“Then…what are you-”

She never finished the sentence as Ethan lifted her shirt over her head and artfully cast aside her lacy bra. She stared at him, at his face, marveled at the need there as the lower half of her contracted and hummed.

“I wasn’t hungry until now,” he mumbled, dipping his head and nuzzling up one pale slope until he found the sustenance he required. His tongue circled her taut nipple slowly, desperately slowly, and Mary could only arch her back again and again, thrusting herself in and out of his mouth until finally he took her between his lips and tongue and suckled deep and hard.

“Oh, Ethan,” she whispered breathlessly, her knees weak and the small curve at the top of her inner thigh wet with desire.

Ethan drank from her, his tongue flicking the swollen bud back and forth until her hips began to move, to thrust forward and back looking for his hand, his mouth, something to ease the building tension within her-or maybe to build it even further. His mouth moved down, gently sinking his teeth into her belly and hip bones as his hands brought her shorts and underwear to her ankles, then off completely.

Mary felt a moment of embarrassment, being fully naked in front of him, standing there in slashes of moonlight, her breasts free, one nipple still wet from his mouth, and the lower half of her open and ready for whatever he was willing to give.

On his knees, Ethan spared her one wicked, hungry glance before taking what he wanted. “Open your legs,” he said, his warm breath so close to her sensitive flesh that Mary found it almost impossible to hold on to the climax she felt building just inches from his mouth.

She widened her stance and let her eyelids drift closed, tried to calm her body, ease the electric charges running through at a sprint, but when he spread the soft folds back with his thumbs, she couldn’t control anything anymore. When he lapped at her with his tongue, Mary groaned and pressed herself against him. When he suckled and nuzzled the tender bud beneath, she cried out his name, “Ethan, please, I can’t…”

She had no idea what she couldn’t do, if it was hold on to her climax or give in to him or both, her mind was adrift on a sea of all-consuming pleasure. Then his hands came around to her buttocks, squeezing the flesh as he found his rhythm, his tongue flicking the tiny nub over and over as Mary rocked her hips.

“I can’t hold on…” she uttered, her limbs weak, her body charged with electricity as the waves crashed and she stiffened-every part of her but her hips. She cried out and rocked wildly against his mouth, shuddering, giving in to release.

Mary sagged against the wall, her hips still bucking, but slowly now as she sucked air through her teeth and tried to force back rational thought to her mind. When Ethan left her to stand, she felt slightly cold, but he took her in his arms and held her against him, his heart thundering so powerfully she could feel it against her chest. More than anything, she wanted him to take her to the bed, rise up over her and sink down between her legs. For a moment she thought about pushing him back onto the bed and straddling him, taking what she wanted as he had just taken from her.

But she never got the chance. She was still shaking from head to toe when Ethan moved away from her. He walked into the bathroom and came back with her robe, which he gently placed around her. Then he found her gaze and uttered a gentle, “I’ll go.”

“You don’t have to,” she said boldly, not really giving a damn that she sounded needful and not the littlest bit desperate.

He ran a hand through his hair and looked uncomfortable, shaken…or was that angry? She couldn’t tell. “I really do.”

She quickly slipped her arms through the holes in the robe, then nodded at Ethan. What the hell else could she do? “So, tomorrow…”

“Ten. On the porch.” It was all he said before heading down the stairs and out of the barn.

Mary went to the window, watched him walk across the yard, her knees still trembling with aftershocks of her climax, the relaxing sounds of nature now replaced by the hum in her body-the need for more. If she’d had her way-and Ethan could’ve handled it, if he had the same unrelenting desire that she felt for him-he’d be poised above her right now, spreading her legs again, but this time for an entirely different purpose.

The image caused such intense shots of electricity to run through her body that she had to sit down on the edge of the bed.

Mary left City Hall with permits for the party and walked through town, hoping to arrive back at Ethan’s place just before their scheduled meeting time. She’d been up since five that morning, planning the party and keeping her mind focused on Ethan’s business goals as well as her own-basically anything except what had happened last night. As she passed Ticklers Fudge Shoppe, her cell phone rang, making several passersby frown at the disturbance.

She flipped open the phone and pressed it to her ear. “Hello?”

