Playing With Pleasure (7 page)

He lifted his gaze back to her face, looking completely unrepentant for staring at her chest. “I’d rather not have the discussion here, either,” he agreed. “How about we do this over dinner?”

Neutral territory and around other people. That she could handle. “Okay.”

“Thank you,” he said softly, seemingly grateful that she was giving him this opportunity. “Unfortunately, I can’t do it this weekend. I’m leaving in a few hours to head up to San Francisco. Dean put me on an assignment that’s going to keep me out of town until next Friday. So, does next Saturday work for you?”

A whole week until she’d see him again. She hated that she felt disappointed over that realization. Not a good sign at all. “Yes, next Saturday is fine.”

“Great.” He exhaled a deep breath and pushed his luck a bit further. “I’ll pick you up at your place at six.”

“How about I meet
you
at the restaurant,” she quickly countered.

He raised a brow and leaned in closer. “Playing it
safe
?” he murmured, an unmistakable dare infusing his deep voice.

Safe
, like their conversation the night before at The Players Club, when she’d told him that watching was safe. And look at how
that
had turned out…with her in a private room with Sawyer, blindfolded and bound by his ropes while he’d introduced her to a darker, more forbidden side of pleasure. There had been nothing
safe
about the way he’d made her come from the provocative slide and tap of a crop against her clit, or how he’d blatantly broken one of her rules and removed the mask so she could watch his expression as he climaxed while thrusting so incredibly deep inside her body that her own blazing orgasm had followed his.

She swallowed back a moan at the tantalizing memory, but there was nothing she could do to stop the throb of need that pulsed between her legs or the slick desire dampening her panties,
damn him
.

All that aside, she wasn’t about to back down from the silent challenge he’d issued or the insinuation that she needed to drive her own car to make a quick and
safe
getaway at the restaurant. Or the underlying suggestion that being alone with him in the confines of his vehicle was more than she could handle. Okay, maybe that
was
more than she could handle, but she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of admitting to that.

“Fine,” she said, albeit begrudgingly. “You can pick me up.”

She could swear that Sawyer was gloating at her capitulation as he asked, “Are you still living at home?”

“No.” Wow, he truly didn’t know just how much her life had changed after he’d been deployed a year and a half ago. “I’ll give you the address to my place.” Before she changed her mind about this whole situation, she wrote down her address and handed him the piece of paper.

He pushed the note into the front pocket of his jeans. “Is your cell number the same?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

He tipped his head to the side, an adorable smile easing up the corners of his mouth. “Will you unblock my number, just in case I need to text or call you about the time?”

Way back when she’d been desperate to stop his calls and voice mail messages, she’d restricted his phone number. It had been the most efficient way to let him know they were done, and she no longer wanted contact with him. Unblocking Sawyer was like opening a door and letting him back into her life. Last night had been all about sex—or so she kept trying to tell herself—but this…this was taking things to a more personal level.

Even as she questioned the wisdom of allowing him to have direct access to her via the phone, she picked up her cell and tapped into her settings to turn off the block. She quickly finished the task and set her phone back down on the table, hating the fact that something so simple could make her feel so vulnerable when it came to him.

“You’re unblocked.”

“Thank you,” he said softly.

As if he knew just how difficult it had been for her to give him that bit of trust, he reached out and gently brushed a strand of hair off her cheek, then skimmed his thumb across her bottom lip. His eyes darkened with desire, and the awareness suddenly shimmering between them stole her breath. She felt her traitorous body sway toward him, even as he lowered his head closer to hers. Vaguely, she heard the bell on the shop’s front door ring out, followed by Summer talking to the person who’d just entered the boutique, but Paige’s sole focus was riveted to Sawyer.

He looked like he wanted to kiss her—and dear Lord, she ached for that, too—yet he surprisingly, and ironically, respected that rule she’d established last night about no kissing on the mouth, even as his hand cupped her jaw and he used his thumb to tip her chin up so that their lips were only inches apart.

Heat and hunger unfurled inside of her belly, along with the kind of temptation that only Sawyer had ever been able to coax from her. He was waiting for her to close the distance, to make the first move and obliterate another one of the hard limits she’d set in place to keep things
safe
and impersonal. They hadn’t even kissed, and she already felt as though he’d ripped away all her defenses against him by putting her in control of the decision.

She couldn’t understand how this man, who’d been so insistent and dominant last night and had thoroughly commanded her body, could be so patient and tender right now.

“Paige…” he whispered seductively.

“Don’t worry about letting her know,” a familiar condescending female voice said from the front of the shop. “I’ll just head on back.”

“I’m sorry, but Paige is with a…”

Summer’s voice trailed off as the strands of the crystal curtain rattled and Ashley walked unannounced into the workroom, with Paige’s assistant fuming at Ashley from behind. Paige jerked away from Sawyer at the interruption, like a proverbial kid getting caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Her abrupt movement caused Sawyer’s hand to drop away from her face, but there was no denying just how close she’d been to kissing him.

The pleasure flowing through her veins only moments ago turned to a heavy ball of dread as Paige slowly turned her head to look at her stepsister, as did Sawyer. Surprise, along with an underlying flicker of shock, was written all over Ashley’s face at the sight of the two of them together.

Then a slow, gradual smile eased up the corner of her glossy lips. “Well, isn’t this a cozy reunion.”

“P
aige, I’m so
sorry,” Summer immediately said as she continued to frown at Ashley. “I tried to tell her that you were busy.”

“It’s okay,” Paige replied, her tone remarkably calm despite the queasy feeling swirling in her stomach and the way Sawyer’s entire body stiffened upon seeing Ashley. Summer certainly wasn’t to blame for Ashley’s presumptuous behavior. Paige’s stepsister had always done whatever she wanted, whenever she desired, because she never suffered any consequences for her actions.

