Just One Night Part 11

"Of course."

If she was going to sleep with the man she ought to at least be able to tell him why, after informing him she wouldn't be kissing him anymore she was suddenly planning to become as intimate as two people can be. "I can't stop thinking about it," she said softly, shrugging. "It's getting in the way of my work. I'm usually not a daydreamer. I'm very efficient."

"I've noticed."

"I feel like if we just do it already I'll stop thinking about it."

"Such a romantic."

He'd think she was a complete die-hard romantic if he knew how much her fantasies revolved around that big four-poster. Ever since she'd first seen him stretched out all scruffy and gorgeous she'd a.s.sociated him with the bed, and adding the two together equaled hot s.e.x in her mind. Maybe she was being stupid, as she accused herself about six times a day, but the truth was she couldn't keep wasting time dreaming about having s.e.x with the man. She'd be better to do it.

Why not? As Gloria had reminded her, she and Rob were both single, and she was young and healthy with a normal s.e.x drive. n.o.body was going to get hurt. Why shouldn't they indulge?

His mouth drew closer to hers and, as she lifted her face to his as though compelled, she retained enough sense to say, "I have some rules."

The forward motion stopped.

The s.e.xual intensity in his glance dissipated replaced by a glint of humor. "Of course you do," he said. "Do I need to go wash my hands first? Change the bedding? Brush my teeth?"

"No." She laughed. "Well, brus.h.i.+ng your teeth is probably a good idea. I'll brush mine, too."

"You're a head case, you know that, right?"

"I wasn't going to say any of those things. I was thinking of setting some ground rules."

"Darling, the rules of s.e.x are simple. n.o.body gets hurt, and everybody has a good time." He stepped even closer. "And I will make d.a.m.n sure you have a good time."

Warmth was stealing over her. He might be half joking, but the other half was dead serious. She had a strong feeling that this man would be generous in bed, making sure his partner had at least as much fun as he did.

"That's not- I mean, I'm sure you will but..." She shook her head. "Oh, this is ridiculous. The only rule I wanted to suggest is that we are very clear-this is one night only."

He seemed completely taken aback. "One night only?"

"Yes."

"But we'll barely get started."

"Well, I've thought about it, and that's all I want."

"I don't know." He scratched his cheek where stubble had formed. "I don't do my best work under pressure."

She glanced significantly at his injured leg. "Your profession is all about performing under pressure. I saw the pictures you took in Africa. During the gun battle when you got hurt. They're amazing."

"Thanks. But this is different"

What she didn't tell him was how she'd practically trembled imagining him in that war zone in constant danger. She could never lose her heart to a man like that. She had to be so careful. Maybe she was stupid even to consider sleeping with him once, but she was suddenly tired of living so rigidly by her rules. Besides, her rules were designed for maximum efficiency of her time. If she was losing sleep having twitchy, hot fantasies about Rob, wouldn't it be easier just to sleep with the guy and be done with it? Then she could put her fantasies behind her.

He wasn't playing according to her program, however. He gazed at her as though she might be more than a little crazy. "I don't know. I've never been the type for one-night stands." He paused, "Well, not since college. I think I'd feel used."

She burst out laughing. "I'm not using you."

"A deal for one night of s.e.x? Even if I want more? What would you call it?"

"I guess I thought we'd be giving each other pleasure for a night. Not that anyone was using anyone else."

"I don't see it that way." He took a step back. "This is probably a bad idea. I'm not at my best mentally or physically right now."

Her astonishment at being turned down by a man for uncomplicated, no-strings-attached s.e.x evaporated when she searched his face and saw real hesitance there. He wasn't playing a game. And then suddenly his behavior made perfect sense.

All his bl.u.s.ter about feeling used, and his earlier comments about everything working properly came back to her.

He was worried about his performance. His leg was far from healed which meant they'd have to make some adjustments. Maybe he wasn't as certain everything was working as he'd told her he was.

He probably thought she was playing games when all she was trying to do was protect her heart. Maybe if she was contemplating being intimate with her body, she should at least let the man into some of what was going on in her head.

"Rob," she began, then didn't know where to go from there. "Rob. You are the s.e.xiest, most interesting man I've met in a really long time."

