he teased, pushing aside the narrow crotch of her panties and slipping his toe inside her.
“No…not avoiding…” She reached down and stilled his foot, then gently pushed it away, still holding it between her legs. “If you keep that up, we’ll never finish dinner.”
“Just reminding you of what you could be missing out on.”
She stroked his wet toe with her fingertips. “Does that mean you want this to be more than a one-night thing?”
“I figure, I’m alone this weekend, you’re alone—”
“We might as well keep each other company,” she filled in.
Alex heaved a sigh of relief. “Exactly. I can understand the need for ground rules. Like, no talking about what happens this weekend with coworkers.”
“Do we need to set some kind of time limit to keep things simple? Like, when the weekend is finished, so are we?”
It was a rule that worked to his advantage, giving him time to find out the truth about Yasmine, then extract himself from her life before any messy emotions got involved. So he had no idea why her suggestion felt like a punch to the gut. Had to be stupid male pride getting in the way.
“That sounds fair, but we could always reevaluate later.”
“And no hard feelings after the fact. We go back to work, and we’re friends. Deal?”
He extended his pinky finger, and she intertwined hers with his. “Deal,” he said.
Then they shook on it.
5
ALEX FELT SOMETHING warm and soft against him. He shifted his weight toward the warmth and came in contact with solid flesh. He opened his eyes and saw the back of Yasmine’s head, her dark hair spilling over the pillow.
Then the memories of last night came flooding in. Flesh against flesh, tangled limbs, hot kisses, even hotter sex. They’d kept going until his leg muscles trembled and his body was spent. Then they’d collapsed on the bed, in each other’s arms, and slept the night away.
He yawned and stretched. From the window, light poured in, diffused by fog.
It was Christmas Eve, and morning fog was about as winter wonderland as San Francisco weather got.
This was normally one of Alex’s favorite days of the year, but this year, the holiday promised to be memorably different if it played out the way he hoped. If he convinced Yasmine to let him spend the night—maybe the whole weekend—at her place….
Next to him, she stirred. Her leg moved against his, the satin skin of her thigh warming him, then she rolled onto her back and peered at him through half-lidded eyes. In the morning light, with her makeup gone and her hair a mess, she looked amazing.
“Hey,” he said, his voice groggy from sleep.
He hated that he was so mesmerized by her, even after all these years. She had the power to make him lose his mind.
“Hey, yourself,” she whispered, eyeing his bare chest. “Did we, um, do something last night?”
“You don’t remember?”
Her straight face gave way to a smile. “Sorry, bad joke. Yes, I remember.”
She traced his jaw with her fingers and then leaned forward and placed a kiss on his lips. “Last night was fun.”
“Mmm-hmm. You have any big last-minute shopping plans today?”
“Actually, no plans at all other than hanging out with you.”
This was his chance, but there was a risk of overplaying his hand. She wore a blissed-out expression, though, that told him now was the time, while the memories of their night together were still hot and vivid.
He slid his hand across her belly, a featherlight touch that caused her nipples to harden. Up her rib cage his hand went, then to her breasts where he traced her areolas with his fingertips.
“What do you say we spend the day in bed?”
She smiled and arched her back, stretching her arms over her head. “I’d say you’ve got filthy intentions toward me.”
She draped her leg over his and rolled onto him, resting her chin on his chest.
“I might say the same thing about you.”
She ground her hips against him, and he could feel the hot dampness between her legs on his thigh. Instantly he grew hard.
“I think I made my intentions pretty clear last night,” she said.
“Are you always so bold?” he asked, though he was pretty sure he knew the answer—that she was much too bold for her own good.
And why that caused him a pang of concern, he couldn’t say.
“Maybe. Are you always so good in bed?”
“With the right woman.”
Though last night was not usual. He’d been on fire as he’d never been before. That’s what happened, he supposed,