“No, no, with the golden oak, you want the softer colors the blue-greens, the pale yellows, not the jewel tones.” Zack snatched the cobalt chip from Amy’s hand and deposited it in his coat pocket.
Even disagreeing about color with Zack was exciting. His passion for her home and the creative light burning in his eyes was sexier than the deliberately seductive smiles he’d used before. The more caught up he became in the process, the more his hands brushed hers, and the closer he slid to her in the leather booth of the restaurant, rearranging the chips and samples. When he became exasperated with her, he’d flick her earrings, and the reminder of shared kisses flared between them.
It was quite possible she was disagreeing with him just to prolong the exchange, to feel his thigh pressing against hers as he reached for a piece she moved out of his way. She was officially out of her mind and loving every minute of it.
“With the right shade of blue-green, I can still use cobalt accents. Give me back that swatch.” Amy leaned across him, reaching for his jacket pocket.
Zack grabbed her waist and nibbled on her ear until she thought she’d have to slide under the table. She retaliated by blowing on the strong, brown neck rising from the open collar of his shirt. He laughed and returned her to her seat. She waved the confiscated swatch in his face.
Away from work, away from the duties of parenthood, away from any responsibility at all, she felt as if the weight of the world was off her shoulders and she could open up to the fun she’d denied herself for so long. She adored playing with colors and fabrics, and Zack had swirled her through acres of them in a few short hours. No man she knew could endure that much nesting.
“Shiny cobalt tile,” he said sternly. “Now, finish your wine or I will not show you my next surprise.”
“Next surprise?” She sipped the extravagant chardonnay he’d ordered with their dinner. She’d never learned to be much of a wine drinker, but she could come to appreciate it in surroundings like these. Jo had told her about the restaurant with the fish murals on the ceiling and the leather booths, with real linen and real silver on the tables, but she hadn’t thought she’d ever have the opportunity to eat here. Evan had always preferred to entertain at home, where she did the cooking.
She swirled the wine in the glass, relaxed on the comfortable bench seat, and absorbed the giddy ambience of fine food and an attentive, attractive man. For the first time since the divorce, it felt exciting to be single and carefree. “I don’t need any surprises,” she decided. “I just want to sit here and pretend this will last forever.”
“No, you will miss tucking in little Louisa and teasing Josh and the patter of little footsteps in the morning,” he corrected. “But it is necessary to take these breaks to appreciate what you have.”
Amy looked at him in amazement. He was not only right, but dead serious, and she knew he was speaking from experience. He still missed his daughter. Her eyes misted in sympathy, and she reached over to pat his hand.
“Thank you,” she murmured. “I needed this. You’re a very wise man.”
“No,” he stoutly denied, “I’m a loose cannon, but that’s neither here nor there. Would you like dessert, or shall we go on?”
She had thought he would take advantage of her sentimentality to make practiced love to her. She’d almost been hoping for it. After that explosive kiss and his revelations last weekend, she knew she was asking for trouble by being anywhere near him.
But tonight.… Tonight she was having second thoughts. Unfortunately, apparently, so was he.
“I can’t eat another bite,” she admitted, smothering her disappointment. Give her an inch, and she wanted it all. She knew better. She would try to just enjoy whatever else he proposed for the evening without setting her future-planning meter into operation.
Smash that planner. Relax, she reminded herself.
Leaving cash on the table, Zack stood and held out his hand. “Come along, you will enjoy this.”
She could play a little while longer, but if he meant to take her to one of those noisy bars Jo used to frequent, she wouldn’t do much relaxing. She had two left feet and no interest in country music. But he’d been so patient with her, she could easily agree to follow him anywhere.
“Jo and Mama don’t mind putting the kids to bed?” she asked, wishing she still had a cell phone to check on them.
As if reading her mind, Zack handed her his. “They assured me everyone will be fine, but call and see, just in case.”
With his hand heating the small of her back, Amy punched in Jo’s number and slid into the Bentley.
By the time she had said good night to Josh and was reassured her small world was well, Zack had pulled the car up to a valet stand. She hadn’t been paying attention to their route, but the stones of the elegant old lodge were unmistakable.
“The Grove Park?” she asked dubiously. She’d set up Evan’s VIP guests at the inn, but she’d never even seen the spa. She’d always found better things to do with her time and money — most of them involving her family.
“A surprise party for two,” he said firmly, steering her toward the spa entrance. “It is time you remember that you are a person, too, and you deserve occasional pampering.”
Passing by the salon, a hundred thoughts raced frantically through her head, but she didn’t have the presence of mind to utter one of them. The elegance overwhelmed her. As if he expected her to protest, Zack had an attendant waiting at the entrance.
“She is already beautiful,” he told the smiling hostess. “You will make her feel that way.”
“Of course, Mr. Saint-Etienne. All is as you requested.”
He’d requested the spa? When?
In a state of shock, Amy watched Zack stroll away in the company of a male attendant. Obediently, she followed her hostess, unable to think of a diplomatic manner of extricating herself, especially when her curiosity about the spa screamed to be satisfied.
“That is so romantic,” the tall, blond, and gorgeous attendant murmured. “No one has ever said anything like that to me.”
Amy tried to remember the last time anyone had called her beautiful. Evan had occasionally nodded approvingly when she frosted her hair and wore a designer suit, but she hadn’t looked like herself then.
