“What are you giggling about over there?”
She lifted her gaze to him, could imagine a dark-haired son with Gray’s stubborn chin, or a little girl with his eyes.
Whoa. Shaking off those thoughts immediately, she smiled at him. “Just playing the what-if game while we walked.”
“Yeah? Tell me.”
“Oh, it was nothing, really.”
He squeezed her hand and pulled her to a stop. “Evelyn. Tell me.”
“I was just daydreaming about your big house with its stunning ocean view, thinking what it might be like to live in a place like that. Then I decided I wouldn’t necessarily want to spend the rest of my life here, but it might be nice to have it as a vacation home, where I’d bring my imaginary children along with my imaginary dogs here for vacations. I even had my imaginary dogs fetching Frisbees from the water.”
His lips curved, and she wanted to trace that smile with her fingertips.
“Yeah? That sounds like a pretty good plan. You should add that to your things-to-do-someday list.”
“I don’t think I have a list like that.”
They resumed walking. “You should. Everyone should have a list like that.”
“Do you?”
“Uh . . . no.”
She shoved into him and laughed. “Then why tell me I should have one?”
“Because it’s a good idea, you planning to become President of the United States and all. You should get started on all those goals. Like getting married and having kids and a dog. You’re not going to get elected president being single.”
“I’m too busy getting someone else elected right now. I’ll worry about myself later.”
He stopped again and pulled her against him. “You should put yourself first more often.”
She’d thought much the same thing this morning when she realized how much being with Gray had helped her unwind. “I’ve thought about that.”
“Have you?”
“Yes. I’m very relaxed right now. And thanks to you, I’ve decided I should take more downtime.”
He skimmed his fingers along her back, making her wish she still wore her bikini instead of a tank top and shorts. She had loved the feel of his hands on her bare skin when they were on the boat. And what he’d done to her, the way he’d shattered her.
She wasn’t sure any man had ever learned her body so quickly, or if any man would ever make her come the way Gray could. A dangerous thought, because she didn’t want to become emotionally attached to him.
It was just sex—mind-blowing, really awesome sex, but that’s all it was, so making more out of it than what it was would only make her miserable when it was over.
And that was the hard truth she had to face.
She wanted more than just sex, and it was high time she started doing something about it.
But she wasn’t going to be doing something about it with Gray Preston. He wasn’t the forever and ever and two kids and the big yard and settling down and being supportive while she hustled through her political career kind of guy. He was racing cars and being on the road ten months out of the year kind of man. And that didn’t fit with her lifestyle, any more than hers fit with his.
This was a fling. A great fling, but when it was over they’d go their separate ways, and then she’d see about getting that house with the big yard and the tire swing.
He tipped her chin up with his fingers and her gaze met his, her body melting under the warmth of his whiskey eyes.
“Did I lose you?”
Not yet. But eventually, she’d lose him, his great hands, his incredible body, and the way he made her feel when he touched her.
“No. I’m right here.” Which was where she’d stay. In the moment, not waxing romantically about what could be, somewhere down the road in her future.
Somewhere far down the road.
He brushed his lips across hers and she melted into him, and when he explored her mouth with his tongue, she opened for him. He wrapped his arms around her and tugged her close. Here, out on the beach, with cool ocean water swimming over her feet, he could still heat her body to boiling.
He pulled his mouth from hers, his gaze heavy lidded and filled with the hunger that made her pulse beat erratically.
“Let’s go back to the house.”
She nodded and he grasped her hand. This time, their walk was faster as his thumb drew lazy circles over the top of her hand, driving her crazy. Her skin felt on fire, tuned in to his touch. By the time they climbed the back stairs and went through the doorway, she was ready to tear his clothes off with her teeth.
Apparently he felt the same way, because they kicked off their shoes right inside the door and he yanked her up the stairs, both of them out of breath from their near run down the beach. There was no tour of the bedrooms. He shoved open the master bedroom door and she got the barest glimpse of filtered light and windows and an amazing balcony before Gray picked her up and threw her onto one very large, soft bed. She fell into a mass of blankets and laughed as Gray climbed on top of her.
He framed her face and kissed her, his erection rubbing against her, dampening her, preparing her for him. She pulled off her top, and when he reached for her shorts, she lifted her hips, anxious to get clothes out of the way. He stood and she smiled as he tore his shirt off and tossed it aside. Content to just watch, he dropped his shorts, his c**k hard as it sprang up. She reached for it, stroking him from base to tip.
“God, I like your hands on me,” he said, tangling his fingers in her hair.
She swallowed, her throat going dry as she looked up at him and saw the desire on his face. He didn’t even attempt to mask the hunger he felt for her. So many men played it cool, seemed to want that kind of power over a woman where she was the one in need and he couldn’t care less. But Gray’s face was etched with need as she moved her hand over him, and she knew just how much he craved her touch. In that, she had all the power, which only heightened her own desire. This true expression of sensuality, of intimacy, was such a revelation.
She drew up on her knees. “Touch me. I need your hands on me, too.”
He reached behind her and undid the clasp of her bra, pulling it off and throwing it to the floor. She stood on the bed, holding on to his shoulders as he drew her panties down her legs. She started down to the mattress again, but Gray said, “Stay there.”
She held on to him and he cupped the globes of her butt, drawing her toward his mouth. She shuddered when he found her sex, his tongue snaking out to curl around her clit.
She looked down and watched him, this viewpoint so different than anything she’d ever experienced as he held firm to her and drove her crazy with his mouth and tongue, diving in to lick and suck her until she was certain she wouldn’t be able to stand. But she did, because she craved the orgasm that drew ever closer as he sucked on her cl*tand slid a finger into her pu**y to f**k her.
“Gray,” she whispered, so close her legs trembled.
