Southern Seduction ; Pleasure in His Arms Read online

  Caden blew out a sigh. “Impressive.”

  “I think so. He was a great student.”

  “I am confused,” Caden said, resting his elbows on the white linen tablecloth. “You left social media to become a teacher? Not that there’s anything wrong with it.”

  Couples began to spill in to the restaurant. A string quartet of violins and cellos played in the corner under a soft spotlight. Maggie watched a dribble of condensation roll down the stem of her water glass. “I don’t teach, not really. I mean, I go in and show my friend British’s class different things they can do with coding. George created a robot that goes down the halls at the senior housing center and collects garbage. You know, fun with coding.”

  “Given the way he fawned all over you, I’d say more like it was fun with Maggie.”

  “Why I do declare,” Maggie giggled in a ridiculous Southern accent, “I do believe you’re flirting with me.” For emphasis she clasped her neck in Auntie Bren fashion.

  Caden reached across the table and took her hand. His thumb ran a small circle around the back of her hand. A twinge of guilt washed over her as she remembered her conversation with Auntie Bren about the pageant position. The more she thought about it, though, the more she wanted it.

  “So you like working with kids?”

  “They keep me laughing.” Maggie thought of British’s class and smiled fondly. “But teaching isn’t something I can do.”

  Caden nodded as if he understood. “So what about your vlogs?”

  Finally, someone to call it what it was, she thought to herself.

  “You’re teaching a bunch of women to become independent.”

  Again a twinge of guilt flustered her system. “I think it is important for women to know they can do things on their own.”

  “I can’t wait for the segment when you teach them how to change a tire.”

  “Hopefully when and if she is ever placed in the situation where she became stranded on the side of the road due to a flat tire, she’ll be in the back seat being driven by a chauffeur.”

  The rest of the evening flew by. Maggie had a great time with Caden. She loved how they fell into conversation with each other like they truly were old friends. She felt natural with him. So natural that she no longer worried about being underdressed for this establishment. She was comfortable just how she was. She hated the idea of someone coming over to claim the table, but by the time their dinner plates were cleared, no one had showed up. The restaurant remained packed.

  “Ms. Swayne, would you guys like dessert?”

  The idea of dessert signaled the end of the evening for them, and Maggie wasn’t sure she was ready to say goodbye just yet. George apologized for admitting the desserts tonight were dark chocolate lava cupcakes from another business. Maggie didn’t think about eating another bite.

  “Give me a minute to talk her into it, George,” said Caden. Alone, he leaned forward. “After tasting your cupcakes, I can’t possibly fathom the idea of anyone else’s.”

  For a minute Maggie wondered if his reference to cupcakes was a metaphor for something else. Either way, her body quivered with anticipation of his touch. “What do you say we get out of here?”

  “I’m fine with going,” Maggie said, wiping the corners of her mouth with her linen napkin. “If you want, we can have dessert back at my place.” This time she lifted her brows to emphasize the innuendo.

  Caden reached for her hand, pulling her to her feet. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Chapter 5

  With any other woman, Caden liked to set up the romantic evening himself. When entertaining at his house, where he preferred to bring women, he always had fresh roses waiting, the occasional toothbrush, and a side drawer filled with condoms. He never wanted to leave protection up to a woman. So it was understandable for Caden to feel out of control the moment he stepped over the threshold of Maggie’s apartment.

  “Can I get you a glass of wine?” Maggie asked. She kicked her shoes off and left them at the bare faux-marble entry.

  With the door opened, he noticed a thick white carpet in the short hallway that spilled into the open living room. To his right stood the kitchenette with a bar counter, offering a view of a flat-screen TV positioned on the wall in the corner.

