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Her worries.
Her gaze shifted from the blur of taillights of the other cars on the freeway to the man driving.
Her inhibitions.
She wished she were drunk. It’d make it easier to do crazy things. The kind of crazy things that wouldn’t be smart business decisions. The kind of crazy things that’d make the next week’s competition with Gage much, much more difficult.
The kind of crazy things that’d feel oh so incredibly good. Things that followed up on the incredibly good feelings he’d given her earlier.
She’d like an orgasm where she didn’t have to be quiet. She’d enjoy having one that included naked body parts. And it’d be even better if most of those naked parts belonged to Gage.
Squirming a little, she dropped her gaze to his lap, and even though it was impossible to enjoy the view since he was seated and driving, she still stared.
Because what she wanted was right there.
Barely aware of what she was doing, she reached her hand out. Maybe to touch it, she wasn’t sure.
Before she could, Gage parked the car.
“Why’d you stop?”
“We’re here.” He tilted his head toward her apartment building. Eyes wide, she followed his gesture. They were here. How’d that happen so fast?
He gave her a curious look. “Are you okay?”
She took a quick inventory. Yep, still relaxed. But there was just enough horror coursing through her at the fact that she’d been about to pet his penis to assure her that, nope, she wasn’t drunk.
“I’m fine.” She offered him a bright smile, then gathered her purse, tucked her scarf tighter into her jacket to battle the chilly San Francisco air and reached for the door handle. “Thank you for the ride.”
“I’ll walk you up.”
“You don’t...” Have to, she thought, staring at the empty seat and closed door.
Well, then.
She turned to let herself out, but Gage was there, opening her door before she could fumble with the handle. He reached out to assist her from the car. Whether because he was a gentleman, or because he was afraid she’d face-plant it on the sidewalk, she wasn’t sure.
“Thank you for the ride,” she said, stepping onto the sidewalk with her feet, not her face. Not a hint of swaying, and only the tiniest desire to rub herself against his body. She was doing great.
“I’ll see you up.”
“It’s a secure building.” She pointed at the cameras and keypad by the glass entrance. “I’ll be fine.”
“I’ll see you up,” he repeated. Then he gave her a cute little shrug. “Hey, it’s a guy thing. End of date, see lady to the door.”
“This wasn’t a date,” she murmured. But hey, if he wanted to go inside, ride the elevator up, walk her the thirty feet, then ride the elevator back down, that was up to him.
She just wished he’d keep a little distance between them on the way. He was so close, she could smell his cologne. She could feel his warmth, tempting her to slide closer.
Suddenly nervous, she wet her lips and tried to think of something to say. But nothing came to mind.
Nope. Definitely not drunk.
And not even relaxed anymore.
In silence, she coded them into the building, then punched the button for the elevator. She gazed at the stainless doors as if her blurry reflection was no end to fascinating, trying to pretend she didn’t feel the heat of Gage’s stare on her face.
Suddenly, all she could think about was the treat he’d served up at dinner. That delicious, mouthwatering orgasm, brought to her by just the tips of his fingers.
It was enough to make a girl beg.
All the more reason to keep her mouth shut. Just in case.
Which she managed to do for the entire elevator ride.
When the doors slid open, she gave him a sidelong glance. Yep, he still looked determined to see her to her apartment. She didn’t bother to suggest they say goodbye, and he followed her out of the elevator.
She silently led the way down five doors to her apartment.
“Well, here we are,” she said in a cheery tone, pulling her keys from her purse and giving him an it’s okay, go away now look. “Thanks for the ride home.”
“Thanks for the great double date,” he shot back with a grin. Then, probably because he’d got the message from her expression, he leaned one shoulder against her door frame and got comfy.
She rolled her eyes.
“Quit saying that.” She put her key in the lock and turned it, but didn’t push the door open. “It wasn’t a date. And if it was, it was a lousy one, given that half of our double didn’t show and the other half spent his time in a room with two women whose ages, added together, still don’t equal his.”
“Maybe we should try it again, just the two of us,” he suggested quietly. So quietly she had a feeling he was just as conflicted by all this crazy passion between them as she was.
The look he gave her was long and considering. Long enough to send the nerves in Hailey’s stomach tumbling all over each other. She didn’t have to wonder what he was considering. The passion in his eyes said it all.
Her chest hurt with the effort to breathe normally, to not give in to the need to whimper and beg. She stared into those dark, intense eyes, her fingers itching to touch his face. To give him back some of the same delight he’d given her earlier.
She forced herself to be practical. To think straight. In other words, to ignore the pounding desire that was screaming through her system.
“Don’t you think that’d be a mistake? You know, since we’re competing for this contract and all.” She tried to soften her refusal with a smile, wishing like crazy she’d taken her chance with him back when he was still just the guy she’d met at the party.
Or that she was the kind of person who could separate one thing from the other. Because she wanted him, badly. So badly, it made her ache.
“Yeah. Competitors,” he confirmed, his smile falling away. The intensity in his gaze didn’t. If anything, it got more powerful. As if he were through searching her mind and was ready to dive into her soul.
“Good night,” he said. His words were a whisper over her skin. A soft caress echoed by his hand sweeping over her hair, cupping the back of her head.
