the situation even as she worried about its impact on his business. And hers.
“You told Herr Hauptmann you need to finalize arrangements with your bankers in Berlin before you fly back to the States on Friday. That’s three days from now. What if we’re still stranded here in Dresden, without any way to communicate with the banks?”
“With this much money on the line, the banks will be more than happy to work with me.”
“So you were bluffing to force his hand?”
“I was taking a calculated risk. As you heard at the meeting yesterday, Templeton Systems also made Hauptmann an offer, but they haven’t locked in the financing yet. I want this deal signed, sealed and delivered before they do.”
She blew out a silent whistle. She’d left that meeting convinced the banks had Logan’s back to the wall.
“Remind me not to get into any high-stakes poker games with you.”
His rich chuckle carried across the crackle and spit of the gas-fed flames. “And here I was thinking a little five-card stud might be one way to pass the time tonight. Guess we’ll have to resort to Plan B.”
“Which is?”
“We talk politics. We try to guess each other’s favorite movies. We wrap up in these blankets and share our body heat. We have wild, uninhibited sex.”
Her jaw dropped.
“We don’t have to follow that precise order,” he informed her solemnly. “We could start with the sex and work our way backward.”
The sheer audacity of it took her breath away. Then she saw the laughter glinting in his blue eyes, and her lungs squeezed again. Despite the wicked glint, she knew he wasn’t kidding.
More to the point, she knew darn well she wanted what he was offering. Devon didn’t even try to deny it. The mere thought of stretching out beside him, of feeling his body press hers into the cushions, had her heart ping-ponging against her ribs.
“What do you think, McShay?” He reached across the back of the sofa. Burrowing under the blanket draped over her shoulders, he curled a palm around her nape. “Are you up for Plan B?”
She swiped her tongue over suddenly dry lips. Her fast-disintegrating common sense shrieked at her to end this dalliance, right here, right now.
Because that’s all it was. All it could be. She’d fallen for a stud like Cal Logan once and still had the scars to show for it. No way she was going to set herself up for another tumble.
So don’t.
The blunt admonition came compliments of her alter ego. The one with shivers rippling down her spine from the slow stroke of his thumb on her nape.
Have some fun, dummy. Enjoy a mind-blowing orgasm or two. Then you and Logan can go your separate ways, no harm, no foul.
Since every hormone in Devon’s body was screaming at her to agree, she wet her lips again.
“I, uh, think we should start with a modified Plan B.”
His thumb stilled. The gaze that had been locked on her mouth lifted to hers.
“I’m listening.”
“We conduct the experiment you suggested last night. See what happens. Take it a step at a time from there.”
A slow grin spread across his face. Devon’s alter ego was whooping with joy even before he agreed to her proposed modification.
“Sounds good to me.”
His hand tightened on her nape and tugged her closer. In the flickering light of the fire, his face was like a painting by one of the old Flemish masters, all strong planes and intriguing shadows. Then Devon’s lids drifted shut, his mouth came down on hers and all thoughts of old masters, Flemish or otherwise, flew out of her head.
This kiss was slower than yesterday’s. More deliberate. Despite that—or maybe because of it—the sensual movement of his lips over hers packed even more of a wallop. Devon angled her head to give him better access before surrendering to the urge she’d been battling since her first glimpse of the man shirtless.
Tugging down the zipper on his ski jacket, she flattened her palms against the broad expanse of his chest. She could feel his pecs under his turtleneck, and the jackhammer beat of his heart.
Or was that her heart pounding like a rock drummer on steroids? At this point, Devon wasn’t sure and didn’t particularly care. All she knew was that her other self almost wept when Cal broke the contact and lifted his head.
To her profound relief, his breath came as hard and fast as hers. The hand at the back of her neck held her steady. His eyes burned into hers.
“Well? What’s the verdict? Do we progress to the next step?”
“Yes!”
She flung her arms around his neck, shedding the blanket draped over her shoulders along with any and all remaining doubts.
Cal made a sound halfway between a growl and a grunt of fierce satisfaction. His free hand tunneled under her hips. With one quick maneuver, he had her flat on her back.
His mouth was harder now, more demanding, but Devon’s hunger matched his. She locked her arms around his neck and strained against him. Hip to hip, mouth to mouth, they explored the feel, the taste, the texture of each other.
He didn’t ask for permission to progress to step three. Probably because Devon was already there. Fighting free of her ski jacket, she relieved him of his, then yanked up the hem of his turtleneck and silky thermal shirt. Her hands were hot and greedy as she planed them over his back and waist and the hard, taut curve of his butt.
He wasted no time in following suit. Her lavender sweater and black silk long-john top came up and over her head with a couple of swift tugs. Her boots hit the floor next. With a speed that left her breathless, Cal peeled off her ski pants and long-john bottoms.
His hot, hungry gaze roamed from her breasts to her belly. The flesh mounded so enticingly by her black lace demi-bra brought an appreciative growl, but the matching thong stopped him cold.
“Were you wearing that thong under your dress when we went to dinner with the Hauptmanns?”
“Yes.”
“And you slept it in last night?”
“Since I couldn’t get back in my room, I didn’t have anything else to sleep in.”
“Good thing I didn’t know that,” he said, his voice rough, “or you wouldn’t have made it out of bed this morning.”
That drew a husky laugh from Devon. She wasn’t any more immune to flattery than the next girl, and the expression in Cal’s eyes as they devoured her nearly naked flesh was extremely gratifying. It almost made up for the goose bumps popping out all over her skin.
Her ensuing shiver could have been caused by the cold air. Or the liquid fire that spread through
