Give Him the Slip (28 page)

The sound jerked Maddie out of the romance of the moment and back
to the day she'd been released from jail. Kathy, a teetotaler, had met her at
the gates with a horribly sweet bottle of sparkling grape juice and two paper
Dixie cups. Unsettled, she blurted out, "Where is the strangest place
you've ever drank champagne?"

"Hmm..." Luke considered the question while he poured
two flutes. "That'd be a toss-up between Times Square on New Year's Eve
and an emu pasture in West Texas."

"You drank champagne with a bunch of smelly birds? Why?"

"Well, there was this woman..."

"Never mind." She truly didn't want to hear about Luke
and other women. "Why did you say Times Square on New Year's? That's a
pretty normal place to drink champagne."

He handed her a glass. "There is nothing normal about Times
Square on New Year's. The stuff you see... the very definition of
strange."

"Okay. I can't argue if you look at it that way. I was there
for the millennium."

"So was I. Was that a crazy place or what? Between the people
convinced it was the end of the world and the ones who thought the mother ship
was going to land in Gramercy Park, it's a wonder Dick Clark didn't walk off
the set. So, what brought you to the madness that year?"

"I was at a party with a couple of girlfriends, but things
got a little wild for me. I went down to Forty-second Street by myself and
watched the ball drop, resolving to make better choices in the new century. I
met Cade a week later. So much for resolutions."

"So you got off to a slow start." Luke shrugged.
"Looks to me like you've made some very good choices since then. You're a
survivor, Maddie. You've taken the odd lot that life's cast your way and made
it work. Sure, you've made mistakes, but who hasn't? Look at me. It wasn't all
fun and games growing up a Callahan, but I'll bet it was a helluva lot easier
than being the child of a rock icon. I think you've done pretty damned
good."

Maddie didn't know how to respond. No guy she'd been with had ever
given her any credit before. They never realized she was partly a victim of
circumstance. They, like her father, always laid the blame at her feet. Blame
Baby.

Luke, God bless him, was different.

He lifted his glass. "To you, Maddie Kincaid. To your beauty,
your courageousness, your fire. The day you boarded the
Miss Behavin' II
was
definitely my lucky day."

Maddie couldn't speak past the lump in her throat. She wasn't
certain her watery knees would keep her upright. So she sipped her champagne
and sank onto the sofa. Luke crossed over to a bookshelf where a selection of
CDs sat beside a stereo. He flipped through them and slipped his choice into
the player, and moments later Frank Sinatra started singing "I Get a Kick
Out of You."

Her favorite. "I love Sinatra. How did you know?"

"I drove your minivan, remember? Of course I snooped through
your CDs. Strange collection for a rock princess, I might add. Only two artists
and not a steel guitar among 'em." He met her gaze and confessed, "I
wanted to set the right mood for you tonight, Maddie, but I had to draw the
line at Barbra Streisand."

Affronted, she demanded, "What's wrong with Barbra?"

"Oh, she can sing. I'm not denying that. It's the cheesiness
of her songs that... never mind." Luke set the plate of strawberries on
the coffee table, then sank down onto the cushion beside her. He held a
strawberry in front of her mouth, saying, "Let's not argue over ol' Babs."

As Maddie bit the juicy, sweet strawberry, Luke nuzzled her neck.
"Mmm... I do love the way you smell. Chanel and spice. The fragrance seeps
into my blood and makes me hotter than hell. Only thing better is the way you
taste."

He stared down at her, his eyes heavy lidded and so hot they made
her tremble. His warm breath feathered across her skin. "Let me taste you,
Maddie. Now."

Maddie offered her mouth and he took it. His lips brushed hers, as
soft and light as a butterfly's wing. Gentle, coaxing, he rewarded her
acquiescence. His firm, warm lips molded to hers, his tongue soft but
insistent, sliding into her mouth. It dipped and delved and danced. His tongue
stroked hers, prodded it, coaxed it into his mouth, where he gently nibbled the
tip, then sucked. She closed her eyes and lost herself in the pleasure of Luke
Callahan's kiss, forgetting her nervousness altogether. She swirled her tongue
around his, wanting the moment to never end.

