by Debra Webb
Business continued to boom for Brandon Construction, but even that thought couldn’t snap Jake out of the blue funk he was in today.
It was her.
He blew out a frustrated breath. The blond angel wearing the devil-red dress from Friday night.
He just couldn’t get her off his mind. No matter how hard he tried. Hell, he even dreamed about her.
Mornings were hard enough for a single guy without dreaming of a woman like that all night long. Lately, the whole damned day had been hard—or more specifically, he spent the better part of every day semi-aroused merely thinking about the mysterious lady who’d turned him inside out in a matter of minutes.
Dammit. How could any woman have gotten to him so fast? He knew all about rebound romance. But this wasn’t it. He hadn’t been in love with Cynthia. Sure, it had riled him that she had been the one to do the dumping, but the relationship hadn’t been that kind of relationship. That part bothered him more than being the dumpee.
Nope, he surmised ruefully, this had nothing to with rebound. Jake frowned. Hell, he wasn’t even sure what this was. He couldn’t be in love. He didn’t even know the woman’s name. Yet he wanted her more than he wanted to do anything else, including work.
He breathed a four-letter word. He wanted her, period. Any way he could get her. Right now, this minute. If... he could only find her.
“You’ve zoned out on me again, man,” Dan complained, waving a hand in front of Jake’s face.
He snapped back to the here and now. “What’d I miss?” Dan had accused him of zoning out at least twice a day all week long.
“The last fifteen minutes or so of my status report, that’s all.”
Jake turned to face his friend. “I guess I’m a little preoccupied.”
Dan lifted his eyebrows. “You guess?”
Jake kicked the chair from under his desk and dropped into it. “Okay, so I was off in la-la land,” he growled as he leaned back in his chair and focused his full attention on his site foreman. “What’d I miss?”
Dan scratched his Georgia Bulldogs T-shirt-clad chest and muttered an impatient curse.
“It’s Friday, man, give me a break,” Jake offered by way of an excuse. He clasped his hands behind his head and propped his feet on the desk, then crossed them at the ankles.
Dan folded his arms over his chest and studied him. “Your distraction has absolutely nothing to do with what day of the week it is. You’ve been like this all week.”
Jake rolled his eyes. “Enough with the amateur psychology hour, let’s get this briefing over with. I have things to do.”
Dan shook his head slowly from side to side. “You’ve got no idea what you’ve done, do you?”
Jake dropped his booted feet to the floor and straightened in his chair. He couldn’t be still for more than a minute without lapsing into that same daydream. “Don’t even start, Dan,” he warned.
“You met the woman of your dreams—and judging from your weird mood all week—probably the only one for you, and you didn’t even get her name and number. That’s sad, my friend, truly sad.”
“I don’t want to talk about her.” Jake shot to his feet and paced the floor behind his metal desk. “I don’t even want to think about her. Besides, that theory is crap.” He shook his head and muttered, “The only one for me. Right.”
“But you do think about her.” Dan stood and pointed his finger in Jake’s direction. “She’s all you think about. You can’t keep your mind on business, no matter how hard you try.”
Jake glared at him. “I’m a man; I’m allowed to think about women. Especially one that hot.”
“Ah, no, no, buddy.” Dan shook his head in that irritating manner of his.
Jake hated that I-know-what-I’m-talking-about-and-you-don’t BS. Just because Dan was married didn’t mean he knew everything about male-female relationships.
“Don’t go trying to blame this on being horny,” Dan cautioned.
Jake braced his hands at his waist and gave his fiercest scowl. “I guess you have a crystal ball in your pocket, otherwise, you couldn’t possibly know what I’m thinking.”
Dan matched his stance, amusement gleaming in his gaze. “Actually, I left my crystal ball at home. But I don’t need one for this.” He cocked his head and gave Jake a meaningful look. “Your affliction is written all over your face, my friend.”
“You’re fired,” Jake said from clenched teeth.
Dan smiled. “You can’t fire me.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment. “You fired me yesterday, or was it last week?”
Frustrated, Jake turned his back on the only person who knew him better than he knew himself. And who was right 99.9% of the time. “Both, probably.”
Dan stepped up to the window to stand beside Jake. He shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “It’s not the end of the world, buddy, it just feels like it.”
“I can’t get her out of my head.” The admission pretty much deflated whatever male pride he had left. “I think about her all the time.”
“Then you’ve got to find her. It’s your only hope of keeping your sanity.”
Jake felt a muscle twitch in his jaw. “I’ve been back to the club every night. She hasn’t returned. And no one who’s been there has ever seen her before.” Desperation welled in his chest. Never in his life had he felt this kind of helplessness where a woman was concerned. He had tried talking to other women since that captivating night, but he just couldn’t work up any interest much less any enthusiasm.
This was crazy. But he simply could not get the beautiful stranger out of his head.
“Well, pal,” Dan said resignedly. “You’ll just have to keep going back until she shows again. If that one dance affected her half as much as it did you, she’ll be back.” Dan slapped Jake on the back. “Count on it.”
