What A Girl Wants

“I know you are a psycho! That’s why you’re fired. Now let me up!”

Not just yet. Even if she was spitting mad, having Jane pinned to the ground beneath him was a pretty nice situation to be in. He adjusted his grip on her wrists to make sure she was comfortable, then settled in to give her a good talking-to.

“You, Jane Langston, are a celebrity now. And not just any celebrity—a notorious one. You’ve got mentally unbalanced men writing you letters, calling you on the phone, harassing you on radio shows, but does this make you think twice about jogging alone in the woods? No, you just trot yourself right out here, completely oblivious to the fact that I followed you, until I wanted you to know it.”

“Look, I try to be safe. I’ve jogged in this park a thousand times, and nothing has ever happened. This is where I go when I need to think about my book. If I get stuck, coming out here never fails to get my writing back on track.”

Luke made a concerted effort not to enjoy the feel of her body too much, not to notice that her breasts were so close and so tempting, that her mouth looked so delicate and ripe for exploration.

A crazy, dizzying physical attraction surged in him, and he wanted her like no woman he’d ever wanted before.

“You’ve got to find some other way to cure writer’s block. If I catch you out here again—”

“You don’t have to worry about it, because you’re fired. Now let me up!”

Reluctantly, Luke released Jane’s wrists and started to stand up, when her left heel made contact with his chest. She kicked him backward, and he fell on his back with a thud into the dirt. In a matter of seconds she was on top of him with the pepper spray aimed at his eyes.

“Give me one good reason not to use this.”

3

Your mother might have spouted some cliché about cows and free milk, but trite and unpopular as the notion may be, the wisdom holds true—giving it up too soon will only make him start shopping for a different cow.

—Jane Langston, from her work-in-progress, Sex and Sensibility

JANE SHIFTED HER WEIGHT on top of Luke and tried not to think about how her legs were tangled with his, how his too-large, overly muscled body was at her mercy. And she definitely tried to ignore how delicious it felt.

“If you incapacitate me and a real psycho comes along, you won’t have me around to protect you.”

She took a deep breath and tried to keep her hand from shaking. She didn’t really want to spray Luke’s eyes, but her trigger finger was feeling itchy. And he didn’t need to know that her “pepper spray” wasn’t really pepper spray at all, but a makeshift imitation—a bottle of Binaca attached to her key chain with a rubber band.

He did have a point about psychos in the woods. She’d developed a false sense of security after having jogged here so many times without anything happening. And after Luke’s little stunt, she wasn’t sure she’d ever feel the same about coming here—or even if she ever would come here again.

“I’ll let you up after you apologize.”

“Why should I apologize if you’re going to fire me anyway? I was just doing my job.”

Now that she’d had a few moments to calm down, and now that she felt a little more in control, she didn’t want to fire Luke. His demonstration, ill-advised as it had been, made it clear to her how vulnerable she was.

“I won’t fire you if you’ll swear to me you’ll never, ever do anything like this again.”

The truth was, a perverse little part of her wanted to drag out their power play. But she was also high on adrenaline from the terror she’d felt at being stalked in the woods, which surely was affecting her judgment.

“I’m not making any promises until you lose the pepper spray.”

Jane settled in, adjusted her left leg so that it nestled more deeply between Luke’s legs. Geez, how long had it been since she’d been in a position like this with a guy?

No sooner did the thought “too long” form in her head than she banished it. The guru of sexual restraint absolutely should not have been having such thoughts. Must be the adrenaline talking again.

She felt a tickle on the back of her left calf, and then a sharp sting. “Aaaah!”

The shock of the pain must have triggered her index finger, because the next thing Jane knew, she was on her back, her calf stinging, and Luke was yelling and rubbing at his eyes.

While he groaned and cursed, Jane peeked at her calf. A red bump had formed there, and a fire ant was strolling toward her ankle. She flicked it off.

“Oh my gosh, Luke, I’m so sorry. What can I do to help?” She stood up and went to him.