Entwined With You

charm,” he said.
    I squeezed his biceps. “Really?”
    “Yep.” He licked the upper swell of my breast. “You’re magically delicious.”
    “Oh my God!” I laughed. “Cheesy.”
    His eyes smiled at me. “I did warn you about me and romance.”
    “You lied. You’re the most romantic guy I’ve ever dated. I can’t believe you hung those CrossTrainer towels in your bathroom.”
    “How could I not? And I wasn’t kidding about you being lucky.” He kissed me. “I’ve been working on offloading my share of a casino in Milan. Those black magic roses arrived just as a bidder threw in a small winery in Bordeaux that I’ve had my eye on. Guess what it’s called … La Rose Noir.”
    “A winery for a casino, huh? So you remain the god of sex, vice, and recreation.”
    “Endeavors that help me satisfy you, my goddess of desire, pleasure, and corny one-liners.”
    I ran my hands down his sides and slid my fingers beneath his waistband. “When do I get to try the wine?”
    “When you’re helping me brainstorm the advertising campaign for it.”
    With a sigh, I said, “You don’t give up, do you?”
    “Not when I want something, no.” He rose to his knees and then helped me sit up. “And I want you. Very, very much.”
    “You have me,” I said, using his words.
    “I have your heart and your insanely sexy body. Now, I want your brain. I want everything.”
    “I need to save something for me.”
    “No. Take me instead.” Gideon’s hands reached around to cup the bare cheeks of my ass. “Not an even trade in quality, I’m sorry to say.”
    “You’re bargaining like mad today.”
    “Giroux was happy with his deal. You will be, too, I promise.”
    “Giroux?” My heart thudded. “No relation to Corinne?”
    “Her husband. Although they’re estranged and facing divorce, as you know.”
    “No way. You do business with
her husband
?”
    His mouth twisted ruefully. “First time. And likely the last, although I did tell him that I’m involved with a special woman—and she’s not his wife.”
    “The problem is that she’s in love with you.”
    “She doesn’t know me.” He cupped the back of my head and rubbed our noses together. “Hurry up and call Cary. I’ll clean up dinner. Then we’ll suck face.”
    “Fiend.”
    “Sexpot.”
    I scrambled up to head to my purse for my phone. Gideon grabbed a garter and snapped it, sending a shock wave of sensation across my skin. Surprisingly aroused by the nip of pain, I slapped his hand away and hurried out of reach.
    Cary answered on the second ring. “Hey, baby girl. You still doing okay?”
    “Yes. And you’re still the best friend ever. Is Mom still hanging around?”
    “She bailed a little over an hour ago. You stayin’ over at loverman’s?”
    “Yeah, unless you need me.”
    “Nah, I’m good. Trey’s on his way over now.”
    That news made me feel a lot better about spending a second night away. “Say hi to him for me.”
    “Sure. I’ll kiss him for you, too.”
    “Well, if it’s from me, don’t make it too hot and wet.”
    “Spoilsport. Hey, remember how you asked me to do some digging on the Good Doctor Lucas? So far, I’ve come up with a whole lotta nada. He doesn’t seem to do much else besides work. No kids. Wife is a doctor, too. A shrink.”
    I glanced at Gideon, cautiously ensuring that he didn’t overhear. “Seriously?”
    “Why? Is that important?”
    “No, I guess not. I just … I guess I expect psychologists to be astute judges of character.”
    “Do you know her?”
    “No.”
    “What’s going on, Eva? You’re all cloak-and-dagger lately, and it’s starting to piss me off.”
    Climbing onto a bar stool, I explained as much as I could. “I met Dr. Lucas at a charity dinner one night, then again when you were in the hospital. Both times he said some nasty things about Gideon and I’m just trying to figure out what his deal is.”
    “Come on, Eva. What else could it be besides Cross banged his wife?”
    Unable to reveal a past that wasn’t mine to share, I didn’t answer. “I’ll be home tomorrow afternoon. I’ve got that girls’ night out. You sure you don’t want to come?”
    “Go ahead, change the subject,” Cary bitched. “Yes, I’m sure I don’t want to come. I’m not ready to hit the scene. Just thinking about it gives me hives.”
    Nathan had jumped Cary outside a club, and Cary was still recovering physically from that. Somehow, I’d forgotten that it was the mind that took