Hot Target

With that in mind, the moment they were inside his front door and he’d flipped on the security system, Luke quickly grabbed her hand, even as she headed for her escape, toward the stairs. A moment later he was leaning against the front door with her in his arms, and before she could object, he slid his fingers into the silky mass of her hair as he’d longed to do all night.

“Pretending to date and leaving out the kissing isn’t going to work.” And with that announcement, he kissed her, a deep, passionate kiss that he wanted to have go on and on—as in all night. Maybe beyond. He couldn’t get enough of this woman. Not of her taste or the soft, sweet moans she made when he kissed her just right—which was apparently now.

Luke was about sixty seconds from picking her up and carrying her to his room when he forced himself to end the kiss. “That’s why it won’t work. Because both of us like it too much.” He took a step away from her. “You’re supposed to be dating me. So date me. Focus on meeting the people around me and decide who is trustworthy and who is not, rather than what you should or should not be doing with me. And let your staff do the high-tech security stuff.”

She swallowed hard. “It’s not that simple and you know it.”

“It is that simple,” he insisted. “Sleep on it, Katie. Think about it before your staff gets here. We’ll talk tomorrow.” He stepped around her and headed up the stairs in search of a cold shower, or maybe two.

6

KATIE TOSSED and turned in Luke’s big, empty, spare bed. Luke’s bed. That was what kept popping into her head. Luke’s house. Luke’s bed. Luke’s mockery of a girlfriend. Her desire for that man was mocking her.

She sat up, her cotton gown rasping over her bare breasts, the friction chasing a path straight to her core. Good grief, she was losing her mind and it was Luke’s fault. It had been a lifetime since she’d had sex, and then he’d come along and kissed her. And Donna hadn’t helped. Now she couldn’t stop conjuring images of Luke’s nice, tight backside in his baseball pants. Or better yet—without them. Him on top of her, naked, a nice mirror over the top of them, while he flexed those steely buns, buried inside her.

Katie fell back against the pillows, her body flushed with desire. How was she going to deal with Luke’s advances when it was all she could do to keep from orgasming just thinking about the man. She swallowed. “You take the edge off yourself, Katie,” she whispered. Right. Like that was going to work. Then again, lying here fighting the need wasn’t going to work, either.

Her lashes lowered and she began unbuttoning the front of her gown. Giving in to the need for a good fantasy. And though she doubted seriously that any amount of fantasizing would satisfy her desire for Luke, she had to try. She had a job to do. Lusting after the man she was protecting was a distraction she didn’t need.

So she wouldn’t lust. Or she would. Right here and now in bed. But that’s all she would allow herself. Starting with a fantasy about that magic tongue of his. Her hands traveled to her breasts, over her nipples. Oh, yeah, they needed that tongue. Lots of licks, lots of kisses. Lots of hotness.

Her eyes went to the ceiling. What if there was a mirror there? Why didn’t people put mirrors above the bed? She blinked, imagined it there. Again, imagined Luke’s nice bum. Her hands traveled along her body, slid between her legs, fingers gliding over sensitive flesh as she dreamed of Luke pumping into her, his backside flexing. She squeezed her eyes shut. Seeing it. Feeling it in the ache growing between her thighs.

If only he were here, stretching her. Taking her. The ache was building, the pleasure thrumming through her. Suddenly, too soon, way too soon, Katie shattered, her body quaking with the much-needed release.

Chest heaving, she turned her head to the clock. Oh, wow. “Katie, you’re pathetic.” She’d come in four minutes flat. And rather than consider how extraordinarily badly that spoke of her sex life, or lack thereof, Katie found herself wondering instead about Luke. Could the real man make her come that fast? Would she want him to? Katie laughed. Of course, she would. As long as he made her come again right after.

It was a thought that turned dangerously in the wrong direction fifteen minutes later, when Luke’s suggestion that she simply give in to her temptation to be with him started sounding good. Katie decided self-satisfaction was not the way to get over this lusty want for Luke. Instead, she decided she’d hit the track surrounding Luke’s property, and donned her shorts and running shoes.