Gold Fire (27 page)

Which he’d apparently done well, judging by the dazed look in those lovely golden-brown eyes. He was inordinately pleased to have put it there, and strangely possessive about not wanting another man to have a chance to do the same.

He brushed away a few strands of hair that clung to the dampness on her forehead and smiled as the dreamy glaze left her eyes. “Did I ever tell you how much that stuffy business suit turns me on?”

“I think you just did, although I was hoping it was what was under the suit.”

“That part was even hotter.” He kissed her, a long, slow finish to their lovemaking, before he stood and helped her to her feet. She looked a little wobbly, and he put his arms around her. It seemed like a good excuse to press her naked body against his one more time, and she didn’t object, holding him close and laying her cheek against him as she tucked her head just below his chin. It felt so right he just stood there, drinking in the closeness.

“I should go home now.”

Funny, that was usually his line. Hearing it from her sent an unpleasant jolt through him. He pulled his head back and looked at her. “So you can draw up a new life plan?”

She gave him a sour smile. “Looks like I have to.”

“Don’t.”

“Well, I can’t operate without one, and I really don’t think it’s your call.”

“I mean, don’t go home. Come to my house.” Her face went blank and her mouth opened in surprise. He understood—he was almost as surprised as she was when it popped out of his mouth, but he knew immediately that he wanted it. Badly.

Since surprise wasn’t outright rejection, he tried harder, giving her what worked best, sensible reasons. He wasn’t above playing dirty.

“You have to give it a fair shot, Zoe. Have you really worked me out of your system so fast? Because all you’ve done for me is show me something I hope I can have again. It’s not like you to leave a job unfinished.”

Gambling on her feeling the same way wasn’t too risky, not after the look he’d seen on her face and the response he’d felt in her body. But he backed it up with emotion anyway. “I can’t promise one more time will be enough for me, because I’m not just hot for your body. I like you. I like your stubborn dedication to your job, and the way you won’t take no for an answer. You’re smart, and you’re persistent. It’s a sexy combination.” It was easy to look sincere when he meant every word.

Her steady look was hard to read. “You said I was irritating.”

He grinned. “You are. Doesn’t change the rest.” Running a hand under her hair, he caressed the back of her head, watching her eyes close as he tugged gently, then sifted it through his fingers. “What do you say?” he murmured, sneaking in a kiss. “It’s one night. You can draw up your new life plans later, and add amendments and corollaries to your heart’s content. The ones that exclude worthless bums like me.”

She was thinking, which was better than saying no.

Despite what she thought, when he did something, he did a thorough job, which meant he couldn’t hit her with logic and emotion without throwing in the physical aspect. With a suggestive smile and lift of his eyebrow, he ran two fingers down her cheek, down her
neck, down her fair, freckled skin to her bare breast. She looked down, as he’d hoped she would, following his fingers as he traced a path over her breast, beneath it, across the nipple. Her eyes closed. He played there lightly, teasing, holding back a smile as goose bumps ran down her arms. Leaning close, he whispered, “I’m not done with you, Zoe. Come home with me. Stay the night.”

She sighed, a long breath of resignation, and he knew he had her before she opened her eyes. “You’re right. I don’t think we’re done. And I really do want to forget about you.”

“Thatta girl.”

•  •  •

Zoe followed him in her car, wondering the whole time if she’d lost her mind. Saloon sex was one thing. Spending the night at Jase Garrett’s house, even when that night was already closer to dawn, was another entirely. It was deliberate and no longer private, not with her car sitting in his driveway for anyone to see. Definitely not in line with her responsible, conservative image. It was more like something she would have done ten years ago.

Except back then she would have done it for the shock value. Now she didn’t want anyone to know. Not the nosy residents of B-Pass, who were apparently eager to see a Larkin girl go bad, and not her sisters, who knew her cautious dating life didn’t include men like Jase Garrett. She preferred to keep this to herself, at least until she understood it.

Thankfully, his house was secluded. Maybe no one would notice the red Escort parked beside his truck. Then Maggie and Sophie wouldn’t get the
chance to ask what she was thinking when she dropped Matt Flemming in favor of a hot fling with his polar opposite.

