CHAPTER SIX
Kerri sat down on a wooden bench in the shade, smiling as Tori pushed her daughter, Janet, on one of the swings that was a part of the park’s play structure. The young girl squealed in delight as she soared into the air, then caught her breath and demanded, “Higher, Mommy, higher!”
Tori complied, and Kerri watched the two of them enjoy the late-morning outing. Kerri had promised she’d stop by the shelter that Saturday to visit, and she’d been pleased to find Tori still there, instead of having returned to her abusive husband as Kerri had feared she’d do. As Tori had done in the past. Maybe, hopefully, this time would be different for the other woman.
Instead of spending a few hours sitting around the shared residence, Kerri had encouraged Tori to bring Janet to the park to play in the warm summer sun. Afterward, Kerri planned to treat them to lunch and an ice cream dessert.
After ten minutes of being pushed on the swing Janet decided she wanted to explore the wooden jungle gym, complete with bridges, slides and even a fortress. Tori lowered her to the ground, and Janet ran happily through the sandbox to the elaborate structure, climbed a rope ladder and found a friend to play with when she reached the platform. Tori made her way back to the bench and sat beside Kerri, both of them keeping an eye on the little girl and her whereabouts at all times.
“So, are you going to tell me how your date with Ian really ended last night?” Tori asked, anticipation lacing her soft voice.
Kerri smiled and glanced briefly at the young woman who’d become a friend over the past few months. She just wished different circumstances had brought them together. Though Tori was wearing sunglasses, the bruise on her cheek was still visible, now a pale yellow shade instead of the bright purple and blue it had been last week. The split on her bottom lip had healed, and overall Tori seemed in good spirits and rested, despite the ordeal she’d endured.
“The date ended just as we said on the air,” she told Tori, returning her gaze to Janet as she trudged across a wooden bridge with her new little friend tagging behind. “With a kiss.”
And two of the best orgasms of her life. Her heart beat faster at the mere thought of what had transpired in the stairwell—a physical surrender beyond anything she ever could have imagined. She wanted to tell herself their tryst was all about satiating lust and Ian proving a point, but neither did Ian ask her to reciprocate the pleasure, nor did he gloat when he had every reason to. Not only was the man as sexy as sin, he was incredibly sensitive and caring, and that was a dangerous combination to her emotional well-being.
After completely turning her mind and body to mush with those climaxes, Ian had walked her to her car, kissed her softly on the lips and whispered “Have sweet dreams” in her ear before she’d driven away. Her dreams had been anything but wholesome and peaceful. They’d been hot, wanton and wicked, with Ian playing a starring role in her midnight fantasies and her waking up aching for the kind of seductive release he’d given her.
She greedily wanted more of those delicious, addicting orgasms. She wanted Ian, and an affair was beginning to sound better and better to her independent way of thinking. They could enjoy their attraction off the air, and participate in mutual pleasure without the threat of emotional demands messing with her mind. She’d already told him she wasn’t looking for anything complicated or serious, and he’d seemed to accept her terms.
It sounded like an easy solution, as long as she didn’t find herself losing control of the situation, and her emotions. She already liked and respected Ian, and that deeply buried and vulnerable part of her feared he’d be an easy man to fall for if she allowed herself to get caught up in this sexy liaison of theirs. Which she wouldn’t do. Maintaining ultimate control and calling the shots with Ian was the key. She hadn’t spent the past three years building her confidence and a life of her own only to let a man steal it all away or waylay her personal goals.
“Are you going out with Ian again?” Tori asked curiously.
Kerri grinned slyly. “Hmm, that seems to be the million-dollar question with my listeners, doesn’t it?” she teased. “You’re going to have to wait and see what happens, just like everyone else.”
Including herself. She’d held Ian off on accepting a second date, and he’d been an exemplary gentleman about her uncertainty—even when he could have coerced an unequivocal yes out of her last night when she’d been on the brink of her first or second orgasm. He’d held such power in his hands, and never once tried to take advantage of it, or her.
