Kat Martin - Against the Sun

He told himself not to think of how sexy she looked in the snug jeans, with that little bit of skin showing at her waist. Told his mind not to stray where it had no right to go.

He told himself to remember Sage was off-limits. But he couldn’t quite convince himself.

* * *

Riding the elevator up to her apartment on the tenth floor, Sage felt Jake’s hand at her back.

“You don’t have to come in,” she said, as the elevator doors slid open and he guided her out into the hall.

“That’s what I get paid for. I’ll just take a quick look around, make sure everything’s okay.” He walked past her as she opened the door and turned off the alarm, then watched him disappear down the hall. It had been a long day and she was exhausted. The security situation at the ranch was worse than she had expected. The system needed upgrading anyway, so doing it now wasn’t really a problem, except that the matter had become urgent.

She thought of the surprisingly comfortable day she had spent with Jake. He was easy to talk to and actually listened to what she had to say. She tried not to compare him to Phillip, whose mind always seemed to be somewhere else.

Things had gone well at first, but as the day progressed, the easy conversation had slipped away, replaced by a slowly building sexual tension.

The ride home had been silent, marked by a shared look now and then that seemed to scorch the air between them. She had never felt anything like it.

Thank God they were home and he was leaving.

She watched him return to the entry, thinking how much space he took up, even in her large, airy apartment. “Did you really expect to find someone lurking in here?”

“No. But don’t be surprised if trouble starts again tomorrow. Seems like once these things get rolling, they take on a life of their own.”

“I hope you’re wrong.”

“So do I. It would make my job a whole lot easier.”

She looked up at him, standing there in front of her. God, he was handsome, and so damned male.

“Is that all I am to you, Jake? A job?”

His blue eyes ran over her. Something shifted between them, and the air seemed to simmer and heat.

“That’s the way it started,” he said, his gaze on her face.

“And now?”

His nostrils flared. He was standing closer than she’d realized. So close she could see his chest rising and falling, each breath coming faster than the last. He was wearing a dark green T-shirt and jeans, and when she glanced down she saw there was a heavy bulge beneath his zipper. He took a step toward her, and instead of moving back, she rested her hand on his chest. She could feel the thick muscle, the bands of sinew that tightened beneath the soft cotton fabric.

Her heartbeat quickened. She stared at his mouth and wanted him to kiss her. It was insane. She was engaged to be married. She wasn’t the type of woman who betrayed her fiancé by kissing another man.

She tipped her head to look up at Jake’s face, saw the hunger in those blue, blue eyes, and her whole body went hot. One of his hands slid beneath her hair, tilting her mouth toward his. She felt the roughness of his palm against her scalp, the raw power he commanded. He bent his head, lightly brushed her lips, and heat and need poured through her.

She exhaled a breath and her eyes closed. She wanted this kiss…wanted it so badly.

His mouth hovered over hers, just a breath away. “What about Phillip?” he whispered.

“Phillip?” Her eyes fluttered, slowly opened. Then the name hit her like a splash of cold water and her stomach knotted. Sage jerked away. “Phillip. Oh, my God.”

Those fierce blue eyes bored into her. “I don’t share my women, Sage.”

Humiliation burned through her, and fury boiled in her blood. “Get out.” She pointed toward the door with a hand that trembled. “Get out of here right now.”

The edge of his mouth harshly curved. “I’m leaving. But I’ll be back in the morning. Seven o’clock.”

“Six!” she demanded, just to save a little pride. “I have work to do.” She wanted to throw something at him, wanted to tell him never to come near her again. He had humiliated her, shown her how susceptible she was to him.

Her eyes stung.

“Lock the door behind me,” he said a little more gently, and then he was gone.

Sage’s throat closed up. He had made a fool of her, preyed on the attraction she felt for him. Clearly, he believed he could have her anytime he wanted.

It wasn’t true. She wouldn’t do that to Phillip.

She leaned back against the wall and released a shaky breath. It was nothing, she told herself. A moment of weakness, nothing more.

It wouldn’t happen again. Sage ignored the little tremor of regret that whispered through her.

Six

On Monday morning, Jake pulled up in front of Sage’s apartment in one of the big black SUVs that belonged to Freedom Limousines, the fleet owned by Abraham Lincoln Jones.

Linc was a longtime friend and a man Jake trusted. As a kid, Linc had boosted cars for a living, until he got busted and tossed into juvenile hall. Unlike other kids his age, he had realized the error of his ways, straightened up his life and become a successful Houston businessman.

He still knew cars, knew how to handle a vehicle better than any Hollywood stuntman. Linc had agreed to be Jake’s personal driver during the Saudis’ visit.

The Cadillac Escalade rolled to a stop beneath the overhanging portal of the high-rise apartment building where Sage lived.

Jake opened the door and climbed out. “I won’t be long.”

It was six in the morning. Damn the woman. Ian was right—Sage worked too hard. But the early departure was partly Jake’s fault. If he hadn’t goaded her last night—if he hadn’t given in to that single moment of weakness—she would have agreed to the later hour and gotten at least a little more sleep.

He should have left her alone. But he hadn’t expected the hunger to be so intense, hadn’t known for sure until last night that she wanted him, too.

It didn’t matter. The attraction between them wasn’t going anywhere, and he had a job to do.

With a nod to the security guard, he took the elevator up to Sage’s apartment and knocked on the door. An instant later, she pulled the door open.

“I see you’re on time,” she said sharply. “Let’s go.”

He’d meant to ignore what had happened last night, go on as if it didn’t matter. Maybe he would have, if it weren’t for the faint purple smudges beneath her eyes, the stiffness in her posture that told him he had hurt her.

She tried to brush past him, but he caught her arm, stopping her. She was wearing her high heels, putting her back in her confidence zone, and he was glad.

“About what happened last night…”

Her chin went up. “Nothing happened. Don’t pretend it did.” She tried to walk past him, but he wouldn’t let her go.

“Nothing happened. But don’t think I didn’t want it to. I wanted it too much, Sage.”

Her eyes found his. They were golden and full of fire. Disbelieving.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I was out of line. Nothing like that will happen again.”

For a moment she just stared, her eyes fixed on his. Then she relaxed. “We’re both under a lot of pressure. Things happen. It’s better if we just forget it.”

But he wouldn’t forget. Every time he looked at her he would curse himself for not tasting her, not seeing where that single kiss might lead. His gaze remained on hers. “Are you sure that’s the way you want it?”

She didn’t even blink. “That’s the way it has to be.”

Jake stepped back and let her pass. “There’s a car waiting downstairs. Let’s get you to the office.”

Sage just nodded.