Sugar Mama Read online

  “I…am…not going in there,” she muttered before wrapping her shawl more tightly around her shoulders.

  “Why not?”

  She looked up to find him several feet away from her. Apparently he hadn’t noticed her apprehension. He had just kept on moving.

  He was totally oblivious to her discomfort. Just like a man. Her grandmother’s words came to her. Even the good ones are rotten apples.

  “I’m not properly dressed,” she bit out between clenched teeth.

  His warm brown gaze slowly swept over her body. Then he gave her a grin that was part mischief and fully sexual. “I think you’re properly dressed. As matter of fact you’re too properly dressed.”

  Theodora suddenly did feel overdressed. Her clothing was too restrictive and it irritated every inch of skin it touched. She was hot and agitated.

  And she wanted nothing more than to strip to her bare skin.

  Theodora drank in a deep breath and pushed aside the need Alejandro’s softly growled words evoked. It took Theodora a second to regain her composure. The heat in his eyes had damn near singed the clothes right off her body. She felt heat rise in her cheeks as she thought of the things he had done to her, they had done together in the back room of her dessert shop. God, the man knew how to kiss. And then he’d touched her…

  She shuddered under his gaze. He gave her a slow, heated smile that immediately increased her body temperature.

  The look in his beautiful eyes told Theodora that he knew exactly what she was thinking.

  The bastard was turning her into a harlot. Any second now she was going to jump him and take him, right there in the middle of the parking lot. In front of all those properly dressed upper-class people she was going to impale herself on his cock for all the world to see if he didn’t stop looking at her like she was a canary and he was a very large hungry cat.

  Hell! When did she turn into an exhibitionist?

  Oh yeah, when you saw him, Theodora’s mind answered for her.

  “I can’t go in there, Alejandro,” she muttered when he broke their gaze.

  It was about damn time her brain started working. It was irritating to find oneself a mindless sexual being.

  She shuddered as she thought about how turned on Alejandro had made her the night before. If only his touch hadn’t felt so good. His hands on her body made her feel things she’d never felt before. Things she’d only heard about.

  Potent need.

  Fiery desire.

  If only he didn’t set her on fire with one look, she thought as she eyed his tall, dark frame.

  One kiss…and some heavy petting and she was a nymphomaniac. Lord knew what sex with Alejandro would turn her into.

  She gazed at the man before her. Alejandro in a pair of tight jeans and a T-shirt was intoxicating. Alejandro in a suit was devastating.

  The black jacket was cut to fit his wide muscular shoulders and emphasize his lean waist. The soft yellow shirt he wore underneath brought out the deep tones of his warm brown eyes and soft caramel skin. Every time Theodora looked at him she felt the muscles in her belly contract with arousal. She was quickly finding out that she had a thing for attractive men in suits.

  Theodora had barely kept her mouth from dropping open when she saw how great Alejandro looked standing on her doorstep with a small, but beautiful bouquet of flowers in his hands.

  Cream roses. Her favorite.

  “Tell me why you can’t go in there,” he said, drawing her attention away from her own thoughts.

  Theodora blinked hard at him. It took her a moment to figure out what he was talking about. It took her several more seconds to come up with a statement that wasn’t the truth, but could keep her from having to go into the restaurant.

  Her lips opened and closed. Nothing came out. The lie she’d come up with wouldn’t come out.

  He looked down at her, his honey brown eyes warm with understanding. “I can afford it,” he said softly.

  She started to deny that was what she was thinking, but decided it was would be best to admit the truth.

  “I can barely afford it,” she said in an admonishing tone.

  “Theodora, let me do this for you.”

  “Why?” she asked baldly.

  “Because you’re worth it.”

  It took her some time to get any thoughts into her head. He had simply wiped her mind clean with his honest statement. She stared at him for several seconds.

