LITMIR.BIZ

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so quiet.” Colleen’s breath blew out in front of her in frosty plumes, and she gave him a sideways look. “And beautiful.”

      She was beautiful. And melancholy. The deadliest combination, as far as Jesse was concerned. It made him want to take care of her, which was going to be trouble, he knew it. He’d been burned before, such a sucker for the damsel in distress. He also knew it didn’t matter. He’d get burned again.

      Back in her town house, one of the really nice refurbished ones, he admired the gas fireplace in the living room. He hadn’t noticed it the night before. Hell, he hadn’t noticed anything but her.

      “It doesn’t work,” she told him. “I mean, it probably works, but I haven’t figured out how to do it.”

      He looked it over. “It’s probably just the pilot light. I can start it for you. It might be nice to have a fire, huh?”

      “Oh, I don’t need—”

      But he was already kneeling in front of the glass to twist the knobs and check the pilot light and the valve for the gas supply, both of which had indeed been turned off. It only took a few seconds of fiddling to get them both working and then turn on the fireplace. He grinned over his shoulder at her.

      “Nice.”

      “It hasn’t worked since I moved in. Thanks,” Colleen said. “I didn’t really need—”

      His phone rang then, and he made an apologetic gesture before pulling it from his pocket. “Hey, kiddo. What’s going on?”

      “We’re snowed in,” Laila said. “Mom says it will be Monday before we can go anywhere. I’m bored! Can’t you come get me?”

      “I’m snowed in, too.” Jesse sat back from the warmth of the fire, watching as Colleen bustled around turning on a ceiling fan and then rearranging the couch cushions they’d scattered last night. “Couldn’t get you if I tried. You’ll have fun with Mom. Don’t worry.”

      “Where are you?”

      “I’m at a friend’s house.” Jesse gave Colleen a glance, but she wasn’t looking at him. “I’m okay.”

      “Daaaaad!” Laila sighed, ever the drama queen.

      “Sorry, kid. Blame Mother Nature. Put your mom on the phone.” He chatted with Diane for a minute or so, making sure they were both fine and laying out the child care arrangements for the next week. When he disconnected and set his phone on the coffee table, Colleen had just returned from the kitchen with a tray of mugs and a teapot.

      “Everything okay?” she asked.

      “Yep. Laila, that’s my daughter. She’s snowed in with her mom but was bored and wanted me to come get her. Her mom doesn’t have cable TV.” Jesse looked at the tray. “Coffee?”

      “Cocoa. Is that okay?”

      “Perfect.” He moved to the couch, hoping she’d join him, but Colleen sat in the armchair across from him.

      “How long were you married?”

      “Oh.” He paused. “We never got married. We had Laila when we were seventeen. We met at a party, got a little drunk. Did something stupid. We stayed together for a couple years and tried to make it work, but it was mostly over by the time we graduated from high school.”

      Colleen coughed lightly. “Oh.”

      “She lives with her mom most of the time, but we raise her together.” Jesse poured cocoa for each of them and added marshmallows from the small bowl on the tray. “She’s a great kid.”

      “I’m sure she is. We never had children. My ex, Steve, wanted a son. But we never got pregnant.” She hesitated, then cleared her throat. “It’s a good thing, really. If I’d had a child with him, I’d never have been able to leave him.”

      He wasn’t going to argue with her about that, though he knew plenty of people who hadn’t stayed together for the sake of the kids. “You’ve been divorced for...?”

      “Officially, three years.” Colleen took her mug, warming her hands but not drinking. When she put the mug back on the tray and fixed him with a look, Jesse braced himself. He’d seen that sort of look before. “I just want you to know something. Last night... I’m not usually like that.”

      “Hey, no judgment.” Jesse shook his head. “We’re both grown-ups. It seemed right at the time. It doesn’t mean I think less of you or anything. And, believe it or not, I’m not usually one to just hop into bed with any random stranger, either.”

      “But when you do, you make sure you’re prepared.”

      “Learned my lesson the hard way,” he told her lightly. “I love my kid more than anything in the world, but it sure did make me a helluva lot more careful about sex.”

      “It’s not the sex. Well, yes, the sex,” she amended. “But not the fact we did it. Just...how it was.”

      He smiled at her. “You mean fantastic?”

      Color rose in her cheeks, and her eyes glittered. “I mean how I was. With you. Telling you what to do and... Well, I’m not really that controlling, I’m really not like that. I don’t have to have it all my way.”

      Her voice cracked. She picked up her mug and sipped, grimacing. She must’ve burned her tongue. The cocoa spilled over her fingers, and she yelped. Jesse grabbed up a paper napkin and pressed it to her hand, blotting the spill and taking the mug from her at the same time with his other hand. He set it down.

      “You okay?”

      “I’m fine!” She was clearly anything but fine as she got up to pace in front of the fireplace. “I just wanted you to know that I’m not like that. That’s all.”

      “Like what? Powerful? Strong? Sexy as hell?” Jesse watched her without getting up.

      She whirled to look at him. “Uptight and controlling and demanding and...needy! You think I needed you to fix my fireplace? That I couldn’t do it on my own?”

      “You didn’t do it on your own,” he pointed out.

      “That doesn’t mean I couldn’t!”

      Jesse bit back his defensive response, which left nothing but silence between them. She was breathing hard, her color high. Snow from earlier had melted in her hair, making it gleam. Like starlight. And damn him, he still wanted to bury his face in it and let her do whatever she wanted with him.

      “I didn’t think you were uptight or too controlling,” he told her finally. “If you want to know the truth, I liked it when you took charge.”

      For a moment longer, she said nothing. Then she scoffed, “Sure you did.”

      “Colleen, do you really think I didn’t have a good time last night?” Jesse got up to approach her, but she took a step back and he stopped. “It was amazing, being with you. When you told me to keep still. The way you moved. I don’t have to tell you how sexy you are.”

      “I’m not begging for a compliment, Jesse.”

      “It’s not a compliment. It’s an opinion.”

      Colleen’s eyes narrowed, and she bit her lower lip. “You liked being bossed around?”

      “Well. I can’t say I love being bossed around in regular life, no. But in the bedroom, yeah. A little bit.” He took a deep breath, thinking about it. “Okay, a lot.”

      “I’m not a dominatrix,” she said flatly. “If you’re expecting me to pull out the whips and chains and leather, you’re going to be disappointed.”

      The idea of that, no lie, did get his cock a little thick, but he kept his expression neutral. “I’m not disappointed.”

      Colleen put her hands on her hips. “I just didn’t

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