He captured her nape in the cup of his palm, and as a growl of
delight rumbled deep in his throat, Maddie admitted that she wanted him. Again.
Still. She wanted him, period. It had never been this way for her before. So
intense. So consuming.

Danger, Maddie. Danger. You could get used to this. You could get
used to him.

The kiss took on a life of its own, lasting long minutes, maybe
even hours. Days. It was wet and warm and wonderful, exhilarating. He kissed
her until she could barely stand. Barely breathe. It was all-encompassing.
Thrilling.

Frustrating. She needed his hands on her. Where were his hands?
She arched against him and her own hands streaked across his back. She rubbed
her chest against his, seeking contact, seeking relief.

Instead, he released her and moved away. Bereft, Maddie met his
gaze.

"Gotta slow down," he murmured. His eyes smoldered. His
jaw was set, his breathing heavy. "You are the most delicious thing I've
ever tasted. Before this night is over, I'll know the flavor of every inch of
your body."

Oh, my.
She ached, tightened, and tingled. She was being seduced. Thoroughly
and completely. She liked it very much.

Luke rose from the couch. She halfway expected him to sweep her
into his arms and carry her up the stairs a la Rhett Butler. Instead, he dimmed
the lights in the room, then held out his hand. "Dance with me?"

"Dance?" She all but melted on the rug.

"Sinatra is singing about summer wind. A man needs to have a
beautiful woman in his arms when a song like that is playing."

Maddie took his hand and he pulled her close. They slow danced to
Frank through "Summer Wind" and "That's Life" and
"Strangers in the Night." While Luke softly sang "Night and
Day" into her ear, Maddie's blood hummed with a heady sense of pleasure
and anticipation.

"This is a first for me," she confessed as he nuzzled
her hair.

He nipped her earlobe, then drew back. His eyes gleamed hotly.
"What sort of first, Red?"

"I've never danced in a man's arms this way."

"Oh?" His brows arched. "You don't like to
dance?"

"Oh, no," she was quick to say. "It's wonderful.
Wonderful.
It's just... I hung around with rockers. European rockers at that."

"Your mistake."

"Oh, yes. Most definitely yes. The fact they didn't know how
to dance was but a very minor part of it."

The tempo picked up and Luke spun her around. Maddie laughed, then
their eyes locked. Desire sizzled in the air between them and for a long
moment, Maddie thought Rhett time had arrived. Except she wouldn't be like
Scarlet. She knew that while tomorrow was another day, there wouldn't be
another tomorrow like tonight for her and Luke. She wasn't about to let herself
fall into the trap of believing that this was a fairy-tale romance.

Instead, he clasped her tighter and continued the dance. "I
learned to two-step early because it was a good way to get my arms around a
girl. It's still a good way."

"Always thinking, aren't you Callahan?"

"I'm always thinking of you, it seems." The hand at her
waist took a lazy stroke up her back, then down across her hip to curve on her
buttock and bring her closer still. She felt his erection against the aching
part of her. "You get in a guy's mind, Red. In his fantasies. I've
imagined dancing with you a number of times."

Her heart stuttered. "You have?"

"Oh, yeah." The song ended and the hand on her bottom
dropped away. Luke took a step back, then drew her hand up to his mouth and
kissed her knuckles one by one. "I've dreamed of dancing with you beneath
the stars. Naked."

Oh my oh my.

He kissed her again, once, then twice. The silken heat of his
tongue dipped into her mouth again with irresistible tenderness that caused
Maddie to sigh against his lips.

After that, she waited expectantly, but still no Rhett. Instead,
in a rough, husky voice he said, "Come to the kitchen with me?"

The kitchen! Her knees almost buckled as she pictured him taking
her on the table. Or the counter. A tile floor.

