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substantial.”
    “Yes,” he replied in a subdued tone. “It needs a reheat in the oven, but I think you’ll
     approve.”
    “Great.” She grabbed the faded, stretched-out jersey and pair of shorts. “Why don’t
     you go make that happen while I change out of this dress? I’m not sure if you noticed,
     but it’s a little snug across the girls and it’s been cutting off my circulation all
     day.”
    She put her hands behind her back and started lowering the zipper of her sundress
     without waiting for him to leave. Stephen swallowed as he watched the fabric loosen
     around her breasts. He took an instinctive step forward and Tasha tilted her head
     in question, her heart starting to pound in anticipation. “Or is that enough record
     breaking for one day?”
    He stilled, then turned and disappeared down the stairs without a word. Tasha held
     in her disappointment, letting her dress pool around her ankles. She understood his
     hesitation. The situation was new and neither one of them knew how to behave. She
     was feeling it too. Along with all the old vulnerability she’d suffered after their
     initial short-lived relationship.
    God, she’d been crazy for him then. Crazy and terrified that he’d realize what she’d
     known after their first night together—that she didn’t fit into the future he was
     mapping out for himself. He wanted to change the world. Wanted to redeem himself and
     make a difference. First law, then politics. His professors had already introduced
     him to influential people who could see the potential in the charismatic college student
     with the made-for-television biography. Local delinquent with deep roots in the community
     makes good. Solid family background, handsome face, sharp mind…Stephen Finn was a
     star on the rise.
    Tasha knew how it would end before it had even begun. A reformed bad boy politician
     was sexy. The addition of an unrepentant bad girl on his arm wasn’t as marketable.
     Especially when that girl’s family tree had more than a few questionable apples.
    They never would have lasted. She was too impulsive, too much of a lightning rod to
     be the kind of woman he needed at his side. If she’d stayed long enough for him to
     see that, maybe even resent her for it, she would have been asking for heartbreak.
     So she’d hidden her feelings away and taken the out he’d offered. Friends with benefits.
     Or more accurately, acquaintances with occasional, secret perks.
    Secret was the word of the day.
    It was the elephant in the room they were going to have to deal with before the party.
     Hiding their attraction in public had become a deeply ingrained habit for both of
     them. For this pretense to work they’d have to set aside years of restraint and be
     natural with each other. Be lovers.
    Lovers knew each other’s body language and moods, a million little things that a man
     like Burke would notice if he was looking. The kind of lovers Stephen was expecting
     them to be required a level of intimacy and trust they didn’t have with each other.
     Tasha knew exactly how to swivel her hips to take him to the edge in seconds and Stephen
     knew that all he had to do was touch her to set her off—but that wasn’t enough. Not
     for this.
    They weren’t going into this as strangers, which was a plus. They had more chemistry
     than they knew what to do with and a lifetime of Finn family gatherings to draw from.
     But they only had tonight to get their stories straight and get physically comfortable
     enough that they didn’t tense up every time their hands touched.
    It was a tough job, but somebody had to do him.
    It. Somebody had to do it .
     
     

 

Chapter Four
     
    Tasha slipped on her shorts and the soft jersey she’d had since high school, glancing
     at herself in the mirror above the dresser. Her unconfined breasts strained against
     the worn fabric but she made no effort to slouch or conceal them. She was proud of
     her curves and the effect they had