  And then pleasure like she’d never felt before surged through her. She’d been sweet-talked by her fair share of men, but none of them ever said something so simple just because he felt it. And she knew from the soft no-nonsense tone Alejandro spoke in that he meant every word.

  Despite her best intentions to keep things as emotionless as possible, Theodora felt something sweet and hot travel through her. She pushed it aside almost immediately.

  “I’m not a goddamn L’Oréal commercial,” she grumbled as she strode toward him.

  His rumbling laughter drifted over her seconds before he claimed her arm. “That doesn’t mean it’s not true, Theodora. You are worth it. You’re worth this and much, much more,” he said softly as he looked into her eyes.

  The moment they broke off their gaze, she turned. She suddenly felt the need to run away, somewhere far away from the emotions he woke in her, emotions she had long considered dead.

  It had been almost four years since she’d had a real relationship. And the last one had ended with her brokenhearted. She had decided then and there not to fall in love with another man she could never hope to call her own.

  If Theodora wasn’t careful, Alejandro would make her break her promise.

  She instead allowed him to lead her into the warm atmosphere of the town’s trendiest restaurant. Alejandro clasped her to his side and together they walked up to the maitre d's table. The small man looked up when they stepped in front of him. His beautiful artistically feminine face broke into an honest smile the moment he set eyes on them.

  “Mr. Alba, it is nice to see you again. It has been some time now, yeah?” he asked, his accent soft and thick. The man was French, most likely Parisian. Once when she was still in corporate America she had to finalize a business deal with a Parisian company. She had been there long enough to make friends with a nice woman there. She had never forgotten the accent.

  “It has been a long time, Dubois.”

  Dubois darted a glance at Theodora before turning to Alejandro. “I see you brought a new girl. I am glad. I did not like that other girl. She was not right for you.”

  “No, she wasn’t.” Alejandro reached out and pulled Theodora closer to his side, draping one arm around her shoulder.

  Theodora’s mouth opened in blatant shock at Alejandro’s words and actions. Almost as disconcerting was the fact that her body lined up perfectly with his. Her head lay right at his chest. Her breasts met the lower half of his pectorals, and naturally her arms draped around his waist.

  Damn!

  Dubois took one look at her face and broke into a soft titillating laugh. “Maybe you should tell Mademoiselle?” he said before stepping from behind his greeter’s table.

  Alejandro glanced down at Theodora, grasped her hand and ran his callused fingers over her upturned palm. She immediately broke out in shivers as his fingers danced up her hand and onto the tender skin of her wrist.

  His voice was rough and thick with sensual awareness. “I do tell her, just not in words.”

  Dubois glanced back at the couple. The smile that spread over his face told Theodora that although he hadn’t seen Alejandro’s actions, he knew something had passed between the two of them. And that something had reinforced Alejandro’s words.

  There was no doubt about his intentions.

  Theodora knew exactly how Alejandro felt.

  Dubois turned and led them through the restaurant until they reached a small, enclosed booth. “Will this do, Mr. Alba?” he turned and asked with an outstretched arm.

  Alejandr
o glanced at Theodora, heat in his beautiful eyes. “Yes,” he said never breaking their gaze. “It’s dark and secluded. It’s perfect.”

  Dubois walked away with a smile on his beautiful face.

  Theodora’s soft gasp of shock and arousal was her only response. She felt her face heat up as naughty, exhibitionist thoughts entered her mind. She immediately glanced away. She knew her thoughts were clearly written on her face.

  “I saw that,” Alejandro said with a rumbling laugh. “I’m more than happy to act out some of those thoughts,” he whispered against her ear before licking the rim.

  Theodora quickly shuffled into her seat, trying to pretend that the heat from Alejandro’s body wasn’t scalding her every sense. He was so close she could breathe in his taste.

  She licked her lips twice when the memories of their heated kiss seared through her brain.

  She glanced up and caught his gaze. His cognac eyes glittered down at her. He bent low until his warm peppermint breath misted over her parted lips. “Unless you want to give the whole restaurant a triple X rated show, I suggest you keep your naughty thoughts off your face, querida.”

