Read Lead Me On for Free Online Page A

pushed the Up arrow on the climate control system. “Music?”
    She shook her head and he dropped his hand. They had nothing in common, nothing to talk about, but Chase seemed determined.
    “Do you live here in town?”
    “Mmm-hmm.” His big hand was sitting right there next to her hip. She wanted to pick it up and put it on her knee, maybe run it up the inside of her thigh so she could feel his calluses rasp against the softest part of her body.
    They turned onto a narrow side street, and Jane held her breath in anticipation, counting the seconds until Chase slowed and pulled up to a three-story building. His brow furrowed. “I’m not sure my place is clean.”
    Jane opened the door and hopped down before he could back out of this. If he backed out, she’d never get the guts to do it again. Clutching her purse, she met him at the driver’s side door, thoroughly enjoying the way his body kept on rising as he stepped onto the driveway and stood straight. God, he was big. “I’m not a neat freak,” she lied. “It’s no problem.”
    He unlocked the door to his condo and stuck his head in to look around before swinging it open. “Good news. It looks okay.”
    It actually did look okay. A bit bachelor-pad, what with the flat-screen TV complete with multiple gaming systems. But it didn’t smell funny and there weren’t pizza boxes lying around. Just a few newspapers and a coffee cup…plus one pair of muddy steel-toed boots. Why, oh, why, did those make her heart pitter-patter when fine Italian loafers made her lip curl?
    She had an illness. Hopefully, sleeping with Chase would work like an immunization. Tetanus shots lasted only ten years. Perhaps degrading sex had the same rate of effectiveness.
    Jane wandered toward the black bookshelves while Chase turned on more lights and picked up the papers. Unsurprisingly, the shelves held DVDs instead of books. Hundreds of DVDs. She peered closer. There were action movies, sure, but they were outnumbered by big award winners. Movies like Being John Malkovich and Atonement .
    “This was a really good book,” she murmured, running her finger along the edge of a case.
    “I don’t read much.”
    She didn’t feel a smidgen of surprise at that. Her family had never had books around either.
    “So,” he said, the word fading into silence as he walked toward his small kitchen and opened the fridge. “I’ve got a couple of beers in here. You want one?” He was jangling his keys nervously, so Jane decided she’d better give him a task. When she asked for ice water, he looked relieved.
    They could draw this out with drinks and awkward conversation, or they could skip all the pretense. Jane moved to the stereo system and the iPod connected to it. She scrolled through the songs, looking for something that fit her mood.
    Before Chase had even shut off the faucet, Jane found the perfect album and hit play. Then she turned the volume up and let the bass beat drown out the voice of the woman she was now. Tonight she was going to embrace the bad girl who lurked deep inside.



CHAPTER FOUR
    W HEN A HARD LINE OF BASS began to pulse, Chase frowned and turned toward the window, imagining some kid driving by with his speakers blasting. But no, the sound was too clear for that. He glanced at the stereo Jane was moving away from.
    “I’m sorry. Did I leave…that…?”
    But Jane wasn’t rushing back to find the stop button. She was walking toward him slowly, white suit jacket sliding down her arms. The brown shirt beneath it was silky and sleeveless, but not fitted enough to reveal much more.
    “Too warm?” he asked.
    “Yes,” Jane answered. Apparently she was way past warm, because she stopped in the middle of the room and reached for the bottom of her shirt, not even pausing before she whipped it over her head. “You were right.”
    “Oh?” He couldn’t say more than that. His throat was closing up as his eyes sent images to his brain.
    She reached for the side of her