Sleepless in Manhattan (From Manhattan with Love 1)

It looked good from where she was, too. “So what happens? You usually stay at their place?”

“I don’t know. I can’t concentrate on anything while you’re in this position.”

She leaned forward, so that the tips of her breasts brushed against his chest. “How about now?” She murmured the words against his lips. “Can you concentrate now?”

“My mind is blank.” He locked his hand on

the back of her neck and kept her mouth against his. “Are you going to stop talking now?”

“That depends on whether you answer my question.”

He sighed and released her. “Sometimes we go on a date and then I take them home. I don’t sleep with every woman I meet, Paige.”

“I assumed—”

“Yeah, well, you assumed wrong.” His voice was husky. “Dates don’t have to end in sex.”

“According to you they do.”

“You don’t want to believe everything I say.”

“If it’s not true, why say it?”

“Because it winds Eva up and that’s always fun.” He smiled, and the smile was pure Jake. That smile, she thought to herself, was the reason he’d had an endless stream of women queuing up for his attention. He’d never even had to turn his head to find someone. They’d been right there, under his nose.

“You’re bad.”

“Yeah. Want me to show you how bad I can be?” He rolled her onto her back in an easy movement that left her gasping and flattened by his weight.

“Do you think they can see us from Brooklyn?”

“Well, not us specifically, but this building, yes. I grew up over there.” His mouth brushed over her jaw and down her neck. “I used to spend most of my time gazing over here and dreaming.”

“Was that when you lived with Maria?”

“No. Before that.”

She stroked her hand over the taut muscles of his back. “You used to talk to me about it, all those years ago when I was in the hospital. Do you remember?”

“Yes.” He paused. “I don’t know why. I never used to talk to anyone else. Not even Matt.”

She felt a rush of warmth and pulled him closer. “It was the setting. Beeping machines and stark hospital corridors create the sort of intimate atmosphere that makes a person want to spill all their secrets.”

He gave a soft laugh. “That must have been it.”

“You were the only person I could be honest with. Everyone else put on this huge act in front of me and I put on a huge act in front of them. It was exhausting. But you—” She stroked her fingers gently down his back again. “You listened. You sat on the edge of my bed and you listened. I don’t think I would have got through it without you.” She felt his arms tighten.

“Yeah, you would. You’re tough as nails.”

“Are you saying I’m hard?”

“Not all of you. Some parts of you are soft.” He eased away from her, a smile tugging at his mouth. “The important parts.”

She closed her eyes as she felt the slow stroke of his knowing fingers on her thigh. “You’re a bad boy, Jake Romano.”

“I know. That’s why I stayed away from you.” His mouth took hers as his hand worked magic that had her trembling and moaning his name. It was as if he’d stolen the blueprints to her body and memorized every tiny detail. Access points, sensory pathways—he knew every connection and used his knowledge without hesitation or concession.

She was exposed, vulnerable, and he took full advantage, exploring every part of her with an almost-ruthless patience until her excitement levels were so stratospherically high that she half expected his high-tech apartment to sound some sort of warning alarm.