“Shh,” she said, watching his lips quirk as she animal-whispered him for a change. “Just stay calm, Dell. And keep breathing. This won’t hurt, I promise.”

He let out a rough exhale that turned into a groan when she brushed her lips against his, once.

Twice.

His eyes opened, dark and intense.

Hot.

One big hand ran down her spine to rest at the small of her back; the other gripped her hip. They were inches apart from each other, sharing air.

One inch one way, Jade thought. One more inch would change everything.

Everything.

She gave a brief thought to stepping back, but it was too late.

Far too late.

So she closed the gap, absorbing the heat of him and the fact that he was so big. And hard.

Everywhere.

She let out a little hum of pleasure at that as she slid her fingers into his hair and drew his mouth back to hers.

Eleven


Dell was lost in the kiss before Jade tightened her grip on him and made a soft, sexy whimper, but when her tongue touched his, desire exploded as the kiss deepened into a hot, intense connection that blew the circuits in his brain.

She moaned and melted into his body, her fingers tightening painfully in his hair. Hell, she could make him bald if she wanted, he didn’t care, just as long as she kept on kissing him just… like… that… God.

“Dell-”

“I know.” He dipped his head and dragged his mouth down her throat, one hand fitting low on her back, the other sliding down her leg, lifting it to his hip so he could grind against her. The insanity continued when she clutched at him and arched closer, as if she couldn’t get enough. Her hands where everywhere, running her fingers through his hair, stroking them down his neck, giving him a shiver all the way to his toes. Then she worked her way beneath his damp T-shirt and dug into the muscles there. He was already granite hard when she rocked herself against him. This was because he had no blood left in his head. He sucked in a breath and once again took her mouth with his.

Like a match on dry timber.

Her arms wound around his neck as she went up on tiptoe, molding her body to his. Yeah, God yeah. Her lips immediately parted and her tongue slid to his, hot and wet, and he groaned into her mouth as he stroked up her ribs, his thumbs lightly brushing the underside of her breasts.

Making a low purring noise, she tried to climb up his body. “Dell-”

His answer was to press her up against the wall, dragging his mouth down her throat to taste the pulse racing at the base of her neck.

She moaned and held his mouth to her skin with a hand on the back of his head, again rocking the apex of her thighs into him. He wanted to take her right there against the wall, he wanted that more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life. He sucked in a breath and reached for the hem of her T-shirt to rip it off when he heard someone clear their throat behind them.

Jade went stock-still, and Dell pulled his mouth away and rested his forehead against hers.

“Huh,” Adam said behind them. “The hand thing makes a lot more sense now.”

Jade tore free of Dell. Putting her hand to her lips, she stared up at Adam, her chest rising and falling like she’d just run a mile. “We-we were training.”

The corners of Adam’s mouth quirked as he rubbed his jaw, doing his best to hide his amusement. He failed. “Yeah? You could make a million bucks off a DVD of that kind of training.”

Dell gave him a shut-the-fuck-up look. Jade moved past them both and grabbed her purse.

“Jade-”

“Sorry, it’s late. I didn’t realize how late. I’ve gotta go, I have a thing…”

“Jade.”

But she was gone and two seconds later the front door shut somewhere above them.

“You are such an asshole,” Dell said to Adam, and shoved past him, heading for the stairs.

“Really? Because I’m not the one kissing my receptionist, the receptionist who’s clearly battling some demons.”

Dell turned around on the stairs and nearly plowed Adam over. Adam arched a brow, silent.

Dell blew out a breath. “You’re an asshole.”

“Repeating yourself. It’s the first sign of guilt, man.”

“She’s not just a receptionist. She’s…” More. She was much more to Belle Haven, and it was to his own shame that he’d only begun to realize it as she’d effortlessly taken over the dreaded bookkeeping with seamless ease, freeing up hours a day for him. “And I told you we were training tonight.”

“Yeah. You were training real hard.” He shook his head. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing?”

Dell shoved his hands in his hair. “Does it look like it?”

“You could hurt her.” Adam paused. “Don’t.”

“I-”

“Don’t.”

“You really think I’d hurt her?”

Adam just looked at him.

Okay, so he didn’t have a good track record. Who did?

“Just slow down,” Adam suggested.

Slow down? He and Jade had been co-workers and friends for a year and a half already. She was leaving in a matter of weeks. How much slower could they go? He pushed free and took a shower and a drive, and look at that, he ended up at Jade’s place. As he got out, he knew that for once Adam’s radar was off. It wasn’t Jade in danger of getting hurt.

It was him.


***

An hour later Jade was on her couch. She’d checked her locks, engaged her alarm, fed Beans, and had her Oceans 11 DVD in and playing. Some people knitted when stressed out over things like kissing their boss. Some people ate potato chips.

Jade watched movies with Matt Damon in them. With the movie playing in the background, she was working her way through her things-to-do-in-her-spare-time spreadsheet. This meant she was painting her toenails, reading the stack of People magazines she hadn’t yet gotten to, and catching up online with her financial obligations.

All while trying to not think about the fact that she’d thrown herself at Dell.

Because she had.

Thrown herself.

With a remembered groan and a hot blush, she covered her cheeks and closed her eyes. “This is bad,” she whispered to Beans.

“Mew.”

“I was hoping you’d disagree. Although…” She blew out a breath and leaned back. It’d felt good to have his hands on her. Really good. And his mouth.

God, his mouth.

It’d been too long for her, way too long. Her own doing, of course. For a long time after the attack, she hadn’t wanted to be touched. Even though she hadn’t been raped, she’d felt a disconnect from others and hadn’t wanted physical contact.

Seemed that was changing.

On the coffee table, her cell vibrated an incoming call.

“Darling,” her mother said. “You missed your weekly check-in, I was worried.”

When Jade had left Chicago, her family had threatened to come after her and drag her back. Lovingly, of course. They had only her best interests at heart, and she’d scared them.

She’d scared herself.

But she’d needed the space and the time, and they’d finally come to an agreement. She would call and check in once a week, and in return, they’d let her be. She called them every Wednesday evening. “American Idol isn’t over yet. I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“I don’t like the new judges,” her mother said. “You need anything?”

This was always the first question asked. Followed quickly by the second: “And are you okay?”