He didn't appear to be over-the-moon flattered. He simply stood there and listened. She supposed it came from being a journalist. Listening was a skill and not jumping into speech kept the other person talking. As she knew well from her own profession. People often thought they wanted a certain kind of property but sometimes when she listened and encouraged them to talk a different vision would emerge. Not what they thought they wanted, but what would make them happy.

Now he was looking at her and she was going to tell him more than she'd intended. "The thing is I've got a busy career and I'm so focused. I don't want to be distracted by a relations.h.i.+p."

He shook his head. "Who said anything about a relations.h.i.+p? All I said was I'm not a big fan of one-night stands. I'm too old for that c.r.a.p. I'd have thought you were, too."

"I am. I don't normally indulge like that either. But. Oh, this is so hard. I have this little problem where I...get involved with men I've been intimate with. I don't want to fall for you and then have you break my heart when you go back to war zones and put your life in danger again. So I need to balance the wanting to sleep with you against the fear of losing you. And the only way I can reconcile the two things is to go into this with a very short-term goal."

"One night."

"Yes."

"That's the craziest d.a.m.n thing I've ever heard."

She was more let down than she'd have believed possible. She'd really wanted to have one night with him, one night of memories she could enjoy without risking her foolish heart. "So you won't do it?"

He glared at her. "Of course I'll do it. I'm a man. I haven't had a woman in months. You're always underfoot smelling good and looking good. Yeah, I'll take the deal. But I don't like it."

She smiled at the grumpiness in his tone. And in relief. "I understand." She took a deep breath feeling a little shaky now they'd made the decision.

She pulled her electronic organizer out and clicked to her Week at a Glance. "Okay. When do you want to do this?"

A large and very masculine hand reached out and, before she guessed his intent, grabbed the organizer out of her grasp and set it ungently on the table. "How about now?"

"Now? But I was going to bring my nightdress and things over."

"You won't need a nightdress," he informed her stepping closer.

10.

"I- OH," AND THAT WAS the last sound Hailey made for a long, long time, as his mouth closed over hers and he reminded her of all the reasons she'd been thinking l.u.s.tful thoughts of him ever since they'd kissed in the bedroom.

It was different now. She had no frustrations about doing this. She'd made her deal, set boundaries she could live with.

Tonight he'd be her lover.

Tomorrow he'd be back to being her client.

It was fine. It was good. Oh, and the deeper he took the kiss, the more she knew how much she wanted him. She felt herself bending to him, melting against his body as he ran his hands up and down her back, stroking, enticing. His mouth toyed with her, seduced her.

He took her hand and led her up the stairs. He didn't take the cane but held the banister with one hand, and with the other, linked his fingers with hers. She felt the warmth traveling back and forth between their joined hands, felt her heart begin to hammer in antic.i.p.ation.

She slowed her steps to keep pace with him even though she wanted to race up the stairs and dive into bed.

When they got to the top of the stairs and he tugged her toward the big bedroom she paused.

"What?" he demanded.

"I keep a toothbrush in the other bathroom," she admitted.

"Of course you do."

"Do you mind if I-"

"Five minutes. If you're not in my bed in five minutes the deal's off."

A little thrill went through her at his macho, caveman att.i.tude.

"I'll be quick," she promised and scooted over to the other bathroom.

She brushed her teeth in record time, astonished, when she saw her face in the mirror, at how a little s.e.xual buzz added color to her cheeks and a sparkle to her eyes. She managed to run a brush through her hair and grab a couple of the condoms she'd also stashed up here when she first started thinking thoughts that had nothing to do with buyers, sellers or amortization schedules.

She dashed down the hall and entered the master suite well within her allotted five minutes.

He came out of the master bathroom and stood in the middle of the room, watching her. The expression in his eyes brought a delicious heaviness to her limbs. With languorous steps, she walked to him, put her arms around his neck and kissed him.

She smiled against his lips, tasting fresh mint. "You brushed your teeth, too."

"Figured I'd get kicked out of bed if I didn't," he grumbled. Then took over the kiss, licking into her mouth, drawing her body against his so she could feel the full force of his pa.s.sion.

Oh, my.

