Read Friends and Lovers Trilogy 03 - Seduced for Free Online Page B

brain glitched as she stared up into his smoldering brown eyes.
Decadent as aged cognac
. Mischief and concern sparkled in his intoxicating gaze, and that wise-ass mouth of his looked as sexy as ever, a well-trimmed goatee intensifying his already sinful good looks. A hundred questions crossed her mind, but she was too distracted by the weight of his buff body to voice even one.
    Except for the naked part, this reminded her of their first encounter when he’d snuck into her dressing room at the casino and pinned her against the wall. She’d assumed the worse and had defended herself by raking his shin and stomping hard on his foot. The struggle had ended like this. With her flat on her back, him sprawled on top.
    “We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” he quipped.
    She didn’t see the humor. “You can get off me now.”
    He didn’t budge, except to shove a hank of wet hair off his chiseled cheekbones. He was even better looking than she remembered, putting every one of her male “Spy Girl” co-stars to shame. “Your strikes and counters have improved significantly.”
    She wasn’t in the mood for compliments. She couldn’t breathe. Worse, she couldn’t form a thought that didn’t have to do with sex. She remembered the feel of his mouth on hers all too well. He could seduce a nun into bed with one of his full-assault kisses. And his body … Jesus. Curiosity dared her to explore the texture and sinew of his bare back and to cup what had to be a stellar ass. Instead, she shoved at his muscular shoulders. “Get …
off
.” She closed her eyes, not wanting to get a full frontal view, even though she’d dreamed of such an opportunity several times. It’s just not something she thought she could handle now. Although closing her eyes proved just as troubling.
    The room spun.
    Cool air drifted over her clammy, prickly skin as Joe eased away. Her throat burned with bile. Her head throbbed and her stomach turned. “Oh, God.” She must’ve looked as sick as she felt, because, next thing she knew, he had her on her feet and in the bathroom.
    She spent the next several minutes hurling into the toilet. It was painful and disgusting, and unbelievably humiliating because, damn him, he wouldn’t go away. He held her hair back from her face as she threw up whatever she’d ingested the night before. He smoothed a damp, cool cloth over the back of her neck, and then over her sweaty face when she finally eased back and collapsed against the tiled wall.
    She wanted to die. The way she felt just now, it was a definite possibility.
    Joe was still naked, though she seemed to be the only one who was self-conscious. She snatched the wash cloth from his hand and pressed it over her eyes, otherwise, even though she was two steps from death’s doors, she would’ve stared. The man was frickin’ gorgeous. “Could you at least wrap a towel around your waist?”
    For some reason he found her request funny. Either that, or he was laughing at her sorry-looking-ass. She didn’t know. She didn’t care. No way was she lowering that cloth from her eyes to find out.
    His good humor was fleeting. She felt his hand on the top of her head, a comforting gesture that brought tears to her eyes. “Feel better?”
    “I feel like shit.”
    “Hangover’s are a bitch.”
    “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never had one.” She flashed back on a few beers and several shots of tequila. “Until now.” What had possessed her to drink so much so fast? She tried to recall last night’s events and was rewarded with a nauseating migraine. “My head is killing me.”
    “I’ll have aspirin and black tea waiting in the other room.”
    His hand fell away, and she instantly mourned the loss of contact. Not that she let on. Hell, no.
    “I ran down to the gift shop earlier,” he continued. “Bought some essentials—toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant. They’re on the counter. Help yourself. Oh, and I cleaned your scrapes with peroxide last night, but