  “I’m good from the wine at dinner,” he answered. He thought he recognized a look of relief cross her face when she motioned for him to take a seat in the living room, but she turned quickly to set her purse on the round four-top table in the corner. Newspapers and magazines were piled behind an open laptop. Recognizing the green background, Caden knew that’s where she did her vlogs. Usually she taped with different sceneries behind her. Sometimes it appeared she was in Paris in a hotel in front of the Eiffel Tower or sometimes at a sunny beach. A vintage-style phone, like the ones from movies set in the ’40s, sat in the center of a wooden end table. He’d swear the gizmo next to it was an old-fashioned answering machine. Caden moved to one of the high-back stools to sit while she washed her hands at the sink in front of him.

  “So this is where you live, where you’re not a teacher?”

  “I’m in between places,” Maggie answered, turning around. For some reason Caden thought there was more to her story, but he couldn’t figure out what just yet. Admiring the photographs on the wall, Caden connected the dots with her family members and iconic events in her life. He really liked the high school graduation photo in which she wore an off-the-shoulder black top and pearls around her neck and had her curly hair straightened and tamed. The devilish smile gave a hint of danger. He never stood a chance when they first met.

  Maggie poked her head out from behind the refrigerator door and came out with eggs and milk. “I hate to admit the walk back here got my sweet tooth going.”

  Caden propped his arms on the faux-marble countertop. At one end a pile of business-size envelopes were stacked near the wall. At the other, four round different colored candles with multiple wicks and pleasant scents rested. “Do you need some help?”

  “You can help me with the frosting while the brownies are baking.”

  Widening his eyes, Caden clapped his hands together. “I’m pretty good at frosting now.”

  “Are you now?”

  Caden liked the way Maggie’s eyes lit up under the fluorescent light. The off-white cabinets behind her haloed her red curls, offering an angelic look. Caden licked his lips and slid off the stool. “Where do I start?”

  “Let’s start with some tunes.”

  “Well, all right now,” Caden cooed and took out his cell phone. “How about some new jack swing?” The mastermind of Teddy Riley blared through the speakers, and they began to work.

  Unlike earlier this morning, Maggie didn’t bark out orders. Caden got Maggie to open up about her love for baking, and he admitted to secretly knowing how to cook but not letting it stop him from having a chef on staff when he felt lazy—which was a lot lately. They worked in unison in the small space, but that was nothing new today. Maggie ducked when Caden reached for a measuring glass from the higher shelves, and she anticipated what he needed from the door of fridge or from the pantry. She even anticipated Caden forgetting to turn the mixer on low, just a second too late.

  Sweet white powder snowed down on them from the ceiling. Maggie squealed in delight. “Oh my God, Caden!”

  “My bad.” Caden fanned the air.

  Confectioner’s sugar was everywhere. Maggie took a step toward the lower cabinet by the stove for her stack of dish towels but instead slipped on the mess. “Be careful,” Caden warned, lifting her up. With nowhere else to put her, he set her down on the countertop in front of him. “I’ll clean this up.”

  “You better clean yourself up first,” said Maggie, grabbing him by the hem of the T-shirt he’d gotten from The Cupcakery earlier today.

  The tips of her fingers caressed the ridges of his stomac
h. Caden licked his lips. “I—uh, don’t want to be rude and sit here without a shirt on in your kitchen.”

  Taking him by surprise, Maggie lifted her shirt up. Once off, she dangled the material on the edge of her index finger. “Will this make it better?”

  Throat dry, Caden believed he nodded his head. Maggie sat there in a lacy green bra. Pert pink nipples peeked through the fabric. “Magnolia,” Caden moaned.

  The half coy, half flirting smile was all the permission he needed to lean into her body. Her shapely legs opened wider to embrace him while she tossed her shirt on the ground by his feet. To make things even, Caden did the same and let his shirt fall next to hers. As if on autopilot, he moved in to her, his head tilting while his arms wrapped around her back. His fingers splayed between her shoulder blades and stroked down to her narrow waist. Skin so delicate, so soft, enticed him. She smelled sweet, like sugar. Caden nuzzled his nose against the curve of her neck and dropped a kiss on her collarbone.

