Emmie Dark - Just for Today...

“How long are you in Melbourne for?”

He frowned at the question. “Not long. Why?”

One shoulder lifted and then dropped in a nonanswer. “Hailey said you don’t stick around anywhere for very long. Where to next?”

“Sydney. I’m probably heading there tomorrow or Monday.” He had to be somewhere with a solid internet connection by Monday evening. For one of the most important meetings of his life. It’d make sense to set off on the ten-hour drive the next day; stop overnight somewhere halfway so he was fresh when he arrived.

“Is that a problem?” he asked when Jess remained silent. It was better she understood now that this wasn’t the beginning of something more than he could offer.

“No, no, it’s not a problem.” Her voice was a little faint.

Sean steered onto an off-ramp and turned into a side road. As soon as he could, he pulled the car over to stop on a low embankment. He turned to face her and, before she could protest, lowered his lips to hers.

It was a gentle kiss, just lips and breath and the warm rich scent of her skin. Their noses and chins rubbed together as Sean kissed either side of her mouth, before settling on her lips again to just barely caress them.

He pulled back just far enough to watch as her eyes drifted back open, her expression dazed.

“Wow,” she whispered.

“Yeah.” He grinned, knowing it would be goofy, but that one kiss had been enough to make him absolutely positive about what he wanted next. He cupped her chin with one hand. “Jess? I really like you. I’d like to spend the night with you—if you’d like to spend it with me.”

Jess wet her lips nervously but her eyes didn’t move from his. “That was direct.”

He gave a small shrug. “Best to be up front about these things, I’ve found.”

Jess didn’t answer. Her eyes were round and her porcelain skin pale in the sulfuric glow of the streetlight.

“You look a little scared.”

She gave a weak laugh, shifting in the seat to pull away from him. Sean dropped his hand to rest on her thigh.

“I’m not scared,” she said. She met his eyes, a curious determination visible in them.

“If you don’t want to, that’s cool. Seriously. We’ll head back to the reception now.” It was the right thing to say, but he hoped to hell she wasn’t going to take him up on it.

She still looked nervous, but the smile she gave him was sure. “No, I was over the wedding anyway. Let’s go.”

* * *

“I THOUGHT we were going to your hotel?” Jess asked as Sean turned onto a suburban street. She had a sudden sinking feeling about exactly where they were headed. And her nerves sang. He’d accused her of being scared—he was way off the mark. Terrified was more like it.

And that was why she had to go through with it. That and the urgent ache low in her belly that his kiss had only magnified.

“I said we were going to where I was staying.”

“And you’re staying at Hailey and Rob’s place?” Her voice went up at the end, betraying her discomfort.

“Just for tonight. The house sitter doesn’t arrive till tomorrow, and someone has to feed the dog in the morning. Does it make a difference?”

Well, yes. One-night-stand sex—with a guy seven years younger than her who also happened to be Hailey’s brother-in-law—in a hotel room was fine, mostly. Doing it in Hailey and Rob’s bed? Not so much. “Uh, well, I...”

“We won’t turn any lights on. You can pretend to be anywhere.” Sean pulled up on the street in front of a large ’60s brick veneer house and its carefully tended row of roses along the fence line. It wasn’t a mansion, but it was certainly a decent step-up from a typical newlyweds’ first home—Jess knew the Paterson family had bought it, in full, for the couple as an engagement/wedding present.

Sean killed the ignition and the sudden silence made Jess aware of the pulsing of blood in her ears.

His hand reached for hers where they were clasped in her lap. She knew it wasn’t by accident that his fingertips brushed against her inner thigh as he took her hand in his. The simple touch sent a bolt of heat straight to her core.

Damn.

She’d never been so turned-on by a guy so easily. Was it a hormonal thing? Didn’t they say that women reached their sexual peak in their thirties, men in their twenties? Was that why the chemistry between them was smoking hot?

“Jess?”

She’d never be able to come here for one of Hailey’s regular summer barbecues again if she did this.

There was a click and the shushing sound of Sean’s seat belt retracting. Then his other hand was on her cheek, turning her to him. He was inches away, a stripe of color from the streetlight highlighting one side of his face. She blinked and her heart rate picked up as if he’d changed her gears as smoothly as Dezzie’s.

Oh, who cared about barbecues, anyway?

It took less than a second for Jess to lean forward and banish the distance between them, her lips meeting his. Just like before, they were firm, but soft, and his hand slid across her cheek and into her hair, curling around the nape of her neck. Then he was in control of the kiss, tilting her head to meet his, parting his lips to gently swipe his tongue along her bottom lip. The hand that still held hers, in her lap, had stretched out, and his fingertips were stroking her thigh.

Jess melted into the seat. Any rational concerns she’d had—sex with someone she barely knew, the ramifications of Hailey finding out, the weirdness of doing it in Hailey’s house—had vanished. All she knew was that the past couple of years had been hard, and lonely, and celibate. If she didn’t deserve this, she didn’t know who did.

Sean leaned a little more into her. Somewhere along the way Jess had forgotten to breathe. Her head was spinning, need spiraling deep inside her. She wanted him with a ferocity that astonished her. Her tongue met his, sliding against it with warm, wet heat. She prayed for his hand to climb higher, parted her legs in invitation.

But something held her back from reaching around him, pulling him over her, feeling his heat and heaviness resting on top of her.... Damn seat belt.

“How ’bout we get out of here?” He whispered the words against her lips, retreating from their kiss just far enough to speak.

“Yes, yes.” Did she sound desperate? If so, she didn’t care. The idea that she wouldn’t see him again, that Sean would soon be moving on to his next destination, meant she didn’t have to worry what he thought of her. She just had to get him to satisfy the raging need he’d stoked to a firestorm inside her. Nothing else mattered. It was incredibly freeing—she wondered why she’d never found the courage to do something like this before.

Something about this situation was different, though. Perhaps it had something to do with Sean’s overwhelming confidence. Most guys who’d approached her in recent memory had given up in the face of her hesitation. Her divorce had left her with scars that usually took more than a sexy smile and a wink to overcome. Usually.

Jess fumbled with the seat belt for a moment and then had to scramble for her clutch purse on the floor. By the time she’d found it and untangled herself from the seat belt, Sean was at the door, opening it for her and offering a helping hand. She took it, grateful for his steadying grip. Her knees were feeling unreliable.

The cool night air was almost enough to sober her. Almost. She cast her eyes around the neighborhood, wondering if anyone was watching out of a chink in their curtains. Divorcée Jess Alexander, about to vanish inside with a man practically half her age, after making out in the car with him. It was indecent!

But no. Maybe she was overreacting a little. As nice a street as this was, it was still the city. And neighbors didn’t really care what went on next door as long as it wasn’t too noisy and it didn’t affect the resale value of their property.