He reached for the doorknob and turned it, then jerked when he heard a screamed, “Surprise!”
He looked up and saw his entire family, balloons in the background, streamers floating around. It took everyone a second to realize the misfortune of the entire scene, and then little by little, expressions changed. He saw his mother gasp, his grandfather chuckle. His brother was now wearing a wide grin.
His own face must have looked stunned, and he couldn’t find the wherewithal to move. Both he and Olivia seemed frozen to the spot. Then he saw his six-year-old nephew turn his gaze to Olivia, and watched as his sister-in-law rushed over and slapped both hands over her son’s eyes. Tony came reluctantly to his senses. He slammed the door shut, then tried to get his mind to function in some semblance of order so he could figure out what to do.
“Oh my God.”
He glanced down at Olivia, her hands covering her face, her shoulders shaking. She said again, “Oh my God.” Her breast was still uncovered, and more than anything, he wanted to taste that small pink nipple. He wished his family elsewhere, but when he heard the sudden roar of hysterical laughter inside, he knew not a single damn one of them would budge. Meddling bunch of irritants.
“Oh my God.”
Tony frowned, his gaze still on that taunting nipple. He was beginning to feel like Pavlov’s dog. “Are you praying or cursing?”
She peeked at him from between her fingers, her expression as evil as any he’d ever seen. Through gritted teeth, she said, “You promised me privacy, Tony. There must be fifty people in there.”
“No. If everyone’s present, and I suspect by the low roar that they are, there’s ten, maybe twelve total. It only seems like more because a portion of them are kids. Noisy kids.” She dropped her hands and glared at him. She seemed totally oblivious to the fact that her body was bared. Tony, still retaining a death grip on the doorknob in case anyone tried to open it, reached over to cup her with his free hand. She jerked.
“Tony.”
How her voice could change from cold and angry to soft and pleading so quickly, he didn’t know. “One small taste, Olivia, okay? Then I can sort the rest of this out.”
She didn’t appear to understand, which was probably the only reason she didn’t protest.
Tony shook his head, then bent down and slowly drew his tongue around her nipple. She gasped, and he gently sucked her into his mouth, holding her captive with his teeth. Her flesh was hot and sweet and her nipple was so taut it pained him. He licked his tongue over her, flicking, teasing, making her nipple strain even more. When she moaned, he suckled, holding her close to his body.
Olivia’s hands settled in his hair just as a discreet knock sounded on the door. “You might as well come in, Tony. I sent the kids into the kitchen for some punch.”
Tony cursed, dropped his forehead to Olivia’s chest, then felt himself rudely pushed aside as she frantically tried to right her bra and button herself up. “Calm down, Olivia, it’s all right.”
From the other side of the door, he heard his brother say, “Yeah, Olivia. It’s all right. We’re glad you’re here for the party.”
Tony growled. “Go away, John!”
“All right. But I’ll be back in two minutes if you don’t present yourself. Both of you.”
Now that she was decently covered, Olivia sent her gaze searching around the garage, and Tony realized she was hoping to find a means of escape. “Forget it. They won’t let me leave, therefore, you’re stuck, too.”
“But you don’t want this,” she wailed, her hands twisting together at her waist. “This is your family, Tony, part of your private life, and I don’t want to intrude. We both agreed I wouldn’t intrude.”
Tony sighed, knowing she was right, but also accepting the inevitable. “I’ll find some way to throw my family off the scent. Just play it cool. As far as they need to know, we’re business associates and nothing more.”
Olivia’s look told him how stupid she thought that idea was. “Play it cool? After what they saw us doing?” She shook her head. “No. I’m not going in there.”
“Olivia…”
“They saw us!”
He shrugged. “It’s none of their damn business. If anyone gets impertinent with you, tell them to bug off. Or better still, just tell me, and I’ll handle them.”
She didn’t look at all convinced, and Tony touched her face. “I’ve seen you at work, lady. You can easily handle a few curious relatives. You’re a shark, remember? Now pull yourself together.”
She drew a deep breath and gave an uncertain nod. Tony dropped his gaze to her mouth, then had to swallow a curse. His fingertips slid over her lower lip. “Do you have any idea how frustrated I am right now? How badly I’m hurting?”
Olivia seemed to regain some of her aplomb. “No more than I am, I assume. After all, this was my idea. You, as I recall, were very reluctant to agree.”
“I was an idiot.” He turned to the door again. “I suppose I can suffer through a few hours. How long can a family birthday party last anyway?”
OLIVIA TRIED FOR A serene smile as Tony’s family lined up to meet her. Tony waited until he had everyone’s attention, then said with astounding sincerity, “Everyone, this is Olivia Anderson. She’s a business associate. She owns the lingerie shops Sugar and Spice in the hotels, and today we were working on finalizing the placement of one more.”
Olivia held her breath, but no one called him on the obvious cover-up. Then Tony began pointing out people, too many of them for Olivia to keep straight, though she was usually very good with names and faces. The men seemed inclined to leave her be, their interest caught by a football game someone had turned on. Other than a wave in her direction when Tony introduced her, and a few ribald comments to Tony and the kind of business he conducted, they stayed on or near the family-room couch and the large-screen television.
The women, however, hovered. They were anxious to talk to her, and Tony, with little more than an apologetic glance, abandoned her when the men called him to watch a play. Sue, Tony’s mother, invited her to join the women and children in the kitchen.
To Olivia’s surprise, no one was the least bit unpleasant, despite what had happened. “I’m sorry if we’ve upset your plans,” Sue said. “Tony, of course, didn’t know we’d planned a party. And we didn’t know Tony had made other arrangements.”
Tony’s sister, Kate, and sister-in-law, Lisa, both chuckled. Kate said, “If you could have seen his face! Well, we certainly did surprise him.”
Olivia couldn’t help but smile. Both women were very adept at keeping busy in the kitchen, and dodging the kids who ran in and out. “It was rather awkward.”
Lisa laughed. “For us, too. Of course, John is just like Tony, and never lets a chance go by to goad his brother.”
“And they both goad me. Endlessly!” Kate shook her head. “But now I have enough ammunition to twit Tony for a good month.”
Olivia decided, even though their comments weren’t malicious, it was time to change the subject. She didn’t want to have to explain her business with Tony. “Could I help you do something?”
Sue was arranging ham slices on a platter, Kate was putting glasses and napkins on a tray, and Lisa was trying to balance a tiny infant in one arm and dish up potato salad with the other. She turned with a relieved smile when Olivia made her offer.
“If you wouldn’t mind holding the baby, that would be a big help.”
Olivia balked. “I, uh, how about I help with the food instead? I’ve never held an infant before.”
“Piece of cake, believe me. And he’s such a good baby, he won’t give