The Earl's Outrageous Lover Page 0,35

perfect she felt.

A long time later, Jessica curled up and laid her head against his chest, her fingers playing with the light hair scattered across that fascinating expanse of skin. “That was unexpected,” she sighed and kissed his chest. If her mouth just happened to be close to that fascinating male nipple, was she to blame? She laughed when he rolled her over onto her back again in reaction.

“Are you saying you are expecting something now?” he asked, his hands shifting her so that he was right back where he wanted to be.

Jessica yawned. “I just wanted to explore,” she said, her eyes wide and innocent.

He shook his head. “Go to sleep, Jessica,” he said and lay back down. His long arm reached out and turned off the bedside light.

“What if I don’t want to sleep?” she said, but the question was ruined by yet another yawn.

He pulled the comforter up and over them, then pulled her closer to him, pulling her bottom against his stomach and holding her in place. “Sleep now,” he told her gently. “You’re too sore for anything else.”

Jessica had to admit that she had a certain amount of discomfort in areas she hadn’t really known existed before. But she doubted she could get to sleep. The whole night, especially these last few hours, had been just too exhilarating and she wanted to think about everything, to relive the excitement.

Next thing she knew, the sun was coming up over the horizon, spilling onto her bed.

Jessica looked around, wanting to talk to Edward, to question him about last night.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t there in bed with her any more. Nor were his clothes still scattered among hers on the floor.

With a sigh, she laid back down in the bed, her mind furious that he could be so horrible after all the tenderness he showed her last night.

Another horrible day faced her and her mind went through all the things she had scheduled. Lunch with Edward was definitely going to be awkward. Did he regret what had happened last night? Obviously he did or he would be here this morning, sharing the experience with her all over again.

Throwing off the covers, she trudged to the bathroom. There was nothing she could do but face the day because it wasn’t going to go away. And she needed to face Edward, to figure out what to do about him and how to handle him.

Chapter 5

Edward glared at the door, wishing he could get this task over with more quickly. He was standing in front of Jessica’s door, hesitating to knock. He had scheduled lunch with her and now he regretted the decision. They would have to get married, he thought. A week ago, he would have been horrified at the idea of marrying someone like Jessica with all of her flightiness and disregard for tradition.

Now, the idea of having her in his life, of waking up to her soft, incredible body every morning, of seeing her smile at him as he walked into the house at night, the idea made him feel….more than good, he acknowledged. Yes, Jessica was the woman he was going to marry.

So why did he feel so guilty about the whole situation?

Because he’d been an ass last night. He should have avoided her. He never should have kissed her. Or argued with her. But seeing her in another man’s arms had made him more than a little crazy with jealousy.

He’d never been jealous before. He’d been in relationships and they’d ended without bad feelings from either party. At least, he didn’t think any of his previous relationships had been emotionally invested in him. He dismissed the idea as ludicrous because they simply hadn’t been those kinds of women. In the past, he had entered into relationships with women only with the understanding that it was not a commitment, that either party could leave any time without hard feelings.

He smiled as he thought about Jessica’s anger with him over her dress last night. Yes, Jessica was emotional, but he found that he liked that about her. He thought it was cute and her anger turned him on. Hell, everything about her turned him on, he thought.

Facing her for lunch was probably a good idea. They could talk, discuss the wedding plans and get things moving in the right direction. She’d have to concede, he thought. Last night he’d taken her virginity and it was now the time to do things correctly. Marriage first, sex later, he told himself.

He