Her bare skin was silky soft

Will sought the release for the top of the dance outfit Renae wore, then gave up and dived for her waistband.

She laughed teasingly, and moved out of reach. “Wait a sec. I have to call in to work and let them know I’m going to be a little late.”

Will raised an eyebrow. “A little late?”

He took her hand and pressed it against his pants, letting her feel the rock-hard arousal underneath the thin material. He watched her pupils grow large in her green eyes.

“Okay,” she said slowly, “maybe a lot late.”

He reached out and dipped a fingertip inside the top of her bra cup. “Maybe you should tell them you’ll be out the whole day….”

He watched her swallow with some difficulty. “The whole day?” A slow, sultry smile spread across her lips. “You really are looking to repeat the other night, then.”

He grinned wickedly. “And then some…”

Dear Reader,

In the first two SLEEPING WITH SECRETS titles, Forbidden and Indecent, we willingly passed into the shadowy side of sex and love with our characters, but in this book… Well, not even we were prepared for the traditional male-female roles Will and Renae naughtily blurred….

In Wicked, E.R. surgeon Will Sexton doesn’t know what hit him when Renae Truesdale—the sexy neighbor he’s indulged in wicked fantasies about for the past three months—decides to test his playboy ways. But when hot, sticky sex evolves into so much more, can Will handle Renae’s extensive sexual résumé?

We hope you find Will and Renae’s journey to sexual enlightenment and love everlasting as provocative as we did. We’d love to hear what you think. Write to us at P.O. Box 12271, Toledo, Ohio 43612, or at karayianni@aol.com, and visit us on the Web at www.BlazeAuthors.com and www.ToriCarrington.com.

Here’s wishing you love and hot, memorable reading!

Lori & Tony Karayianni

aka Tori Carrington

Wicked
Tori Carrington

www.millsandboon.co.uk

We dedicate this book to Cissy Hartley, Sara Reyes, Celeste Faurie, Debra Evans, Helena Beasley, Lee Hyatt, Janice Bennett, Kathy Boswell and the entire gang at Writerspace.com. Thank you for providing a warm and wonderful forum that lets us be fans as well as authors. See y’all in the chatroom!

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

1

SIZE DOES MATTER.

Emergency Room Surgeon Will Sexton had always believed that to be the case. But being British, he liked that Americans actually understood that. There was no such thing as the size of the ship doesn’t matter, it’s the motion of the ocean. As he dragged himself home after twelve straight hours on duty at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center in Toledo, in a mammoth SUV that could comfortably hold three families, he brightened at the thought that once inside his large condo, set back on a large piece of land, he could collapse on his large king-size bed. It all added up to a vastness he’d never come across anywhere in working-class Southwark, England, just south of the Thames outside London.

Will parked his car in the large lot, which was designed to hold other large cars and was never without a free space, and climbed out onto the hot asphalt. The hazy August sun was beginning to peek over the horizon as he made his way down the long walk that led to his large condo and thus to his large bed. Okay, so yes, occasionally he did miss his bangers and mash. And it very rarely got this hot in jolly old England. But ever since skipping over the pond that was the Atlantic in order to earn his degree at the Medical College of Ohio nine years ago, he hadn’t been back home for more than a week’s stay. Fact was he’d grown comfortable, liked it here with the Yanks. Not only was everything around him bigger, but the citizens themselves seemed to think bigger. Well, maybe not all of them, but if one were inclined to take his life into his own hands, one could make a run of it here a lot easier than he could make it back home. Work hard, and you were rewarded well. Seemed like a good, solid philosophy to him.

And if William Charles Sexton, middle son of Dorothy and Simon Sexton, housewife and meat factory worker, respectively, had done anything throughout his life, it was work hard.

And he’d been well rewarded.

Will hiked his duffel a little higher on his shoulder. Still, somehow he thought he’d never get used to the hot summer weather here in the midwestern U.S. Heat and lots of it seemed to be the name of the game as of late. Actually that applied both literally and figuratively when it came to his life.

His good, if exhausted, mood took an immediate nosedive at the reminder.

Five months. That’s how long he’d gone without sex. And not because of a size issue, thank you very much. Rather he’d been dating senior resident Janet Nealon for the past five months. And it was just his luck that Janet had decided the month before they’d started going out that she was going to wait for her wedding night before she had sex again.

Again.

Will hiked his duffel up again and scowled.

“Ah, one of those born-again virgin types.”

He recalled his best mate Colin’s words when Will had complained about the state of his sex life a few months back.

“Those are the worst kinds.”

Will had made the mistake of asking him how so.

“Well, because you know they’ve given it up—they’re just not giving it up to you.”

Will eyed the six-unit building that held his apartment, his gaze immediately drawn to the condo on the third floor, directly above his. Of course, it didn’t help that the female neighbors in 3B had cast themselves in starring roles in his growing sexual fantasies. It seemed not a night went by that he didn’t think of the two hot lesbians in bed together, sweaty and naked. Crikey, he’d had to change his sheets just last week after a particularly steamy dream in which both women had taken a great deal of pleasure from working on him.

Of course, he knew that if Janet finally gave in, his fantasy life would vanish. Well, maybe not disappear entirely—after all, the two women fantasy was a popular one among men his age and he didn’t see that changing anytime soon—but at least he wouldn’t have to rely on those same fantasies to give him the physical release he needed.

And he wasn’t going to take things “in hand” himself, as Colin had suggested he do.

The problem was he was getting nowhere fast with Janet. The night before last, before she’d left for a ten-day medical seminar in L.A., he’d pulled out all the stops during their hot and heavy petting session, taking great satisfaction in bringing her to orgasm. But when he’d convinced himself she was going to return the favor with some primo, long overdue sex, she’d buttoned up her blouse, kissed him lightly on the mouth, then thanked him before handing him his coat, so to speak.

Will’s teeth had been set so tightly together his jaw had hurt.

It was a good thing Janet seemed to meet some internal criteria that he’d set up long ago with her fresh good looks and her bubbly disposition. Still, he didn’t know how long he could stand it.

He pulled the door to the building open and froze. Considering the sad state of affairs, this would happen to him, only to him.

On the stairwell coming down stood the number one billed star of his fantasies from 3B, Renae Truesdale. Will squinted at her. And if he wasn’t mistaken, she was wearing what looked like…what appeared to be… He swallowed hard. She was wearing a bloody belly-dancer outfit. At eight o’clock in the morning.

Oh, he really didn’t know how long he was going to be able to stand it….

RENAE TRUESDALE KNEW two things for sure: that sexy doctor Will Sexton from 2B thought she was hot, and that sexy doctor Will Sexton thought she was a lesbian.

