The Dangerous Jacob Wilde

She didn’t answer. Yeah, well, why would she? Surely, what he’d said was among the stupidest lines a man could utter.

What was she thinking? He couldn’t tell, couldn’t see her face. Her hair was a wild tangle, obscuring her features.

“Hey,” he said softly. He scrunched down, just enough so they were at eye level, and put a hand under her chin. “Addy?”

Her head came up. “My name,” she said, “is Addison.”

No, Jake thought, that was definitely not a good sign, either.

“Look, I’m just trying to ask if you’re—”

“I know what you’re trying to ask. I’m on the pill.”

He felt a sense of relief, but that hadn’t really been what he was asking. He meant, had he hurt her? Disappointed her? Was she already filled with regret or, like him, did she want more?

Most of all, did she understand this any better than he did?

“Good,” he said, nodding his head like one of those silly dolls you saw in the windows of cars. “Good. But what I meant was, you know—”

Hell. He was stumbling around like a boy after his first conquest. He cleared his throat and tried again.

“I know this was a little fast—”

“Such a smooth talker, Captain.” She jerked away from his hand. “Besides, it’s a little late to worry about that, isn’t it?”

Jake’s mouth thinned.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

His tone was suddenly cold. Addison couldn’t blame him. He’d asked a damned good question.

What had just happened—down-and-dirty sex with a man she had just met, a man who’d accused her of trying to seduce him into bed or maybe into accepting a job—had involved the both of them.

There was no way she could blame it on Jake Wilde alone, much as she wanted to.

She’d been part of it.

Her throat constricted.

More than part.

She’d been an eager participant.

The proof was in each wild, exciting memory.

The taste of him, still on her lips.

The scent of him, still in each breath she took.

The echo of her own voice, feverishly repeating his name, asking him, begging him to—to—

Her belly knotted.

She thought of how they must look, he standing with his back to a truck in the middle of nowhere, she standing before him, what they’d just done stamped all over her.

His tie was askew.

More to the point, she didn’t have her panties on.