She didn’t have an answer. She
hadn’t been
thinking. She’d been acting on instinct, something she hadn’t trusted herself to do in her entire adult life. And because it had been so right, she’d followed her instincts again, trailing him along the dark roads to his house.

She wasn’t done with him any more than he was done with her. And she didn’t understand him. Jase was more than he appeared to be. More motivated to get what he wanted in life, and more caring about people outside his own little world.

She’d misread him. What else had she missed?

For starters, his financial situation. The house she walked through wasn’t the home of a lazy saloon owner with no other discernible income. Trees and darkness had hidden part of the house when she’d been there before, and with her rage in full bloom, the living room hadn’t registered. It did now, from the huge stone fireplace to the expensive furniture. So did the large, tiled kitchen she passed, and the study that looked like it functioned as his main living space. The dining room and two bedrooms were bare. He’d put a lot of money into building the house, but stopped halfway through furnishing it. Out of money? Or out of interest?

At least the spacious master bedroom was furnished, including a chair on the adjoining deck. Even in the dark she knew it would have a spectacular view of Tappit’s Peak. Views were what people paid for in Barringer’s Pass, and they didn’t come cheap.

They’d obviously miscalculated. Matt had dismissed
Jase’s claim of having “enough” money by saying that his endorsement deals would have been yanked. If they had, he obviously had another source of income. The Rusty Wire didn’t pay for homes like this. Just one clue that she didn’t know Jase nearly as well as she’d thought.

“You’re staring.” Jase came up behind her, laying his hands on her shoulders. “Don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts.”

“No, it’s just that it’s all so lovely.”

“It is?” He looked around the room, obviously worried. “I wasn’t going for lovely.”

“Don’t worry, your manhood is intact. I just meant you have a beautiful home.”

“It’s just a house.” He massaged the muscles beneath his hands with surprising skill. She relaxed into it, rolling her head. He lowered his head, kissed her ear. “Tell me more about my manhood.”

She laughed, doubting he needed reassurance. It felt good to have a relaxed relationship with him, teasing and bantering without the pressure to persuade and close the deal.

“I love it when you laugh.” His soft comment got her attention better than any teasing remark he could have made. He loved something about her. She was surprised by how good it made her feel. “It sounds like the real you. You never laugh when you’re working.”

God, was that true? For a second, she blinked in concern, then realized why he was wrong. “That’s because you only see me at my most annoying times, when I’m trying to convince my bullheaded neighbor to sell his saloon.”

“True.” He smiled. “Do you laugh a lot at the Alpine Sky? Maybe I should visit you there again.”

She sobered quickly at the thought of working with David and Matt, her daily problems with spoiled movie stars, and worries over the aggressive expansion plans. “No, I guess I don’t. But it’s not that kind of job.”

“You mean it’s not fun.”

She frowned. “Most jobs aren’t.”

“Some are. Mine is.”

She started to say that was because he didn’t really work, he socialized. But she’d seen how people responded to him; he was a one-man public relations department, working the room, keeping people happy. Doing what an owner should.

He was a people person who obviously loved his job, while under her efficient, competent facade she didn’t love hers. And he’d zeroed in on it.

Thinking about work was spoiling her good mood. She turned to face him as he dropped his hands down to circle her waist, keeping her close. “I didn’t come here to talk about work.”

“Direct, as usual.” He kissed her, unbuttoning her blouse as he did. “Not a problem. We can save the getting-to-know-you for later.”

She responded to his kiss hungrily, rubbing against the erection that was already straining the front of his jeans. “You already know me,” she murmured into his ear. Far too well. If he was going to be so damn perceptive, she’d give him something else to concentrate on.

Luckily, when he did something, he gave it his full attention. It wasn’t possible to complain about a man
who could bring her to the brink of ecstasy time and again without allowing her that final release, but lying in his bed she decided it was entirely possible to go mad from it. The only consolation was that he was as tortured as she was.

