Twins On The Way. Janice Maynard

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      “Needing a bit of Dutch courage, are we?”

      “Don’t make fun of me,” she said. “You’re an intimidating man.”

      “Which is why you insisted on coming to my room and throwing yourself at me.”

      Hot color swept from her throat to her hairline. From where he was standing, it must have seemed that way. How could she explain that he had dazzled her without even trying? “You’ll be disappointed if you think I’m a pro.”

      “I thought we already established that you’re not a pro.”

      “That’s not what I mean. I haven’t done this kind of thing.”

      “Sex? Or seduction?”

      “I have not seduced you,” she said primly, secretly charmed that he thought she could.

      He nodded briefly, his firm lips curved in a sensual smile. “I’ll admit to being predisposed. You’re a very appealing woman.”

      The die was cast. “How about fetching us some of that wine while I get undressed?”

Two

      Gavin’s hands shook as he opened a bottle of Zinfandel. He managed to pour two glasses without spilling anything, but it was a close call. In his bathroom was a naked young female...the most beautiful woman he had seen in a very long time. If he had to create a sexual partner from scratch, she would look a lot like Cassidy Corelli.

      Her sun-kissed Mediterranean coloring and cheeky personality were irresistible. He’d never particularly believed in fate as the arbiter of his destiny. He was too much of a control freak for that. But some unseen force or quirk of timing had put him near that alley at exactly the right moment. It was his choice how to proceed.

      He carried the wine into the bathroom and stopped dead in his tracks when he realized that Cassidy was already undressed. She had donned one of the hotel’s signature bathrobes. It was much too large for her.

      “Most people wait until after the shower to cover up,” he said drily. The acres of terry cloth might as well have been armor. But what his guest didn’t realize was that bare feet and flushed cheeks gave her an air of innocence. The juxtaposition of smart-mouthed banter with youthful naïveté brought tenderness into the mix.

      “I was cold,” she said.

      Since the bathroom was steamy, he took that with a grain of salt. Though he had turned off the water when he saw they weren’t getting in immediately, the room was plenty warm.

      “Drink some wine,” he said, handing her a glass. “It will settle your nerves.”

      She scowled at him over the rim of her crystal flute. “Who says I’m nervous?”

      Leaning a hip against the counter, he drained half his glass. “Aren’t you? Shouldn’t you be?”

      “Not unless you’re a twisted psychopath.”

      “It’s a little late to worry about that now, don’t you think?”

      She set down the glass of wine she had barely touched and shoved her hands in her pockets. Her chin lifted. “I can read people.”

      “Do tell.”

      “You were a Boy Scout. Eagle, if I had to guess.”

      He lifted an eyebrow. “I’m impressed.”

      “So I’m right?” Her pleased smugness amused him.

      “One lucky shot doesn’t qualify you to read the Tarot cards.”

      “I don’t need cards. You’re an open book.”

      He emptied his glass and set it gently on the counter with a little clink. “Then what am I thinking now?” He unfastened his belt and drew it from around his waist. When he dropped it on the floor, he was pretty sure she gulped.

      “Stop that,” she said.

      “I seldom shower with my clothes on.” His solemn joke lightened the look of panic on her face, though she still eyed him warily.

      “Maybe we should get to know each other first.”

      “Did I mention that I’m flying out in the morning? Leave if you want to, Cass, but soon. I don’t want to go any further with this if you aren’t sure.”

      She paled, her brown eyes round with a mix of emotions he couldn’t decipher. “I want to be sure.”

      “But you’re not,” he said, reading her fairly well.

      “I thought I could be spontaneous and adventuresome. But it turns out I’m not really that girl.”

      He swallowed his disappointment. “I understand. Get dressed and I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”

      She took a step in his direction, placing her small hand on his forearm. “How about a compromise?”

      It became painfully clear that Cassidy Corelli didn’t know much about men at all. She was naked for all intents and purposes, in his bathroom, and yet somehow she expected him to play nice. Even her fingers on his skin made him shudder with hunger.

      Moving out of reach, he ran two hands through his hair. “What kind of compromise?” He was asking for more physical torture, but he didn’t have it in him to kick her out.

      “This is your first trip to Vegas, right?”

      “Yes.”

      “I could show you the sights for a couple of hours. Enjoy the ambiance.”

      “And then what?”

      “Whatever we want to do next.”

      Her smile seemed genuine. Was she deliberately teasing him, or did she honestly want to go to bed with him but was uncertain about the wisdom of that plan?

      He was hard and ready. It wasn’t conceit to think he could coax her into having sex right now. But he’d been raised to be a gentleman. Despite the demands of his body, he was well aware that Cassidy was not 100 percent on board with the idea of intimacy. Even if she had been the one to come on to him in the first place.

      The smart thing for both of them would be for him to boot her out before somebody got hurt. He couldn’t give her anything beyond tonight. And it was pretty clear that she was not a woman who went in for casual sex.

      But she fascinated him, intrigued him...and he couldn’t remember ever wanting a woman more. He was not in the habit of picking up strange females, especially not ones like Cassidy. Too many unknowns. Too many warning bells.

      He’d learned the hard way not to be taken in by a seemingly innocent come-on. Cassidy was more than that, though. He believed it, or told himself he did. Otherwise, he was about to break his personal code into tiny unmanageable СКАЧАТЬ