Golden Lies - Barbara Freethy [115]
"If they're as punctual as you say they are."
"They are, trust me. I inherited the on-time gene. But don't forget my father will still be in the house, not to mention his private nurse and a couple of servants. We won't be alone."
"Too bad." He smiled. "So what was it like to grow up with servants. What did they do for you?"
"They kept the house, cooked, that kind of stuff."
"So if you dropped a candy wrapper on the ground, someone was there to rush over and pick it up for you?"
"I wasn't allowed to eat candy. It's bad for you."
"Some bad things are really good," he said with a wicked smile.
And suddenly the quiet in the car grew more intimate. She'd been trying to keep her attraction to Riley at bay, to remind herself that Riley didn't want the things she wanted, like commitment, marriage, family. Maybe she didn't want all that tomorrow or the next day, but eventually she would. What was the point in wasting time in a relationship that wouldn't lead in that direction? She wasn't twenty-one anymore. She was almost thirty.
So why couldn't she listen to her head instead of her heart? When he'd stopped by her apartment an hour earlier, she'd jumped at the chance to join him on this latest escapade, not even asking him what he had in mind until they were in the car. She was crazy. Crazy in love.
She'd just have to get over it. Treat it like a bad cold or a case of the flu. She could recover. She'd just have to work at it.
Of course, working at it probably didn't include spending more time with him. Well, she'd start working on it tomorrow. Her weary sigh drew his attention.
"Something wrong?" he asked.
"Just thinking."
"You do that too much." He shifted, putting his right hand along the back of her seat.
"What are you doing?"
"Passing the time."
She scooted to the edge of her seat. "We can't do that here."
"I think we can."
"This car is way too small," she protested, just before his hand crept around the back of her neck and pulled her toward him.
"It's perfect. You're perfect," he muttered.
He sealed the words with a lingering, tender, playful kiss that wasn't really meant to start anything. Just the same she felt her body responding with passion and intensity that went far beyond his intention. He seemed able to light her up without even trying.
Riley must have read her mood, because the kisses suddenly changed, deepened, intensified. Or maybe he was just feeling what she was feeling.
When they broke apart, there were no smiles, no teasing jokes, nothing to ease the tension between them.
"Dammit, Paige."
"What?"
"I shouldn't have done that."
"And you're blaming me."
"Yes, because you're irresistible. Every time I kiss you it's better than the last time. I keep telling myself that can't possibly be true, but it is."
His look of bemusement made her like him even more. "I feel the same way," she confessed. "I keep thinking it will burn itself out."
"We might have to make that happen."
"You mean, get each other out of our systems?"
"It's an idea."
She couldn't help smiling as she shook her head. "Another bad one. You're full of them tonight."
Before he could reply, their attention was drawn to the street where her grandfather's car pulled out of the drive. They could see two people in the back, the driver in the front.
"Looks like it's show time," Riley murmured. "Ready?"
"Yes." Because right now she had a feeling her grandfather's rooms were far less dangerous than this car.
* * *
Alyssa spotted her grandfather through the blinds of the Plum Rose Café. He was seated at the second booth, the newspaper in front of him. it was probably the racing form, she thought. When he wasn't playing mah jong or pai gow he went to the track at Golden Gate Fields and watched the horse races from around the country. She knew this was her best opportunity to speak to him alone. Tomorrow was New Year's Eve and the entire family would gather together for a huge feast of Chinese specialties that her grandmother