She slowed her steps on the staircase from her third-floor condo, the gold disks that made up her top and the low waist of her belly-dancer costume giving an enticing jingle. Of course, it went without saying that she’d had the hots for the doc since she’d moved in six months ago. Who wouldn’t, what with all that wavy, slightly disheveled light brown hair, bedroom-blue eyes and lopsided naughty grin? Oh, and then there was that irresistible British accent and his hesitant mannerisms that made it seem that he was thinking bad, bad thoughts every time she ran into him.

And now was no exception.

Of course, she wasn’t a lesbian. Her roommate, Tabitha, was, but she wasn’t. But she had come to enjoy playing up Will’s misperception to delicious perfection. There were few things more satisfying than watching a man as attractive as he was treading foreign waters. No matter how acceptable the alternative lifestyle was becoming on television and in the media, the simple truth was that not very many people actually knew someone gay or lesbian, much less could call one a friend.

From personal experience Renae also knew that certain men were turned on by the thought of two attractive women living together, whether or not they were homosexual. Will, with his throat clearing and hot gazes, definitely fell into that category.

“’Morning, Will,” she said, purposely swaying her hips as she descended the remainder of the stairs with suggestive jingles and shakes until she stood in front of him.

She watched a swallow make its way down his throat, past his Adam’s apple even as his gaze plastered to her breasts, then lower to her bare stomach and the red crystal navel ring she wore.

“Um, yes. ’Morning.”

At some point she really should put the poor guy out of his misery and tell him that she wasn’t a lesbian. Her smile widened. But not this morning. Not when he looked about a breath away from climaxing on the spot.

As the only daughter of a stripper, she’d learned long ago that it wasn’t so much what you said that mattered, but the time you chose to say it. No one had to know of her challenging upbringing unless and until she decided to share it with them. The same went with her friendship with Tabitha. She and Tabby had been best friends ever since high school, well before Tabitha’s coming out of the closet, and when her friend had said she’d needed help with the condo payments six months ago when she’d been laid off, Renae hadn’t hesitated to move in and share the financial burden, no matter what everyone thought.

Especially no matter what handsome doc Will Sexton and countless others believed.

He cleared his throat again and gestured toward her apparel, the back of his hand nearly grazing the tips of her breasts. “Um, going to work, are we?”

Renae couldn’t help a small laugh. He looked so uncomfortable, so damn sexy. “Yes, I am.”

Oh, she knew full well that he had no idea what “work” for her constituted. Seeing what she was wearing at 8:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning, she could only guess what he was thinking. And shoot her if she was wrong, but she was pretty sure his idea didn’t include the Women Only shop where she did retail work along with teaching belly-dancing classes. While she normally didn’t wear her costume to work, she’d been running late this morning and had discovered that she hadn’t any acceptable clean clothes to wear. So she’d improvised.

Besides, she’d reasoned, who was going to see her that early on a Saturday morning?

She’d forgotten that was the time Will usually came home.

She pulled the side of her bottom lip into her mouth. Then again, maybe she hadn’t forgotten at all.

“Do you, um, you know, give private shows?” he asked.

Renae raised her brows. While she normally enjoyed teasing Will, this was the first time he’d come out and said something so blatantly and directly sexual to her. She’d figured it was because he couldn’t quite wrap his mind around the whole lesbian angle. That he was coming on to her now marked a change of sorts. A change she wouldn’t mind encouraging.

“Mmm,” she said evasively, a shiver running over her exposed skin at his continued visual interest in her and her costume. “It all depends on who wants the performance.”

Something about the way he stood gave her the distinct impression that he was about to grab his wallet out of his back pocket and offer her any amount she wanted to perform for him.

Little did he know she’d do it free of charge.

“I see,” he said, clearing his throat again.

Renae gave a wicked shimmy. “Don’t you just love the costume?”

His gaze flew to hers. “Love…yes. I daresay it is an intriguing bit of apparel.” He gestured again, his hand brushing against her breasts this time before he quickly drew it back. “There do seem to be parts of it missing though.”

“Do you think?”

She swayed her hips, the metal disks clinking together again, drawing his gaze there.

While Renae didn’t fool herself into thinking she was a perfect female specimen, she did know she was attractive, despite her shorter stature and her fuller curves. The ample size of her breasts alone was known to stretch a few necks. And giving belly-dancing classes over the past four months had honed the muscles of her stomach until they were defined, firm and supple. Her skin was tanned warm gold from the swims she took in the community pool every morning and afternoon when she knocked off of work.

Will’s quiet chuckle surprised her.

“You’re a tease, do you know that, Miss Truesdale?”

She considered him leisurely, suggestively. “Who said I was teasing, Dr. Sexton?”

His blue eyes darkened as he looked at her, plunging them both farther into uncharted territory.

Renae blinked, caught off guard by the rush of hormones through her system. What had been harmless flirting before had just moved into more serious, more sensual terrain. And, she was surprised to find, she wanted to explore it. If just for a little while.

And Will appeared equally willing. “Then what is it you would call what you do every time our paths cross?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said ambiguously. “Issuing you an invitation?”

“An invitation?” he echoed.

“Mmm-hmm.” She stepped closer, smoothing down the collar of his crisp white shirt, the sleeves of which were rolled up to reveal his strong, hair-covered forearms. She’d meant to put him on alert, but found her own palms sensitized as she stroked the Egyptian broadcloth, feeling the heat of his body just below the material.

“An invitation to what, might I ask?”

She stepped closer, increasingly aware that she wasn’t only arousing Will, she was arousing herself. Her nipples tingled in sweet anticipation, her stomach tightened, and her thighs squeezed slightly together. “What do you think?”

Her hips skimmed against his, and she instantly detected his very obvious physical reaction to her come-on. Oh boy. Suddenly she was having just as much difficulty swallowing as he was.

Who would have thought? While she’d always gotten a little thrill at flirting with Will, she’d never seriously considered pursuing anything with him. But as she stood there, well aware of the signals he was giving off, the signals her own body was sending her, she realized they’d reached a fork in the road. She had one of two choices: either laugh off the current sexual tension radiating from them both and walk away, or kiss him and let nature take its course.

Funny, but she didn’t seem to be in a hurry to make either decision. Instead she allowed her gaze to drop leisurely to his mouth. His lips were so well defined. So sexy. So naughty. And she had little doubt he’d know what to do with them.

Liquid awareness swirled in her stomach then gathered at the center of her sex. She shivered slightly in response. How long had it been since she’d had sex? Gone out on a date, even? Too long, her body instantly responded. At least eight or so months. And even then the experience hadn’t been anything to remember.

“You, um, should probably get going,” Will said quietly.

Even as he said the words, Renae got the distinct impression that he didn’t want her to go anywhere but up to his condo with him.

“Otherwise, you might be late,” he continued.

Renae recognized the sexual tension that seemed to emanate from him and wind around her. She decided she liked the feeling. Liked knowing that Will wanted her but appeared to have his own reasons for not laying claim to her. Reasons that went beyond his misperception of her relationship with her roommate.

