Rules of Engagement Read online

  “Hiding?”

  With a loud gasp, Gina jumped, dropping her fork.

  “Sneaking around?” she shot back, not relaxing even a little bit when she realized her surprise visitor was Rico.

  “I needed a break.”

  He looked so damned good. He’d changed out of his uniform, now fitting in with the rest of the guests in slacks and a dress shirt. She swallowed, looking at his chest with a sigh. He’d left the shirt unbuttoned just enough to show that he had a very sexy sprinkling of manly hair on his chest. If she nuzzled her face against that chest and maybe gave just one tiny little nibble or two, could she blame it on champagne?

  Oh, how she was tempted. Just being out here with him made her skin tingle with want, her body ache with need.

  And clearly, made her mind run with crazy ideas.

  “It’s a big estate. Lots of grounds and pretty gardens.” Gina hoped he’d go away before the crazy got ahead of her good sense. Her appetite—and her fork—gone, she set the cake aside. “You could take a break in another part of it.”

  “Trying to get rid of me?”

  Gina blinked, surprised that he sounded a little hurt.

  Peering at him, she saw the downward tilt of his lips and heavy set of his shoulders.

  Nice. She wrinkled her nose. Just because she pouting over the never-to-be-fulfilled need to straddle his body and ride him like a racehorse was no excuse for bad manners.

  “And being very rude about it, too.” Gina gave him a sheepish look and waved a hand at the rock wall she was sitting on. “I’m sorry. Have a seat, enjoy the view.”

  “The party too tame for your tastes?” He lowered himself to the wall and leaned back. Gina could actually see the tension seep from the hard, sexy planes of his body, like the water pouring down the rocks behind him. She wondered what it must be like for him, coming home from war.

  “The party’s fine,” she said. “It was a great wedding.”

  “But...?”

  She grinned. “But, it was a little overwhelming. You have a very large family.”

  He shot her a sympathetic look, then glanced back toward the party. “You’re not into large families?”

  Gina’s eyes widened and her lower lip trembled. A big family would be amazing. Any family would, she figured. But that was a silly dream. One of those things she’d never have. Right up there with being prom queen, a lifetime supply of delicious fat-free fudge and Rico asking her to get naked.

  “I’m an only child of an only child. Sophia’s the closest I’ve got to family, and she’s been hiding from you and the rest of your family for most of the time I’ve known her.”

  Rico’s smile was quick and naughty. Gina sighed, her fingers itching to trace those indentions in his cheeks. They were too manly to be termed dimples, but she’d just bet they’d been adorable when he was younger.

  “I notice you’re hiding from all of us, too,” he teased.

  “Not hiding,” she corrected. “Taking a break.”

  Rico shifted his body, angling toward her in a way that made Gina’s breath catch in her throat. The warmth of him wrapped around her, filling her senses. He was so gorgeous. So intense. So damned sexy.

  And so off limits.

  Rico watched the moonlight dance over Gina’s features. Softening, highlighting. Enticing. She was beautiful. Wild and sassy, with the red tips of her black hair glowing against her milky-pale shoulders. But it was the sweet curve of her lips and the hint of sadness in her eyes drew him in.

  He’d come out to escape the noise, yes. But also to get away from the disappointment. He’d spent the last two hours dancing, dining and flirting with a half-dozen women who fit his idea of the perfect wife. He’d been bored to death. All he’d been able to think about was Gina. Her smile. Her sweet toast to the happy couple. Her sassy tattoo of a winking dragon.

  And despite his better intentions, he hadn’t been able to stop wondering. Wondering what she tasted like. Wondering how her skin would feel against his. Wondering if she was as wild in bed as she was out of it.

  And wondering how the hell he could find out.

  “You confuse me,” he confessed.

  “Me?” She pressed one hand to her breasts, her black fingernails vivid against the red fabric. “I’m an open book.”

  “Hardly. See, Sophia talks about you. A lot. She’s sent pictures over the years, mentioned you in letters. I’ve watched you two together when I visit. You’re best friends with my sister, who is about as conservative as they come.”

