As they drove back to Sutton’s house, Lauren wasn’t entirely sure this was a good idea. He had apologized for deceiving her, and she had accepted his apology, so they were okay there, at least. But she wondered if it was too soon to sleep with him again. She was just coming to terms with him being who he really was.
But in that moment, when Sutton looked at her with desire blazing in his eyes, she didn’t care about whether or not it was the wrong thing to do right now. None of those reasons mattered anymore. She had spent every night since the masquerade ball lying in bed, thinking about being with her big, bad wolf again. When she met Sebastian and her expectations crumbled, she thought she might never have that chance again.
And now here she was, standing in Sutton’s luxuriously appointed bedroom, slipping out of her chef’s jacket. And it was about to happen. She couldn’t deny herself what she’d fantasized about any longer when it was here for the taking.
His green eyes never left hers as he shrugged out of his own coat. He was trying to focus on what he was doing, but she could tell it was difficult for him, with her slowly pulling her shirt up over her head and exposing the red-and-white floral bra she was wearing underneath. She tossed the top over a chair with her coat. Then she reached down to unbutton her jeans.
It was at that point that Sutton froze in place, no longer able to undress himself while watching her at the same time. She supposed this time was different for them both. They not only knew each other’s names, but the lights were on. They could see everything the other had to offer. All of the things they’d felt, but not seen, were on display.
Despite how much she wanted to quickly slip out of her clothes and press up against him, she was going to take her time. She turned her back to Sutton, giving him a full view of her rear end as the denim peeled away and exposed the red cotton bikini-cut panties she wore beneath them.
She hadn’t had seduction on her mind when she dressed this morning, but he didn’t seem to mind. Sutton groaned aloud as she bent over and stepped out of the pants. And when she turned back around to face him wearing nothing but her bra and panties, he was standing exactly as she’d left him.
Walking over to him, she pushed his shirt off his shoulders until it slipped to the floor. She let her hands run over his bare chest and arms, something she hadn’t been able to do before, and enjoyed the firm muscles that twitched beneath the silk of his skin. He seemed to almost be holding his breath the entire time she touched him, yet still cooperating with her exploration until Lauren reached for the button of his trousers. Then his hand came to hers, covering her fingers and keeping her from going any further.
“Not so fast,” Sutton growled. “We’re not in a rush tonight.”
Lauren pouted for a moment but had to admit that she was looking forward to a long, leisurely night of lovemaking in a real bed with all of their clothes off. The quick, passionate tryst they’d had at the club was the kind that sacrificed comfort for a driving need, but tonight, they could do anything and everything they wanted without interruption or discomfort.
“Wait for me in the bed and I’ll be right back,” he said, giving her a playful slap on the behind as he walked away.
Lauren sauntered slowly to the bed, knowing he was watching her. She slipped off her bra and panties, fully nude at last, and then pushed aside the steel-gray comforter before she crawled onto the soft, welcoming bed.
When she was settled in, he tossed aside the last of his own clothing and disappeared into his bathroom. He returned a moment later with a handful of foil packets in his hand. Her eyes widened as she tried to count how many, but gave up when he tossed them into a pile on the nightstand.
Lauren crawled to the edge of the bed and perched on her knees as he stood beside it. She ran her hands over him again, toying with his chest hair and following the line of it down his stomach with her fingertips. At that point, her cheeks flushed. His desire for her was fully on display in the well-lit room. Her palms tingled with the need to stroke him, but he was just out of her reach. She knew she would get in trouble again if she pushed it.
As if he sensed her devious thoughts, he took a step back. Sutton flipped on the lamp on the dresser, killing the overhead fixture. The harsh glare disappeared, casting them in a dim, romantic glow. He returned to her then, pressing forward until she tumbled backward on the mattress and he was covering her body with his.
The heat and the weight of him against her bare skin was soothing. When he dipped his head to kiss her, the fall nip in the air seemed to disappear. His touch heated the very blood in her veins, the spreading warmth amplifying with every pound of her heart in her chest. She relished the slide of his tongue along hers. His every caress was expertly targeted to her most sensitive parts as though he’d managed to memorize her body in that single night together.
When his thumb brushed over the hard peak of her nipple, Lauren gasped. Then he sucked it into the scorching heat of his mouth and her back arched sharply off the bed. He was relentless in his pleasurable assault, teasing her with his teeth and tongue even as his hands glided down her hip and dipped between her thighs.
“Sutton!” she cried as he made explosive contact with her feminine center.
He lifted his head and looked down at her. “Say it again,” he demanded with his hand still slowly circling over her flesh.
