Page 34 of Tempt Me-

My gaze falls on her.“I plan to pick up where we left off a month ago.I still want you.”

And I mean to have her.We’ll have the opportunity to distract each other and forget about our problems… if only for a little while.

***

Mia

I have mixedfeelings about going away with Austin.Of course, I am looking forward to being alone with him, and yes, excited awareness ripples through my veins, but I can’t forget the reason for this trip.It isn’t just about sex; that is the bonus.This excursion is because someone is serious about preventing me from testifying.Serious enough to break into his house, and I feel guilty about bringing trouble to his doorstep and separating him from his daughter.

But after his earlier declaration,I still want you, I decide to leave my fear behind and savor the time we spend together.I won’t overthink things, and I definitely won’t let myself dwell on the pesky feelings that could mess up the good thing I have going with him.

There are no heavy expectations, and I tell myself it works for me.And it does, as long as I don’t let myself think about all his finer qualities.Like his protectiveness when it comes to his daughter and how he transferred it to me.He could have sent me packing when he realized I was bringing trouble to his doorstep.Instead he stepped up and took charge of my safety.It is hard not to fall for a guy like that… but falling isn’t an option.It isn’t what we tacitly agreed to.An affair is all this is, all it can be.

And I intend to enjoy until the real world intrudes once again.

I pack and meet him out at the SUV parked on the driveway.He wears a pair of jeans and a cream-colored sweater, looking sexy with a pair of aviators covering his eyes.

“Ready?”he asks.

“Yes.”I gesture to the carry-on-sized suitcase I packed, trying to be practical and not overdo it with too many choices.It isn’t like we are going out to fancy restaurants.We are staying in, and I chose accordingly.

He loads the trunk with our bags, and we get on the road.The trip passes in comfortable silence, the discussion mostly about music and other things we like… and don’t like.

We stop at a grocery store not far from the cabin, and I insist on foodIcan prepare for us.Cooking relaxes me, and I like taking care of people.He went on about the fireplace he loves at the cabin, and so I add some fun things to the grocery list, hoping he likes my idea later.

Throughout the morning, we are just two people enjoying each other’s company.Of course, that is on the surface.Right below is a simmering awareness that I can’t deny.He pushes up the arms of his sweater, and my gaze settles on his muscular forearms with a sprinkling of dark hair.Those arms are sexy.The man himself is delicious, and I want to get my hands on him again.We just had that one time together, and nothing since except in my daydreams and at night when my subconscious takes over and lets me imagine him sneaking into my room and taking me hard and fast, slowly and sensually, and many other ways.

He made his intentions clear for our time away from the world.And I know what I want, too.

I wanthim.

***

Austin

I love thecabin.My parents bought the place as a family getaway, and it is my home away from home.I come up here sometimes to get a break from the stress of life.Bailey is too young to join me in the woods or to commune with nature, but when my parents take her for the weekend, I come here and just… breathe.

I never brought a woman to the cabin before.Not before Bailey… and definitely not after.Mia is the first.She is a first in a lot of ways.

The first woman I feel protective over.The first I want to spend extended time with.And the first I can’t get out of my head.I try to convince myself that it is for her safety only that I brought her away from our normal routine.But that doesn’t explain why last night, when we said good night and went to our own rooms, I was hard as nails and had to jerk myself off to thoughts of her before I could get to sleep.

And even then, I dreamed of someone coming after her.I plan to make sure I am between Mia and any shot her ex-employer takes at her.It just better not be a literal one.

Mia takes the spare bedroom in the cabin, and I let her.She doesn’t need to know she’ll be sleeping in my bed until she passes out there from sexual exertion.

After a delicious steak dinner, I help clean up, and she shoos me out of the kitchen, claiming she has a surprise.

I throw another log on the fire.It is cooler upstate, and the temperatures are low for late October.Being here isn’t the same without the warmth and flickering flames.And this particular day, a fire is romantic.

Another first.Giving a shit about impressing a woman.Especially one I keep telling myself is just a fling until I get her out of my system.

“Ready?”Mia calls as she walks out of the kitchen, a tray in her hands.

I rub my hands on my jeans and stand.“What’s the surprise?”I ask.

“S’mores.When you told me this place had a fireplace, I couldn’t resist.”She puts the tray down on the large ottoman across from the sofa.“Marshmallows, Hershey chocolate bars, and graham crackers.And…”

She picks up a roasting stick in her hand.“Skewers so we can toast the marshmallows.”She looks pleased with herself.And with a white sweater falling over and baring one shoulder, she makes an extremely irresistible picture.