Some Like It Hot

by Brenda Jackson

  Mallory nodded, appreciating his thoughtfulness. She was hungry but she doubted she could eat anything. Anger began replacing the hunger in her stomach. Didn’t Lewis care how much Barbara loved him and that she would be deeply hurt by what he was doing?

  The waiter who wheeled in the cart was efficient and didn’t waste any time setting things up and leaving. Mallory took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, watching as Hunter uncovered the food. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to eat anything.”

  He glanced up at her. “Why not?”

  “I’ve lost my appetite.”

  He nodded as he recovered the dishes. She then watched as he began removing his shirt and it was then that she noticed just how huge the bed was. Colossal was a better name for it.

  Confused, she watched as Hunter proceeded to take off his pants then climbed on the bed to lay in the center with his hands underneath his neck wearing nothing but his briefs. “What do you think you’re doing?” she asked, barely able to get the words out.

  He smiled. “Waiting for you.”

  She looked appalled. “Waiting for me?” At his nod she placed her hands on her hips as a frown covered her face. “Do you think there’s any way I can think of making love with you with what’s going on in the room next door?”

  Hunter lifted a brow. “Sounds pretty quiet over there. I suggest we make some noise.”

  “This isn’t funny, Hunter.”

  “And you don’t see me laughing. Now relax and come here for a minute. You’re all tense. Let me rub your back.”

  Mallory sighed. He was right. She was tense and agitated and when it came to giving body massages, Hunter was the best. Besides, it wasn’t fair for her to take the anger she had for Lewis out on him. She slowly moved to the bed but didn’t sit down.

  “You’re going to have to sit down for me to help you, Mallory.”

  She slowly eased down on the edge of the bed and when she heard him move when he got on his knees behind her, she felt her breath catch. “Why did you take off your clothes?” she asked, barely able to get the words out when he pulled her blouse over her head to massage her back.

  “The room comes with the job and since I’m billing you for it I thought we might as well use it.”

  “I can’t, Hunter. I can’t make love to you in here knowing Lewis could be next door cheating on my sister.”

  He leaned over and kissed the side of her face. “Forget about what’s going on next door, Mallory, since there is nothing you can do about it. But there is something you can do about this,” he said, straightening and letting his erection press against the center of her back.

  “Hunter…”

  The name was breathed from her lips when he reached around front and unsnapped her bra and then began massaging her breasts. Too weak to resist him, she let him pull her back on the bed with him and he immediately went after her bare breasts as his entire body shifted in place over hers.

  Her brain was torn in two. One part wanted to concentrate on what was going on in the room next door and another part wanted this, another chance to be with Hunter. And when he pulled her skirt up to her waist and began removing her panty hose then fumbling with her panties, the latter part of her won out. Especially when he reached down and parted her with his fingers and began stroking her.

  “I love you, Mallory,” he said, while simultaneously nibbling at her lips. “And you love me. No matter what your father did to your mother, and no matter what Lewis is or is not doing to your sister, it doesn’t take away from the fact that we love each other, right?”

  Mallory shuddered. It wasn’t fair for him to ask her a question like that while doing this to her.

  “Right?” he repeated.

  When he sank his fingers deeper, she whispered breathlessly. “Right.”

  “And we’re going to have a committed relationship, aren’t we? One that ends with marriage and babies, right?” His mouth skimmed over hers slowly, provocatively as his fingers continued stroking her mindlessly. Her belly was quivering and her nipples felt tender to the feel of his chest rubbing against them.

  “Right,” she responded again, squirming beneath his hand as delicious sensations flooded her.

  “And no matter who stays together and who doesn’t stay together won’t concern us. We may sympathize but we won’t assume it will happen to us. Our love is solid and it will be stronger than that, won’t it?” he asked, growling his words in a whisper.

  She lifted her hips toward his hand and moaned, “Yes! Yes, it will.”

