As far as he could see, there was nothing stopping them from fully exploring the chemistry between them. He certainly hadn’t had his fill of her long, lean body, and he suspected she was every bit as eager to have a rematch with him—even if she wasn’t quite ready to admit it to herself just yet.
Remembering her reference to having recently ended a serious relationship, he frowned. What man had been stupid enough to let a delicious goddess like Sadie slip through his fingers? Still, one man’s mistake was another man’s opportunity. More specifically, his opportunity.
To his mind, Sadie’s desire to remain unattached didn’t in any way preclude the two of them having a very adult, very X-rated fling. It wasn’t as though he was interested in commitment. And Sadie was clearly keen to remain footloose and fancy free. Having a short, hot affair would suit both of them down to the ground.
He just had to convince her of that. He scratched his belly and laughed out loud as he remembered the uptight little speech she’d given him when he’d emerged from the shower last night.
We need to keep things strictly professional. Who was she kidding? Did she really believe that the animal attraction that burned between them was going to fade away because she’d drawn a line in the sand?
Of course, if they both concentrated really, really hard and were on their very best behavior, it would probably be possible for them to keep things work-only.
What a pity that he’d never been very good at behaving himself.
THERE WAS A DEFINITE lightness in Sadie’s step as she swung through reception on Monday morning. Her early-hours purge of Greg’s belongings had been very therapeutic—along with the sensational sex she’d enjoyed with Dylan. For the first time in a long time, she felt in control and on top of things. Now that she and Dylan understood one another, Ocean Boulevard would no longer be a war zone. Her life could finally start to get back on track.
Her self-confident buzz lasted about as long as it took for her to clap eyes on him. He was lounging near the photocopier, and she was almost floored by the kick of pure, unadulterated desire that rocketed through her at seeing him again. The mere sight of his strong, broad shoulders and sexy, rounded butt were enough to send her heart hammering against her ribs—then he turned and a slow grin curved his mouth and she thought she might have an orgasm on the spot.
He was just so…
And he made her feel so…
And she just wanted to…
“Morning, Sadie.”
Two small words, but they were heavy with intent. She fought the urge to cross her legs and squirm.
“Dylan. Hope you had a bit of a break yesterday?” she asked, making an effort to at least sound professional, even if every other part of her mind and body was rampaging in Slut Land.
“Not really. But it was no biggy.” He was still grinning, his eyes making lazy forays up and down her body.
She shivered and tried to ignore the throb of heat between her thighs. She was at work. She had to remember that she was at work.
“Um…good,” she said stupidly.
She turned blindly toward her office and nearly walked into a desk. She didn’t need to look back to know his grin was even wider now. Could she be any more gauche?
She gave herself a stern talking to as she unpacked her satchel and booted up her computer. They might have called a halt to hostilities, but that didn’t mean it was a free-for-all now. He was her subordinate, and she was grieving her relationship with Greg, and…
She sat at her desk and shook her head to clear it. She couldn’t concentrate on anything, especially the reasons why she and Dylan couldn’t have sex again. All she wanted to do was stride across the office, tear his clothes off and have her way with him.
The very strength of her desire was the wake-up call she needed. If she wasn’t careful, this thing with Dylan was going to get out of control—and she didn’t do out-of-control. Very deliberately, she made herself remember all those nights she’d lain awake as a teenager, dreaming of him. That was what was firing all this need—repressed teen lust. And she had to get a grip on it because even though she and Dylan had reconciled their differences, she was absolutely certain that he would not welcome the attentions of a grown woman with a reconstituted adolescent crush.
She bit her lip as she admitted a truth to herself: she didn’t want to feel this strongly about anyone. Not after what Greg had done to her. She didn’t want to be exposed or vulnerable in any way. Not for a long, long time. Maybe not ever.
She had a brief flash of how it had felt standing outside the doors of the church, knowing she had to go in and face everyone. She never wanted to feel like that again.
A few minutes of mindless letter opening and e-mail reviewing calmed her somewhat. Lust receded, and common sense once again ruled the roost. As usual where Dylan was concerned, she was overreacting. He was an attractive man, and she’d had sex with him. Big deal. Once the angst of their teen relationship was taken out of the equation, that was what it boiled down to. They were both adults, and they’d both agreed that it couldn’t happen again. Ergo, it was a nonissue. Simple.
The stockade of rationality she’d erected around herself was good till midmorning when she bumped into Dylan in the kitchen. Yet again he gave her a leisurely once-over, his eyes undressing her shamelessly.
“How goes it, boss?” he asked.
How did he manage to make such an innocuous collection of words sound so decadent?
“G-good. Have you brought the team up-to-date on the changes from the weekend?” she asked, dragging her gaze from the chiseled perfection of his mouth.
“Yep. All sorted.”
He moved closer, and she opened her mouth on a little gasp and took a step back, only to feel the sink at her back.
“It’s okay, only after a coffee,” he said. Very casually, he leaned across her, stretching to grab a mug from the shelf behind her.
