She turned to go, unable all at once to face him with so much emotion battling inside her. He would not be home at this hour. She could call his house and leave a message. She could write him a note and mail it so she wouldn’t have to speak to him at all…
"Lila?"
Oh God. Lila turned, her hands suddenly trembling. "Hi."
He looked at her warily. Coolly. The way he’d looked when he left her house. Blindly, she thrust the flowers at him.
"These are for you. I just wanted to say I was sorry. I’m such an idiot. This isn’t the place. I’m sorry."
Thankful the all-knowing hostess hadn’t been there to see her act like such a fool, Lila headed out of the restaurant. His voice stopped her before she could reach the door. She paused without facing him.
"Nobody ever gave me flowers before."
She looked back at him and discovered, to her sudden dismay and mortification, tears had welled up in her eyes. She blinked them back. She didn’t want to cry. Not here, of all places. Not in front of him.
"I thought you might like them. They’re a little wild, and they smell good. Like you." She was babbling now. Heat rose in her cheeks. This was worse than anything she’d imagined.
Tom stepped forward and took her arm. "Let’s go into my office."
He walked her quickly back through the restaurant and skillfully steered her around any obstacle, which was good since now the tears in her eyes were blinding her. He opened a door and gently pushed her inside.
"Why did you come here?" Tom led her to a soft chair.
Lila pressed her cool hands against her flushed cheeks. Deep breath in, deep breath out, until the tears no longer threatened. She looked at him.
"I wanted to apologize for what I said on Friday morning. I was stupid. I’m sorry I hurt you."
"What makes you think you hurt me?" Tom leaned back against the desk. With his arms folded across his chest and his long, long legs crossed at the ankles, he wasn’t exactly a picture of welcoming warmth. "You can’t hurt someone who doesn’t care about you." His hazel eyes were stormy, his lips a thin line.
His words slapped her. Lila blinked, and the heat disappeared from her face instantly, as though she’d just plunged into an ocean of ice. "I see." Her back stiffened. Once again her fists clenched until her palms ached from the press of her nails against the flesh. She rose to go and did not look at him. If she looked at him, she might slap him or cry and she wanted to do neither.
"Do you?" Tom stepped closer to her and caught her arm to prevent her from leaving.
She pulled her arm from his grasp. "Yes, I think I do."
"I don’t think so." He towered over her. "I said you can’t hurt someone who doesn’t care about you, Lila."
She whirled on him, sudden fury rising in her like a tidal wave. "I heard what you said, Tom! I understand!"
The hands that had worshipped her flesh now gripped her tightly enough to hurt. Refusing to wince, Lila tried to pull free. Tom wouldn’t let her.
"You did hurt me." He moved his face closer to hers, and his voice almost became a growl. His eyes were inches from hers, and she could see flecks of gold glittering in the amber-green depths. It took Lila a moment to digest what he’d said. As the fight faded out of her, Tom let go of her arms. He rubbed his fingers up and down along where he’d gripped her to ease the sting.
"I do care." Tom paused as if to gather his courage. "Why did you come here?"
"To say I was sorry."
He pulled her to him and sought her mouth. She met his kiss eagerly. When he urged her lips to part, she did that, too. His hands crept up to tangle in her hair, and she didn’t protest. It was all she’d wanted him to do, since the first time she’d seen him. All she’d thought about.
"So now what?" Tom pulled away from her.
"I like being with you. Can we leave it at that for now?"
He shrugged. "If you insist."
Lila gently disentangled herself from his grasp. "I’ve got to get back. I have a thousand things to do this afternoon."
"When can I see you again?"
"You’ll see me tonight," she reminded. "We have a partnership meeting at the gallery. We’re supposed to be planning the gala opening."
Tom mock-slapped his forehead. "I forgot. I’ll be there."
They stared at each other in silence for a minute. Then Lila reached up to peck his cheek. Tom captured her shoulders and refused to release her until she had kissed him as passionately as before.
"I’d better go." Lila laughed again.
"I’ll see you tonight."
At the thought, her belly quivered. Tonight, indeed.
* * *
The rest of the day passed in a daze for Tom. He placed three incorrect orders for produce before Emma finally took over. Ordering him out of the kitchen, she grabbed the order book from his hands and shook her head.
"Boss, go put your flowers in a vase before they wilt," she ordered. "Better yet, go home and take a cold shower."
