Wilde for Him (15 page)

And he had a feeling she was going to use every bit of that knowledge to her advantage.

WITH a whole lot to do before the elaborate charity ball that evening, Christine was up early Saturday morning and working in her office at home. She spent a couple of hours printing out bidding sheets and item descriptions for the silent auction, as well as organizing gold-embossed place cards to coincide with each donation. She checked and double-checked her master list against all the goods she had on hand to make sure everything matched and nothing was missing, then polished up her speech and made sure she had a copy of that, too.

By the time she was done, it was nearly noon and her stomach growled hungrily. She'd eaten breakfast hours before and had been running on pure caffeine since. She needed protein to keep her going for the rest of the afternoon.

Shutting down her computer, she picked up her empty coffee mug and headed down the hall toward the kitchen. She passed the guest bedroom, and for the first time that morning the door was open and no one was inside. It appeared that Ben had decided he could no longer avoid her after their hot and heavy make-out session the evening before, and had finally ventured out.

Smiling, she continued on, and when she walked into the kitchen she found him sitting at her small dinette table eating a big bowl of the Froot Loops he'd bought when they'd gone grocery shopping together earlier that week. He must have recently taken a shower because his hair was still damp. He didn't look up at her, and he didn't say a word.

Refusing to cater to his mood swing, she acted as though nothing was different between them. "Good morning," she greeted cheerfully.

"Morning," he muttered, and shoveled another spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

She retrieved sliced turkey breast, Dijon mustard, tomato, and lettuce from the refrigerator and set the items on the counter, along with a loaf of fresh honey wheat bread. "Did you sleep well last night?"

"Just fine."

She started putting together her sandwich, waiting for him to return the polite question. When he said nothing more, she took it upon herself to reply. "I slept great, too. Thanks for asking." She cast a grin over her shoulder, but it was lost on Ben, who was still concentrating on inhaling his Froot Loops.

Wanting to get some kind of reaction from him, she poured herself a glass of iced tea and went on. "In fact, I can't remember the last time I had such a good night's rest. It's incredible how a good orgasm can make a person relax, unwind, and sleep like a baby, huh?"

He merely grunted in response.

She carried her sandwich and drink to the table and sat across from him. Frustrated beyond reason by his cool composure and his refusal to acknowledge their hot, sexual encounter the evening before, she decided to shake things up a bit. "Do you think we can do it again sometime? Because I'd really like to." She picked up half of her sandwich and took a bite.

That snagged his attention and his head jerked up. His dark gaze, filled with stunned disbelief, met hers. She'd asked the shameless question purely for shock value, and she had to admit her ploy had worked in terms of snapping Ben out of his aloof attitude, but she couldn't deny that the idea of being with him again held immense appeal.

His gaze bore into hers, clearly trying to gauge if she was serious or not.

She exhaled an impatient sigh and opted for the direct approach. "Are we ever going to talk about what happened last night?"

"I would prefer not to." Reaching for the box of Froot Loops, he refilled his bowl with the colorful cereal and added more milk.

"That's what I figured," she said, and summoned the confidence and determination to get through this conversation with Ben—and hopefully come out the other end with exactly what she wanted. "So, I'm just going to put it all out there and get everything out in the open."

Needing more food in her stomach, she ate another bite of her turkey sandwich, and washed it down with a drink of cold tea. "First of all, last night was not a fluke or something that happened in the heat of the moment. The attraction has been building between us for months, and I wanted to be with you because I knew it would be so good, and I was right."

He didn't argue or try to stop her, and that gave her an added boost of fortitude to continue.

"Last night, with you, was the first time a guy has ever given me an orgasm of any kind," she admitted, finding it much easier to open up to Ben the more she talked to him, and the more he listened. "And it was much better than any orgasm I've given myself."

"That's the way it should be," he replied gruffly.

"Yeah, well, tell that to my two exes," she said wryly, and finished off the first half of her sandwich.

He lifted a brow, silently prompting her to tell him more. Last night she'd given him some insight into her relationship with Jason, but now she was about to reveal a part of her past that not even Madison knew about.

"Besides Jason, I only had one other boyfriend that I slept with. I think I told you that I attended an all-girls' boarding school, and there wasn't a whole lot of opportunity to date or interact with guys. So, by the time I was in college, having a guy interested in me was new and exciting, and especially the hot quarterback on the football team."

She felt her face grow hot, because even now she could remember how infatuated she'd been with Brian, and how all his flirting and attention had made her feel special—only to realize much too late that it was all a ploy to get into her pants. Just like every other girl he'd dated before her.

Pushing her embarrassment aside, she forged ahead with her story. "The first time he took me out, we went to dinner and a movie, and afterward he walked me to my dorm and gave me my first French kiss. The second time we picked up fast food, ate it in the car, then he parked in a place that was dark and secluded and we made out. One thing led to another, and before long we were in the backseat of his Honda Accord doing the deed and it was over before I could get used to having a guy inside of me for the first time. He never called me again after that last night, so ultimately I'd given my virginity to a guy who didn't care about anything but getting laid."

"Jesus." Ben shook his head, his expression irate on her behalf as he pushed his empty bowl aside. "The guy was a prick, Christine."

She gave him a half-smile. "I can't argue with that, but at the time I couldn't help but wonder what I did wrong. That whole first experience, combined with Jason's preference for trampy escorts over the woman he was engaged to marry, left me feeling sexually inadequate." She drew a deep breath, and finished before she lost her nerve. "In fact, after Jason I couldn't help but wonder if I was frigid like my mother."

He stared at her incredulously. "What?"

She cringed, realizing she'd unintentionally opened a can of worms. "That's a whole other story that we don't have time for right now," she said, dismissing her comment with a wave of her hand. "Suffice it to say, I had plenty of reason to believe that I just didn't have what it took to be sexy and seductive and arouse a man's interest sexually. Not to mention have an orgasm when I was with him."

