LITMIR.BIZ

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staircase in the foyer.

       THE PENTHOUSE

      JADE LAY intimately sprawled on Court’s chest, her legs tangled with his, her chin in her hands. “Do you know, I think you have gold flecks in your eyes. I hadn’t noticed that until now. No, don’t close them, let me see. Yes, definitely gold flecks. That’s very sexy, Mr. Becket. I think they turn me on.”

      “Is that right, Ms. Sunshine? In that case, I’ll be sure to wear sunglasses whenever I’m around you. Out of concern for you, I mean. I wouldn’t want to tempt you at inappropriate moments.”

      “Sure you would. You’d make a point of tempting me.” Jade made a small purring noise in her throat as Court’s hands slowly slid up and down either side of her spine. She couldn’t remember ever feeling this content, this complete. Why, they were even talking as if they had a future together, which was insane. “You’re very good at it, by the way.”

      “One can only try one’s humble best. Now what are you doing?” His hands pressed her back down as she tried to push herself up and off him. “Keep moving your body like that against me, and we’ll miss hearing the knock from room service.

      A man could starve around you Jade. Not unhappily, I’ll admit.”

      “We haven’t left this bed in over twelve hours, Court. I need a bathroom, a shower—do you happen to have any spare toothbrushes you keep around for your overnight guests?”

      “Becket Hotels prides itself on thinking of every personal comfort,” he told her as he let her go. She dragged the soft cotton top sheet with her and stood next to the king-size bed, watching him watch her wrap its length around her body. “You don’t need that sheet, Jade. There isn’t an inch of you I haven’t already seen and appreciated.”

      Jade thought she should tell him he could allow her at least the illusion of feminine modesty. But once you’ve had your legs scissored around a man’s neck while his mouth and fingers took you past the point of rational thought, flew you up to a world you hadn’t known even existed, had you calling out his name over and over and over again as you mindlessly begged him not to stop, not to ever, ever stop? After that sort of carnal intimacy, seriously, what was the point?

      “I still don’t believe any of this,” she told him honestly as he propped up his head on one bent arm, doing nothing to cover his own nakedness. She’d never believed the sight of a naked man was all that men would like to think women thought it was. Until now. “I don’t even know you.”

      “We knew enough last night Jade,” he told her quietly. “I knew the moment I saw you. I’m going to marry you. It’s that simple.”

      “Don’t say that. It… it makes me nervous.”

      “I would have thought the same thing twelve hours and five minutes ago, before you walked into the hotel bar and figuratively punched me in the solar plexus.” His gaze went toward the living room of the suite. “That’s room service. The food will stay warm while we both shower. You’ll find a robe in the bathroom closet.”

      Jade watched, not moving, until Court stepped, naked, into the slacks he’d worn last night and pulled them up over his hips. Only then did she come to her senses and run for the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

      After all, if he thought they were going to shower together, no room-service covers would be enough to keep their food warm for the next two hours. The penthouse suite was huge; there had to be another bathroom somewhere. Probably three or four of them.

      This bathroom had no windows, but the overhead lights, including a crystal chandelier that was just downright decadent, came to life the moment she’d shut the door.

      Jade dropped the sheet she’d been clutching around her and caught a glimpse of her reflection in the freestanding full-length mirror in the far corner.

      No, that couldn’t be her. But then, who was that rather exotic stranger looking back at her as she advanced across the room? Look at the way she moved, like a cat, sure of herself, aware of her every nerve ending, her every sense.

      Not a facade, not a role she was playing for the job, the way she’d done last night with Harvey What’s-His-Name. This was real. The way she felt was real. Sexy. Her. Jade. Not Jessica, the blond bombshell, or Jolie, the strikingly different. But her, Jade. Simple, practical, no-nonsense, boring-white-bread Jade. She was looking at a sensual being, only recently awakened and glorying in newfound freedom.

      Court had done this to her. A near stranger had awakened her, when she hadn’t even realized she’d been sleepwalking through her life.

      Her hair was a wild tangle that cascaded over her shoulders, so unlike the way she normally wore it. Her brown eyes seemed almost smudged, but not with last night’s makeup. The darkness came from within. Her mouth looked fuller, the lips subtly swollen, pouty

      She looked like a woman newly risen from her lover’s bed. And she liked the way she looked.

      Jade struck a pose. Being silly, being stupid, mo-ronically carefree. Her left arm bent to cover her breasts, her right hand lowered to her center; Botticelli’s famous The Birth of Venus. Or as Jolie had called the painting when she’d nearly flunked her college Art Appreciation course, Venus on the Half Shell

      Jade bit her lip to suppress a giggle.

      What was wrong with her? How had she lost her mind this way? This wasn’t her. She wasn’t this kind of woman. A fall-into-bed-with-strangers kind of woman. She was responsible. Clearheaded. Dedicated. She didn’t go in for one-night stands. She wasn’t the type.

      Then again, she also knew she’d never felt this good before, not in her entire responsible, clearheaded, dedicated life. Jessica, the romantic one, would say that Jade was in love, that it had been love at first sight between Jade and Court.

      Which was ridiculous. Lust at first sight? Yes, that sounded more plausible. Physical attraction, pheromones, whatever, it had been an instant crash of mutual desire and need, that was certain.

      The question now was what to do about it.

      There was a knock at the door. “I don’t hear the shower running. Are you ready to eat? I don’t know about you, but I seem to have worked up quite an appetite.”

      Jade dropped her irreverent pose and headed for the oversize shower stall. “In a minute!”

      “All right. Do you like strawberries dipped in dark, warm chocolate?”

      “What? Do I… for breakfast? Um, yes, sure, I suppose so. Why not?”

      “Good, because I’m working up this fantasy where you lie with your head on my lap as I feed one to you, and then you return the favor.”

      “Sounds, um, sounds like a plan?” Jade fussed with the taps, wondering why anyone would need so many controls to turn on a simple shower. Except this wasn’t a simple shower, not with all those extra showerheads. “Just give me five minutes and… and we’ll talk about it.”

      She didn’t wait for the water to turn warm, but stepped quickly under the cold sprays that seemed to come from everywhere, teasing at her already sensitive skin. She had to get her head back on straight, was what she had to do. She had to shower, find her clothes, make up some sort of excuse and get the hell out of here.

      If she didn’t go, now, she’d never want to leave. As it was, she was fairly certain that the memory of last night, of Court Becket and his bottomless brown eyes, the wild abandon they’d shared, would haunt her for the rest of her life.

       MONDAY, 4:16 A.M.

      “No. NOT YET, NOT YET, you idiot… don’t leave yet, don’t go…” Jade pleaded, keeping her eyes firmly closed, trying to recapture the dream. No, not a dream. A memory. Her life, the one she’d had within her grasp and then so carelessly thrown away.

      She

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