The restaurant was elegant and Candy was very glad that she’d sprung for the new outfit. Any of her older dresses would have left her feeling uncomfortably underdressed. Lucas guided her to the coat check area and began helping her out of her coat. As the fabric slid down her arms, exposing her back, he froze behind her.
He sucked in a deep breath before he continued to remove her coat and handed it to the woman running the coat check. As he slid off his own overcoat and waited for their tickets, she tried to squelch the disappointment that he hadn’t responded to her dress. She bit her bottom lip, turning away to compose herself.
A large, muscled arm slipped around her waist, pulling her back tight against a large, very aroused male body. She could feel Lucas’ erection pressing into her behind as he lowered his head to whisper in her ear. It seemed to burn into her flesh through the barriers of their clothing.
“You look good enough to eat.” He nipped her earlobe and she shuddered. “In fact, I think I’ll have you for dessert.”
She could feel herself creaming at his words and swallowed hard as she tried to concentrate on the here and now. They were in the foyer of a public restaurant, for God’s sake. She’d thought he hadn’t been affected by her dress, but obviously she’d been wrong. His reaction was everything she’d hoped for and more, but what she hadn’t counted on was her own reaction to his reaction.
Keeping her slightly ahead of him, Lucas placed his hand on her back and led her toward the dining room. The maitre d’ seemed to know Lucas on sight and assured him quickly that his table was ready. The walk across the room seemed to take forever and she felt as if every eye was on her, somehow knowing just how aroused she was. She wished she hadn’t worn her hair piled on top of her head. Right now, she’d be grateful to have the extra hair covering at least a part of her back and exposed chest.
She was concentrating so hard on putting one foot in front of the other, Candy was surprised when Lucas caught her by the crook of her arm, halting her progress. The table they’d stopped in front of was in a quiet corner of the room. As Lucas seated her, he leaned down, brushing her temple with his lips. “Breathe, sugar.”
Candy laughed and felt some of her earlier apprehension disappear. Now that she was seated at their table, she didn’t feel like she was on display. While Lucas took his own seat, she surveyed the restaurant with interest. The hardwood gleamed beneath tables set with fine linen tablecloths that fell all the way to the floor, delicate china and heavy silverware. Thick, white candles sat in silver holders on every table, their glow creating a muted, romantic atmosphere. A low, jazzy music played in the background as potted plants, strategically placed, created an air of intimacy about the place.
“Do you like it?” Lucas’ much bigger hand reached over and covered hers. She hadn’t realized she was clutching her purse in a death grip and made herself loosen her hold.
“It’s lovely.” That was an understatement. She didn’t think she’d ever been anywhere quite this nice before.
“Not as lovely as you are, but then, I don’t think anything else could be.” Clasping her hand in his, he slowly raised it to his lips and kissed each of her knuckles.
Candy was suddenly robbed of breath, not only by his compliment, but also by his actions. She couldn’t take her eyes off her hand as he held it so gently in his. The contrast of his darker, much larger one clasping her smaller, more fragile one was spellbinding. And when he licked one of her fingers, she almost moaned with pleasure.
The sound of someone discreetly clearing his throat next to their table made her keenly aware once again of her surroundings. She tried to yank her hand away, but Lucas’ closed firmly around her fingers. And although he wasn’t hurting her, there was no way she could escape him. He placed one last kiss on her hand before slowly returning it to her lap. Then he turned to the waiter as if nothing had happened.
Their waiter, obviously a man of great self-possession and discretion, greeted them and offered Lucas the wine list. With both men treating the whole incident as if it were nothing, she relaxed and began to enjoy her evening. Once the wine was ordered and sampled, they debated what to order for dinner. In the end, she chose the salmon in dill sauce with baby potatoes and glazed carrots while Lucas chose the evening special, halibut in a cream sauce.
When the waiter was gone, Candy picked up her wineglass and took a sip of the rich red wine, rolling it around in her mouth before swallowing. “So,” she began.
She could see the amusement in Lucas’ eyes as he took a sip of his own wine. “So?” he returned her words to her.
“So tell me about yourself.” She reminded herself that she was a publicist, for heaven’s sake. She knew how to talk to people. The key was always asking the right questions.
“Not much to tell.” His eyes warmed as he watched her. “I’d much rather talk about you.”
“What about me?” Was it her, or was the restaurant suddenly very warm? Her dress felt confining suddenly as her breasts swelled under his appraisal. She could feel her nipples tightening and pushing against the fabric.
“What secret fantasies do you have?”
Candy could barely catch her breath. “I don’t have any fantasies.” Even as the words tumbled past her lips, she knew she was lying. Right now, she had a very detailed fantasy running through her head, one in which they were both naked and Lucas was fucking her senseless.
“Now that’s a pity.” He leaned closer to her, his eyes and words seducing her. “I, on the other hand, have many fantasies. Shall I share one?”
She nodded, unable to speak as heat flooded her veins.
“I have a fantasy of you sitting here having supper with me wearing no panties. In fact, I want you to take off your panties and give them to me. I want to see what you wore for me, smell your arousal and feel your heat.” She couldn’t believe what he was saying to her, but he wasn’t anywhere near finished yet. “Then I want you to spread your legs wide so I can touch you and make sure you’re ready for what I have planned later.”
Lucas broke off suddenly and sat back in his chair as the waiter arrived at their table with their dinner. Candy couldn’t even look at the man as he placed her plate in front of her, but she did manage to nod her thanks. The images that Lucas conjured up were almost more than she could handle. Her body felt as if it were on fire.
As the waiter walked away, Lucas leaned forward again, his eyes intent. “Will you give me my fantasy, Candy?”
She didn’t recognize the sultry voice that answered him. “Yes.”
The desire in his eyes flared higher, but he said nothing as he sat back in his chair, picked up his wineglass and took a swallow. When she hesitated, he arched an eyebrow at her as if daring her to chicken out.
More determined than ever, she grabbed her own glass and took a large gulp, needing the warmth of the wine in her stomach. Plunking the glass back down, she reached beneath the table. Taking care to make sure the linen tablecloth was covering her lap, she eased the fabric of her dress over her thighs.
She kept her eyes on Lucas as she pushed her hands higher, grasped the thin strings on the side of her hips and tugged. His face looked as if it had been carved from stone, and as she watched, she could see a muscle in the side of his jaw twitch. Mr. Squires wasn’t as unaffected as he pretended to be.
That knowledge gave her the courage to lift herself as discreetly as she could and pull. Slipping her panties over her legs, she pushed them over her knees, letting them fall to her ankles. Carefully, she unhooked the garment from one foot before leaning down slightly so she could reach them with one hand. Quickly she pulled them off her other ankle and sat up straight once again.