Page 67 of Perfectly Matched: Harbor Falls Romance Collection

Peering out the cab window, Patricia picked up her cell and dialed. Suzie was supposed to be waiting for her in front of her hotel, and she was nowhere to be found. After the day she’d had, Patricia was ready for dinner and a cocktail or two.

And more.

Suzie was going to turn on her matchmaking skills full blown tonight because Patricia wanted a man, and she wanted him now. Now, she didn’t care about her freaking husband list, or if it was only for the night. After rolling around snug and cozy on the floor this afternoon with Ames like a couple of chocolate-covered cannoli, she was rather hot and bothered and ready to be...

Well, she was ready for action.

“Hello?”

She glanced at the back of the cabbie’s head, who patiently waited, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel while the meter was running. “Suzie?”

She listened to her friend babble on the other end.

“What? Oh, Suzie. It will take us forever to find another cab at this hour if I let this one go. And we have a reservation!”

Listening some more, her shoulders slumped, and she signaled to the cab driver.

“I’m getting out,”

she told him.

“How much?”

She waved her hand toward the meter. To Suzie she added.

“Please don’t make me wait too long, you hear me? I’m a starved woman. In more ways than one.”

The guy behind the steering wheel indicated sixteen dollars. She handed him a twenty and exited.

“All right, all right,”

she said, approaching the sliding glass doors of the hotel lobby.

“I’m on my way up. Get moving!”

She pushed the disconnect button on her cell and sighed. Of all days for Suzie to oversleep a fifteen-minute power nap. They had reservations! They had men to catch—er, a man to catch.

In no time, she was through the lobby, up the elevator, and knocking on Suzie’s door. Suzie answered quickly and motioned her inside while Patricia announced.

“I’m hungry, I’m tired, and I’m horny. I have only one plan, Ms. Suzie the Matchmaking Chef. Food, drink, and a man—and I want to you to make it happen tonight.”

The look on Suzie’s face was priceless, a cross between surprise and... Wait a minute. Something was wrong.

“What’s going on?”

“I am so sorry, Patricia.”

“What?”

“I need to leave. Petey is sick. He’s only four and Brad has been trying to handle it, but the little guy wants his mommy. He has the flu. Brad is short-handed at the lodge, which makes it difficult for him to be home all the time. My parents both have a touch of the flu, themselves, and besides they are older, and I don’t want them to have to care for Petey. Too much on them. My sister Shelley’s girls are also sick, so her hands are full. It’s running through Harbor Falls like a house-a-fire.”

She paused and took a breath.

“Brad just called. I have to go home. There is a flight out of JFK in two hours and I can be home by midnight. I need to run if I’m going to make it. I’ll keep the room with all my stuff here and try to be back in a few days, okay? I’ll let the hotel know my plans on the way out.”

Patricia nodded. “Okay.”

What could she say?

Suzie picked up her jacket and purse and headed for the door.

“Oh, and I know you are hungry. I figured we’d miss our reservation, so I ordered room service for you.”

She pointed to a table of food already set by the window.

“Why don’t you stay and eat and...”

The hotel phone rang, and she answered it.

“Yes, I’m coming.”

Turning to Patricia she added.

“My car is waiting. Gotta run.”

With a quick peck on Patricia’s check, Suzie was gone. The door shut and she wondered what whirlwind had just run roughshod over her life. It took a moment for her brain to quiet. Slowly, she spanned the room, only to realize that something, somewhere, was out of place.

Definitely out of place.

On the phone Suzie said she’d fallen asleep and wasn’t ready for dinner. Yet, she was fully dressed and had already called the airport in less than two minutes since Patricia had called from the cab. The room was neat, a table was set with room service—when had that happened?—and the table was set for...

Two.

“Hello, Plummish,”

came the greeting from the bedroom door of the suite. She turned and faced the only man on earth who could curl her toes into oblivion with a simple, sexy smile.

And a simple, sexy smile was all Ames Cooper was wearing.

****

Ames heard Patricia’s quick intake of breath and knew she’d been caught off guard—and in a good way. He’d also heard her proclamation about being horny as she’d burst through the door and could only thank the gods above for landing such a gift at his feet. Now, he had to handle the rest, and with kid gloves, he suspected.

