That sixty-foot wave was swelling to eighty feet. Why was he on this crazy ride with her? His gut wasn’t screaming that the risk was too great. What if this wasn’t just about getting her into bed? What if he wanted more? God, he was risking emotional annihilation if he couldn’t master this ride, but he still didn’t pull the offer, didn’t back away.
He couldn’t.
He forced the words out. “It’s just money, Piper.”
It could only be about money; he couldn’t afford anything else—like his future or his heart—to be at stake.
Piper rested her forehead on his biceps, and he looked down at her bright hair. He wanted her, and his raging desire had nothing to do with gemstones or money or houses in Brooklyn.
He just flat-out wanted her under him, naked and panting. He had since she’d walked into his life a little less than a week ago.
Jaeger dropped his arm, turned to face her and waited for her to meet his eyes. She would; he knew she would. She couldn’t resist temptation any more than he could. That he wasn’t alone in this madness made him feel, strangely, a little less like he was surfing that wave.
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” he said, his voice gruff, “but I want you.”
Piper lifted her hand to touch his chest, and he felt her warmth through the thin layer of his cotton T-shirt. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I want you back.”
He knew that. He was old enough to recognize mutual attraction when it was standing between them, doing the tango. Sex was just sex, a good way to blow off steam. They weren’t kids, and he was sure Piper wouldn’t think this could be the start of something that went deeper than mutual pleasure. He didn’t want her getting the wrong idea. Hell, he didn’t want either of them getting swept up in the moment and thinking this was more than it could be.
“Sex is all that’s on the table, Piper.” Jaeger jammed his hands in the pockets of his jeans so he didn’t reach for that big button that held her wraparound skirt together.
“I never thought anything else was on offer,” Piper replied, her eyes steady on his. “Apart from the fact that we’ve known each other for a week, I’m a single mother who has got more than enough to deal with without the complication of a relationship. I’d like to be with you, for an hour or two, so I can step out of my crazy life.
“I want to do nothing but touch you and have you touch me, think of nothing more than how much pleasure you are going to give me. I need to escape and I think I could, with you. A lover is what I need tonight.” Piper looked at her watch and grimaced. “Well, for the next hour or so.”
Jaeger felt the air leave his body, and he lifted his hands so he could frame her face. His fingers speared into her curls and she gripped his wrists, looking up at him with big eyes. He couldn’t wait to touch her, to kiss her, but first things first.
He moved his hand to the back of her head and found the pins restraining her curls. He pulled them out one by one and tossed them to the floor, allowing her hair to fall over his hands and wrists. “That’s better. Now let’s get rid of the skirt and shirt.”
Piper started to remove her glasses, but Jaeger captured her hand and pulled it back to her side. “Nope, the boots and glasses stay on...”
* * *
This was what she needed, Piper thought as Jaeger pulled her turtleneck over her head, being careful not to dislodge her glasses, and dropped the garment to the couch.
Jaeger ran his finger over the edges of her pale green lacy bra, from one side to the other and back again. It felt like he was running a gentle firecracker over her skin. Every cell in her body woke up and did a hello-there-darling stretch.
Yeah, Jaeger touching her was exactly what she needed, what she wanted. For eighteen months she’d thought of little more than Ty and his needs—whether he was thriving, growing, happy. She hadn’t had a date, or sex, in far too long, and she’d forgotten how amazing it felt to be the object of a man’s attention—a very sexy man’s attention.
It was a fantastically bad idea. That was indubitable. But she wanted him. So—what the hell?—she was going for it.