He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, which was covered in a screen print T-shirt. "I think we dispelled that notion last night."

"Twice," she corrected him, and shivered when she thought about how hot and erotic their tryst had been, and how she'd love a repeat performance. "And it was great. Better than great. Even though I know it would have been even better if you'd been inside of me, the pretending was pretty damned exciting. Enough so to make me come that second time."

He groaned and scrubbed a hand along his jaw. "I really don't think we should be having this conversation."

She knew he'd eventually start resisting, especially when the subject became more intimate and personal between the two of them, and she was prepared to see this through.

"Why not? I'm just being honest, and I think last night proved that we'd be great together." Despite her outward bravado, inside her nerves were jumping. Never had she been so open and frank with a man before, but she had to admit it was a wonderful, liberating feeling. "With you, I feel desire and passion and lust. And that's more than I've ever had with either Brian or Jason. And I'd like to think that I aroused you a little bit, too."

"Yeah, a little bit," he replied, a sarcastic edge to his voice. "That's why I'm sitting across from you with a goddamn hard-on straining the front of my jeans. Because just thinking of how responsive you are when I kiss you or touch you makes me want to pull you across this table and have my way with you right here and now."

A potent thrill shot through her, searing a path straight down to her stomach. "If we weren't on a time constraint, I'd let you," she said, her voice taking on a low, husky quality.

He cursed heatedly and abruptly stood up. "You just don't get it, do you, Christine?"

Calmly, she stared up at him. "No, I guess I don't."

"Then let me explain things in a way that you'll better understand. Yeah, I'm attracted to you. I can't deny that." Placing his palms flat on the table, he leaned toward her, his eyes blazing with intimidation. "And yeah, I'd like to fuck you every way imaginable that would make your traditional missionary position look tame in comparison. But your father hired me to protect you, not to have sex with you."

He was trying to make her back off, but she was so done being the kind of good girl who in the past would have dropped the subject and retreated. Hell, a year ago she never would have been bold enough to discuss sex and orgasms with a guy. But most important, she was done doing what everyone else wanted or expected her to do.

"My father has nothing to do with my attraction to you," she said easily. "I'm a big girl and if I want to indulge in an affair, that's none of my father's, or anybody else's business."

He didn't look one bit convinced. "When the guy you want to have the affair with is me, your security agent, it complicates everything. And because of that, I don't ever mix business and pleasure."

"You did last night," she pointed out oh-so-sweetly.

He didn't seem to appreciate the reminder. He straightened from the table, but he didn't say a word or move from where he was standing.

Pushing her own chair back, she picked up her plate and the empty glass of iced tea, and carried both to the sink. Then she turned around to face her bodyguard again.

"Look. Ben. I understand that you have a job to do, and I'm not asking you to compromise my safety in any way. Out in public, you can do what you need to do to ensure I'm protected, but here, in my house, there is no threat and I couldn't be more secure with an alarm system on at all times."

She strolled toward him, and he watched her approach through narrowed eyes. "With that said, why can't we enjoy each other like we did last night?"

Again, no reply, but that didn't dissuade her in the least. He hadn't flat out refused her, and if anything, his silence gave her hope that he was actually considering her proposal.

She came to a stop just a few feet away from him. "I'm not asking for any kind of commitment," she said, just in case that fear was running through his head. "I've had enough of that for a while and I want to enjoy my freedom and independence before getting serious with anyone again."

"So, all you want is sex," he said, his bland tone belying the heat flickering in his gaze. "No strings attached."

"Not just sex. Good sex. Great sex," she clarified, but she already knew that wasn't an issue when it came to Ben and her as a couple. "We have two more weeks together before the election is over, and I'm thinking that's more than enough time to enjoy this mutual attraction and get it out of our systems. And when your job is done, we part ways as friends."

For all her daring, determination, and no-nonsense approach to an affair with Ben, she already knew it wouldn't be so easy to let him go in the end. This was a man who didn't try to be something he wasn't, and accepted her for who she was, as well. That in itself was a novelty for her when it came to the men she dated. He was charming when he wanted to be, and he made her feel alive and sexy and desirable, too. And if a few weeks was all they had with one another, she wanted to make the most of their time together, to take everything he was willing to give.

The rules she'd just laid out between them had been all for Ben. To make it easy on him when the affair was over, so he could walk away without worrying about any expectations or pressures from her. She already knew by previous conversations they'd had, combined with the compact way he lived his life, that he wasn't a man looking to settle down with any one woman anytime soon. She supposed losing the woman you loved and adored in a country torn apart by war had a way of making a person more averse to emotional attachments—and more disposed to a single, solitary lifestyle.

"You're awfully quiet." She could only imagine what was going through that head of his, and knew there was nothing left to do but ask him one last question. The most important one of them all. "So, are you interested in a short-term affair?"

His jaw worked back and forth, and just when she thought he was going to give her an unequivocal no, he instead shocked her with his answer.

"I'll think about it," he said.

She realized that he was attempting to placate her with an answer that wasn't really an answer, but at least he hadn't flat out refused her, and that's all she cared about right now. Sure, she'd give him time to think about it, and then she was going to take matters into her own hands.

Starting tonight after the charity ball.

Chapter Eight

ARE you interested in a short-term affair?

He'd told Christine he'd think about it, and he hadn't lied. For the rest of the afternoon that question buzzed through Ben's mind like the greatest of temptations, seducing his body and senses with a dozen different erotic scenarios. At the most inappropriate times he thought about what it would be like to really make love to Christine, to be deep inside of her when she climaxed, to feel all those tight, rippling contractions around his cock as she came undone just for him.