“God, you’re gorgeous,” Emma’s familiar sexy voice purred against his neck. He jerked back in surprise. He had been so lost in thought, he hadn’t seen her return from the dance floor. She was flushed and her eyes were bright, possibly with one too many daiquiris.
He pulled her against him, settling her in his lap. His cock was thrilled with her close proximity, although a bit frustrated with the barriers between them. “Hey, baby, I enjoyed your dance, although I would have preferred watching it in private.” She wiggled her bottom against his hard ridge, causing shivers to shoot through him. “Behave before I embarrass myself in public.”
“Mmm, I’d love that,” she teased. He was thrilled when she added, “I’m ready to go whenever you are. I don’t think I have another dance left in me.” Almost before she could finish that thought, Brant had them up and saying their good-byes to her friends. Another minute later and they were back in the humid night air. His driver and car were parked around the corner, and a quick call had them picked up and settled in the back.
He would love nothing better than to skip going back to her parents’ house and find a nice hotel for the rest of the night. Unfortunately, they had a very early flight home tomorrow and they would have to pick up their luggage. It just wasn’t workable. Maybe if they were quiet, though, her parents wouldn’t have to know that he was having sex with their daughter under their roof . . . again. Yeah, he could do quiet.
When they pulled up to the house, he helped a sleepy Emma to the door. It took another few minutes to locate the key in her purse. A lamp was on in the foyer, but there was no sign of anyone awake. Things were definitely going his way so far. Emma giggled and groped him all the way up the stairs. He gave her a lingering kiss before making a quick trip to the bathroom. When he returned to the bedroom ready to continue their foreplay, he was brought up short. Emma was sprawled out on the bed, sound asleep and snoring like a sailor. Her dress had ridden up, exposing the tops of her creamy thighs. He tried not to dwell on the fact that she wasn’t wearing underwear. Sighing, he dropped to her side and removed her shoes. He lifted her slightly to pull up the bedcovers and then settled her back beneath them. Maybe it was better this way. Sex could only cloud things further between them.
He knew tomorrow was likely to be a difficult and confusing day, and he probably needed all of his wits to make some decisions. He had started to hope that she was as interested as he was in seeing where things might lead between them. There was no way this could have all been an act on her part. He didn’t know what he felt for her, but he did know that it was completely foreign to him. He had never been this messed up over Alexia, even when she left him. There was something big happening between them, at least on his part, and he was both anxious and terrified to know how she felt.
The last thought he had before drifting into sleep was that the woman beside him held the long-lost key to his heart.
Chapter Eleven
Emma found herself sitting on the airplane beside Brant not having a clue as to what to do. The morning had passed in a blur. They had been up early for their flight and she barely had time for a good-bye hug from her mother and father before Brant was rushing her out the door and into a taxi. Since they were up late the night before, the ride to the airport was spent in companionable silence as they both dozed lightly. Now, on the plane, the first moment of awkwardness had arrived. She wanted to reach over and take his hand, but she didn’t know if that was okay anymore. Was their time officially over now? As she continued to sit quietly, racked by indecision, Brant reached over and took her hand in his, settling them both in his lap. She felt her body relax. Everything was still okay between them. She leaned her head on his shoulder.
“You’re quiet this morning,” he murmured against the top of her head.
She quickly blinked back tears. God, she had gotten so attached to that voice this weekend. Whereas once a statement like that from him would have pissed her off, now it just made her sad. She wished the plane ride were longer. Here, pressed against his warmth, was where she wanted to stay. Should she just put her feelings out there? The worst that could happen was that he didn’t feel the same way. “I’m . . . um . . . just tired from last night, I guess.” Shit! She couldn’t force the words that she wanted to say past her lips. She just couldn’t bear to have it end yet. For the next two hours, he was still hers and, right now, that was something she wasn’t willing to risk. “Speaking of last night, where did you get those dance moves? I never would have believed you had it in you.” She smiled as he chuckled.
“Some television and a lot of improvising. It helped that everyone was too drunk to notice the times I almost tripped over my own feet. I really enjoyed your friends. Well, with the exception of Jill. She’s not easily deterred.”
Emma pulled back, looking up into his smiling eyes. “That was a different Jill from the one I knew in school. Madison said she has been going through a divorce and I believe she was a bit desperate to prove that she’s still got it. In her defense, you looked pretty hot last night.”
Brant gave her a surprised but pleased look. “I . . . really?” It was obvious that he wasn’t used to compliments, and she felt a guilty pang that he had certainly not received any from her in the time they had known each other. Most of her comments to him were negative and critical. That he enjoyed finally being on the receiving end of something positive was apparent. Why oh why couldn’t they have met under different circumstances? At work they had rubbed each other wrong almost from the start. Would things have been different if they had met somewhere else? He had been so caring, attentive, funny and affectionate all weekend. It was hard to believe that it was all an act. Somewhere inside of him, that man had to exist. Maybe if there hadn’t been an underlying attraction between them from the beginning, things would never have escalated to the love/hate, well, mostly hate, relationship that they had. It was never too late to try to change things, was it?
Giving his hand a squeeze, she said, “Oh yeah, you knocked my friends for a loop. Even David couldn’t keep his eyes off you.”
Pulling their clasped hands to his lips, he kissed her knuckles. “No one held a candle to you. I was the envy of every man there.” Emma felt herself doing something she rarely did: blushing. There was no doubting the sincerity of his words. She almost told him how she felt then and there, but the flight attendant picked that moment to start the beverage service and the moment was lost. Instead, she curled against him as much as the small space would allow and enjoyed feeling the steady beat of his heart against her ear as the last moments of the flight passed so much faster than she wanted.