"And actually, we're going through the kitchen onto the deck.
I want to make dessert for us."

She blinked. Food? Now? Whoa. Earlier when she'd pondered an
upcoming sensual banquet, she'd been thinking metaphorically. Now she wondered whether
she'd been wrong. "Does it involve whipped cream?"

His eyes flickered and flared, then Maddie watched with
disappointment as he deliberately banked the fire. "No whipped cream.
Bananas."

"Bananas?" Hmm. That took her a bit aback. Wasn't it a
little early in their relationship to go kinky?

"Bananas Foster. A great New Orleans recipe. Have you ever
had it?"

The intent light in his eyes made her answer, "No, I don't
believe I have."

"Then you're in for a treat. It's the most sensual dessert I know.
Bring the champagne, Red, and watch a maestro at work."

How could she do anything else?

The kitchen at Cottonwood Cottage was cozy but well equipped. Luke
paused long enough to remove a tray from the Sub-Zero refrigerator and a large
bowl of vanilla ice cream from the freezer. The man had certainly planned
ahead.

"When did you do all this? How did you do it?"

An enigmatic smile flirted with his lips. "Maestros don't
share the secrets of their... recipes."

Recipes for seduction, she thought, her knees going weak yet
again. At this point in the evening, it was a wonder she could still walk.

He opened the back door, and Maddie preceded him outside, where
the star-filled sky nearly took her breath away. "Isn't it
beautiful."

"Exquisite." His gaze was on her, not the heavens.

Pool lights and a pair of tiki torches helped the moon and stars
provide soft illumination of Cottonwood Cottage's backyard. As Sinatra crooned
from outdoor speakers, Luke motioned for Maddie to take a seat on a quilt
spread upon a lush lawn. Big square pillows and another champagne bucket sat at
one end.

Unless the B and B owner had a special romance package listed in
her brochure, Luke had gone to quite a lot of trouble to set this scene. How
did she feel about that? How would she feel once the night was over and the
reality of daylight set in? Would she want to— Nope. She wasn't going there.
Tonight was nothing more than an interlude. A time to make a memory. This place
was made for memories, after all. The stars, the night sounds, a drop-dead sexy
man who wanted her. It was perfect.

It was temporary.

Enjoy, but don't forget it.

Since she wore a dress, Maddie would have preferred to sit in one
of the teak chairs that sat beside the pool, but Luke was directing this play
and he'd done an excellent job up until now. She kicked off her shoes and
stretched out on the blanket while Luke set his tray on the stone countertop of
the outdoor kitchen and went to work. Within moments he had butter and brown
sugar melting in a chafing dish.

The stars, the moon, the music, relaxed her. The man had her on
edge. Giving in to the sensuality of the moment, Maddie lay back and made a
long, languid stretch.

Luke dropped his fork and had to get a clean one.

She watched him sauté bananas, then sprinkle them with cinnamon
before dousing them with banana liqueur and rum. Her mouth watered, not for the
man's concoction, but for the man himself.

"All right, here's the fun part. Watch." He lit a
fireplace match and set the stuff afire, grinning like a schoolboy until the alcohol
burned off. What was it about men and fire?

Luke poured the banana mixture over the vanilla ice cream, then,
with a bowl in one hand, a spoon in the other, sat down beside her. He stared
deep into her eyes as he held a spoonful of dessert to her mouth and said,
"Taste."

The rich blend of flavors exploded on her tongue. "Mmm.
That's wonderful."

He took a bite. Frowned. "Good, but not perfect. It's missing
something."

Luke filled the spoon again, fed her another bite. "What do
you think?"

It was perfect. This was perfect. The music, the man, the moment.
She sat smack-dab in the middle of a romantic fantasy. "Delicious."

"But it needs something else." He tossed down the spoon,
then dipped his finger in the bowl and held it to her mouth. "See?"

Following his lead, she sucked the ice cream from his finger.
"Mmm... it's fine just the way it is."