Pushing away from the door, he sauntered forward. Even though he knew she was itching to lower her gaze to his, well, better parts, she held fast the connection between their eyes.

“Ames,”

she squeaked out.

“What in the hell...?”

“Is going on?”

He shrugged.

“Some hair-brained scheme of Suzie’s. Ridiculous, huh?”

He slid her bag off her shoulder and laid it on a nearby chair.

“I mean, truly, she did have to leave and all, her little boy is sick. Poor thing. But that doesn’t mean we can’t sit and enjoy this lovely dinner she ordered, does it?”

Patricia cleared her throat.

“You’re naked.”

“Um. Yes. Come here.”

He turned her around and slipped her short-waisted beige jacket off her shoulders, sliding his hands down her shoulders and biceps as it lowered and dropped to the floor. Her jet-black camisole was all that remained on her upper body. With fingers ready to please, he slowly kneaded her shoulders and felt the muscles there relax.

“Ah, that’s it, honey, it’s been such a long day.”

She leaned back into him and again, he tossed up a thank you to whatever gods were on his side tonight. Continuing to smooth his large palms over her ivory shoulders, he knew he was sitting in a good place now.

He hoped.

He had his speech all ready and could only pray she would fall eagerly into his arms after he apologized for his past indiscretions, told her he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, and then showed her the ring he had bought this afternoon.

Then, and only then, would he make delicious love to her for the rest of the night in middle of that huge king-sized bed of Suzie’s.

Whispering, he said.

“There, sweetheart. Lean against me and relax. Close your eyes and let me massage your shoulders. Then maybe we can talk...”

She turned in his arms.

“Ames Cooper take me like you’ve never taken me before. Now.”

Well, that hadn’t been his plan, but he wasn’t disinclined to flipping things around a bit. He gazed into her hungry eyes. Still, he had to be sure. “What?”

“Don’t you dare refuse me,”

she added, her gaze intent. This was a woman on a mission.

Stepping back, he pointed toward his groin.

“Does this look like refusal?”

Patricia reached up between her breasts, grasped her camisole at her cleavage, and ripped the thing straight off her chest. “Take me.”

“Goddamn.”

He didn’t have to be told twice.

In one fell swoop he scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder caveman style, her ass at his eye level and one hand firmly holding her in place there. He loved how her butt felt in his hands. One by one, she kicked off her heels. He stalked to the bedroom and tossed her on the bed. Immediately, he reached for the side zipper of her skirt and pried it apart, tugging the body-hugging fabric over her hips and off her legs.

“Oh hell, get the damn thing off!”

Patricia commanded, and he ripped it the rest of the way.

A black scrap of fabric covered her sex, and he made short work of that while crawling over her.

“Mount me.”

“Let me kiss you first.”

“Fuck me, dammit, Cooper! I want you now.”

Shit.

“Yes, ma’am!”

Evidently, she’d kept herself on a short leash for way too long. He was honored to accommodate.

As he prepared to sink into her though, he lingered for only a second studying her face, toying with her gaze, searching for any speck of emotion to the moment.

She squirmed, arching against him, a pained look etched across her face.

And then. There.

Right there. In her eyes. He learned forward on an elbow, gently ran the backs of his fingertips over her temple and cheek and peered deeper into her eyes.

“I love you, Patricia,”

he whispered.

“I never stopped. Not once.”

Then, he did exactly what she’d ordered him to do.

Sank into her to the hilt and then some.

Fucked her.

Repeatedly.

****

At the precise moment Cooper said the ‘L’ word, Patricia pushed all thought and reason out of her head. She had deprived herself of sex for way too long. Probably one of the reasons she was reacting this way toward Ames. Yes, of course, that was it. She was sex starved. This had nothing to do with emotion or how she felt. Right?

Except, at this moment, she was only about feeling. About how his hands felt on her body. What Ames was doing to her right now felt damned good. She’d forgotten how satiny smooth his skin was. That his hot chest rubbing against her breasts felt sensational—but not as sensational as what he was doing between her legs.

He’d plunged deep at her urging, the sweet, hot length of him filling her and causing her to gasp and tremble. Dammit, he felt so good, easing himself in and out, in and out, friction building as she squeezed the walls of her insides around him.

