“And you want to hear a secret?” She hovered her mouth over where he wanted it most. “I’d suck my own fingers, imagining it was you, while sinking the others inside of me.” She put her free hand between her legs. “Like this.” She took his entire length into her throat while matching the action with her own finger disappearing inside of her.

“Jesus, Chloe.” He moved his hips with her, matching her intake with a thrust upward.

She stole glances at his expression. His head fell back, but his gaze never strayed from her for long. Holding her face, he ran his thumbs along her cheekbones and over her hollowing cheeks as she worked him up and down with her mouth.

“I’ve thought of this so many damn times,” he said. “But my imagination is never as good as the real thing.”

That made her want to preen. The sexy, sinister man could easily break her, consume her, and he was clutching her like he needed a place to fall. She loved this power she had over him, but she wanted more. Always more. It was a need she wasn’t sure would ever pass, so she’d take what she could. It was the basis of what made their casual relationship work.

Just taking what I can, while I can…

She’d repeat it over and over if she had to. There was a time cap, because she couldn’t do weeks of dating and romance with him. But this? She sucked him deeper, pumped the base of his cock. This she could do. Feeling him tense and hum beneath her mouth was what she wanted. To make him feel pleasure like no one else could, and for him to do the same to her.

But still, getting in too deep with him was dangerous, which was why brief interactions were best.

She pumped faster. Sucked hard at the tip, then drew his entire cock into her mouth, in and out, in and out, again and again. A low groan escaped his chest as she licked the big vein that climbed up his shaft.

Her only complaint was his clothes. They were still on.

It was a crime for anything to cover his impressive muscles. All she could see was the hint of his powerful thighs showing. His naked body put Adonis to shame, and she couldn’t even get more than a glimpse. That needed to change.

She removed her hand from between her legs and went to lift his shirt. But he caught her wrist and brought that finger to his mouth and sucked it.

“Mmm, fuck, I could eat you forever.” He licked her finger clean and delivered a little bite. She grazed her teeth along his flesh as his balls drew up. “I’m there, I’m going to come.”

She bore down, sucking faster and faster. With a tight grip on her wrist, he bit down on the fleshy part of her thumb as his release hit the back of her throat.

She swallowed him down and continued sucking until he shuddered and collapsed backward, saved only by her grabbing his shirt and holding him in place. When she let him go, he slowly sat up and planted kisses along her knuckles and fingertips.

“You can’t make this easy, can you?” He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

She clung to his open pants resting low on his hips, and she looked up into those intense eyes. “I want you to stay. I want to feel you inside me. Want you to take me hard and slow, then rough and fast. Stay tonight and I promise I’ll be extremely easy.”

He kissed her lips lightly and whispered, “Have dinner with me. One date. And I’ll be easy right back.”

She looked up into those eyes and her knees swayed. But she had to stay strong. Gage was dangerous for her heart—she’d known that from day one. Time wasn’t on her side—the more she fell, the more it would hurt. And she knew better than to expect too much. They had a powerful, explosive sexual relationship. Pretending they had anything more was a disaster waiting to happen.

He knew that. She knew that. It was only a question of how long he could resist her. But sooner or later, he’d give up this crazy scheme of his. She just had to be hot, tempting…and patient.

She gave a small tug on his pants and fastened them.

He glanced down and nodded. Her answer was clear.

“This isn’t over.” He kissed her hard and quick. “Not by a long shot.”

He turned and stomped out and her body broke out into goose bumps. She knew very well she was poking a bear, and yes…this wasn’t over by a long shot.

Chapter Four

“God, this sucks so bad.” Chloe tossed her spatula on the counter. She’d woken up early to try to make her mom’s famous crab cakes and test them out as a specialty appetizer for next week’s twentieth anniversary of the restaurant.

“It’s not so bad…” Natalie looked over her shoulder in the big back kitchen of the restaurant. Chloe didn’t have to turn around to feel her frowning. “Are they supposed to be black?”

Chloe shook her head. “No.”

What would her mom think if she could see the restaurant now? They were making do, sure, but they were nowhere near the level of perfection her mother had achieved. She could imagine her restaurant ending up on a show like Kitchen Nightmares. Once great, now in steady decline, soon to vanish from the face of the earth.

No, she’d die before she let that happen. This wasn’t just a great restaurant—it was all she had left of her mother. People came and went, but this? Just this once, Chloe would get it right.

Which was why she’d hired a chef. It was also why this twentieth anniversary event needed to have her mother’s old recipes reinstated—and furthermore, why she had to be the one to bring them back.

The other foods set to go on the menu were close to perfect—thanks to said amazing chef—but Chloe wanted to make this one dish herself. Crab cakes had been her favorite thing to eat growing up, comfort food when her dad had left, a bittersweet solace when her mom had gotten sick.

Her mom had insisted on making them for her even when her health had declined and she should have been resting in bed. Chloe had never been able to recreate their uniquely delicious flavors¸ but she was determined to try. It was the one thing she wanted to make and present. Anything to feel closer to her mother and prove that to herself she was a part of her goodness.

“The anniversary party is next week.” Chloe scraped the pan, and it spit oil at her. “And these aren’t going on the menu until they’re right.”

Natalie gently patted Chloe’s shoulder. “Keep trying.”

Chloe spun to face her. “You’re a chef. Can’t you help me? Teach me something? Anything.”

“Whoa, I bake. Big difference.” Natalie shoved her glasses up her nose, then peered back at the pan. “Besides, don’t think I forgot you telling me to leave you alone and let you do it yourself.”

Oh, right, that. Last week she might have snipped at her best friend. She’d never meant to, but frustration was running high, and if there was one thing Chloe hated, it was being so close to something and not finishing.

Her mind briefly turned to Gage.

Talk about frustrating.

But this dish had to be right, and she had to do it. No failing. No “coming close.” Nope, this had to be perfect. Her mother was dead, and honestly, Chloe had watched her die in more ways than one over the years. First, she’d watched her soul slowly wither after her father left them. Then she watched cancer slowly take her body. The two things in her life she’d never been able to control…death and being left.

On a deep breath and rapid batting of her lashes to keep the sting away, she looked at her friend.

“I’m not saying make the crab cakes for me. I’m saying maybe give me a hint or two.”

Natalie raised an eyebrow. “Snap my fingers and turn you into Gordon Ramsay for a day?” She chuckled. “I don’t think it works that way.” She hugged Chloe, then stepped back and held her shoulders. “You have to believe you’re capable of something more. Trust yourself. The anniversary will be great and the restaurant will be packed.”