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Was she nuts to also feel like it was kind of cozy under the warmth of his arm?
Of course not. She wasn’t the cozy type any more than the hugging type. It must be the hangover.
“Please get up. This is getting embarrassing.”
“Just give me a second.” The voice sounded muffled but familiar.
Of course it was familiar—she’d just been intimate with the man. “I’ve given you more than a minute and I’m running out of patience.” There, she’d used her cutting courtroom voice. It should have him out of here in minutes. She hadn’t been christened The Shark for nothing.
The hand slid up her arm, intimately, seeking. It felt good, which angered her, so she reached over to push it away. Then she struggled out from under the dead weight until she came to the edge of the bed, where for some inexplicable reason, she hesitated.
She was naked.
She needed cover. The sheet and thin blanket were tangled around at least six feet of male flesh. The bedspread wasn’t an option, as it was probably gross from the hundreds of guests who stayed in this hotel. She had no robe, because she liked to be naked, and she was usually totally comfortable with her body. Yet she hesitated to get out of the bed.
Why? Why should this time be any different? Maybe it was the paid part of the situation that bothered her, since she’d never paid for sex before.
“Why should I have to get up when technically this is my bed bought and paid for?” she mused aloud.
“Because I seem to have thrown out my back.”
She looked over at him. With the mask gone and those incredible blue eyes blinking at her, there was no denying she’d seen that face before. “Tyler?” Her voice went shrill. “What the hell are you doing in my bed?”
Still lying on his stomach, he rubbed his hand over his beard-stubbled gorgeous face. “You hired me.”
“I did no such thing. I hired The Bandit.” She clung to the corner of the sheet as if it were a lifeline because her heart was sinking fast.
“You can negotiate for a refund, but I counted your orgasms last night, and I’m pretty sure you got your money’s worth.” He sounded so very smug.
“Get up. Get out. Just get.” Her voice rose with every get. Her heart was not sinking. She was just disappointed in Tyler for lying so spectacularly to her. And she was angry. Very angry, she told herself.
Okay, why wasn’t she furious?
“I can’t. I’ve thrown my back out.”
She scooted off the bed. It seemed safer to be naked and exposed than to be close to Tyler. “What exactly does that mean?” she asked scathingly.
“I’m having muscle spasms in my back, probably from our workout last night. I’ll be okay if you’ll soak a towel in hot water and lay it on my back. Eventually the muscles will loosen up, and I’ll be able to get up.”
“Our workout? It wasn’t even supposed to be you last night. And I will not soak a towel and put it on your back. I’m never touching you again. You…you, low-life probationer!”
“Okay, then just leave me. I’ll call down to the desk for some anti-inflammatory medication. I’ll request a later checkout, take a nap, and in a few hours I’ll be just fine.” He flexed his shoulders, and then with a grimace stopped trying to shift.
He looks like a fish floundering.
Offering him no sympathy, Tina looked around for her clothing. It was strewn around the room with an abandon that made her grind her teeth. “Technically, this is my hotel room.”
True, she hadn’t even brought in her overnight bag from the car—she’d barely had time to tuck her toothbrush into her purse because of some last-minute dinner glitch—but it was the principle of the thing.
“I’ll be happy to reimburse you the cost of the room,” he said so reasonably Tina just exploded.
“And what about the cost of our little interlude? What the hell did you think you were doing pretending to be a stripper?”
He started to shrug, and then tensed up again. The pain on his face stood out in stark relief, and for a moment she almost felt sorry for him.
“I’m not sure I knew what I was doing. All I could think about was that I didn’t want him to touch you. I’m sorry if I’ve caused you any embarrassment. But hey, I saved you from a stripper. Who knows where the man’s been or whether he even intended to use a condom!”
“I brought plenty of condoms!”
“You were too far gone to tell if he even used one or not.”
“I was not. I was in control. In fact I remember every detail….” She trailed off. The blush started at her forehead and seemed to travel down her body. She did remember every detail, and it had been incredible. And it had been Tyler.
She swallowed hard.
Tyler, who strode into a courtroom with the careless elegance of a 1940s actor. Tyler, with dark blond hair still streaked from the cruise, since he wore it just a little longer than was absolutely professional. Tyler, with eyes so intensely blue they warmed like a summer sky, which had his witnesses, both male and female, stammering to please during their testimonies.
He simply had that effect on people.
And that body. He’d sculpted it even more since the last time they’d made love. Tyler was so perfect, he was scary.
Not scary.
She was never scared.
And she just didn’t do relationships, even with perfect men.
Perfect? What was she thinking? He was just like every other man in the world, telling lies to get what he wanted. She couldn’t trust him!
“How could you?” she raged. “After I told you that I didn’t want to see you again? I think I was rather explicit after you stayed at my place. What part of never again didn’t you understand?”
She took a breath and then it hit her. She even pointed a finger at him. “And you had your hand up Sheila’s skirt last night. If you ever touch me again, I’m going to fillet you!”
Did he smile? Had he dared to smile? She would teach him while she had him at her mercy. Her own smile felt feral.
“You don’t mean that. You’re just angry.” His eyes were earnest. “You haven’t even given us a chance.”
“We were together on the cruise.”
“That wasn’t reality. It was a singles’ cruise. We have a lot in common in real life.”
“And we had a few dates after that, but you’re a lawyer, how many times do I have to tell you that I don’t date lawyers!”
“More times.”
She wanted to stomp her foot or throw something at him. “How many more times?”
“A lot more times.”
“Get up and get out!” She pointed at the door.
“No can do, unless you intend to help me out.” He sounded so matter-of-fact.
