Meg glanced at her watch. “Are you sure the kitchen is still open? It’s after two in the morning.”
“It’s open all night,” Rob replied easily. At least it was for him, but she didn’t need to know that.
“Okay.” She dragged her carry-on bag with her toward the landing to her room. “I won’t be long.”
“Take your time.” Rob picked up the phone to order dinner. He glanced at his own bedroom and considered taking a shower himself. The only difference was his would definitely be cold.
As Meg entered the bedroom, she wondered what sort of company kept a penthouse like this available for their employees. Apparently she’d made a wrong turn in college choosing education over a business degree. She had no idea people lived like this. She was overwhelmed by the decadence of it all.
The bedroom was elegance personified. The king-sized bed was on a raised platform on one side of the room, complete with an honest-to-God canopy. She’d always wanted a canopy bed as a child, but there had never been money for such frivolous things.
While her small family hadn’t lived in poverty, it may have been stretching things to say they were lower middle class. Her mother, Joanne, had gotten pregnant with Meg while still in high school. Needless to say, her father, a teenager himself, had refused to accept responsibility for her. Although Meg knew his name, she’d never made any attempt to contact him. He’d gone off to college, married, and now lived happily ever after with his legitimate family.
So Meg had grown up in a house full of women, as her mother and grandmother scrimped and saved every penny they made so that when Meg graduated she would be able to attend college. She silently wished they were here to see this room. Cancer had claimed them both—Grandma during Meg’s first year of college and her mother two weeks after her college graduation. Not a day went by when she didn’t miss them dearly.
A soft knock on the door jarred Meg from her recollections.
“I found some clothes that may fit.” Rob said through the closed door.
The longer she spent in Rob’s presence the more she wanted him. She’d never felt such an immediate or overwhelming attraction to a man.
Meg opened the door to find him standing in the doorway with his easy-going, friendly grin. “You’re still dressed.”
Reaching for the clothing he offered, she cursed her trembling hand.
“Meg, I know it doesn’t help to simply hear the words, but you can trust me. I won’t hurt you.”
He’d mistaken her nerves for fear. Meg stared at his totally kissable lips, licking her own, before catching herself and forcing herself to look at his eyes instead.
“I trust you. Really I do. I—I’m just tired. That’s all.” God, what would he do if she leaned forward and kissed him? Shaking the thought from her head, Meg felt her sensible, boring side taking control again.
His sexy grin and the way he was now studying her mouth seemed to indicate Rob suddenly understood what her trembling was about.
“Meg.” He whispered her name as he leaned closer.
She should take a step back, but it felt as if her feet were sunk in concrete.
“Yes?”
“I’m going to kiss you.” His mouth inches from hers, and she could only assume he paused to give her a chance to refuse him if she wanted.
“Thank God.” She rose up the last two inches until her lips brushed his. She was stunned by the softness of his touch. She’d anticipated a rushed, frantic kiss, but Rob clearly had other plans. His lips studied hers as if they had the rest of their lives to figure out how to do it right.
His breath tickled as he murmured against her cheek, placing soft kisses everywhere he touched. “Part of the festivities tomorrow includes a kissing contest.”
“No need to bother. You win,” she teased.
Chuckling lightly, Rob tugged at her earlobe with his teeth before his lips followed the curve of her neck to place soft kisses there.
She ran her hands through his soft, brown hair, pulling his lips back to hers, and he kissed her again, much more deeply this time. His tongue enticed and teased her and his arms held her so closely she wasn’t sure where she ended and he began. His hands drifted down her back, cupping her ass firmly, but the dampness of her clothing roused him from their impetuous actions.
Pulling away, he looked down. “You’re going to catch a cold if you don’t get out of those wet clothes.”
Despite her desires, she felt her “good girl” upbringing bubbling back to the forefront. “I’m not sure what’s come over me.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not usually this easy.” Her cursed honesty flew out of her mouth before she could hold it back.
Rob stared at her for a moment and she blushed. Then she watched as his shoulders began to shake with the effort to restrain his laughter.