  “Your sister runs an art gallery focusing on the erotic,” Gina countered. “Her latest photo exhibit features a black and white study of women’s naked asses.”

  “Besides that,” he dismissed with a wince, not liking to think about his sister and anything to do with the word sex.

  The image of Gina and sex, though? He shifted, trying to ease the sudden stress against his zipper. Yeah, that image was something he was thinking a whole lot about. Right this second, his mind was entertaining all sorts of ideas of how her ass looked naked.

  “So tell me,” he asked, both truly curious, and because he was trying to keep from begging to see her butt. “What makes two girls, who on the surface have nothing in common other than a love of art, end up as tight as you both are?”

  “Maybe I’ve just been using Sophia to get close to her gorgeous brother,” Gina joked, poking one finger into his shoulder as she gave him a wicked smile.

  “Me?”

  “Nah. Carlos. Have you seen him on the dance floor? Wow, your brother has some solid moves.”

  Rico laughed, impressed with how she’d sidestepped the question and put him in his place, and still kept things upbeat.

  He was attracted to her like crazy. To her sense of humor and her body. To her intensity and to her smile. To her, well, every damned thing, it seemed.

  But...

  She was wrong for him.

  She wasn’t quiet.

  She’d never be biddable.

  She didn’t blend in and she was anything but forgettable.

  Rather than staying in the background of his life she’d always be a distraction.

  His rules of engagement were clear. Don’t chase after a woman when he was interested in a totally different outcome than she could provide. With that in mind, he should get up, walk back into that reception and focus on the job at hand. Finding his perfect wife.

  But...

  Rico’s gaze travelled over Gina’s face, her eyes huge behind her glasses, her smile glinting softly in the moonlight. His eyes followed the long, smooth line of her throat, noticing how temptingly her rounded breasts held up that dress. Her tiny waist was encased by a glittery belt, and the skirt poofed around her like a pillow.

  A pillow he wanted to burrow under.

  No question about it. She was all wrong for him.

  And, suddenly, he simply didn’t care.

  “Would you like to dance?” he asked, standing and holding out one hand.

  “Inside?” she asked, splitting her startled glance between him and the house.

  “Here.” He reached down and pulled her to her feet.

  She stumbled, just a little, making it easy for him to slide his hands around her waist and pull her closer. His erection, already hard, stiffened like a lead pipe when her soft breasts crushed against his chest. She felt incredible.

  “Now.”

  “Do you know what you’re doing?” she asked breathlessly.

  Rico gave her his most charming smile, pleased to see her lashes flutter and feel her breath catch. He shifted, catching her hand in his and lifting it to his mouth to brush a kiss over her knuckles, then holding it against his shoulder as he moved to the strains of Unchained Melody.

  “Let’s find out.”

  Chapter Four

  Gina’s breath caught in her throat as Rico pulled her tighter against the hard delight of his body. Her skin tingled and a naughty sort of heat swirled low in her belly. Intense. He was so
intense.

  This was just a dance, she reminded herself. Best man and bridesmaid. Almost an obligation. Yeah, an obligation.

  As they started moving—so deliciously slow and gentle—to the melody of her favorite song, she told herself to keep that in mind.

  Because it’d be really pathetic to melt all over a guy who thought of her as an obligation.

  Their bodies brushed against each other. Hard against soft, creating a sensual friction that made her want to moan aloud and beg for more. Every shift of his thigh pressed against the dampening heat between her legs.

  “I like how you move,” Rico said, his voice a little hoarse.

  Startled, Gina glanced up to meet his eyes. There was nothing obligatory about the desire in that intense gaze. Instead, he was looking at her like she’d looked at that cake earlier. With appreciation, temptation and not a little lust.

  “Anyone can slow dance,” she demurred softly, trying to avoid stepping on the glowing neon emotional landmine.

