Trevor turned to her with a quizzical smile. She returned it with a somewhat smug smile of her own. “You can’t blame a girl for hoping,” she said, kicking off her shoes.
He laughed, then grabbed her around the waist and tumbled her onto the bed. “You,” he said, landing on top of her, “are incorrigible.”
Maybe. But she had made him laugh. And that was something she’d bet few other woman had been able to offer him lately. Eager to taste his smile, she reached up to pull his mouth down to hers.
His laughter evaporated in a flash of fire. Gathering her into his arms, he swept her into the heat with him.
Her short skirt had ridden high on her thighs and Trevor didn’t hesitate to explore the expanse of skin revealed beneath it. He slid his palm slowly from her knee to the bunched hem, then slipped beneath it.
Catching her breath, Jamie fumbled with his shirt, trying to rein in her impatience enough to keep from ripping off the buttons. He had a meeting later, she reminded herself. He had to wear this shirt. But if it didn’t come open soon, he was going to have to go to his meeting wearing only a jacket and tie!
Fortunately for his professional reputation, she was able to remove the garment without damaging it. She threw it aside, not caring if it had a few wrinkles later. “Oh, my,” she crooned, spreading her hands over his exceptionally fine chest. “Have I mentioned that you are the most beautiful man in the world?”
He lifted his head from a thorough exploration of the scoop of her T-shirt. “Are you trying to embarrass me again?”
Sliding her fingers into his luxuriously thick hair, she asked, “Does it embarrass you to hear that you’re beautiful?”
“Real men aren’t supposed to be beautiful.”
“I know. It really ticks me off that you’re prettier than I am. But I’m getting over it.”
Trevor chuckled, shaking his head in exasperation. “Would you be quiet? I’m supposed to be giving the compliments. I’m trying to seduce you here.”
She grinned and cupped his face between her hands. “Uh, Trev? Maybe you haven’t realized this, but I’m pretty well seduced already.”
He unsnapped the waistband of her skirt and began to ease it down her hips, revealing skimpy bikini panties. “I should have known,” he said conversationally, “that you wouldn’t even take this seriously.”
Lifting her head, she kissed him. “Trust me, Trev. I am taking this very seriously.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” he murmured, tugging at her shirt.
Even Jamie found it hard to be amused when Trevor kicked off the rest of his clothes, tossed aside her lacy undergarments and then, finally, brought them flesh-to-flesh. The sound that escaped her more closely resembled a gasp than a laugh.
Trevor’s rough groan vibrated through her. “I have to warn you,” he muttered, “it’s been a long time. I can’t guarantee fireworks.”
“Don’t you know,” she asked as she snuggled more closely against him, “that every time you kiss me, I see fireworks?”
He smoothed his hand down her bare side. “How is it that you always seem to know exactly what I need to hear?”
“I only say what I think.”
“I know. That’s one of the things I’ve always liked best about you.” His hand closed over her right breast, kneading gently. “One of the things,” he repeated, his voice going hoarse.
Sliding one smooth leg against his rougher one, she smiled shakily. “Are you saying you admire both my mind and my body?”
He didn’t smile in return. “I admire everything about you, Jamie Flaherty.”
Almost unbearably touched by his sincerity, she wrapped herself around him. “Let me show you how much I admire you in return, Trevor McBride.”
She hadn’t been joking when she’d said she didn’t need seduction—but she suspected Trevor needed it very badly. Not because he was hesitant about what they were doing—it was more than obvious that he was willing and ready—but because he needed, just for a little while, not to be the one in control. The one responsible for everyone else’s happiness and well-being.
Pushing at his shoulders, she shifted and rolled until he was on his back and she was draped over him. “This time,” she murmured, “is for you.”
He tried a time or two to take charge again, but she was adamant, holding his arms when he would have reached for her, placing her fingers over his mouth when he would have spoken. “Let me make love to you,” she whispered.
And then she did, nibbling and kissing her way from his lips to his earlobes and down his jaw to his chin. She pressed openmouthed kisses on his throat, enjoying the frantic beating of his pulse beneath her lips. And then she moved lower to taste the nipples nested in a dusting of golden hair. His breath caught sharply in his throat when she wriggled even lower.
“Jamie…”