She pushed his jacket off his shoulders, and he shrugged out of it. Then his attention turned to her neck, planting hot, moist kisses in every sensitive spot.
She struggled with his tie, but had trouble keeping her concentration.
He rolled her panties down, grasping her bare buttocks, his fingers brushing the sensitive skin on her inner thigh.
“You’re gorgeous,” he breathed. “Stunning.”
She felt her body subconsciously strain toward his hands. She’d never had arousal rush at her this fast.
“I can’t get your tie undone,” she moaned.
He chuckled roughly in her ear, reaching to help her, his strong hand covering hers, working at the knot.
“You’re gorgeous, too,” she whispered.
“You haven’t seen me yet.”
“It’s not because I’m not trying.”
He chuckled again, pulling off his tie. “There.”
“Lose the shirt.”
“Yes, ma’am.” His hands went for the buttons.
“Hey, I like that. Why aren’t you always this easy to get along with?”
“Why aren’t you always this naked?”
“That solve the problem?” she asked.
“Absolutely.” He stripped off his shirt.
Shelby’s mouth all but watered as she took in his strong pecs, washboard stomach and broad, bare shoulders. “I doubt we’d get any work done.”
“We definitely wouldn’t get any work done.” He put his arms around her, supporting her spine, as he eased her down onto the plush carpet. Then he pulled back to let his hot gaze take in the length of her naked body. “But I wouldn’t care.”
“Your partners might.”
He slid one hand from the curve of her hip up the side of her rib cage, along the swell of her breast. “I’ve been wanting to do that all night long.”
“So the dress wasn’t a total bust?”
He shook his head. When his hand reached her underarm, he kept going, pushing her arm above her head.
“Stunning,” he whispered, dipping his head to take her nipple into his mouth.
As his tongue hit her sensitive flesh, a moan leaped from her mouth, and her spine arched in ecstasy.
He pulled back with a masculine smile of satisfaction. “Too bad there isn’t something I want to get from you.”
She cocked her head. “I thought there was something you wanted from me.”
“You’re a tease.”
“Is that a problem?”
“Absolutely not.” He reached to the table behind him and lifted his brandy glass. “Sex should be fun.” He dipped his own finger into the amber liquid this time, then he moistened her lips with the liquor.
She barely had time to taste the tip of his finger, when he was kissing the brandy away. She lifted her head, opened her mouth, kissed him deeper and deeper.
Too soon, he pulled away, and she drew in rapid breaths.
He dipped his finger again. This time moistening her nipples before thoroughly devouring the sweet brandy.
The sensation was exquisite, and just when she thought she couldn’t take another second, he pulled back. She bit down on another moan.
He lifted the glass, trickling a few drops of liquid into her navel.
She watched, mesmerized while he tongued it away, gently flicking the gold ring, expanding his circle of kisses to her entire stomach until she gasped his name.
He pulled back again.
No. No. She hadn’t meant stop.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yessss.”
He gave her a sexy, knowing grin. Lifting the glass snifter. This time he trickled the lukewarm liquid over her soft curls.
She nearly came up off the floor when it trickled over her super-sensitive flesh.
He kissed her, and she hissed his name.
He kept kissing, and she reached for his hair as her blood reached the boiling point and sensation began to throb its way up from her toes.
“Dallas.”
“Enough?”
“Oh, God.”
He pulled back, stroking his rough fingertips along the insides of her thighs.
She spread wider.
“Gorgeous,” he whispered, shucking his pants.
“Now,” she pleaded, squirming, stuck on an intense plane of arousal.
He positioned himself over her, kissing his way up her abdomen, pausing on each breast as she grasped his back, urging him on, panting in anticipation.
He kissed her neck.
She arched toward him, kissing his temple, digging her nails into the skin of his back.
“You’re killing me,” she whispered.
“I’m killing myself.”
She told him succinctly and crudely just exactly what she wanted him to do and when she wanted him to do it. Which was now.
That did it.
He was inside her.
Her nerve endings swelled around him. She arched up as he stroked her. He dipped his fingertip into the brandy once more, covering her lips with the sticky liquid, pushing his finger into the cavern of her mouth so she could tongue the sweet liquid.
Then he replaced his finger with his mouth. His tongue pushed inside, mimicking the movements of his body, taking her to impossible heights.
She locked her ankles around him. “Dallas. Dallas. Dallas.”
“Oh, Shelby. I can’t…I’ve never…”
She groaned and her entire body convulsed in a sheet of light.
Dallas was seconds behind her, holding her tight, kissing her hard, his sweat-slicked body pressed against her as if he’d never let go.
8
DALLAS CRADLED SHELBY in his arms amid a disarray of scattered clothes, file folders and a tipped brandy snifter, while he waited for the world to right itself.
She shifted, her warm, damp body rubbing pleasantly against his. “You do realize this has to be a one-shot deal.”
“Of course,” he muttered against her hair, inhaling its scent, unable to find the energy to make plans past the next five minutes or so.
“I don’t do bosses.”
He chuckled his disbelief.
