Love Proof (Laws of Attraction) - By Elizabeth Ruston Page 0,57

“A guy like that would love to tell anyone who’d listen that he saw us having dinner together. I thought I’d spare us the gossip.”

Sarah couldn’t deny the logic. Even though having dinner with that cretin any night, let alone on her birthday, was the last thing she wanted to do.

They walked as far as the lobby, then the two of them paused. They stood close to each other, but not nearly as close as they’d been in the booth. The elevators were behind them, and it would have been easy for Sarah simply to say goodnight and return to her room.

But instead she looked up at Joe. And waited. She wanted to know exactly what he would say next, and exactly what she would say in response. How this game would play out.

“Feel like taking a drive?” he asked.

“Where to?”

“Not far,” he said.

Sarah nodded, as if considering. But there was nothing left to decide. She already crossed that boundary, she realized, by even coming downstairs to dinner. Everything after that felt inevitable.

Still, she kept her eyes locked on his for a moment more, and let the negotiation continue in silence.

The lobby door opened, and a gust of winter wind swept in. Sarah clutched her arms around her chest.

“Here. You’re not dressed for it,” Joe said, removing his hoodie and handing it to her.

She tugged it over her head. And breathed in. It smelled of laundry soap and Joe—unmistakably Joe. His familiar, masculine scent. Just one more reminder of all of the pleasure she once took in his body. And could take again.

She pulled the hoodie all the way down until the hem of it hung to her thighs.

“Ready?” Joe asked.

Sarah nodded.

The two of them walked together to his car, two colleagues out on a short errand, if Chapman happened to notice, two attorneys giving no indication they knew each other beyond a professional acquaintance. There was no touching, no stolen glance, nothing except a smooth entry into the car, the ignition turning right away, Joe pulling out of the parking lot without a moment’s hesitation.

He was right, it wasn’t far. Maybe five minutes away.

“You always have to stay somewhere else, don’t you?” Sarah asked. But she was quickly reaching the point where she didn’t want to talk at all.

They walked into the second lobby together, still not touching or looking at each other, and headed for the elevator. Sarah waited for the doors to close them in before turning to Joe.

“You know it’s just for tonight.”

“I know,” he said.

“It doesn’t change anything.”

“All right.”

Then she told her mind to take the rest of the night off while she let her body take it from there.

Twenty-three

They were barely inside the room before they went at each other as if no time had passed or too much had. Sarah grabbed him and pulled him to her with nearly as much force as he reached for her. Their mouths crushed together while Joe slipped his hands underneath the hoodie. Sarah lifted her arms so he could tug it over her head. Then she undid the tie on her kimono top and let it fall to the floor.

Joe stared at her naked breasts, his breath ragged. Then he yanked down the pajama pants and found nothing between him and her flesh.

“My God, Sarah, you’ve been like this all night? Why did you let me sit there so long?” He covered her mouth with his as he cupped a breast in one hand and her ass with another. He pulled her hips into his. Sarah could feel the hardness struggling to escape his jeans.

“Why did you wear a belt?” she gasped, fumbling to undo it.

He took over, and then popped the top button of his jeans for her. Sarah pulled the rest of the buttons free, then reached inside and released his erection. Joe kicked off his shoes and Sarah pushed his jeans and underwear roughly down his legs. It was all taking too much time, and she still had his shirt to get rid of.

She slid her hands under his T-shirt and then spread her fingers across his warm chest, exploring the width and the strength. He was so different from how she remembered, so much firmer and more muscular. She pushed his shirt up to his shoulders so she could feel the unfamiliar muscles there, too. Then she pulled the shirt free, and leaned forward to flick her tongue against his nipple. She took him in her hand at the same time, gripping