Lucy Monroe - Satisfaction Guaranteed

“You want to hide our relationship while you keep Alan dangling?” he asked instead of answering.

“No. I want my private life to stay that way and we don’t have a relationship.”

“You can say that after last night?” He hadn’t moved a muscle and yet she felt not exactly threatened…but sort of intimidated. How did he do that?

She wasn’t backing down though. “It was phone sex.” Even if she couldn’t believe she’d done that with him and had never, ever, ever, ever considered doing anything like that with another man. “It wasn’t the bonding moment of the twenty-first century.”

He sat up and put his wineglass down on the table in one fluid movement, his green eyes hot with purpose. “It was incredible and tonight is going to be mind blowing.”

He wasn’t leaning forward, but he felt entirely too close.

She leaned back, into the sofa, with no noticeable improvement and took a hasty sip of wine. “I’m not so sure about tonight.”

He removed her wineglass from her hand with deliberate movements. “You said you were. The time for waffling is over, baby.”

“You said you wouldn’t push me,” she said in a breathy voice she barely recognized. She was not a breathy-type person. She was practical. Certain. Responsible. But he made her feel breathless, undecided, and reckless.

Not good.

“I didn’t push you, Beth. You’re the one that suggested we make love last night, not me.” He was leaning forward now, his solid pecs too close to her chest.

If she breathed in too deeply her nipples would brush against him. The temptation to do so was almost too strong to deny. “We didn’t make love. You’ve never even kissed me.”

“We definitely did make love and I can take care of the kissing thing right now.”

She jumped backward and toppled off the couch before he could pull her into his arms. Scrambling to her feet, she demanded, “Answer a question for me first.”

He stood and came around the table, giving no regard whatsoever to her obvious bid to increase her personal space. Gently curling his fingers around her upper arms, he held her in front of him. And the worst part was she didn’t mind. At least her body didn’t. It craved the physical closeness.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Are you trying to establish a sexual relationship with me for the sake of the case?”

“That damn Hyatt. He planted the idea in your head, didn’t he?”

“Actually, no. I may be inexperienced compared to your other women, but I’m not naïve, nor am I stupid. It occurred to me this morning. You’ve known me for two years and never so much as asked me to coffee and then all of the sudden, you want access to my panties.”

“I like your panties,” he said with a feral grin.

“Ethan! Be serious.” Even though said undergarments were safely hidden behind a pair of black slacks, she was acutely aware of their skimpy nature all of a sudden. “I…um…I asked you a question and I’d appreciate an honest answer.”

He drew her in, just like a fish on a line, and she let him until their bodies were just touching. Electric jolts surged through her body until it was all she could do not to rub herself all over him like a feline looking for comfort.

“And if I was doing it just for the sake of the case, could you turn me down?” he asked softly, his lips a breath from hers, but not quite touching.

She wanted that touch. She wanted the kiss he’d offered. And she wanted it more than she’d ever wanted anything. Considering the kind of desires she’d known since meeting him, that was saying a lot.

He’d said a lot, too…in the way he’d worded his question. Not would you, but could you. He knew how much she wanted him and was not above capitalizing on the fact because he had taken her words and their encounter on the phone last night very seriously.

In many ways, that was a good thing…it made a strong statement about his own integrity, but she wanted to take back last night and the commitment she’d made to share her body with him. Didn’t she?

“I don’t know if I could say no,” she admitted. “I doubt I could have turned you down last night, even if you’d pushed it. But I do know that whatever happens between us, I’d rather go forward without a blindfold.”

“We can have a lot of fun with blindfolds.”

She rolled her eyes, while her body throbbed in reaction to his words. “No doubt.”

He sighed and stepped back, letting go of her arms. “I won’t deny that the timing has something to do with the case, but I’ve always wanted you, Sunshine.”

“Always? I don’t think so.”

“You think I can fake the kind of hard-ons you gave me last night?”

“You’re a professional. I’d say you know how to fake sexual interest, yes.”

He ran his fingers through his sandy hair. “You’re right. I do, but damn it…that kind of thing doesn’t give me erections hard enough to drill through rock. Only you do that.”

She didn’t know if she could believe him. “Would you lie for a case?”

“If it was necessary. Yes. But it isn’t in this instance. I don’t need to lie because the truth serves me better. I want you and I always have. The case will be easier in some ways because of that, but harder in others.”

“Why harder?”

“When I’m with you, my libido tends to take over, but when I’m on a case, I need to have my brain engaged at all times. It worries me, but there’s not a hell of a lot I can do about it.”

“Really?”

“Really. I thought about talking to Whit about getting another agent to take your place, but frankly…with the way I feel about you right now, I don’t think I could successfully manufacture the relationship with another woman.” And he didn’t sound happy about it.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” He smiled, the look so sexy, her insides were melting in little puddles. “I’m not.”

“How do you feel about me?”

“I just told you. I want you so much I’m ready to explode just thinking about sinking my cock inside you.”

That wasn’t what she meant, but the fact that he answered that way made it clear his interest in her was purely sexual. His emotions weren’t involved. “You can be incredibly crude.”

“Call it a gift. And blame yourself…I don’t get this basic with other women. Something in you brings it out.”

“The same something that brings out Alan’s protective instincts?” He’d certainly been overzealous in that department earlier.

“I don’t think so,” he said, as if the idea that he and Alan were affected by her in the same way was an anathema. “Though I feel a mite protective of you myself.”

“Do you?”

“Couldn’t you tell this morning?”

“No, I was too busy fantasizing about shooting your kneecap.”

“You would maim me for life for warning off your ex-fiancé?” he asked, askance.

“No, for embarrassing me.”

“You’re ashamed to be dating me?”

“Wanting to maintain a certain level of privacy in the workplace has nothing to do with being ashamed of who I’m dating, but we aren’t dating. Not really.”

“Last night sure felt like a date to me. It ended better than a lot of them do.”

“With me sending you home?” she couldn’t help teasing.

“With the image of the hungry look in your sweet brown eyes as you stared at my hard dick. And the date didn’t end there…did it?” As he’d been speaking, he’d been moving closer until she was against the wall and once again his body was just touching hers.

“No.” She licked her lips, while staring at his. “I guess not.”

He groaned. “Beth, baby, you are killing me again.”

“I don’t mean to.”