Zack liked her natural looks, unstyled hair and all? The possibility made her feel more feminine than she had in ages, and she looked eagerly around her. Everyone should experience everything at least once, right?
Knowing how many beautiful women must come through these doors, Amy was self-conscious as she undressed and donned robe and slippers. Her hair looked as if she’d barbered it herself. Which she had. She’d snipped the ragged ends when she didn’t have time to make an appointment. And her fingernails! She clenched her fingers into fists to hide them. Evan was right. She really had let herself go this past year.
The gracious attendant didn’t seem to notice as she led Amy past inviting rooms sparsely occupied at this hour to a private room with an enormous whirlpool bath and a massage table.
“Helga will take you from here. Enjoy!”
By the time Helga had questioned her enough to design the perfect regimen for her obviously mistreated body, Amy figured the masseuse knew more about her than she did herself.
Soaked in rose-scented waters, pounded with aromatic oils, detoxified, and relaxed with soothing lighting and the gentle hush of a waterfall, Amy fell asleep on the comfortable cot.
Hot towels laid over her back woke her gently. Eyes drifting open, her gaze fell on a basket containing a bottle of champagne and chocolates and a vase of roses that scented the air with a hint of cinnamon.
“Surprise,” a male voice murmured from the direction of the whirlpool.
She jerked her head up, and for a moment, she had an out-of-body experience, jolted out of her old self into some giddy new stratosphere she’d never imagined.
Zack lay relaxed against the walls of the bath, his muscular arms resting on the rim, his eyes half-closed, his overlong hair wet and clinging in slight curls to his sun-darkened throat. His naked chest, covered in wet whorls of hair, filled the space above the water.
Amy wasn’t fooled for a minute by his sleepy-eyed look. His gaze was directed at her bare breasts, and he was smiling. She grabbed a towel from her back and tried to wind it around in front of her. She frantically looked around to see who was watching.
“Come in. The water is delightful,” he murmured. “The attendants are paid to leave us alone, and the champagne is well chilled.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him what he could do with his tools of seduction — when her driving need for new experiences kicked in. This was what she’d wanted, wasn’t it? Seduction, raw sex, no-strings-attached lovemaking…. Right?
Absolutely! The new Amy was a woman of the world who wouldn’t fall in love just because she shared physical pleasure with a man. She was a grown-up now.
She didn’t think she could release the towel.
“I will close my eyes,” he suggested immediately, reading her mind for the second time that night. “The water is beautiful.”
She didn’t think his closed eyes would help, but the promise got her off the table and to the pool’s edge, where she stepped in with the towel still around her. He was right. The warm, jetting, bubbling water was heavenly. She slipped into the far end of the tub and nearly melted, remembering to throw the towel to the tiles only at the last minute.
His toes slid along her legs, and she nearly shot right back out of the water again.
“Relax,” he murmured again.
“That’s easy for you to say,” she muttered, taking the glass of champagne he nudged in her direction. She closed her eyes to the sight of Zack’s lightly furred chest and was grateful for the cover of bubbles on the water’s surface as she sipped the chilled wine. Champagne went up her nose, and she coughed.
“Sip, don’t slurp,” he said with a chuckle. “It is heady stuff, this vintage. I ordered it just for this occasion. If you will come here, I will feed you strawberries. I have been assured this is the very best chocolate coating.”
Amy’s cheeks heated, and the delicate bubbles she’d been drinking raced straight to her head. But parts of her that hadn’t been alive in a long, long time were stirring with interest, and she couldn’t sit here with her eyes closed forever.
When she opened them, she discovered Zack had slid around the circular tub to sit beside her. A chocolate-covered strawberry dangled temptingly near her lips.
“Open wide,” he whispered.
And she did. With just his wicked suggestion, her legs parted to the excitement of jetting bubbles on vulnerable parts while she opened her mouth to accept his offering. In doing so, she leaned back against Zack’s arm. He shifted her to his shoulder, and they were side to side, naked as the day they were born.
And she didn’t flee.
Far from fleeing, she wanted to climb into his lap and have her way with him. She was so hot she thought she might internally combust if he didn’t touch her in a vital spot soon.
He was all male muscle scented with some exotic spice the masseuse must have applied, and that Amy wanted to lick right off of him. The leg pressed along hers was all hard sinew and strength. His shoulder and arm cradled her as if she were no more than a small doll. She loved being held by this man, loved feeling alive and desirable like a woman instead of a machine.
She sucked the rest of the chocolate strawberry from its stem and let the flavors melt in her mouth, mixing with the champagne. She moaned a little with the pleasure of it, and he chuckled softly.
“You were meant for sensual pleasures, my Amy.” His long finger reached to caress the tip of her breast where his arm cradled her. “You should not deny what you are.”
His mouth closed over hers, soft and more intoxicating than the champagne. His tongue tasted of decadently delicious chocolate. His hand caressing her breast completed the task of arousing her from the stupor she’d lived in for so many years. Every nerve ending awakened and sizzled with spikes of electricity.
Amy ignored the flashing alarm signs and warning bells in her head. She was beyond being careful any longer. Tonight was hers. This fascinating man wanted her, and she wasn’t losing the opportunity.
She tilted her champagne glass over Zack’s chest and licked the spilled wine from his nipple.