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He grabbed her arm and tugged her inside the steamy bathroom, shutting the door with a soft click. Then he cleaned off the mirror with his arm and turned her toward it. “Some jerks wrote all over this gorgeous body.” He spoke close to her ear and she shivered. “They should be shot.”
“Or fucked,” she whispered, only realizing what she’d said when he laughed.
“Interesting style of punishment, I’ll grant you that.” He pulled her hair to the side and moved his lips against her neck, making whatever he would say next unspeakably erotic. Even if he asked her to pass the toothpaste she would probably feel a hot rush of moisture between her thighs. “Your shower has the most inspiring heads.”
Thatshe wasn’t expecting. She laughed and pinched his arm, well aware of the erection cradled against her bottom. However he’d been inspired in the shower he obviously hadn’t worn out said inspiration. “Glad you find the accommodations pleasant.”
“Very pleasant. In fact,” he scraped a hand down her torso, his destination clear, “these are the kind of accommodations a man would love to visit again and again.” His words burned against her neck with silent promise.
What did he mean by that? Did he want more than one night? They hadn’t explored everything, that was for damn sure. After they’d had their late-night diner feast, they’d all collapsed and gone to sleep.
There was so much left they could do with one another. So much they could enjoy.
“Thought you were the love ’em and leave ’em type, Mr. Parker,” she teased, meeting his pale blue gaze in the mirror. Today the blue seemed more intense, more like the hottest point of a flame than an arctic winter. “Don’t repeats hurt your rep?”
“Not too concerned about my rep. Also not terribly concerned about love.” He cupped her breasts and rubbed her nipples with his thumbs, focusing all the heat in her body on those two areas.Almostall the heat. “You already have someone who loves you. What I want from you is a bit more basic.”
She swallowed and concentrated on keeping her expression relaxed. “You keep saying that.”
“Yup. And it’s just as much true today as last night. Maybe more so. You might want to think about that, Blondie, before you start putting offers out there that some men are more than willing to take you up on.” With a long meaningful look at her in the glass, he patted her bare butt and stepped away.
“You’re leaving?” she asked when he reached for the doorknob.
“It’s what I do,” he said, a half-smile tipping up his mouth. A moment later he shut the door behind him.
Marcia braced her hands on the sink and stared hard at herself in the mirror. She didn’t look bad. Actually with her seductively tousled hair and low-lidded eyes, she would’ve put her age at just over thirty. Okay, thirty-two. If she squinted just right, she could pretend her face appeared soft with sleep and wasn’t beginning to lose its definition.
Hell, she’d kept up pretty damn good with her men the night before and she would again if—
If.What did she honestly expect to happen? Did she really think Tony would go for another night with Cale? Asking for what she wanted was one thing. Asking for the impossible was another. She cared too much about Tony to risk their relationship over something temporary, even if it was amazing.
No matter what, this couldn’t continue forever. She wasn’t in love with Cale. As hot and fun as he was, he wasn’t lifetime material. True, she hadn’t made it all the way to forever in her mind with Tony but she knew she wanted a lot more time with him.
Tony wasn’t a diversion or a momentary pleasure. He was the real deal. Honest, loyal, wonderful beyond belief. The kind of man a woman could build a life with, were she not scared shitless at the possibility.
She frowned and pushed her hair over her shoulder, still staring at her reflection. She’d taken charge of her sex life and had an almost-in-progress advice book to prove it. The rest of her life might be a little harder to manage but a gal had to start somewhere, right?
Right. Today, she needed to start by taking a shower.
Then she’d tackle her laptop and get started. If things went well—why wouldn’t they?—she’d crank out five thousand words before lunch. Maybe more. After last night, she was feeling especially motivated.
Just before she pulled back the curtain, she noticed the smeared pink highlighter on her breasts. Though the letters had blurred into an almost indistinguishable pink blob, she got the gist. “Sex and candy,” she murmured.
Cale had a point. Thatwouldbe an awesome chapter title. Maybe she’d start there.
Smiling, she stepped into the shower and cranked up the hot water. She felt so inspired she might even clear ten thousand words today. No problem.
* * *
“This blows.”
Marcia stared at her laptop screen and stabbed the delete button over and over until the entire paragraph she’d written disappeared. But not to worry. She hadn’t lost her entire day’s work. Oh no. She’d been camped out at her kitchen table for six hours, so she knew she had to have a lot to show for it.
She scrolled up the page and frowned. Two paragraphs. Really? All of two hundred twelve words. Three hundred and fourteen if she counted the Table of Contents.Sex and Candywould be chapter thirteen, under the subheadFun With Body Parts.
Which sounded kind of zombie-ish actually. Not sexy. None of this sounded sexy. Even her opening sentence sucked. At the rate she was going, there would be no happy ending either.
She blew out a breath and shoved aside her pad of notes. What had she been thinking? She wasn’t a writer. Tony was right. She barely even read. Instead of expanding her mind, she’d let it atrophy under her perfectly coiffed curls until nothing remained but fluff. Business degrees didn’t mean squat when she was sitting in front of a shiny screen that mocked her with its blankness.
