“We’re not talking about work tonight.” His fingers traveled higher. Higher still. Both scaring and arousing her at the same time. “Tell me. If I touched you right now, I’d find you completely dry. Unaffected?” She didn’t want to be caught doing this.
She desperately wanted to be caught.
“You wouldn’t dare touch me right now,” she whispered.
“Why not? No one’s paying attention.” Those long fingers slid upward, closer to her panties and she held her breath, her entire body focused on where he might touch her next. “I could make you come and no one would be the wiser.”
Sheridan released a shuddering breath. He probably could, the bastard. Just the image his words conjured had her shivery with need. “It’s not working.”
“Liar,” he whispered just before he bit her earlobe.
Shoving his hand away, Sheridan stood, nearly toppling over on her stilettos. The man turned her into a complete klutz. Her skin felt tight, too hot, and she desperately needed some air. “That was a low move, Quinn.”
A single brow rose. He didn’t look like he regretted his cheating ways. The jerk. “Going somewhere, Quinn?”
The smug look on his too-handsome face made her want to smack him. “The ladies’ room,” she lied, figuring he wouldn’t follow her there.
He grinned. “Better not go off and cheat.”
She frowned. “Cheat? I’m not the cheater in this game.”
The grin eased, his gaze smoldering as he drank her in from head to toe. He grabbed her hand, pulling her close so she had no choice but to bend toward him, his mouth at her ear. “No touching yourself in a bathroom stall, baby.”
Shaking out of his grip, she took off with a huff and stalked through the crowd, smiling as politely as she could to passersby while deep inside, she burned. Not with anger, though maybe just a little bit. Anger directed more at herself for falling for his smooth lines.
Arousal made her twitchy, uneasy, and she slipped out the back door of the restaurant into a beautiful little courtyard, complete with twinkling white lights wrapped around the trunk and branches of the trees that created an intimate canopy of leaves over the small iron tables that dotted the cobbled patio. She swore she saw a couple under one of those trees, locked in a rather passionate embrace.
Damn it. She couldn’t escape a crowd to save her life. Turning, she went back to the door, her fingers resting on the handle when she heard an unmistakably familiar voice.
“Sheridan. What are you doing out here?”
She turned to find Willow standing before her, her dark hair mussed, her lipstick gone, and her mouth swollen. “Needed fresh air.”
“Yeah, me, too.” Willow smiled, pushed her hair away from her face. “Um, you want to go back inside together?”
“Uh…” Sheridan shook her head, looking over Willow’s shoulder for her mystery kisser but he remained beneath the tree in shadow. “Who are you with?” she whispered.
Willow shrugged. “I need my secrets just like you need yours.”
Ouch. That hurt. She and Willow had never kept anything from each other. They’d been best friends since they were eight. Had shared every hope and dream. “Are you mad at me about Jared?”
“No, I…” Willow shook her head. “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. I should probably go back inside with you and forget him.”
“Fine. I guess I should get back to Jared.” God, she sounded downright reluctant, didn’t she?
“Not wanting to return to your husband?” Willow’s tone was mocking.
“Of course not, he’s just…” Driving me crazy with lust? Teasing me when he knows we can’t do any of that kind of stuff due to the stipulation I insisted should be in our agreement?
She was starting to second-guess herself. Maybe that stipulation had been a huge mistake. Maybe she should make an adjustment to that stupid contract that allowed for free sex for an entire year.
Didn’t that sound full of potential?
“He’s being too grabby,” she said lamely, instantly feeling dumb for whining.
“If Jared Quinn was being too grabby with me, I wouldn’t be complaining.” Willow hooked her arm through Sheridan’s. “Come on. Let’s go. You can hang out at my table for a few minutes before you find your husband.”
Sheridan went with Willow back inside the restaurant, glancing over her shoulder at the last minute in hopes of catching a glimpse of the guy Willow had been with. She saw him, barely. He’d emerged from the shadows, tall, broad, similar in build to Jared. A giant grin on his face, too, as their gazes met for the briefest moment before the door shut.