“Well, I hope there is a second date,” Tori said, her gaze trained on her daughter, whose bursts of girlish laughter brought a smile to her mother’s lips. “Listening to the both of you on the air…well, it’s like the two of you belong together. It gives me hope that maybe finding a guy like Ian for myself might be possible.”
Kerri heard the quiver of longing in Tori’s voice, and something else—hope?—that caught her attention. Not sure what the other woman was getting at, she reached out and gently laid her hand on her arm. “Tori, what do you mean by that?”
Tori wrung her hands together in her lap. “I’m leaving my husband, Rick,” she stated.
Kerri sucked in a startled breath, knowing how difficult that decision had to have been for Tori—walking away from the only security she’d ever known, even if that false sense of stability had come at a very steep physical price for her.
“Are you sure?” she whispered, almost too afraid to hope that Tori was truly serious about ending things with her volatile husband.
Chin held high, Tori nodded emphatically. “Yes, I’m sure.”
The determination and grit Tori displayed made Kerri want to jump up and cheer for the young woman’s courage. Kerri was so relieved to see the change in Tori.
“I swear I’m not going back this time,” Tori said fiercely, her gaze on her daughter. “I can’t. Not after the way he beat me up and threatened to go after Janet, too.” Her voice broke, and it took her a moment to regain her composure. “I took out a restraining order against Rick. I don’t want him anywhere near me or Janet.”
Tori’s defensive actions were a huge step in the right direction, and Kerri could only pray that Tori remained strong and didn’t let herself be swayed by any pleas for forgiveness and empty promises from her temperamental husband. Paul had attempted the same tactic when Kerri had broken off their relationship, and it had been difficult not to allow her emotions to be swayed. To remain strong and confident enough to start a new life on her own. But in the long run, it had been the best decision she’d ever made for herself.
“I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t scared,” Tori admitted, seeking out Kerri’s gaze. “I’m petrified of being alone. I have Janet’s welfare to think of, and I have no idea how to support us.”
All legitimate concerns, Kerri knew, and all she could do was offer support and reassurance. “You let the counselors at the shelter worry about that, okay?” She gently rubbed her back in soothing circles. “Take things one day at a time, and just know that you made the right decision for you and Janet.”
Without the negative influence of her husband overshadowing her every step, Tori was free to make the right choices for her and her daughter. Now that she’d found the strength to end an unhealthy, stifling marriage, the rest would hopefully work itself out for Tori, just as it had for Kerri.
* * *
“Now that I finally have you alone and to myself, what’s this I hear about you becoming a nightly talk-show guest on WTLK?”
Ian reclined in the cushioned chair out on the Winslows’ patio after enjoying the family’s weekly ritual of Sunday brunch, followed by an early evening round of golf with the men. He glanced across the outdoor table to Gayle Pierce, David and Eve’s only living child. Gayle was not only a trusted friend, but she was as close to a sister as he’d ever get. When Audrey had been killed in the car accident only months before she and Ian were to marry, together Gayle and Ian had mourned her death, then bonded over the mutual loss. Gayle knew the guilt he lived with, even though no one in the Winslow family blamed him for the unforeseen tragedy that had claimed Audrey’s life. It was his own heart and soul that had accepted responsibility and lived with the pain and grief of that devastating night.
Gayle was as beautiful, sweet and refined as her sister had been, and she knew him better than he understood himself sometimes. And like any good friend, she exerted a more direct, straightforward attitude with him that he’d always appreciated. It kept the lines of communication open between them, and gave them the freedom to be honest with each other without fear of being judged or hurting each other’s feelings. It was a special relationship he cherished since he had no siblings of his own.
Gayle cast a quick sweeping glance toward the house where her mother and father had disappeared moments before but would return shortly. Out in the large, landscaped yard, Gayle’s husband, Adam, tossed a football to their son, Greg, and their four-year-old daughter, Shelly, sat on the patio steps playing with the doll Ian had given to her for her birthday a few weeks ago. Ian loved the sense of family surrounding him, especially after having grown up without that security and closeness the Winslows so easily shared.
