He shifted closer, his voice low. "I haven't always been, you know."
The heat of his body lured, and she reached, rubbing a grease smudge from his cheek. "What did you do before your success?"
"Everything from pump gas to construction." He leaned, his face near as he set the mug on the wall rail behind him. She scarcely noticed. "They don't put that in the papers."
"Somehow I don't think you let them."
He grinned and her insides went tight with quick hunger. "I need to get dressed."
His gaze slid warmly down to the edge of the towel, then lower. He inhaled through clenched teeth. "I kinda like the way you are, darlin'."
"Alexander," she scolded, and Alex came unhinged, advancing, backing her against the papered wall. She blinked up at him, gripping the towel. "This isn't wise and you know it."
He braced his hands on the wall beside her head, his body a warm shield against the conditioned air floating around them. "Do you always look this good in the morning?"
Heat spun through her. "Coffee, aspirin, a toothbrush and now flattery?"
His brow knitted. No one told this woman how sexy she was? "I mean it." His gaze swept her. Her damp hair was curling, framing her face, falling over her shoulders. Bare smooth shoulders. She looked good enough to eat.
And he was hungry.
Suddenly he covered her mouth with his, touching her only there, his lips hot and rolling. She opened wide for him, one hand rising to cup his jaw. It made him feel helpless, showed him she was not as immune to the passion they shared as he'd thought. His tongue pushed between her lips, and a little sound broke in her throat He drank it, absorbed it like a thirsty soul. This wasn't what either of them needed, but it was what they wanted. He could tell by the way her lips devoured his, her body arching away from the wall to get closer to him. She wasn't the woman for him, no woman was, but Madison had a drugging femininity unmatched by any woman he'd ever known. He wanted to explore this, see what it was about her that truly drew him. He barely slept last night thinking about it.
Yet Alex knew one thing. If he kept kissing her, he'd carry her into the bedroom and make wild love to her. And it would be wild. Burning and slick and sweet. It was already tearing through him.
He toyed with her mouth, nipping her lower lip, and she repaid him, cupping his jaw in both hands and holding him for her kiss. Alex groaned and mashed her against the wall, his arms wrapping around her waist and dragging her tightly to him.
Madison gasped at the solid feel of his length against her, and he stole the chance to taste the line of her throat, the swells above her breasts. Her hands stroked his shoulders, his hair, and she tipped her head back, the place between her thighs slick with a throbbing ache, and she thought she'd come apart when his hands dove beneath the towel to cup her bare buttocks. She inhaled, and he thrust against her, letting her feel every hard inch of him, and she knew she'd created it.
She trembled, touching, kissing, feeling all there was of him. "Alexander."
"Yeah, darlin', I know."
"We can't do this—"
He kissed her into silence. "We are."
"Would you stop if I asked?"
"Yes." He licked a path to her breast and thought of honey and warmth. "Are you asking?"
"I … don't rightly know."
Her fingers deepened into his hair, and his hunger grew.
His name on the air and hurried footsteps penetrated the haze too late. Alex straightened abruptly, shielding her as he turned to face Angus O'Malley who was already through the open front door.
"Forgive the intrusion."
Alex gawked. "Angus!"
Madison inhaled, crouching behind him. This can't be happening. Oh, if her father knew she was trapped like this she'd be skinned alive. Even at her age.
"What are you doing here? We weren't meeting till noon, right?" He took a step.
"Be still! He'll see me!" she whispered heatedly.
Angus cleared his throat, smothering a smile. "I was right to come by, then. You two do need a honeymoon."
"Oh, Lord save me," Madison moaned behind him, her face buried in his back. She tried inching toward the bedroom door, but Alex wouldn't budge.
"I spoke to Laura this morning, and she insisted I extend an invitation to our summer house on Lake Michigan. We're renewing our wedding vows after forty years, and I'd love you and Madison to come join us. Laura is looking forward to meeting you, and well, we'd like to get to know you better."
If I decide to sell Little People to you, he was saying.
"Tell him," she hissed from behind before dragging him with her to the bedroom and darting inside. She slammed the door.