“Sutton,” she repeated with a desperate edge in her voice.
“I love the sound of my name on your lips. I’m going to make you scream it all night, if I have any say about it.”
He smothered her response when he kissed her again. His tongue echoed the movements of his hand, slowly sliding in and out of her mouth. She squirmed beneath him, panting as he drew her ever closer to the edge of her release, again and again, always backing away before she shattered.
Then Sutton reached for the condoms he’d left on the nightstand. He sat back on his knees to roll the latex sheath over himself, then slipped back between her thighs. His mouth found hers again and with a subtle shift of his weight, he was pressing against her entrance. But there he stopped.
A whimper of disappointment caught in her throat. Lauren couldn’t wait any longer for him. She cradled Sutton’s hips between her thighs. Impatiently, she gripped his hips and drew him forward. He moved with her and, before she knew it, she got what she wanted. Every thick inch of Sutton was buried deep inside of her. The moment was everything she’d remembered it to be and more with the visual of him hovering over her.
Sutton eased back and thrust into her a second time with a sharp hiss. Lauren lifted her hips, taking in all that she could. Her body strained and flexed around him, her muscles tightening their grip until he groaned into her throat.
Leaning down, he kissed her and started moving at a quicker pace. Eventually, Lauren had to tear her lips from his so she could cry out with each pleasurable drive into her.
They fell into an easy rhythm, her hips rising off the bed to meet his every advance. The pleasure easily built up inside her again, this time with more intensity than before. She clawed futilely with her nails at the blankets beneath her. Trying with all her might to find something to hold on to, something to keep her anchored when her orgasm hit like a tidal wave.
And she was almost there. She closed her eyes as her whole body tensed and her whimpers increased in intensity.
“Yes,” Sutton coaxed, seeming to recognize the familiar sounds of her impending release. “That’s it. Don’t hold back, Lauren. I want to watch you come apart this time.”
He increased his pace and it pushed her over the edge. The waves of pleasure crashed in on her all at once, wracking her body with the pulsating sensations. She gasped and cried his name, writhing beneath him. And when it was all over, she opened her eyes and found that he’d watched every moment of her undoing.
“You’re beautiful,” he said, looking down at her.
She didn’t feel beautiful. Especially not at the moment. She’d come here straight from a long day at the food truck without a stitch of makeup on and her hair in its usual bun. Her orgasm had no doubt left her flushed and sweaty, her lips were swollen from his kisses and her cheeks felt a little raw from the rough stubble of his jaw on her delicate skin. She wrinkled her nose, smirking dismissively at his observation.
“No,” he argued, dipping down to kiss her forcefully and erase the disagreement from her lips. “It’s true. You’re beautiful. And talented. And amazing in every way I can think of. And since it’s my opinion, I’m not arguing with you about any of it.”
At that, Lauren laughed and pushed some stray hair out of her face. “You’ve spent your whole life surrounded by rich debutantes who spend all their time in expensive salons and day spas to stay flawless. Some of those women I saw at the club looked like movie stars up close.”
“And?”
Her eyes widened and she swallowed hard. How could it be possible that she ranked up there with women like that? It was a nice sentiment, but too hard for her to believe.
“And... I don’t know that I’m in their league.”
“You’re not. You’re in a league of your own.”
Lauren could only shake her head.
With a growl of irritation, he flipped over, rolling onto his back with Lauren sitting astride him. She squealed with the sudden reversal, their bodies never disconnecting. “Making love to you with the lights on is incredible. And since I’m inside you, hard as a rock, and not with any of those other women, I think I’m the best judge of what I like.”
His hands gripped her hips and he started thrusting into her from underneath. Lauren braced her hands on his chest and moved with him. His eyes never left her face and, in seconds, his jaw was tight and his fingertips were pressing insistently into the flesh of her hips.
It occurred to her then that if he really liked to watch her, she might know just how to push him over the edge. Lauren arched her back, loosening her hair from its tight bun and shaking it out until the brown waves fell to her shoulders. Then she ran her fingers through it, thrusting her breasts out as she rocked her hips against him.
He reached out to cover her breasts with his hands and she put her own palms over his. Holding tight, she moved faster, pressing against him for leverage.
“I’m never turning the lights out again...” he said in a whispered groan, his words interrupted by the powerful rush of his release. She rode out the storm, finally collapsing onto the mattress beside him in a state of physical, mental and emotional exhaustion.