  “I watched you earlier. On the dance floor.” He gestured with their clasped hands toward the party on the other side of the tall hedges, even though they couldn’t see it from their own impromptu dance floor on the grass. Then he said again, deeper this time, “I like how you move.”

  The fingers of his free hand skimmed up from the small of her back to the bare skin of her shoulder blades. Gina shivered at his touch, wishing for more. Just once, wishing she were the kind of girl he’d go for.

  Even if he only went for a little while.

  She’d settle for fifteen minutes. They could do a helluva lot in a quarter-of-an-hour.

  As if he could hear the plea in her thoughts, Rico’s eyes locked on hers. The passion in his dark depths made her mouth go desert-dry. She swallowed, trying to find her voice. But she didn’t know what to say. All she could do was feel.

  Feel the wet heat dampening her black satin panties.

  Feel the way her nipples hardened, stiff against the fabric of her fancy dress.

  Feel her heart racing. Her breath catching. And her knees going a little woozy because Rico was looking at her like she was everything he wanted in a woman.

  Giving in to temptation, even as a part of her screamed warning, Gina reached up to brush her fingers lightly over the scar on Rico’s jaw. Stubble grazed her fingers as she traced the memento she knew he’d gotten in a nasty encounter with a rocket propelled grenade over in Afghanistan.

  Then his mouth found hers. He kissed like he danced. Slow, intense and incredible. As their lips melded together, her heart raced. Tension, purely sexual, tightened every nerve in her body until she wanted to beg. Her fingers dug through the soft fabric of his shirt to the hard muscles beneath. Oh, baby, he felt good.

  Their lips did the dancing now, slipping and sliding open-mouthed, their tongues tangling as their breath mingled. His hands gripped her hips through the fluffy fabric of her skirt, pulling her tight against him.

  She gasped when she felt the long, rigid proof that he was as affected as she was. How big was he that she could feel him that hard, that thick, through all the layers of fluff? And please, oh please, was she going to find out?

  Breathless, his mouth released her so he could trail kisses along her shoulder.

  “I want you,” he breathed against her throat. His teeth nipped, his tongue soothed. “I want you so bad.”

  “Have me.” Her offer ended in a gasp as his fingers slid beneath the bodice of her dress, scraping over her pebbled nipple.

  Like he’d flipped a switch marking the point of no return, Gina’s brain shut off and her body took over. She grazed her short nails down his chest, loving the way he groaned his approval.

  “More,” he directed, his finger sliding back, then forth, back then forth over her nipple. Tormenting, teasing and titillating in the most delicious way.

  Her fingers flew over the buttons of his dress shirt until she had access to the gorgeously muscled golden flesh.

  “This is a one time thing, right? Just now. Not, you know, ever again?” Even as her mouth raced over the warm, bare expanse of his sexy chest, a part of Gina held its breath waiting for his answer.

  “Yeah, yeah,” he said, his fingers quick and agile as they found her zipper. “One time. Now. Incredible.”

  Incredible. As Gina’s dress fell to the grass in a soft puddle of red billowing fabric, her body agreed. It would be incredible.

  But her heart, easily ignored in the rush of sexual pleasure, wept just a little. One time.

  One time only.

  Chapter Five

  Rico was torn between the need to inspect every sweet, delicate inch of Gina’s moonlit body. And the desperation clawing at him to taste her. To have her.

  She made the decision easy when she moved out of the red fluff of fabric and stepped closer. So close, the cherry sweet tips of her breasts brushed a line if fire over his bare chest.

  Rico groaned, his hands skimming lightly over her shoulders, down her back and then cupping the silk-covered delight of her curvy butt.

  Holding tight, he lifted her to meet his mouth. His tongue swept over hers. Need clawed at him. She tasted delicious. Like champagne, chocolate and a sweetness that was all Gina.

  Her hands hurried over his body. Squeezed his biceps, scraped his nipples, traced his belt. Her warmth seeped into him, adding layers of heat to the already aching hardness of his erection.

  “Now,” he muttered against her lips. “Here.”