“Mmm,” she finally agreed. “Yes, I probably should be going.”

She said the words even as she knew she wasn’t going anywhere.

DAMN IT ALL TO HELL, he was going to kiss her.

Will looked down into Renae’s provocative face, suffering a need so consuming, so overwhelming it loomed outside anything he’d experienced before. Oh, he was a normal male with normal male urges. But considering what he knew about the woman looking up at him like the answer to his sexual prayers, the only thing he should be doing was heading for the door.

Instead he said, “What would you do right now if I kissed you?”

Her full, luscious lips curved slightly upward in a sexy smile. “Oh, I don’t know. Kiss you back?”

That was all the answer Will needed. He curved his hands around her gloriously bare back and hauled her to him, noisy costume and all, not stopping until he’d molded her mouth to his.

Damn. He’d been hoping that her lips would be dry, her skill lacking. But kissing Renae Truesdale was nothing short of sweet heaven. Squared.

Or, rather, burning, seductive hell. Because surely that’s where he was heading by kissing a woman who was definitely not Janet. A woman who led her life differently from the majority of society.

A woman who was making him not care a lick about any of it with every delectable flick of her tongue.

Will moved his hands against her back, growing all too aware of the softness of her skin, the suppleness of her warm flesh. Heavy breathing filled his ears and with a start he realized it was his own.

He groaned and caught her pert bottom in his palms, crowding her even tighter against his almost painful arousal. How easy it would be to carry her up the flight of steps to his condo. Lay her across his unmade king-size bed. Act out every last wicked fantasy he’d had about her ever since she’d moved in.

But to do so would be to tempt fate in a way he wasn’t sure he should just then.

Unfortunately he wasn’t having much luck convincing his hormone-ravaged body that it should care.

Renae’s fingers had pulled his shirt from his trousers and were even now flattening against the taut skin of his stomach, her moves bold and mesmerizing. She slid her touch lower and cupped the length of him in her hand.

Will’s answering shudder was so all encompassing that he feared if she suggested they do the deed right then, right there, he would be helpless to stop himself from pressing her against the wall of mailboxes and curving her legs around his waist.

The hand disappeared from the front of his trousers at the same time her mouth moved from his.

Will blinked at the sexy vixen, his brain little more than scattered gray matter turned to lustful mush.

“Well, I’d better get going,” Renae said, her color high, the pitch of her raspy voice even higher.

He found himself nodding stupidly, his mind knowing she was right but his body screaming otherwise. “Yes, you’d better.”

She smiled, skimming her luscious body against his in order to gain access to the outer door. It was all Will could do to stop himself from collapsing against the wall of mailboxes. Thankfully he was still standing upright when she turned toward him.

“That was definitely interesting,” she said, as if surprised and pleased at the events of the past few moments.

“Interesting…yes. That it was,” he agreed.

And Will had the feeling that things were only going to get a lot more interesting from there.

2

RENAE LOVED WORKING at Women Only. The shop that sat on the Ohio-Michigan border was more than a job to her that provided a check at the end of the week. Ever since owner Ginger Wasserman had opened the place and hired her on the spot five years ago, she’d felt invested in the shop’s success. Responsible for making the clientele happy. Dedicated not only to coming up with new ideas for services and supplies women might be interested in, but to seeing them through.

That was why it seemed strange that the shop was the last thing on her mind when she arrived there fifteen minutes after her intimate encounter with Will Sexton next to the mailboxes.

“Boy, you must really be looking forward to this class.”

Renae blinked Lucky Clayborn’s pretty face into focus. More than her co-worker, she and Lucky shared similar pasts that had aided in their growing close over the past two months. And now that Lucky was opening up a satellite Women Only shop downtown, Renae saw more of her than ever. Which made coming to work doubly enjoyable.

“The costume,” Lucky said by way of an explanation.

Renae stared down at the belly-dancer outfit she wore, almost surprised to discover she still had it on.

It had been a long time since a guy had driven her to the point of distraction.

Longer still since one had made her forget what she was wearing.

Very interesting, indeed.

“Your class awaits,” Lucky said, motioning toward the curtained-off room to the right.

What had once begun as a traditional one-showroom retail shop had slowly expanded to take up four units in the strip mall that had once been Strip Joint Central. While a couple of men’s clubs remained, Women Only was quickly growing to crowd them out and the area was becoming better known for catering to the positive needs of women rather than the baser needs of men.

To the left of the showroom were the cushy massage rooms and a comfortable class area designed to look like a large, inviting sitting room where everything, from how to give a blow-his-mind blow job to educating women on their G-spot, was discussed. To the right was the open studio room lined with mirrors where Renae and others taught belly dancing and, yes, even the art of stripping. But rather than for dollars, they taught them the skills to perform in private for their mates.

“Renae?” Lucky moved her hand in front of her eyes. “Are you all right?”

She considered the way her blood still thrummed through her veins, and the dampness of her thighs, and smiled. Oh, yes. Everything was more than all right. It was great.

“Fine. I’m just fine. Have you seen Ginger?”

Lucky wrote something down on a pad she held, seeming more than a little distracted herself. Which was normal, Renae thought. If she had a guy like Colin McKenna waiting at home for her every day, she’d spend the rest of her life with her head in the clouds.

“She was in and out already. Said she might be back after lunch.” Lucky looked at her. “Did you want something in particular? You could always call her cell.”

Renae made a face as she adjusted the top of her costume. What she had to discuss with Ginger couldn’t be done over the phone. And she didn’t want to make an appointment, either. Because to do so would indicate something was on her mind.

No, she wanted to catch Ginger when she had a free moment.

“No. I just wanted to ask her about some new stock, that’s all,” Renae fudged.

“Hmm.” Lucky didn’t appear to believe her. Which was odd, because there was no real reason why her friend should think her motives were other than what she professed. Were they that tuned in to each other?

She heard music from the other room and looked in that direction.

“The natives are getting restless. I’d better get in there.”

She moved toward the curtained-off area, then paused at the door. “By the way, what do you know about Colin’s friend Will?”

Lucky’s pen stopped moving where she’d returned to writing something on her clipboard. “That he’s a doctor.”

“Very funny. I meant what specifically?”

Lucky squinted at her and smiled. “Like what is his favorite color?”

Renae gave her an eye roll. “As in is he seeing anybody?”

Lucky’s eyes widened. “Oh.” She put the clipboard down on the counter as the sound of Middle Eastern music grew louder in the other room. “I think he’s dating a resident at the hospital.”

Damn.

Of course, it was just her luck that the instant the dynamic between her and the sexy doc changed, he’d already be involved with somebody.

Then again, she wasn’t looking for involvement with him. She was looking for sex.

But she also didn’t relish the idea of being the other woman, no matter how briefly.