With one last apologetic look at Paige, Summer returned to the front of the store, leaving Paige, Sawyer, and Ashley alone for the first time since that morning a year and a half ago.

An edge of unease radiated off Sawyer, his gaze narrowed on Ashley as she casually strolled toward the two of them, her own gaze unabashedly taking in the length of Sawyer in a slow, sultry sweep that made Paige want to scratch the other woman’s eyes out.

Ashley was decked out from head to toe in high-end designer clothing and accessories, her long, gorgeous blonde hair framing a glowing complexion from her weekly facials and chemical peels. Everything about Ashley was sophisticated and chic, from her perfect size-two figure to her expensive taste in fashion. Then again, that’s how Ashley spent her days—with her equally superficial girlfriends, shopping at Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s, and indulging in excess pampering—all on credit, as she no longer had the finances to support her lavish lifestyle.

“It’s so good to see you, Sawyer.” Ashley’s sweet-as-sugar voice matched the equally charismatic smile on her classically beautiful face as she closed the distance between them. “I didn’t realize you were back in town,” she said, a slight chastisement in her tone, as if she’d expected Sawyer to contact
her
upon his return.

As she neared, Sawyer took a visible step back, clearly guarding his personal space from Ashley. “I’ve been back for a few months.” His tone was tight and flat and didn’t invite further conversation.

The tension in the room increased, but it didn’t seem to bother Ashley. She tipped her head curiously as she shifted her gaze from Sawyer to Paige, then back to him again. “So, are the two of you catching up on old times?” she asked in a deliberately teasing tone that was an obvious dig for information.

Sawyer glared at Ashley. “I really don’t think that’s any of your business,” he said, startling Paige with his brusque tone, though she did appreciate that he gave nothing about the two of them away.

Indignation flashed in Ashley’s blue eyes, and her lips pursed, but Sawyer had effectively shut her down. He continued to ignore her and glanced back at Paige instead.

“I need to get going,” he said, his tone and gaze softening as he looked at her. “I’ll talk to you later.”

Without another word to Ashley, he walked around her and out of the back room. Her stepsister watched him leave, then turned back to Paige with a sour look on her face.

“Well,
that
was incredibly rude,” she said peevishly.

Paige wanted to laugh at the irony. Her stepsister could dish it out but never liked it when she was served a dose of her own medicine. Nothing irritated Ashley more than being ignored or not being the center of attention, and Sawyer had managed to do both. Witnessing Sawyer’s terse reaction to Ashley made Paige respect him a bit more and put a question mark on what Sawyer’s feelings for Ashley actually were.

Ashley flipped her hair over her shoulder and exhaled an annoyed huff of breath. “What’s going on between the two of you, anyway?” she asked, looking Paige over with a crinkle of her nose and a distasteful look on her face.

Paige hated the judgment in Ashley’s gaze, the kind of appraisal that sized her up and found her lacking. And compared to Ashley’s outward appearance, Paige always did feel inadequate, because there was no comparison between her stepsister’s flawless beauty, her petite frame and perfect body, and Paige’s wild and wavy auburn hair and much fuller figure. They couldn’t be more polar opposite in their looks, and in personality,
thank God for that!

“Nothing that concerns you.” Refusing to give Ashley any kind of information she could use to her advantage, Paige kept herself busy clearing off the spools of thread from the worktable and putting them away in the nearby shelves.

“I’d say there was a lot more than
nothing
going on when I walked back here,” she persisted. “In fact, it looked like he was going to kiss you.”

A surge of warmth suffused Paige’s entire body. Their interaction had definitely been heading in that direction, so in that regard, she was grateful that Ashley had interrupted them. She’d put that no kissing rule into place for a reason, because Paige knew the moment his mouth touched hers, the last of her defenses against Sawyer would melt away and she’d be stripped bare emotionally. She already felt too vulnerable around him, and giving Sawyer that last bit of power to hurt her again wasn’t an option.

Tired of Ashley’s scrutiny and personal questions that were
none of her business
, as Sawyer had said, Paige grabbed a pair of shears and dropped them into a drawer before changing the subject. “Is there a reason you stopped by?”

Her abrupt switch in topics momentarily took Ashley aback, but she quickly recovered. “Mom called me today to let me know that our bridesmaid dresses for the wedding will be in next week, and she wanted to know if we could both be at the shop for a fitting next Saturday at three.”

Melissa was getting remarried and had insisted that both girls stand by her side as her only bridesmaids, to represent her family during the ceremony. Paige wasn’t thrilled about being a part of the wedding party, but opting out would have caused more discord than she wanted to deal with. Paige was all about keeping the peace and not making waves. A quintessential good girl who avoided conflict with Melissa and Ashley whenever possible.

Paige folded a yard of pink silk fabric, hating the way Ashley glanced around the back room, her gaze scrutinizing everything. “You could have texted me with the day and time.”

“Yes, I could have, but it’s been a while since I’ve seen you, and I was in the area.” She gave a one-shoulder shrug. “It really wasn’t a big deal.”

So Paige wasn’t going to make a big deal of it, either. “I’ll let Melissa know I’ll be there.”
Now go so I can breathe
.

Ashley’s gaze latched on to the folder Kendall had left on the table, and one of the photographs peeking out of the file. Without asking permission, she opened the folder and started perusing the various shots Kendall had taken.

“What are these photos for?”

Ashley’s presumptuous behavior wore on what little patience Paige had left. “They’re my newest designs.” She moved around the table, feeling more than a little protective of her work, even though these were just photographs.