“Oh, my god… stop, please. I… can’t…”

His hands disappeared in an instant, but he stood his ground, his face inches from mine. For a moment I wasn’t sure… if he stopped because I’d asked him to… or if he’d stopped because he’d realized how reckless this was. A car horn honked, and a noisy crowd of college students swept by. No matter the reason, the moment between us was over and I was left disheveled and overheated, thrumming inside… still on the very edge of an orgasm that had only just begun. And he was looking at me with an expression I couldn’t even begin to read.

“I’m sorry,” I stumbled over the words, trying to shift my skirt back down where it belonged… only partially aware of how humiliated I would feel later on, once I could breathe again. “I never should have… I’m not the kind of girl who…” I shook my head, letting my hair fall in a curtain between us. I could feel my cheeks burning, my lips swelling where I’d bitten them…. Where he had bitten them… My pussy was throbbing along with my heartbeat and my knees were shaking. I pressed them together to steady them, and almost cried out with the sensation.

“You have nothing to apologize for,” he said, stepping back once I was covered again. “It was unforgivable of me.” He raked a heavy hand through his dark hair and drew his shoulders back. I could still feel the heat between us and the almost magnetic pull of our bodies. But when I glanced up, his dark grey eyes were unfocused, looking into the distance without seeing… I wanted to reach out and touch him. I didn’t dare...

“I’m no fucking angel, Emi,” he said, turning those stormy eyes to mine, “I’ve done a hundred unforgivable things in my life. But I swear I’m not like Sutton. Not now. I should have known better…”

“I wanted it,” I said, finally taking a full breath and letting my shoulders begin to relax. “I just didn’t… I didn’t think I could…”

“Climax on the side of a busy street?” he asked, very quietly. He smiled and some of the tension between us started to fade.

“I’ve never…”

“I know,” he said, taking my hand. “I can’t deny the excitement… we both felt it. I can still feel it, just under the skin… in the pulse beating here in your hand.” He licked his lips and I felt another wave of dizzying desire. “But this is hardly the place for a girl like you.” He leaned closer and I could feel his lips brushing against my ear. “I want more from you than a few stolen moments and a few inches of skin.” His voice was deep and seductive… and my close call was still humming away right under the surface.

“We need a quieter place for what comes next,” he said darkly. “I want to know the sounds you make when I finally take you over that edge. I can feel it inside you now… waiting to be set free.”

He pulled back just enough for me to see the hunger flare in his eyes. “Let’s start over,” he whispered. “Hold on to what you’re feeling right now… Let it simmer… and ripen… just a little while longer. I’ll pick you up for dinner on Friday night.

There’s a very special place I want you to see…”

“Hey, how’d it go?” Reese was unloading the dishwasher when I opened the door, but took a moment to stand up and rub her knuckles into her lower back. “Is Mr. Hotshot gonna make all our dreams come true?”

I must have taken too long to reply. She tipped her head hard to the side and opened her eyes wider. “Sutton… The party…? The freaking cake of the century…?”

“Yes… yes, of course.” I grabbed an apron and tied it over my skirt. It was hard enough facing Reese, as flustered as I felt. There was no way I was going upstairs to change. I didn’t dare face Gran.

“Not only did we get the job, we’re getting it for three times my asking price. He likes the cake idea, just as we presented it. Over-the-top decadence, and the focal point of the evening.” I dug into a stack of paperwork, trying to focus. Sutton’s party was hardly more than two weeks away, the bridal shower for Amelia’s friend was coming up on Sunday. And right now, all I could think about was Chase… “We still need to finalize the menus with Becca.”

“I scheduled a phone conference for tomorrow at nine,” Tam said, popping up around the corner with a smile. “We’ll get the loose ends tied up and get it done,” she grinned. “Who would have thought that one party could open the door to a whole new world for us… And did I hear you right? Three times the fee…?”

I nodded, feeling flushed and excited all over again. “We’ll all be seeing nice paychecks a month from now,” I answered, while my heart fluttered in my chest… and lower down, in my core.

“I think you’re right, Tammy,” I said, letting a sudden rush of heated anticipation wash over me. “It does feel like a whole new world…”