Just 4 Play

She shrugged. “I’m just saying you’re better off without her. I never thought she was your type.”

“Oh?” Jill turned to Meg. “What sort of woman do you think is Mitch’s type?”

“Well now, let’s see.” She furrowed her brow. “Someone a little more laid-back. Someone who can help him loosen up. Take his mind off business.” She grinned at him. “Someone who can help him have a little fun.”

There was that word again—as if life was always one laugh after another. “Stop talking about me as if I’m not even here,” he demanded.

Jill gave him a long look, her gaze starting somewhere around his knees and traveling upward, as if she was measuring him for an outfit—or picturing him without one. He felt warm and resisted the urge to fidget. Instead he looked straight into her eyes, intending to stare her down.

Her lips curved in a slow smile. “Yes, I’d say someone needs to help Mitch loosen up a little.” She leaned closer, until her breath tickled his ear. “Wouldn’t you know it? That happens to be my specialty,” she whispered.

MITCH APPARENTLY HAD MASTERED the art of looking cool and collected on the outside, but Jill knew she was getting to him. His eyes darkened, his breathing came faster and a pulse throbbed at his temple, inches from her lips. He might pretend to be unmoved, but Mitch Landry kept a lot of passion reigned in beneath his businesslike facade. Meg was right. Miss Fancy-Pants Lana Montgomery was too much of a cold fish for him. A man like Mitch needed a woman who wasn’t afraid to get a fire going.

She breathed in deeply, and felt her own pulse quicken as the scent of Aramis swept over her. Oh, yes. Now that Mitch was certifiably free from entanglements with any other woman, she was going to have a wickedly wonderful time showing him the delights of a walk on the wilder side of life.

“Don’t you have work to do?” His eyes narrowed.

She stepped back, but slowly, reluctantly, telling him with her body and her eyes that things would be so much better if only he’d allow her to move closer. “Why yes.” She turned and picked up the koi vibrator. “I need to ring this up. Let’s see now, what is our family discount?”

He glared at his sister. “You’re not really going to buy that.”

She grinned. “Why not?”

“Because.” His face burned. “Don’t you have to be twenty-one to buy something like this?”

“Eighteen.” Sid, who had been standing by the front window, looking out, spoke up. “Twenty-one is for alcohol.” He turned to face them.

“Besides, I am twenty-one.” Meg laid a credit card on the counter. “I know it’s hard for you, bro, but I’m all grown up now.”

His shoulders slumped and he smiled weakly. “When did that happen?”

Meg laughed. “Not only that, I’m a medical student.” She picked up the vibrator and pointed it at him. “What I don’t already know about anatomy and sexuality, I fully intend to learn.”

Mitch wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. “Be careful where you point that thing, it might be loaded.”

Jill laughed. Just when she’d begun to think she had Mitch all figured out, he surprised her with a remark like that. She always did like a man who could surprise her.