he moved his head into her neck and throat, kissing her with just the barest contact of his lips on her collarbone, then up behind her ears, his hands moving up and down in a gentle caress of both sides of her back, inside her sweater. As though he wanted to find out what her skin tasted like without the chocolate and cream chaser.
The stubble on his chin and sideburns made her burn with instant fire, and instinct rather than sensible thought took over.
And chocolate was not what Toni was thinking about. At all.
For a moment their eyes locked together.
The need in his took her breath away and left her floundering, helpless.
What if he wanted her as much as she wanted him at this minute?
That could only spell trouble. For both of them.
Toni tried to break the mood by looking away first.
And then she made the fatal mistake of glancing back and fell dizzyingly into Scott’s startling blue flecked eyes. Eyes which called to her with a message that her heart could not ignore.
I like you. A lot.
Doomed.
Without a second’s hesitation, she leaned forward just an inch and started to angle her head so that their noses wouldn’t clash, their eyes still locked. His tongue moistened his upper lip, and she instinctively did the same. His eyes glanced from her mouth back to her eyes as his hand came up to cradle the back of her head, smoothing down the hair, caressing the warm skin between her neck and ear. And suddenly she wanted—needed—to crush her mouth against his and taste his sweetness and life and passion.
She could sense that her breathing sped up in anticipation for his kiss, her eyes half closed at the pleasure to come. She wanted him to kiss her.
But what he did instead made kissing seem tame in comparison.
Scott’s fingers moved down from her waist on to the rough tweed fabric of her trendy skirt until they reached her exposed leggings-covered thighs.
Toni breathed out a sigh of shuddering delight as his palms cupped her thighs, his thumbs caressing back and forth on the sensitive area on the inside of her legs, moving just a little higher with each caress.
She blinked up into Scott’s face and he smiled at her with an expression that told her everything that she needed to know.
This man knew exactly what he was doing and how her body was reacting to his touch. But she wasn’t the only one. His breathing was matching hers, hot and fast and snatched between gasps.
Just to prove the point, his gaze locked on to hers and his hands pushed her skirt just high enough for him to step closer so she could feel just how much his body was enjoying the moment.
Somewhere inside her head a voice was telling her that she should tell him to stop. Soon. Very...oh, Lord...soon. But maybe not straight away. Because this felt way too good to stop.
Toni was just about to arch her back over the drawing table when Scott suddenly moved his hands out from under her skirt, pressed them on to the table, stepped back and whispered, ‘I have an idea.’
An idea? What? Now?
Licking her lips and forcing her brain to form something close to sense took a second but eventually Toni managed to whisper, ‘Great. Although I was hoping that you might have more than just the one.’
‘Ah, but this is a classic. How would you like to be my date for dinner this evening?’
What?
Toni felt as though someone had just thrown a bucket of cold water over her and she instantly pushed her bottom off the stool and tugged her skirt down.
‘A date? You? Me? Are you serious?’
‘Is that so outrageous?’
‘No. I mean yes,’ Toni blustered, desperately trying to come up with an excuse why she could not, dare not put her heart on the line again. ‘Technically, I’m working for you. An employee, in fact. And you have a girlfriend. You told me about the girl you left behind in Alaska the other day in the coffee shop. I’m sure that your lovely blue-eyed Dallas wouldn’t be too happy with that idea. I don’t date other girl’s boyfriends. Ever.’
Scott paused for a moment, grinned then pulled out his wallet and handed her a photograph. ‘Good to know. Toni, meet Dallas.’
‘Oh, you have to be kidding me? You keep a photo of...a very handsome husky dog.’ Toni peered at it, rolled her eyes and passed the snapshot of the dogsled back to its owner. ‘Tease. Dallas is one of your sled dogs, isn’t she?’
‘Hell, no.’ Scott grinned. ‘Dallas is my lead girl. She runs the rig. If she doesn’t want to tug and run?’ He sliced the air with his hand. ‘We’re grounded.’ Then a warm loving smile crept up out of nowhere and hit her with its full power. ‘But when she moves? That girl is poetry in motion. And smart. We get on just fine.’
‘So I see.’ Toni smiled. ‘Well, it’s obvious that any girl would have to work hard to compete with the lovely Dallas. That’s a special relationship.’ She sucked in air between her teeth. ‘I wouldn’t want to come between a man and his dog.’
Scott scowled at her then pressed his lips together, winced, and then slapped the heel of his hand to his forehead as he took several steps back towards the door. ‘You already have a boyfriend. Of course you do. How stupid of me.’
He gave her a short bow. ‘Apologies. I jumped to conclusions. Another one of those flaws I was talking about. I only hope your boyfriend doesn’t turn up at the house and thump me for asking his girl out.’
There was just enough of a change in his voice to make her look up. Unless he was a very good actor and she was completely misreading the signals, she saw a glimmer of genuine regret and disappointment cross that handsome face before he covered it up.
Interesting.
Decision time. Pretend she was seeing someone and lie through her teeth...or not.
‘You’re safe. I broke up with someone a year ago and right now I’m on my own. What I meant was that I’m between boyfriends and I don’t feel comfortable with starting a serious relationship right now. But thanks again for the invitation.’
It was astonishing to see how fast Scott could switch on that killer smile.
‘Ha. So you are single. That makes two of us.’ He looked at her quizzically, eyebrows high. ‘But who said anything about a serious relationship? What I’m talking about is a fling. A sweet, short and fun fling.’
* * *
‘A fling? Why on earth would you want a fling with me? You could have your pick of girls to fool around with.’
He stepped closer and ran his hands up both sleeves of her jacket and smiled as his gaze locked on to her eyes. ‘I’ve been through one very difficult divorce and since then my focus has been totally on my work. The last thing I want is to rush into that sort of commitment again. But I would like to get to know you better. A lot better. Maybe even get used to the idea that I can start looking for love again. Do you understand that?’
‘Looking for love again? Yes. Yes, of course I understand that. Isn’t that what we all want?’
Scott gave a small shoulder shrug. ‘Maybe. But in the meantime we’re both adults who understand the difference between a casual arrangement and a long-term relationship. This way, we can have the benefits. Without the messy complications.’
Then the tone of his voice cooled. ‘But I’ll be back in Alaska by the autumn. I can’t promise you anything but a good time for the next few months and I need to know that you understand that very clearly. No confusion or recriminations. A fling. Short and sweet. Now. What can I do to tempt you to take up my offer?’
‘Oh, Scott,’ she replied, shaking her head. ‘You’re temptation on legs.’