  “Alejandro,” she whispered outraged as she darted a glance around the restaurant. She could feel everyone’s eyes on her although she didn’t see anyone glancing their way in moral outrage. Still, she felt like a very naughty girl.

  She took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. She looked up at Alejandro. He had just taken his seat across from her and suddenly the table didn’t seem large enough. The booth was indeed dark and secluded.

  It was very intimate. Too intimate. Alejandro was too close…too near. And she was feeling too…much.

  “I’m not going to ask you to stop again Alejandro,” she said as she stared into his warm cognac eyes.

  “Good, because I’m tired of having to tell you I mean what I say. And I do mean what I say, Theodora.”

  Theodora grabbed her napkin and forcefully shook it out. “Let me get this straight,” she gritted through her teeth. “You are attracted to me.”

  “Yes,” he said with a slow amused smile as his eyes followed the jerky movements of her napkin.

  “And you want to sleep with me?”

  His gaze met hers. “Hell, yes.”

  “Uh-huh,” she muttered. “You are either sick, deranged, or delusional.”

  He leaned forward, bracing his arms on the table. His soft brown eyes bored into hers. “No, sweetheart. I’m tempted, dirty, and hungry.”

  She stared at him open mouthed for several seconds. The determination swimming in his gaze made her more than a little nervous.

  “Theodora, if you don’t close your mouth, I’m going to be forced to put something large and thick inside of it.”

  Her teeth clicked when she snapped her mouth shut. She blistered for a second before glaring at him. She opened her mouth to tear into him.

  And then he laughed. He laughed right in front of her face as if what he said wasn’t the most offensive thing in the world.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” she growled through her clenched teeth.

  “I could answer that in so many ways,” he said between gasps for breath. “And you wouldn’t appreciate a single dirty one.”

  The waiter came at that moment and took their orders. Since Theodora had never been to the restaurant before, Alejandro helped her make her decision. He was kind and attentive, even going so far as to ask her what she usually ate and why. The waiter walked away, order in hand, with a smirk on his face.

  “Thank you,” she said with a shy smile. She wasn’t used to men who actually listened to her. Her hardest obstacle as the only woman at the higher manager level of her Fortune 500 Company had been men who didn’t listen to what she was saying.

  She looked at the man across from her and couldn’t help but wonder if the younger generation was masculine enough to listen to a woman.

  Or was it just Alejandro?

  “You’re welcome,” he said with a nod and a slow, mischievous smile. After several seconds of comfortable silence, he spoke. “You look beautiful tonight.”

  “Thank you,” Theodora murmured automatically, never taking his words to heart.

  He must have realized it because a dark cloud flashed across his face.

  “So are you excited about graduation?” She spoke before he could say anything.

  “Yes, and no,” he said as he stared into her eyes. “I’m happy to be finished with school, but I feel as though I haven’t accomplished my goals.”

  “You’re only twenty-six. You have plenty of time to accomplish your goals.”

  He shook his head and gave her a slow, sad smile. “No, I’ve been working on this goal for a year now and I still haven’t gotten anywhere. Now I’ve only got three months to close the deal.”

  Her tongue darted out to lick her bottom lip as she pondered his words. “So you’re feeling the pressure now, wondering if you can do what you couldn’t do in a year, in three months.”

  He stared into her eyes, his gaze stark and hot. “Sometimes I lay in bed wondering what…it would taste like…how it would feel to have it in my hands. Sometimes I lay awake for hours thinking of all the things I could do with…it.”

  Theodora took a deep breath as heat rushed into her system. She felt like someone had just thrown her into an oven. She couldn’t help the fact that her fertile mind pictured herself on Alejandro’s tongue, in his grasp, spending endless hours in his hands.

