The Ex Factor - Erin McCarthy Page 0,20

had been misinterpreted. She popped her eyes open.

It didn’t even look like he’d heard her. He was watching her as he stepped into the shower, into her space. Her throat got tight, both from anticipation and nervousness. Why the heck was she so jittery?

Because it mattered.

Her future in the industry mattered.

The past mattered.

Chance mattered to her.

She suddenly wasn’t sure this was one of her better ideas. This was right up there with deciding she wanted to be a redhead a few years back. She’d wound up looking like she was wearing an orange wig.

This could be worse than her being a Halloween head.

But she couldn’t resist Chance. Not when his naked body was sliding in alongside hers, his hands, callused from guitar strings, settling onto her hips. He stepped in behind her, his thighs briefly brushing against her before the only feel of him was his hands.

She closed her eyes, needing to relax. He kissed her shoulder as his right hand eased around her hip. His fingers teased between her thighs, his thumb running over her clit. She gave a little gasp, startled by how quick her passion flared. Then again, their chemistry was legendary and she’d been sexless of late.

“Does that feel good?” he murmured in her ear, flicking his tongue over the delicate skin, making her shiver despite the warm water.

“Mm.” Jolene had nothing to say. She just knocked her hips so that his finger drove deeper inside her.

“Your body is amazing, Jolene, and you’re so wet. Come for me, sweetie.”

He didn’t even need to ask. She was already there. Having a quick, powerful orgasm, the water streaming down her body, aiding in her arousal. She sighed in pleasure, opening her eyes again, and making a move to turn so she could move into Chance’s arms.

But he surprised her by kissing her forehead and stepping back out of the shower.

“Are we taking this to the bed?” she asked, running her head under the water to make sure she had no shampoo remnants in her hair.

Chance shook his head. “Maybe we should hit the pause bottom.”

Her jaw dropped. Was the man for real? “Why? You already dipped a finger into the honey pot! What difference does it make now?” Of course, now he’d killed her sexy mood entirely.

“I just don’t want you to have any regrets.” For a second she thought he was going to say something else. His mouth opened and he shook his head. But he didn’t.

What she regretted was ever thinking he could manage not to be a jackass. “So now you’re protecting me from myself? That I’ll have one taste of your magical penis and I won’t be able to go on with my life? You’re an arrogant ass.”

Chance didn’t deny it, he just shut the shower door, leaving her alone in the steam.

What the hell? That was more than a little hurtful. It stung like hell. Maybe it had been impulsive for her to suggest that he join her, but if she had been certain of anything, it was that Chance was attracted to her. But now she wasn’t even sure about that.

She hated that. Being vulnerable was an emotion she had left behind when she’d packed a bag and stomped out of her childhood home, her father screaming at her back she was never going to amount to anything.

She had. She was something.

She had presence, a big laugh, and enthusiasm in bed. If Chance didn’t see that, well then he could kiss her burgeoning butt.

That conviction didn’t make the shower feel any less lonely though, damn it.

Chance backed away from the shower, needing to put some distance between them. His cock was hard as steel and he wanted her so bad it set his teeth on edge, but the way she looked at him, her blue eyes wide, aroused. He didn’t know what game they were playing at here, but it was dangerous, and he was pretty damn certain he was losing.

Jolene wasn’t stupid. She was a businesswoman. There had been a time when she had looked at him like she thought he was the sun and the stars and the moon, but she didn’t need him to make her career, not really, and she wasn’t in awe of him anymore. He wasn’t the prince of anything, let alone the prince of pickers. The balance of power between them had shifted at some point and in the weeks before their breakup, he had realized that with total clarity.

It was for the best. He’d