Well, first things first, she had to decide if she really wanted more of those fireworks that had shot off between them that morning.

She blinked to find Lucky still staring at her. “What happened?” she asked.

Renae merely grinned. “Nothing. And everything. Remind me to tell you later.”

She stepped into the room and drew the curtain closed behind her, ignoring Lucky’s, “You can bet I will!”

THE BALCONY DOORS and heavy white vertical blinds were drawn tightly against the late-morning sun, casting the room in shadow, nothing but the ticktock of the clock his mother had sent him from England last Christmas and the central air-conditioning unit breaking the silence. At this time on a Saturday the complex was quiet, and now was no exception. Will knew from experience that the usual weekly hubbub of grocery shopping and errand running had yet to begin, and those seeking the community pool had yet to rouse from sleep.

Still half asleep, he dragged his wrist across his damp brow wondering if he should turn down the temperature of the thermostat. But he was all too aware that the summer heat wasn’t to blame for his sweaty condition. Rather Renae Truesdale and the naughty dream he’d just had about her was responsible.

He rolled over then groaned when he nearly permanently injured himself. Holding up the top sheet, he stared at his erection, a hard-on that could rival Big Ben.

“At ease,” he muttered, letting the sheet settle back down.

This wasn’t going to do at all. Five months of waking to pulsing hard-ons. Dreams filled with pImages** of women he shouldn’t be lusting after. Hell, he was plowing through his supply of sheets because no matter what chilly temperature he kept the room at, he woke up soaked with sweat. For a short time, vigorous tennis matches with his mate Colin worked out much of the frustration. But lately not even that was working.

Especially since Colin had called the brutal matches to an end a couple of weeks ago claiming Will’s unrelieved frustration was making the games too intense. Worse, Colin had tried to hand him money to buy a little female company. Five minutes, Colin had told him. That’s all it would take.

But just as Will hadn’t masturbated since he was twelve, he’d never paid for it. And he wasn’t going to start now.

He stared at the face of his alarm clock, surprised to find that he’d managed a few hours rest and that the buzzer was about to go off to wake him for his lunch date with Colin. He switched off the alarm, tossed off the top sheet then headed for the shower, turning on the water full blast and as cold as he could stand it. He climbed inside and gritted his teeth, waiting for the punishing spray to weaken his erection. After a few long moments, he cracked his eyelids open to find that the water was having absolutely zero effect on Ben.

Well, Christ. What was he supposed to do? Walk around all day trying to hide a hard-on the size of a baseball bat?

Unable to take the cold water anymore, he adjusted the knobs until the spray warmed, then leaned his hands against the ceramic tile and took a deep breath. Damn Renae Truesdale and her wicked belly-dancer costume. He put his face into the spray, remembering the soft globes of her breasts, the sleek smoothness of her skin, the defined muscles of her abdomen. Then there was her kiss…

His erection twitched and he groaned. It wasn’t fair, being offered up a temptation of Renae’s caliber while he lay in wait for the woman who was supposed to end up the love of his life. Then again, he’d learned pretty early on that life was anything but fair. After all, what was the difference between him and Prince Charles but for the legs they’d popped out from between? While his mother had been trying to rub the ever-present mud from his face, Charles had been photographed on the finest of thoroughbred horses in his chaps, mud everywhere but on his elite person.

But when all was said and done, he and Charles weren’t really all that different, now, were they? After all, Chuck had ditched a perfectly good princess in order to shag a woman he hadn’t been able to exorcise from his system.

And Will was obsessed with the idea of banging the hell out of Renae Truesdale when the only woman he should be wanting was presently on the other side of the country.

He grabbed the soap and lathered up his hands, thinking even as he did so that no amount of soap would be able to cleanse the mud from his mind.

“Face it, you’re not going to get her out of your head until you sleep with her.”

That was another thing that life had taught him. That no matter how much you wanted a woman sexually, the instant you had her, it was a whole new ball game. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d woken up to find himself staring at a woman whom he’d wanted within an inch of his life the night before but whom he wanted nothing more than to run from the next morning. That’s why he’d decided five months ago that in the future he would conduct his relationships with his head rather than with his Johnson.

Or in this case his Ben.

He stared down at the traitorous body part that was just begging to be touched. The problem was, it didn’t want his attention. Rather it was more interested in seeing if the oral talent Renae had demonstrated with her kissing extended to oral sex. He ran his soapy hands over his stomach and arms, then lathered up again. He reached for his rock-hard arousal at the same time he imagined Renae’s decadent mouth closing over the tip…and he came with the power of a twelve-year-old experiencing his first orgasm.

Oh…oh…oh.

When the spasms finally subsided, Will instantly released his erection and stared down at it with all the disgust of a man at war. This was not happening. He had not just masturbated. He’d merely been washing himself and…well, Ben had taken over from there.

“You and me,” Will said to the faithless organ that even now seemed to be grinning at him in sated bliss. “We have to have a chat. A nice long one.”

And not once, he decided, would the name of Renae Truesdale come up.

“YOU LOOK LIKE HELL.”

Just what Will needed to be told in that moment.

He stared at Colin McKenna across the table from him even as he took a deep slug of a cold draught of beer. Harry’s Bar was their usual hangout of late. It was where, if he remembered correctly, he’d met Colin’s friend Lucky Clayborn for the first time. Well, right before she was fired as a waitress from the bar, became a patient of one of Colin’s colleagues, then became the love of Colin’s life.

“Right-o,” he commented dryly. “Thanks for that astute observation, friend.”

Colin chuckled and pushed aside the menu neither of them needed. “Dare I ask what’s behind this morning’s scowl? Or is it the same battle that’s been raging for the past five months?”

“Same old battle,” Will confirmed, downing half the ale and stretching his neck.

“Still not getting any from the new girlfriend?”

Will waved him away as he made room for the waitress to put down his fish-and-chips. Harry’s was the only restaurant that came close to offering up something akin to what he’d grown up on at home. Fast food British-style. “No, it’s not that.”

Colin raised his brows. “So you are getting some?”

Will scowled. “No, no. Unfortunately.”

“Then what is it if it’s not that?”

Will tried to pick up a piece of fish, found it too hot, and shook his fingers to cool them. “It’s just that…well, since my sex life is not quite up to par as of late, my fantasy life has geared up to take up the slack.”

“Ah. The lesbians upstairs.” Colin nodded.

“Actually, it’s not both of them, but just one, as luck would have it.” He chewed thoughtfully on a chip. “I had the most delicious encounter with Miss Renae Truesdale in the hall next to the mailboxes this morning.”

Colin hesitated where he had just picked up his own chicken burger. “Define ‘encounter.”’

“Oh, nothing out of the ordinary, mind you. Just some harmless flirting.” The fish was finally cool enough to eat and he bit into it. “Oh, and the most phenomenal kiss,” he said around a full mouth.

