Make Me Lose Control

“I need to get some pain relievers.” He stood abruptly, the uncharacteristically clumsy movement knocking over the stool. At the loud clatter, he put both hands to his head as if to hold it together.

“Jace.” Shay rushed around the island to right the seat. Then she urged him back into it, tugging gently on one elbow. “I can get it. Something special? A prescription?”

“No. Just a couple of the regular kind.”

He took the tablets with the water and without argument. For a few moments he sat, eyes closed, just breathing. Shay gripped the metal edge of the island, watching him with concern.

When his lashes lifted, she could see some of the discomfort had left him. “Better?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“Are you going to tell me what’s up?”

He shrugged. “Construction accident. I ended up with a badly sprained ankle and a concussion. For a time I found it difficult to think, read, communicate clearly. I still get headaches, obviously—tension brings them on.”

Remorse flooded Shay. While she’d been sending snarky emails and thinking uncharitable thoughts, he’d been laid up thousands of miles away with serious injuries. Still... “There wasn’t someone who could send an email for you? Make a call?”

“This was a lay-of-the land mission, four of us in the middle of nowhere. My interpreter-slash-fixer understood a limited amount of English and my Arabic is sketchy. Beyond blueprints, we had a difficult time making ourselves known to each other. So I concentrated on getting here as soon as I could.”

Frowning a little, she drew closer, continuing to watch him with assessing eyes. Definitely better, but—

“Christ, I don’t need a nurse. Stop hovering.”

Affronted, Shay spun around.

“Wait.” Jace reached out, but her arm slipped through his fingers. “I’m sorry. I’m not used to...”

Hot showers, Shay thought, with sudden understanding. Birthday celebrations. Depending upon someone else, if only for a glass of water and a couple of aspirin. “It’s all right,” she said, insult evaporating. “I’m going to make coffee. Would you like some?”

“Sure,” he said. “Thanks.”

Her back was to him as she ground the beans and fiddled with the settings on the coffeemaker. Silence grew between them as she pulled mugs from the cabinet and readied the cream and sugar.

Before she sensed a single footstep, heavy male hands closed over her shoulders. Shay jerked once, then stilled. When he wasn’t hurting from a headache, she thought, the big man moved with such smooth grace. Unnerved by it, Shay placed her palms flat on the countertop and tried to calm her thudding heart.

“Shay,” Jace said, bending his head so his mouth was close to her ear. “I’m sorry. Really.”

She closed her eyes, willing herself not to lean into his warmth. A ripple of desire rolled over her skin, slid down her arms, over her breasts, her belly, her hips. God, she’d never felt like this, so aware of a man, so greedy for his touch.

She’d expected only one night with him, but now, now there was another possibility. There could be a summer of such moments, she thought, aching to feel his heat surrounding her, his weight on top of her, his thick column of flesh inside her again. Her eyes closed. There could be such a sweet, sweet summer. Yes, the fact that he was her boss was a complication, but if they could sort that out—

“Really sorry,” he continued, “but your employment will be terminated early. Though I’ll pay out for the full contract, of course, I’m giving you four weeks’ notice.”

“What?” Lust and longing had muddled her brain. She felt drugged with it and shook her head to focus her thoughts. “What did you say?”

“Four weeks’ notice,” he repeated.

The words splashed over her like icy water. Wrenching from his hold, she scurried to the other side of the island. “I don’t understand.”

“You do,” he said, his gaze on her face. “After what happened between us...”

But that hadn’t happened! Didn’t he understand their unspoken agreement that Shay and Jace were different people than Birthday Girl and Jay? Except...except a moment ago she’d been a breath away from begging for his touch, his heat, his—

Embarrassment kindled her temper. “Wait. Let me get this straight. Are you firing me because of our night at the Deerpoint Inn? I don’t think that’s legal!”

He grimaced. “Well—”

“You’re letting me go because of a...of a personal choice I made on my own time?” She was aware of the outrage in her voice. “Because I went to bed with you?”

“Jesus, Shay.” He glanced behind him. “Can you keep it down?”

“No, I can’t keep it down,” she said, though she lowered her voice to an incensed whisper. “How dare you judge me?”

“I’m not judging. I’m—”

“What about you? You’re a single dad but that didn’t stop you from indulging in a one-night stand, seducing a vulnerable—”

“Vulnerable, my ass.” Jace strode around the island and had hold of her shoulders again. “Seduce, your ass.”

“What are you doing?” she demanded, trying to pull out of his grasp.

“Explaining to you the problem we have,” he said from between his teeth. “No, showing you the problem we have.” Then he bent his head and kissed her, his mouth hard and punishing and...

Beautiful. Masterful. Irresistible.

Shay’s lips surrendered to the pressure of his and then his tongue was inside, plunging to rub against her own, pulling back to toy with her, then sweeping back in again. Her body melted against the hard wall of his chest and she pressed her breasts to it and her belly to the heavy rise of his erection.

She tumbled into another bubble, still in Jace’s clasp. It pulsed around them like a heartbeat. It was a refuge. A private shelter. Their very own place. To anchor herself there, she tucked her fingers into the waistband at the back of his jeans. He grunted, low in his throat, and fed more deeply from her mouth.

Then, in an abrupt, desperate move, he pushed her away. Shay felt the counter at the small of her back, and she leaned there, panting. His golden eyes were molten and she felt his gaze like a touch as it moved from her mouth to her heaving breasts to the heated juncture of her thighs. Her muscles clenched there, and he groaned, as if he sensed that sweet spasm.

“You’ve got to see...” He sucked in a quick breath. “This is a problem.”

She crossed her arms over her chest to hide her taut nipples and trembling hands. “Just...just stop kissing me.”

He gave her a wry look. “’Cause that’ll work.”

“Jace—”

“No, I’ve made up my mind.” He pushed his hands through his hair. “I’m moving up the timetable.”

“Timetable?”

“I had a boarding school picked out for London come September. I know I was supposed to spend the next three months here, with her, with you, but obviously...” He shook his head. “I made a call. She can go to the summer session that starts in four weeks.”

Shay gaped at him. “You can’t do that.”

“Won’t she be ready? From those emails, I thought you said she was making great progress. Maybe I can get her another tutor at the school—”