LITMIR.BIZ

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doorway and flipped on a light.

      “Yes.” He could always spread out the prints on the bed.

      But no sooner had he formed the thought than Mallory disappeared inside an adjoining room.

      A bathroom?

      Jake glanced inside, watched her set the folder down on the vanity and tug the band from her ponytail. Shaking her head, she loosed a sheet of straight black hair that fell nearly to her waist, glinting like glass beneath the track lighting.

      His breath caught hard. He was beginning to get an idea of her definition of “getting ready.” And he knew right then she was testing his mettle, maybe even trying to shock him. He wanted to know why.

      “You want to have our business meeting in the bathroom?”

      She glanced back over her shoulder, lips pursed thoughtfully. “Can you handle it?”

      Ten years ago, he should have restrained this woman and sounded the alarm. For a long time he’d regretted not doing that. He’d resented that meeting her—however unintentionally on both their parts—had screwed with his whole life.

      But as he met her gaze now, recognized the challenge there, he found himself responding exactly as he had back then.

      He wanted to see how far she would go.

      “I’ll enjoy it.”

      She smiled, silently acknowledging that he’d picked up the gauntlet. Then she disappeared from sight.

      Jake drew a deep breath, mentally warned his body to behave and followed.

      Her bathroom was as tastefully decorated as the rest of her home, with a double vanity and a corner shower with wall jets.

      He almost asked if she expected them to talk while she showered, but as she was removing fresh towels from the linen closet, he figured he had his answer.

      Setting his briefcase on the floor, he leaned back against the vanity, steeling himself for her next move.

      It would be a good one, no doubt.

      He only hoped he could think clearly beneath an assault of this magnitude. He was barely hanging on already.

      No twenty-six-year-old woman of his acquaintance had ever oozed confidence like this one. He’d recognized her boldness ten years ago and he saw it again now. Understanding the unusual circumstances of her life explained a little, but Jake didn’t think circumstances had everything to do with Mallory Hunt.

      Then she dropped the towels onto the toilet lid and raised her arms to pull the T-shirt over her head and he didn’t think again. He was reduced to folding his arms across his chest and trying to look completely unfazed by the sight of pale breasts swelling above a white cotton bra.

      “I read your proposal, Jake,” she said calmly, as though stripping in front of a man she’d only met once before—under very dubious circumstances—was a commonplace event. “It was pretty straightforward. You want me to troubleshoot your newest system. The…what was it called?”

      “The Sentex 2000.”

      Her wadded-up T-shirt sailed inches past his face to land on the nearby hamper before she propped a foot onto the toilet lid to untie her boot.

      “Right. The Sentex 2000. You’re testing your prototype locally?”

      “I have several in place with different clients of mine. I’m exposing it to a variety of scenarios.”

      “Good idea.”

      He was glad she thought so because he wasn’t convinced that standing here while she stripped qualified as one of his better ideas. Not with her breasts jiggling as she toed off a boot then stripped her sock away to reveal a slim white foot with neatly polished red toenails.

      Then she lifted the other and began the process all over again.

      “I assume you know how I operate, Jake.”

      By stripping for potential clients until they’re horny idiots who’ll agree to anything?

      “You try to infiltrate the system,” he said, managing to sound reasonably composed as she unbuttoned her fly and started rocking back and forth while pushing the khaki shorts over her hips. Down, down, down….

      “There’s no try.”

      “Excuse me?”

      Bending over to drag the shorts away, she slanted him a glance from beneath her hair. “There’s no try to it. I infiltrate your system. Then I tell you where the holes are.”

      “Always?”

      She straightened, giving him a view of her in profile, and no matter how much he wanted to keep his gaze on her face, there was simply no way he could resist glancing down at the sleek expanse of her pale curves. Firm breasts were clad in white cotton, her trim waist playing peekaboo with all that shiny hair, her smooth stomach and gently rounded hips barely holding up a teeny white thong.

      He swallowed hard.

      He was getting hard.

      No matter how deeply he breathed to dispel the tightness in his chest. No matter how much he reminded himself that he’d acquired restraint in the years since their last encounter. His reminders were nothing more than desperate, self-delusional bullshit while he stood staring at the tight curve of her bottom and those long, long legs.

      “Do you believe in a fail-safe system, Jake?”

      Her tone made it sound as if a fail-safe system was something out of a fairy tale. “As a matter of fact, I don’t.”

      “Good. I hate to disappoint my clients.”

      “I don’t see much chance of that if you conduct all your consultations in your bathroom, Ms. Hunt. In fact, it would explain your impeccable references. You have a lot of happy former clients out there.”

      “Call me Mallory, please.” She chuckled, a low, silky sound that purred through their close quarters as if it were alive. “That’s because I’m good at what I do.”

      Damned straight. This was a strip show of the highest caliber.

      She gifted him with a full shot of her back, the fall of shiny hair, her heart-shaped bottom with that silky little strap disappearing between her cheeks. Leaning into the shower to turn on the water, she bent just enough to taunt him with a glimpse of exactly where that little strap was hiding.

      Unfolding his arms, Jake braced his hands on the vanity, every drop of blood in his body rushing south so fast he actually felt dizzy.

      For a man who hadn’t had sex in…he dredged his memory for the last time he’d been involved. Damn, had it been that long? No wonder he was crumbling under this assault.

      Although he didn’t think anything could have prepared him for Mallory Hunt. No doubt she’d planned it that way.

      Which led back to his original question…why?

      “Shall we talk details?” She straightened and turned to him, dipping her head in a sexy motion, flinging her hair over her shoulder as she reached around her back….

      Her bra sprang open and full breasts spilled out, pale, perfect, the deep-rose nipples aiming at him and proving that he wasn’t the only one affected by her well-aimed assault.

      Jake supposed he should have felt some consolation. He didn’t. He found himself gripping the vanity instead, when she arched back to slide the straps down her arms.

      The bra went whizzing by his face toward the hamper. It landed on the T-shirt and hung for a suspended moment before falling to the floor.

      “I have some conditions that will have to be met before we can come to an agreement,” he said, amazed that he actually got the words out. “But please, ladies first.”

      She inclined her head graciously and then fired the

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