to a stop, he did just that, he touched her, his hand sliding beneath her hair to cup the nape of her neck. His thumb stroked her cheek, and her belly clenched. Between her thighs there was an instant swelling heat. Tingling.
She held her breath, trying to disguise her reaction. But when his thumb moved again, a shivery chill ran down her neck and made her nipples tighten against the cups of her bra. Surely he couldn't miss the flush blossoming over her skin.
"Jane." His fingers gave her neck a little squeeze. "About last night..."
No! Were there three words a person wanted less to hear? Her annoyed glance bounced off him, and she squirmed against the soft leather. Did he think he needed to reiterate theirs was a one-night thing? Didn't she know that? It had been a great one-night thing - she hoped for him too - but she'd set the terms herself.
Nobody knew better than Jane that going any deeper could lead to professional and personal disaster. A woman had to protect herself from that.
Just as she opened her mouth to make clear she knew the score, a deafening noise blasted. A blur of movement raced past her window. With a little shriek, Jane jumped, dislodging Griffin's hand.
"Damn motorcycle," he said, glaring out the windshield.
Her startled heart settled as she realized what had happened. A guy on a wicked-looking two-wheeled vehicle was weaving through the traffic ahead, using the space between automobiles to create his own lane. Blowing out a breath of air, she noted Griffin continued to glower in that direction.
Then he shook himself and cast a quick glance at her. "Where were we?"
No place they needed to return to, Jane decided, and grasped for a different subject. "You don't like motorcycles?" she asked.
"Hate 'em."
Weird. "I thought men had a thing for those kind of machines - something about all that horsepower between their thighs...." The instant the words left her mouth her mind tumbled back to the night before. Griffin on top of her, his body driving into hers, her legs wrapped around his hips. It had been so long for her that her inner flesh could still feel his imprint. Her face went hot again.
"Jane?" Griffin sounded amused. "What's going through your head?"
As if she'd tell. "I'm just curious," she said, holding tight to this new thread of conversation. "A risk taker like yourself, an open road, a Harley-Davidson. Is there no appeal whatsoever?"
"Zero." He ran a hand over his hair. It was longer now, long enough for her to see the crisp darkness was thick and straight. "We had a couple of trail bikes as kids. Riding them almost killed my brother. I almost killed my brother."
She stared at him when he didn't elaborate. "You can't leave it at that."
The traffic had slowed again, and as he braked he threw her a look. "Did anyone ever tell you you're way too curious?"
She supposed she was. Another woman, knowing there was nothing for her beyond a one-night stand, would have curtailed any further thoughts about being in Griffin's bed. To daydream about what it would be like to be there again, to be able to stroke those lean muscles and lick at his hard mouth and run her palm down his erection to see if she could make him tremble as she had when he'd placed that first light kiss to her nipple. That kiss and every other had ignited a fire in her, and she'd been desperate to experience the burn.
"My brother's the real risk taker," Griffin said now.
"Oh, right," she scoffed, hoping he wouldn't notice the hoarse note to her voice. "And you're Safety Sam."
He shrugged. "More so than Gage, anyway. He was the one always issuing challenges."
She glanced over, surprised and a little gratified. It looked as if he might actually open up. "Challenges like what?"
"When we were young it was typical kid stuff. Who could hold a handstand the longest. Which one of us could catch the first lizard. Who could eat the most Oreo cookie middles."
Jane sniffed. "This is what makes males unfathomable to me. Clearly the chocolate wafers are the only reason an Oreo's worth eating."
He tossed her a smile that made her heart stumble. She gave it a moment to stabilize, then prodded him again. "So if Gage was always the challenger, who was usually the winner?"
His smile died. "Gage...Gage would do just about anything to win, and he usually did, except for the day I dared him