fund, Sebastian wouldn’t be the one reaching for the tissues.
Using his thumbs, he tipped her head back as his mouth left hers to nuzzle her throat. The delightful little dance his tongue made against her heated flesh was almost too much for her to bear. She wanted more. And she wanted it now.
Inviting him back to her place was out of the question, but…
“Sebastian,” she breathed, “let’s go where we can be more comfortable.”
He lifted his head, but kept his hand cupping her neck. His thumb drew lazy circles along her jaw and she trembled. “Are you sure?”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”
“Okay, but just for a nightcap.”
Sure, she believed that. Not.
“By the way,” she said, giving him a sly, but deliberate smile. “Did I mention the beachfront property I have for sale in Arizona?”
IN THE DARKNESS OF his newly rented third-floor apartment, they tripped over a moving carton partially blocking the doorway to his bedroom. Sebastian cursed and Joey giggled, but he caught them both before they went tumbling and landed on the hardwood floor. His place was hardly the ideal scene for romance with a beautiful woman, but when Joey had insisted her place was too far away from Rosalie’s to be the practical choice, he hadn’t had enough sense left to argue with her.
They landed up against the door with a loud thud. He caught her weight with his body, but the door swung hard against the wall, then jerked again, slamming the knob through the drywall. With Joey’s slender curves pressed against him, he didn’t much care if the damn thing came off the hinges.
Joey tugged his shirt from his jeans and shoved her hands beneath the fabric to splay her hands over his stomach. Her fingertips teased the waistband of his jeans.
“Your skin is so warm,” she murmured. She shoved the shirt up and placed her wet, moist lips on his chest. “Hot.”
His skin wasn’t all that was on fire. His dick throbbed almost painfully within the strict confines of his jeans. He couldn’t remember the last time a woman had him so hard—and all they’d done so far was kiss. Hell, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d let his guard down long enough to just be himself with any woman. All work and no play. His own personal motto, one he’d chosen to ignore for the first time in what suddenly felt like an eternity.
She smoothed her hands upward, brushing her palms over his nipples. A rush of breath left him, and he grabbed hold of her hips, pulling her tighter against him. The door creaked, protesting against their weight, but he was beyond caring about anything except having Joey naked and wanting him.
He dove a hand into her short blond hair and tugged gently, pulling her head back so he could kiss her again. She opened for him, inviting him inside. Her taste was sweet and wildly exotic, like a fine brandy. The kind he’d promised himself he’d one day be able to afford.
That thought nearly had him calling a halt to their nocturnal activities…until she arched her body, rubbing her slender curves up against him like a cat.
“Touch me,” she murmured against his mouth. “Touch me now, Sebastian.”
“Where would you like me to start?” He had a few ideas of his own, but he liked a woman who knew what she wanted and wasn’t shy about telling him.
“How about I let you decide?”
He wasn’t picky. He liked the sound of that, too.
She backed away, and he instantly regretted the loss of her body heat. In the moonlight streaming through the window, he watched her smile turn positively wicked as she shrugged out of her suede jacket. The heavy material landed on the floor at his feet.
He took a step toward her, but she backed up, keeping him a fraction beyond arm’s length away. This time she peeled off her blouse, slowly revealing inch after delicious inch of silky-looking skin. The top went somewhere—to the floor, he assumed—but he didn’t happen to notice where because his gaze was held prisoner by the sight of a red satin-and-lace bra cupping her firm, lush breasts.
His fingers itched to fulfill her demand to touch her, to test the weight of her full breasts in his hands. He wanted to taste her skin, longed to discover her secrets. Couldn’t wait to make her his in the most elemental way possible. For as long as it lasted, which according to her, would only be until they reported for work Monday morning.
With a flick of her wrist, she unbuttoned her jeans then slowly tugged the zipper down. He caught a glimpse of more red lace. Thong, he wondered? Or a sexy pair of those boy shorts he easily imagined hugging that adorable ass of hers?
A frown suddenly puckered her smooth forehead. “Boots,” she said, then plopped down on the edge of the bed.
“Here.” He bent and lifted her foot, resting it on his thigh. “Let me.”
Gently, he tugged the boot from one foot, then the other. The leather was supple and expensive, as he’d suspected earlier. His curiosity about her climbed another notch. She hustled pool, yet drove a BMW he doubted was more than a year old, yet she was only a junior associate. He’d lived the pay scale, and while he’d had no trouble making ends meet, no way could he have afforded anything as slick as Joey’s Beemer. His ten-year-old Honda Civic had been on its last leg when he’d bought the Jeep Commander, and he’d only been able to afford that with the bonus the partners had paid him after he’d won a multimillion-dollar products liability case.
Joey was full of secrets. Too bad he didn’t have time to unravel more of her mysteries.
Before she could object or slip away, he took advantage of her position on the bed and leaned in, urging her back on the mattress. He slid his hands to her waist and hooked his fingers into the waistband. She lifted her hips and he slowly eased her jeans down her legs, and smiled. “Boy shorts.”
“I’ve shown you mine,” she said with a teasing smile on her lips. “Now show me yours.”
He yanked off his shirt and tossed it aside. “I suppose it’s only fair.” He moved to join her on the bed.
She held up her hand to stop him. “Uh-uh, counselor. Not so fast.” She reached for the waistband of his jeans and easily popped the button. “Full disclosure.”
He toed off his shoes and kicked them aside, then shrugged out of his jeans. His boxer briefs were next.
Acute awareness powered Joey’s senses as she looked her fill of Sebastian’s powerful, athletic body. The man was nothing short of a work of art.
The dullness of winter faded and the dark colors seemingly turned brighter, as if springtime had entered the sparse bedroom with them. She was assaulted with a delicious vibrancy to her senses. The warmth of Sebastian’s skin as he joined her on the bed. The tickle of soft chest hair against her breasts as he leaned over her. The heat of his body as he kissed her deeply, thoroughly.
She felt as if she’d been struck by a bolt of lightning. A rushing surge of intensity increased the sexual energy that had been haunting them since he’d approached her at the jukebox.
His lips and tongue tasted sweet, like the wine they’d shared from a single paper
