Surrender to Temptation Read Free Page B

don’t live in Sacramento anymore.” The reminder saddened me. I loved the city, had very much loved my apartment, but at the moment knew that I couldn’t go back.
    â€œI guess I’m not from anywhere, right now. My lying asshole of a boyfriend cheated on me, so I quit my job and came here, ’cause it’s one of my favorite places. And I have no idea what I’m going to do next.” The panic came then, washing over me in one quick wave.
    Oh, no. I wasn’t going to have a panic attack here. Not now. Not in front of this man.
    I inhaled, then let the air out, repeating until I felt calmer. When I realized that I’d just done a relaxation breathing exercise in front of a sexy stranger, I felt like smacking myself upside the head.
    Of course, I’d also just told him that I was so alluring that I couldn’t keep a man, so the breathing was probably nothing.
    Biting my lower lip, ashamed, I dared to sneak a peek at the man sitting across from me.
    He was watching me with eyes at half-mast, and he looked so damn sexy that I actually trembled. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but whatever he was about to say was interrupted by the arrival of the dessert that I hadn’t wanted, and wasn’t sure I could stomach, not with my internal upheaval.
    I couldn’t help but notice that the scarlet color of the strawberries was enticing against the stark white of the bowl. I caught the eye of the waitress, who winked at me knowingly as she added a separate dish full of soft whipped cream.
    I felt my skin flush, the same hue as the berries, with mortification. For something to do, I took a berry in my fingers, toying with it so that I didn’t have to look Zach in the eyes.
    He had to know how attracted to him I was feeling, I was certain of that. There wasn’t a woman in the small restaurant who wasn’t watching him at least out of the corner of her eye— and that included Suzanne, the owner, who had looked at least eighty when my parents had first brought me here twenty years ago.
    â€œLet me.” Zach’s voice had dropped in timbre, sounding even more alluring to my ears than it already had. Reaching across the cheerfully checkered tablecloth, he took the strawberry from my fingers.
    The small patch of skin burned where his fingers brushed my hand. Inhaling sharply, I jolted, forgetting that now wasn’t a good time, forgetting that I’d just met this man. His expression mirrored mine in intensity. I had no idea what had just happened, but unless I had been robbed of all of my senses, he felt it, too.
    â€œOpen your mouth.” Zach swiped the berry that he had nipped from my fingers through the mound of whipped cream before pressing it against my lips. I opened my mouth, my tongue flickering out to lick up the cream.
    He moaned softly. Emboldened by forces that mystified me, I took a small bite of the juicy berry, chewing slowly, licking my lips after I’d swallowed.
    His eyes followed the motions of my mouth, entranced, before flickering back up to look me in the eyes.
    â€œWhat is going on?” I regretted the words the moment that I’d said them—how naive was I? I knew exactly what was going on, but I didn’t have the sophistication to make the next move.
    Though my better judgment was screaming at me, I was praying that Zach would ask me to come with him to his hotel, to his house, to his tent, if that’s where his bed was. My flesh felt swollen, full to bursting with need.
    With a brief thought of the dark blue negligee that was still in its bag in my car, I told myself that I deserved one night of pleasure.
    My words might as well have been a slap. Another persona entirely came over Zach, one who was calm, in complete control, and who washed away all traces of the sexual creature who’d been in his place only moments before.
    â€œI must go. I have an early morning.” He shifted on the chair, pulling a wallet from