“You kissed her? Who initiated it?”

Will thought about it a minute. “I don’t know. It was more of a mutual thing, I guess.”

Colin’s grin was altogether too self-satisfying for Will. “I thought lesbians were considered lesbians because they weren’t interested in men.”

Will made a face and dragged his napkin across his chin. “Yes, well, maybe she’s one of those new-fangled lesbians. You know, bisexual instead of homosexual.”

He supposed he found the fact that Renae had kissed him a bit odd himself. While she’d played a starring role in his fantasy life, given her sexual status, he’d had no idea that she might be interested in him, no matter her playful flirting up until now.

“So what do you think I should do?” he asked.

“About what?”

The waitress supplied them with fresh draughts and made off with their empty glasses. “What do you mean ‘about what’? What should I do about the intriguing Miss Truesdale, of course?”

“Oh, no.” Colin put his burger down. “There’s no way I’m getting involved in this. Lucky works with Renae, you know.”

Will nodded, then shrugged. “Anyway, it’s quite possibly a nonissue already. The instant she walked away this morning she probably realized her mistake.”

“Mmm. Because it’s easy to mistake you for a woman, you mean.”

Will remembered the way she’d gripped his manhood. “No, I mean maybe she just…slipped or something.” He shrugged as he downed another half a draught. “At any rate, it should be relatively easy to avoid her.”

“If that’s what you want to do.”

“Are you saying it isn’t what I should want to do?”

“I didn’t say anything of the kind.” Colin opened the ketchup bottle and created a red puddle next to his perfectly good chips. “But I am getting a little tired of hearing about your empty bed.”

Will squinted at him. “So you think I should force the issue with Janet then?”

Colin took a deep breath then chuckled. “I think you should do whatever it is you need to do, Will.”

“A whole lot of help you are.”

Yes, he thought. He’d avoid Renae. Shouldn’t be too difficult. When he returned home from work in the mornings at the same time she normally left for work, he’d simply park in the far corner of the lot and wait until she left before going inside.

Yes. That should work out just fine.

And it wouldn’t have to be for long. After all, Janet would be home in a little over a week’s time.

“Now, how about we start up those tennis matches again?” he asked Colin, who was already shaking his head.

3

OKAY, SO SHE WOULD avoid Will.

When Renae knocked off work, she was happy with her plan, and decided it should be easy to implement. After all, they kept very different schedules, and if it came down to it, she could always park in an adjacent lot on the other side of the apartment building to avoid running into him coming or going.

Truth was, she hadn’t expected to feel so…attracted to Dr. Will Sexton that morning. Hadn’t anticipated that the light, flirty tone that had always existed between them would dive into something more palpable and solid. When they’d kissed, no one had been more surprised than her. Pleasantly—no, blissfully—surprised, but surprised. After all, she wasn’t in the market for a man just now, even for sex, no matter what her body was telling her—and what her growing budget for batteries to use with her private toys was telling her. It wasn’t that she was antiman; it was that right now she needed to concentrate on her career. More specifically, she needed to convince Ginger Wasserman to let her buy into Women Only. Become a more solid part of the venture, and as a result take home a bigger piece of the pie.

Not that she wasn’t being paid well for her work. She was. She shifted on the cracked white leather seat of her 1971 pink Cadillac Eldorado convertible. It was just that she wanted to feel more…connected somehow.

She was perfectly aware that she might not feel that way had it not been for Leah Westwood opening a Women Only shop in the west end of the city, then Lucky doing the same downtown. Had neither woman come into her and Ginger’s lives, she would very likely still be operating the way she had for the past five years.

But they had and as a result she felt different. Wanted more. Her mind was functioning with more of an eye on the future, her future, and the bottom line.

Truth was, she wanted a place of her own to hang her hat at night. Sure, she might be able to afford a comfortable if small condo, or even a house, but she’d like something a little bigger, a little nicer, maybe. And while she was happy living with Tabitha, her roommate’s girlfriend, Nina, made it clear she was very unhappy with the arrangement. Nina wanted Renae to move on, even though Nina had moved in three months ago while Renae had been there six.

She pulled her T-shirt away from her damp back, questioning the wisdom of driving with the top down when the August temperatures easily soared into the nineties at this time of day. Of course, Tabitha had no clue about the animosity that existed between the two women. And Renae didn’t think it a good idea to point it out to her. Male-female, female-female, the gender of those involved didn’t matter; a threat from the outside, from a friend or neighbor, perceived or otherwise, did.

She took a corner, the disks on the belly-dancer costume, wrapped in plastic in the back seat, jingling as she did so. She glanced down at the jeans, T-shirt and flip-flops she’d changed into at work, then back at the costume, a slow, easy smile turning up her mouth.

Will…

For a few sweet moments the tensions that littered her life melted away, leaving nothing in its wake but the memory of his skillful mouth and his hard, welcoming body.

Blame it on the heat, but she couldn’t remember wanting a man as powerfully as she’d wanted Will that morning. Given the way she was raised, men and relationships had always been something to question rather than to surrender to. That’s what she’d liked about Ginger Wasserman on the spot. Ginger understood her in a way that a Suzie Homemaker type never could.

And it’s why she’d instantly understood that dark, lost look in Lucky Clayborn’s eyes when she’d walked into the shop months back.

Renae pushed up her large, dark sunglasses on her nose and turned up the volume on the radio, hoping to edge the heavy thoughts out of her mind with a little rock ’n’ roll. Heart’s “Crazy on You” filled the humid air and she nudged the volume level up even farther.

Of course, it was just her luck that the tune would make her think of Dr. Will Sexton again.

She sighed. That’s all right. She knew that a little time and effort and avoidance would put him right back where he belonged, which was solidly in flirt territory. Whenever her heart or her hormones threatened to lead her in the wrong direction—which, granted, wasn’t often—she knew that as quickly as the emotions surfaced, they could as easily die away. And if she ever questioned the philosophy, she needed only to remember the pillow-shock syndrome that nearly every red-blooded human being had gone through at one time or another. Namely that moment when you opened your eyes the following morning to find the person who had seemed perfectly suitable and lust-worthy a few hours earlier had turned into the person you wouldn’t be caught dead with on a deserted island overnight.

And experience had taught her that the sudden, unexpected change in her playful connection to Will bore all the earmarks of pillow-shock syndrome.

Great sex material one day.

The date from hell the next.

She smiled to herself as the radio station launched into another Heart tune, this one more befitting her mood: “Even It Up.” Forgetting she hadn’t meant to, she began turning into the regular parking lot at the building, then at the last minute swerved back into traffic, earning her irritated honks from the drivers behind her. She waved her apologies then swung around to the back lot and claimed the last open parking space. She glanced at the SUV to her right, thinking it looked an awful lot like Will’s….

Then he climbed out.

ALL RIGHT THEN, some sort of higher power had it in for him.