  Eyes closed, he read her body with his fingertips. With one hand he unclasped the hooks of her bra while the other waited for the release of her left breast as the bra strap slid down her silky golden-brown arm. A spray of freckles sprinkled the rounding of her shoulders, and Caden covered them with his lips. Maggie’s fingertips walked down his spine. The simple, delicate touch almost brought him to his knees and ended this interlude early. Jesus, how was this possible? He tried to remain focused by naming each muscle she touched: the posterior deltoid, infraspinatus, teres major, teres minor, trapezius. Jesus.

  Caden stood erect, along with a particular part of his anatomy. Cupping her face, he brought his lips up to hers and kissed her mouth. The sweet, supple mouth welcomed his tongue. Their kiss took him back to a place he hadn’t thought of in years. Over a decade. Maggie’s mouth had a hold on him. The first time they’d kissed he’d seen as never before what his world would be with her by his side. Eleven years later, and the same thing happened.

  Maggie’s hands slipped around his waist and up toward his chest. Her thumb and forefingers tweaked his nipples. His cock bolted against the fabric of his boxer briefs. Their bodies closed in together. She felt so damn good.

  Letting one hand drop, Caden caressed the other bra strap off her shoulder, then with both hands, lifted her breasts and stroked her nipples until they were hard pebbles beneath his fingers.

  The first to break the kiss, Maggie slipped off the counter to tuck her hands under the elastic of his shorts and briefs. Gently she bit his bottom lip and cupped his balls with one hand and stroked the shaft with the other. Dazzled, Caden opened his mouth, baiting her in for another kiss. Their tongues danced a few twirls before he pulled hers into his mouth and sucked on it. Her moan vibrated against his mouth. His hands slipped down from her breasts to her rib cage and unbuttoned the notch of her shorts. With the help of her legs around his waist, Caden lifted Maggie up, and together they worked to peel off her shorts. He throbbed with anticipation. After setting her bottom down on the counter again, Caden caressed her thighs while his thumbs drew to her wet flesh at the center.

  Maggie wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled her body against his. Common sense told him to stop and think. He needed to do something besides just take her right here in the kitchen. Dropping one hand, Maggie fumbled with something beside her. He thought he’d heard a drawer open, and then realized she had reached for something. A condom.

  Of course that’s what was missing. Caden took the foil and rolled the condom on. Not wanting to wait another second, he entered her full hilt. They both gasped and locked eyes. Tears threatened to spill over the rim of her green eyes but never fell even when she half closed them and leaned forward for a kiss. Caden accepted her tongue once again and caressed her back, moving her forward on to him. Their bodies moved in unison. Maggie dug her nails into his back. He crossed his arms in an X on her back and clamped down on the freckled shoulders to brace her frame while he drilled into her. In all sincerity, Caden tried to control himself, but Maggie hugged her body against him, clinging on to his sweating frame and deepening their embrace. Her inner walls tightened and quivered on to him as she climaxed. The mew she made in his ear brought him to the brink of his own. It wasn’t until Maggie began licking his neck, nipping at him even, that he cried out in pleasure.

  “Incredible,” he whispered in her ear through a session of panting. “No, amazing.”

  The timer over the microwave began to ding. Somewhere mixed in the air of the sweet sex scent came the brownies. Caden remembered why they were in here. Still inside her, he stretched his arm and hit the off button. Their heavy breathing filled the space between them.

  “I can get the brownies,” said Maggie. She pushed herself away, then walked naked to the stove. Unabashed by her perfect hourglass frame, she bent to retrieve the dessert with the help of a pair of apple-shaped oven mitts. Caden was ready for round two.

  “Let me help,” he offered.

  “No, seriously,” Maggie replied with a chuckle. “Why don’t you take a shower and I’ll clean up in here.”

  A shower with her sounded better.

  “And,” she added, bumping the oven door closed with her hip, “I hid Richard’s birthday present in the linen closet in a store bag, so you’re welcome to slip those on.”

  “What about Richard’s birthday?” Caden asked with a chuckle.

