She’d already fallen for him, and there was no going back.
“Shhh,” Dylan whispered, leaning down to kiss the tears that had spilled on her cheeks. She stared up at him as he began to move, knowing he saw her for what she was, vulnerable and naked, but unable to look away. Unable to protect herself. Sensation and emotion crashed together violently. Fused.
He should have been a near stranger to her, but he wasn’t.
Dylan braced himself on his arms and leaned down to touch her mouth with his.
LATE that morning, Alice heard the sound of dishes rattling in the distant kitchen. She grabbed Dylan’s hand, and he came to a halt, turning to where she’d stopped in the hallway.
“Is that Marie in there?” Alice asked him anxiously.
Dylan nodded. “Yeah. She usually makes a big breakfast on Sundays if I’m here, even though I tell her not to,” he replied quietly.
“Aren’t you worried about her seeing me?”
He came closer and lowered his head, brushing his lips against her temple. Alice shivered and stepped into him. They’d fallen asleep after they’d made love and when they’d wakened, shared a shower. Dylan hadn’t shaved afterward, and there was a scruff on his jaw and around his mouth. He looked delectable, wearing a pair of jeans and a dark blue T-shirt, his feet bare, his thick lustrous hair still a little damp. He smelled even better, Alice acknowledged as she lifted her face and nuzzled his whiskered jaw. They hadn’t spoken about that rush of violent emotion she’d experienced while they made love, but somehow, those moments were present, like a delicate, newly born energy that seemed to pulse between them. She swore Dylan felt it, too, because he couldn’t seem to stop touching her. Maybe she was being stupid, but she felt wonder in his searching, pleasure-giving hands and lips.
“No,” he answered against her lips a moment later. Alice blinked, straining to recall the topic. “Why shouldn’t Marie see you? She has no problem speaking her mind with Louise or me, but she’s discreet. This is her domain as much as mine,” he added wryly as they resumed down the hallway. “And the queen keeps the secrets of her castle safe.”
“You make it sound like there are lots of secrets to keep up here,” Alice observed wryly as they descended the back stairs.
“I’m sure Marie knows about more of them than I do,” Dylan replied. They crossed into the kitchen. Alice inhaled a delicious aroma.
“What are you saying behind my back?” Marie called out from where she stood behind a large granite-topped kitchen island. She was a middle-aged woman with a square jaw and short honey-colored hair. Her heft suggested that she appreciated her own cooking as much as anyone, and wasn’t afraid to admit it. She held an egg-dripping whisk over a mixing bowl while she regarded Alice with a frankly curious stare.
“Just the usual praise,” Dylan replied smoothly, leading Alice toward the cook. Marie’s doubtful smirk said she wasn’t buying it, and Dylan’s reciprocated one indicated he didn’t expect her to. Marie nodded when Dylan introduced them and resumed beating her eggs.
“Nice to meet you, Alice. Ther
e’s coffee ready, and I’m making omelets for you both. We’ve got muffins in the oven. I set the table for two on the terrace.”
“How did you know I was here?” Alice asked, bemused. This was the first time she’d ever shared Dylan’s bed and awakened with his staff there. God, what if Marie or Louise had heard them making love?
“I saw the two Keurig containers, and figured Dylan had a guest,” she said, referring to the discarded cups they used to make their coffee early that morning. “There’s no need to look like that,” Marie told Alice bluntly as she poured the egg mixture into a sizzling skillet. “He doesn’t usually have them stick around to serve them coffee. I figured we were due an exception, and made breakfast for two.”
Alice gave a bark of stunned laughter at the cook’s statement. Marie must have clearly read Alice’s flash of concern as she’d watched Louise’s preparations. Does Dylan regularly have female companions for his Sunday brunch?
Dylan cleared his throat to break the awkward silence. “Tactful to the last,” he muttered under his breath. Marie gave him an arch look. He just shook his head and rolled his eyes as he opened a cabinet. “Coffee, Alice?”
Suppressing a grin, Alice nodded.
“It’s so beautiful out here,” Alice said a while later before she popped her last bite of succulent apple cinnamon muffin into her mouth. The day was shiny and golden, and Alice didn’t think that was just because of her euphoric mood. “So this is your normal Sunday routine?”
“No.”
“What is, may I ask?” Alice asked with amused sarcasm over his brevity. He smiled.
“The same routine as every day of the week.”
“Work, you mean?” Alice replied knowingly.
“If I’m here, I usually take my omelet in the den,” he said, pointing his fork toward a window in the house. He took a swift bite of fluffy egg, watching her steadily, and swallowed. “But I’m traveling half the time. If I am here, I often skip breakfast altogether and go into the office. This is nicer,” he said after he took a swig of some juice.
“You make me feel special,” she said airily, smiling and looking around the sun-dappled and shaded terrace while a gentle lake breeze tickled her cheek.
“What did I tell you yesterday?”
She blinked at the sudden steel in his tone.