He hovered above her, placing delicate kisses on her eyes, forehead, and cheeks, and she couldn’t care less. Her attention was centered on the wonderful yearning that pulsed between her legs, and the teasing erection that brushed all the right places without giving either of them satisfaction. She clutched the firm muscles of his ass to hold him in place while she thrust upward, but he moved enough to miss the target and give them both a searing, hot jolt of pleasure as he slid over her.

He hissed in a breath, then smiled. “Vixen.” He kissed her nose.

“Beast.” He rocked slightly, sending another delicious shock wave rushing through her. She laughed, a combination of delight and exasperation. “Jase, I’m suffering here.”

“So am I. You drive me crazy.” He nipped at her lower lip. “Some of us don’t get two orgasms every time. I want to make this last.”

“I sympathize with your deficiencies, truly.” She grinned at his evil look. “But I assure you the second is needed just as desperately as the first.”

“Show-off.”

“Did you know it’s possible to die from unrequited lust?”

“You made that up.” She wiggled against him, and he groaned, letting it turn into a chuckle. “But I think you’re right.”

When she reached between them he didn’t stop her.
She guided him into her, nearly shaking from the tiny explosion of pleasure as their bodies joined.

He sank in, moaning happily. His first movements were agonizingly slow, drawing out every incredible sensation. She sucked in a breath and dug her fingernails into his back, riding every cresting wave, gasping as they came faster and faster, harder and harder. When she finally lost herself in the shattering end she clung to his shoulders, crying out his name and taking him with her.

He collapsed on top of her, breathing hard. She heard a mumbled curse, a harsh word so filled with awe it sounded reverent, and she melted a little more inside. Getting enough of this man wasn’t going to be as simple as she’d thought.

Her well-planned life was going to hell. She probably should be upset.

Maybe tomorrow, when she wasn’t so exhausted.

He slid off her, bringing a shiver as air touched sweat-slicked skin. A moment later he’d pulled the covers over them both and she snuggled her back against the firm wall of his chest.

She felt the rise and fall of each breath as it slowed to normal, along with the steady beating of his heart. Her own still pounded, and she wondered if he felt it, and if he knew it was because of the way he wrapped her in his arms, as if he never wanted to let go.

“Zoe?” His voice rumbled close to her ear.

“Hmm.”

“I feel it’s only fair to tell you. I think your plan is stupid.”

Her heart surged back to a pounding gallop, and she squeezed her eyes shut. She knew what he meant—he
didn’t think he’d get tired of having sex with her. She was more pleased than she should have been.

It was a sweet thought, but she couldn’t afford to be wrong. That would screw things up even more than they already were.

She said nothing and pretended to drift off to sleep, then really did.

•  •  •

Zoe opened her eyes and squinted at the clock on the nightstand. Twelve o’clock. From the brilliant sunlight pouring through the French doors, that had to mean twelve noon. She sat up, stretched out her legs, and winced at the pull on her inner thighs. Last night had given her muscles a more vigorous workout than they’d seen in some time.

Which, after all, had been her intent. Satisfy the cravings for the sex her body had missed so she could forget it and get on with her real life. Spending the night hadn’t been the plan, but her body had craved more than she’d realized. Jase had satisfied her wonderfully.

Now it was time for the perfunctory thank-you and good-bye.

She looked down at Jase. He slept with one arm thrown over his head, quilt kicked down to his waist. His face was strong, even in sleep, jaw shadowed with dark whiskers. The firmly muscled chest was already familiar to her, and if she was honest, still tempting. Nothing wrong with admiring a well-built man. Last night proved she could keep the fantasy separate from the practical reality of her life. But it was over, and there was no sense in pushing her luck. She resisted the temptation to lay her head on the soft hairs covering
the center of his chest and curl into the warmth of his side.

As she watched, he opened his eyes. His unfocused gaze landed on her, and he blinked sleepily and smiled. “Morning.”

Smiling back was automatic. “Good morning.”

“What time is it?”

“Noon.”

“Guess we were really tired.” His smile quirked on one side, remembering the reason, and her heart skipped a beat. Jase’s eyes roamed lazily over her face and hair for several seconds, his expression turning thoughtful. “Jesus, you’re pretty in the morning.”