He raised his head. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" she asked when he took her hand and led her out of the master suite.

"My old room. I feel like I'd get in trouble if I had s.e.x in my grandmother's bed."

"But your bed's a single."

"I know. I wouldn't feel comfortable is all."

"Okay." She tried to be understanding. Of course, grief did strange things to a person, and she respected his feelings, but she loved that four-poster. It was a bed for fantasies and she did not for one moment believe that Mrs. Neeson would begrudge her grandson pleasure. All the same he had to work through his loss in his own way so she went with him to his old bedroom, staged to sell but still containing only a single bed.

When they entered the room, she flipped on the bedside lamp and turned back the coverlet on the ridiculously small bed. "Did you sneak girls up here when you were a teenager?" she asked.

"Truth is I snuck them downstairs to my man cave in the bas.e.m.e.nt." He shot her a wicked look. "I still remember my moves down there if you want to give it a try."

"I am not going down two flights of stairs. And neither are you."

"Maybe later."

She raised her brows at him.

"We've got all night. Don't think you're going to sleep for one minute of it."

A tiny moan started in her throat and almost escaped. She bit it back in the nick of time. How did he do this to her? Driving her wild with no more than a promise of an action-filled night.

She was so hot she needed action now. When she glanced up at him she got the strong impression he felt the same. He stepped closer and began kissing her again. He wasn't one for wandering all over the place, planting kisses on her cheeks and forehead and any old place his lips felt like landing. He seemed to be a man who liked deep, wet, hungry soul kisses. Which was fine with her. Their bodies strained together as the kiss grew more urgent.

She reached for the b.u.t.tons of his s.h.i.+rt and began to undo them.

His skin was tanned, the hair on his chest wiry. His collarbones had to be kissed as they were prominent and demanded attention. Then the V where they met and dipped had to be kissed. His skin was warm and silky smooth for a guy who lived such a rugged life. The contrast of smooth skin covered with rough hair delighted her and she had to get the rest of his s.h.i.+rt off so she could play.

This was such a great idea. Play. Nothing serious. No future, just the fun of a s.e.xy man to enjoy for a night before he wandered out of her life again and became no more than a fond memory. What could be better?

When she started tugging the s.h.i.+rt out of the waistband of his jeans, he took over, stripping it off quickly, balling it and chucking it into a corner. Next those big hands went to work on her s.h.i.+rt but he was so clumsy with the tiny b.u.t.tons that she took over the job, taking her time, making a little striptease out of divesting herself of her top. No matter how pa.s.sionate she felt she'd never toss her clothing on the floor so she took the extra few seconds to lay the garment neatly over the chair.

"That is a very s.e.xy bra you're wearing," he said.

"Thank you." It was freshly purchased and she'd paid an outrageous sum for a concoction of pale green silk, lace and underwire.

He lounged against the bed in jeans, bare feet, bare torso. Crossed his arms, showing off impressive biceps. "If I took it off I'd only throw it on the floor so you'd better do it."

The warmth and humor in his tone couldn't disguise the raw hunger beneath. The combination had her catching her breath. If she'd ever been this hungry for a man, she couldn't remember it. She licked her lips, glanced up at him from under her lashes and took her sweet time removing the bra. The way his gaze remained riveted, his breathing grew labored and his hands twitched, she saw she'd spent her money wisely.

When she slowly began to ease the bra down her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, feeling the slide of the fabric tease her nipples, he said, "I'm not sure I'm going to survive the night."

She grinned at him. "What a way to go."

She wasn't one to flaunt her body but he was so obviously enjoying her little show and his enjoyment only added to hers so she revealed her b.r.e.a.s.t.s slowly, taking his grunt as a sign of approval, then laid the bra over the back of the chair. With her back to him, she undid her skirt and wiggled the thing off her, giving him an enticing view of the matching thong panties, and the thigh-high stockings that weren't very comfortable but that made up in s.e.xiness what they lacked in comfort.

"Who'd have thought," he said softly, "that under all that crisp business clothing, you were hiding that underwear. And that body."

Before she could turn around, his hands were on her waist and he was kissing the back of her neck, running his palms up her belly to cup her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. His palms were warm and a little rough, which felt delicious on her tender skin.