~*~
An entire week had passed, and still Meredith could think of little else besides the handsome stranger who had left her breathless. She tried. She definitely tried. She’d gone to a different night spot for the last six nights. She had flirted, danced, chattered—and felt nothing, not even the slightest tingle of response to any of the males she encountered.
Strictly for research purposes, she had to know if he could evoke that same reaction in her again. She had watched other couples meeting each night. None of them seemed to be struck with a case of lust as intense as the one she had experienced.
Her heart pounding already at just the idea of seeing him again, Meredith paused outside the entrance to the club. If he were here tonight, she would know for sure if what she had felt last time was real or blown out of proportion by her vivid imagination. Not to mention a major case of nerves. That first night she had been seriously anxious.
The connection couldn’t have been as mind-boggling as she remembered. Meredith shook her head. It simply couldn’t have been. The concept was irrational.
Firming her resolve, she gave her reflection in the glass door one final survey. She wore her hair down, just as before. The racy black dress hugged her like a second skin. She shook her head. How on earth had she allowed Shelley to talk her into this get-up? The dress laced up the sides, leaving most of that area bare and ruling out any possibility of underwear. Meredith had never in her entire life left the house wearing no panties.
Shelley had insisted that there was a first time for everything.
Well, Meredith Langston didn’t do sexy. She whirled away from the door. This was completely insane. She had no business here, dressed in this manner. Black stiletto heels clicked against the sidewalk as she hurried back to her car. Her unexpected success and the resulting publicity had obviously short-circuited her brain. She wasn’t thinking straight.
The image of a tall, handsome stranger flashed before her eyes and Meredith’s hurried steps slowed to a halt. How would she ever know if what she had experienced was real if she didn’t see him again?
Clutching her small beaded purse, she took
a long, slow breath. Resolutely, she turned and headed back to the club.
She had to know, in both a personal and professional sense.
Meredith lifted her chin and squared her shoulders. Besides, no one here knew her. If she behaved differently, who would find out or care? Even Shelley was someplace else tonight.
She wrapped her fingers around the cool steel of the door handle and smiled with an unexpected burst of relief. Tonight she was Merri Lang.
And tonight she intended to follow her instincts... her most basic instincts, and each resulting impulse. The thought made her shiver.
Loud, thumping music greeted her as she strode down the long corridor leading into the crowded club. Others filed in around her, talking and laughing. The mirrored wall of the corridor captured her image, reflecting a dozen vixens in black in both directions. She didn’t miss the lingering gazes of the men she encountered or the scowls of their dates. Confidence bloomed, widening her smile. Men had never looked at her this way before. Of course, she had always made it a point to dress and behave conservatively.
Her smile stretched to a grin. So, it was true. Men were easy.
The place was packed. Meredith slowly scanned the crowded room. Every table was filled with couples drinking, laughing, or engrossed in intense, face-to-face conversation. The dance floor teemed with couples moving to the pulsating rhythm of the music. Colored lights cut through the semidarkness, flickering over the crowd of gyrating bodies. She studied the purposeful movements of the dancers. Enticing and suggestive, each carefully choreographed step represented a subliminal signal of courtship.
Graciously turning down the requests for a dance and the offers of a drink, she threaded her way through the crowd until she reached the other side of the dance floor. Her destination was the long bar on the far side of the room. Pausing within the fringes of the mob of dancers so as not to be noticed, her gaze moved quickly from one male occupying a bar stool to the next. Her hopes plummeted as she reached the final set of stools.
He wasn’t here.
She bit her lower lip to quell her bitter disappointment. What did she do now? Shaken beyond reason, she turned to go and found herself blocked by a broad masculine chest outfitted in a blue shirt. Her body instantly reacted. A vee of tanned skin captured her attention momentarily as she lifted her gaze to the man staring so intently down at her.
It was him.
She had known it was him on some level before her brain confirmed what her eyes saw. That rich, dark gaze locked on to hers and her heart fluttered wildly. Was that relief she saw in his gorgeous eyes?
Before she could analyze his mood, he took her hand in his and led her swiftly across the crowded dance floor. He didn’t look back. Uncertain, but not enough so to pull away from his firm hold, she followed him through the dancers, the maze of tables beyond the dance floor and down a short, dimly lit corridor. He turned on her then, his dark gaze intent.
The music wasn’t so loud here. Meredith wanted to say something, to ask his name, but his eyes stopped her. His gaze traced her body, inch by deliberate inch. A sensation of heat suffused her skin wherever his gaze lingered. A muscle ticked in his rigid jaw, giving away his own rapidly building tension.
Unable to move for fear of breaking the spell, she allowed her hungry gaze to devour his amazing frame as well. Tight, faded jeans gloved his body. His legs were long and muscular, his arms tanned and every bit as muscular as his legs. Thick, dark hair curled around his nape. Her gaze riveted to his mouth. He licked his lips. Full, wide, perfect lips. Kissable.
He moved closer, his scent, leather and citrus, filled her. She lifted her gaze to his, told herself again to ask his name, but all thought deserted as he parted those awesome lips as if to speak. No words came.
Slowly, he lowered his head until their lips almost touched. He paused, his warm breath fanning over her sensitive skin. Her heart seemed to stall.
