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  “Except for the fact that she was in the men’s room and the previous occupant hadn’t left,” Cole said.

  “Exactly. I looked, but there were no feet visible in the stalls. It was getting awkward. Here I was in the men’s room, and I could only pretend it was an accident for so long. I really needed the goods this time, since my cover was blown. That’s when my break happened. You know how those locks on the stalls don’t always match up, and the door will swing open?”

  “Is that what happened? Was he there?” Cole asked.

  Jessie nodded.

  Penny’s shoulders slumped. “Well, that doesn’t sound so shocking.”

  “Not unless you think discovering a grown man, naked and standing on top of the toilet, yet doubled over so you can’t spot him above the stall door, is a little shocking.”

  Penny spewed her drink.

  “But wait. The man started complaining that I hadn’t taken his picture.”

  Penny’s forehead wrinkled. “Now I’m confused.”

  “Me, too, at first. I discovered later that this was the man’s wife. They’d hired me because they wanted to get caught doing it in a public place. I caught them the next time, as well. They like the quality of my shots so much they recommend me to a lot of their friends. Half the time when I land a new job, I don’t know if I’m getting a real potential cheating client or a friend of this couple’s. I just snap the picture, send it to the P.O. box and get my check.”

  Nicole began to laugh. “That is the weirdest story I’ve heard in a long time. Not sure how I can use it, but…”

  “Maybe we can spin it into one of the ‘keeping your relationship fresh’ segments,” Penny said.

  Eve smiled. “Penny, I think you’re going to fit in on the Just Between Us staff just fine.”

  The band finished their tune-up and the lead singer started the set off with an energetic dance number.

  Nicole cleared her throat. “Ladies, there’s no use expecting these men to get out on the floor for a fast dance, so I say we leave them behind and go out there and have a great time. That includes you, Jessie.”

  Jessie looked in Cole’s direction. No help there. He leaned back in his seat as if he would appreciate the show.

  With reluctant steps she followed the other ladies onto the makeshift dance floor. She felt Cole’s eyes on her all the way, and she smiled to herself. And suddenly she was no longer reluctant. If he wanted a show, then a show he’d get. She liked having his eyes on her. Wanted to feel the heat of his gaze. Shifting so that she was in his line of sight, Jessie rolled her head. Her hair fell across her face, the strands sliding down her cheeks.

  Dancing was pure self-expression, and lured a man, spoke to him on an elemental level. Only one other place did a woman have the same full freedom to explore her personal power: in bed. Thinking of sex gave Jessie the confidence to explore her sensuality on the dance floor. She made sure her every movement, from the gentle roll of her pelvis, to the thrust of her hips, was a promise. As she swayed, she stroked her skin.

  Subtle moves. To a casual observer it would look like dancing. But to a man who’d gazed at her as Cole had when they’d played darts, with blatant hunger in his eyes, her movements were an invitation. And a warning.

  With her hands she traced the neckline of her blouse and stroked slowly down her sides as she swayed to the music. A move designed to make him think of where he wanted to put his hands on her body. Touching. Caressing.

  She met his gaze. The craving for her in those depths. He swallowed.

  Now was the time. The payoff in the seduction dance. She projected every one of her wayward intentions through her body. Through her eyes.

  And just as she saw his shoulders tense and his hands fist, as if he was about to push off from the table and join her, she took a step back. Allowed other dancers to block his view of her. Because the most important lesson she’d learned was to always leave a man wanting more.

  Cole let out a breath and was finally able to drag his eyes away from the dance floor. What the hell was that? He took a swig from his beer bottle.

  His stomach was in knots—so much so that he laughed to himself and shook his head. Old-fashioned, red-hot desire. That’s what it was.

  Now to destroy it.

  It wasn’t as if he’d never seen a woman dance before. But the way Jessie gyrated to the music had taken it to a whole new level. A dangerous level, because he hadn’t been able to look away. Her movements were pure I-enjoy-sex carnality. Her nipples had been hard. Was she wet?

