The Guy Next Door - By Lori Foster, S Donovan, V Dahl Page 0,109

before it slammed into the wall. The startled look on his face drew a shocked laugh from Beth. And the humor wasn’t the only thing that prompted relief to well up inside her. He was still fully clothed. And he was holding a tumbler of something bubbly.

“Champagne?” he asked as she stepped past him.

“Thank you!”

“I’m sorry, there weren’t any wineglasses.”

“No, this is perfect.” She took a grateful sip and then sipped again, faced with the horror that she didn’t know what else to say. The door closed hard behind her. They were standing alone together in a room with a dresser, a bed and not much else.

Something swelled beneath her breastbone, pressing into her throat. Suddenly, she couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t swallow. Heat rose up her neck.

“There’s a beautiful view,” he said quietly, moving toward the window.

A view. There was a beautiful view. The tightness in her chest loosened by small degrees as she realized she’d have a few moments to compose herself.

His pants were still on, after all. He hadn’t jumped her. Hell, she was here to have sex with him, and Jamie was behaving with a lot more restraint than that asshole at the reception earlier.

When he reached the window and turned toward her, a frown tugged his eyebrows low. And a realization hit her. Hard.

Beth finally knew what her fantasy was. What buttons she’d always wanted pushed. All those years of wondering, hoping, waiting…and here it was in the stormy eyes of this man.

She didn’t want to be the seductress. She didn’t want to be the experienced one. She wanted to be overwhelmed. Persuaded. Coaxed.

No wonder she’d been such a failure at this. The men who asked her out were looking for a sexual savant. And deep in her heart, Beth wanted to be seduced.

She was an old-school-feminist failure.

He tilted his head, and the hard line of his mouth softened. “Are you all right?”

“Yes!” she answered too brightly as she hurried the last few feet to join him.

He slid the window open, and a cool, crisp breeze swept over them. The sky glowed violet behind the black silhouette of Longs Peak.

“You’re right,” she whispered. “It is beautiful. It’s a gorgeous night.” Beyond the faint traffic, she could hear the occasional coo of mourning doves. The wind touched her again, licking over her skin like cool hands. She closed her eyes.

“Beth,” he murmured. “If you’ve changed your mind…”

She breathed in the scent of fresh leaves and icy water. “No.” Opening her eyes, she met his gaze. “No, I haven’t changed my mind.” She set her purse on the chair, and then Jamie took the glass from her hand and set it down on the sill.

“Would it be an exaggeration if I said I’ve spent days thinking of kissing you?”

Adrenaline shot through her. “I don’t know. Would it be?”

“Two whole days. Almost. That counts…” His hand rose to frame her cheek. “Doesn’t it?”

“Yes,” she whispered against his thumb as he touched it to her lower lip. “It does.”

The nerves of her lips buzzed as if they were about to go numb, but Beth pushed thoughts of numbness away. She wanted to feel everything, and he was lowering his head, slowly, as if he didn’t want to startle her. As if she had to be eased into this.

The thought tightened her clit and made her hands shake. His lips touched her as if she were fragile.

Oh, God. Oh, God, yesss.

He brushed his mouth against hers one more time, and then ever so gently caught her lower lip between his teeth.

Perfect.

Beth sighed against him and raised her hands to his shoulders to steady herself against the rush of sensation. His lips, his teeth, the slow slide of his hands up her back…

What they’d done in the bar last night hadn’t made him less of a stranger, and alarm rushed through her brain as he eased closer. But this was the kind of alarm that had fed one-night stands for centuries. The kind of alarm that pushed your blood harder into pulse points and erogenous zones. The fear that made it feel as if every cell in your body was pulling toward your skin.

When their tongues finally touched, he tasted of champagne, and Beth let the sweetness go to her head and overwhelm her worries.

She tasted more deeply, aware that his fingers pressed into her hips when she sucked at his tongue. This wasn’t just a first kiss, after all. This was the prelude to illicit sex, and she didn’t want to forget