Tempt Me - By Shiloh Walker Page 0,24

first date.”

“Ah...” A muscle jerked in his jaw. “Well, I don’t think we’d really even gotten to that point, right? This isn’t a real date.”

“Right. So when you take me home—to either your place or mine—and we sleep together tonight? Just to be clear...we haven’t had a date.”

He hadn’t heard her clearly.

Cole closed his eyes, replaying her words in his head, but they still sounded the same. Lust did bad, bad things to a man’s ability to think clearly, that was all he could figure out.

“Okay, at the risk of sounding like an idiot...what did you just say?”

That smile of hers—oh, hell, it did bad, bad things to his ability to think at all. She tightened her fingers on his thigh, her nails biting lightly into his skin, even through the sturdy denim of his jeans. “Oh, come on now, Counselor...that’s what they call lawyers, right? I think you heard me.”

“I heard you.” He dropped his gaze to her mouth—that wide, sexy mouth—and thought he just might die if he didn’t get to kiss her, seriously kiss her, and soon. “The problem is I think I heard something completely different from what you just said.”

“And what do you think I just said?”

“It had something to do with the two of us going back to your place, or my place. But that couldn’t be what you said.”

Rocki scraped her nails along his jeans. “But it was.” She curled her free hand around his neck. “So. Which one sounds better to you?”

In reply, Cole reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. Blindly, he pulled out some money and glanced at it. Without bothering to do another thing, he threw it down on the table. “Please tell me you’re ready to go now.”

The smile on her face had nerve endings exploding. Cole stood up and hoped to heaven, hell and every place in between that his hands weren’t shaking as he offered one to her. She uncoiled from the seat, placing her hand in his. The firelight danced off the pale skin displayed by the unbelievably fucking sexy top...corset...whatever it was that she wore. Unable to keep from touching her, he reached out and trailed his fingers along the smooth skin that rose in a swell above the gleaming black silk.

“You are so damn beautiful,” he muttered.

Rocki reached out and curled her hands around his waist. “You’re not so bad yourself.” She swayed closer, pressing her mouth close to his ear. “Can we go?”

“Hell, yes.”

Chapter Seven

Earlier, she’d been cold.

So cold.

But now, even the heavier fall of snow couldn’t manage to cool the burning in her blood. Part of her brain was whispering, This isn’t smart. You need to just go home.

The rest of her, heart, soul, and body—oh, damn, her body—demanded, Go home? To that empty, lonely bed...again?

After five years of being alone, she’d met somebody who made her not want to be alone. That was what she’d been hoping for. Brant hadn’t wanted her to live the rest of her life missing him. She didn’t want to grow old alone. But nobody had ever reached inside her soul.

Until now ...

“Second thoughts?”

They’d reached Cole’s car. And he was staring at her. Looking over at him, she smiled slowly. “Not on your life.” Toying with the lapel of his coat, she studied him in the dim, silvery light. It was a strange light, one that appeared only on snowy winter nights. “Your place? Mine?”

“Mine. If that’s okay. It’s only four minutes from here, and I’m going to die if I wait much longer than that,” he said flatly.

Rocki chuckled, but the laugh ended abruptly as he caught the back of her head and pulled her against him. His tongue pushed between her lips and she gasped, caught off guard. The sheer hunger in his kiss had her shaking, left her head spinning—oh, damn. Oh, oh, damn. This was...this. Just this. She’d missed this.

Desperately for more, she moved closer only to have him pull away. “Damn it, now. We’re leaving now,” he growled. He jerked open the door for her and she stared at him, a little bemused, still dazed from that kiss.

“You’re making my head spin.” Groaning, she slid into the car. She wanted to wilt back into the plush leather, but the bad thing about the corset she wore—there was no wilting. She settled for closing her eyes and resting her hands on her thighs to keep from reaching for him. She was afraid if she did that she might