Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 72715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
She had every intention of returning him to full mobility, even if she had to play up to his masculine ego in order to maintain his cooperation. “Come on, Jake. I’m really good with my hands.” Her voice dropped to a husky level despite her best intentions.
“I just bet you are.” His eyes darkened as he spoke, his voice a deep rumble that set her nerve endings on fire. Her goals, the reasons why she shouldn’t give in to this attraction, diluted each time he got within touching distance.
Reaching out, she grabbed for the hem of his shirt, her fingers grazing his warm skin. At the contact, his stomach muscles rippled beneath her touch, and he sucked in an audible, affected breath. She understood. Her body reacted in an intimate, sexual way, too. Need curled deep in her belly, and her nipples pulled into tight peaks as if awaiting a lover’s caress.
Never in her career had a patient session resonated with desire, and her hands shook as she lifted his shirt up and over his head, exposing that exceptional bare chest for view. Heat emanated from his body to hers, drawing her in, enticing her to drop her guard and shed her inhibitions.
She dropped his shirt instead. And though instinct told her to take a safe step back, she was drawn to him in ways she didn’t understand and ways she wanted to explore more deeply. Slowly, so she didn’t hurt him, she smoothed her palm over his bruised flesh. He let out a drawn-out groan, a rumble that reverberated inside her, and his hands came up to cradle her cheeks. “When you touch me it feels so damn good.”
Her heart beat rapidly in her chest. “It’s my job to make you feel better.” And it was her job to pull away from him—but the connection was too strong, the need to be with him too compelling.
“Then, by all means, do your best.” His thumb brushed back and forth over her skin, caressing her face.
Unable to resist, she leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on the least bruised part of his chest, over his warm flesh.
“Brianne.” Her name came out both as a warning and a plea.
The next thing she knew his lips were on hers—or had her lips come to his? She didn’t know, but everything between them was real and mutual, hot and ravenous. His tongue delved inside her mouth with passion and need, taking all she offered and giving even more. He smoothed one hand down her back and over her buttocks, pausing there, stopping to knead her flesh through the barrier of clothing and to pull her so close she could feel his hard erection straining against the confines of his jeans.
He wanted her. Not that she’d doubted it before—how could she, with the heated stares and longing glances?—but she felt it now and the certainty fueled bravery she hadn’t known she possessed. She trailed a path with her tongue from his lips to his cheek and outward, lingering behind his ear and nibbling on his earlobe until his large, masculine body trembled in response to her touch.
She inhaled, and his heady scent enveloped her, making her feel, for the first time in her life, that she wasn’t alone. Desire exploded in waves, curling in her stomach, wrapping around her heart and causing her to crave so much more than the fiery touches they’d shared so far. She wanted to feel his bare skin covering hers, needed him inside her to fill the aching emptiness she’d carried for so long. It was an ache that she sensed only he could satisfy.
And that was the thought that brought her to her senses and forced her to break their electric connection and step back, away from the fire. He was the one person who could take her to soaring heights—and destroy her dreams. Better to concentrate on her tangible goals—finishing this job, being with her brother, moving to California.
“Wow.” Not exactly a sophisticated response, but Brianne was so shaken up that she couldn’t formulate a better response.
“That about says it.” Jake ran a trembling hand through his hair. “You okay?”
He eyed her with a concern she didn’t want to see or feel. Not from him, a man who was the antithesis of everything she desired in life, and that could be summed up in one word: safe.
She nodded. “Fine. I’m fine,” she lied. “You?”
A sexy grin curved his lips. “Touch me again and I’ll be even better.”
“I was asking about the pain in your shoulder.” Two lies in two minutes. And after all her hard work teaching Marc the value of honesty, she thought wryly.
“If you say so. Look, Brianne, about what just happened…”
She shook her head. “Forget about it. It was bound to happen and it’s already forgotten.” Another whopper for the books. She’d never forget how warm and welcoming his mouth felt on hers, never truly put his touch behind her. “Let’s just get back to work, shall we? Sit down, and I’ll be right back.”