She stared, her eyes huge, as he leaned in. Not touching, except his hand to her hair. His lips descended, his gaze never leaving hers. She sighed as he brushed her mouth with the gentle promise of a kiss.
So sweet.
Who knew he had it in him to be so damned sweet. He made her heart melt. And her resolve, dammit.
He shifted the angle, tilting his head to one side and rubbing his lips over her lower one, then taking it between his teeth to gently, oh so gently, tease.
It was as if he’d connected her to an electric wire. Sparks shot through her body, powering up every cell, sending the smoldering passion into flaming heat in an instant. Hailey gasped. Her nipples hardened and wet desire pooled between her thighs. Desire he knew just what to do with, she recalled.
She finally understood what he’d been looking for with those intense stares. The switch that’d turn off her ability to think and turn her body’s need to desperate.
It worked, too.
Frantic for more, she shifted the kiss. Her mouth opened, enticing, tempting. Trying to tease him into taking more.
Gage groaned but didn’t take the bait. It was as if he was forcing her to make the moves. Daring her to take the role of aggressor.
Okay, then...
Hailey swept her tongue over the seam of his lips, smiling when he opened, letting her in. She sipped, as if he were sweet nectar, until he went wild.
Then he took over.
His tongue plunged, taking hers in a wild, desperate dance.
His fingers tunneled through her hair, holding her captive to his mouth.
Yes.
Excitement pounded through her. On tiptoes, she pressed her body against his, loving that there was no give. Just a brick wall of hard, male flesh.
Releasing her hair, he swept one hand down her back, his fingers curling around the curve of her butt, pulling her closer. Hailey shifted her body so her legs were pressed against his, her core aching, needing more pressure. Needing his touch. His erection, so temptingly hard, pressed against her belly. She wanted to feel it. To see it. Oh, baby, to touch it.
She wrapped one foot behind his calf, then slid it higher, angling herself tighter against his thigh. When her foot skimmed the back of his thigh, he stiffened.
He pulled his mouth away.
Hailey frowned. Forcing her passion-heavy lids open, she gave him a confused look.
“We can’t do this.”
“Sure we can. If we’re lying down, the height difference won’t be a problem,” she assured him breathlessly, releasing her grip on his shoulder to pat one hand on his cheek.
His lips twitched, but Gage still shook his head.
“We can’t. You’re drunk.”
“No,” she told him, giving her head a decisive shake. “I’ve already done a thorough inventory. I’m relaxed, but I’m not drunk.”
“Relaxed?” His eye roll was more a suggestion than an actual move. As if he didn’t want to insult her, but couldn’t hold back the skepticism.
“I’m not drunk,” she repeated. “I can prove it. Come inside. I’ll do that sobriety-test thing.”
“Why can’t you do it here?”
Eyes wide with faux horror, Hailey looked up, then down the hallway.
“Here? Where the neighbors will see and start gossiping? Seriously?”
A silly argument, given that she’d just been wrapped around his body like one of those stripper poles they’d discussed. If the neighbors were the gossiping kind, that would have fueled them plenty. But Gage fell for it, nodding and then slowly—as if he were reluctant to let her go—stepping away.
Hailey turned quickly toward the door to hide her smile.
Dismiss her desire as alcohol-fueled stupidity?
She didn’t think so.
This was pure determination. She wanted him, and for the first time in her life, she was grabbing what she wanted and reveling. If that reveling took place naked, so much the better. She wasn’t going to worry about how it affected others; she wasn’t going to let her fears stop her. She was going to enjoy every delicious second of Gage Milano tonight.
With that in mind, Hailey stepped across the threshold and tossed her purse in the general direction of the hall table. She didn’t notice if the clatter meant she’d hit it, knocked everything over, or if her bag was flying across the floor.
She didn’t care.
The second Gage crossed the doorway, she slapped the door shut and attacked.
With her body, wrapping it around his as tight and close as she could get with both of them in winter coats.
With her hands, skimming and skating them over his rock-hard form, reveling in the rounded muscles of his biceps under his coat, then across the granite planes of his chest.
With her mouth. Oh, baby, with her mouth. She tasted. She nibbled. She wanted to gobble him up.
For a second, a long enough second to inspire untold neurotic worries in her head, Gage was stone still. Other than the heart beating against her hand, he didn’t move.
Shit.
Had she attacked too soon?
Had she misread his signals?
Had that been a pity orgasm over dinner?
Before she could do more than wonder at the depths to which her paranoid mind came up with things to worry about, Gage came to life.
He shoved at her clothes. Her hands pushing his away just as quickly, Hailey shrugged out of her coat and let it fall to the floor at their feet. She wasn’t sure who pushed, shoved or pulled, but her scarf and gloves quickly fell, as well.
Their mouths slid, hot and wet, over each other. Tongues tangled in a wild dance, neither leading, both tempting.
He tasted so good.
He felt even better.
Finally, she was able to get her hands on that body. To scope out the hard planes of his chest, to feel the rounded strength of his biceps.
Hailey growled low in her throat, delighting in his shape. In the power of those muscles. He was built. He was hard. He was hers for the taking.