  And when those slender fingers of hers had teasingly fanned down her body, the only thought in his head was how quickly he could get her off that crowded floor and into the privacy of…Hell, he didn’t care where they went. Just so they were alone.

  Jessie Huell was one sexy woman. It wasn’t just that she had a fantastic body. It was her whole attitude. The confidence. The ease with which she talked to him. And when her gaze collided with his, he was lost. The look in her eyes…as if she were in the middle of a sexual fantasy, and he was the star…made every rational thought leave his head.

  Cole wanted Jessie Huell.

  It was as if everything he’d turned off, so he could concentrate on his daughters and his career, had suddenly reconnected and fired up. He was ready to make up for lost time.

  For a second, he gave in to the rush. The adrenaline pumping through his system. The satisfaction knowing a hot, desirable woman wanted him.

  But the woman was Jessie Huell. And this particular female came with a boatload of complications. Their past. His promise. The list could go on and on.

  He’d given up complications when his ex-wife had left. It was necessary. He had two little girls depending on him to make the right decisions in his life. He owed them that and so much more.

  So he’d enjoy the way the woman danced. Take the gut-level pleasure in having a woman desire him, and leave it at that.

  6

  JESSIE SHIFTED NERVOUSLY in her seat. Slowly, their party had dissolved into pairs. Jane with Perry, Eve with Mitchell and Nicole with Devon. And those pairs slipped into the darkness of the dance floor or shadowed corners of the bar to be alone. Penny was at the bar, chatting up a man who’d bought her a drink.

  There were three specific times when interacting with the opposite sex grew really self-conscious and uncomfortable. Now was one of them. Number one on the list—when the men and women paired off, leaving a woman and the only other single male.

  Jessie was alone with Cole.

  The atmosphere grew taut with awareness. Cole stood beside her, big and tall and strong in a way that was uniquely male. And Cole Crawford was all man. If she put her imagination to the task, she could feel his body heat, smell that woodsy scent of his cologne. A wave of tight unease spread down her back. But she was kidding herself. It wasn’t unease. It was sensual, actually. Every nerve ending was totally and completely aware of him.

  Around them the music echoed. The beat pounding in her chest.

  They both reached for their drinks at the same time. Their knuckles brushed. Lingered a little longer than necessary. She took a sip, needing the chill of the juice to cool her. This whole waiting for him to do something felt so familiar, as if she’d done this exact same thing before.

  In fact, she had. But she wasn’t that girl who watched as life passed her by. She set her glass down and turned to face Cole.

  Did any man look better than he did at this moment? The flashing blue and red dance lights glinted along his firm jaw, highlighting the sexy fullness of his bottom lip. The dimness of the bar masked the expression in his eyes, but his body let her know he’d stayed beside her for something other than the music.

  She met his gaze head-on, allowing her eyes to drift to his mouth the way his gaze had drifted to her lips earlier. The message she sent him couldn’t be more clear. But just in case…

  “I don’t make the first move,” she told him, her stare direct.

  His shoulders stif
fened. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the beer bottle tighter.

  Of course, she’d said she didn’t make the first move, but that was meant to be one.

  Which led to awkward situation number two: that moment right before a kiss. Or a potential kiss. Or the offer of a kiss that was turned down flat.

  Her heartbeat quickened, and she heard the sound of her blood rushing in her ears.

  These moments were a kind of torture.

  “I do.” Cole shoved his beer bottle onto the table, then shifted toward her. He raised his hands to cup her face, his thumb caressing her chin. Her lower lip. His eyes narrowed, focused solely on her. Almost as if he were searching.

  This was it. Cole Crawford, the boy of her dreams, the man of her private fantasies, was finally going to kiss her. She held her breath in anticipation. She no longer cared if reality destroyed fantasy.

  He lowered his head. Slowly. Torturously slow. Her eyes drifted shut with the first brush of his mouth. His lips were soft and gentle against hers. But she didn’t want soft and gentle. She licked the seam of his lips, and with a groan, his kiss deepened. He sank his fingers into her hair. His tongue plunged into her mouth. He tasted good, like danger and pure heat.

