A WEEK WOULD NEVER be enough, Eve thought as she lost herself in the delicious warmth of his mouth. But if he stayed longer, she might be tempted to fall madly in love with him all over again. And if he disappeared too early, she’d be left unsatisfied and longing for more. No, a week would have to suffice.
She smoothed her hands over his chest, remembering how wonderful it felt to touch his skin. He was older now, but his body was still lithe and muscular, everything in such perfect proportion. Wide shoulders, narrow waist, long legs. If they’d been anywhere but her restaurant, she would have stripped the clothes off of him in less than a minute and dragged him to the nearest bed.
But Eve wasn’t that same impetuous young woman she’d been five years ago. Back then, she’d believed in love. Now, she was more apt to put her money on lust. There was something to be said for pure physical pleasure, without the expectations that romance brought. And even though she still bore the scars of their last affair, Eve felt confident she could handle whatever he sent her way this time.
She was in a different place in her life now, a place where her career came before everything else, including a relationship with a man. A short-term affair would fit right into her schedule. She had a few weeks before the meetings began with her Seattle investors. And the production team was putting together a final proposal on the television show and wouldn’t need her to do a sample episode until next month. Charlie Templeton had shown up at precisely the right time.
When he moved to unbutton her jacket, she impatiently completed the task, tossing it aside and leaving her wearing only a simple camisole beneath. Charlie pressed his mouth into the curve of her neck. Though Eve knew she ought to resist, there wasn’t any point. Why pretend she didn’t want him? They’d had a past together and the memories of it had rushed back the moment she saw him again.
Her fingers furrowed through his thick hair and Eve tipped her head as his lips drifted lower. But when he reached the last inch of skin above the top of her camisole, Charlie stopped his slow exploration. He stepped back and smiled. “I should probably go,” he murmured.
“No!” Eve said. She bit her lip, embarrassed that she’d reacted so vehemently. “I—I was just going to make myself something to eat. If you’re hungry, stay. I’ll—feed you.”
He stared at her for a long moment, then shrugged. “All right. Just don’t make me eat tofu,” he warned. “I can’t stand that stuff.”
Eve slid off the edge of the table, then handed him his glass of wine. “A sandwich,” she said, suddenly desperate to keep the evening going. Every instinct told her to beware, but all of that was overwhelmed by the desire that snaked through her bloodstream. “I have some wonderful bread.”
As she began to assemble the ingredients on the table, she studied him. When he’d walked into the restaurant that afternoon, Eve had thought she knew exactly what he wanted—sex. But now, she wasn’t so sure. The man who used to wait at the front door for her and tear her clothes off the moment she walked inside his house was now taking his own sweet time in seducing her. Had she not made it perfectly clear that she was ready and willing?
“So what’s on this sandwich you’re making me?”
Eve smiled. “Healthy things.”
Charlie growled softly. “You know how I hate healthy things. I like things that are bad for me.”
“Is that why you’re here?” she asked.
“I told you why I came,” Charlie said, reaching out to snag a cherry tomato from the container. “So, tell me what happened with you and Dan. Or Dave.”
“Matt,” Eve said. “His name is Matt.” Eve care fully sliced a long baguette in half, then smeared it with hummus. “He wasn’t the guy I thought I married. It just didn’t work out.”
“You realized you didn’t love him?”
“I realized he didn’t love me,” she said with a shrug. “And I didn’t love him enough to put up with his cheating.” She’d seen enough of that with her parents’ marriage. She wasn’t about to make the same mistakes they’d made, living in a sham of a marriage, pretending to love each other.
“I always thought he was a first-class idiot,” Charlie said. “I only saw him that once, but I could tell he didn’t know what he had.”
“And what did he have?”
“You. He didn’t realize he got the best the first time around. But, hey, I could tell he was a real douche from the start.”
“Why didn’t you warn me?” Eve asked.
“I didn’t have a right to interfere,” Charlie said.
He watched her silently as she assembled the sandwich, his gaze drifting over her like a lazy caress. She layered on thinly sliced tomatoes and calamata olives, then made a salad of arugula and balsamic dressing and stuffed it in between the two slices of bread. She finished it off with a sprinkling of toasted sunflower seeds, before setting it on a plate in front of him.
The last time they were together, they hadn’t had time for cooking. They barely remembered to eat. But things were moving more slowly now and their appetites for other things could be delayed. At least for an hour or two.
Eve waited while he took a big bite of the sandwich. He grinned at her and nodded. “Good,” he said as he chewed. “Really good.”
