Hot Finish (Fast Track #3)(12)
Author: Erin McCarthy

She could be playing cowgirl over at Ryder’s instead of wearing fuzzy pajama pants and wishing her sheets were a little more aggressive in caressing her. Why the hell had she suddenly gotten some kind of conscience and sent him home alone?

So it would make their relationship complicated the morning after.

When wasn’t their relationship complicated?

Hell, they were still married, and that was pretty damn complicated in its own right. What difference did having sex make?

Which even to her own ears was pretty shitty rationalization, but she was willing to go with it when she was feeling this desperate.

She was edgy, unable to sleep, aching with want, wet with desire. Still. Two hours later and she was still damp, which was pathetic.

Damn if she would be pathetic.

Suzanne threw back her covers and sat up.

Ryder wanted to have sex.

She wanted to have sex.

Why shouldn’t they have sex?

He had told her she knew where to find him if she changed her mind. That was a clear invitation to seek him out if she wanted to pick up where they’d left off with that seriously kick-ass kiss. Plus for the last two years she’d been fending off sexual innuendoes from him. She didn’t doubt for a minute he would be on board with her changing her mind yet again.

Ryder would probably give her shit about it, but only after the fact. She could live with that if she could get multiple orgasms out of the deal. And she would make it clear this was just a onetime event.

As Suzanne pulled on a pair of jeans, she tried to ignore the voice in her head telling her this was a flat-out dumb idea. She figured if she didn’t go over to Ryder’s she’d never get any sleep, and with Nikki as a client, she was going to need all the sleep and patience she could muster for the next month.

And if she felt a little bit stupid, she wasn’t going to admit it. She was a woman who went after what she wanted, and she wanted Ryder tonight. Plain and simple.

She got halfway there before she regained control of her senses and realized this was setting herself up for disastrous consequences. Showing up in the middle of the night to have sex with her ex who really wasn’t her ex was opening up a Texas-sized can of worms.

Smacking her hands on the steering wheel and letting out a groan of frustration, Suzanne glanced right to see if she could pull into the shopping complex and turn again. The man in the car next to her was staring at her like her boobs were on her back instead of her front.

“What?” she asked him out loud, even though he obviously couldn’t hear her.

Nothing, he mouthed, shaking his head rapidly.

The man acted like he’d never seen a sexually frustrated woman in his whole life, and judging from his slack jaw and vacant stare, Suzanne was guessing he’d seen plenty of them.

The light changed and she waited until he had pulled forward, then she changed lanes, whipped into the shopping center parking lot, and redirected her car to head back home.

Her big lonely bed was waiting for her.

Yay her.

Suzanne hit the steering wheel again and cursed Ryder from here to Talladega for kissing her.

Then she cursed herself for kissing him back.

RYDER knew he was risking Suzanne being royally pissed at him, but then again, he pretty much risked that on a regular basis just by breathing.

He pulled into the parking lot of her condo complex at a quarter to twelve, noting her car was in its assigned spot. There was no doubt in his mind that she had intended them to have this conference call at separate locations, but after last night, after that kiss, after her rejection, he wanted to see her.

He knew why she’d changed her mind, and hell, she had probably been smart to do it, but he couldn’t help but think they had some seriously unfinished business. Maybe the long night spent tossing and turning in his empty bed had affected his brain cells, because normally he avoided poking the bear, but today, he wanted to look Suzanne in the eye and discuss the fact that he had kissed her and she had kissed him back.

When he rang her doorbell, she answered right away, and her face was pinched but resigned. “I meant for us to do this call at our own houses.”

“You never said that,” he pointed out, which was the truth.

“You knew what I meant.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. I’m not all that bright.” He gave her a smile.

She shifted, one hand still on the door like she might slam it shut in his face. She was wearing jeans again and a black sweater. A shiny belt buckle drew attention to her flat stomach and Ryder marveled again how much he was attracted to her still. It seemed like at some point he should have stopped thinking of her as the hottest woman to grace the planet, but he hadn’t.

“Well, that’s true,” she said, but she tempered the words with a smile of her own. “You certainly don’t have any sense of self-preservation.”

“I’m a race car driver. I like to take risks.”

“What you’re risking is becoming a serious pain in the butt.” But she moved out of the way. “Since you’re here, come in, and let’s get this taken care of.”

“Such warmth, such enthusiasm.” Ryder followed her into the house. Her dining room table was still covered with bridal magazines and her computer was open to a picture of something that was either a wedding gown or a tablecloth, he wasn’t sure which. Seeing the grease stain from the pizza still glaring up at him on the carpet, Ryder felt guilty.

“Sorry about the pizza incident. I had no idea Nikki would go nuts like that. You want me to call the carpet cleaners?” He knew she’d say no, but he had to offer.

“No, that’s okay, I can do it. It’s not your fault she lives on iceberg lettuce, with a little romaine tossed in when she’s feeling downright wild.” Suzanne flopped onto a chair and dug through a pile to get out the manila envelope from the lawyer. “Damn, I’m tired. I must be getting old.”

He figured this was the best opening she was ever going to grant him, so Ryder sat in the chair next to her and went for broke. “I’m tired, too. I didn’t get much sleep last night because I kept thinking about you.”

She shot him a nervous look but didn’t say anything.

“Suz, are we going to discuss the fact that we kissed last night?”

“No, we’re not going to discuss it. It was a long day, and we were feeling nostalgic, fueled by alcohol and this.” She held up the packet and shook it. “It doesn’t change anything.”

“No?” he asked mildly. He knew when to retreat with Suzanne. And when to push. “Alright, then. Guess that means I can kiss you again and it won’t matter either.”