Thorn's Challenge - Brenda Jackson [22]
She nodded. “I was sitting in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee while reading a medical report if you want to join me there.”
“All right.”
He’d always thought her kitchen was large…until the two of them were in it alone. Now it seemed small. And for some reason her kitchen table seemed to have shrunk.
“Are you sure I can’t at least pour you a cup of coffee?”
He sighed as he sat down. “Now that I think about it, a cup of coffee would be nice.”
“And how would you like it?”
“Black with two sugars.”
Silence closed around them as she stood at the counter and prepared his coffee. “I called you a couple of times and you never returned my calls,” he decided to say to break the silence in the room.
“I really didn’t think we had anything to say, Thorn.”
He nodded. Yes, he could see her thinking that way.
She came back to the table with his cup of coffee. He took a slow sip. He was particular about how he liked his coffee but found that she had made it just right. “Ahh, this is delicious.”
“Thanks. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to slip into some clothes.”
He slowly looked her up and down. He liked what she was wearing. “Don’t go to any trouble on my account.”
“It’s no trouble. Please excuse me, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
When she left him in the kitchen he glanced over at the medical journal she’d been reading. After making sure she had marked the page where she had left off, he closed it. When she came back he wanted her full attention. He had given his proposal much thought and didn’t know how she would take it but he hoped she would keep an open mind. He intended to be honest with her, up-front, and not to pull any punches. He needed to make sure she understood just what he expected from her…if she went along with things.
“Okay, Thorn. What did you want to talk to me about?”
He turned in his seat. She was back already. He met her gaze after checking out her outfit; a pair of capri pants and a midriff top. She looked good, he thought. But what really grabbed his attention was the portion of her bare belly that showed beneath the short top. Damn if her navel didn’t look good enough to taste. He cleared his throat to get his mind back to the business at hand. “I have a proposition for you,” he said, barely able to get the words out of his mouth.
He watched as she arched a brow. He leaned back in the chair when she came to stand in the middle of the kitchen, a few feet from him and propped her hips against the counter near the sink. “What sort of a proposition?”
He had to force his attention away from her navel and back to the subject at hand. He cleared his throat again. “You still want me to do that calendar?”
“Yes, that would be nice.”
He nodded. “Then I hope what I’m proposing will be acceptable.”
She inclined her head and tilted it somewhat as a cautious smile touched her lips. “You still haven’t told me just what this proposition is, Thorn.”
He slowly stood and walked over to her. He leaned forward, braced his hands on the counter behind her, trapping her in. He moved his face close to hers. “I will agree to do the calendar if you do a favor for me, Tara.”
He watched as she nervously licked her lips. “What kind of favor, Thorn?”
He felt his pulse quicken as desire for what he wanted from her filled his entire being. “I’ve been without a woman for over two years.”
She blinked. He saw her throat move as she swallowed deeply. “You have?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I always take an oath of celibacy right before a race, and during the past couple of years I’ve been involved in a number of races. But I have to admit that had I really wanted to, I could have found the time to squeeze a woman or two in during the off season when there were no races, but I didn’t.”
She nervously licked her lips again. “Why not?”
“Because I had met you and from the first time I laid eyes on you I wanted you and no one else.”
Tara shook her head as if what he was saying didn’t make