Stranded Temptation: A Flaming Romance Read online

  For a while, it seemed that Jane might be the one to bring back the joy to the now older man. The couple had been together for several years. Not long after they married, Dad’s health took a downturn, but had remained the same since. Max didn’t understand what they talked about, being generations apart. Then again, who said they talked? Every time Max called, Jane was gone—shopping or at her charity meetings.

  The scene at the restaurant didn’t make the love shine through. He wondered how quickly his father’s health was declining. Max shook his head. He didn’t want to think of the death of his father. But nothing was certain. Hell, he could die on his way home tonight.

  The ringing of his cell phone brought him out of his morbid thoughts. The screen read the ID for his brother.

  “Hey,” he said.

  His brother replied, “You still at the office, loser?”

  Max grimaced but said nothing. Brian had always got on his ass for working too much. But Max always chewed his brother a new one for flirting with anything that was female and breathed. How could two brothers be so opposite, yet raised by the same parents?

  “What do you want, Brian?”

  “Whoa, something serious must be going on for you to be so formal.”

  “No, I’m just tired, douchebag.”

  “That’s more like it,” Brian said. “What did you think about the show at the restaurant? Interesting, huh?”

  “Well, I don’t think Dad’s happy anymore. He doesn’t look as good.”

  “My big question is who goes to a charity meeting with a gleam their eye?”

  His brother had lost it. “What are you talking about?”

  “Who the hell do you think? Jane,” Brian said. Max did recognize that the woman was happy to leave after lunch but didn’t think much of it until now. He just thought Kara didn’t dumb herself down enough to talk on Jane’s level. Damn, that was mean. “Dad hasn’t changed his will lately, has he?”

  “Why would he do that?” Max asked. “It’s been set forever.”

  “Did he make Jane sign a pre-nup?”

  “Of course, she signed one,” Max said. “What’s your bone with her suddenly? They’ve been married for a while.”

  Brian was quiet for a moment. “I don’t know. I guess I’ve noticed Dad isn’t getting any younger and I want to blame someone.” Max snorted. Brian had always done that growing up—blaming him for everything. Even when Max wasn’t there to blame.

  “I mentioned Mom’s book signing tomorrow, didn’t I?” Brian asked. The quick switch in topic confused him for a minute. What was going through his brother’s mind?

  “Yeah. What’s the subject of this book?” Max mumbled.

  “Not sure. Talk to you later.”

  Max laid his cell phone on the desk and sighed. Why did it seem his life was crashing around him all at once? He dialed and ordered his favorite take-out. Time to get this day over.

  8

  The man standing in front of her was one of the most cut she’d ever met. His pecs danced with every arm movement. Abs were full packs even when the muscles were relaxed. His ass was a work of art. And his package was the size of a junk god.

  He smirked at her. “Kara, your legs are sexiest I’ve seen on a woman. And your breasts...” He kissed the tips of his fingers like a happy Italian chef. “Your ass—girl, if you were a guy,” he cupped his package, “we wouldn’t be here right now.”

  Kara dropped her defensive stance and bent over laughing, her karategi pants hanging loosely around her green-belted waist. “Gray,” she said between laughs, “if you were anyone but you, I’d slap a sexual harassment suit on you so fast—”

  Gray gasped, hands crossed over his heart. “But, lovey,” he said, “I’m just one of the girls telling you straight up.”

  Kara jerked up an eyebrow. “Straight up, Gray?”

  He threw his hand over his mouth. “Did that word pass through these lips?”

  “Why, yes it did. Good thing I love you or I’d have to get a lawyer all over your ass.”

  “Oh no, darling. If you loved me, you’d get a big dick lawyer to be all up my ass.” A shudder passed through him. “All right, lady, back to showing me that leg and ass.”

  Kara huffed and resumed her position to send a high kick to Gray’s chest. “Begin,” he commanded.

  With the kiai shout ei!, Kara punched her foot toward her trainer. He easily slapped it aside. “Focus, Kara.” She repeated her shout and movement only to get the same reaction from Gray. After another failure, he called a stop.

