I stabbed a piece of meat a little more viciously than was necessary. “You didn't seem to mind.”

He laughed and the sound rolled over me, coating my skin. Arousal flooded me. Shit. I was getting wet just from his laugh.

“No, I did not.” He leaned back in his seat. “And to answer your question, I stepped in because I don't like bullies, particularly when the person being bullied is a woman.”

His tone was even, but I knew there was something deeper to that statement. I met his eyes, but they were mild and pleasant, betraying nothing of what had prompted his words.

“Enough about that horrible excuse for a date,” he said, leaning forward. “I want to know more about you.”

I blinked at the abrupt shift in conversation. I was glad he wasn't going to be like Steven and only talk about himself, but as we talked, I could feel him controlling the conversation, steering it where he wanted it to go. He answered some of my questions, but rarely in the detail he probed from me. I should have been annoyed; everything about him should have put me off. I liked confident men, but not ones who were cocky. I didn't mind charming, but I'd always been irritated by the men who seemed to think everyone found them as irresistible as they thought they were. Still, there was something about him that drew me to him. I didn't know if it was because he carried himself so differently than Ronald had or if it was just a reaction to the hero worship I'd been nursing for the past two weeks. Either way, the longer I stayed, the more I wanted to be here.

“Was the meal to your satisfaction?” he asked as I finished my wine.

“It was amazing.” I'd purposefully only drunk a glass and a half even though it was probably the most expensive wine I'd ever have the chance to drink. The food, however, I completely devoured. It had been the perfect portion. Enough to make me not hungry, but not so much that I felt full. I wasn't sure, however, if dessert was on the menu. Cade had been an attentive date, not even looking at any of the women who'd checked him out over the course of the meal, but he also hadn't expressed any overt indications that he thought of this as anything but a single evening to please Adelle.

He stood and I tried to hide my disappointment. It seemed the night was over after all. When he held out his hand, I took it, believing we'd end with a shake. Instead, he curled his fingers around mine.

“I've already ordered dessert and champagne to my room. Join me?”

I almost couldn't tell if that last bit was a question or a command. “You have a room?” My mouth went dry and I considered pulling my hand away.

As if he'd read my mind, he squeezed my hand, then released it. "I'll be honest. When Adelle set us up, I was hesitant to accept. She was sure, though, that we would enjoy our time together. So much so that she insisted I rent a room. I'm glad now that I did."

He held out his hand again and this time the invitation was clear. “I promise that things will not go any further than you want them to. You say the word and I'll call a cab.”

My expression must've been more skeptical than I felt because he continued.

“I hope you accept, but I have no problem spending the rest of the night gorging myself on chocolate and watching pay-per-view.”

My eyes slid down his muscular torso. Somehow, I doubted he'd ever gorged himself on anything.

He took a step toward me, closing the distance between us to less than a foot. I could suddenly smell him, the clean scent of soap without any of the usual extras of aftershave or cologne. My stomach clenched.

He raised his hand and brushed the back of it down the side of my face. Heat bloomed across my cheek, but not from embarrassment this time.

“I can see the desire in your eyes, Aubree. I know what you want, and I can give it to you. Stop being so careful and give in to what you want.” His voice was low and sensual, one hypnotic word after the next. “You do want it, don't you? You want me.”

I swallowed hard. Damn. I had no doubt that if I went with him and asked him to stop at any point in time, he'd do just that. He wouldn't force me. It wasn't him I didn't trust though. It was me. I could tell myself I didn't want this night to end and if I went with him, we'd eat decadent desserts and maybe make out a bit, but I couldn't deny that I'd been fantasizing about seeing what was under that shirt of his from the moment I'd first looked into his face. If I went with him, I knew I wouldn't want to stop at a kiss or two, a caress or maybe a bit of skin. I'd want it all.

“Don't deny yourself.” He palmed my cheek, his thumb brushing across my bottom lip. “Come with me.”

A shiver went through me as I imagined him saying those words again, but with a completely different meaning.

Fuck it.

I nodded before I could change my mind. “Let's go.”

Chapter 8

He led me, hand-in-hand, to the elevators, and I envied the ease with which he carried himself. My heart was racing and only some of it was due to Cade. As I passed people, I felt like their eyes were on me, like they knew I was about to sleep with this man on the first date. I never judged anyone for the choices they made regarding their sex life, but I'd had it drilled into my head since childhood that I was a good girl, and good girls didn't have sex on the first date. My parents hadn't been the religious type where I needed to wait for marriage, but sex had never been a casual thing.

As the elevator doors closed, Cade pulled me against him so that my back was pressed against his front. He slid his arms around my waist, and put his mouth close to my ear.

“Don't overthink things.”

His tone made it clear this wasn't a suggestion and my heart skipped a beat.

“If something feels wrong, then by all means don't do it, but if you're thinking about what other people will think, stop.”

His tongue traced the outside of my ear and I closed my eyes. There was no way such a small touch should've been able to make my knees weak.

“It's not about anyone else. It's about you and what you want.”

His hands slid up over my ribcage to rest just under my breasts. His fingers teased at the undersides of them and I felt my nipples tighten at his touch.

“What do you want, Bree?” When I didn't say anything, he tried a different way. “Tell me what you want, Bree.”

I forced my eyes open and noticed our reflection on the gleaming door of the elevator. I watched his head tilt as he nuzzled his nose into my hair. I watched his thumb trace a path across my nipple. Then, he lifted his head and his eyes met mine in the mirror. My breath caught as a single word escaped me. “You.”

He groaned, a sound of pleasure deep in his chest and then moved me away from him as the elevator doors slid open. Lacing his fingers through mine, he led me down the hallway toward his room. “Come.”

That word again.

It was a nice room, not one of the highest priced ones with a mini kitchen and sitting room, but that wasn't surprising. He hadn't rented it for a vacation. Everything we needed sat against the wall to the right. He'd at least sprung for a king, and from the looks of things, the thread-count to those snowy white sheets was high. I took a moment to appreciate the decor and then turned my attention to the room service cart that sat next to the bed. A bottle of champagne chilled in a bucket of ice and next to it was a tray of chocolates. My mouth watered just looking at them and I glanced at Cade.

“Try one of the truffles,” he said. “They're amazing.”

I picked one up and took a bite, closing my eyes in pure enjoyment as the chocolate melted on my tongue. “Mmm,” I moaned.

“There's a sound I want to hear again.”