Only a niece who was practically like a younger sister could get away with telling him what to do. Tom didn’t care. Lila had brought him flowers. Nobody had ever brought him flowers, and though he knew his buddies would make unrepentant fun of him if they found out, it would mostly be out of jealousy. Nobody had ever brought them flowers either.
"You’re in a good mood." Jennifer paused to stuff a handful of menus into a drawer. Now that lunch was over, The Foxfire would be fairly quiet for a few hours until dinner. She and Tom had often spent the time talking.
Not today, though. Visions of dark curls and blue-ice eyes were filling Tom’s mind. Visions of Lila.
"I’m in a great mood." Tom punched the air.
Jennifer smiled flirtatiously. "How come?"
"No reason."
She must have caught the unspoken answer in his voice. She frowned, an expression that didn’t flatter her. As if realizing that, she made an obvious effort to smooth the lines of her face into a smile.
"Well, if you’re in a good mood, so am I," she cooed.
"Good. Then you won’t mind working the dinner shift tonight. I’ve got to get home early. I’ve got a date tonight."
It was a good thing he’d been out of range of her nails, he thought as he pushed through The Foxfire front doors. Otherwise, Jennifer might have given him a pretty bad scratch. He laughed about it on the way home, but realized how much had changed in the past few days. Even as short as a few months ago, he’d have returned Jen’s flirting without thinking twice. They’d never dated, though she and Wendi had sometimes ended up at the same local watering holes he’d used to frequent regularly. It hadn’t been hard to see that the hostess and the waitress would have gladly gone home with him, but he’d never taken it that far.
And now, he never would. He laughed again as he pulled into the driveway. She brought me flowers.
Investing in Rivka Delaney’s art was the best decision he’d ever made. The afternoon took forever to drag by, but at last it was time to head over to The Gallery on Second. Parking his hunter-green Chevy Tahoe in the back lot, Tom let himself into the gallery with the key Rivka had given him. The lights were dim, but he heard voices from the back.
"Tom!" Rivka rose and kissed his cheek. Mick and Martin stood and shook his hand. Tom turned to Lila, who smiled and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
"Not in front of my sister," she murmured into his ear. "She doesn’t know."
"We were talking about the opening night party." If Rivka had guessed anything about her sister and Tom, she didn’t let it show. "I want it to be the best party this town has seen in a long time!"
"She wants to make it a costume party." Lila raised one eyebrow. "Sort of a masque."
"Lila-love’s not thrilled, as you can tell." Rivka nudged her husband. "But we love it, don’t we, Mickey?"
"You love it because you want to dress like a sheik and a harem girl." Lila rolled her eyes.
Rivka rolled eyes shaded in spangled eyeshadow. "
So? What’s so bad about that?"
Martin cleared his throat and cut off Lila’s response. "A costume ball would certainly attract the right people. The mayor always attends the Art Council’s annual masquerade."
"So, a masque it is!" Rivka clapped her hands and shot her sister a triumphant look. "Tom, what do you think? It’s mostly your money after all."
"If it’s what you want, Rivka, go for it," Tom replied gallantly. "You’re the artist."
"See?" Rivka stuck her tongue out at Lila. "Tom likes my idea."
Lila raised her hands helplessly. "All right, you win. But I’m choosing my own costume."
The last time Lila had gone to a costume party, Rivka had insisted on costuming her. Lila had spent the entire night in the bathroom, scrubbing off the silver paint that was giving her hives. A lovely water nymph she had been…not.
"Fine…whatever." Rivka waved her hand airily. Her bracelets jangled. "Come as Gumby for all I care."
Tom wouldn’t mind seeing Lila in a harem girl costume. As if she could read his thoughts, Lila caught his glance and smiled. The smile lit up her eyes and suddenly had him wanting to bend her over the table and make love to her right there.
"I wanted me and the boyos to make the music," Mick said. "But my Rivka says she can’t have me away from her side."
Rivka shook her head. "I’ll be too nervous. We’ll have a DJ. I need you with me, Mickey."
Martin smoothed graying hair. "I’ve already made arrangements for the paintings to be hung. We’ll have all of Rivka’s originals here, even some which have been purchased. The owners have agreed to lend them for the night. Of course, we’ll also be offering all her prints for sale. We’re going to have a drawing to win one of her latest portraits, too."
"It’s going to be fantastic!" Rivka let out a little scream. "I’m so excited!"
Lila laughed at her sister’s antics, but didn’t resist when Rivka leaned over the table and gave her a hug. Watching them, Tom noted how much they looked alike.
