Sherryl Woods - Millionaires' Destinies

“Okay, I’ll confess I’m new to this. Is that a bad thing?” he asked.

“It could be,” she admitted, her smile fading.

“Why?”

“It’s wildly seductive,” she said before she could censor herself.

“Oh, really?” he said, clearly intrigued. “How seductive?”

She gave him a scolding look. “Don’t even go there. I meant that I don’t know what to do with it.”

He regarded her blankly. “Eat it. In fact, if the aroma coming out of these bags is anything to go by, that is definitely what we should do with it.”

“I meant I don’t know how to handle a gesture like this,” she said impatiently. “It’s too much.”

“It’s dinner.”

“From Ohio! From my favorite restaurant, where I used to go with all my friends when we wanted to celebrate a special occasion.”

“Would you have been happier if I’d brought in Chinese from down the block?”

“Not happier,” she admitted. “But that would have made sense.”

He reached for her hand, then pressed a kiss against her knuckles. “That would have been safe, that’s what you really mean, isn’t it? It would have been ordinary, acceptable, not scary.”

She nodded slowly, trying not to notice that he was still holding her hand, that he was still sending shivers down her spine just with that touch.

“Why are you so desperate to feel safe around me?”

“Because we’re playing a game, Richard,” she said a little desperately. “That’s what we agreed to.”

“And barbecue from Ohio changes the rules?”

“Pretty much,” she said, afraid she was sounding both ungrateful and ridiculous.

“Want me to throw it out?” he asked, picking up the bags.

Reacting purely to the needy growling in her stomach that came with each whiff of the familiar food, she grabbed the bags away from him. “Don’t you dare. I don’t pretend to know why you really did this, but I want that barbecue.”

He grinned. “Shall I get the napkins?”

“Get lots of them, because this is not food that can be eaten neatly,” she said, opening the bags to find enough baby-back ribs, coleslaw, potato salad and corn bread to feed a half-dozen people. She looked at Richard incredulously. “Were you expecting company?”

“I figured if it was that good, you’d want leftovers.” He grinned. “Besides, Becky made me promise there would be some for her in return for her not telling you what I was up to.”

Melanie shook her head. “If she can bamboozle you to make a deal like that, maybe I should send her out to negotiate our contracts from now on.”

“I think you do okay on your own,” he told her.

“Thank you.” She looked him over. “If you expect to have a prayer of staying clean, lose the tie, roll up your sleeves and tuck a napkin in your collar.”

He grinned and did as she’d instructed. He immediately looked more casual, more relaxed…more seductive. Lord, give me strength, she prayed. “And thank you for this food,” she added aloud.

Richard gave her a questioning look.

“Just saying a little blessing before dinner,” she said.

Judging from the amusement flickering in his eyes, she had a hunch he knew that was only a small part of what she’d been praying for.

“Melanie?”

“Hmm?” she murmured distractedly as she took her first bite of the tender, perfectly seasoned pork. She had to stop herself from moaning with pleasure.

“Look at me,” Richard commanded.

She met his gaze and nearly shuddered at the heat she saw there. “What?”

“Fair warning. I usually do safe and I usually do ordinary, but you seem to inspire me to go beyond that.”

She swallowed hard and nodded. “Yes, I think I get that now.” Heaven help her.

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