  Fortunately the waiter came at that moment and dropped off their dinners. They ate in silence for several minutes. Just when Theodora was beginning to get comfortable with the silence, Alejandro signaled to the waiter. She quirked one eyebrow at him and started to say something. At that moment a second waiter came and placed a small platter of desserts on the table.

  Alejandro leaned over and thrust his fork into one of the moist cakes and lifted the fork toward her.

  “What is it?”

  He smirked at her. “It’s decadence. I promise it’s worth it.”

  She attempted to lean over the table, but was unable to make it to his fork. She started to get to her feet when Alejandro shook his head no.

  He moved the dessert plate and slid further into the booth, closer to her. His body was more than two feet away from her, but he was close enough that she could drink in the rich scent of his cologne, close enough that she could feel the tempting heat of his body.

  And then he moved just a little closer to her.

  She watched his long fingers, wrapped around the silver fork, attack the rich dessert and cut off a second piece. His fork sliced through the moist cake easily. Alejandro lifted the dessert to her lips and like an obedient child Theodora opened her mouth.

  Their eyes caught seconds before the fork slid past her parted lips. Warmth infused her body as the heat in his eyes seeped into her system. She mechanically chewed the slice of cake as they watched one another.

  “So?” he said with one ebony eyebrow quirked. “What do you think?”

  “I think you’re right. It is delicious.”

  Alejandro cut off another piece of the cheesecake and held the fork to her mouth. Holding his gaze she lowered her head and wrapped her lips around he fork. A dark rumble of need vibrated between them. She paused at the soft sound of Alejandro’s growl. It cost her. Not all of the cake made it into her mouth. Little pieces of the cream dessert clung to the sides of her lips. Theodora immediately grabbed her napkin.

  “Let me,” Alejandro whispered seconds before his lips pressed against her mouth.

  A current of lightning shot through Theodora the moment he touched her. Her fingers dug into the silky tablecloth as he molded his lips to the soft contours of her mouth, sliding, gliding, and rubbing against the soft flesh until she moaned against his lips. Then his tongue, hot and insistent, took advantage of her parted lips to stroke into the wet, hot cavern of her mouth.

  Theodora’s fingers clung harder to the tablecloth and she tried to ke
ep her wits about her as Alejandro kissed her deeply.

  The wet rasp of his tongue touched every corner of her mouth. Alejandro left no part of Theodora unexplored. His tongue stroked over her tongue, rubbing against the moist, rough surface before thrusting into the deeps of her mouth. Heat bloomed inside her veins as his tongue journeyed around her mouth. Then his tongue darted back out and glided atop her lips.

  Theodora gave a second breathless moan when he sucked her bottom lip into his mouth. Instant burning heat streaked through her body at the feel of his amorous touch. Her already hard nipples began to ache with their need for attention. She shifted in her seat as her sex throbbed and pulsed with desire. Her body shivered beneath the weight of both their desires.

  She wanted and needed to feel their bodies moving across one another. As if he heard her unspoken plea, he tangled her hair in his large palms and pulled her hard against his chest, closer to his deep kiss.

  Theodora felt herself lose all thoughts, inhibitions, and worries as Alejandro kissed her until her lungs burned. She clutched him to her and allowed herself to drown in his intoxicating kiss.

  * * * * *

  “I think you need an orgasm and I’m just the man to give it to you. As a matter of fact I could give you several all…night…long.”

  Theodora bumped her head against the steering wheel for the third time that night as she considered Alejandro’s words. Belatedly, she wondered if science was sure human beings couldn’t spontaneously combust because she was on her way to disproving that fact.

  She’d thought the overwhelming need to strip would have been calmed when she was away from Alejandro, the fire starter, but it didn’t. No, it just stuck around like a dull toothache.

  It dared her into action.

  She’d only left him thirty minutes ago and she’d already forced herself not to call him three times.

  With one kiss and one sentence, Alejandro had made her hotter than a furnace. Okay, so it had been one long…very long kiss and a few sentences, but still…