He shoved his hands in deeper, imprisoning them. ‘Don’t do this, Jennifer. Don’t let me go back on my word.’
‘Your word...?’ she pressed softly, releasing her bottom lip and leaving it distractingly slick.
He forced his eyes away. ‘I told you I’d keep myself in check.’
‘You told me you’d try your hardest.’
Fuck, show some mercy.
‘I did, and that’s why you should go.’
‘I know what I should do...but...’ She looked at him, eyes wide with desire, and his body reacted in kind.
Shit.
He took hold of her hips, intending to turn her away, but the delicious heat permeating through her skirt killed his intent. ‘Please, Jennifer, you need to help me.’
‘I can’t,’ she said, and for a second he saw her own uncertainty, her own confusion. ‘I don’t know what it is... Maybe it’s the fact I’ve shared more with you tonight than I ever would normally.’ She shrugged. Her eyes, bright with honesty, flitted to his lips and back again as her hand closed around the base of her throat. ‘I just feel so open, exposed...raw, almost...’
‘You and me both,’ he said, realising the truth of it, knowing it should bother him and not caring all the same.
‘Maybe it’s that you’re forbidden territory now...’ She cocked her head to the side and studied him, a kind of confidence coming over her as she seemed to shift gear. ‘Or maybe it’s simply the fact I feel cheated—that you fucked me knowing exactly who I was, whilst I...’
Her words trailed off, her eyes burning into his and sucking him in completely.
Do it. You know you want to. Screw sense.
‘And if we do this,’ he said, ‘then what? We just act like it never happened afterwards?’
Her hands slid up his chest, brushing over his pecs, curving over his shoulders. A trail of crazed sensitivity erupted in their wake as she nodded.
‘Exactly.’
His fingers flexed against her hips. The desire to lift her, carry her to the sofa and do all manner of things raged through his brain. But he needed to hear her say it. He wanted there to be no risk of misunderstanding, no risk to their business relationship.
‘So, what are you saying?’
‘That I need a chance to get you out of my system,’ she said, holding his eyes, ‘to have sex with no lies. You can see it as an IOU, if you like.’
* * *
An IOU? Christ, had she really just said that?
‘One night?’ he pressed, bowing his head.
She hooked her fingers around his neck, loving how his heat permeated her fingers, how the scent of his recent shower engulfed her.
Yes, an IOU—a night to burn him out of her. But would it work?
Doubt nagged, but she didn’t care—not with this crazy need building that only he could slake.
She raised herself on tiptoes and felt his breath catch as she paused, lips hovering a hair’s breadth from his.
‘Just...’ she tugged on his lower lip ‘...one...’ she flicked her tongue out to tease his upper lip ‘...more...’ she pressed her bottom lip against his parted mouth ‘...night.’
‘Fuck, Jennifer,’ he growled, thrusting his hands into her hair and crushing her mouth with his, his possession wild and feverish and everything she craved.
‘Yes...’ she moaned into his mouth, her fingers biting into his neck as she sought to keep them together, fearing he would back away, would change his mind, return to his earlier plan and get Colin.