  This was way better than anything her imagination could have conjured. Cole’s hands lowered and he dragged her to his chest. She wrapped her arms around his neck, the tips of her fingers brushing the hair at his nape, drawing him closer still. His kiss grew hungry, his fingers restless, and Jessie felt how much Cole wanted her.

  “The things I’d like to do to you,” she whispered. The things she’d like him to do to her.

  Her breathing grew ragged. This. This was what she needed. It had been so long since she’d felt the ecstasy of having a man sexually attracted to her. The beating her pride had taken after finding her fiancé in bed with another woman was forgotten.

  “We have to get out of here,” Cole growled, and she felt the rumble of his chest against hers. The desire in his voice made her body grow urgent and hypersensitive.

  A woman’s laugh from the table beside them broke them apart. Jessie tried to scramble out of Cole’s arms, but he held her close.

  “Should we tell the others?”

  He shook his head. “They’ll figure it out.”

  “I have to be at work in thirty minutes,” she told him, not bothering to hide her disappointment. They didn’t have a lot of time.

  He released her. His expression darkened. The heat surrounding them waned. “I’ll walk you to your car,” he said, his voice tight. Strained. She thought she may have heard him say, “Just as well,” under his breath.

  “That’s not necessary.”

  He lifted an eyebrow. “It’s nighttime. I walk a woman to her car.”

  Jessie smiled to herself, relishing having Cole get all protective. Protective of her. She should tell him she had extensive training in aikido and that the gun she’d mentioned while playing darts was actually in her purse. But she wasn’t stupid. A woman alone was a much easier target than one with a man. More to the point, she wasn’t stupid enough to turn down time with Cole.

  He took her hand, his fingers twining with hers. He felt solid and warm as he led her quickly through the restaurant.

  The cool night air hit her heated skin, giving her goose bumps. She’d blame the fact that her nipples were now beaded under the lavender blouse on the weather, too. Neither she nor Cole said a word as they retraced their steps to the TV station.

  He led her to the parking lot, where they officially reached awkward scenario number three. They’d been left alone. They’d kissed. Now would they leave it at that?

  “There’s still a lot of cars here,” she said, glancing around and trying to make conversation.

  “Staff has to stay on twenty-four–seven to keep the station running. You never know when something might happen.”

  “That’s my car over there. The black one,” she told him, pointing to a vehicle bathed in the amber overhead light. Could this conversation become any more stilted? If one of them even mentioned the weather she’d bolt.

  They stopped at her car door, neither saying a thing, the atmosphere intense. “Okay, then…” She began to rummage through her purse for her keys. “It was good seeing you again, Cole.”

  She glanced up, meeting his eyes.

  And almost dropped her keys, her purse and her composure.

  A look of utter wanting haunted his eyes. Jessie forgot about first moves and awkwardness. She wrapped her arms around him. With a groan he hauled her up against him. Their lips met.

  Jessie longed to drag her hands over every part of his body. She loved the feel of his muscular arms, his tight butt. She hooked her leg around his calf, and felt the strain of his muscles. Here was a man about to lose control. She almost smiled, reveling in the sensual power she had. Relishing his need for her.

  Cole kissed her eyes, her cheeks, her chin. When his lips, then his tongue, found the skin above her collarbone, she gasped, arching upward. Her hips jutted into his. The hard ridge of his erection pressed against her most sensitive spot. Jessie moaned, not caring how it sounded.

  And he grew harder. “Jessie, what you do to me.” His voice was a ragged whisper.

  His fingers wrapped around her leg, gently drawing it up around his waist. Cole caressed the skin above her knee, his hand questing higher.

  She shivered, twining her fingers in his hair and drawing his earlobe into her mouth.

  “I want to touch all of you,” he said insistently.

  He turned her so that she faced her Impala. Bracing her arms on the roof of the car, she let out a low moan as his lips found the erogenous place below her ear. With one hand caressing her breast, the other slowly moving down her waist, Cole made Jessie feel decadent.