He was so close she could feel the heat radiating from his body, and the scent of his aftershave surrounded her. She stared at the stubble on his jaw and the crisp curls peeking out over the neck of his shirt. Her fingers itched to touch him, to trace the curves and dips and hollows of his hard man’s body. She felt dizzy with desire, and she bit her lip to contain a needy whimper. Then, as he withdrew, mug in hand, he shifted minutely and his arm brushed across the tips of her breasts. Instantly they sprang to life and she sucked in a much-needed lungful of air.
“You want one?” Dylan asked.
Yes, please, her wanton self sighed. It took a moment for her to realize that he was referring to coffee. She blinked, trying to corral her thoughts.
“Um, no. I’m fine, thanks.” She had to get a grip. She was at work, for Pete’s sake. Talking to an employee. A man she’d just vowed never to sleep with again.
Then her gaze slid down his belly and dipped below his waistband. What she saw there made her eyebrows shoot toward her hairline. He had an erection. She stared at the unmistakable bulge in his jeans and licked her lips instinctively. She could almost feel the weight of him in her hands. He was so thick and long, and she wanted to touch him so badly—
“Okay, fair’s fair. I brushed your breasts on purpose but that’s out of line,” Dylan said, a growling note in his voice.
Sadie blinked and tore her eyes away from the main event.
“What?”
He stepped closer, his dark gaze heated. “Don’t look at me like that unless you’re going to follow through.”
“You brushed my breasts on purpose?” she asked, the import of his words finally sinking in.
“Hell, yeah.”
“Why?”
He made an exasperated noise. “Why do you think? You want me to draw a diagram?”
“But we had an agreement,” she said, both shocked and thrilled by his blatant confession.
“Uh-uh. You made a suggestion, but I never agreed to it. I said it was a shame to waste so much chemistry. Which it is.”
He was grinning aga
in, and suddenly she got it. He was trying to seduce her. Okay, not trying—succeeding. If she wasn’t very careful.
“I can’t sleep with you again,” she said, lowering her voice and glancing over her shoulder nervously. “I shouldn’t have slept with you in the first place.”
“Relax. This is a television production company, not the White House. No one’s going to impeach you if you have a bit of fun.”
She stared at him, digesting his words. “A bit of fun,” she repeated flatly.
“A lot of fun,” he corrected himself. He moved closer, his voice dropping an octave. “A whole lot of very fun fun.”
Sadie swallowed hard and tried to ignore the fact that her thighs had gone up in flames. He was so attractive. And she wanted to give in so badly.
“I can’t,” she said. “I’m sorry, but I can’t.”
Hair flying, she spun on her heel and retreated to her office.
TWO AND A HALF WEEKS later, Dylan shoved a T-shirt into his backpack with more vigor than was absolutely necessary. There had been a bit of that going on lately—fridge door slamming, swearing at motorists on the freeway, growling at his team at work. It didn’t say much about him as a person, he knew, that a few weeks of sexual frustration were all it took to turn him into a stand-in for Oscar the Grouch.
It had been a long time since he hadn’t gotten something he wanted. All his early failures had made him hungry for success, and it was a taste he’d become used to. Except now he’d struck out. Because he wanted Sadie, and she was staunchly maintaining her professional stance.
It was driving him crazy.
He’d tried everything—standing too close to her, flirting, suggestive comments, arriving early at work so they could be alone, staying late for the same reason. The sexual tension between them crackled like an electrical storm—and still she hadn’t folded. Meanwhile, he was so damned horny that he was about ready to explode.
A million times he considered giving up, moving on, calling one of his old girlfriends or asking out the receptionist who kept giving him extra special smiles every morning. But it was Sadie he wanted, not anyone else. She haunted his dreams, and taunted him all day at work with her tight jeans and short skirts and clinging tops. He was at his wit’s end.
Which was probably why he was less than thrilled to be going away for a “bonding” weekend with the writing team. Two nights and three days in the Big Bear Campgrounds in the San Bernardino National Forest hiking, orienteering and team-building with his fellow writers. In his present frustrated condition, sharing a three-person tent with Luke and Ben was about as welcome as a prostate exam. Only the thought that Sadie would be sleeping a few feet away had stopped him from putting his foot down and staging a mutiny. Fresh air, green things, a change of scenery—surely something had to give. Jaw set, he stuffed a box of condoms into his backpack. The act of an eternal optimist, he admitted, but he wasn’t ready to give up yet.
He’d opted out of carpooling to the park, preferring to take the Ducati and leave himself an escape route. Locking up the house, he stowed his pack on the bike and slid on his helmet. Pulling down the visor, he gave himself up to two and a half hours of travel time fantasizing about having Sadie in his arms again.
“WE ARE SO LATE,” Sadie said as she opened her condo door to Grace and Claudia.
“Don’t blame me. I was at Grace’s place at eight on the dot,” Claudia said pointedly.
“Hope was upset. She’d forgotten I was going away,” Grace said apologetically.
Claudia shot Sadie a frustrated look and bent to heft Sadie’s backpack.
“Is this everything?” Claudia asked, already heading out the door.
“All set,” Sadie said, ushering Grace out into the hall so she could lock up.
“It’s that bastard boyfriend of hers,” Grace said, obviously feeling as though she owed them a further explanation. “He keeps calling and sending flowers. When is he going to get the message that she’s not interested in an abusive asshole?”