She nudged him with her hip. “You know what I mean. And I am definitely not your type.”
She was right, of course. His type was about as far away from Shelby as a woman could get. Which made him wonder for a second why he’d never had such mind-blowing sex with someone who was his type. But he was too tired to ponder something that complex, so he shelved the question for now.
He shifted, so that her rear end nestled against his stomach, spoon fashion. He kissed the back of her neck, nuzzling the fine hairs at the base of her skull. “If we don’t stop, does it still count as one shot?”
She tipped her head, to better expose her neck to his kisses. “I like the way you think, Williams.”
“I like the way you taste, Jacobs.”
“It’s the brandy.”
“Uh-uh. It’s you.”
Her body stiffened as she seemed to suddenly remember something. “You sipped brandy from my navel.”
“Yeah?”
“But, you seem so…”
He didn’t let the conversation keep him from kissing her, moving from her neck along her shoulder, wondering how long he had to reasonably wait before making love to her again. “I seem so…what?”
“So, I don’t know…Staid, conservative, serious.”
“Serious guys can’t like sex?”
“I expected…”
He stroked the backs of his knuckles over the side of her breast and along the indentation of her waist. “What? Closed-mouth kissing and the missionary position?”
“Something like that.”
He chuckled, tugging gently at her ear with his teeth. “Disappointed?”
“Nope.”
He waited for a second. “Nope? After all that, a nope is the only compliment I get?
She didn’t answer, just smirked at the insecurity in his question.<
br />
He sighed heavily and touched his forehead to her temple. “You’re hard on a guy’s ego, you know that?”
She turned onto her back and stared up at him, eyes turning dark jade, expression serious. “How’s this? I just had the greatest, most mind-blowing sex of my life, with a guy that surprised the hell out of me.”
Dallas’s heartbeat thudded deeply in his chest.
“And, I’m wondering,” she continued, “how I’m going to face him day in, day out at the office, knowing we can never do it again.”
“I withdraw my complaint,” he whispered, dipping to capture her mouth in a kiss that was as tender as it was sexy.
Her arms snaked around his neck, and he eased his weight down on top of her. The kiss grew hotter and deeper, and his hands roamed her slick, scented body. “This still counts as once, right?”
“It’s once until we stop,” she confirmed.
“Perfect.” Maybe they’d never stop. Maybe he could keep her here in his apartment for the next six months.
The passion rose quickly between them, and Dallas moved Shelby on top. He didn’t want her to think he was overusing the missionary position.
Afterward, he carried her to his bed and tucked a down-filled comforter over them both.
She sighed as she slid into his arms.
“Good?” he asked.
“Good,” she agreed.
“So, what’s Plan F?”
He felt her vibrate with a laugh. “Plan F is where I have sex with you until you fall asleep and then FedEx the pictures to Greg.”
“I like Plan F.”
“Thank goodness for that. Plans A through E didn’t work out so well.”
“Except for the sleeping part. If I call FedEx, can we keep going?”
“They’ll pick up in the middle of the night?”
“As long as we’re willing to pay.” He paused. “Heck, I’ll even spring for the extra fifty-nine, ninety-five, since I got a whole lot more than one lousy kiss this time.”
She drew back, lifting the covers slightly and whooshing in a burst of cool air. “That was only worth fifty-nine, ninety-five?”
Dallas cringed and groaned out a cussword.
Shelby laughed. “Why don’t we count the dress and the jewelry and the purse. Then, you know, I don’t have to be insulted.”
He reached across the bed and lifted the phone. “I do like the way you think.”
WHEN DALLAS GOT BACK from giving the FedEx courier Allison’s pictures, Shelby was on the phone with her back to the bedroom door. Since it was nearly three in the morning, he assumed she was talking to Allison.
“What do you mean, I sound funny?”
He paused before entering the room.
“Because it took a while to get them, that’s why,” she said.
She paused and twisted the phone cord in her fingers. “Because…”
Another pause.
“Okay. Yeah. I did.”
She let go of the cord and raked her fingers through her messy hair. “Because I had to distract him somehow.”
Dallas’s ego pinched on that one.
“It was fine.”
Fine?
“Don’t worry about it.”
He made a show of banging against the door as he walked into the room.
She turned to look at him and smiled, and he put a possessive hand on her shoulder. He had no right to be upset about her motives. She’d taken him to heaven and back, twice.
He kissed the top of her head.
And that had to be enough.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” she said to Allison. “Now sleep.”
She put her hand over Dallas’s. “Okay. Goodbye.”
He climbed back into bed beside her. “She’s good?”
Shelby nodded. “She’s good.” She gave a heavy sigh. “Thank goodness that’s over with.”
Dallas felt the same way. It was an enormous sense of relief to discover Shelby wasn’t a criminal. The thought of being forced to call the cops on her had eaten away at him all evening long. But she was innocent. There was a logical explanation for everything.
He stilled.
Wait a minute.
Not quite everything.
“Tell me about Randy Calloway,” he said softly.
“Jealous?” she asked, a trace of laughter deep in her throat.
