Asking for Trouble - Leslie Kelly [67]
“I’m so sorry I startled you,” I said, seeing the tightness in his whole body. I was an idiot. Of course the man was skittish about people sneaking up behind him. Who wouldn’t be after experiencing what he had? “I am so sorry,” I repeated. “I was just trying to surprise you.”
That clenching in his jaw finally stopped and he drew in a deep breath. He also really looked at me for the first time. One of his eyebrows lifted as he took in my heavily made-up face and teased-up hair. And then he got a glimpse of the amount of me bursting out of the corset…. “What in hell are you supposed to be?”
“Remember that first night when I arrived? You thought I was a working girl? Well…think back a hundred years or so.”
Finally, when I’d been afraid he would just decide I was nuts and sigh that he’d ever gotten involved with a fruitcake, he began to smile. “If you’d shown up like that the other night, I might not have kicked you out.”
Twisting his seat around so he faced me, I climbed onto his lap. “You didn’t kick me out, remember?”
“Uh-huh. You tricked your way into staying.”
“As I recall, you invited me to stay that first night.”
He snorted. “Uh, right, invited. You are about as thick-skinned as they come. I did everything but throw your bags out on the lawn.”
Wiggling a little and wrapping an arm around his shoulders, I nibbled on his earlobe. “Aren’t you glad you changed your mind?”
“Very glad.” He was eye level with my breasts and the heat in his gaze told me he liked what he saw. Liked it a lot. Which meant it was time to press my advantage. “So if you’re glad I’m here, you must want to make me happy, don’t you?”
“Didn’t I make you happy twice last night?”
“And once this morning,” I said, nearly purring with contentment at the memories. Leaning closer so I could kiss his neck, I pressed my cleavage near his mouth and was rewarded with the scrape of his tongue along the hem of the corset. “But there’s something else I want you to do for me.”
“Anything,” he mumbled, continuing to taste his way along my breasts, his tongue flicking out, beneath the fabric, teasing me with delicate strokes on my nipples.
“I want you to take me out.”
Another kiss, another nibble, another flick. “Mmm-hmm.”
“Mmm-hmm? That means you’ll do it? You’ll take me?”
“I will absolutely take you,” he said as he began to unlace the corset, his stare nowhere near my face so he couldn’t see my triumphant expression.
“Excellent. Then it’s all settled. You can go dig through the same chests and find something to wear. The dance starts at seven, so you should probably hurry up and do it now.”
I hopped off his lap, knowing his playful mood was going to evaporate once my words sunk in.
I was right. “What the hell did you just do to me?”
Nibbling on my lower lip, I admitted, “I think I just seduced you into giving me what I want.”
He shook his head, as if in a daze. “You mean…you tricked me? So I’d take you to some stupid costume party with a bunch of strangers who think I’m a psycho?”
“Oh, come on, don’t be so melodramatic. I didn’t lie to you or force you. You agreed of your own free will.”
“Free will. I don’t think the free will in the northern half of my body had anything to do with it.”
“Well, your southern one has been calling the shots a lot, lately, so let’s go with that, okay?” I said, hearing laughter bubble out of my mouth. “Besides, Simon, what better night to go out among people who think you’re a psycho than on Halloween?”
“Halloween’s not until Tuesday.”
“I have to leave Tuesday.”
We both fell silent, looking at one another. My laughter faded, as did the smile I would have sworn had begun to lurk about his lips. I didn’t want to think about leaving here. I didn’t want him to want to think about it, either.
The moment dragged on, neither of us, obviously, knowing what to say. Then, finally, with a heavy sigh, Simon said, “Fine. We’ll go to the stupid party.”
When I did a little happy dance, he rose to his feet and stared at me. Hard. “But we go on my terms.”
His