She cautioned herself to be calm, like him. This was no time to let her emotions rule her. “You need a hot towel placed on your back to loosen up the muscles? And then you’ll be able to get dressed and leave the room? I want to be very clear on what I need to do to get rid of you.”
“Some anti-inflammatory medicine would help if you have anything on you.”
“Massage therapist? Dancing girls? An eight-course meal brought in and fed to you with an after-dinner mint placed on the pillow?”
“I know, it’s a pain. This hardly ever happens anymore since I started strength training for my back. I probably shouldn’t have picked you up.”
“You call slinging me over your shoulder picking me up?” She laughed tauntingly. “Well, let me tell you, it’s hardly romantic, so you won’t have to do it again.”
“Don’t lie. You loved it. You were so hot I thought the sheets would catch fire.”
She pushed her hair back. How to argue when he was absolutely right? “I can’t help it if you’re such a loser you can’t lift your lover.” It sounded lame but it should at least put a dent in his ego.
“I’ll work up to the lifting part,” he offered.
“No way in hell. I’m not your lover anyway.” She stalked over to pick up her purse from where she’d dropped it on the floor, and then came back to sit on the edge of the bed while she rummaged through it. “I’ve got to have some anti-inflammatory in my purse.”
“Great.”
“Then you don’t need the hot towel?” She knew she sounded hopeful, but the nurse thing just didn’t appeal to her. There was no empathy in her soul, just impatience.
“I’ll be able to move as soon as the medication kicks in. I usually take the pills, and then I go back to sleep for an hour or so.”
She turned around and stomped into the bathroom, naked and too angry to feel awkward. She grabbed a towel and put it in the tub and then she turned on the hot tap full force. “I can’t believe this,” she muttered. “I can’t believe he lied to me. How could this have happened?” She watched the steam rise up from the running water with great satisfaction.
She’d sworn off Tyler after she’d been stupid enough to allow him to break her rule of no men at her home. Something about Tyler got under her skin. Well, she had no intention of dating a lawyer no matter how incredible the chemistry between them. The worst part was he seemed to want more than just sex.
Although the man was amazing at sex.
She wiped away the perspiration on her forehead from the steam rising up from the tub. The towel was going to melt if she didn’t get it out—which suited her purpose perfectly. She turned off the tap.
She reached down to touch the steaming towel and then drew away. “Ow.”
“Are you okay?”
“Just be quiet. Okay? I’m so angry with you right now. How dare you come back into my life when I specifically told you goodbye.”
“Jeez, I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it. I wanted you so badly I would have done anything to be the one you were looking at with that hunger on your face.”
She dropped the towel back into the tub with a satisfying splat. “Have you no pride?” she yelled. “There you are, a successful lawyer. Every woman in the field is trying to snag you. Yet you’ve been reduced to saying silly, sappy things to a woman who’s told you repeated times she doesn’t want anything to do with you. I should sue you for harassment—and use Beaterman as my lawyer while I’m at it.”
She managed to squeeze some of the excess water out of the towel by pressing the base of the bathroom trash can against the tub. Then she wrapped the towel in two other towels to avoid the prospect of the very hot water dripping on her naked body.
Guess it’s a good thing I didn’t bother to get dressed. And isn’t he going to be hot under the collar when I put this burning hot towel on his back?
“Beaterman’s an ass.”
“That’s exactly why I’d use him. He drives you crazy, and he’d bust your butt, just to impress me.” She eyed the steam coming off the towel. “This is really, really hot,” she warned him as she approached the bed.
“The hotter the better.” He grimaced again.
She felt her conscience kicking in. Too bad, since she felt like kicking him.
“No, I mean, it’s seriously hot.” She turned around just short of the bed to take it back and rinse it in cold water.
“I can stand a little heat, which is exactly why I’m still interested in you. Even if everyone tells me you’re a bitch. Even if they tell me you’re not someone to snag or bag. Even when you snarl at me.”
Tina turned around. Snarling.
“Well, you may have bagged me, but you certainly haven’t snagged me.” She leaned over the bed and dumped the hot towel directly on his back over the sheet.
Tyler made a sound, a cross between a moan and a grunt. He came up off the bed a few inches before falling back onto the bed. Those beautiful eyes actually rolled. “Damn. Damn. Damn!”
Were there tears in those incredible eyes or were they just watering? Tina didn’t know, but she felt like a murderer.
She dumped the towels she’d used to transport the hot towel, then grabbed a bottle of water from the minibar, opened it and poured the entire thing over his back.
His long ohhhhhh of relief made her sink down on the edge of the bed, still naked, vulnerable and now feeling guilty as hell.
“My ass is getting all wet,” she complained.
“So is mine,” he choked out.
“This isn’t going well.”
“That’s an understatement. I think you might have to call an ambulance—I think I’ve got second-degree burns.”
Guilt flared, though she didn’t let it show when she barked, “Let me see. You’re probably just being a big baby.” She pulled the wet sheet and sodden towel off his back. His skin was red under there, but she couldn’t see any blisters. “I’m sure you’ll feel fine after we rub some aloe vera on it.”
“Rub?”
“Yeah. I’ve got some in my purse. I intended to come early yesterday to lie by the pool, but there was a small crisis with the dinner, so I didn’t get a chance.”
“I don’t think I trust you to rub anything on me. It will probably be pure alcohol, not aloe vera.”
“I do have an entire minibar from which to choose my poison.”
“You are nasty.”
“A compliment. You must be cooling off.”
“Is the towel still warm? Just put it on my lower back. No rubbing.”
“I’ll rub if I want to. But don’t think that means I feel sorry for you. You’re the one who deceived me. I do not feel guilty.” She muttered the last part under her breath.
