Erin McCarthy - Bad Boys Online

He sounded as intrigued as she was by their new relationship.

The bedroom wasn't far. Jared laid her down in the middle of the big bed and laced his fingers with hers.

"This time let's take turns being on top. Who should go first?"

Candy thought about getting a good grip on the sheet and really working Jared. She didn't bother to mask her enthusiasm for the idea. "Me."

A second later she thought to add, "Please."

Jared laughed. He rolled over onto his back and reached for her. "Since you asked so nice."

They were lying in bed a couple of hours later, Candy safely tucked in the crook of Jared's arm. He stared at the ceiling, yawning in contentment.

"Do you think this is what Harold had in mind?"

Candy stirred a little. "I really don't think so. But you know, we should go back and finish the counseling. Otherwise Harold might find us out."

Jared wasn't exactly shaking in his boots. "So what? As long as we get Chunk o's ad done, then why would he care?"

"It will take five minutes. We'll do it on your PC here at home."

Five minutes? Please. Once they started answering those questions, they'd wind up right back in bed again. "Let's just look at Internet porn instead," he joked.

"Jared!"

She sat up and gave him a stern look. "And by the way, I bared my soul to you about my ex-husband."

"You bared a lot of things." His hand drifted to her behind.

"I'm serious. I told you everything, and you didn't tell me anything. When was the last time you were with a woman?"

He hated these kinds of questions. They were designed purely to get men in trouble with women. Next she'd be asking him if she looked fat.

"Why does it matter? I'm with you now."

The tight press of her lips together showed him that wasn't the answer she had wanted. "I still want to know."

"You were my first time. I was a virgin." He started to grin, then stopped when her face flushed pink. And not from embarrassment.

"See, Candy, this is why I told you I just tell women what they want to hear. Everything I say is wrong." Annoyed, he pulled away from her and put his hands under his head.

"Just tell me what you want me to say and I'll say it."

"What you say is not wrong. I'm sorry." She tried to snuggle back into his arms. "I'm just jealous, that's all."

Jealous was good. As long as it was the mild, healthy kind, not the intense, bunny-boiling kind of jealousy.

"You've got nothing to be jealous of. Most of my relationships have been casual." He relaxed again, enjoying the press of Candy's breasts against his side.

"And Jessie was a mistake. I never should have gotten involved with a coworker, and getting hot and heavy in the office was downright stupid."

The minute the words were out, he realized something about that didn't sound quite right. Candy thought so too, since she stiffened against him.

Before he could babble some kind of apology/explanation, Candy spoke. "You had sex with a coworker in the office?"

The warm bed had suddenly turned Alaskan cold. "No, no, we didn't have sex ."

"Sort-of sex?"

"Yes. No! It was just some kissing and you know… groping and stuff." Holy hell, he was making this worse.

She jerked away from him and sat up. "So do you limit yourself to just one office fling per job, or should I look forward to watching you screw your way through Stratford Marketing?"

There was no way to answer that question without finding his nuts jammed in a meat grinder.

But he gave it a shot, wishing he were wearing a protective cup. "I don't have office affairs. It was a five-minute mistake with Jessie, and I don't consider you a fling anyway."

She gasped. "Oh!"

Tears rose in her eyes as she gathered the sheet around her, jumped off the bed, and prepared to flee. Oh my stars. She didn't even rate as a fling, that's how little she meant to Jared.

Trying to rationalize her way out of a broken heart, she told herself that she'd gotten what she had wanted. A night of passion that had proved there was nothing wrong with her. She was just as capable of multiple orgasms as the next girl.

But somehow that didn't make her feel any better.

Jared said, "Where are you going? I'm trying to tell you how I feel."

"I don't care." She jerked back as he stepped in front of her, blocking the bedroom door.

He was big, imposing. Naked.

"You're not going anywhere until you hear what I have to say."

"I do not want to hear you describe to me what a great one-night stand I was. Thanks, but no thanks." She'd crawl between his legs to get out if she had to.

Astonishment crossed his face. "Is that what you think I'm going to say?"

Brushing tears away, she struggled for composure. If he sent her bawling, she'd never forgive him. "Well, you just told me I don't qualify as a fling, so I guess that makes me a one-night stand."

His jaw snapped shut. He reached for her. Candy sidestepped away from his touch.

"Oh, babe. That's not what I meant. I meant you're more than a fling. You're important to me. You're my future. I… I think I could fall in love with you."

Good gravy. Why didn't he just say so in the first place?

Candy said, "Oh."

Followed by a sniffly, "Really? Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I want us to be together if that's what you want."

This time when he reached for her, she let him wrap his arms around her and squeeze. She laid her head on his chest and sighed. "That's what I want, because I think I could fall in love with you too."

"I've never cared about a woman the way I care about you. I'll try not to screw this up, Candy."

She looked up into his sincere dark eyes. "I don't think we'll screw this up. We'll just take it slow."

"And if there's ever a problem, we can always go back for more online intimacy counseling." She gave him a grin.

Jared had a vision of Candy spread across the desk in his home office, while he counseled her intimately. He dropped back and tugged her hand.

"I think we should go do it now. Proactive counseling, before there's a problem." All it took was a little yank with one finger and her sheet plunged to the carpet.

"Oh, you think so?"

"I do." He nodded down the hall. "The computer's right this way. It will help us to get to know each other really well."

There were still a few spots on her he hadn't explored with his tongue.

Candy smiled, that full, open-mouth smile that he loved so much. "I want to know everything about you. We only got to question eleven before."

He tried to look sincere. "Babe, you can ask me anything, or touch anything that you'd like."

She laughed. "How generous of you."

He had her moving down the hall with him. Almost there. "I hope you weren't planning on going to bed early tonight."

"No. Why?"

He paused in the doorway of his home office, glad he had furnished it with a wide couch. "Because we're not leaving this room until all the questions have been answered to my satisfaction."

Her eyes went wide with lust. "If I answer the questions slowly and thoroughly, will you give me a certificate of completion when we're done?"

He'd give her more than that.

As he leaned forward to kiss her, he said, "Oh, yeah. Signed and notarized."

A sassy grin crossed her face as she put her fingers on his lips to stop him from kissing her. "Do I have to do all the videos and romance tips too?"

He pictured Candy covered in chocolate sauce while he licked it off her inner thighs. "I insist that you do all the extras, yes."

She dropped her fingers down to his leg and licked his lower lip. "So what are we waiting for?"

Hell if he knew.

Jared scooped her up again while she shrieked in surprise. His arms full of warm and willing woman, he kicked open the door to his office and moved inside.