  Hunter smiled. “I’m glad we’re in agreement on all things.” He then scooted his body downward. “And now I want the taste of my future bride, the woman who will be the mother of my children, in my mouth.”

  She came the moment his tongue replaced his fingers and the orgasm that tore through her almost ripped her in two, and she began trembling uncontrollably. And the more she shivered the more he locked his mouth to her taking the quakes that rocked her body.

  “That was nice,” he said, moments later as he gathered her sated body in his arms. He held her tight like he never wanted to let her go. “How would you like to be the person to plan my wedding?” he asked, lovingly stroking her cheek.

  “I won’t have a problem with it as long as I’m the bride,” she said, finally accepting her love for him and his love for her. In doing so all the insecurities she felt suddenly faded away. Hunter was right. Although she had to deal with the issues of her father and Lewis, it didn’t mean what they felt for each meant less. If anything it meant more because they were determined to love in spite of it.

  She was about to open her mouth to say something else when a woman let out a loud scream in the connecting room. She stilled, recognizing just what kind of scream it was. Then she was off the bed in a flash, trying to put her clothes back on. The more she tried putting them on the quicker Hunter was trying to take them off her.

  “Hunter, stop it! I need to get dressed. I’m going to demand that Lewis open that door. I intend to catch him red-handed.”

  “Then put on one of the hotel robes from the closet because I intend to keep you in here naked for a while.”

  Mallory looked at him like he had gone mad. How could he think of sex at a time like this? “Get up and have your camera ready, Hunter. I want pictures. Barbara will need them when she files for a divorce.”

  Hunter shook his head as he slowly got out of the bed. “I’m charging you overtime for this. This job is going past Lewis’s lunch hour.”

  Mallory raised her eyes to the ceiling, not believing Hunter’s attitude but decided she couldn’t worry about it now as she raced to the closet to get a robe and tossed the other one over to him. She quickly crossed the room to the connecting door. “Okay, open it.”

  Hunter didn’t move. In fact to Mallory’s way of thinking he stood in the middle of the room looking somewhat bored. “We can only unlock it from this side,” he said. “In order to get inside the other room, they will have to unlock it from their side as well.”

  Mallory nodded. “All right then, I’ll make him open it and just in case the woman he’s with tries to split and run, I want you to be in the hallway to snap pictures.”

  He crossed his arms over his chest. “I doubt if she’s going anywhere.”

  Mallory frowned, wondering how he figured that, but didn’t waste time asking him as she began taking the lock off the connecting door. Then she raised her hand and gave two sharp knocks on the door and yelled at the top of her voice. “Lewis Townsend, I know you’re in there so open this door immediately!”

  Mallory heard people scrambling about in the other room and glanced over at Hunter before turning to raise her hand to beat on the door again. Hunter quickly crossed the room and caught her hand in his. “The least you can do is to give them time to put their clothes back on or at least time to grab a robe, Mallory.”

  She glared at him. “Why should I?”

  Before he could answer, the connecting door
was snatched open and a half-dressed Lewis Townsend stood in the doorway looking furious, as if he was pissed off at being interrupted. He was bare-chested and only wearing his pants. “Mallory? What the hell are you doing here?”

  Mallory didn’t answer right away. It was apparent that Lewis’s question had thrown her for a loop but she recovered quickly. “How dare you ask me that! I should be asking that question of you. You’re a married man. I don’t know the identity of the woman you’ve been screwing around with for the past month, but need I remind you that you’re married to my sister and I don’t appreciate you being unfaithful to her and—”

  “Hi, Mallory.”

  Mallory stopped talking and stared at the woman who was standing behind Lewis and peeping over his shoulder at her and smiling. “Barbara? But…but what are you doing here?”

  Barbara chuckled as she came to stand beside her husband wearing the hotel’s thick velour robe. “I’m the woman Lewis has been screwing around with for the past month.”

  “Come to bed, Mallory.”

