by Lori Foster
Without looking at him again, she turned and left. Her departure struck him like a punch in the gut. She hadn’t been crying, he thought with concern, but she’d been so silent….
Oh hell, she was always silent, he reminded himself. She used it as part of her mystique. He refused to be drawn in by her and her feminine cunning and what amounted to no more than theatrics to shore up her ruse as a gypsy.
The gentle, enticing sway of her skirts as she slowly retreated held his attention. She might be leaving, but her scent remained, circling around him, filling his head and his heart. Her effect remained, too, keeping him hot and tight and far too aware of his physical needs. And that last look on her face remained, making him curse himself for being such a bastard.
He was good with women, damn it. Great with women, in fact. He always treated them gently, whether he was interested or not. So why the hell had he been so rude to her? Why had he felt compelled to grind her under with his rejection? He’d been out to prove…what? That she didn’t affect him after all?
Zane snorted at that. The tent in his pants proved otherwise, no matter his behavior toward her.
Now that she was gone, only the essence of her remaining without the threat of her appeal, he was ashamed of himself.
A customer touched his arm, causing him to jump. Forcibly, Zane brought his mind back to the job at hand. Even with two employees in to help, they were swamped. The line at the register was long and continuous. People had questions, and the shelves had to be constantly restocked. He couldn’t afford to be distracted with his witchy neighbor. He would run the register—where he could hide his arousal behind the counter—and do his job.
But for the rest of the day, she lingered in his mind, an unwelcome invasion that kept him jittery and taut, the same way he felt when he’d gone too long without sex.
He hated what he knew he would have to do.
But since he was resigned to doing it, he’d damn well put himself in charge. No more letting her toy with him, no more letting her overwhelm his senses. It was Thursday, the weekend fast approaching. He’d have time to spend with her, and on her. And if anyone would be overwhelmed, it’d be her.
That thought finally had Zane smiling.
In anticipation.
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Titles by Lori Foster
THE WINSTON BROTHERS
WILD
CAUSING HAVOC
SIMON SAYS
HARD TO HANDLE
MY MAN, MICHAEL
BACK IN BLACK
Anthologies
HOT CHOCOLATE
(with Suzanne Forster, Elda Minger, and Fayrene Preston)
SINFUL
(with Maggie Shayne, Suzanne Forster, and Kimberly Randell)
WILDLY WINSTON
THE POWER OF LOVE
(with Erin McCarthy, Toni Blake, Dianne Castell, Karen Kelley, Rosemary Laurey, Janice Maynard, LuAnn McLane, Lucy Monroe, Patricia Sargeant, Kay Stockham, and J. C. Wilder)
CHARMED
(with Jayne Castle, Eileen Wilks, and Julie Beard)
DOUBLE THE PLEASURE
(with Deirdre Martin, Jacquie D’Alessandro, and Penny McCall)
TAILS OF LOVE
(with Stella Cameron, Sue-Ellen Welfonder, Kate Angell, Sarah McCarty, Donna MacMeans, Dianne Castell, Patricia Sargeant, Ann Christopher, and Marcia James)
OUT OF THE LIGHT, INTO THE SHADOWS
(with L. L. Foster and Erin McCarthy)
DOUBLE THE HEAT
(with Deirdre Martin, Elizabeth Bevarly, and Christie Ridgway)
Writing as L. L. Foster
SERVANT: THE AWAKENING
SERVANT: THE ACCEPTANCE
SERVANT: THE KINDRED