She bit into her half of the sandwich. Though she wasn’t particularly hungry, eating gave her some thing to do while looking at Charlie. He was the most beautiful man she’d ever known. Maybe that’s why it had been so easy to discount what they’d had together five years ago. She’d just assumed the reason for her attraction to him was because of his physical perfection.
“I could get used to this,” he said.
“Eating this late at night really isn’t good for you,” Eve said. “But it usually takes me a few hours to wind down and I never get a chance to catch a bite when I’m working.” She poured a bit more wine into her glass, then refilled his. “Tell me about Everest.”
“I don’t know if I can. I still haven’t figured it all out yet.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It changed me. I went up knowing exactly who I was and came down a different person. Does that make sense?”
Eve laughed and shook her head. “No.” She reached out and wiped a bit of hummus from his lip.
Charlie grabbed her hand and playfully licked it off the end of her finger. But he didn’t stop there. He wove his fingers through hers and pulled her hand against his chest.
Their gazes locked and he slowly set his sandwich down to the left of his plate. Eve felt her pulse skip and for a moment, she forgot to breathe. And then, like a wave crashing on the beach, their need for each other overwhelmed them both. This was the way it had been between them five years ago. Nothing had changed.
Their frantic hands tore at each other’s clothes as their meal got pushed aside. Charlie pressed her back against the edge of the table, his palms skimming over her body, sliding beneath her shirt to cup her breasts and then moving on to unexplored flesh.
Eve felt dizzy, her knees weak and her mind unable to process what was happening to her. So she let her thoughts drift, focusing only on the sensations racing through her body.
He was gentle, yet determined, as if he knew exactly what they both needed. Eve clutched at the hem of his shirt, gathering it in her fists, holding tight as if it were the only thing keeping him close. She needed this, if only to remind her that she hadn’t lost everything in the divorce. She could still want a man, still crave his touch and his taste.
Charlie picked her up and set her back on the table, tugging her camisole over her head and throwing it over his shoulder. Eve glanced down, grateful to see that she’d managed to pick out decent lingerie that day. As he smoothed his hands over her shoulders, she took the opportunity to remove his shirt.
Eve swallowed hard as she took in the sight of him beneath the harsh lights of the kitchen. Though she’d seen his body before, nothing prepared her for the impact that a half-naked man would have on her ability to think—or breathe—or move.
With trembling fingers, she reached out and ran her hand over his smooth chest, his skin warm beneath her touch. It wasn’t wrong to want him. She was a grown woman, past the age when she had to worry about denying her sexual needs.
After her divorce, she’d worried that no man would ever want her again, that somehow she’d wasted her one chance at happiness. But Eve was happy now and that was all that mattered.
She waited for him to continue undressing her and when he didn’t, she reached for the clasp at the front of her bra. But Charlie caught her fingers and brought them to his lips. “Let’s wait with that,” he said softly. “We have time.”
But his idea of time and hers were two completely different things. For him, a week was a lifetime and a month, an eternity. He could be with her one moment and halfway around the world the next. Eve closed her eyes, waiting for her heart to stop pounding.
“Evie?” He hooked his finger beneath her chin and tipped her face up. “Look at me.” She opened her eyes. “We have time. I promise.”
Eve knew promises could easily be broken. But she also sensed Charlie was a man she could trust. Even though he’d left her, he’d never lied to her. “Would you like dessert?”
“Dessert?” He glanced at the remains of their meal. “We haven’t finished dinner yet.”
Eve slid off the table and walked to the pastry cooler. She pulled out a tofu white-chocolate-and-raspberry mousse that she’d perfected just last week. She found the whipped cream canister on the top shelf and grabbed it. “This is something new. You’ll have to tell me what you think.”
She added a generous topping of the cream and scooped out a spoonful and held it in front of his lips. He leaned forward and she pulled the spoon away.
“Promise you’ll tell the truth?”
“I promise.”
“I can trust you?”
Charlie paused as he realized that Eve wasn’t talking about the dessert. “You can, Evie.”
Satisfied, she fed him the mousse and waited for his reaction. He swallowed, then opened his mouth.
“More, please.”
“What do you think? Is it good?”
“One more taste.”
She scooped out another spoonful and waited. “Well?”
“It’s very good,” Charlie said. “I like the combination. And it’s kind of fluffy so you could eat a lot of it if you wanted to.”
“It’s made with tofu,” she said. “It’s a vegan alternative to white chocolate mousse.”
“I hate tofu,” Charlie said. “But I like this. A lot. So maybe I have changed since the last time we saw each other.”
Eve pushed up on her toes and kissed him, then took a spoonful for herself. “It is good. The whipped cream isn’t vegan, but I thought it would tempt you.”