“I want to kiss you,” he murmured.
“Please... do,” she whispered, her eyes closing of their own accord. Just standing this close to him sent a thousand sensations washing over her. But nothing could have prepared her for the feel of his lips on hers. Her body went limp with the first contact.
His kiss was gentle, sweet, and unbelievably hot. She melted on the spot. Desire consumed her, sending a warm, tingly feeling racing through her. Somehow, his hands found her face, his fingers splayed over her skin. His touch proved as gentle as his kiss. Beneath the gentleness, she felt his fierce hunger building. Her own need was out of control. She needed to touch him the way he was touching her.
She flattened her palms against his solid chest. He groaned deep in his throat and the sound vibrated through her. She smoothed her hands over him until her arms wound around his neck. Her body responded instantly to the rough feel of hard muscle and denim. Her arms tightened around him, the movement pressing her body more firmly against his.
His tongue tentatively touched her lips. She instinctively invited him inside. Need, hot and volatile, erupted with the first taste of his tongue. She sucked him deeper, evidently destroying the last bit of his control. His hands moved feverishly over her, touching, caressing, the way she had dreamed of. His palms molded over her breasts, sending a thrill straight to the center of her. Her nipples rasped against the silk of her dress and heat pooled between her trembling thighs.
Those masterful hands moved lower to cup her bottom and pull her against his thick arousal. Her feminine muscles tightened in instant response. She gasped, her breath captured by his mouth. When his fingers encountered the bare curve of her bottom where it met the top of her thighs, everything inside her exploded into an unexpected climax. Her body jerked with the force of it. A cry tore past her lips, only to be lost in his. He rocked her hips twice more against his own.
The swoosh of a bathroom door and feminine giggles snapped Meredith out of her ecstasy. The reality of where they were and what they were doing hit her like a slap of cold water in the face. She tensed in his arms. He drew back, his breath as ragged as hers. His hands shook slightly.
“If we don’t slow down, I’m going to make love to you right now, right here.” His words were desperate, strained. He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to hers. “And I don’t even know your name.”
Still weak with aftershock, she dragged her fingers down from his thick hair, along his square jaw. She braced her hands against his chest and grappled for control. “Merri,” she whispered breathlessly. Dear God, she had just climaxed in a complete stranger’s arms. How long had it been since she’d had sex? Too long, obviously.
One long, tanned finger curled beneath her chin and lifted lt. Reluctantly, she met his gaze. Humiliation burned in her cheeks, but his sweet smile made her heart leap with joy.
“Merri.” He made an agreeable sound that sent a shiver up her spine. “Nice to meet you, Merri.” His thumb slid over her lower lip, his gaze followed. “I’m Jake.” He released a long, slow breath. “I have to tell you, nothing like this has ever happened to me before.”
It was Meredith’s turn to smile, faint though it might be. “That makes two of us, then.” Embarrassed, she tried to look away, but he wouldn’t let her. “I’m not sure I understand it.”
His smile faded into something undeniably serious. “Maybe we should back up and start over,” he suggested softly. “Slow things down a bit.”
She tried to read his gaze, but couldn’t. “What did you have in mind?”
“How about having lunch with me tomorrow?”
Meredith blinked. They had gone from hot-and-heavy making out to having lunch. This was too surreal and completely out of control.
“Just lunch,” he assured her when she didn’t immediately respond. “I’m having a family picnic for my construction crew tomorrow. I’d love for you to come.” He smiled, another of those sexy, sweet smiles that sent her heart into a tailspin. “Maybe then I can find out more than your name.”
Meredith paled. That couldn’t happen
. No matter how her traitorous body responded to the man, she could never, ever tell him the truth.
This was research, nothing more.
Chapter Three
“This will never work.” Meredith shook her head and let go a frustrated breath. “How could I have thought this would work?” She pivoted sharply and stormed to the other side of Shelley’s living room, then turned to retrace her steps. She was now fully convinced that she was certifiable.
“It seems to me that your plan is working particularly well,” Shelley countered. She crossed her arms over her chest in defiance as she met Meredith in the middle of the room. “This is what you wanted, right?”
Meredith stalled. She pressed her fingertips to her forehead and closed her eyes in frustration. “No,” she said on an impatient sigh. “This is not what I wanted.”
Shelley flung her arms upward. “I give up.”
Meredith braced her hands at her waist and leveled her gaze on her annoyed friend. “I’m supposed to be a professional. I’m not supposed to” she shook her head “to react like that. To be so—”
“Human?” Shelley arched a speculative eyebrow.
Meredith threw up her own arms and groaned. “That’s not the point.”
Shelley went toe-to-toe with her. “Why don’t you explain the point, girlfriend? Because I’ll be honest with you, I’m lost here.”
Meredith opened her mouth to speak, but snapped it shut. She shook her head and willed herself to calm. “How,” she began again, trying to be patient, whether with Shelley or herself, she couldn’t be sure, “can I be objective about my research if I’m too swept away to pay attention?”
Shelley cocked her head and pursed her pink-glossed lips. “By research I assume you mean Jake—the other human involved in this little field assignment.”