  “You’re crazy,” she whispered right back. But her fingers made quick work of his belt buckle.

  Rico’s palms traced the indention of her waist, then cupped the heavy weight of her breasts. Fascinated, his thumbs traced the areola, then brushed lightly back and forth, back and forth over the hardening tips.

  “Getting crazier by the second,” he agreed.

  Body aching, he looked around. Lifting Gina into his arms, he strode over to the rock wall surrounding the pond and sat with her in his lap.

  Before she could do more than gasp, he took her mouth again, sliding his hands down the silky length of her leg to slip one shoe off, then the other. Skimming his fingers back up her leg, he didn’t stop until he’d reached crux of her thighs protected by gratifyingly damp silk.

  He slipped his finger under the fabric, flicking the swollen bud and making her moan lightly. She was so wet, so hot, so perfect.

  He needed her. Now. Before he embarrassed himself. And before someone came looking for them.

  “Up,” he said, the added urgency of possibly being caught adding a delicious edge.

  She stood, looking a little dazed and shaky.

  “I can’t believe we’re doing this,” she murmured.

  “Because it’s us?” His hands froze on his zipper. He wanted her, yeah. But she had to want him back.

  “No, I’m thrilled that it’s us,” she said quietly, a look so sweet and heartfelt in her eyes that he felt something catch in his chest. “But I’d never have pegged you for an alfresco kind of guy.”

  Rico’s grin flashed, fast and wicked. “Babe, when we’re through, you’ll realize there’s not one damned thing I’m not willing to try.”

  Her mouth rounded and her eyes lit with both challenge and appreciation. Good. He didn’t want a wild girl like her thinking he was too boring for her to keep around.

  Quickly loosening his slacks, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet to grab protection. Gina gave him a sassy smile and a saucy wink as she took the foil wrapper from his fingers. She waited, one brow arched as if to tell him to hurry the hell up, while he shoved his pants down. His erection sprang free, aching and ready for her promised delight.

  Gina dropped to her knees in front of him, making Rico groan. The sight of her there, skin so pale it glowed in the moonlight and her hair a tousle of curls around her face, would be forever etched in his mind. Her eyes locked on his, she leaned forward to brush a wet, open-mouthed kiss over the straining head of his dick. It jumped, liking
her touch. She slowly, torturously, slipped the condom over his erection, her fingers warm and firm as they moved down the length of him.

  Definitely crazy now, and afraid things would end way to fast if he didn’t take back control, Rico pulled Gina to her feet. She stood before him, naked except for those black panties.

  “Time for these to go.”

  He hooked his fingers through the tiny strips of elastic at each hip, tugging the fabric down her legs.

  “You’re beautiful,” he murmured. He understood the hot throbbing of his erection and knew exactly what it wanted. But the throbbing ache in his chest? He’d never felt this kind of need for a woman before. Not physically. Never emotionally.

  Gina was special.

  His hands on her hips, he pulled her closer, reverently leaned in to brush kisses over her belly, then down to the tangle of curls between her legs. His fingers teased and tormented her wet bud until she cried out, digging her nails into his shoulders.

  “Rico,” she begged.

  That was all he needed. His hands holding hers, he guided her back onto his lap. She straddled him, sliding onto his throbbing length with a loud gasp of delight.

  He groaned at the feel of her, so hot and tight, surrounding him. She set the rhythm, up and down, an undulating dance of pleasure.

  His breath grew shorter. He closed his eyes as the energy spun out of control. Her gasps filled the air, tiny mewling cries of pleasure adding to the intensity of his desperate need for gratification.

  Gina moved faster. Rico’s fingers dug into the soft flesh of her hips, guiding her. Pushing her to move harder.

  Their bodies pounded together, slippery now.

  Passion tightened like a coil, waiting to erupt.

  As she cried out, he exploded. Fast and furious, the power of his orgasm pounded through his body like nothing he’d ever felt before.

  But he’d damned well be feeling it again. Rico’s arms wrapped tight around Gina, holding her close.