Page 23 of Recipe for Temptation (Madewood Brothers 4)

Wrapping her arm around Cathy’s shoulders, Penn guided her toward the door. “I’ll meet you downstairs in the lobby.”

With one foot out the door, Cathy turned, inhaling a deep breath as if she was going to speak.

But Penn beat her to it. “Good-bye, Cathy.”

With a heavy sigh, she closed the door and rested her forehead against the wood. She was going to have to be more careful about the time she spent alone with Cole. She couldn’t risk her family seeing them together. She couldn’t risk having to justify that her potential promotion had been earned on her own merits, and not because she was sleeping with Cole.

She jumped when his voice sounded behind her. “There’s an itinerary?”

When she turned to face him, amusement sparkled in his eyes.

“Harold Foster leaves nothing to chance.” She pushed off the door and made her way to the living area. “He likes when we’re all forced to spend as much time together as possible.”

When she reached him, his gaze lowered to the floor. “I’m sure you want to spend time with your family. I’ll stay out of your hair until the scavenger hunt.”

She didn’t want to push her luck. For as much as she wanted Cole as a buffer between her and her family, she wasn’t going to force him into mandatory family time. But she’d be lying if she said she didn’t want him there. For all of it. Every dinner. Every activity. Every dumb conversation.

“You mean playing volleyball with my family isn’t number one on your to-do list?”

She’d never admit this to his face, but she needed him this week. She didn’t relish having to face the wolves alone.

“Well…” He threaded his hand through his beautiful brown hair. He was standing only a breath away now. Somehow they’d gotten closer to each other, close enough that she could see his erratic heartbeat pulse in his neck. “I don’t have anything better to do.”

Suddenly, the air around them changed. The fear, the nervousness that had overwhelmed her moments ago, had vanished and was replaced with lust. That sinful feeling that poked at her libido every time she was with Cole. Especially now, with the way his eyes, like heated lasers, burned up every inch of her body.

“You started something that afternoon in the bathroom when you kissed me.” He swallowed hard.

“I kissed you?” She laughed. Cackled was more like it. “Yo

u kissed me.”

It didn’t matter who kissed first. He’d solidified it last night when he let her put his hand between her legs in the bar.

She poked her finger into his hard chest. His pec rippled under her touch. Fuck, that was hot. If she pressed into another spot, would he do it again? She forced herself to focus. “You look at me like I’m the only item on your breakfast menu and you haven’t eaten in weeks.”

“Such a selective memory.”

“I remember perfectly.” She gulped down a breath. “You loomed over me. Talking about soft hands and touching my mouth.”

He reached out, his finger doing exactly what he’d done yesterday, sliding across her bottom lip. He leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Like this?”

She swallowed hard, then nodded as a soft, “Yes,” escaped her lips. “And then you—”

He attacked her mouth. His lips moved over hers in perfect synchronization. Warm, wet tongues clashed against each other. The sex last night had been hot. But this kiss, this kiss was scorching.

Her heart thundered. This kiss laid all their cards on the table. Because it was acknowledging that they both wanted this. That they were both ready to drop the gloves and go ten rounds in the bedroom. And then win that trophy.

She snaked her hands up his chest at the same time his hands traveled down and slid under the fabric of her robe to cup her bare ass. His skin was warm and firm. She loved the sensation of her palms scraping over rough chest hair. She kissed him harder as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing into him, practically climbing on top of him because she couldn’t get enough. Didn’t ever want to get enough.

He pulled away, and both of them were panting. Then he dipped his head and bit the top of her shoulder. A shiver slithered down her spine, blossoming heat between her thighs.

“Tell me what you’re thinking,” she whispered in his ear.

Without even a touch to her good parts, Cole was able to get her hot, ready, and wanting to spread her legs. He was her kryptonite. But she feared it was only one-sided.

“Tell me you want this as much as I do.”

After last night, she knew she needed to find a cure for her Cole-lust. Otherwise, a week from now, she’d be in big trouble. Giving in to her desire while in a tropical paradise was one thing, but giving in at home was an entirely different, and unprofessional, story. There was no way she was sacrificing the best job she’d ever had—and risk the label of sleeping her way on the board—for a good lay. A great lay.

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