Need You Tonight by Roni Loren Page A

Wild adventures.
    But in the end, the result was always the same. After the initial rush, he lost interest.
     Since his divorce, even women who’d been open to considering moving the relationship
     to a more intense level—the level he desperately craved—he couldn’t seem to muster
     up the desire. Too often, it felt like those women were simply agreeing to his flavor
     of kink because of all the fringe benefits. He’d been down that road. Nothing like
     finding out the girlfriend you’re tying up and flogging actually hates pain and all
     things kink and is only taking it because she wants you to buy her that Coach purse
     or bring her on that trip to Maui.
    But even the women who hadn’t been motivated for the wrong reasons had lost his interest
     in a month or two. The lifestyles reporter at the local paper had taken to calling
     him the Time Share Bachelor because his relationships had ended on such a predictable
     schedule. He never strayed, but he never stayed either. Sometimes he wondered if his
     divorce had rewired him to only be capable of the temporary. So perhaps it was best
     for all involved that Contessa walked away from him tonight. Clean. Easy. No attachments
     or regrets. Everyone could look golden in a one-night stand. A flawless fantasy night
     for both their memory banks.
    Kade sighed as he carried an armful of bowls into the kitchen to rinse them out, unable
     to shake his desire for more time with Contessa despite his perfectly valid internal
     arguments. They’d spent hours together. He’d taken her twice. It should be enough.
     Plus, she was vanilla for God’s sake. This wasn’t like meeting some girl at The Ranch
     where he could imagine all the dirty things they could try out and mutually enjoy.
     Contessa, despite her little glimmers of bravado, had a shyness about her, like she
     was almost awkward about sex. When he’d pinned her hands above her head, her eyes
     had gone as wide as a virgin’s on prom night. She may’ve been married, but clearly
     her husband hadn’t given her any more than the basics.
    A damn tragedy, that. Because the kind of eager responsiveness she’d shown upstairs
     proved the woman was built for pleasure, starved for it. And everything in his body
     was giving a battle cry to be the man to feed her. But there was no way in hell he
     was going to chase her for the chance. He didn’t chase. Period. He’d spent too many
     years when he was a kid doing that crap, and it only got you humiliated. Chasing.
     Pining. Fantasizing about girls he couldn’t have. Only to be turned down so she could
     go be with the jerk who treated her like shit.
    Never again. He’d learned. Girls who wanted to be chased, wanted to be in control
     of you. And control is one thing he’d never relinquish again.
    “Need any help?”
    Kade looked up from dumping the last of the food into the trash bin, finding Contessa
     wearing a sleepy-eyed half smile. He shook his head, his whirling thoughts calming
     at the sight of her. “Nah, it’s been a while since I’ve been on clean-up duty in a
     kitchen, but I haven’t forgotten how to do it.”
    “So are you a chef?” she asked.
    He smiled, amused that she hadn’t bothered to ask his position up until this point.
     It was a nice change of pace. Most women knew his whole resume before ever saying
     word one to him. “I went to culinary school, so technically, yes, I could be a chef.
     But that isn’t my current position. I own this place.”
    And many, many others. But he didn’t need to volunteer that at this point. He kind
     of liked her not knowing the whole restaurant mogul aspect of his career. No matter
     what, it changed how people interacted with him once they knew.
    “Wow, impressive,” she said, though she sounded more wary than impressed. “So you
     were totally cheating when you said you wouldn’t have to pay for anything. Technically,
     you’re paying for everything, down to the electricity keeping this light