  “Girlfriend, what is going on?” he said. “You’re sloppy and telegraphing. What is happening in your life? It is so screwing you up.”

  She dropped her arms to her sides. Was she that easy to read or did Gray just know his women? “No, that’s the problem. There is no screwing. At all.”

  “Ah,” he replied, “still fantasizing about your boss and keeping in him the dark?”

  “No,” Kara blurted.

  “You’ve told him you drip for him each night?” At his words, Kara’s cheeks turned hot, really freaking hot. Oh god. She’d absolutely die if Max had heard that.

  “No, I haven’t—I’d never tell him that. God, Gray,” her eyes searched the room, seeing if anyone was paying attention to their corner, “I’m not some hot diva dom who can throw down anywhere.”

  Gray dropped a wrist on his forehead. “Lord, save me. A hot Dom would be fantastic. I’d settle for a Tom or even a Shawn.”

  Kara bumped her fists onto her hips. “Now who sounds like they need to get laid?” She pointed both index fingers at him. “You.”

  Gray’s shoulders slumped, and he rested his forehead against hers. “A sorry excuse for women, aren’t we?”

  Kara giggled. Thinking of this gorgeous male body as female seemed so wrong. But it’s what’s inside that really mattered. “I won’t be a sorry excuse for long. I’m quitting when we get back.”

  A frown marred Gray’s face. “Who and where are we going?”

  “Wait till you hear this,” she started. “This morning, Max informs me—not asks me—that I’m going to South America with him on business.” His frown flipped upside down. “Oh, don’t you even go there, Gray. I’m not interested in a relationship with my boss.”

  Her trainer stepped back and shook his head at her. “Oh, there’s interest, all right, girlfriend. Just you wait.” He stepped back and tapped his cheeks. “Pretend this is your boss’s face.”

  Kara whipped her leg around so quickly, Gray jerked back and stumbled. “Damn, girl. Now that’s a delivery. Do it again.”

  After another half hour of beating up a punching bag, Kara’s anger and frustration had ebbed. “Hey, Gray,” she hollered toward the front of the gym. He stood next to another man making googly eyes. Interesting, she thought. When he got closer, she raised her brows at Gray.

  “Girlfriend,” he said, “don’t you say one word. He’s hot but taken.” He looked back and sighed. Kara wondered if the yearning on his face was what she looked like fawning over men. She made a mental note to never fawn again.

  Thinking about her empty stomach, she said, “You wanna get some Italian?”

  Gray turned and snuggled up to her. “I’d love to have an Italian. Is he dark and sexy?”

  Kara laughed. One thing she loved about this man, he could always make her laugh. “I mean the restaurant down the block.”

  He put his arm around her shoulders and pushed her toward the door. “Of course, you did.”

  Settling in a booth for six with a long white cloth draping over the table to the floor, Kara relaxed and breathed in the oregano and rosemary floating in the air. This was one of her favorite places with her favorite comfort food—pasta, and lots of it. Which showed on her waistline. A rounder midsection just meant you were overflowing with awesomeness.

  Seated opposite of her, Gray pushed the items in the middle of the table to the side to make room for his large-size pizza. In the process, he blew out the coz
y candle, making the dim atmosphere even darker.

  When the front door opened, the person entering caught her eye. Her body stiffened. “Oh my god.”

  “What?” Gray looked over his shoulder and peeked through planted pots that formed a private barrier from the booth behind him. “Oh my god is right. Do you see that man walking in? I’m in love.”

  Kara kicked him under the table. “No, you’re not. That’s my boss.”

  Gray whipped around. “That’s your boss?” His mouth hung open. “No wonder you’re a mental mess.” He looked back. “He’s gorgeous.” He picked up his linen napkin and fanned himself.

  Kara watched in horror as Max’s eyes roamed the room, coming her way. Shit, she couldn’t get up or he’d definitely see her. She could hide under the table. It was big enough for a party under the tablecloth dragging the floor on the front end.

