Erin McCarthy - Bad Boys Online

This woman looked exactly like someone who'd spent the day in bed having the best sex of her life. This woman staring back at her looking pleased and territorial. This woman looked relaxed and in love.

Halley liked her. She didn't want that expression to go away.

Except that she was really damn late and still couldn't find her bra or her pants.

Tripping over the sheet wrapped around her lower half, she grabbed Evan's desktop phone to check her voicemail messages. Scanning the floor for her pants, she listened to Nora rambling on in her ear asking her where she was and when she thought she'd be back in the office. Then Nora suggested she check her e-mail before carrying out any plans for revenge on the hackers.

Halley stopped looking under the bed for her pants and swore under her breath, disconnecting her phone. Dragging her sheet behind her, she logged on to her e-mail through Evan's computer and checked the time again. Yep. Still late and totally screwed. After deleting several unimportant e-mail messages, she ran across one with no title.

The message was from her hackers.

Sorry. Wrong caterer. But you look great wearing nothing but a smile. The Three Cs.

After a moment of shock, it struck her as wildly funny. That's it? That's all she got for being subjected to humiliation and financial devastation? A lukewarm apology?

A choking snortlike laugh escaped her mouth before she could stop it and she clicked on the sender to see if there was a return address. Of course there wasn't. Somehow they had sent the message without a sender address, and she was certain if she tried to hit Reply to sender, it would just bounce back into her own e-mail.

Not that she knew what she would say to them. Next time, try better breasts probably wasn't a good idea.

"What are you doing?"

Halley whirled around. Evan was sitting up in bed, yawning but looking ready to devour her all over again.

"Go back to sleep," she told him. "I've got to go."

He grinned. "So soon? But we haven't even done it in the living room yet."

That gave her momentary pause before she mentally shook herself. No, she had to leave. A half an hour ago.

"I can't. I have a catering job in less than an hour and I have to change and drive there."

Evan scratched his chest. She was tempted to throw a shirt at him so she wouldn't weaken and stay. And just where in the hell were her pants?

"Okay, I understand. But you're coming back tonight, right? Pack yourself an overnight bag and come over after the job's done. I'll wait up for you."

Halley wanted to say yes. But she had the sneaking suspicion that if she came back, she was going to wind up sorry. Friendless, heartbroken, and sorry. Better to leave now and when she returned, pretend they had never been naked together.

Taking little geisha steps, she held on to her tightly wrapped sheet and swallowed hard. "I think I'll just go home afterward. I'm going to be tired."

Tired of pretending she didn't love him.

"So? I'll let you get some sleep. In the morning."

Evan's voice was coaxing, seductive. Halley fought the urge to look at him. Frantic, she darted her eyes around the room, then gave a cry of triumph when she spotted her Capri pants bunched up by the closet.

"No, not tonight." Or any other night, if she wanted to keep her sanity.

The teasing tone left his voice. "But we need to talk, Halley."

"There's nothing to talk about." She headed toward the closet. "We had a fun day and now it's over. End of story."

That was not the end of the story as far as Evan was concerned. He watched Halley wiggle her way around the room like a giant fruit roll-up, her hair frizzy and lopsided and her breasts doing an enticing little jump with each jerk forward.

Did she really consider what they had shared nothing more than a fun day? Damn, that hurt. But Halley was a busy woman and he knew she didn't date much. Maybe he had been nothing more than a sexual diversion. An oversized stress ball.

She bent over carefully, trying to grab her pants off the floor while still holding on to the sheet. A painful lump formed in his chest.

"Halley."

"What?" Halley was hopping on one foot as she tried to step into her pants, all while keeping the sheet wrapped around her.

Exasperation rose in him. "Jesus, drop the sheet. You're going to fall and knock your teeth out." It wasn't as if he hadn't seen every inch of her body. And tasted it.

"I'm fine." She continued her one-footed dance.

He stood up and stalked over to her. He held her arms so she wouldn't wind up in a heap on the floor. "No, you're not. Why are you running out on me and acting like you don't want me to see a flash of your ass?"

She blew her hair out of her eyes and stopped struggling with her pants. "Because now we have to go back to being friends and that's not what friends do."

"Friends don't show friends body parts, huh?"

Wiggling her pants up her calves, she said, "Yes."

"What if I want to be more than friends?" He started to caress her arms with his thumbs, and leaned forward to place a kiss on her warm shoulder.

She stiffened. "Knock it off. You can't change the rules now. If we do this again, then what happens eventually when the lust burns out? I don't want to lose you, Evan."

If that's what was bothering her, then maybe there was hope for him after all.

He nibbled on her ear, noticing the way she drew in her breath. "Do you love me?"

She sighed. "We've been over this. Yes. But there's love. And then there's love ."

"Well, do you love me?"

Hot fingers shoved on his chest. He stayed firmly next to her.

"I've got to go."

"Answer the question, then I'll let you go."

Halley looked over his shoulder and rolled her eyes. "I plead the fifth."

That was promising. He teased his tongue into her ear. She gasped.

Evan wanted it all, and he wanted it now. Halley was the woman for him and he wanted to spend a lifetime loving her. "I love you, you know. Always have, always will. I want you to marry me."

"What?" Halley squawked, wondering if she was hallucinating. "What are you talking about? This was supposed to be about sex, remember?"

Her heart was beating like a hummingbird's wings and she was so hopeful she was sick. He couldn't mean it… but if he did, she was going to be really excited. She couldn't kid herself anymore that she just wanted Evan's body. She wanted everything.

His heart.

He whispered in her ear, "This whole day was about love, not sex."

Oh, damn, that was romantic. Her knees gave out, she loosened her grip on the sheet, and her Capri pants puddled to her ankles.

He kissed her jaw, his hands cupping the sides of her face. "Marry me."

Who was she to say no? "Yes. Yes, yes, and yes."

Leaping into his arms, she almost fell down as the sheet trapped her legs. Evan caught her and smiled down at her.

"I'm so glad you said yes. Because I was going to have to hurt you if you said no."

She laughed, feeling a little punch drunk on happiness. She tried to force herself to back up, but her body wasn't having it. Neither was Evan. He still held her tight.

"Now let me go, I've got to leave!"

He kissed her full on the mouth, a deep, possessive kiss that had her sighing with pleasure. Oh, yeah. Waking up to this every day would be a dream come true.

"So let's just clarify. That's a yes, you'll marry me?"

"Yes." Every day with her favorite person. She couldn't ask for anything better.

Evan squeezed her hard enough to collapse a lung. "Now tell me that you love me and I'll let you go."

"I do." Halley sniffed a happy sniff and let go of her sheet altogether.

"Keep saying those words, sweet stuff, because you'll be needing them soon." He grinned at her.