That was Will’s deduction as he stood next to his SUV and stared at Renae, her long, tangled sun-kissed hair, her clingy white T-shirt that did little to hide the lacy bra she wore underneath and her big, black glasses that made her look like the one-hundred-percent luscious, hot American woman that she was.

He flinched when the radio station she was tuned in to launched into the opening strains of the old The Guess Who song “American Woman” before she switched the ignition off and plunged them both into a shocked kind of silence.

“Come here often, do you?” he asked with a raised brow, accepting that avoiding her now was out of the question.

She gave him a leisurely once-over then pushed her sunglasses onto the top of her head, her smile decidedly decadent. “Funny, I parked over here to avoid you.”

He chuckled at her refreshing honesty. “Ironically, I was doing the same thing.”

The way he saw it, the only thing to do now would be to walk with her to their building. To give her a brief wave then take off would be so appallingly rude as to make him shudder. So he waited as she pushed a button that put the top up on the hideous pink contraption she called a car, gathered what he could see was the costume she’d been almost wearing that morning from the back seat, then joined him next to his SUV.

“I know why I want to avoid you,” she said as they began walking together down the path that would take them to their building. “But why are you avoiding me?”

Will was amazed by the myriad emotions pulsing through his bloodstream caused by merely walking next to the woman. For one, he couldn’t seem to keep his gaze off her pretty tanned face, even though it was currently devoid of makeup. And the way he kept eyeing her T-shirt and jeans, one would think he hadn’t seen a woman dressed in that way before. But it was the fact that he was inordinately interested in her feet, wrapped in her hot-pink flip-flops, that was the cause for the most concern.

“Are your feet actually tanned?” he found himself asking.

Renae looked down, appearing as caught off guard by his inane question as he was. The problem was he’d never before really noticed a woman’s feet and whether or not they were tanned. And it was more than just the neon-pink toenail polish she wore. There was just something wickedly attractive about her feet that made him fantasize about seeing them sticking out of a tub full of frothy bubbles…while she sat gloriously naked on top of him.

“Why yes, I guess they are,” she finally responded, throwing him a sexy little smile. “And you’re avoiding my question.”

Will stiffened a bit. “Well, it’s not that I’m avoiding your question, actually. It’s just that…” He couldn’t help grinning. “It’s just that I can’t recall it.”

“Why are you avoiding me?”

“Ah, yes. That question.” Will eyed their building that seemed to loom outrageously far away. He felt the urge to pull at his collar, although he wasn’t wearing a tie but rather a white open-throat polo shirt. And a pair of stonewashed jeans and sports shoes he couldn’t wait to get out of.

What was the question again? Oh, yes. Why was he avoiding Renae?

“Well, you see,” he said carefully, “there’s this little issue of another woman that I’m seeing—”

“The resident.”

He squinted at her although the sun was behind him. “You know about her?”

“Lucky filled me in.”

“Ah, yes. Lucky. Colin’s Lucky, I presume?”

Renae seemed interested in his mouth as he spoke. “One in the same.”

“And she would have shared this information because…”

“I asked for it.”

“I see.”

Will shoved his hands deep into the front pockets of his jeans despite the abominable heat. Partly because he was filled with the almost irresistible urge to tuck a windblown strand of her dark blond hair back behind her ear. But mostly because he was afraid where the itchy appendage might roam from there. More specifically down the line of her intriguing back to her nicely rounded bottom, which might make it necessary for him to usher her straight into his condo and the bed therein.

But while he couldn’t touch her, he could look at her. And what a feast for the eyes she provided, too.

He cleared his throat. “And your reason for wanting to avoid me?”

She smiled. “Oh, pretty much the same. The resident.”

He chuckled softly at that one. “You’re avoiding me because I’m dating someone else?”

“Mmm-hmm. Why do you sound so surprised?”

“Because that doesn’t strike me as something you’d do.”

The pathway wasn’t disappearing under his feet at the quick rate he’d like it to. But the building was finally coming up. Thank God. He honestly didn’t know how long he could withstand such a strong dose of temptation incarnate without succumbing to it.

“How so?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. You seem like the type that when she wants something, she takes it.”

“Funny,” she said for the second time in so many minutes. “You strike me as the same.”

He looked at her. Really looked at her. At the appealing shape of her mouth. The openness of her attractive face. The wanton invitation right there in her creamy-green eyes and said, “Your place or mine?”

Without batting an eye she said, “Yours, definitely.”

IF THE HUNGER RAGING through Renae’s body had been for food, she would have devoured an entire buffet.

No sooner had the door to Will’s condo closed behind them than they were going at it like a couple of sex-starved teenagers, all groping hands and wild hormones. Her plastic-protected costume dropped to the floor along with her purse even as Will yanked up the hem of her T-shirt and cupped her breasts.

“Ouch,” she said when he squeezed a little too tightly.

“Sorry.”

The pressure quickly turned pleasurable. Meanwhile, she tugged his shirt out of the waist of his jeans and flattened her palms against the rock-hard length of his abs. When she suddenly shifted her head to the right, she made solid contact with his nose.

“Ouch,” he said.

“Sorry.”

Quickly their clothes dropped away to the sound of zippers being undone and fabric seams being ripped. Renae couldn’t seem to get enough of him. From his arms to his back to his hotly throbbing erection, her fingers moved, her blood surging through her veins, her breath coming in rapid gasps.

Finally his fingers found her heat, burrowing through her tight curls then coming to rest against her swollen folds. She shivered, so close to climax that she surprised even herself. She bit down on her bottom lip as he parted her engorged flesh then slid a finger up her dripping channel then drew it back out. She started trembling so badly she nearly couldn’t hold herself upright.

Oh, yes. This was everything and more than she’d hoped—she’d feared—it would be with the sexy doc.

“The bedroom’s this way,” he said unnecessarily as he turned her while barely breaking the contact of their mouths, bumping her nose in much the same way she’d bumped his moments earlier. Walking backward was awkward at best, especially given the liquid consistency of her knees just then. She bumped into a couch—white leather—then nearly toppled over a plant stand—white lacquer—before her back hit the doorjamb that led to the bedroom beyond.

They fell to the bed in a jumble of elbows and knees. Renae’s breath rushed from her lungs at the feel of Will’s elbow in her stomach and he made a low sound of warning and she looked down to find her knee a millimeter away from not only ruining the moment, but the entire lifespan of Will’s sex life.

“Hold on…a sec,” she whispered, working her leg out from in between his and bending it instead around his thigh. Then she removed his elbow from her stomach and lay back, licking her lips in anticipation. “Now, where were we?”

She watched his blue eyes darken and heard an almost animal-like growl emit from his throat as he launched a fresh attack on her mouth. Renae curved up into him, relishing the rasp of his lightly hair-covered chest against her smooth breasts. It had been a long time since she’d felt so out of her mind with need that she burned from the inside out. And Will was the only one with enough hose to put out the fire.

