Jaleen turned back to Luke. “I’ll be right back.”
“Yeah, right,” Luke said with a laugh as he turned to the other men.
Jaleen caught Danni’s arm as soon as she took one step outside the door. “Where are you going?”
“To get something to eat.”
Seriously! “It’s almost three in the morning. Nothing is open.”
“Well, I’ll find a gas station, then. They never close.” She took one more step out the door.
“They have twenty-four-hour room service,” Jaleen said, stopping her again. “How about you order some food in your room?”
A sly smile crept onto her face. “On one condition.”
He was almost afraid to ask. “What’s that?”
“You come to my room and eat with me.”
Jaleen groaned. “If I do, will you eat and then get some rest before tomorrow’s rehearsal?”
“Yes,” she said a little too quickly. Before he knew it, Danni was tugging his arm and leading him toward the elevators.
The second they arrived at her hotel room, Danni tossed her clutch on the table and kicked off one heel. When she went to remove the other heel, she stumbled.
“Whoa, pretty lady,” Jaleen said as he helped her steady. “Let’s be careful.”
“I’m tired of being careful,” Danni replied, looking him in the eye before turning her back to him. “Can you unzip my dress?”
No, I can’t unzip your dress. “Sure,” he said instead. He felt like his fingers were moving in slow motion as he worked the zipper to reveal the back of a sexy, white-and-teal lace bra. It would take little effort to unclasp the sole clip, but he wouldn’t dare do that tonight.
“There you go,” he said, allowing one sole finger to run down her spine. She gasped at the touch before turning around to face him.
“Are you sure you won’t kiss me tonight?” She looked so vulnerable standing there and something in her eyes made him want to say to hell with what he’d said earlier and take a sample of what she was offering. Luckily, his brain was thinking more than the other part of his anatomy.
“Not tonight. But if you ask me tomorrow, you’ll get a different answer.”
For a minute he thought she was going to ignore what he was saying, but instead she walked to the couch to lie down.
“How about I order that room service?” He walked over to the desk. “What do you want?”
“You decide,” she said, curling onto her side. “I just need something to eat.”
The last thought he had before he ordered was that the best food they could both have right now would be if they feasted on each other.
* * *
Sunlight seeping through the curtains caused Danni to awaken. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand—8:00 a.m. She checked her iPhone, surprised that she hadn’t set her alarm. As a matter of fact, part of the night was a blur. She’d planned on waking up a little earlier to meet a couple of the bridesmaids for breakfast before rehearsal in a couple of hours.
Maybe I can still meet them, she thought as she stretched her body. It was then that she noticed she was still wearing her dress from last night. What the...? The back of her dress was unzipped and one shoulder was out of the strap. Her hands flew to her mouth as memories of the previous night came rushing back to her.
Jaleen was here. He came back to my hotel room with me. She also suspected he was responsible for the glass of water and aspirin on her nightstand because she didn’t recall getting it herself.
She got out of bed, grabbed a sundress and her toiletries and made her way to the bathroom. A shower would definitely wake her up and, hopefully, help her remember more details. Thirty minutes later she was showered, dressed and no closer to remembering all the details.
When she walked back into the bedroom, a pair of shoes in the corner of the room caught her eye. Those are Jaleen’s. Although she couldn’t recall if he was wearing them last night, she’d seen them on him before. Why exactly did I see Jaleen last night? They’d been celebrating Summer’s bachelorette party while the men had been out celebrating Aiden’s bachelor party. She didn’t know how they’d gotten together last night, but she vaguely recalled asking Jaleen if he would kiss her.
Oh, God. I did ask him to kiss me. She couldn’t think of anything more embarrassing...except if he was still in her suite somewhere. She opened the bedroom door and tiptoed around the corner to the living room area. As suspected, Jaleen was sprawled out on the couch with his long legs hanging over the side. She’d always found him attractive—although she’d never admit that to him—however, the sight before her nearly stole her breath.
He still had on his jeans, but he’d discarded his socks and unbuttoned his shirt, exposing his washboard abs and deep vee of his hip bone now causing her imagination to wander to places it never had before. That’s a lie. She’d definitely spent more time than she would ever admit wondering just how sexy Jaleen Walker would look naked. Of course, she’d never go there with a man like him... A man that seemed to trade out women as quickly as he changed underwear. However, there was no harm in admiring him while he slept.