“Whipped cream always tempts me,” he murmured as she scooped out another spoonful for him. He grabbed the canister and sprayed a tiny bit on her bare shoulder, then bent close to lick it off.
“I thought I could add a bit of Amaretto, too. To give it a greater depth of flavor.” She sighed softly as his mouth found the spot just below her ear. “What do think of that?”
“I think I’m going to enjoy sharing a meal with you, Evie.”
She knew they’d share much more than food over the next week. But she’d have to be patient and let their meals unfold naturally. Charlie was here with her now and if she just stopped thinking about the future, the present would fall into place.
THEY’D TEASED THEIR way through a late-night dinner at Evie’s restaurant, both of them avoiding the logical conclusion to their flirtation. By the time Eve pulled up in front of Charlie’s place, he was wondering what had ever possessed him to “take it slow.”
“Thanks for the ride,” Charlie said, glancing over at Evie, her profile illuminated by the street light. It was almost three in the morning and he didn’t want their time together to end. But if he asked her inside, his motives would be painfully obvious. “I probably shouldn’t ask you in,” he said.
“And I probably shouldn’t accept if you did. Are you asking?”
Charlie chuckled. “You know, there are a lot of things in my life I shouldn’t have done, but I try not to have any regrets. Would you come in if I asked?”
“Do you have regrets?” Evie asked.
“Yeah. One big one. I shouldn’t have left you. I should have stayed a little longer. Just to see.”
“See what?” Evie asked.
“I don’t know. But I think I might have missed something.” He smiled. “Another time. Hey, I was thinking about remodeling my kitchen. I could use your advice. Maybe you could give me some ideas. I don’t know anything about kitchens.” He couldn’t have come up with a lamer excuse to see her again and he waited for her to shoot him down.
“If it hasn’t changed since the last time I was in your house, it could use an update. It’s not that late and I’m still wound up from work. Why don’t I take a look now?”
Was she really interested in his kitchen, or had she decided to accept his invitation inside? Hell, they both knew what would happen once they stepped over that threshold. Clothes would come off and bodies would come together and they’d both be lost for the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours. “That would be nice,” he said.
They got out of the car and slowly strolled up the front walk. “We should probably talk about appliances,” he said. “And cabinets. I was thinking about a trash compacter.”
“Lots of people think that trash compactors are good for the environment, but they really give you a false sense of accomplishment. Recycling combined with composting would nearly eliminate the need for a trash compactor. We give most of our food waste to a worm farm. They come and pick it up every morning.”
Charlie could tell she was nervous. He unlocked the front door and swung it open in front of her. The light from the street filtered inside and she took a few steps forward. Charlie followed her and closed the door, leaving them both in the dark.
He reached out to place his hands on her shoulders and he felt her turn to face him. Evie stepped toward him and a moment later, they were caught in a gentle kiss. Without light, her hesitation seemed to dissolve along with his resolve.
There wasn’t much use fighting it. And if he had any doubts about her need for him, they were banished the moment she stripped off his shirt and tossed it aside. Charlie cupped her face in his hands, molding her mouth against his as her hands wandered over his hair. They stumbled backward, kicking off their shoes along the way.
It had been a while since he’d gotten naked with a woman, so his reaction to her touch was immediate and intense. He tugged off her jacket, then drew her camisole over her head. When she brushed up against him, Charlie’s breath caught in his throat, the friction causing him to grow even harder.
He steered her toward the leather sofa in the center of the living room. “Tell me you want this,” he whispered against her mouth. He didn’t want any misunderstandings.
“Yes,” she breathed. She grabbed his hand and placed it on her breast, pushing aside the satiny fabric until he touched bare skin. Charlie rubbed his thumb across her nipple, bringing it to a hard peak.
He remembered her body so well and the way she reacted to his touch had been burned into his brain. Maybe he’d always known he’d come back, that what they’d shared would be revisited one day. That’s why he hadn’t forgotten her or the way her skin felt beneath his touch.
Spanning her waist with his hands, Charlie pulled her along toward the bedroom, both of them bumping into furniture along the way. But when she cried out, he stopped. Evie bent over at the waist and moaned. “Ow, ow, ow.”
“What is it?”
“I stubbed my toe. Ow. Oh, I think it’s broken.”
Charlie fumbled for the light. When he flipped it on, he found her sitting on the floor, holding her foot, her eyes watering. He squatted down beside her. “Let me see,” he said.
She looked up at him, her pretty face etched in a grimace of pain. “No.”
He gently pried her fingers away, then lifted her foot to examine it. “Wiggle your toe,” he ordered.
She winced, then did as he asked. Gently, he rubbed the hurt away, then drew her foot to his lips and kissed her toe. “Better?”
