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the impressive and unmistakable evidence of his desire.
    Oh, lands, she was in trouble. All that power, all that sensuality tucked into one masculine body . . .
    Even as she watched transfixed, the corners of his mouth turned upward in a smile of awareness, whether at his own power or its effect on her, she couldn’t say. But despite her embarrassment, she couldn’t tear her eyes away as he crossed the room with a loose-limbed stride that made her heart stutter. He then flipped the sheets over on the bed and climbed in. With his back propped against the headboard, arms winged behind his head, a devilish smile appeared on his fallen-angel face and a wickedpromise glittered in eyes. Men of his caliber weren’t harmless—they were dangerous as sin.
    And resisting him was going to be harder than she’d ever dreamed.
    Aware that he was waiting, she forced her wobbly legs to carry her to the bed. She handed Jesse his glass of whiskey, lifted her own in the air, and, hoping he never knew how dearly she regretted what she was about to do, proposed a toast. “To an unforgettable night.”

Chapter 3
    H e couldn’t remember a damn thing.
    With his elbows propped on splayed knees, his head cupped in his hands, Jesse sat at the edge of the bed, naked as the day he was born. Around him, the scents of sweat and lilacs swirled together in a dizzying aftermath.
    His gaze turned to the woman in his bed. Her pale hair fanned across the pillow slip, silky tangles against pristine white. A vague image of burying his fingers in that hair stirred at the back of his memory, yet he couldn’t quite grasp it.
    She rolled onto her side. Her eyes were closed, her lashes casting shadowed crescents on flawless cheekbones. Her nose nuzzled the sheet as if inhaling its scent, and her lips curvedinto a smile of wistful bliss that had his gut knotting.
    Abruptly she stilled. A frown creased her brow. Then she shot up off the bed, giving him only a glimpse of bare back and pale, curvy bottom before snatching a blanket over her nudity. Eyes as wide and frantic as a stormy sea searched the room, then anchored on him.
    â€œJesse?”
    â€œExpecting someone else?”
    â€œOh my gosh,” she whispered. “Oh my gosh !”
    Through bleary eyes, he watched her throw a wrinkled chemise over her head, then wriggle into a pair of ruffled black drawers. Seeing her in the dark undergarments had as much an impact on him as the red corset he’d taken off her last night.
    At least, he thought he’d taken it off her.
    Jess strained to put the night in order in his mind. He distinctly remembered soft caresses and hot kisses that could turn a man to cinders. And he remembered laughing when Honesty spilled whiskey on his chest, then moaning when he made her lick it off . . .
    It got a little hazy after that. Nothing more than sensations of heat and dampness and the most insane need to possess that he’d ever felt in his life.
    The last thing he could recall with any claritywas climbing atop her soft and willing body and hoping like hell he didn’t explode before he buried himself inside her.
    And then . . . nothing. Not even a glimmer to remind him what had transpired next.
    â€œWhat . . .” He licked his lips, then glanced around for something to get rid of the chalky taste in his mouth. Half a glass of whiskey sat on the table. It was watered down and stale, but it was wet. “What happened last night?”
    She paused in the act of tying her chemise to look at him. “Last night?”
    For a split second, he’d have sworn she looked as confused as he felt. “Yeah. Did we . . . you know . . . finish?”
    â€œWhat kind of question is that? Of course we did!” She bustled about the room, plucking her dress off the chair and a dyed black petticoat from the floor. “Twice, in fact! We might have gone for a third time, except you had me so plumb