  Mallory shifted her gaze from looking out of the window to glare across the room at Hunter. “You think this whole thing is funny, don’t you?”

  Hunter grinned. “Yes. You should have seen the look on your face when you discovered Lewis had been having an affair with his own wife. And you should have seen the look on Lewis’s face when he discovered you had paid me to nail him for adultery.”

  Mallory winced remembering Lewis’s brief period of anger. She was thankful that Barbara had made light of the whole thing and made Lewis see how such a wrong assumption could have been made. It seemed their doctor had suggested that to take their mind off making love mainly to create a baby, they should get back into the routine of making love just for the enjoyment and pleasure of it. He figured with the stress eliminated, pregnancy would come easy.

  It had been Barbara’s idea for them to role-play and engage in lunchtime romantic romps at different hotels just for the sheer fun of it. The idea had worked. Today they had met at the hotel to celebrate the news that Barbara was pregnant.

  “I’m so happy for them,” Mallory said softly, thinking of how radiant her sister looked.

  “Me, too,” Hunter said. “Now come back to bed.”

  Mallory smiled as she walked back over to the bed. They had decided to spend the night at the hotel since they had paid the price for a full night anyway. She tossed back the covers and slipped between the sheets and right into Hunter’s arms. He had explained that he’d known who the woman was that Lewis was having an affair with the moment he’d seen her that day in the lobby, which was the only reason he had summoned Mallory to the hotel. He had been determined to make her face her insecurities about them no matter what was going on in the room next door. And she had.

  She snuggled in Hunter’s arms and smiled proudly. “I’m going to be an aunt, Hunter.”

  He raked his hand through her hair. “You’re also going to be a bride, and I want you a bride before you become an aunt. Let’s set a date.”

  She glanced up at him. “Are you serious?”

  “Yes. I want you in my life permanently. Your all-night man wants to become your forever man. Make it happen.”

  Mallory’s smile widened through her tears. She would make it happen and she knew she would spend the rest of her life loving him.

  The untamable Hunter had been tamed.

  Extreme Satisfaction

  Love endures long and is patient and kind…it takes

  no account of the evil done to it, it pays

  no attention to a suffered wrong.

  —I CORINTHIANS 13:4–5

  Prologue

  “I need a man.”

  When Cathleen McAlister voiced that thought aloud, she was glad the only person around to hear her was her best friend and business partner, Lisa Meadows.

  Now that she had Lisa’s attention, she figured she might as well continue her tirade. The office had closed an hour ago, and their staff was probably home by now. The two of them were working late to prepare for a financial seminar they would be presenting tomorrow at one of Birmingham’s largest employers, the Myers-Hansel Corporation.

  “What good is all of this without a good man to go home to at night?” she asked, waving her hand at the beautiful office that the two of them shared. To say the office was plush was an understatement. Even the reception area was downright luxurious.

  Lisa chuckled. “Hey, I do have a man to go home to when I leave here, Cat. You’re the one who decided not to get seriously involved with anyone while climbing the ladder of success. You saw a man in your life as a distraction. I saw one in my life, while climbing that same ladder, as extreme satisfaction.”

  After rolling her eyes at Lisa, Cat did something she’d seldom done in all her twenty-eight years: admitted to being wrong. “Okay, stop gloating, will you? I admit I made a mistake. I had a good thing and I blew it.”

  “No,” Lisa said quickly, and with a pointed look. “You did more than just blow it. You shattered it into a thousand pieces when you told Rory just where he could go that night.”

  Just hearing her ex-boyfriend’s name made certain parts of Cat’s body tingle. As much as she’d tried, it had been hard, during the past year, to banish Rory Dawkins’s gorgeous image from her mind. Even now she could see him vividly—tall, bowlegged, and in a pair of jeans. She didn’t know of any man who could wear them better or get out of them quicker. Then there were his broad shoulders, narrow waist, fine-as-a-dime butt, and a too-handsome-for-his-own-good face. And she couldn’t forget his performance in bed. She hadn’t known what the big O was until she’d hooked up with him. When it came to making love, he had it down to an art form.