  Maggie shook her head. The red tresses spilled down her back and beckoned for him to touch. He refrained from doing so. “Eh,” she said with a shrug. “He doesn’t even know what I got him, but he already had a thousand pairs of them anyway.”

  “Let me guess.” Caden touched his index finger to his chin. “You got him a pair of ballers.”

  “How?”

  “I’m a sports agent, remember. My clients live in them.”

  “You’ll have to tell me more about your job after your shower.”

  Caden wiggled his brows and had to ask. “Aren’t you going to join me?”

  “Contrary to popular belief, I don’t have a maid to clean up all my messes,” said Maggie. She shooed him out of the kitchen. “Don’t be long. Like sex with me, these brownies are pretty damn amazing.”

  * * *

  While Caden showered, Maggie hit the play button on her landline’s answering machine while she counted the cash she stored in an old coffee cup above her refrigerator. She expected the restaurant to call her because, as she reflected on their magical evening, she couldn’t recall him paying for their fabulous meal, an oversight she attributed to their focus on each other. Caden was thrilling all right, but she didn’t like the idea of dining and ditching DuVernay’s. She may have disliked the same old everyday routine of small-town life but she certainly did not want to shortchange anyone. After earning her own money, Maggie respected the value of a dollar. A meal like that should have cost them at least $200. That wiped out half the money she planned on taking to New Orleans to pay for her room, if she even got there. An orange light had popped up on her Jeep today, and she needed to get that fixed. Meanwhile, as she worked like a dog, her family was living it up in the Crescent City before Auntie Bren’s big day.

  Maggie cleaned up the mess in her kitchen, sprayed down her counters, cleaned the floors and managed to fix the frosting Caden had started to make. He returned in time to catch her licking the chocolate off her finger.

  “Is it wrong I’m jealous of your finger?”

  Maggie wiggled her brows at him. Caden came out of the shower fresh and clean. Clearly he found the pair of red nylon shorts she’d intended for her brother. Truth be told, she didn’t think she’d ever look at ballers the same way. Caden’s semihard erection protruded in the thin material, drawing her eyes to the center of his thighs. She licked her lips and coughed, trying to moisten the back of her throat.

  “You didn’t get enough?” Maggie asked him, placing a hand on her hip. She needed to shower, but she’d s
lipped on her lavender silk robe and managed to straighten up in her room first, just in case they decided to christen the area as well.

  “I don’t think I can ever get enough of you, Maggie.”

  She smiled. “Good. Now go have a seat in there.” Maggie nodded toward the living room. “I cut off my cable, but we can Netflix and chill.”

  “We already chilled,” Caden reminded her.

  “Well, then, we’ll chill again.” Maggie grabbed the two plates of brownies she’d set aside for them and brought them into the living room, where she’d placed two glasses of white wine before hiding the bottle in the back of her fridge. She knew Caden was a man of wealth and would laugh at her screw-top grocery store wine. Two round candles she’d lit sat on the coffee table in front of them, giving the area a nice gardenia scent.

  Caden fitted himself against the corner of the couch. His large, muscular arm hung on the back and against the pillows. “This is nice.”

  “Are you about to call my tiny apartment cozy?” Maggie bit her bottom lip, trying to ignore the heat of embarrassment rising from her neck. She was well aware the mansion he grew up in was three times the size of this place. Caden must have wondered why she downsized.

  “I like it,” said Caden while glancing around. “I used to have a place like this.”

  “What? When you were in college?” she teased, pushing his bare shoulder.

  “It doesn’t matter when. I dig the whole atmosphere you’ve got going on,” answered Caden. “I like seeing you like this more than on the top of tables at parties popping champagne.”

  So, he really did scour the internet for images of her. The clip in particular was from New Year’s Eve years ago, and without having to explain herself, it was the start of a new year. Who didn’t celebrate? “Was that me or the hologram?” Maggie asked him.

  “Speaking of the hologram,” Caden began, taking a bite of his brownie. He closed his eyes.