This. This was exactly what she’d been craving since their first night together. Not just the pleasure, but the closeness, the intimacy of being in Sutton’s arms. To have him touch her and know exactly what she liked. To hold him close and feel like someone out in the world cared about her. Wanted her. Needed her. It was as though the final puzzle piece of their romance had clicked into place. It was an amazing feeling, and yet, a scary one. Lauren could feel her resistance fading. If she wasn’t careful, she might start to have feelings for him.
If she didn’t already.
Sutton scooped her into his arms and pulled her back against the hard wall of his chest. “Beautiful,” he whispered, planting a kiss on her bare shoulder as they both drifted off to sleep.
“I see you two have made up.”
Sutton and Lauren were sitting at the kitchen island together enjoying their first cup of coffee while her clothes were being washed. After last night, with only a few hours’ sleep, he needed a little perk of caffeine to get through the day. Or he would if he had something to do. He’d happily be in bed asleep if not for Lauren having to get up and go to her trucks.
When he turned his head, he saw his brother Sebastian standing at the bottom of the stairs looking at them. “Good morning to you, dear brother. And yes, we did make up. We made up all night as a matter of fact.”
Sebastian rolled his eyes at Sutton’s oversharing. “Well, good for you, I guess.” He went to the coffeepot to pour his own cup. As he did, his brother’s gaze drifted briefly over to where Lauren was sitting in nothing but one of Sutton’s oversize T-shirts.
“Her clothes are in the dryer,” Sutton explained.
Sebastian shook his head. “I have no problem with half-naked women in my kitchen. I just prefer when they’re mine.”
“It’s fun living with you, too.” He raised his mug to toast to his uptight twin.
Lauren turned toward Sebastian and studied him for a moment before looking back at Sutton. “Did you say that you two are identical twins?”
“Yep,” Sutton confirmed. “Genetically identical, socially opposite.”
“Interesting. Well, now that I have both of you in the same room, I don’t know how I ever confused the two of you.”
“I know, I’m so much more attractive than Sebastian,” Sutton teased.
“It’s not that. You do physically look alike, you just carry yourselves differently. It’s a whole different vibe. Of course, it helped your cause that I didn’t know Sebastian had a twin to begin with. It just seemed like he had a laid-back alter ego or something. You couldn’t fool me now the way you did before.”
“Is that a challenge?” Sutton teased.
“Don’t you dare,” Lauren warned with a pointed finger. “I’ve had enough of those games.”
“Don’t worry, Lauren,” Sebastian said. “Sutton doesn’t like pretending to be me. He has to comb his hair and wear decent clothes.”
“And drive boring cars and talk about boring things,” his twin quipped.
Sebastian sighed. “Do you have any brothers or sisters, Lauren?”
“No. It’s just me.”
“Ahh. Then you will never truly know the depths of what I have to deal with being the oldest of five. Three of them aren’t much trouble, but this one...” Sebastian gestured his thumb at Sutton when he got up to get more cream from the refrigerator. “Trouble from the womb.”
Sutton turned back to the two of them. “I’m a delight. Everyone thinks so, just ask around town. And it’s not like I’m a lost cause crashing on people’s couches and borrowing money. I did a damn good job as the CFO of the family business. Things were booming with the two of us at the helm. And not because we were smuggling drugs in our planes.”
Sebastian groaned. “Can we talk about something else, please? Anything else.”
Lauren smiled and took advantage of his offer. “Okay. Here’s a new topic. Sebastian, now that we’ve determined that I was Sutton’s mystery woman, what are you going to do about finding yours?”
That was a good question. Sutton was curious to hear the answer himself. His brother wasn’t really the kind to have a fling at a party. The mere fact that he had meant that the lady had a magnetic hold on Sebastian. Sutton never thought he would see the day that his super analytical twin would be entranced by a female to the point of abandoning his usual good sense.
But would he do anything about it? Sutton was more prone to be the hunter than his brother. Sebastian was always too busy for things like that.
His twin set down his coffee mug and gazed thoughtfully into the living room. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I guess I never expected to hear from her again. When you showed up at the house, I was excited by the idea of having a second chance with her, but now that I’m back at square one, I’m not sure where to start.”
“I’ve got a list of party guests that Beth gave me,” Sutton offered. “I asked her for it when I was hunting for my masked beauty.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss against Lauren’s neck. He liked that her hair was always up in a bun. It gave him free access to the long, bare line of her throat and he could plant kisses beneath her ear whenever he felt like it. “Since I’ve found her, you can have it.”
He enjoyed watching the blush rise to her cheeks. Her every thought and feeling was etched on her face, which made having sex with her even by dim lamplight particularly exciting. Their first time together had been in total darkness, never mind the masks. Now he could see every thrill, every pulsating ripple of pleasure dance across her face.
