Oh, Naughty Night!

“I was getting overheated,” she said.

“I noticed,” he said, realizing if she listened hard enough, she wouldn’t hear teasing, but pure, utter desire in his words.

A long pause. A longer stare.

“I feel like I’ve known you forever,” he admitted, wondering why everything about her appealed to him so deeply.

Wrong thing to say, apparently. She stiffened the tiniest bit. And back she stepped.

“I, uh...look, it’s a holiday, we might be acting out of character. I don’t want either of us to do anything we might someday regret.” Her breaths had slowed, her color returning to normal. “So let’s maybe just stay here for a while longer?”

As if he would ever regret making love to this woman? Fat chance. Of course, he’d only met her an hour ago, so he supposed she had a right to slow things down. Again.

He found himself enjoying their sexual dance, the push-and-pull, back-and-forth, a lot. The chase was building his excitement, lifting the anticipation until it hung around them like a vapor.

“I understand. I like dancing with you.”

Her relieved sigh told him she’d been holding her breath physically as well as mentally, waiting to see if he was going to agree to cool off or keep up the flirtation.

“Thanks,” she said, moving into his arms again, though he noticed she kept an inch or two of overheated air between their bodies. “Believe me, I’m not a cock-tease. It’s just...I don’t want either of us to have any regrets.”

“I won’t,” he said, meaning it.

Chaz couldn’t help wondering what was making her so skittish. She was hot and sexy one moment, funny and chatty the next. He liked both personalities, but it was the hot and sexy one he wanted to spend the night with. Still, he already suspected he wanted to have breakfast with funny and chatty.

He supposed he wasn’t thinking about this in the typical-guy one-night-stand way. Chaz had had a few of those—quick lays, hurried goodbyes before the sun rose, scarcely another thought about the encounter. They were perils of a job that required him to travel a lot, rarely leaving him time to settle down and really get to know someone.

Now, though, he would be stateside for a while, possibly. And within hours of getting here, he’d found someone he really did want to get to know. While he could have taken it slow and played the dating game, the night was too wild, their connection too immediate and his desire for her too insistent. But that didn’t mean one night was all he wanted.

Besides, he didn’t know her name, and hadn’t really seen her face yet. No way was he going to let her get away tonight without being sure of both. The woman could hardly hide behind a mask if they spent the whole night engaged in hot, steamy sex. As for her name and number, he’d kiss the info right off her lips if it was the last thing he ever did.

Whatever the name, he could at least try to start solving the mystery of her identity. “So, what about you? What do you do for a living?”

She relaxed in his arms. “I work for a nonprofit group providing microloans to single mothers in third-world countries.”

“I’ve heard of those organizations,” he said, trying to recall the details. “I actually talked to someone about that recently. Can’t remember who.”

Her throat worked visibly as she swallowed, and he felt her tension rise again “Well, it’s a great cause,” she said quietly. “But surely not as exciting as what you do.”

“It’s not about the excitement. Someone needs to hold these liars and fraudsters accountable. Just because they have power, or money or a ‘good reason’ doesn’t excuse the damage they do.”

She blanched and he realized he’d gone too far. “Sorry, I get a little wound up. I’ve been told I have ‘trust issues.’”

“I can understand that, after what happened to your friend. Maybe we shouldn’t talk shop.”

“Okay, no work stuff. So, are you ready to give me your name?”

“Let’s say I prefer to be a woman of mystery tonight.”

He frowned.

“Is that a deal-breaker?”

He considered it, already suspecting one night with her wouldn’t be enough. He’d definitely want to know how to reach her later. But the night was young, and if it ended up where he hoped it would, she’d still be in his arms in the morning. There would be time for details, he had no doubt. For now, the pulsating music, the eroticism of her sultry voice, the lights shining on her red hair, the blood-red remnants of her drink on her lips, the innate hunger...they were enough. Most definitely.

“No. Not a deal-breaker. I doubt you could say anything that would be.”

One corner of her sexy mouth curved up in a tiny smile, and she gave a throaty chuckle. “Never say never.”

Something came to mind. “You’re not married, right?”

“Completely unattached.”

He released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “Good.”

“You?” she asked.

“Nope. I’ve been told I’m not marriage material.”

She sneered. “Told by some woman who wanted you to commit before you were ready?”

“That’s pretty perceptive.”

“It’s in the female phrasebook.”

“I need to get one of those.”

“That’ll cost you more than a nickel. State secrets and all.”

“I should already have one, considering I had a bunch of girls around growing up.”

She stiffened slightly in his arms.

“Is family a touchy subject we are supposed to avoid, like witches and going back to my place for a drink?”

“No. I’m just picturing you as a kid.”

“Don’t bother. I was a born loser.”

“I don’t believe that,” she said, suddenly vehement.

“If the word ‘geek’ is in that handbook of yours, my picture’s beside it.”

“Well, I bet the girls you grew up with feel pretty stupid now,” she whispered.

“I doubt it,” he replied, remembering his gawkiest years, when he’d been a skinny, uncoordinated sad-sack. “They wouldn’t recognize me if they fell over me today.”

She mumbled something that he couldn’t catch—something like I know what you mean—which was interesting. Because he had a hard time picturing her ever being anything but gorgeous, and she was unforgettable. He would never forget that smile.