  When his hand found her hip, he pulled her to him. She again gasped, this time at the amazing sensation of Cole’s cock pressed firmly against her bottom. “That’s better,” he whispered.

  He slid his hand down her shirt…seeking. Frustration filled her. She was impatient with straps, hooks, underwires and elastic. “I hate my bras.”

  His breath fluttered against her neck when he chuckled. “No, it’s sexy.” Finally, finally Cole’s hand cupped her breast. Her nipple hardened even further, and she rolled her head back to rest on Cole’s shoulder. Her eyes drifted shut in pleasure.

  Jessie began to pant. “Cole,” she pleaded. Not sure what she intended to say.

  His other hand slid up her thigh, not stopping at the barrier of her panties, but slipping inside. Her legs began to quiver.

  “You’re so wet,” he said as he stroked her. His finger found her clit, circled around it. She cried out, backing harder against his penis.

  “Damn, Jessie. You turn me the hell on.”

  She opened her eyes, seeing her face reflected in the car window. Her hair was a mess, tumbled about her face. Her lips were slightly parted, and swollen from their kiss. She looked a little wild. Like a woman enjoying her man.

  She smiled at her reflection. And how did she plan to enjoy that man. Jessie almost laughed. She was actually with Cole Crawford. Mr. Perfect. And he was doing everything perfectly.

  He stroked her. A long caress touching and teasing every inch of her. She bucked against him.

  Cole groaned. “Do that again.”

  “Then you do that again,” she told him, her voice filled with satisfaction. Satisfaction knowing she could make him as hot and bothered as he made her.

  He licked the back of her neck as he plunged his whole hand into her panties. He cupped her. She gasped. His thumb gently caressed her clit as his finger pierced her wet core. Mimicking sex. Teasing her. Making her want more. And she did want more. She wanted it all.

  His other hand continued to stroke and mold her breast. Her nipple ached to feel the touch of his fingers. The warmth of his mouth.

  He added another finger to her slick core. Her muscles surged around him. “Oh, Cole…”


  “What?” he asked, his mouth traveling to her earlobe, giving it a tug with his teeth. “Tell me. I want to hear your voice.”

  “If you don’t stop, I’m going to…”

  “Go. Come, Jessie. I’ve wanted to watch you come since I saw you dance tonight.”

  She opened her eyes, meeting his gaze in the reflection of her window. His jaw was set, his expression determined. He added another finger.

  “Ahhh,” she groaned. Her eyes closed as the force of her orgasm hit her. She ground against him as wave after wave of pleasure raced through her body.

  Afterward, she sagged against the car. Her legs felt shaky, but there was still a hard penis poking her from behind. And right now, all she could think about was getting her hands wrapped around him. Energy began to chase away her orgasm-induced lethargy.

  Jessie reached to stroke him.

  He blocked her hand. “But—”

  “You have to get to work,” he reminded her.

  “I can be late,” she said, her voice coming out husky and tired. Like a woman well satisfied.

  The muscles of his arms tightened. Then he turned her to face him and lightly kissed her lips. Although the kiss thrilled her, she knew what it was by the way he didn’t linger. How the hunger had vanished. A goodbye kiss.

  “I want to make you feel good,” she told him, sucking his lower lip into her mouth.

  “I can’t have you lose a job because of me.” Where was the bad boy who’d skip an assembly with a wink? “When I make love to you I want to go slow so we can do it all night.”

  Ah, there he was. Now, what kind of woman would argue with that?

  He looked behind his shoulder briefly, then his dark eyes met hers once more. “And I don’t want any chance of an interruption.”

  With reluctance, Jessie bent down to retrieve her keys and purse. When had she dropped those? Probably sometime between Cole thrusting his hand under her shirt or his fingers down her panties.

  Jessie adjusted her clothes quickly. She couldn’t help the small smile that played around her lips. This was definitely not what she’d expected when she’d been awakened this morning by the ringing of the telephone.