She kissed him several times then drew away so she could look at where his erection was pressed against her lower belly. She swallowed hard. And oh what a hose it was, too.

“Condom,” she whispered urgently, taking his impressive length in her hands and stroking him.

He shuddered. “In the drawer to your right. Yes, right there.”

Renae pulled out a matchbook promoting a nearby bar, a pen, then found what she was looking for. She opened the foil package with her teeth then rolled the cool, lubricated latex down his length, hoping it wouldn’t roll right back off because of his considerable girth. The scent of rubber and of hot arousal filled her senses as her fingers finally met with his scrotum. She gave the hair-covered globes a leisurely, explorative squeeze then spread her legs farther and positioned him against her waiting flesh.

Yes…oh, yes.

He bent down and kissed her and she restlessly moved against him, trying to force penetration even as his tongue swirled around in her mouth. She rubbed her breasts against his chest, reveling in the flames seeming to lick along her skin to join the inferno between her legs. Will pulled her right nipple deep into his mouth and she moaned, throwing her head back against the white comforter—was everything in his place white?—and jutting her hips up hungrily toward his.

“Please,” she pleaded, seeking the connection he was slow in giving to her.

Finally he parted her slick flesh, positioned himself against her portal, then sank in to the hilt, filling her beyond capacity. Filling her beyond her wildest imagination.

And finishing before they had even begun.

4

SWEET GOD IN HEAVEN…

Will’s body finally stopped twitching and convulsing and he froze above Renae feeling a mortification he had never encountered before in his life.

There was no playing off what had happened. No pretending that the instant he had entered her he’d climaxed as fast as a thirteen-year-old who’d paid for the pleasure. Even as he called on every ounce of willpower he possessed to prevent it from happening, Big Ben quickly turned into Little Willy.

And Renae was making movements for him to get off.

Will rolled to the side and lay on his back staring at the ceiling. “Well, that was certainly unfortunate now, wasn’t it?”

He saw it as a good sign that she hadn’t immediately gotten up, put on her clothes and left without a word. He heard her head turn against the bedding as she looked at him. “Anticlimactic would have been my choice of words.”

He looked at her, unable to stop the grin that threatened. “Well, for one of us anyway.”

She began getting up and he gently grasped her arm and held her in place.

“Sorry. Bad attempt at humor.” He fought to catch the last of his breath. “Give me a moment, will you? I can’t possibly let you leave after putting in the worst performance of my life.” He swallowed hard. “God, I haven’t come that quickly since…well, never.” He looked at her. “At least not since I was six and first discovered my penis was capable of providing pleasure.”

“Six?” she asked with a raised brow.

“Mmm. I was a young starter.”

She rolled to her side and propped her head up on her hand. “And a quick finisher.”

He chuckled. “Very funny.”

She lightly shrugged her shoulders, causing her delectable breasts to bounce. “Until you prove differently, that’s going to be my story.”

“Your story?”

“Mmm-hmm. You’ll go down in my personal sexual history as Quick Withdraw McGraw.”

“Ouch.”

“You’re telling me.”

Despite the humiliation that threatened, Will found her easy banter putting him at ease. “What would be the female equivalent to what just happened?” he asked.

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said quietly. “My reading a newspaper while you went about your business.”

“Now that would be downright rude.”

“Do you see a newspaper anywhere?”

Will considered the shadows playing against his bedroom ceiling. He hadn’t opened the vertical blinds from the morning and the room was dim and cool.

And the woman beside him was sexy and hot.

“Be a good bird and hand me another condom, won’t you?”

Renae blinked at him, then down at his growing erection. She lay back and reached into the drawer to get another square packet. “Are you sure you want to subject yourself to this again?”

He took the condom from her. “I think the question is are you game for another round?”

“Seeing as I can barely remember—oh!”

Freshly resheathed, Will rolled quickly back on top of her, pinning her arms above her head and allowing his gaze to roam over her deliciously shapely body. He spread her thighs with his knees then positioned the tip of his fully throbbing arousal against her once again. This time when he filled her, he took his time about it, absorbing her every shiver and quake…and keeping his own control tightly in check.

Finally he was into her to the hilt and she moaned. He kissed her mouth then pressed his nose against hers. “What was that you were about to say?”

Renae restlessly licked her parched lips, her heart thudding hard in her chest, her womb contracting to the point that she believed she might be on the verge of climaxing.

Considering that moments before she’d firmly believed that pillow-shock syndrome had struck hours too soon, the rush of physical need that suffused her muscles, and the sensational chaos Will was so easily re-creating in her, was…well…shocking.

And oh so nice.

He began stroking her with his manhood in a way few men knew how to, expertly skimming the head of his erection against her G-spot then withdrawing before plunging in and tilting his hips to hit her pleasure spot head-on again. Oh, nice was so not the word for the way she was feeling. Orgasmic was closer to the mark. Out of her mind with pleasure would also fill the bill. She curved her hands around his tight posterior and squeezed, holding him deep inside her for a moment longer and grinding her pelvis against his, cherishing the friction of his hair against hers.

Oh, yes. That was so much closer to what she’d expected. She moaned as he stroked her again. In fact, it was quickly surpassing it.

His hips stilled and she cracked open her eyelids, afraid he might have bailed before her again. Instead she found he wasn’t climaxing. Rather he was cupping her right breast then bending to run his tongue slowly along her distended nipple. Renae swallowed hard, unable to blink as she watched him swirl the tip of his tongue around and around then pull her nipple deep into his mouth, seeming to tug on some sort of invisible chord that linked her breasts to her throbbing sex. Without his having moved his hips she felt ridiculously on the verge of orgasm.

She stretched her neck and closed her eyes, trying to regain control. She wanted this to last. Wanted him to deliver on his promise to perform better the second time around.

She wanted to make the risk she’d taken by coming into his condo with him worth it.

He withdrew halfway then plunged almost roughly back in to the hilt. Renae’s back came up off the bed and a long moan escaped her throat.

Then before she knew it he was rolling so he lay on his back, her on top.

Considering she’d been on the verge of climax, she wasn’t sure she liked this change in position. At least not until he thrust upward and chased all coherent thought from her mind.

Bracing herself against his shoulders, she tilted her hips forward, then back. Oh, yes. That was so, so good. Will’s size practically guaranteed a girl a good time. Of course on the condition that he could actually maintain an erection. What good was a big member if you couldn’t keep it that way? But despite his unpromising beginning, the sexy E.R. doc was delivering everything and more than she had spent all day imagining.

Her stomach began trembling and hot, liquid fire exploded through her body. She gripped his shoulders tightly and threw her head back, riding the exquisite waves crashing through her like a trained surfer. Only not even she was prepared for the length and the power of her orgasm. As her muscles began to calm, she tried to calm her surprise at her incredible reaction. After all, when she’d handed him the second condom, she’d been devoid of any expectation.

