what he could about one of her clients. From then on, she knew never to let her guard down.
She had dated since then, but the relationships were on her terms, and she didn’t like being rushed into doing anything—like sharing a bed with a man. That had been one of Charles’s faults, which was why she continued to hold out with him. Even with his persistence, he had yet to give her reason to think she would be anything more to him than a conquest. Sometimes she felt she was putting too much thought into it. Why not go ahead and sleep with him since a serious relationship was the last thing she was ready to get involved with anyway? But for her, it was the principle of the thing. She didn’t like being pressured.
Jace wanted her—she was well aware of that, but he was not placing any pressure on her, especially since she had told him there would not be an affair between them. She would admit that, if there was any pressure, she was placing it on herself.
Why was she so attracted to him, and why had his image apparently been scorched into her brain? And why had the taste of him seemingly been embedded in her tongue? And why even now, when she thought about him, could she envision naked bodies entangled in silken sheets?
Sheets that were hers.
Refusing to think about Jace any longer, she cuddled in bed to what had become her reading position and opened her book to where she’d left off. She was determined to get absorbed in somebody else’s love life. Even if the characters were fictional.
PART II
You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.
—Anonymous
Chapter Sixteen
Jace swiveled around in his chair and glanced at the wooden door that connected his office to the one Shana was using, wishing he had the ability to stare straight through it. Then he wouldn’t have to wonder what she was doing. He figured she was probably working, which is what he should be doing. But he couldn’t concentrate. His thoughts were filled with her.
It was the last day of another workweek, and he hadn’t seen Shana but three times. She had made herself even scarcer than she had last week, and he couldn’t help wondering if that kiss a week ago had anything to do with it. He picked up a rubber band in what was becoming a habit and began stretching it in all kinds of directions as his mind relived that moment in the elevator for the two-hundredth time. The woman had the sweetest lips, their taste as succulent as any delicious fruit he’d ever eaten. He had thought about her all weekend, even during moments when he had visited with his father. And his dreams of her had become even more turbulent, racy and stunningly raw. How was Shana able to cause so much lust to run rampant inside of him? Lust he hadn’t been able to quench. And, from the looks of things, never would.
Drawing in a deep breath, he tossed the rubber band aside and went back to reading the notes he’d compiled from his conversation with his father this past weekend. It had been an enjoyable visit that had lasted six hours, and the four of them had tried to make every minute count.
Jace had gone over all the reports he’d read on the company and had brought up a couple of issues that had concerned him to get his father’s advice. Granted, Shep Granger had been away from Granger Aeronautics for fifteen years, but his mind was still sharp when it came to business matters.
His father knew Granger Aeronautics inside and out, and even though technology had changed over the years, Sheppard had managed to stay on top of advanced technology through books he’d gotten from the prison library as well as on their computer systems. And he had taken classes whenever they had been offered.
Jace glanced up when he heard the knock on the door. “Come in.”
He felt a knot in his throat when Shana walked in. Today, like always, she was wearing one of those conservative yet sexy business suits. This one was turquoise in color, and she had matching shoes to complement it. And today, like always, it looked good on her. “Hi, Shana.”
“I don’t mean to disturb you, but I have my initial report finalized and wondered if we could meet sometime today to go over it.”
Jace shifted his gaze from her to