Playing for Keeps/A Tempting Stranger (26 page)

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Authors: Lori Copeland

Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #General, #Contemporary, #Westerns, #test

BOOK: Playing for Keeps/A Tempting Stranger
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Page 188
. . . research manual I was reading the other night, I came across a new technique I might try out.''
"Research manual?" His voice rose in astonishment. "What in the devil were you researching?"
She slithered down his body with torturous precision. "I can show you so much better than I can take the time to explain it."
Jason writhed in agonizing pleasure as her lips nipped the flat of his stomach around his navel. "Damn!" he said huskily. "Can I read that manual when you're through with it?"
Her mouth worked its way down the heated path, muttering between bites, "If you liked page fifty, you're going to lo-ove page fifty-one . . ."and he did!
Gasping uncontrollably, his hands wildly pulling her on top of him, he positioned her hips to accept his eager desire and their bodies blended rapturously in a mounting haze of fiery bliss. They moved in tandem as they reached simultaneous delight. Jason breathed a quivering moan as he clung desperately to her shuddering body, glowing with a sheen of perspiration. Clinging together through a maze of kisses and whispered love words, they glided gently back to earth from their dizzying heights.
Jessica fell limply to his side, snuggling down deep in his arms, wrapping her arms around his middle, loving the feel of his bare skin next to hers.
Wriggling seductively, she squirmed closer to him, biting playfully at his ear as his large hands cupped her rounded derriere.
"I can tell I'd better start learning to sleep while I'm on my tractor, once we're married again," he said dryly. "It's plain I won't be getting any sleep at night."
"Why, Mr. Rawlings, are you asking me to be your wife again?" She nipped at his lips, moving her mouth slowly over them.
"One more time!" Jason told her, slapping her bottom.
 
Page 189
''
This
time there'll be no getting out of it. You're stuck for life."
"Fine with me," Jessica said, bringing her hand down to intimately caress his relaxed body.
"I wouldn't get too carried away, lady," he groaned painfully, his mouth covering hers again. "There's still a lot of life left in this tired old body."
"Oh, Jason, I know you're tired," she said sympathetically, her fingers fluttering lightly over his taut stomach, causing him to draw his breath in sharply and emit a low, shuddering moan as he rolled over on top of her.
"Not that tired," he rasped huskily.
"My darling Jason," Jessica whispered, nearly breathless with overwhelming happiness. "I love you so much!"
Jason slowly and gently maneuvered their bodies into one, their very souls blending passionately as they once more sailed the sea of ecstacy.
As they lay in the mellow afterglow Jason tenderly cradled Jessica in his arms, his hand running down her velvet arm until it reached her delicate fingers. Holding her hand close to his lips, he kissed the tip of each finger, whispering between each nibble, "Mrs.JasonRawlingsJessicaRawlings. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"
"Ummmm . . ." Jessica moaned sleepily.
"I love you, Angel."
Jessica raised her drowsy lids. "Now, that
really
has a nice ring to it."
"I love you, I love you, I love you," Jason whispered over and over in her ear, lulling her into semisleep.
Just before she drifted off, she gave him one last kiss on the cheek. "And, darling," she offered, "when we're married, you can have
all
my money to do with as you wish!"
A low rumble of laughter came from Jason's throat as he smoothed her dark hair back from her face lovingly. "I don't need your money, sweetheart."
"But you're welcome to it," Jessica insisted. "You've
 
Page 190
nearly killed yourself the last few months working both farms.''
Pulling her head closer, he whispered in her ear lightly, "I guess that was my way of telling you I loved youevery day for the last five months, Angel. I needed that ten thousand dollars like I needed another day's work."
Jessica looked puzzled, sitting up in bed, suddenly wide awake.
"Jessica, listen to me, Angel," he explained, sitting up to face her. "Just before my dad died, they found oil on the five hundred acres he owned in Dallas. It made us all millionaires. Eric stays up there and runs the business for us because I wanted to work the farm." He took hold of her shoulders, looking her straight in the eyes. "Jessica, I've got enough money to burn a wet mule! So every day I ran that farm for you was a labor of love. I was doing it because I loved you and couldn't let you walk back out of my life again. Do you understand? Do you believe that, honey?"
Jessica brought her hands up, running her fingers along his smoothly shaven jaw, her eyes shining with love. "Yes, my darling Jason. I believe you andthank you." She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.
"You're more than welcome, Angel."
They kissed tenderly, savoring the sweetness of the moment.
"Just one more thing, Jason," Jessica said. There was one more question clouding Jessica's otherwise tranquil mind. "About Monica . . ."
Jason heaved a sigh and lay back on his pillow, pulling her face toward his hair-covered chest. "What is it?"
"Did youwelldid you love her?"
He paused for a brief moment. "I'll be very honest with you. I tried toI wanted toand maybe there was a time when I thought I did, but I think she knew all along how I felt about you. She is really a nice person, Jessica, but
 
Page 191
it's you I love, and I told her just before I flew down here, and she understood.''
Jessica had to fight the urge to jump out of bed and shout "
Finally Jason Rawlings loves Jessica Cole!
" She showered his face with a multitude of feather kisses, lulling him into a peaceful glow.
"Right now, Angel, I think we need some sleep. We have a long trip ahead of us in the morning."
A tiny frown crossed Jessica's glowing face. "UhJason . . ."
"Ummmm . . ."
"Well, you know I have my car here . . ."
"I know, sweetheart," he said, on the verge of sleep. "I'll drive it for youwe'll go home together." He patted her stomach lovingly.
"Well . . ." she said hesitantly. "There's just one
small
thing . . ."
"What's that, honey?"
She rose up on her knees in the middle of the bed, her bright violet eyes sparkling in extreme agitation. "Jason, you're not going to believe this, but on the way to the market this afternoon, some
idiot
pulled out in front of me . . ."
One large hand reached out and pulled her back down on the bed. Jason's mouth covered her sputtering one one final time before they both dropped contentedly off into a peaceful sleep, wrapped in each other's arms forever.
 
