vanilla.â
Jake shifted on the towel, moving a little closer to her. âI donât think I got one of those.â
âI can share it with you.â She held it out to him, caught in a trap of her own making.
He took it from her, his fingertips touching hers, creating a soft stream of electricity between them.
While he bit into the pastry, she watched him, anxious to have it back, to put her mouth where his had been.
âItâs good,â he said.
Too good, she thought when her turn came. They continued to pass it back and forth. Carol couldnât deny that it felt like foreplay.
âWhat are we doing?â he asked when she finished the last bite.
âSomething we shouldnât be doing,â she replied. But it felt too incredible to stop.
As he leaned in to kiss her, she was thrilled, hungry for the taste of him. Their mouths came together in a burst of passion, their tongues meeting and mating.
When they stopped to catch their breaths, the candle flickered, its vanilla scent swirling around them. He took her plate off her lap, put it next to his and then moved in for the kill, nudging her down.
Again, she was too enthralled to stop him. She wanted him as close to her as possible.
He laid down on top of her, and they kissed like forbidden fiends, the sound of the ocean roaring in the distance. Carolâs dress fanned out beneath her, the body veil twisting up with the towel. Jakeâs jacket was beneath her, too, where it had fallen off her shoulders.
He tasted like the pastry theyâd shared. She probably tasted that way to him, tooâsweet, sugary, filled with warmth and flavor.
She loved the weight of his body against hers, the hardness pressing down on her. Needing more, she wrapped her arms around him, trailing her hands along his spine, feeling the fabric of his shirt.
âI have fantasies about you clawing my back,â he said. âIâve imagined all sorts of erotic things. Even biting you.â He nibbled at her ear, tugging on her lobe with his teeth. âI shouldnât want you like this, but I do.â
âI shouldnât want you, either.â She knew better. She was his employee. His assistant. The woman who was supposed to be so proper and composed.
His breath rushed out. âIâm so turned on right now.â
âSo am I.â She could barely think straight.
Jake kissed her again, all rough and sexy and dark, his lips ravishing hers. Then he lifted his head and stared at her. Carol stared at him, too, her heart threatening to jump out of her skin.
Neither of them moved. If they kept going, they would end up naked in the sand, tearing each other apart.
Hot vanilla sex.
She wanted to be with him, but she couldnât let it continue, not like this. She needed to catch her breath, to clear her mind, to behave like the rational person she was.
âWe need to stop,â she said. Beneath her dress, her nipples were tingling, and her panties were sticking to her skin.
He sat up, his voice raspy. âIâm sorry. I didnât mean toââ
âIt wasnât your fault.â Carol sat forward as well, and grabbed his jacket from where it had fallen. She put it on, needing to cover up. âWe both got carried away.â
He frowned in the candlelight. âWe should go.â
She cuffed the too-long sleeves, trying to make the jacket fit her a little better. âGo where?â
âBack to our rooms. To call it a night.â His frown deepened. âUnless you want to return to the party.â
She cleared her plate and wrapped the uneaten food. âGoodness, no. Iâd rather try to get some sleep.â
âYeah, itâs probably getting late, anyway.â Jake dumped out the rest of the champagne and put the empty bottle back in the basket.
Together, they cleared the evidence of their picnic, but the memory of their kisses remained, warm and wild on her lips.
He squelched the
Shauna Rice-Schober[thriller]