It was the sex. That had to be it. Give her just a little action down there and she lost all of her common sense.
Well, she hadn’t lostallof her common sense. She’d had enough to refuse his offer of money.
Phil still could not believe he’d suggested it. They barely knew each other. She could take his money and leave him high and dry, skip out to California just as Kevin had done to her. Of course, she’d never leave her mother, but Jamal didn’t know that.
Even as she applauded herself for rightly refusing his offer, she let herself imagine, just for a moment, how it would have felt to take him up on it. Having the burden of all her financial worries eliminated just by uttering a simple yes.
“Why are you so quiet?” Jamal asked.
Phil jumped slightly and lolled her head toward him. “Just recuperating from the last hour,” she said.
“Sorry about that,” he said, his grin wicked. “But with no condoms left, that was the only way I could think to satisfy you.”
“Mission accomplished.” She laughed.
“If you didn’t insist on going back to work on the house, we could do a whole lot more of that, all afternoon and into the night.”
“We’re on a timetable, remember?” she said. “I need to bring the crown molding in the downstairs parlor to my shop. I want to see how closely I can match those pieces we picked up at the salvage yard. If you want to, you can come over to my place and watch me work.”
“You know how much I love watching you work,” he said. “And that goes for more than just what you’re doing on the house.”
Phil rolled her eyes.
She should have known they would fall into this light, easy banter; it had been this way the night of Mya and Corey’s wedding. Even though she’d kept the conversation purposely superficial—talking about hot news items, movies they’d seen, books they’d read, and other things that usually comprised first-date conversation—she’d sensed that finding something to say to Jamal would never be all that hard.
Phil had discovered thattalkingto him wasn’t the only easy thing to do. She’d never in her life fallen into bed with a man so quickly, let alone completely dismissing her inhibitions and allowing him to do all the things he’d done—and the things she’d done to him.
She stopped just short of licking her lips. She could still feel his silky hardness against her tongue, taste his deep, musky flavor. She was dying to taste him again.
Without warning, acute panic tightened her chest.
Was she setting herself up for heartache? She knew better than to lose her head over a man. Wasn’t she still paying the high price of falling in love once before?
But this wasn’t love. This was lust.
Phil glanced over at his strong profile, at the powerful jaw and those incredibly talented lips.
Oh yeah. She was in serious lust with this man.
His eyes on the road, Jamal said, “Unless you want me to pull the truck over, you may want to stop looking at me like that.” He glanced at her. “It’s an option, you know. The windows are tinted. No one will see what’s going on inside.”
“Just drive,” Phil said. “I think I can control myself until we get to an actual bed.”
“You’re stronger than I am,” he said. “I’ve had to stop myself at least five times from finding a tree to park the truck behind so I can have at you again.”
Goosebumps traveled across her skin at the image that popped into her head. At this point, Phil was happy to get any man who was willing to provide a bit of sexual relief. To find one who was a downright master at it was better than winning the lottery.
She made a show of leaning over and peering at the speedometer. “Can’t you drive any faster?”
Jamal’s deep chuckle resonated within the truck’s cab.
A few minutes later, they turned onto Loring Avenue. Phil almost suggested that he park in the back of the house so they could make use of the truck’s ample cab room. It had to be more comfortable than going at it on the Victorian’s bare floors, and she wasn’t sure she could wait until they drove to her house and her comfortable bed.
“I’m giving us five minutes to load the molding into the truck,” Jamal said. “Whatever doesn’t get in there doesn’t get done. And you’re not touching them until after I’ve had you at least twice.”
“Are you expecting a complaint?” she asked.
“God, how I love an insatiable woman,” he said.