“What I want to know is how he got your number in the first place,” Claudia said as they stepped into the lift. “You’re unlisted, aren’t you?”
Grace shrugged helplessly. “Hope called him. She said she had to ask him to send her things over.”
Claudia shot another look Sadie’s way. Sadie knew exactly what she was thinking: Hope was playing both ends against the middle. It had been three weeks since she had moved in with Grace, and there was still no sign that she planned on picking up the threads of her life. She’d taken no modeling assignments, and was already asking Grace to cover her expenses while she was between jobs. Sadie had visited her friend the previous weekend and been privately appalled at the squalor that Hope had reduced Grace’s normally tidy apartment to. Added to the discovery that Grace had given up her bedroom to her sister after she complained that the sofa bed was uncomfortable, and Sadie was inclined to agree with Claudia’s assessment that Hope was shamelessly using her unfortunate situation to full advantage.
“Maybe I should stay,” Grace said as they emerged outside Sadie’s building. “You guys don’t need to bond with me. We’re already bonded.”
“It’s a team thing,” Claudia said firmly as she beeped the trunk of her car open. “We’re all going.”
“You’ve said about a million times that you think this is a dumb idea. Will it really make a difference if I’m not there?” Grace asked.
Sadie hid a smile behind her hand. It was true that Claudia had very vocally denounced the coming weekend as a big fat waste of time and money. The weekend had been the previous producer’s idea, but since it had been fully paid for in advance, Claudia had had to honor the booking. She’d been grumbling about it on and off since she’d started with the show.
“If Sadie and I have to go, you have to suffer, too,” Claudia said as she tossed Sadie’s bag in with the other luggage. “We’re like the three musketeers—if one of us has to pee hiding behind a bush in the woods, the rest of us have to, as well. It’s an unwritten rule of our friendship code.”
Grace’s green eyes remained troubled, and Sadie squeezed her arm.
“Hope will be fine. Serena’s in town if she needs anything, right?”
Grace pulled a face. “Serena’s not exactly Mother Earth in situations like this.”
Sadie refrained from saying that she couldn’t imagine a situation where Serena would ever be Mother Earth. The woman was so highly groomed she practically had a glossy veneer.
“Still, if Hope needs company or advice, Serena is there. It’s only two nights,” Sadie reassured.
Grace nodded, sliding into the backseat and putting on her seat belt.
“We’re the ones you should be worried about. We could be mauled by a pack of wild bears,” Claudia said as she started up her car and pulled out into traffic.
“Except bears don’t hunt in packs,” Sadie said wryly.
“I still can’t believe we’re not camping near an amenities block. How am I going to survive without my shower?” Claudia moaned.
“There’s a lake, isn’t there?” Grace said.
“So the whole team is going to go skinny-dipping together? That’s a little too much bonding for my comfort,” Claudia said.
Sadie stared at the streetscape passing by as she automatically imagined Dylan striding confidently into a pristine blue lake, his glorious body buck-naked.
As if she needed more fuel for the sensual fire that had been smoldering inside her for the past two weeks. She was practically jumping out of her own skin she was so frustrated, and Dylan wasted no opportunity to remind her what she was missing out on. He somehow arranged to be sitting next to her in every meeting, then he spent the entire session brushing her thigh with his or rubbing shoulders. She’d lost count of the number of times he’d cornered her in the kitchen, standing too close to her and reaching across her body for a mug or the coffee canister.
She should call him on his behavior, she knew, but even though she found i
t torturous and frustrating in the extreme, it still excited her so much that she was loathe to give it up. She’d already said no to anything actually happening between them. What harm could a little flirtation do?
The fact that Dylan had been starring in her increasingly elaborate nightly sexual fantasies had nothing to do with anything. Sometimes, when she said it to herself with a great deal of conviction, she almost believed her own lie.
The truth was, if Greg hadn’t been sending her a bouquet every few days, she’d probably have given in to Dylan’s sensual lures within the first week. But every time she came home to find a fresh display of lilies or roses or gerberas on her doorstep, her determination to protect herself was renewed. She’d given all the flowers to the local nursing home, but she hadn’t been able to stop herself from reading Greg’s notes. He wanted her to forgive him. And he wanted to talk. He even said he still loved her. She was half-surprised that he hadn’t tried a phone call by now, but she figured he was using the flowers to soften her up first. It all made her so angry and sad. Perhaps that was why she hadn’t shut down Dylan’s flirtation. When she was with him, she felt alive and beautiful and desirable.
“How’s work on the feature special coming along?” Claudia asked, drawing Sadie from her moment of introspection.
“Good. Great. Dylan and I have broad stroked some ideas. I’m hoping to have the structure in place by the end of next week, then we can assign a team to it and flesh it out,” Sadie said.
“Great. Have I told you how excited I am about the fact that it’s a wedding episode?” Claudia enthused.
“About fifty times,” Grace said wryly.
“Weddings are so good for ratings. We are going to bury Heartlands with this episode,” Claudia said, referring to the soap that aired at the same time on a competing network.
Take on Me Page 14