Even in his sleep, his jawline was well-defined and she’d bet that he’d just gotten his goatee freshly cut and hair lined yesterday before the bachelor party. How many times had she wanted to run her tongue across his smooth, cinnamon-brown complexion? As cocky as he was, Danni was surprised there was anything about him she found attractive. He was not her usual type. But lately she’d been looking at him in a way that she knew she shouldn’t but couldn’t help.
She froze when he slightly adjusted himself on the couch, noticing for the first time just how close she actually was to him. She took a step back when his hand reached out and lightly grabbed her wrist.
“Not so fast,” Jaleen said groggily. “How do you feel?”
She momentarily couldn’t find the words to respond as she stared into his deep brown eyes. “I feel okay,” she finally said. “Thanks for taking care of me last night.”
“No problem,” he said, sitting up on the couch. “I only stayed to make sure you were okay.”
Her eyes briefly left his to stare at his lips. What has gotten into me? She was usually a lot better at getting a handle on her attraction to Jaleen. Maybe it was being with him all alone in her suite that had her feeling bold? Or maybe it was the fact that she’d had a long couple of months and giving in to temptation sounded like a good stress reliever.
“Did I ask you to kiss me last night?” she asked.
His eyes darkened. “I’ll be right back,” he said as he made his way to the bathroom.
She blinked her eyes in confusion at the sudden movement. Unsure of what to do with herself until he returned, she sat on the couch and tried not to breathe in his masculine scent that still lingered in the room.
When he returned, he looked a lot more put together than she felt. “So did I ask you to kiss me last night?” she repeated.
“Maybe a few times.” He sat next to her on the couch. “But I knew you were tipsy.”
She was almost afraid to ask, but had to. “Why didn’t you kiss me?”
His lips curled to the side in a smile. “Trust me, I wanted to. But under the circumstances, it didn’t feel right.”
“Because I was too tipsy.”
“Something like that,” he said with a laugh. “The first time we kiss, I want you to be completely alert about what’s going on.”
Her cheeks grew warm and her heartbeat quickened. She was sure she’d regret what she was about to say next. “What about now?” Her voice got slightly lower. “I’m completely alert now.”
Jaleen gave her a look of confusion as he studied her eyes. She knew why he was confused. Up until now she’d done everything she could to try to deny their obvious chemistry. But this was a n
ew year and she was a new Danni. This year, she planned to face her fears unlike she had before. Even so, the longer they sat there staring at one another, the more she regretted her decision to say something in the first place.
“You know what? Never mind. I’m not sure what’s gotten into me...” Her voice trailed off as Jaleen’s face got closer to hers.
“There’s no chance I’m ignoring what you said.” Jaleen’s hand lightly grazed her cheek. “I’ve waited too long to see how soft your lips are.”
She held her breath as his lips inched closer to hers. The somersaults in her stomach only increased when she felt his breath mingle with hers.
“Now would be the time to stop me,” Jaleen said as a warning. Danni didn’t have any intention to stop Jaleen but unfortunately the loud knock on the door did.
“Danni, are you in there? We have to meet the ladies for breakfast.”
Jaleen dropped his hand and Danni sighed at the sound of her friend’s voice. Hearing Nicole was like a jolt to her senses.
“Maybe you should go,” she said, standing from the couch.
A hint of disappointment flashed across his face before he stood, as well. “I guess you’re right.”
They made their way to the door. “Do you want me to stay here until you leave with Nicole?”
“That would be great,” she said with a nod. “I’d really appreciate it.” She grabbed her clutch and quickly exited her hotel room before she dwelled on what had almost happened between her and Jaleen.
It wasn’t that she thought kissing him would be a bad thing. Her fear was that kissing Jaleen would be the best thing she’d experienced in a long time.
Copyright © 2017 by Sherelle Green
ISBN-13: 9781488013577
A Pleasing Temptation
Copyright © 2017 by Deborah Fletcher Mello
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, M3B 3K9 Canada.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com
A Pleasing Temptation Page 19