Now…

Well, now that she’d just experienced what could possibly be the best orgasm of her life, she didn’t quite know how to respond.

“And?” Will asked, fondling her breasts.

Another shudder worked its way through her body and she smiled down at him.

“And that was definitely worth the risk of giving you a second chance.”

Damn, he was sexy. His hair always had a kind of just-got-out-of-bed look about it, but now that it had really been tousled, he looked like the worst kind of devil, grinning up at her with his lopsided, British grin.

She began to roll off him.

He stayed her with his hands on her legs. “Where do you think you’re going?”

She blinked at him. It was three in the afternoon and she hadn’t been back to her apartment yet.

“Oh, Miss Truesdale, I’m nowhere near through with you.”

She playfully widened her eyes. She’d been so enthralled by her own climax she hadn’t noticed whether or not he’d come again. “Oh?”

“Mmm. I figure since we’ve gone this far, we might as well go all the way.”

Renae found herself licking her lips in sweet anticipation. “Excuse me, but isn’t all the way what we just did?”

“Uh-uh.” He shook his head, his fingers drifting from her outer thighs so he could press the pads of his thumbs against the magic button between her legs.

Renae moaned.

“That was just the appetizer. And I fully plan for this to be at least a five-course meal.”

Renae gasped when he lifted her from his hips then coaxed her in the other direction so she still sat astride him, but facing his feet.

“Be a good bird and get me another one of those condoms, won’t you?”

Renae reached back and took out a handful of condoms. She let them rain down on his chest as she grinned in naked challenge. “Now make this bird sing.”

HUMPH. Seemed ironic somehow that while he was having such a hard time getting one woman in his bed, he couldn’t seem to get the other one out.

Will stood drinking an extra-large glass of orange juice from the doorway to his bedroom. It was past 6:00 a.m. Sunday morning and, a part of him told him, time for his bed partner to make a graceful departure. In the hopes of rousing Renae from the sleep of the dead, he’d already made about as much noise as he possibly could with absolutely no luck at all. Of course, his being halfhearted about actually wanting her to leave was something he preferred not to think about just then.

Instead he idly considered other ways he might go about chasing her from his condo even as he leisurely leaned against the jamb and took in her silhouette under the white top sheet. Damn, but she was beautiful. Most women didn’t fare a fraction as well within a few hours of him bringing them back to his place. But Renae… Well, Renae looked somehow even sexier after the hours and hours of great sex they’d shared. Her dark blond long hair was tangled, sure, but rather than looking like a nest where bats might consider taking up residence, it appeared soft and appealing, framing her tanned face just so. And while she hadn’t been wearing lipstick when he’d run into her in the parking lot yesterday, her lips still somehow managed to look seductively pink and wet, as if awaiting his kiss.

His gaze slid down her shapely body, which he knew was naked under the sheet. From the curve of her exposed arm, to the soft swell of material against her breasts, down to her curvy hip, he visually roamed. He glanced down at the front of his own shorts, surprised to find Big Ben chiming the hour once again.

He raised his brows. It had been a good long time since he’d spent so many unbroken hours having sex. And he couldn’t recall the last time he’d still wanted a woman this much after having had her myriad ways over more than twelve hours.

He moved his half-empty glass from one hand to the other then knocked loudly on the open door.

Renae smiled, cooed, then turned in the other direction, completely oblivious to his attempts to wake her.

Which had been the case for the last hour.

Will couldn’t resist stepping closer and peering over her shoulder at her completely contented expression.

Intriguing…

Especially when she blinked her eyes open, reminding him of how vividly green they were, and looked up at him. Her smile widened even farther as she rolled to her back and yawned. “Good morning,” she said, her voice husky.

“Yes, um, good morning to you, as well.” Will stiffened and absently rubbed his chin. “You weren’t planning on moving in here, were you?”

Renae turned her head to stare at him.

“Because, you know, if you are, I’d have to set some ground rules. Like no sleeping later than me. And—”

She grabbed a belt loop on his cargo shorts and tugged him forward. “No fear there.”

Will’s first reaction was to ask why. Then he remembered that he wasn’t supposed to want her in his apartment for reasons other than sex.

“Ah, yes, that’s right,” he said. “You already have a roommate.”

He remembered the other woman who lived directly upstairs. She had some kind of cat name. Tabby or Spot or something like that.

Then again, she wasn’t just a roommate, was she? She was Renae’s live-in lover.

Somehow over the past fifteen hours he’d forgotten about that.

Intriguing, indeed.

He blinked at Renae’s purely teasing smile. “Jealous?” she asked.

“Who me?” He pressed his lips together then shook his head. “No. Not in the slightest.” He handed her his glass of orange juice then jabbed a thumb toward the ceiling. “But someone else might be.”

She pushed up to a sitting position, causing the sheet to drape around her waist and baring her full and delectable breasts. Breasts that bore red patches from his considerable attentions the night before. He rubbed his freshly shaven chin and imagined himself slathering lotion all over her delicious skin.

“Are you talking about Tabitha?” she asked after she finished off the juice and handed him back the empty glass. He wasn’t sure he liked the secretive smile she wore. Well, okay, he liked it—a little too much if you asked his opinion—he just didn’t like that he didn’t know what had caused it. “That’s so not what our relationship is about.”

He bit back his instant query for her to explain what it was about, then reminded himself that he didn’t want to know.

This…Renae…them…this was a one-shot deal. As soon as she walked out the door, she wasn’t going to walk back through it again.

She lay back in the bed again and crossed her arms behind her head, her bare breasts jiggling in an all too enticing manner.

In order for that plan to work, however, he actually had to get her out the door.

She looked at him from head to foot. “You didn’t have plans this morning, did you?”

Will found his tongue suddenly altogether too big for his mouth. “No. You?” he fairly croaked, unable to pry his gaze from the engorged tips of her breasts.

She slowly pulled the sheet from the rest of her body, offering up even more delectable vistas as she smiled at him wickedly. “Oh, I think I can come up with one or two.”

Funny, but Will no longer wanted her to leave….

5

FOUR HOURS LATER Renae was in the kitchen of the condo she shared with Tabitha, washing the dishes that had been left in the sink—dishes she hadn’t dirtied—and humming to herself. She was idly surprised that the tune she couldn’t seem to shake was the Heart song “Crazy on You.”

She smiled, recalling the near look of panic Will had worn after they’d wrapped up their last sack session and he’d gotten a look at the time. They’d been just a few hours short of spending an entire day in bed together. And he hadn’t looked too pleased at that realization. In fact, he’d looked two breaths away from piling her clothes into her arms and shoving her through his door butt naked just to finally get rid of her. No matter that certain areas of his anatomy had other ideas.

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