a one-night, or one-week, stand. Which shouldn’t have bothered her, since a week was all she had. But her insides twisted, anyway.
Stop overanalyzing. Maybe he’s just relieved you didn’t say you were transgendered.
She forced herself to go on. “I meant it when I said I don’t have a lover or a boyfriend, but that doesn’t mean I’m free. I have made a serious commitment and I intend to keep my word. Once I leave here next week, when Grandpa gets home, this is completely over.”
He eyed her intently. “You want to tell me what the commitment is?”
“I could try, but it wouldn’t be easy for me to say too much without breaking someone else’s confidence,” she said, hoping that wouldn’t be a deal-breaker.
“Understood,” he said with a nod. She already knew he valued integrity and wasn’t totally surprised he hadn’t insisted she spill everything.
“You’re an adult, you want me and you’re not married. As long as all three of those things are true, then, honestly, right at this moment, I don’t give a damn about anything else.”
He fell silent. So did she. Their stares locked.
Finally she spoke. “All those things are true.”
He moved closer.
“But I do have a request to make. Can we just agree that, if we, uh...” She could feel her cheeks warming. “If we enjoy tonight...”
His spontaneous laugh made her smile. The man did not suffer from any lack of confidence.
“If we do, and we want to spend the rest of the week together, that’s great,” she explained. “After that week though, it’s never mentioned again, never referred to. You don’t contact me.... I don’t contact you?”
“No strings? Absolutely no regrets?”
“Exactly.”
He didn’t jump for joy the way most men probably would have at hearing a woman admit she wanted a no-strings sexual affair with him. “You’re serious?”
“Very.”
He didn’t answer for a moment, considering. Then, at last, he slowly nodded. “My life’s too crazy now to even consider getting tangled in any strings. If that’s really the way you want to play it, that’s the way it’ll be.”
Another long stare. A silent assent.
Then an exchange of slow, sultry smiles.
They’d made a bargain. They would be lovers.
She had a week. And she intended to enjoy every minute of it.
8
ONCE THE WORDS had been said, the deal struck, Candace let all her questions, doubts and worries fade away. She might not have a long-term future with Oliver, and her life might be taking her in directions she could never have imagined, but for now, for tonight at least, she intended to enjoy herself with a man who made her whole body come alive.
“I have a bed upstairs in the loft,” Oliver murmured, sliding his hand down her calf.
“I like it right here,” she said, not willing to waste the time moving, not when she was finally going to get what she’d so desperately wanted.
His approving nod said he agreed. When he reached into his pocket and withdrew a condom, she knew he’d been anticipating this moment. Considering she’d picked up a box at the drug store and had a few tucked into her purse, she couldn’t pretend to take offense. She could only be grateful.
The man was gloriously handsome at any time of day, in any lighting. But when he tugged at his shirt and pulled it up and over his head, tossing it to the floor, she had to admit he did amazing things for firelight.
His body was perfectly shaped. The shoulders so broad, the chest beautifully sculpted. Months of hard, physical labor had obviously eradicated any sign of the L.A. lawyer and turned him into a muscular god, with incredibly defined abs, a lean waist and slim hips. A light swirl of hair encircled his nipples, trailing down into a thin line that disappeared into the waistband of his jeans.
She licked her lips, wanting to see where that happy trail led. But after kicking off his shoes, he stopped, leaving his jeans in place.
She pouted. “Keep going. You definitely don’t have to stop on my account.”
“We’ll get there. But fair’s fair. You’re still fully dressed.”
“You can fix that for me.”
“I’d be happy to.”
He tugged the boots off her feet, then gently palmed and massaged her arches. When his fingers slipped up under her pant legs, the brush of skin on skin made her internal temperature soar. An hour ago she’d been freezing. Now she knew a spark had just ignited and she was going up in flames.
Her skinny jeans were tight, and he couldn’t move his hand nearly