at her...and he was captivated. Instantly. Of all the women on the earth, this was the sole woman he should avoid. So much younger than he was. His best friend’s little sister. Why did she have to be so appealing?
“You have grown up. I didn’t recognize you. You don’t look at all like you did when you were seven or even twelve years old.”
Her dark blue eyes sparkled with amusement. “Imagine that. I don’t quite view you the same way I did then, either.”
He realized then that her hand still rested in his.
“If we’re going to hold hands, we might as well dance,” he said. “One dance. I can’t be a terrible influence in one harmless dance.”
“Maybe it won’t be so harmless,” she said, flirting with him, sending his pulse racing faster.
“Allison, you’re a temptation,” he said, wanting to prolong the moment.
“Sloan does not run my life. We can dance if we want. Forget him.”
Taking a sip of champagne, she set the flute beside his on a nearby table and joined him on the dance floor. When she stepped into his arms, her enticing scent enveloped him.
Looking at her, Jared could easily forget her older brother, his closest friend even now, although they saw little of each other any longer. “Do you still live at home in Dallas?” he asked, curious about her.
“Officially, but since I’m eighteen now and a freshman at the University of Texas, I’m in Austin.”
“I’m twenty-four. Besides having Sloan’s admonitions burned in my memory, I’m a lot older than you.”
“An older man,” she purred, those deep indigo eyes still twinkling. “That makes you all the more intriguing.”
“You’re a little on the naughty side, Allison,” he said, smiling at her, trying to ease his conscience by telling himself a few dances were harmless.
“Well, isn’t that more fun?” she asked, running her fingers lightly across the back of his hand. “I do not have to pay any attention to my overprotective brother, either. Since Mom died, he’s been more a parent than my dad. And that’s enough about Sloan. He’s far away in Dallas, wrapped up in his own world.”
“I have to pay attention to him. He’s my best friend.”
“Maybe I can make you forget that for a little while,” she said in a mischievous tone, moving closer to him.
He had to laugh. “I think you already have. We’re dancing, Allison, when I shouldn’t be anywhere near you.”
“I’m not scared of you or Sloan. Besides, you’re having fun, and this quiet, uneventful reception has suddenly become more interesting for both of us. You can’t deny it.”
“I can’t possibly refute that,” he said, tightening his arm around her tiny waist. Was it because she was forbidden to him that he wanted her? She was a kid—a college freshman—and he had finished college two years earlier. He was too old for her, but she beguiled him. He wasn’t cutting short the dance or the evening.
“We’re going to forget my brother. I’m of age, and I can take care of myself.”
He should have heeded that challenge and kept her brother in his thoughts. Instead, he wiped Sloan clean out of his mind. Even the undercurrent of guilt swiftly washed away.
A fast number played next, and as they danced, she shed the tiny blue jacket, revealing a tight spaghetti-strapped dress that took his breath away. He wanted to unfasten her updo, and impulsively he reached out and removed the pins. A cascade of pale yellow-gold hair fell over her shoulders, and his heart raced with excitement.
As she danced, her sexy moves fueled his fiery attraction. Whatever he felt, she gave indications she shared the same sizzle.
They continued into the next dance—a ballad—and he drew her closer this time. Her silky hair held a faint, inviting scent of jasmine and orange blossoms.
Slow dancing became a torment. Soft, warm, curvaceous in his arms, she fit perfectly against him. Her full lips made him want to kiss her. How would she taste? How would she respond?
During a break between dances, they sat on the darkened terrace, drinking champagne while they flirted with each other. How much of the night had been because of the effects of the champagne? He wished he could blame it all on the bubbly, but he knew he couldn’t. A hot, intense attraction had flared the first moment they had looked into each other’s eyes.
It was one o’clock in the morning when she said she should leave the reception and get back to her hotel room. He took her to her hotel, and they stopped in the bar for a drink. Within minutes they were headed to her room. The moment he closed her door, he reached for her, drawing her into his embrace while he leaned down to kiss her.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she returned the electrifying kiss, which fanned desire to a blazing intensity. He had only planned on having a nightcap and then kissing her good-night, but his sensible plans were forgotten instantly. Instead, white-hot passion consumed him. She was as eager as he was. He wanted her as he had never wanted anyone before. Able to fight no longer, he surrendered.
Naked. Passionate. A virgin. All of those described the woman he took to bed. That she was innocent shocked him, briefly cooling his ardor, making him pause in their lovemaking. But then she wrapped those enticing legs around him and whispered a sigh in his ear and he was lost. He could never say no to her. So he made love to her, discovering a passionate woman and an ardent partner, whom he knew he’d never forget.
Later they showered together and made love again. The second time he took it slowly, with more than an hour of foreplay, trying to make it as great for her as possible by dedicating himself to pleasuring her.
She was like a flame, igniting his passion, burning it, until it finally devoured him, leaving him spent.
With the light of day, however, came reason.
They knew they could not see each other again because there was no future in it. Allison had college to get through. He had a career that was commencing, and they both had Sloan to contend with—a friend Jared did not want to hurt and a brother she wanted to keep happy.
So they agreed the night—the wonderful searing night—would be their secret.
He gave her a sweet, fleeting kiss goodbye at the door of her hotel room...and walked away....
* * *
Jared inhaled deeply. Wiping his brow as if to erase the memories that had haunted him for six years, he shoved away from his desk, the iPad notes long forgotten. With little provocation, he remembered that night with Allison as if it had happened yesterday. And he remembered her still.
They had never had contact again. Through the years, each of them had guarded the secret, kept their promises to never contact each other. He had seen her brother often at charity events, college football games, rodeos, occasional meetings if their businesses crossed paths and more recently in a breakfast club. But never in those encounters had he said a word to Sloan about Allison.
The last time he had seen Sloan, her brother had casually mentioned
