My pulse throbs at the remembered heat of those incredible moments. It’s been more than a full day and I can still feel the intensity of Jared’s lips burning against mine. I can still feel his hand on my sex, his strong finger moving inside me until I came. I feel it so vividly it makes my thighs squeeze together under the table even now.
The truth is, I wanted him to kiss me. To touch me.
I wantedhim. Only the unexpected shatter of that liquor bottle and his unhinged reaction that followed was enough to jolt me back to my senses.
Thank God.
Any longer in his arms and I’m all but certain I would have let him do a lot more than he had, and then my stupid mistake would have become a disastrous one.
I set down my fork, my already weak appetite drying up altogether when I think about how recklessly close I was to the edge of something dangerous with Jared Rush.
“I’m not sure how I let any of this happen,” I admit, miserable with all my questionable choices lately. “I just know it can’t continue.”
Paige tilts her head. “By ‘it’ are you talking about your contract to pose for Rush, or letting him melt your panties off you again?”
Eve smiles. “She wasn’t wearing panties, remember?”
I groan, but I’m not sure if it’s in reaction to my friends’ teasing or to the way my core tightens at the thought of letting Jared’s mouth anywhere near mine again. To say nothing of letting him near any other part of my body. The fact that I can be aroused by a man I’m certain can only be bad news and trouble for me is just more evidence for staying away from him.
“I’m talking about all of it,” I say, pushing my half-eaten lunch away from me. “I never should’ve agreed to it in the first place.”
“Daniel should have never pressured you to agree,” Evelyn says gently. She reaches out and gives my hand a reassuring squeeze. “I know you’re always the first one in line to help someone if you can, but this is different. I can’t imagine any problem big enough for Gabe that he would be okay with me posing for one of Jared Rush’s paintings in order to save himself, let alone encourage me to do it.”
I can’t imagine that, either. Gabriel Noble leads the security team for Dominic Baine’s corporate offices, headquartered in a sleek glass tower on West 57th Street. He and Evelyn have been together only for a matter of weeks, but it’s obvious to anyone who sees them that Gabe is head over heels in love with her and she with him. As a combat veteran who lost part of his leg in the war, he’s been through the worst kind of hell on the battlefield. I know he’d walk through that much pain and more if it meant keeping the woman he loves safe.
“You deserve better than that, Mel,” Evelyn says, her tone solemn. “Daniel shouldn’t have let you agree to that contract for any price.”
A small, ironic laugh dies in my throat. “That’s what Jared said to me. The first morning I went to his house, he told me if he were Daniel, he’d rather put a bullet in his head than put me anywhere near a man like himself.”
A strange look of surprise sweeps over Evelyn’s face. “He said that?”
At my nod, Paige narrows her eyes. “If Rush really felt that way, then why the hell did he offer a hundred and sixty-five thousand dollars to paint you?”
“Because that’s what it took for me to say yes.”
It feels strange to hear his words coming out of my own mouth. I can’t say them without reliving every electrically charged moment we’ve shared these past few days since Daniel’s reckless loss at Jared’s game table.
No more than I can help wondering how things might have been different if Jared and I had met under different circumstances. I must be crazy to even consider it, especially after yesterday, never mind all the troubling things Paige has confirmed about him today.
Not that my halo is without tarnish. After all, it’s not as if he forced himself on me. I kissed him willingly, welcomed his touch without reservation. I took off my clothes to pose for him on my own volition, and I signed his contract despite every instinct warning me that my life would never look the same again afterward.
Whether I want to deny it or not, everything female in me has been buzzing with an intense kind of electricity from the instant I walked into Jared Rush’s study the night of that poker game.
Even knowing he’s likely the worst man I could ever want doesn’t make the craving any less strong.
I’m not sure what that says about my relationship with Daniel. What that says about me as a person, I’m pretty sure I don’t want to know.
“Ladies, how are we doing today?” The Australian-accented, deep voice that interrupts my slide into self-inflicted misery belongs to Gavin Castille, the celebrity chef and owner of the eponymous GC restaurant. “I trust lunch was to everyone’s satisfaction?”
“Superb,” Paige purrs, leaning forward to give the handsome Aussie her full attention, along with that of her breasts, which are shown off to their best advantage in a pretty push-up bra worn beneath the gauzy material of a low-cut boho top.
Gavin’s dimpled grin says he appreciates the effort, though his professionalism remains intact. “Excellent. Glad you enjoyed.” He glances at Evelyn with a warm smile. “Nice to see you again. You know, I still appreciate you lending a hand with the catering station at the Baine charity event at the zoo last month.”
“It was my pleasure, Gavin.”
“Zoo catering?” Paige asks. “Have you picked up a new hobby we don’t know about?”
Evelyn laughs. “Avery invited me to the event when we were reviewing my lingerie designs for her upcoming wedding to Nick. Since I was there anyway, I thought I might as well make myself useful and help out.”