“I may take you up on that. But for now, I’m heading out for a while.”
“Where to?” It was awfully early for his equally unemployed brother to be up, dressed and ready to go out the door.
“To the club. I’m going to meet a few people there.” Sebastian finished off his coffee and put the mug in the sink. “I’ll be back this afternoon.”
Sutton gently stroked Lauren’s back through his T-shirt as he watched his brother go. “He’s really into her, whomever she is.”
Lauren turned to him with a wrinkled nose. “How can you tell?”
“Because he’s considering looking for her. That’s huge for him. The family and the business have always come before his social life.”
“Well, maybe since his calendar is cleared, he has time to look for his missing lover.”
“Maybe so. Honestly, I feel like I’m going mad with all this time on my hands.” He leaned in to nibble on her neck again. “I wish you didn’t work so much so you could help me occupy the time.”
Lauren giggled and squirmed away. “Well, not everyone was the CFO of a Fortune 500 company. Some of us are the CEO, CFO, payroll manager, line cook and head bottle washer of a Fortune 100,000 company. I’ve got to bust my ass every day to keep my head above water and build my business.”
Sutton lowered himself down onto the stool beside her. “You know, I could help you out.”
“What? Can you cook?”
“No, not like that,” he laughed. “I managed the finances of our whole company. The marketing department reported to me, as well. I have a great head for management. Let me use it to help you out.”
Lauren’s face said it all—she didn’t know how to politely tell him no. That meant she wouldn’t. “I don’t know, Sutton. The restaurant business isn’t like your company.”
“Obviously, there are differences. But I know how to get good word of mouth going. I’m great with promotion. I can help you brainstorm ideas. Really. Like, tell me your ultimate goal for the business.”
“What?”
Sutton turned Lauren to face him on the stool and gripped her shoulders gently. She was being stubborn. He wasn’t sure if she was just used to being a one woman show, or if she didn’t trust his ideas. His own confidence waivered slightly at her resistance. He wouldn’t blame her for rejecting his help. Who wanted advice from someone who’d been ousted by the board of directors, after all? He tamped down his own doubts. “Just do me a favor and close your eyes.”
She eventually complied, but not without the line of concern returning between her brows. “Okay. Now what?”
“Picture yourself ten years from now. You’re at the pinnacle of your career. You have everything you’ve ever wanted to achieve and more. Visualize it in your mind, make it real with all your senses. Then tell me what you see.”
Lauren took a deep breath before she answered. “I have my own successful restaurant here in Royal. One without wheels.”
“That’s great.” He wouldn’t say it aloud, but a chef of Lauren’s caliber didn’t need to be cooking in a truck. She needed a real, brick-and-mortar restaurant where she could take her culinary creations to the next level. “What else do you see?”
“White walls, colorful paintings. There are people at every table, happy...eating...talking. It’s beautiful. And it smells amazing.”
“Have you sold the food trucks?” he asked.
She thought for a moment. “I don’t know. Maybe I have staff to run them for me while I focus on the restaurant.”
“Do you have one restaurant or a chain? Remember, this is your ultimate dream. You can have anything.”
Lauren opened her eyes and looked at him. “One is enough for me. I’m no Bobby Flay or Wolfgang Puck. I want more than just my name on the sign, I want to be the executive chef in the kitchen. A chain is...too much. I just want to have my restaurant and to make people happy with my cooking. Isn’t that enough?”
Sutton realized he’d overstepped and tried to backpedal with a bright smile. “Of course, it’s enough. Whatever you want. I just want to make sure you’re letting yourself dream big enough. Your food is amazing. You could have a chain of restaurants if you wanted to, someday. Or one amazing place, if you’d prefer. I think you could put that Italian place in Dallas to shame. Hey—maybe you could do a pop-up event like they did and get a taste for the permanent restaurant life.”
Lauren shook her head. “While I’d love to, that place was successful enough to be able to do things I could never do, because I don’t have the money. You have to have money to make money in a business like this. With most restaurants folding within five years, I’m lucky to still be open, much less thriving.”
“I don’t think it would take that much to pull it together. You don’t have to make it as fancy as they were. You could scale back the decor. Maybe work with some local businesses to rent dishware or get floral arrangements in exchange for free advertising. I know a lot of people in this town. I bet I could pull a few strings to make it happen.”
Lauren looked at him with eyes that wanted to believe it was possible. But she wasn’t certain of herself. Or of him. He could tell.
“Next Saturday,” Sutton declared. “Lauren Roberts’s Eatery is coming to Royal, Texas.”