“No,” she said.
He kissed it again. “Now?”
“I think the gods are telling us that we shouldn’t do this.”
Charlie scooped her up into his arms, then straightened. Compared to the backpack he’d hauled up mountainsides, she was as light as a feather. He nuzzled her neck. “I think the gods have better things to worry about than us,” he murmured.
He carried her into the dark bedroom and set her on the bed, then stretched out beside her, pushing her back into the pillows. Furrowing his hands through her hair, he kissed her, taking time to calm her fears. “Better?” he asked.
“Yes,” she replied in a breathless voice.
He found the clasp of her bra and unhooked it, then brushed it aside. Her body hadn’t changed much in five years, though she’d become a bit curvier. He liked the way she looked, like a woman who occasionally enjoyed a good meal. Charlie had never cared for obsessively thin women or those who used too much makeup or dressed provocatively. In truth, for the past five years, he’d been looking for someone exactly like Eve.
Slowly, they both shed the remainder of their clothes, each item tossed to the floor to make way for a more detailed exploration. Everywhere he touched was perfection, soft and yielding, warm flesh beneath silken skin.
He rolled on top of her, bracing his hands on either side of her body. The heat of his erection pressed against her thighs and she shifted, pulling her legs up along his hips. Charlie held his breath, fighting the urge to slip inside of her.
With a low moan, he trailed a line of kisses from her shoulder to her breast, taking time to caress her nipple with his tongue. Then he moved lower still, to her belly and then to the damp spot between her legs.
Though they’d done all this before, he hadn’t remembered this overwhelming need to please her. This time, he was looking for more than just a physical connection, more than ultimate release. He wanted to possess not just her body, but her heart and her soul.
She was wet already and she guided him to the spot, her fingers tangling in his hair. The moment he touched her with his tongue, she cried out in surprise, her hands clutching, her body twisting.
Charlie waited, then began again, slowly teasing her toward the edge then bringing her back again. He was interested only in her pleasure, in her release. But as he drew her closer, he felt his own need being driven by her response.
She murmured his name, pushing him away. “I want to feel you inside me,” she said. Charlie didn’t need to be asked twice. He reached for the drawer of the bedside table and retrieved a box of condoms. After tearing a packet open with nervous fingers, he sheathed himself. But he decided to continue what he’d started.
Slowly and deliberately, he caressed her with his tongue and when he was sure she couldn’t last any longer, he moved up along her body until he was buried deep within her.
It took only one stroke before she dissolved into her orgasm, her body first arching, and then shuddering in her release. He felt her spasms and a moment later, Charlie joined her, waves of pleasure washing over him until he was lost in the intensity of their coupling.
They rode the crest for what seemed like forever. And when they were both completely spent, Charlie rolled off of her, pulling her body against his. She pressed a kiss to the center of his chest and he inhaled the sweet scent of her hair.
“How is your toe?” he asked.
“What toe?” she murmured, with a soft giggle.
“Hmm. I think we’ve come up with a cure for stubbed toes.” He drew back and looked down into her face, filling in the details that the dark room did not allow. “So what are we going to do about this? Because I want to spend a lot more time with you.”
“Naked?” she asked.
“Yes. But clothed, too.”
“How long are you going to stay this time?”
“I don’t know,” he said.
“A week?”
“At least,” Charlie said. Was that all she wanted of him? Just a week? It didn’t seem like enough time. But he could give her at least that. And maybe, after a week, she’d want another and another.
“Right now, I think I could stay here for a year. Maybe ten or twenty.”
She brushed her lips against his. “Don’t make any promises you can’t keep,” she whispered.
Maybe it was time he started making promises, Charlie mused. If he wanted someone to share his life, then he had to be willing to give something in return. And no matter how he looked at it, Eve belonged in his life. Now he’d just have to convince her.
EVE OPENED HER EYES, rubbing the sleep from them as she peered at her surroundings. This wasn’t her bedroom. It took a moment for her to remember where she was—Charlie’s house. They’d spent the night together and sometime in the hours before dawn, she’d fallen asleep.
She rolled over to find Charlie’s half of the bed cold and empty. The scent of bacon and coffee hung in the air and she could hear noise coming from the kitchen. Eve grabbed his shirt from the floor and pulled it over her naked body, then got to her feet.
She found him standing in front of the stove, dressed in a faded pair of jeans and nothing more. “What are you doing?” she asked before stifling a yawn.
“Making breakfast,” Charlie said, glancing over his shoulder. “Are you hungry?”
She stood next to him and stared at the bacon draining on top of a paper towel. “Not for that. Do you know what’s in bacon? You might as well just swallow a handful of deadly chemicals.”