“No.” Maybe a little. “Suspicious.”
“I told you, I barely know him.”
“Tell me again. How did you meet him?”
“This morning. I mean, yesterday, in Frappino’s.”
“You approach him, or did he approach you?”
“He approached me. It was crowded, and he wanted to sit in my extra chair.”
“What did he talk about?”
Shelby grinned and tipped her head to look at Dallas’s face. “He wants to date me. I know this may shock and surprise you, but some men find me attractive.”
“Got news for you, Jacobs. All men find you attractive.”
“Yeah, right.”
He didn’t argue the point, and he resisted the urge to ask her if she’d said yes to the date. “Did he talk about anything else?”
She thought for a moment. “He knew I worked on the eighth floor.”
“And?”
“At one point he asked me if I worked for any particular lawyer.”
All of Dallas’s senses went on alert. This was definitely no coincidence. “Could you see him again?”
“I’m meeting him for coffee on Monday.”
So she had said yes to the date. Dallas tamped down a spike of jealousy. “Shelby?”
“What?”
“I need to ask you to do something for me.”
Her eyebrows went up in a question mark.
“Spy on Randy Calloway.”
Her forehead furrowed. “Let me get this straight. Spying on you was going to get me jail time, but now you want me to spy on Randy?”
“I think Randy’s trying to spy on me.”
She popped her head up. “Counterespionage?”
“Nothing that dramatic.” He pulled her back down on his shoulder where it felt like she belonged. “Just meet him, see what he says. If I’m right, he’ll ask you to give him some information from the office. Can you play dumb?”
She widened her eyes and blinked ingenuously.
“God, you’re beautiful,” said Dallas.
“Who? Li’l ol’ me? Why, I’m just a receptionist cocktail waitress.”
Dallas chuckled. “I said dumb, not Scarlet O’Hara.”
She laughed softly, her eyes fluttering closed. Then the laughter died away and her features relaxed, her cheek going soft against him.
He waited, but she didn’t open her eyes.
“Sleep,” Dallas whispered.
She breathed a deep sigh.
He twisted his head to kiss her lips one more time, tasting the bittersweet flavor of brandy and goodbye.
ALLISON HIT the blender’s off button, her banana breakfast shake settling into the bottom of the glass pitcher as her eyes went wide and her voice rose higher. “You FedExed them?”
Shelby nodded.
“I thought you were going to bring them home.”
“Are you kidding? After all the trouble we went to? Greg had better stare at those pictures for the next three days solid.”
“So, he’s…”
“Probably got them by now.”
A flash of panic hit Allison’s eyes. “When did you send them?”
“Right after I talked to you. I called FedEx while Dallas was in the shower.”
Allison groaned and dropped into one of the kitchen chairs.
Needing more than the toasted bagel she’d had at Dallas’s house, Shelby scooped two tall glasses out of the cupboard and popped the lid off the blender. “It’s better this way. If I’d asked you, you would have agonized and stewed over whether or not to send the things. Now it’s done. You don’t have to worry about it.”
“He’s going to open them in the middle of a meeting. I just know he is.”
Shelby grinned, handing one of the shakes to Allison. “I hope he does.”
“You have an evil streak.”
“No, I just have a better flair for drama than you. Imagine this, he opens them in the middle of a meeting, surrounded by lawyers and clients. He gets a glimpse of you, has to stuff them back into the envelope, force his mind back on business, and wait hours and hours and hours until he has a chance to be alone in his hotel room and take a really good look at you and the bear-skin rug.”
Allison stirred her shake thoughtfully. “The bearskin rug was a pretty good picture.”
“I’m sure it was.”
“So, you’re saying, he’s probably only glimpsed a breast so far.”
“At the most,” said Shelby. “He must be dying of anticipation.”
Allison grinned. She held up her shake in a toast.
Shelby clicked her glass. “If this doesn’t do the trick, you really do need to dump that man.”
“Speaking of ‘doing the trick,”’ said Allison. “You slept with Dallas?”
“That I did.” And parts of her were still tingling from this morning’s goodbye.
Allison wiggled forward on her chair. “What was it like?”
“Not what I expected.”
“Details.”
“Let’s just say our Dallas is not the staid, unimaginative lover we thought he was.”
Allison grinned. “Well, well, well. You mean he’s hot and he’s good in bed.”
Shelby made a show of fanning herself. “He’s hot, and he’s good in bed.”
“Damn. I’m the engaged person. Why are you getting good sex?”
“I could be wrong, but I’m betting you’re getting good sex on Tuesday.”
The phone rang and Allison stood up. “I sure hope so.”
“Wait. Don’t answer that.”
“Why not?”
Shelby shook her head. “It might be Greg. You don’t want to talk to him. He gets nothing, nothing from you until Tuesday. Let the machine pick it up.”
A slow smile grew on Allison’s face and she sat back down. “Okay. You haven’t steered me wrong so far.”
“Good girl.”
The machine clicked on and Allison’s greeting played.
Both women stared at the telephone in anticipation.
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