Colin gave her a pained look. He didn’t want to sound like a haggling businessman tonight, but it would be a travesty for the rest of the world to never try her cocktail. He didn’t know what to do, so he bit his lip and stayed quiet.
Jihae’s laughter filled his living room as she took him out of his misery. “Give me a pen and paper. I’ll jot down what I remember.”
He patted his pants for a piece of paper and found a receipt, then grabbed a pen. “Here.”
She turned over the receipt and bit the end of the pen. Then she wrote out the recipe for him. She paused, worrying her bottom lip, then smiled as she scribbled something on top. She handed him the receipt with a look of anticipation in her eyes.
“Once in a Blue Moon,” he read, and looked up to smile at her. “Clever.”
“I figured I won’t be coming to your condo to create brilliant cocktail recipes very often—”
“No,” he blurted, cutting her off in the middle of the sentence.
She cocked her head in question. “No what?”
“No, I want you to come to my condo often—very often—and mix as many amazing drinks as you’d like.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Be with me, Jihae.”
Nine
“Colin, I...” Jihae couldn’t continue because he pressed his index finger against her lips.
Slowly withdrawing his finger, he came around the bar and clasped her hand, then tugged her toward his couch. She couldn’t breathe. What was he doing? Well, she had a vague idea he hadn’t brought her to his condo to talk business, but she wasn’t sure what exactly he wanted.
“I want you, Jihae.”
With gentle pressure on her shoulders, he settled her on the couch then he kneeled in front of her, spreading her legs to get as close to her as possible.
“But...” She didn’t know what she meant to say as the heat in his eyes sucked the air out the room. All she could recall was that she’d told him he would need to get on his knees if he wanted to touch her again. And here he was. On his knees. She was going to have a heart attack.
“May I kiss you?”
“I don’t know. Why now? What’s changed?”
Colin blinked rapidly as though her question had touched a nerve. Before she could wrap her mind around it, he replied, “Me. I’ve changed. I want you, and I can’t hold back anymore.”
He wanted her and he was finally admitting it. Sweet victory. A triumphant smile rose to the surface, and she wet her already tingling lips. “So...you want to kiss me?”
“Very much.”
She had no patience left to gloat because she wanted to kiss him very much, too. Jihae wrapped her arms around his neck and lowered her face toward his. She dropped a chaste kiss on the corner of his mouth. “Like this?”
“More,” he growled, his hands spanning her waist.
With a whisper of contact, she moved her mouth from one corner to the other. “Like this?”
“More.” His fingers tensed around her waist.
“Show me,” she commanded into his ear.
He moved so fast that she gasped against his lips as they crushed against hers. His kiss wasn’t gentle or teasing. It was Colin’s desire bared raw. Their teeth clacked as his tongue danced with hers, demanding that she match his passion. She had zero problem with that. His hands traveled to her hair and made quick work of undoing her bun. When her hair was free, he tangled his fingers into the long strands and tilted her head to expose the column of her neck.
His hot breath and wet lips drew a line down to her collarbone and the hollow at her throat. He licked and blew into the sensitive spot, and she moaned helplessly.
“Colin.”
He hastily captured her lips again as though to swallow her small sounds of pleasure, his name on her lips. She scooted farther back into the sofa and lay down, pulling Colin on top of her. When all of him covered all of her, he groaned his approval.
She wanted him naked. She wanted him to fill her. She whimpered and writhed under him when his thumb brushed the tip of her aching breast. He pushed up her shirt and her bra, exposing the hard tip, and sucked it into his mouth. She nearly screamed and knew she was close to losing all control.
“Wait,” Jihae gasped, pushing against his shoulders.
“Wait?” Colin immediately raised his head and looked her in the eyes with heavily hooded lids. Gah. Sexiest bedroom eyes ever. She almost pulled him back against her breasts, but she took a deep breath instead. Or at least she tried.
“Yes, wait. Please,” she said, barely managing to get the words out.
She was so turned on, and so was he. Colin sat up on the couch and pulled her onto his lap as though he couldn’t quite break contact with her. He smoothed her hair out of her face and said, “Tell me. What is it?”
“You and I... We’re both doing this against our better judgment. True?”
“True,” he replied with a bemused curl of his lips. Then he kissed her temple with such tenderness she wanted to melt against him. “Continue.”
“To ensure we don’t regret this, I think we should set some ground rules.” When Colin nodded for her to continue, Jihae placed a kiss on his jaw. “Rule One, this—us... We have to be discreet. I don’t want this to affect our professional reputation in any way. And I absolutely don’t want my father to find out. This has to stay between us, and us alone. Okay?”
“Okay.”
His eyes had turned watchful at the mention of her father, and she cringed in embarrassment. Bringing up her father while warm and horny in Colin’s arms was not the sexiest of maneuvers.
“Rule Two, no matter where this leads, I want us to finish our project together. I won’t sacrifice Best Placed Bets for anything.”
“Agreed.”
“Rule Three, no promises. I want us to take this one day at a time. Let’s just be two adults, enjoying each other.”
Jihae knew herself. What she felt for Colin wasn’t commonplace. Not for her. If she slept with him, she might give too much of herself to him. She couldn’t allow that to happen. She wasn’t even in the States permanently. Once their project was finished and her father summoned her home, she would have no choice but to return to Korea. To return to her family and her duties.
“No promises,” Colin said solemnly while he quietly searched her face. Afraid of revealing her vulnerabilities to him—and how much she wanted promises—she buried her face against his neck. “May I add something?”