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“Good,” he said, dropping a kiss on her cannoli-flavored lips. “Are you very sore?” God, he hoped she said no.
“I’m fine,” she whispered. The smile that touched her lips spread to her eyes and Josh decided he really admired her nerve. He liked a lot of things about her.
Caroline leaned in and pressed a kiss on his Adam’s apple and Josh felt his body rev up. The arousal was more than obvious and Caroline turned her face to his as she slipped her hands into his shorts. She just let her fingers caress his hips, nothing else, but feeling her touch him this way told him something very important about Caroline... she was a quick study. There definitely were perks to sleeping with a genius.
She kissed him again, deeper this time, and her hands traveled a little more, bringing Josh to the point where he wasn’t able to think coherently. Yeah, she was torturing him, and as much as he wanted to return the favor, he convinced himself he wouldn’t regret being gentle. Not with her.
Even if it killed him.
* * *
The wordsthat came from his mouth sounded like a prayer, even though there was nothing holy about what was going on. Still, Josh closed his eyes and seemed to muster some control. What Caroline didn’t know was how much control he was going to muster. She was suddenly terrified he was going to send her away. And she didn’t want this night to end yet.
Instead, he stepped closer to her and ran his hands down her sides so softly she trembled, and his touch warmed her from the inside out. His eyes, which had been crazed with desire, were now filled with tenderness. “No matter how much I want to, if we do this on the kitchen floor I’ll never forgive myself.”
With care, he reached around her and lifted her into the cradle of his arms. Caroline felt every beat of her heart, every beat of his, as she looped her arms around his neck and let him carry her back to his bed.
The lamp on his bureau cast a soft glow over the room, but Caroline was only aware of Josh and didn’t care about her surroundings. This time, there weren’t any nerves and she allowed herself to slip into the most perfect fantasy. Josh sat on the bed with her still in his arms, and kissed her thoroughly. He was thoughtful with his mouth and tongue. She refused to ruin this by thinking too much, so instead Caroline let herself settle into the soft warmth of his arms, and she lost herself. He slipped his hands under the T-shirt he’d given her and took the time to caress. There was nothing hurried, nothing urgent. Eventually he pulled the shirt over her head and their skin-to-skin contact proved powerful. His body was strong and hard and she sighed as she felt each ridge of muscle. This was every dream she’d ever had and he was every hero she’d ever read about. Her body was alive and her mind floated somewhere between reality and a cloud. There wasn’t blazing heat anymore but a warmth that consumed her as he eased her back into the soft pillows.
His hands were stroking her, his mouth finding spots that made her arch into him. He knew what to do, how to touch her, and Caroline wondered if she’d be spoiled for anyone else after being with Josh. Finally, she pushed off his boxers, freeing him to be with her.
He rifled through a drawer in the nightstand and took precautions before he lay next to her and entered her, and this time, the second time, Caroline could focus on the sensations, the perfection of how they fit together. He buried himself deep, allowing her to feel everything before he started to move and drive her to the edge. Only now he was so aware of her, seemed to be reading her signals, because he slowed his pace and Caroline found herself matching him move for move.
He braced himself above her, his strong arms holding him up, and when Josh looked into her eyes, she saw something. Something warm and kind, and it reached out and held. He wasn’t at all the guy she thought he was, but he was a man. A good man who didn’t want the gentle side to show, but there he was, laying it open to her. Right at that moment, and probably only for this moment, Caroline saw Josh’s heart and it was everything.
4
Josh sat at his desk, hearing the birds sing and watching the sky get lighter. It was six in the morning, and while he was traditionally a very early riser, he wasn’t ever up this early on a Saturday. Especially if he had a pretty woman in his bed.
He and Caroline had had a night he’d chalk up in the books as memorable, but Josh was still trying to wrap his head around what had really happened between them. It was wrong on so many levels and there were moments he felt like he’d taken advantage of her, but deep down, being with her was a good time. A really good time. She was funny and smart and even though she didn’t have a clue about what she was doing, she was great in bed.
He thought about that. She had no experience and yet he couldn’t remember ever having better sex.
And the woman wrote romance novels for God’s sake. How did she pull that off?
Some women were naturally sexual, and it seemed Caroline was one of them. It was a good thing she was a virgin during college because he could just see her terrorizing hoards of frat boys with those bedroom eyes. Josh knew he wouldn’t have been able to resist her when he was twenty-two. Hell, he couldn’t resist her when he was thirty-four.
No, he hadn’t ever experienced someone like her. The women he slept with were all cool, sophisticated and experienced. Caroline was none of those things. She was a generous and responsive lover. So responsive. Hearing the sounds she made and watching her face had been aphrodisiacs.
Looking outside, he knew the morning was going to bring that awkward good-bye. The problem was this one-night stand would never be only about one night.
Hell, they were both going to his brother’s house for dinner the next day.
Josh picked up the folder on his desk that held the soil report for the new project, to get his mind off Caroline. Was there anything that would get his mind off her?
This building project his father wanted to get involved in was one thing. It had all the makings of a financial disaster, and he had to look at every angle before he let things continue. He flipped through the report and hated that he had to question everything his father did. That included the fact that he didn’t trust the engineering firm hired to do the site assessment. Caroline had only asked a couple of questions, but those triggered at least a dozen of his own. This whole project had made him jumpy from the start. Something just wasn’t right.
He hated that he had to question everything, but lately everything associated with his dad was getting a second, and sometimes, a third look. Will Campbell had been playing fast and loose with the company’s money, and while Josh wasn’t averse to risk with regard to investments, he researched everything before sinking in millions of dollars.
Everything with this new project his father wanted to develop in New Jersey had Josh worried, but nothing more than the rush his father had put on the site assessment. This was not the place to cut corners.
“Josh?”
He turned just in time to see her finish buttoning the dress shirt he’d worn yesterday. It dropped to her knees, and Caroline looked like a sexy librarian with her big, brainy-person glasses and tousled hair. He got hot the second he looked at her.
“I thought you’d be asleep till noon.” Because she seemed to like torturing him, Caroline wiggled her butt onto the edge of his desk. If he bent her back he could make love to her right there and the desk would be one more memory they could have.Focus on something else, Josh. Like... business plans.
“What are you doing?”
