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her chin as he lowered his head. Their lips touched and a familiar jolt—strong, electric—pierced her body. His kiss was soft at first, but quickly deepened and became more intense. She opened her mouth. His tongue slid home, as if it had been there before, as if her mouth was the only place it should be. She turned to him, her breasts crushed against his hard chest. One of his arms wrapped around her neck, the other ran lazily up her arm, leaving a trail of goose bumps in its wake. Their breath mingled along with their desire, their passion grew with each second that passed. Time stood still, and they had no awareness of the car carrying them through the streets of downtown LA. All Jacqueline was aware of was this moment, this man, the feel of his essence around her. In this instant she believed that she’d very much enjoy feeling it for the rest of her life.
    “Um, excuse me,” the driver said, after clearing his throat.
    “We’re here.”
    As they stood in front of Jacqueline’s hotel room door, holding hands, looking into each other’s eyes, Randall brushed an errant strand of hair behind her ear. “Thank you for a wonderful evening.”
    “It’s me who should be thanking you.” Jacqueline’s eyes fell from his eyes to his lips. “This has been one of the most amazing evenings of my life.”
    “Yes, the opera was exceptional.”
    “Indeed. But I wasn’t talking about the performance.” Silence fell, and Jacqueline could hear her own heartbeat. She knew she shouldn’t. Good girls never gave it up on the first night. But she was grown, the time between lovers had been too long, and the desire for this man was overwhelmingly strong. If he asked, pronouncing the word “no” would probably be too hard.
    “Tomorrow’s another early morning,” Randall said into a silence where their mutual desire was palpable. “I should probably say good night.”
    “That’s probably a good idea.”
    Perhaps it was. But neither moved.
    Randall leaned forward and pressed a tender kiss against Jacqueline’s temple. “Good night, my princess.”
    Jacqueline was so full of emotion she could barely breathe. Was she dreaming? She had to be. Wonderful moments like these didn’t happen to her. But then she felt his lips press ever so gently against her lips.
    “Sleep well,” he whispered against them. “May I have your card?”
    It took a couple of seconds for Jacqueline to understand his question. Her head was in a yearning-induced fog. “Oh, card. Right.” She fumbled in her small clutch and pulled out the hotel key.
    He pulled it from her grasp and opened the door. “There you are. Safely delivered back to your room.” He leaned forward for one last kiss. “Thanks again, Jacqueline.” He held out the card. “Good night.”
    Jacqueline looked at the card, and then at him. “Keep it,” she said in a brazen move. “It just might come in handy.”
    Within minutes she was in her room, out of the dress, and talking with her best friend, Kris.
    “I can’t believe the night I just had,” she said dreamily. “I’ll spill all the juicy details later, but I just came back from a date with an award-winning scientist, the same man with whom I had dinner last night.”
    “Tell me more.”
    “His name is Randall Atwater—intelligent, handsome and a perfect gentleman—everything I could wish for in a man. But this is an important assignment. I don’t have time to get sidetracked, Kris,” she finished. “Please say that you agree.”
    “Agree that you shouldn’t enjoy yourself? No can do.”
    “That I don’t have time to be falling in love!”
    “Jack, you just met the man.”
    Hearing her nickname, one used solely by this best friend, Jacqueline calmed down. A little. “I’ve been telling myself the same thing all day, have given myself every sound reason in the book to keep this professional. But there’s something between us, Kris. Randall feels it too. At first I thought it was just my imagination,