The Lover’s Secret (No Exceptions #1)(8)
Author: J.C. Reed

Damn my pale complexion!

I opened my mouth but stopped myself before I dug an even deeper hole when it was already too late.

“Whatever,” I whispered. “We’ll have to go over our terms before I sign the dotted line.”

“Obviously.” He arched his eyebrow, amused. He was so close I could barely breathe. His scent, his touch, and the dimples in his cheeks—they were all too much to handle. “So, Miss Stewart…” He paused for impact. “Tell me something personal about yourself. Something I don’t know.”

I flicked a stray strand of unruly hair out of my eyes as I considered my answer. His question took me by surprise. I didn’t like talking about myself, because words were like gateways to the past. One wrong turn, and there would be no way back, so I carefully stuck to the basics. “I’m a real estate agent and project manager, working for an up-and-coming real estate company,” I began warily. “I graduated two years ago—”

“I’m not interested in your résumé,” he said, cutting me off. “This isn’t a job interview, Miss Stewart. Right now, all I want is your body, so let’s try again. In the bedroom, what’s your favorite position? What do you love to do?”

I stared at him, stunned by the brash question. I hadn’t quite expected him to be so bold. Eyeing him carefully, I moistened my lips.

“Does it have to be in the bedroom?”

His lips twitched again. “No. You can choose any place you like.”

“If I could choose anywhere in the world, it would be near a fireplace.” Unknowingly, my eyes focused on the fire next to us and on the soft rug spread across the hardwood floor. I didn’t mean to be so honest or obvious, but for some reason, the cave of my mouth instantly turned dry at the naughty thoughts taking shape inside my head. A fireplace just so happened to be one of my fantasies, the kind of place I had always dreamed about. On some subconscious level, I had blurted it out because I wanted it to happen.

And Jett Mayfield was the perfect man to fulfill any fantasy.

“That’s pretty tame. I thought it’d be somewhere public, like sex on the beach,” he whispered in his low, irresistible Southern drawl.

My cheeks heated again. “I’m not really into public displays of anything,” I whispered, remembering the distinct feeling of embarrassment mixed with excitement. “There’s always the risk of being caught.”

He leaned forward, interested, his hands parting my knees just a little. “But you’d do it, wouldn’t you? Just for the sake of saying you tried it. If you were given the opportunity, you’d go through with it?”

Where the heck was he going with this?

I tilted my head sideways, unsure of the hidden meaning behind his words. There was a promise, no doubt about it. A silent intention. Maybe even a plea. But the hotel room was as private as it could get, and it was too cold to do it outside, so his suggestion simply made no sense.

“Possibly.” I shrugged. “But, like I said, the chance of being caught is way too high.”

His sexy smile widened, almost as if he knew what his hidden promises were doing to my body. “What if I told you there’s a way to do it without ever being caught?”

I let out a snort. “Right. Unless you have some kind of superpowers, like making us invisible and changing the weather, I don’t know how that could be possible.”

“I booked this place for a reason, Brooke.”

Of course.

My pulse spiked from the way his sexy Southern accent emphasized my name, caressing my nerve endings. He was as close as any person could get to a sex god. I fought for breath, completely aware of the sudden wetness between my legs, even though he hadn’t done anything in particular other than massage my feet.

“What are you saying?” I whispered.

His gaze caught mine. “Let me show you something.” His lips curled up at the corners. He let go of me and got up, towering over me.

I had no idea what he had in mind, but the mere suggestion of him doing something—anything to me—aroused me.

He held out his hand, and I placed my palm in his. My heart pumped hard as he pulled me up and led me to the grand piano near the large bay windows. At first, I thought it was to play on it, but when Jett stopped in front of the large bay windows, I sensed something else.

We were standing in front of the glass, high above the city, with nothing but the soft light of the fireplace illuminating the room behind us. The glass in front of us became an almost invisible barrier that gave the impression we were standing on a cloud. Stretched out in front of us were thousands of city lights, sparkling in the distance. Snow was falling in big white chunks, covering the city in white. It was beautiful, breathtaking. I had never seen scenery like that, at least not in real life. I wanted to comment on the beauty of New York, my hometown, but Jett shifted behind me.

His hand pulled my hair back gently, a motion so tender it made my heart beat a million times an hour. He slid aside the soft fabric of my dress, exposing my shoulder, and then his hot lips began to kiss my neck, causing the butterflies deep within me to flutter in a frenzy. His presence was overpowering, his kiss on my bare skin heating me from the core. My breath hitched in my throat. I opened my mouth, ready to implore him to do as he pleased, to take me in all the ways he wanted to, but that would have been too easy.

“You’re sexy,” he whispered in my ear. “I want to take you right here, right now.”

I turned to face him and immediately regretted it. The sky was a moonless, black pit, but the lights of the city and the burning fire were enough to illuminate his face and those emerald eyes of his, metaphorically weakening my knees and my resolve.

Damn those sexy eyes.

Ever so slowly, his fingers trailed down my spine and began to lift up my dress. My blood pumped hard in anticipation as he tugged at the thin strings that held my panties in place. Under his knowing fingers, they came loose. Now I knew why he had demanded that I wear those for our little date: they were easy to lose in general and even easier to lose to a man like him.

“Is this your new idea of public sex?”

He held up my panties, dangling them on one finger. “You bet.” Grinning, he tossed them behind him.

I watched them drop onto the floor, wondering what he had in mind.

What do you think, Stewart?

It didn’t take a genius to figure it out. I only had to look at the sparkle in his eyes—the hint of his naughtiness and the promise of wild sex. As if sensing my thoughts, he flashed me his trademark panty-dropping smile. “Good thing I asked them to light a fire. Now we’ll only have to make your little fantasies real.”