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He’d seemed horrified by her idea of making him into a human sundae on their way to possibly actually having sex. Since then, she’d adopted a new plan of action for if and when she ever managed to become intimate with another man. She’d skip the kinky sundae toppings and go straight vanilla at first so as not to scare off her suitor, then work on integrating the extra goodies into the banana split later.
Of course, then she’d heard Bryan was coming into town. And she’d be damned if she let that opportunity slip her by. Not just the man she’d wanted since high school to be her first. He had a reputation for wicked ways. Maybe ways wicked enough that she could throw caution to the wind and give her naughtiest fantasies free reign with him in the bedroom.
Ugh. One more reason to hate that he was nowhere in sight.
She pushed open the door and hurried outside, shivering in the chilly February air. She should’ve worn a jacket. It might be a good idea to get one from her car. She started around the building and towards the darkened parking lot. She stared up at the star-sprinkled sky, searching as she always did for the Big Dipper after Vicky had told her where to look. Total sham. She could never find—
As she rounded the corner of the building, she bumped into something rock-solid and let out an undignified yelp before her mouth brushed a ridiculously soft sweater. Even the taste of cotton, however, couldn’t distract her from the massive pecs under her hands as she grappled for purchase. “Wow. You’re hard.”
Oh Lord, had she really said that?
He laughed. “Not yet, but you’re off to a good start.”
Heat flared into her face. She peeked up between her bangs and gasped.
Shit, shit, shit.
It was Bryan.
“Easy, darlin’.” Rich, masculine laughter flowed over her, somewhat mitigating the embarrassment of colliding with the solid wall of muscle that made up Bryan’s chest. He steadied her on her heels. “Didn’t your mama ever tell you to watch where you’re going?”
That voice. It was deep and honeyed and capable of singeing off a woman’s panties from the fifty-yard line. She’d had dreams about that voice. Some of them even while she was asleep.
She took another peek from under her bangs. Bryan Townsend—Vicky’s older brother—gazed down at her with an amused smile lifting his smug mouth. The man radiated confidence, from his carelessly shaggy hair right down to the blindingly white sneakers bumping into her heels. Here was a guy who would never run from the opportunity to shake his thing onstage if it meant completing a seduction. And now that she knew he was here—now that he was so temptingly close to her—she was glad she hadn’t left.
For years, she’d done everything she could to get his attention. After Jill’s family had moved into the Townsends’ neighborhood as a kid, she’d spent lots of time at their house. That equaled lots of opportunities to be around Bryan until he’d moved away for football. He was more than five years older than she was, and off-limits in more than one way: Best friend’s brother, older, so experienced that he had a constant parade of chicks following him day and night.
Sheesh. Off-limits in more than one way? Try every way.
Until the night of Vicky’s seventeenth birthday party, when Jill had teased Bryan into kissing her. Even now she could remember the taste of cinnamon and ginger on his tongue. He was already playing football by then, drafted to a decent team, and he’d been so full of himself, smiling, talking up his role as second string quarterback, making her laugh with his friendly taunts. He’d had a beer or two, and she’d used every bit of her wiles to get him alone.
He was her first crush, her first kiss…hell, she’d wanted him to be her first everything, but he’d backed off after that night, rarely speaking to her when he came home. They’d had a few conversations, usually centered around her mom, who Bryan had grown close to over the years after his own had left the family to “find herself.” He’d become more and more famous, eventually being traded to the much higher profile Maryland Mariners. And the tabloids had kept her up-to-date—when she could stand to read them—about his many girlfriends. It seemed like he had a new one every month.
Whereas she’d had failed sexpeditions with dud after dud. But she wasn’t one bit bitter.
Now he was back in town for two weeks—just long enough for the kind of scorching affair she’d always dreamed of.
“Guess it’s a good thing I ran into you and not the big bad wolf,” she said softly. “Isn’t it, Bry?”
“Hold on… Jill?” He reached up to touch her hair, as though only now recognizing her. “What did you do to yourself?”
She laughed. Simply had to. Even without the makeover, he might not have recognized her, since the gaps between his visits home were growing larger. He’d never been a hometown kind of guy, despite the fact that he’d been born in Haven. Not that she’d changed her appearance that much. She’d grown out her hair, added purple highlights, and begun dressing a little more seductively in the hopes of breaking out of her shell—hence the dress that barely covered enough of her thighs to keep goose bumps from popping up on her skin.
The fact that she’d also hoped to see him tonight might’ve incidentally played into her outfit. Maybe.
“Well hello to you, too,” she said. “How long has it been?”
“Obviously not long enough,” he muttered, shifting from one foot to the other.
“Gee, thanks. Don’t worry about my feelings or anythi
ng.” She started to brush by him to go back toward the entrance, figuring the first part of seduction meant giving him something to chase.
And he didn’t disappoint. His hand closed around her upper arm. The contact shot her pulse into the red zone.
“Hold on,” he said.
She fought not to tremble and wasn’t entirely sure she pulled it off. He made it so difficult for her to act like an experienced woman of the world. “Hey there, paws off.”
