tried to work on a prospectus report for a software company he was considering investing in, but the sound of water rushing through the pipes was too much of a distraction. Especially knowing Jessica Coleman was the one standing naked in his shower.
Damn it, he should have just left the clothes outside the door. He’d only meant to stick his arm in and put the stuff on the counter. How the hell was he to know the mirror angle gave a perfect reflection of the shower—and its occupant? Now, in addition to a twelve-year-old kiss haunting him, he had the image of her naked curvy body to keep him up nights.
She could have been burned tonight, lost her life. That one vulnerable look she’d given him when he’d first shown up at the fire would forever be etched in his mind. It had said, Hold me, please. And he’d wanted to, wanted to take care of her, but he was scared to touch her.
Jessica Coleman had been off-limits for so long. He was weak when it came to her, didn’t trust himself to let go, and that made him mad.
The very worst thing he could do was get involved with a Coleman. He and Jess had been like water and oil since the moment they’d met—flammable, volatile, passionate oil. Love and hate walked a very thin line. To act on that emotion, see where it would take them, was too dangerous. One or both of them would likely get burned. And what happened between them would naturally affect the business.
Coleman-Grayson Investment Company was too important to him to take a chance on ripping it apart because of personal conflict.
“Didn’t your mama ever tell you what a shame it’d be if your face ended up getting stuck in that position?”
He looked up, became aware that his brows were indeed drawn together in a frown, then promptly lost his entire train of thought.
She wore a white bathrobe he kept for guests who came to swim. He could see the collar of his T-shirt he’d lent her beneath the plunging V of the robe. Her legs and feet were bare and he wondered if she was wearing the drawstring shorts he’d laid out for her. Her long red hair was a mass of damp curls, framing her face and sliding over her shoulders. Her face was void of makeup, making her look even younger. That should have had the effect of ice water dumped over his head, but it didn’t.
Although she was perfectly decent, his body was humming as if she’d walked into the room stark naked.
Nerves crowded when she sauntered over to him, reached out and brushed his forehead with her finger.
“It’s your skin, but seems a shame to promote early wrinkles like this.” She plucked the brandy glass out of his hand, sipped, her gaze still on his.
Her eyes were unique, one green and the other blue—something he’d never seen on anyone before. That was the kind of thing that sticks in a man’s mind. It’d stuck in his since the day he first laid eyes on her.
“Did you want a glass?” he asked.
“This one’s fine. Why don’t you just pour yourself another?”
Not many people came into his home and told him what to do. They wouldn’t dare. Obviously Jessica Coleman dared.
He might have called a halt to it, but the sultry pitch of her voice, the seduction in those unique eyes, was rendering him stupid.
Determined to break the spell, he got down another crystal glass and poured brandy in it, putting distance between them in the process.
“Did you want me to show you to your room?”
She grinned. “Are you trying to tell me it’s past my bedtime?”
“Do you have to challenge everything I say?”
“Habit, I suppose.”
“Well, suppose you can break it?”
“A truce works two ways, you know.”
He wasn’t sure how a man could be annoyed and want to smile at the same time. Jessica Coleman just flat out confounded him.
“I’m game if you are,” he said.
“Are you sure you don’t want to give me a lift to the nearest hotel? I mean, practically tripping over each other like this will likely cramp both our styles.”
“It’s a big place. I doubt we’ll trip.”
“We’ll definitely be aware of each other, though. And I, at least, have a fairly active social life.”
“And what makes you think I don’t?”
She shrugged. “I guess it’s just hard to imagine. You’re stuffy, all business. You never knew how to enjoy what was offered.”
He saw the quickly masked distress in her eyes, knew she hadn’t meant to blurt those words, knew that she was referring to that long-ago kiss. He knew he’d hurt her, but until now, hadn’t realized the depth of that pain.
But damn it, she’d been jailbait back then, and he’d hated the pull of attraction he felt for the kid, fought it like crazy. All it had taken was a long look into those intriguing eyes filled with curiosity and mystery—yes, even at that young age, Jessica Coleman had exuded an innocent sensuality that promised bliss. She’d scared the hell out of him. And because of that, he’d mishandled her tender feelings, crushed her spirit.
But she was no longer a girl of thirteen, and the man in him had been goaded just about enough.
Obviously her crushed spirit had only been a temporary setback.
Chapter Two
Jessica’s heart pounded as Nick deliberately stepped toward her, his dark eyes filled with intent. He crowded her, trapped her between his body and the kitchen cabinets, twined a finger around one of her damp curls and toyed with the end where it just brushed the slope of her breast, all the while holding her gaze with his.
“Careful how you taunt, cowgirl. We’re all grownup now.”
Dear heaven, she hadn’t realized how difficult it would be to keep up this act. She could well be out-matched, but she was darned if she’d give it up now.
“So nice of you to notice,” she said, and neatly ducked beneath his arms. “Too bad I’m no longer interested.”
“Is that a dare?”
Jessica tucked her hair behind her ear, fought to get the jolt of awareness under control. She knew she was playing with fire and needed to backtrack in a hurry. Nick Grayson was a worthy opponent, not someone to underestimate. “Of course not.”
“Sounded that way to me. A statement of disinterest is practically an open invitation to prove just the opposite.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake. Chill out, would you?” Actually, she was the one who needed to chill out. The man oozed seduction and danger from every masculine pore. She was fast finding herself in over her head. And that was not a position she wanted to be in.
She held up her hands to form a T. “Truce, okay? We’ve known each other for years. There’s no reason in the world why we
