’s a little difficult to flow with the southern current and feel the ice melting. I can’t help wondering what will be left by the time I hit the Equator.”
“I know what will be left.” His hand reached out and covered hers. “A lady with dignity and character who will have become all she could be. There’s nothing to be afraid of in that. I’m looking forward to being around to see it.”
Lisa felt a sudden tightness in her throat. Clancy was a rock to cling to in that current. How many other people had used his strength and support in the past? He gave so selflessly that it was easy to forget he had needs as well. She felt a rush of fierce maternal tenderness. Well, she wouldn’t forget, and she wouldn’t let anyone else forget, either.
She looked blindly down at the magazine on her lap. The moment was so fraught with emotion that she had to lighten it. “I hear that you live in the sheikh’s palace. Does that mean I’m going to be established as a harem favorite?”
“You certainly display the erotic temperament for it. I do have quarters at the palace, but that’s not where I’m taking you tonight.”
Her eyes twinkled. “You’re not installing me in a nunnery, by any chance?”
“Not by any possible chance. I have a setting in mind that doesn’t lean to either extreme.”
“You’re not going to tell me where we’re going?”
He shook his head. “I want it to be a surprise. I’ve never planned a romantic tryst before.” There was a touch of boyish eagerness in his smile