Anxious, she smoothed her hands down over the front of her dress and wondered again if she’d done the right thing buying it. Sure, it looked good on her, but maybe it would send the wrong signals to Jesse. They were going to be business partners so they should keep things platonic.
“Yeah, this dress does not say ‘Be my friend,’” she said, frowning. “It’s screaming ‘Take me, I’m yours.’”
At that thought she slapped both hands to her middle and forced deep breaths into her lungs. Mac was at Lucy’s, and Jillian knew she didn’t have to worry about her girl. Mac had been so excited to have a sleepover with Brody she’d forgotten to kiss her mommy goodbye.
“And that’s a good thing,” she assured her reflection.
Jillian made another adjustment to her hair, lying in soft waves down her back. Having her hair loose made her feel a little better about how much skin was displayed by the deeply cut back of the dress.
When the knock on the door sounded, she jumped, then laughed at herself. “Get a grip, Jillian.” She checked the fall of the short, slightly full skirt, then resolutely left the bathroom.
Still nervous, she opened the door and simply stared. Jesse. Like he stepped out of a dream. Tall and gorgeous, the man had been born to wear a tuxedo. He might not be pleased about it, but Jesse was gorgeous. In his elegantly tailored tux, with a crisp white shirt and black bow tie, he looked as if he should be on the cover of GQ. Of course, you couldn’t take the ranch out of the man completely. He wore shining black boots and a black cowboy hat that only added to the whole picture that was taking her breath away. “You look very handsome.”
“I don’t know about that,” he said, “but you look beautiful.”
The way he was looking at her—as if he could simply gobble her up—made her feel beautiful. And it made her feel other things, as well. Things she’d been trying desperately not to think about. But with the heat in his gaze as he looked at her, those thoughts roared into life and refused to be pushed aside. She took a breath to steady herself. “Thank you. Why don’t you come in? I’ll get my purse and wrap.”
Stepping past her into the apartment, Jesse stopped and stared at the room in front of him. Jillian smiled at the stunned expression on his face.
“Look a little different in here?” she asked unnecessarily.
He glanced at her briefly and grinned. “I wouldn’t have believed it.”
Jillian looked at the apartment and gave a short sigh of satisfaction. The walls were now a soft green. There were framed photos from magazines of places she one day wanted to visit on the walls and a few brightly colored rugs she’d found at the consignment shop on the floor. She’d made a room divider from two old doors she’d found at a garage sale and used it to block her bed from the rest of the room. It was still small, of course, but now it had personality. It was home. Hers and Mac’s.
“I can’t believe you did all of this. It looks great.”
“Thanks.” She picked up her small, black bag and swung the rose-colored wrap Lucy had loaned her over her shoulders.
Jesse looked her up and down again and said, “You keep surprising me.”
“Is that bad?” she asked, meeting his gaze.
“No. I like surprises.”
The look in his eyes sent heat sizzling across her skin. Jillian took a breath and relished the burn. What he could do to her with his eyes was like nothing she’d ever experienced before. “Me, too.”
His eyes flashed. “Good to know.”
Oh, boy. She turned for the door. He grabbed her upper arm, spun her around and pulled her in tightly to him.
“Surprise,” he whispered just before he bent his head and took her mouth with the kind of hunger that vanquished anything that stood in its way.
At the first touch of his mouth, Jillian gasped, then sighed, lifting her arms to hook them around his neck. He parted her lips with his tongue and she welcomed it, tangling her tongue with his in a seductive dance that had her heart hammering in her chest and her blood rushing through her veins.
She felt a burning ache awaken deep inside her and it throbbed in time with her heartbeat. Jesse’s hands dropped from her waist to her hips, then swept beneath the short hem of her skirt to explore the curve of her behind with wide, callused palms. Jillian groaned in the back of her throat and held him more tightly.
He caressed her rear with long, sure strokes until she was quivering in his grasp. Jillian’s breath staggered in her lungs. It was as if she were actually living one of the dreams she’d been having the last few weeks. Only better. Much better. He was so tall, so strong, so overwhelming to every one of her senses, she could hardly think straight.