“Hey, it’s Tess,” came the voice of her partner. “And Olivia,” chirped the other. “We’re conferencing you.”

Mary had been on several trips, business and otherwise over the past five years and had rarely missed hearing from her partners. This morning, however, she felt incredibly comforted by the sound of their voices. “Hey, there. How are things back home?”

“Same old, same old,” Olivia informed her. “And how is Mackinac Island? Insanely beautiful and romantic?”

“She’s not there for romance, Olivia,” Tess said, a bite of irritation in her tone.

“Of course she’s not. I just meant-”

“It’s lovely,” Mary said with a laugh, passing the small church that was about three-quarters of a mile from The Birches, making her heart jump nervously at the thought of seeing Ethan in a few minutes. “Lovely and incredibly picturesque.”

“Well, in that case,” Tess began, her business tone smartly in place. “Make sure you take plenty of pictures for our book.”

“I will,” Mary promised. “So, besides checking on the beauty of the island, anything you two want to discuss-anything going on I should know about?”

“Well,” Olivia said excitedly. “We wanted to tell you that we’ve gotten three calls from men who were at Mr. Curtis’s party last week. Two older gentlemen whose wives have passed and who have no idea how to run a social or home life. By the way, they were very impressed with what you did and are desperate to hold similar events for their companies. One of them is selling his home and moving to a waterfront estate-he’s terrified because his wife handled all of that type of detail.”

“Sounds right up our alley,” Mary said, very pleased that her efforts had brought NRR several more clients. “And what about the third?”

Olivia snorted. “One very arrogant thirty-something trust-fund baby.”

“Oh, your favorite,” Mary said, grinning.

“AndTess palmed him off on me,” Olivia added sourly.

Mary heard Tess groan in frustration, as though she’d had this conversation ten times already. “He needs your culinary skills.”

The wind picked up around Mary, bringing the scent of overcast morning and lake water to her nostrils. “What’s his name?”

“Mac Valentine,” Olivia told her.

Mary racked her brain for a mental picture of him, then recalled the handsome man Ethan had introduced to her at the first party. Oh, yes. Everything Olivia despised. Family money, total playboy, gorgeous and knew it.

Olivia sighed. “It’ll be fine. Just like the rest of you, I refuse to get sucked in by clients. Do my job and do it well, and that’s it.”

As she walked down the country lane, Mary spotted her “just a client” on the porch of the old Victorian home, mug in hand, and felt a shiver of awareness move through her. If the girls only knew what a mess she’d gotten herself into over this particular client, they’d probably kick her out of the business. “Got to go, ladies.”

“Oh, one more thing,” Tess said quickly. “Your grandmother has called here three times since you’ve been gone.”

“Why didn’t she try my cell?”

“She said she misplaced the number, so I gave it to her again. She sounded pretty agitated.”

That’s what came from not checking her messages at home or at the office. “She always sounds that way. Agitated is normal. Now if you said she sounded blissful or pleased, I’d be worried.”

Both women laughed.

“Thanks for the call. I’ll talk to you both later.” Mary dropped her phone into her purse and walked through the yard toward Ethan. A scant bit of sunlight had broken through the clouds and was taking up residence on the porch, playing with the coffee-brown highlights in Ethan’s dark hair. He looked serious and sexy, dressed in all black, the features in his face all angles and sharpness with a tigerlike stare. Her heart in her throat, Mary climbed the porch steps and sat beside him on the bench.

“Taking a walk?” he asked, his tone rigid.

“Just back from City Hall and a meeting with the caterer and waitstaff. They’re really thrilled with the barbecue.” She tried to ignore the way his gaze moved over her in a possessive, animal-like way. “The tasting you requested is today at one-thirty. If that works with your schedule.”

He shook his head. “I don’t need a tasting. I trust your instincts.”

“Last night you said-”

“I wasn’t talking about food last night, Mary.”

His words stunned her, and his reckless, impenetrable gaze had heat coiling through her. Since he had wanted so much to avoid talking about their situation last night, she’d thought to grant him the same courtesy today, but he looked anything but calm, cool and forgetful, so she lifted her chin and said, “Do we need to discuss what happened last night?”

“Only if you want to continue where we left off,” he said with a bluntness that matched hers.