Page 67 of Taming a Heartbreaker

“I thought you had left to go into the city.” Matthew glanced up and nearly swallowed his tongue. Carmen was standing in the kitchen doorway dressed in a two-piece bathing suit with a sheer, short sarong wrapped firmly around her small waist that placed emphasis on her curvaceous hips and beautiful long legs. Her hair was pulled up into a knot displaying the gracefulness of her neck, and even from across the room he could smell her luscious scent.

He felt a flash of anger with himself that she could still have this kind of effect on him. But last night had proven just how things were between them. Of course sex had never been the issue—her inability to believe she was the most important thing in his life had been. What he resented most was her not giving them time to work anything out. And once the media had gotten wind of their problems, they had made a field day of it, printing and stating things that hadn’t been true.

But seeing her now almost made it impossible to recall why there were problems between them. She was the most beautiful, desirable woman he had ever laid eyes on.

He lowered his head and resumed eating. It was either that or do something real stupid like get up from the table, cross the room and pull her into his arms.

“I figured since you have business to take care of in Manhattan, you would have left already,” she explained, looking genuinely surprised to see him.

He wondered if she’d actually been hoping their paths would not cross today, and he knew that was a pretty good assumption to make. Sighing, he picked up his coffee cup. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I’ll be doing most of my work from here.”

“Oh,” she said. He continued to watch her as she crossed the room to the stove.

“I take it you’re spending the day on the beach?” he asked, wondering why she had to look so ultra-feminine and much-too-sexy this morning. But then she always looked good, even when she’d just woken up in the morning. He’d so enjoyed making love to her then, stroking the sleepiness from her eyes as he stroked inside her body.

“Yes, that’s my plan, after taking a dip in the pool first,” she said, pouring a cup of coffee. She took a sip and smiled. “You still make good coffee.”

He chuckled as he leaned back in his chair. “That’s not the only thing I’m still good at, Carmen.”

Carmen swallowed hard, thinking that he didn’t have to remind her of that.

Her heart began pounding in her chest and she felt breathless when he stood. All six feet three inches of him was well built and dangerously male. And she thought now what she thought the first day she’d laid eyes on him: Matthew Birmingham had the ability to ignite passion in any woman.

Focus, Carmen, focus. Don’t get off track here. You need to win back the upper hand. Remembering her call from Rachel, she asked, “Has Candy Sumlar called you yet?”

He pushed his chair under the table and went to the sink, pausing for a moment to glance at her. “Is she supposed to?”

Carmen shrugged. “Don’t be surprised if she does. Someone took a picture of us yesterday and it made the front page of the Wagging Tongue.”

He turned toward her after placing his cup in the sink. “I know. It could cause a problem or two, I suppose.”

He took a few steps toward her until Carmen had to tilt her head back to look up into his face. “Then why did you kiss me?” she asked.

“Because I wanted to.”

His words, precise and definitely unapologetic, gave her a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach. Sexual tension filled the room and for a moment, she was mesmerized by his gaze—those extraordinary dark eyes could render a woman breathless if she stared into them for too long.

So she broke eye contact and moved away. “Doing things that you want to do without thinking about the possible outcome can get you in trouble.”

“And who said I didn’t think about it?”

Carmen fell silent. Was Matthew insinuating that he’d kissed her knowing full well what he was doing? That he would have done so anyway, even if she hadn’t made a move first with that kiss on the cheek? She ignored the tingle in her stomach at the mere thought that this was more than a game to him. That perhaps he had wanted her and initiating that kiss had been just the thing to push him over the edge.

Umm. The thought of that had her nipples feeling hard and pressing tight against the bikini top. She drew in a deep breath and as her lungs filled with the potent air they were both breathing she felt her nipples grow even more sensitive. He was leaning against the counter, his eyes roaming up and down her body. She wanted him to check her out good and assume that he could get more from her than just the hot-and-heavy kiss they’d shared last night. Then she would gladly show him how wrong that assumption was. If he was playing a game, she would show him that two could play.

She moved toward the table to sit down, intentionally swaying her hips as she did so. She took a sip of her coffee as she felt heat emitting from his gaze.

“There are some muffins in the refrigerator if you want something else to go with your coffee,” he said.

“Thanks, I’m fine.”

“There’s another polo match tomorrow. Do you plan on going?” he asked.

“I do,” she replied.

She knew why he was asking. By tomorrow, a number of people would have read the article and all sorts of speculations would be made. The main question was, how would they handle it?

The room got quiet. He finally broke the silence by asking, “What about Bruno? Will he get upset when he hears about the article?”

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