  Too late. She turned her head sideways and covered the side of her face with her hand, trying to look normal.

  “He’s coming this way,” Gray said. Grabbing his unfolded napkin and silverware, he slid beneath the table.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Kara whispered, lifting the tablecloth on her side of the booth and staring down at him. The man might have been muscular, but he was as limber as a cat. “How can you fit—”

  Gray shushed her and looked up at her from the floor on her side, his legs stretched toward the wall. “How do you expect him to hit on you if you’re sitting with a male?”

  “I don’t exp—”

  He yanked the material from her hand. “Pretend I’m not here. This may be your only chance, girlfriend. Tell him. I want this for you. Besides, I got a great view once he sits.” She tagged him with her leg. She couldn’t believe he said that. A shadow covered the table.

  “Kara?”

  Feigning surprise, she snapped her head up. “Max? What a surprise. What are you doing here?”

  “May I join you?” he asked. When she hesitated, Gray pinched her leg. She jumped and tried to cover the sudden movement by re-crossing her legs under the table.

  “Of course,” she said through gritted teeth, trying to kick Gray again. When Max slid onto the bench seat, the jerk on the floor pushed her legs to uncross. Smile plastered on her face, she wondered what the hell he was doing. She got her answer when she looked down to see his bald head scoot between her knees, giving him the perfect view of Max’s crotch.

  Oh god, she wanted to die right then and there.

  Max clasped his hands on the table. “So, what brings you here?” he asked.

  She shrugged as nonchalantly as she could while pushing Gray to the side with her leg. “The food.” The jerk didn’t move an inch. Of course she couldn’t move him. The man was a muscle machine.

  Max raised a brow at her short answer and nodded. “Yes, the food is good.”

  Jesus H double hockey sticks, could her answer have been any more stupid? Duh, the food.

  “You come here often?” Max asked.

  She sipped from her cup. “It’s one of my favorites.” Setting her glass down, she kept nodding, mimicking him, feeling like she’d completely lost control of the situation. If she revealed the man under the table, Max would think she was too weird to work with him. Wait a second. That could be a good thing.

  Max looked at the second drink in the middle of the table. “Are you with someone? Am I interrupting?” He looked around the area.

  Again, she hesitated to answer and noticed Gray twist to look up at her from between her calves. He mouthed, “You are alone,” and scowled.

  “Kara?” She popped her head up.

  “Yes, I’m alone.” She plastered on another smile while Max frowned a bit. She lifted her phone sitting beside her leg. “Sorry, my phone vibrated, and I glanced down at it.”

  “Oh. I wondered with this second glass here.”

  She scooted it closer. “Yeah, they brought me another drink because I was really thirsty.” He nodded slowly. This was going to end so badly.

  She felt Gray slip her shoe off. What the hell was he doing now?

  Then Gray lifted her foot. What the hell—with her leg straightening out, she realized what he was doing. The asshole was trying to rub her toes along Max’s leg. Too bad her legs were too short to reach him. Until he pulled her leg forward, forcing her lower in the seat.

  Goddammit, Gray. She yanked her leg back, banging her knee against the bottom of the table, making everything on top jump then crash down. With her other foot she kicked at him to let go. He fought her, still trying to get her toes to touch her boss. She snaked her hand under the table and punched whatever she could on Gray. He finally let go.

  Max’s eyes narrowed. “Are you okay?” He leaned back to look down, but she stopped him by grabbing his hand.

  “Yes,” she blurted, “I’m fine.” Max sat straight, focusing on her hand on his. Shit, touching him was the wrong thing to do. She felt fire race up her arm. “I, uh, my shoe fell off.” She held her hand open under the table and Gray placed her shoe in her hand. She beat him a couple times with it before lifting it to show Max then slipping it back on, giving one more tag to Gray for good measure.

  She slid her hand away from his. “Sorry. I—I—” Gray’s face appeared between her legs again, saying something. Smiling at Max, she put her palm on Gray’s nose and pushed him down.