He mumbled against her, flattening his tongue along her sex until she knew she was going to let go. But still, she held back, wanting to prolong the sweetest pleasure imaginable until she couldn’t any longer. And when she came, he dug his fingers into her butt cheeks, holding her while he licked her through a shattering orgasm that made her dizzy.
She fell to the bed and Gray pulled her to the edge, his c**k bobbing near her lips.
“Now, suck me and make me come, just like this.”
Still panting, her pu**y still spasming from the aftereffects of one mind-blowing orgasm, she opened her mouth and he slid his c**k inside. She closed her lips over his shaft and let him feed his c**k to her. He held the back of her head and slid it in and out.
“Fuck. Yeah, I like that,” he said, and she could tell from the way his gaze was riveted to her face that he enjoyed having her at his mercy.
She enjoyed the taste of him, giving him the same kind of pleasure he gave her. She shifted, rolling onto her back and dropping her head down off the bed so he could watch his c**k go down her throat.
“Christ, Evelyn.” He leaned over her, pumping his c**k between her lips while he massaged her breasts. She reached between her legs, so caught up in the moment, her senses heightened by his touch and the way he watched her that she couldn’t help but want to get off again.
“You’re making me crazy doing that,” he said, his voice tight with strain as he slid his c**k over her tongue. She clamped tight, closed her mouth, and swallowed as she moved her hand over her cl*tand pussy, wanting to come when she made him come.
He brushed his fingers over her breasts, teasing her nipples, pulling at them until the pleasure between her legs intensified. She was so close to coming she had to hold up.
She wanted him to go with her.
“You ready to come?” he asked. “I’m going to come in your mouth, Evelyn. I want to come hard.”
She hummed against his cockhead and slid her fingers in her pussy, rubbing against her cl*tuntil she couldn’t hold back the rushing orgasm. She moaned as she came.
“Fuck yes,” Gray yelled, and erupted into her mouth. She arched against the hard cl**ax while swallowing everything he gave her, wanting to prolong it for him. When he went soft in her mouth, she let go, flicking her tongue at the head.
He fell onto the bed next to her and pulled her against him. It took her a few minutes to regain her bearings, but she finally got a look at the oversized bedroom, the wraparound balcony, and the amazing maple furniture that looked like it had been hand crafted.
“Nice room,” she finally said.
He laughed, then dragged her out of bed. “Wait ’til you see the bathroom.”
He was right. A window overlooking the ocean caught her attention right away, but the shower was decadent, with its multiple showerheads and a whirlpool tub with so many massaging jets she was determined to take a soak in it before she left.
They showered, dressed, then went downstairs.
“Hungry?” he asked.
“Yes. All that sex drives my appetite.”
“Hopefully it drives your appetite for more sex.”
She arched a brow. “Right now it’s driving my appetite for food.”
He opened the refrigerator. “Chicken?”
“How do you have food in your fridge?”
“My staff knows my schedule. They make sure the house is well stocked when I’m going to be home.”
How utterly convenient. “Fantastic.” She came up beside him. “I’ll make a salad.
And we can grill some vegetables.”
He frowned. “No baked potato?”
After grabbing what she wanted out of there, she closed the fridge door. “A little healthy won’t kill you. Besides, you need the extra vitamins, what with all this sex we’re having.”
“I need the extra carbs to cope with all this sex we’re having.”
She couldn’t resist the grin. “Go grill the chicken. I’ll prep the vegetables and make the salad.”
He prepared the chicken on a plate, then grumbled, “I still think a baked potato would be better.”
“Whiner. Go.”
After dinner, they took a long walk on the beach. The sun had set and the ocean was silver and spectacular in the moonlight.
“I could get used to this,” she said, holding Gray’s hand as they took a slow stroll.
“I might become clingy like one of your groupies and leave my career in politics and decide to squat on your property here.”
He paused, studied her in silence. She hoped he knew she was just kidding.
“Do you do windows? Because it’s hard to find good housekeepers here.”
She snorted out a laugh. “Sadly, I suck at cleaning.”
He sighed. “Then I’m afraid it’s a no.”
“Damn. I was already mentally packing. But only if you leave the keys to all those cars you have parked in the garage.”
“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.”
Now she paused, tugging on his hand to stop them. “You wouldn’t trust me with your precious classics?”
“Not on your life. I’m the only one who drives those babies.”
“What happens when you get married someday and your wife wants to tool around in that GTO? Are you going to tell her the same thing?”
“Hell yes. I don’t want some woman, fresh from her manicure, getting pink nail polish on one of my cars.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s a good thing I brought that up. You’ll have to be sure to have the no-driving-the-muscle-cars entered into the prenup.”
He went quiet. She wondered if the whole marriage and prenup thing was a sore spot for him in some way.
“Uh oh. I hit a sore spot, obviously. Have you ever been serious enough to get close to marriage?” she asked.
He grinned. “No sore spot at all. I’m just making a mental note about no-driving-the-cars in the prenup. And no, I’ve never gotten remotely close to marriage yet. Have you?”
“No. But believe me, I’ve got my prenup already planned out.”
He turned to her. “You do?”
“Hell yes. I have to protect all those assets in my nine-hundred-square-foot apartment. No way is some guy going to get his greedy hands on my George Washington Chia pet.”
He laughed, then grabbed her around the waist. “Smart-ass.”
She squealed as he picked her up and held her above the water, threatening to drop her into the waves. But then he put her down in the sand, and looked at her.
“What would you like to do now?”
She gave him a grin. “How about a tour of those cars in your garage?”
SIXTEEN
ONE BY ONE, GRAY LIFTED THE COVERS OFF HIS MUSCLE CARS. First the ’69 Mustang, followed by the ’70