She spread wide, pushing against him, milking him with her body. Grinding her clit against his pelvic bone.

Reaching for him, she grasped his hard biceps and clung.

His hands wandered about her face and neck, holding her still. Breathing steadily in and out, his pants were hot and wet against her cheek. With every stroke, he took her deeper, and all she wanted was to keep him there forever, so she wrapped her legs tighter about his hips to prevent him from going anywhere.

Like he was going to go somewhere.

You’re not going anywhere, Ames Cooper. Not tonight.

She didn’t want to consider forever.

That was it. She’d have him for tonight, that was all she needed, then she didn’t have to worry about tomorrow or what came later. If she wasn’t connected emotionally, she wouldn’t get hurt. She’d just enjoy what the night and Coop would give.

And he was giving.

She was keeping her heart out of this.

Their bodies hot and sweaty now, they strained against each other, their breathing labored and hands and fingers exploring. Their rhythm increased while Patricia relished in the feel of him nudging at her G-spot deep inside. Squeezing her legs tighter and tilting her pelvis, she held the position.

“Don’t move from that spot,”

she whispered.

“There, right there.”

He assaulted that tender internal spot repeatedly until her mind went white-hot-blank and her eyes rolled. Her head thrown back; her body clenched about him.

With a burst of sensation, her entire being reacted with an eruptive orgasm and shook her to the core. She called out and dug her nails into Coop’s back, and within seconds, he shouted and rammed hard between her legs, their bodies wracked with spasms of pleasure.

They lingered, their breathing slowing gradually, as did their rhythmic gyrations, until they stilled and curled into one another.

Ames folded her into his chest, wrapped arms and legs about her, and pulled a comforter up over their bodies, making a small cocoon that encompassed only them. It made Patricia feel like they were the only two people in the world. She felt safe. Happy. Wanted.

Breathing deep of his scent, her face nestled in the crook between his neck and shoulder, she relished in the warm feeling of contentment. But she couldn’t feel that—contentment was an emotion and there was no place for emotion in what she was doing tonight.

No place.

She didn’t know why, but tears were stinging her eyes, and she didn’t even think about wiping them away.

****

A few hours later, Patricia came to a slow awakening in Ames’ arms. She faced out, with him spooning her from behind. His right arm draped protectively about her shoulder; she rested her cheek on his left forearm.

It was dim in the room, with a light on in the suite’s living area keeping the room completely from darkness. Her eyes fluttered and blinked as she looked straight ahead.

To say she was experiencing a bout of after-sex remorse was likely an understatement. What was wrong with her? Of course, it wasn’t like she’d settled for a one-night stand with a stranger. This was Ames, after all, a man with whom she’d had a relationship with some time back. But it was also Ames, she reminded herself, who had cheated on her and hurt her.

Hurt her bad.

Not this time.

No, she wouldn’t allow herself to be hurt this time. She would take things into her own hands. Be in control of the situation. Not let herself get sucked in by the man’s sexual charms.

But oh, his sexy charms were so very suckable.

No matter. She would not succumb.

She sighed.

“You awake?”

came the soft, deep voice from behind.

“Yes.”

“How awake?”

“What?”

“Are your eyes focused yet?”

She thought that a strange question.

“I think so.”

“Then what do you see in front of you?”

What? In front of me?

She looked past the bed and saw nothing of any significance.

“Ames quit playing games. What are you talking about?”

“Oh, the bed. What do you see on the bed? By your pillow.”

By her pillow. Oh. There was something. Something square and black and...

Ames shifted in the bed and turned on the bedside light behind her. When he did, something sparkled from that black box.

A ring.

Her throat closed. For a moment, her heart stopped.

A black box with an open lid sat perched next to her pillow. In that box was a single solitaire diamond ring of a very nice size.

“Oh, shit, Ames.”

He lay back down beside her and nuzzled his cheek next to hers. His long arms encased her. She felt warm and cozy on the outside and was shaking like hell on the inside.

“Marry me, Patricia,”

he whispered.

“I love you. I’ll never again do to you what I did in the past. I was such a fool letting you slip through my fingers. Please believe me. I love you. I’ve missed you like crazy and I’ve beat myself up for the past three years. Please. Marry me.”

Without uttering a word, Patricia reached out and snapped the box lid closed.