Jack’s unmistakable, sexy voice rumbled through the phone. “Hi, Lauren. Have I caught you at a bad time?”
As if he could somehow see her through the phone, she wrapped the towel tighter. “Hi, Jack. No, I was just…” She looked down at her bare, wet legs. It felt too intimate to tell him she’d just stepped out of the shower. “...cleaning the bathroom.” With a shake of her head, she rolled her eyes.Cleaning the bathroom?“What can I do for you?”
“I need to talk to you about tomorrow.”
“I left a message this afternoon with Ellen to let you know that the painters would be there at seven. Is there a problem?” she asked while padding over to her underwear drawer.
“Yes, there’s a problem. Why didn’t you call me and give me the message yourself?”
Pulling the drawer open, she picked up a pair of undies and paused. “Because you were in a meeting and I told Ellen not to disturb you.”
“You’re not trying to avoid me again, are you? You have to come to terms with the fact that we are drawn to each other and what happened in my office, and every time we’re together, will happen again. Now, you can try to deny it, but it’s the truth. The quicker you realize that, the happier we’ll both be.”
Knees wobbly, she dropped down onto the side of the bed. “Jack, I’m not going to deny there’s an attraction. But we have to keep things purely professional.”
“It’s too late for that. We passed being professional the first time we kissed.” At the sound of the huskiness in his voice lust rippled along her spine and heated all her good parts.
Lauren glanced down at the underwear she held in her lap and threw the black, lacy panties toward the open drawer like they were a hot piece of coal. If she held onto underwear like that while Jack spoke in his sexy voice, she’d be tempted to let him see her wearing them.
She rose from the bed to look for something more appropriate. Finding a pair of white, nothingsexy-about-them cotton undies, she slid them on.
Maybe they had passed a point of no return, but that didn’t mean they needed to keep following a path which would lead nowhere. She needed to shut this conversation down before it went any further.
“Jack, I have to go. I just got out of the shower, and I’m wet…” She slapped her forehead.
“I thought you said you were cleaning the bathroom?” Jack didn’t miss a beat.
“Umm…” Unable to think of a response quick enough, she said, “Bye, Jack.”
“No! No, wait!” he yelled, stopping her from hanging up. “You can’t tell me you’re naked and then hang up.” His voice sounded strained.
“I’m not naked, and Iamhanging up now.”
“Wait!” he stopped her again. “Whatareyou wearing?” She heard eagerness in his voice.
The slutty devil on her left shoulder, because surely it couldn’t be the innocent angel on her right one, answered, “I’m wearing nothing but black, lacy panties.” Jack groaned just before she hit theend callbutton.
She flopped onto the bed and covered her burning face with her hands. So much for shutting things down before they went too far.
* * * *
Kicking off his leather shoes, Jack stripped out of his suit and threw it on the bed. So, Lauren could be a sexy flirt when she wanted. He needed a long, cold shower after picturing her wearing nothing but black, lacy panties. The thought of Lauren in black, lacy anything was enough to get him rock-hard.
There were many women he could call—women who would be willing to solve his problem, with no strings attached—but he couldn’t bring himself to call any of them. Lauren’s image was burned into his brain, and until he had her where he wanted, he knew he wouldn’t be satisfied with anyone else.
Going into the bathroom, Jack turned the water to full blast and stepped under the cold spray. The water only reduced his body’s inferno temperature to a simmer. Picking up the soap, he lathered his body.
There had been no reason for him to call Lauren tonight. Calling her about the message was just an excuse. In truth, he’d been thinking about her, something he’d been doing a lot lately, and before he knew it, he’d dialed her number. Her sexy voice had turned him on instantly.
Turning the water off, he dried himself and padded naked into his bedroom. The shower hadn’t done much to fix his rock-hard problem. Pulling the covers back from the bed, he slipped naked between the cool cotton sheets, and stared up at the ceiling.
Never had a woman invaded his mind the way Lauren did. Not even Amy—the onlyrealrelationship he’d ever had. Real, because it had lasted a record five months. He’d liked Amy, even tried convincing himself he loved her, but they fought more often than they were happy. Every time he’d gone away for footy she’d accused him of sleeping with the groupies that hung around their hotel. She never trusted him, and if he were honest, it would have only been a matter of time before temptation had gotten the better of him. So he decided to let her go before he broke her heart even more.
And now Lauren had him wanting to put his hands on her andonlyher. Being with anyone else was not an option. A hundred naked groupies offering up all kinds of kinky services would not have gotten him as aroused as the sound of Lauren’s sweet-as-honey voice. He rubbed a hand down his face. How the hell did that happen?
Not only was she drop-dead gorgeous, she was funny and smart too. She fascinated him.
He wanted to have her in every way possible, but he also wanted to get to know more about her.