“I love bacon,” Charlie said. “Everything tastes better with bacon.” An English muffin popped out of the toaster. He slathered it with butter and honey and offered it to her. “No chemicals in this. All natural, whole grain.”
She reluctantly took a bite. “Well, Bacon Boy, I’m proud of you. Are the eggs in that omelet from free-range chickens?”
“I don’t know. The chickens weren’t hanging out at the store so I didn’t have a chance to ask. Are you really going to be that fussy and ruin my efforts here?”
Eve sighed, realizing there was a proper time to stand on her soapbox and a time to kick it aside. “Sorry. But when I’m doing the cooking, I’m going to make sure you eat healthy.”
“Does that mean that when I’m doing the cooking, you’ll eat unhealthy?” he asked, waving a piece of bacon in front of her face. “Tempted?”
“It takes a lot more than bacon to tempt me,” she said before taking another bite of the muffin.
Charlie grabbed her hand and took a bite of the muffin, then grinned. “You were tempted last night.”
She felt a blush warm her cheeks. “That was different. What you were offering was…healthy…and natural. Low in cholesterol and calories, and high on fun. If bacon had as much to offer, maybe I’d start sleeping with a slab under my pillow.”
“I’m not sure I could give up meat,” he said, taking a bite of the bacon. “I’m a guy. We need protein or we can’t function. And don’t tell me I can get protein from tofu or those sprouty things.”
“You should at least stick to fish. And chicken, maybe.”
He flipped the omelet he was cooking, then cut it in half and slid the pieces onto two plates. “Veggies and cheese inside.”
“When did you learn to cook?” she asked as she grabbed a fork.
“I’ve always known how to cook. My mom worked full-time after my dad died. Me and my sister and brother were left to take care of ourselves. Lena did the cleaning, Ben took care of the yard and I cooked.” He handed her a pepper grinder. “As I recall, the last time we were together, we didn’t think a whole lot about food.”
“We’re more mature now,” she teased. “We have our priorities in order.” She took a bite of her omelet. “You never told me much about your family.” In fact, she’d never asked. Their first relationship had been all about sex. She’d always thought they’d have time to get to know each other. “How old were you when your dad died?”
“Ten,” he said. “He was a good man. He worked really hard and we didn’t see much of him. He traveled a lot on business.”
“Is that why you’re always chasing bigger and better adventures?”
“What do you mean?”
“Were you running from your own mortality?”
“I don’t know,” he said, as if taken aback by the notion. “Maybe. Someone else told me the same thing.”
“Men do that,” she said. “That’s why they cheat on their wives. To make themselves feel young and virile. Climbing a mountain will do the same thing. You get addicted to the thrill.” She sighed softly, then turned her attention back to her omelet.
“I gotta tell you, last night was pretty thrilling.”
Eve looked up to see him staring at her. A shiver skittered through her as she remembered all that had passed between them. “For me, too. It’s…It’s been a while. Really, a long while. Too long.”
“For me, too.”
“Two years?” she asked.
He drew in a deep breath, then shook his head. “Not quite that long.”
“So you thought I’d be a sure thing?” she asked.
“No,” he said, his tone adamant.
“What did you have planned when you stopped by the restaurant?”
“A drink and some conversation. But it seems like we always get distracted when we’re together.”
“I’m not surprised we ended up in bed,” she said.
“We never really had an end to things five years ago.”
“We didn’t? I thought you marrying Dave put a nice tidy period at the end of it.”
“I married Dave because—”
“Matt,” he corrected.
“I know!” Eve cried. “I just thought it was easier to go along. Which is exactly what I did with Matt. He seemed like the easy choice,” she said. “The path of least resistance. You would have been the difficult choice. Besides, you just disappeared in the middle of the night. I didn’t have to choose. You did that for me.”
“Well, I won’t be doing that again,” Charlie said. He stepped around the counter and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her into a long, deep kiss. “I’m sticking around for a while.” He tugged her toward the hall. “Come on, I want you back in my bed. We need to work up an appetite for lunch.”
“I have to be at the restaurant in an hour,” she protested. But her resistance was weak at best. She had a staff of kitchen help who knew exactly what to do to prepare for the lunch crowd. And Lily would be there to supervise. She deserved a day off every now and then.
He wrapped his arms around her thighs and picked her up. “I’ll have you there in forty-five minutes,” he teased. “Or six hours. Depending upon how good I am.”
There was no doubt about his skills in the bedroom, she mused. And six hours sounded like just about the right amount of time to satisfy all her cravings. They’d enjoy a sexual feast now and she’d deal with the famine later.