"The Foxfire is going to do the food, right?" Rivka turned to Tom.
"Sure."
"Can you and Lila take care of that? I think you two will work great together."
If only she knew. "I think we can manage that. Lila?"
Lila bit back a smile. "Oh, I’m sure we can come up with a lot of interesting ideas."
Rivka looked back and forth between the two of them as if she sensed an undertone to their conversation but didn’t know what it was. "Great. I’ll leave you to it then. Don’t worry, Lila-love. It won’t be hard."
Lila seemed to be stifling a giggle. "That would be too bad."
Rivka peered at her sister. "If I didn’t know you better, Lila-love, I’d say you were making a dirty innuendo."
Lila returned her sister’s look with exaggerated innocence. "Me?"
"Don’t worry, Rivka." Tom gave Lila a steady gaze. "I’ll keep your sister firmly in hand."
Now Rivka turned to look at him with narrowed eyes. "What’s going on between you two?"
"None of your business." Mick gave her a stern look. "Leave them alone. They’re jesting with you."
Rivka appeared about to say more, but her husband silenced her with a kiss and a squeeze.
"All right! Meeting adjourned. I just remembered some business we have at home."
The meeting was over, just like that. Rivka and Mick cleared out like their tails were on fire, and even Martin left with little delay. Promising to lock up, Lila and Tom were the only two left in the gallery.
"So," she said slowly. "Do you want to talk about food?"
The tension was nearly visible in the air between them.
"I’d like to talk about eating."
"Why talk?" Lila’s eyes were aglow with blue ice and her voice a husky intimation. "When you can do?"
Then there was nothing more to be said.
CHAPTER 5
The caramel wasn’t hot enough to burn her skin, but Lila definitely knew exactly where Tom was dripping it. It made a sticky puddle on the soft curve of her stomach and oozed lazily down her sides. The more she wriggled, the faster it slid across her skin. Unfortunately, the things Tom was doing to her with his hands and mouth made it impossible for her to stay still.
"Now for the best part," he murmured and paused in his exploration of her body to reach for the cardboard container beside him.
She nearly shrieked as the ice cream landed first on one breast, then the next. Her nipples rose like iron spikes. Lila let out a wheezing, shuddering laugh at the sensation.
"It’s cold!" Her complaint wasn’t very fierce. The frosty dessert was already melting on her passion-heated skin. "When you made me promise not to move, you didn’t say anything about freezing me to death!"
"I told you I wanted to make upside-down sundaes and you agreed." Tom bent his head to suckle the dripping ice cream off her nipples. "First we did the cherry, then the whipped cream. Then the caramel.…"
She forced a solemn expression to her face. "Then the ice cream. You’ve made a mess of me."
The glint in his eye promised lust. "I’m going to clean it up. Starting right now."
True to his word, Tom moved his mouth along her entire body and paused at every place he had dripped or slathered with food. First, he suckled and laved her breasts and nipples clean of vanilla, moving from one to the next until she had to physically clench her hands together to keep from clutching his head.
The rules to Tom’s game had been very simple. She was not to use her hands until he allowed it. Lila hadn’t asked what the punishment might be, but she was finding it increasingly difficult to keep her word as he inched his way down her body.
After caressing her breasts, Tom slid his tongue down to her stomach. Pressing gentle kisses along the slope of her hip, he moved to the curve of her thigh. His every touch was a fire of sensation. Lila moaned, shifting her hips beneath his kiss. She was on fire, and it was obvious he knew it.
As if he could no longer wait, Tom parted her thighs and dipped his head to the spot where she ached most for his touch. He smoothed apart the soft tangle of her hair to expose her completely to his every motion. As he stroked her with his tongue, Lila jumped beneath his touch.
"Tom!" She forgot her promise and wrapped her fingers in the lush darkness of his hair. Nothing mattered except his tongue and fingers working their magic upon her.
His lips suckled her as he had her nipples. Exquisite pleasure rocketed through her. The world faded away to mere blurs of red and black as she raised her hips to his mouth. The pleasure grew stronger and stronger, moving ever inward. The tight ball of her impending orgasm folded, tighter and tighter, in upon itself in every nuance of ecstasy as Tom continued making love to her with his mouth.
Tom slid his hands beneath her buttocks, and the heat of his fingers brought another delicious torture to her flesh. Pulling her closer to him, he moved his mouth away from her burning center. Though she whimpered, he merely blew a soft gust of cool air across her. Her thighs quivered.