Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 72715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
He leaned closer. Their breaths mingled, and a hint of peppermint reached her nose, a scent she’d never found arousing until now. Her heart hammered out a rapid beat. “You know I do. I’m just not certain it would be a good idea.” No matter how much his suggestion appealed to her.
“Why not?”
“We’re living together, working together…it can get messy.” Painful, she thought.
“Or it can be amazing. Think about it, Brianne. An entire summer that belongs to us alone.” His eyes blazed with determined blue fire and his finger slid over her face in a lingering caress. “We’ve already proven we can’t be together without fireworks exploding. All the more reason to indulge.”
She swallowed hard, his suggestion so very tempting, but if she agreed she knew it would cost her. She was drawn to this man deeply and if she got involved with him sexually, she feared she’d risk losing her heart. A heart she couldn’t give to a man who thrived on risk and danger, whom she could lose to a bullet.
But she wasn’t ready to divulge all the heartache and pain her past had caused. To share her fears and insecurities would be taking that step toward connecting with him on more than a physical level, something she couldn’t afford. “I’m not in the market for a serious relationship. Once the summer’s over and my brother leaves for Stanford, I’m going to move to California with him,” she told Jake, settling on the easiest truth, one she figured a man would accept and understand.
At her words, something unreadable flickered in his eyes—whether it was disappointment or surprise, she couldn’t tell, and he spoke before she could deliberate further.
“I’m not looking for a serious relationship, either. Seems to me every argument you’ve got strengthens my argument.” Obviously Jake wasn’t put off and he couldn’t be deterred. His deep eyes bore into hers.
“We want the same things—each other and something short term. And we need each other. I need your professional expertise.” He paused. “And I need you and this time we could have together. If you’re honest with yourself, you’ll admit you need it, too.”
Brianne’s breath caught in her throat. She couldn’t speak even if she wanted to. He was so dead-on accurate, she couldn’t argue. Her newfound freedom courtesy of Rina would begin in the fall. But that freedom was scary because she’d been cocooned by her job and responsibilities for so long, she barely knew how to start a life of her own. A personal life.
So just as he needed her professional expertise, she needed his, in areas both sensual and sexual. He was offering her the opportunity to explore her femininity and everything she’d suppressed all these years.
“You want an affair?” she managed to ask, exposing her deepest desire and deepest fear.
“Ideally, yes.”
Her stomach twisted with a burning need to agree. After all, she was leaving in September, and they’d be together for the summer. Nothing was stopping her from grabbing this short span of time. Except that everything inside her shouted this man was potentially dangerous to both her peace of mind and her heart.
“I promise you no matter how much I want, I’ll go slow.” His finger stroked her cheek. Soft and sensual, he ignited her skin with a light caress. “I’ll go easy.” His touch feathered lightly down her neck and teased beneath the V of her spandex top. “Seductively,” he murmured at last. “And I promise you’ll enjoy.”
She had no doubt he’d keep his word. Brianne had indulged in past affairs, knowing they could go nowhere. Yet she’d been so desperate for company, she’d accepted less than she’d wanted from life. But even in the midst of those relationships, brief as they were, no man had made her feel as desirable as Jake did.
He wanted an affair. By its definition, short term. No strings. Safe, if she didn’t factor emotion into the equation. “You don’t ask for much, do you,” she murmured.
“No more than I’m willing to give in return.”
“What about our patient-client relationship?” she asked, and Jake recognized the last lingering doubt.
She hadn’t rejected him outright, and he exhaled hard. “We’re alone, no rules or regulations binding us except the ones we make ourselves.”
His fingers still lingered on her shoulder, and he savored the feel of her silken skin, wishing he had the freedom to taste and knowing he was a long way from gaining permission.
“When it comes to therapy, I don’t fool around,” she said, an attractive flush staining her cheeks. “I mean, I don’t play games when it comes to rehabilitation. I take my job seriously.”
He nodded. “Okay, then, no fooling around during therapy.” Damn, but he hadn’t meant to constrain himself that way. “I’ll take our workouts seriously,” he amended. As she’d said herself, therapy was hands-on and no way could he completely refrain from “fooling around” if she agreed to his suggestion.