  A different waitress from the one who took their order arrived with the food. She set a large bowl of angel hair and marinara in front of her and the fourteen-inch pizza in front of Max.

  Max glanced at her. “You eating both?” he asked.

  Oh god. What was she to say to that? There was enough food for four people.

  “Mr. Richards,” the hostess came up to the table, “your take-out order is ready up front.”

  “Great,” he said. “I’ll be right there.”

  As he slid out of the booth, Kara saw fingers creep over his side of the table and search for the pizza. When Max started to turn back to her, she flipped her napkin to cover the hand and part of the pizza.

  Max stared at her then the napkin as she kept her smile. “Well,” she said, “I’ll see you at the office tomorrow. Have a good evening.” She waved with her other hand, leaving the cloth unmoved.

  Max bobbed his chin, glancing again at the table. “See you tomorrow. Tell whoever is under the table that the pizza looks good.” He walked away, looking back once. She waved and watched as he pushed through the door with his plastic bag in hand.

  9

  After a restless night of erotic dreams featuring him and Kara making love under a table in a restaurant, Max sat at his office desk, face unshaven, hair mussed. He had managed a shower, at least, where he jerked off to relieve some pent-up frustration, but it didn’t seem to do much good.

  Why was he doing this to himself? Why didn’t he just go down and talk to her? Because he wanted way more than to just talk. But he respected her, too. She wasn’t some bimbo who would jump him at the chance of getting his money. He had a feeling dollar signs were low on Kara’s list of important manly qualities.

  His wristwatch beeped to remind him of something he had going today. Damned if he could remember what. Nothing was on his calendar. Did he forget to write it down or did he forget to cancel the alarm for a previous alert? He pressed the side button to stop the noise and sighed.

  Time to pull his shit together. Never had a woman got to him this much. But neither had he ever declined letting himself have what he desired. If someone had interested him in the past, he simply approached her and had her eating out of his hand, and bed, in no time. But that didn’t work with Kara.

  He stared at his monitor at the spreadsheet she made for him last night before she left. And as earlier, the numbers were just a pile garbage he couldn’t focus on.

  Coffee. Maybe another cup would help. He trudged from his office to the director’s lounge. At the Keurig, Susan, his secretary, was spinning the pod holder to see what flavor she wanted.

  “Good
morning, Mr. Richards. How are you?” He gave her a smile, but it felt fake.

  “Honestly, I feel like I’ve been chewed up and spit out by like a giant dog toy,” he replied.

  “That’s good,” Susan replied.

  His brows rose. “Good?” he questioned.

  “Yeah,” she patted him on the back, “by the looks of you, if you would’ve said you’re fine, I know you’d be lying to me.”

  His head spun with that reasoning.

  Susan continued. “This merger with the South American company must be quite important to you.”

  Not as important as someone... “Yes, I think it’s one of the few things left on Dad’s bucket list.”

  Susan laid a hand on his shoulder. “You boys have been so great with your father. I noticed at the board meeting he’s not doing as well as he has.”

  “He’s a bit under the weather, but he’ll bounce back.” Max hoped so, anyway.

  “How’s you mom? She have her next book out?”

  Max just about dropped his coffee mug. Shit! That was what his watch alarm was for. His mom’s book signing. “She’s doing great. If you’ll excuse me, I have a signing I need to attend. See you later, Susan.”

  He hurried down the hall toward the elevator. He didn’t hate going to these things; he wanted to as supportive as possible for his mother. But since her books were usually women’s self-help of some kind, he somehow became the attention of many of his mother’s fans.

  Several of the older ladies had even hit on him, making it understood that if he was single, he was welcome in their beds any time. He was not in the mood to deal with a bunch of cougars today. A thought sprang to mind. He had the perfect solution.

  He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed Kara’s direct number. When she answered, he told her to meet him in the parking lot in two minutes.

  When she finally got down to the lot, he had his Aston Martin pulled up and waiting with her door open. He waved her over and as nicely as he could, shoved her in and closed the door.