Brant held up the coffeepot and motioned her to the seat beside him. “Morning, baby, coffee?” When she nodded, he poured her a cup and leaned down to give her a hard kiss on the mouth before putting the pot back. She was momentarily surprised at how natural it felt to be greeted by him in that manner. While Brant had a lively discussion with her father on who was going to win the Florida–South Carolina game that evening, he absently ran a hand up and down her back. It felt too good for her to pull away.

“So, you two ready for the big event tonight?” Emma looked at her father blankly before it registered that he was referring to the reunion.

“Er . . . yeah, I guess.” Emma had never felt less enthusiastic about anything—except maybe for her recent root canal. The thought of having to make small talk with people she hadn’t seen for years held little appeal now. She would much rather be somewhere alone with Brant and that, she thought dejectedly, was the problem. Just last week, she would have rather been anywhere in the world than with her insufferable boss. Now she couldn’t think of anyone else that she would rather spend time with. She knew in her heart that as soon as they returned home, this strange new thing would be over.

But it shocked her to realize that she could hardly stand to think of him going cold on her again. Did he feel anything at all toward her or was he just a good actor? She could have sworn she saw real affection in his gaze this morning. It was probably just for her father’s benefit, but it had made her heart beat madly.

“Penny for your thoughts . . .” She looked up flushing as she realized that her father had left the table and Brant was looking at her curiously. “You looked like you were a million miles away.”

“I . . . sorry. I think I’m still tired.”

He gave her what she could only call a wicked grin. “Something wore you out last night, huh? Maybe a shower would help wake you.”

Giving an unladylike snort, she said, “I’ve already had a shower.”

Brant lowered his voice and let his hand slide against the curve of her ass. “I didn’t mean alone.”

Oh my God, the sexy Brant from the previous night was still very much front and center this morning. He moved her hair aside and nibbled her ear. Shivers raced up her spine and her body caught fire. “Mmmm,” she moaned quietly before she could stop herself. Her hand tangled in his hair without conscious thought and next thing she knew she was out of her chair and on his lap. She felt him hard against her bottom as she wrapped her legs around his waist. His eyes blazed into hers for a moment before their mouths met, tongue to tongue, all-consuming. “Brant . . .”

His tongue took control and dominated hers. She was helpless to deny him anything as he plundered her mouth. The voice in her head was screaming loudly, What are you doing? It was going to have to come up with something better than that if there was any hope of making her back away from the amazing mouth devouring hers.

“Good morning, kids!”

Yeah, that would do it, Emma thought as she jerked away from Brant. Her mother’s loud, chipper greeting was enough to douse the flames that had been consuming her.

To his credit, Brant continued to hold her loosely in his lap as he smiled a greeting at her mother. “Good morning, Kat.” Emma was relieved to note that her mother had her purse and keys in her hand. Thank God for small miracles. She wasn’t up to a grilling session over her relationship with Brant.

“I have to take Sandra for her laser eye surgery. Her daughter was supposed to take her, but she canceled at the last minute. What time are you leaving tonight? I wanted to be here to take pictures.”

“Mom,” Emma groaned, “it’s a reunion, not the prom. We’ll probably leave early so we can have dinner first.”

“Honey, I need to capture you and this hunk beside you on film. I have the picture I took of you two last night with my phone, but I need a better one for Facebook.”

Emma felt Brant’s body shaking as he laughed. She couldn’t believe Mr. Conservative wasn’t freaking out at the thought of having his image plastered all over Facebook.

“You’re no help,” she grumbled to him. Then turning back to her mother, she added, “If we don’t see you before we leave, I’m sure we will when we get home. Now you’d better hurry so Sandra isn’t late to her appointment.”

Her mother gave her a hug and a kiss on the forehead and then surprised her by repeating the gesture on Brant. “Enjoy the beach today. Your father is working for a while, but Robyn said she would stop by sometime.”

Emma untangled herself from Brant’s lap when her mother left. “I don’t know about you, but that was the equivalent of a cold shower.” Taking his hand, she pulled him up behind her. “Let’s go change and grab a paddleboard.”

She smiled when she heard Brant ask warily, “Paddleboard?”

Chapter Ten

Brant’s breath caught in his throat as Emma made her way down the stairs. She was wearing a white, above-the-knee dress that made her legs look a mile long. The dress hugged her figure and showed off her tanned skin to perfection. Her brown hair cascaded down her back in a jumble of loose curls. He wanted to bury his hands in the soft mass and devour her. He wanted to take her somewhere and just lose himself in her until he could no longer remember all of the reasons that getting involved with her was wrong.

But he had been down this road before and he knew where it led.

Emma was even more of a risk than Alexia. Standing before her in his black suit, he had never felt more unworthy of someone. She was beautiful, sexy, a free spirit . . . and he didn’t have the first clue as to what to do with her. If he wasn’t enough for his first love, there was no way Emma would ever be seriously interested in him. She would be back to hating him as soon as their play-cation was over. The person he had been pretending to be while they were here wasn’t who he really was. In reality, he was the tightass that she had so often accused him of being. The surprising thing about this trip was how much he had enjoyed acting like someone who didn’t take everything so seriously. He hadn’t even bothered to check his company e-mail this morning, which was a first for him.

He knew their time was coming to a close soon and he wanted to enjoy every moment of being the man that she seemed to want. He took her hand when she reached the last step and pulled her against him. “You’re stunning.” When he picked up a box from the table beside him, she gave him a questioning look. “I know you said this wasn’t the prom, but I decided to cover my bases.” In truth, he had called a local florist earlier and bribed the owner to make a late Saturday delivery.