Page 8
A TEMPTING STRANGER
 
Page 9
Chapter One
The sharp bite of the early evening wind nipped angrily at the attractive, slender blonde stepping out of the waiting cab and hurriedly paying the driver with shivering fingers. As she breezed by the courteous doorman smiling pleasantly at her, the sultry scent of her very enticing perfume filtered softly through the crisp night air.
Chandra Loring paused to catch her breath as she walked into the elegant lobby of one of the oldest but most exclusive apartment buildings in all of Oklahoma. She gazed around the massive room, its beauty and festive decor holding her spellbound. Although it was barely a few days into December, the room resembled an enchanted Christmas fairyland. Enormous wreaths of pine greenery tied with bright red satin bows adorned the stately old walls, and tiny miniature Christmas trees twinkled brightly throughout the lobby. Long strings of garland were draped about the room, their fresh, clean, woodsy smell filling the air along with the sweet sounds of Christmas carols coming from the intricate stereo system.
Chandra closed her eyes for a moment, drinking in the sounds and smells of the season, and for just that small moment elation replaced her feeling of apprehension. Christmas had always brought out the small child in her. She would rush madly around the crowded shopping malls, enjoying the happy, carefree attitude that seemed to descend over the people, turning Scrooges into baby lambs and even the most cynical into believersif only for a season. Her apartment would come alive with the smells
 
Page 10
of holiday baking, and her fingers would fairly fly as she wrapped each present in bright-colored paper, eagerly awaiting the time when she could hand them lovingly to the ones she had purchased them for.
Casting one last admiring glance around her, she walked over to the old elevator and pushed the button. The sounds of the old lift squeaking into motion caused her to tilt her head upward, watching in fascination as it slowly started to descend from the very top of the building.
Chandra stepped back to await its arrival, her stomach twitching nervously at the thought of why she was here. If she had one ounce of sense she would turn around and run for the hills! How she had ever let her brother Darrell talk her into this perfectly ridiculous scheme still astounded her. She bit her bottom lip apprehensively as she glanced up again to watch the progression of the small cage. It was parked on the fourth floor, and the sounds of boisterous male voices echoed faintly through the old lobby.
Seems as if someone is celebrating a little early,
she thought as she heard the door clang and the cables start up again.
She nervously tapped her foot. She just hoped she'd get through this night. All she had wanted was to come home a couple of weeks early and have a long mother-daughter talk about her upcoming wedding that was to take place on the thirty-first of this month. She realized now she should have called and let her mother know she was coming, but at the time she had decided to come, she'd just thrown her things in a bag and caught the first plane. She had arrived home to an empty house and found that her mother had gone with her dad on a business trip. Chandra began to pace the small waiting area, thinking back to last night when her brother had come over to keep her company. With the cunning of a wolf he had manipulated her into the wildest farce she had ever heard ofwithin thirty minutes of his arrival she had agreed to pose as his best friend Cecil's wife!
Her two-inch heels clicked heatedly on the floor as her impatience mounted, her hazel eyes searching for the gold cage that
 
Page 11
now sat quietly on the second floor. She still had time to back out, she reasoned. She certainly didn't have to go through with this! After all, she was engaged to Phillip and, although he was a fun-loving type of man, she was sure he wouldn't be too happy about any of this should he ever find out. It was totally out of character for her to even consider such a plan, much less become part of itbut in a moment of great weakness she had succumbed to her brother's urgent pleas. Cecil, it seemed, was trying for a top position in an aeronautical company and had heard through the grapevine that the owner would be more favorably impressed by a married man. Out of desperation Darrell and Cecil had cooked up a half-baked plan for her to pose as his wife this evening at a party that was being thrown for the prospective candidates. If it wasn't for the fact, as her brother had so pathetically put it, that ''poor shy Cecil" couldn't find a "substitute wife" of his own for the evening, she would never have agreed to the plot in the first place.
Darrell had explained that after Cecil secured the position the owner and his wife were leaving town again. Cecil could eventually announce that his marriage had not worked out. He would have his job, Chandra would have done her brother's friend a great humanitarian service, and everything would be dipsy doodle again!
What upset her most about the whole deal was that she had never even laid eyes on Cecil, and all she had to go on was a very limited description of him.
Chandra ceased pacing, a frown of irritation marring her lovely features. No, she had promised Darrell she would do this, so she would. But if he were standing before her right now, she would cheerfully strangle him and never blink an eye. If this Cecil was half the loser her brother had painted him to bebad luck with women, jobs, life in generalshe didn't see how this one night would change anything for him. But at least she would have done her share to set his feet back on the road to happiness.
The elevator gradually reached the first floor, coming to a jerky halt as an elderly operator made a couple of stabs at

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