Page 48 of Recipe for Temptation

“Like hell he will,” Michael growled, skewering Marcus with a lethal glare. “If Q goes anywhere near Reese, you’re gonna have one less lawyer on your damn payroll. Feel me?”

“Oh, most definitely,” Marcus chuckled, edging away from him.

Michael clenched his jaw, his nerves stretched dangerously taut.

After a prolonged silence, Marcus said offhandedly, “Samara and I are gonna crash here for the night. Why don’t you and Reese do the same? You know Dad’s got plenty of room, and quite frankly, you don’t look like you should be getting behind the wheel tonight.”

Michael bristled. “I only had two glasses of wine with dinner.”

Marcus grinned. “Your alcohol intake isn’t what I’m worried about. Given your lousy mood, do you really think it’s a good idea for you to be alone in a car with Reese?”

Before Michael could respond, a high-pitched squeal from one of the twins drew his gaze across the yard to Sterling and Asha.

As he and Marcus watched, their father tossed Matt into the air and caught him with a deep, rollicking laugh. Balancing Malcolm on one hip, Asha laughingly admonished Sterling to be careful. Instead of scowling or waving her off, Sterling smiled and brushed a windblown strand of hair off her face.

Michael and Marcus exchanged startled glances.

“Did you see that?” Marcus asked.

“Hell yeah.”

They watched in disbelief as Asha smiled shyly at their father before averting her eyes to kiss Malcolm’s forehead. Sterling gazed at her a moment longer, then blinked and quickly glanced away.

Michael gave his brother a sideways look. “You don’t think…?”

They went still, staring alertly at each other.

“Nah,” they scoffed in unison, and laughed.

Chapter Sixteen

Around midnight, Reese found herself wide awake and staring at a dark ceiling. Despite being enveloped in Egyptian cotton sheets, and despite the fact that she’d had three glasses of wine over dinner, sleep eluded her.

And she knew the reason.

She was spending the night under the same roof as Michael. The knowledge that he was asleep somewhere in this big house was too much for her overactive imagination. Every time she closed her eyes, her mind conjured an image of his hard, muscular, naked body sprawled across a bed.

A bed that was calling her name.

It was no wonder her throat was parched and her body burned with a fever that had nothing to do with the sweltering temperature outside.

With a muffled groan of frustration, she flung back the covers and slid out of bed. What she needed was a tall glass of water and maybe some fresh air to clear her head.

Before leaving the guest bedroom, she finger-combed her tousled hair just in case she ran into anyone downstairs. Glancing down at herself, she surveyed the silk nightshirt Samara Wolf had loaned to her before bedtime. Samara was an inch or two taller, so the nightshirt caught Reese just below the knee. Though she would’ve preferred the added layer of a robe, she figured she looked decent enough to venture out.

Crossing to the door, she crept from the room and started down the wide corridor. Her footfalls were absorbed by the thick Persian rug that ran the length of the floor.

As she passed Marcus and Samara’s bedroom, she heard soft sighs and moans coming from within. She grinned to herself, remembering the intimate looks the couple had exchanged throughout the evening. Despite having their hands full with two rambunctious toddlers, it was clear that their passion for each other hadn’t abated.

Reese hoped she and her future husband—if she ever got married—would share that same kind of sexual chemistry, the kind that stood the test of time.

Descending the curved staircase, she headed toward the kitchen. The house was dark and silent. Thankfully, it appeared she was the only insomniac wandering around in the middle of the night.

Her steps slowed as she neared the double French doors leading to the veranda. Moonlight poured in through the tall windows and washed over her. As if drawn by some invisible force, she drifted forward and gazed out into the dark, starry night. There was a full moon, and she could feel the sultry nocturnal heat pressing against the glass. Heedless, she reached for the doorknob and slowly eased the door open, praying she wouldn’t trigger a security alarm that would awaken the entire household.

When no alarm sounded, she breathed a sigh of relief and stepped outside, quietly pulling the door closed behind her. The wood was smooth and warm beneath her bare feet as she padded across the veranda to reach the railing. She closed her eyes, inhaling the fragrant mélange of roses, azaleas, hydrangeas and night-blooming jasmine from the garden below. Already she could feel some of the tension melting from her body.

“Couldn’t sleep?”

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