  Good grief, she mentally chided and stubbornly admitted, she had been celibate since their breakup; desperately missing the best thing she’d ever had, and foolishly given up, all because she’d started seeing Rory as a threat. He endangered all the goals she had laid out for herself in life.

  She could now confess to being downright stupid for letting him walk out of her life. He had started talking about marriage and babies, and she was still thinking of ways to expand her business and make it the most sought-after financial consulting firm in Birmingham—no, the entire state of Alabama.

  The word “commitment” hadn’t been in her vocabulary, and the moment he began hinting at such a thing, she’d sent him packing and told him not to return. Since then, she had discovered how wrong she had been in focusing solely on making it to the top. During her climb, her life had gotten lonelier, and it had lost the meaning it once had. And on top of everything else, her body was going through months of sexual withdrawal, and even the mere mention of Rory’s name got her panties wet.

  “I know I screwed up with Rory, and I regret everything I said. That’s why I’m placing him on my wish list.”

  Lisa lifted a brow as she turned away from the computer and the PowerPoint document she’d been working on. “What wish list?”

  “It’s a list of the things I want, and Rory is at the top of the list. In fact, he’s the only thing on the list, which means I’m going to have to think of a plan to get him back.”

  “Well, good luck on that one. The last few times he was over to our place, he didn’t even ask about you. In fact, he hasn’t in quite a while. And like I told you, according to Peyton, he’s seeing some woman who works for Cochrane Enterprises. And although I haven’t met her yet, Peyton has, and he said she’s a cutie, so it seems your loss was her gain.”

  Cat frowned. “Do you have to rub it in?”

  “It serves you right for letting a good man get away. I tried to warn you, but you wouldn’t listen. You were in love with him, Cat. That much was obvious, but you had to have things your way or no way. You hurt him deeply, and some men can be unforgiving about things like that. Peyton would be, and the reason they’re best friends is because they usually act and think alike.”

  Lisa then glanced at her watch. “And speakin
g of Peyton, let’s finish up here so I can leave within the next twenty minutes. He’s picking me up, and we’re going to Mangos for dinner.”

  “I will get Rory back, Lisa.”

  Lisa gave her a doubtful look. “You’re welcome to try.”

  “I’ll do more than try. I’ll succeed.”

  “Good luck, because after the way you dumped him, you’re definitely going to need all the luck you can get.”

  Rory Dawkins had heard enough. He stepped back from the door and quickly left the reception area to head out of the building. His best friend had asked him to come inside to let his wife know he’d arrived a little early and was outside circling the block. They had tried reaching Lisa on her cell phone but discovered she didn’t have it on, and her office number had defaulted to voice mail.

  At first Rory had hesitated, knowing there was a strong chance he would run into the one woman he had never stopped loving. But he was determined to face Cat and pretend he was over her, just as he’d assumed she was over him.

  Evidently that had been a false assumption.

  He had overheard Cat and Lisa’s entire conversation. Once Cat had declared she needed a man, his ears had perked up, and he decided to listen. Shamelessly so. And he was glad that he had. Now he was torn between laughing and punching a hole in the nearest wall. So, the woman who had kicked him to the curb because he was becoming too “habit forming,” as she’d so elegantly put it, had placed him on, of all things, her wish list. And she intended to try to get him back?

  Hell, he agreed with Lisa. Let her try. He would love for her to try to get him back. He had wondered how long it would take for Cat to wake up and finally realize that the two of them belonged together. But now that she’d come to that conclusion, did she think she could just waltz back into his life? He needed to show the spirited, successful, and sexy Cat McAlister a thing or two about men. Nobody liked being dropped like a hot potato and then picked up later like a hot fudge sundae.