Gayle drummed her fingernails impatiently on top of the glass surface of the table. “If you don’t fess up, and quick, you’re going to be explaining your sexy little secret to the entire family.”
He chuckled and clasped his hands over his stomach. “I don’t care who knows,” he said honestly. He’d never meant to keep his association with Kerri a secret. Then again, he never could have anticipated how one spontaneous call to debate a provocative issue on the air with Kerri would escalate into something so hot and intense off the air a month later. “But how did you hear about it?” He was curious to know.
“I was having lunch with a girlfriend yesterday, and Marissa was going on about you and the late-night DJ on WTLK, and how the two of you were literally heating up the airwaves. I was sure she was mistaken because I would have known if you were spending your evenings flirting with a radio talk-show host, because you would have told me.” She sent him an affectionately disgruntled look that he’d kept her in the dark about his after-hours activities. “And then Marissa mentioned that you and the woman on the show were going out on a date and discussing the details on the air afterward, so of course Adam and I listened last night to see if it was really you.”
He grinned. “Surprise.”
“Surprise, my butt!” She lowered her voice when Shelly glanced their way at her mother’s outburst. She leaned forward, a sly smile curving her lips. “Ian, you’re leading a double life! You’re an investment broker by day, and women’s sexiest fantasy come to life by night.”
“Women’s sexiest fantasy?” He winced at Gayle’s outrageous description of him as some kind of sex symbol to the female gender. “Being a call-in guest on Heat Waves wasn’t something I was trying to hide from you or anyone else.”
She eyed him dubiously. “Well you certainly didn’t share it with the family, either,” she grumbled.
“It started out as one call, Gayle,” he explained. “One debate that was supposed to be a fun distraction. And it sort of escalated from there. I honestly didn’t expect things to go as far as they have.”
“How could you not?” She shook her head incredulously, causing her soft auburn hair to shimmer around her shoulders. “I only listened to the show once, but it was enough for both me and Adam to realize that the chemistry between the two of you is something to be pursued.” Resting her elbow on the table, she propped her chin in her hand, her expression eager. “Kerri kept her listeners in suspense at the end of the show, but you can spill the beans with me, Ian. Are you going out with her again?”
He worked his jaw, stalling for a minute before he answered. If it was up to him, yes, they’d go out again and again. As many times as she’d allow, as many days as there were in a week. He just wasn’t certain of Kerri and what she wanted. She’d made it more than clear that she wasn’t looking for a serious relationship, that her career was her first-and-foremost priority. Yet, he wasn’t positive that an affair would be enough for him when there was so much about Kerri that intrigued him. There were so many fascinating dimensions to her personality he wanted to explore.
He’d been tempted to call her this weekend after their date, but made the decision to hold off, not wanting to overwhelm or pressure her. In a very short amount of time he’d come to learn that she was a woman who needed her space, and he respected that, even as he longed to fill that space with his presence.
He needed to tread cautiously with Kerri, and maybe that meant letting her set the pace and direction in this budding relationship…and follow wherever she might be willing to take him, and see where it all led.
“I don’t know about another date,” he said quietly. “It depends on Kerri.”
“What’s there to ‘depend’ on?” She pursed her lips. “Do you like her?”
He didn’t hesitate. “Yeah, I do.”
She grinned. “Then go for it.”
Easy for her to say, he thought, and sighed. “It’s not as simple as going for it, Gayle.”
She stared at him for a long, uncomfortable moment. “Is this about…Audrey? Because I know you’ve used her death as the biggest excuse not to let another woman get close—”
“No, this isn’t about Audrey.” Not this time. It was about him and Kerri and him wanting things from her, with her, that he’d spent the past eight years avoiding with any woman. She had him tangled up in a huge knot of need that seemed to pull tighter and become more urgent the more time he spent with her. She made him laugh, she filled hollow places in him that had been empty for too long, and she gave him something to look forward to each night.
He was beginning to crave much, much more than a few hours with her, shared with thousands of other listeners.
“When you’re ready, I know we’d all love to meet her, Ian.” Gayle’s voice pulled him back to the present. “Mom and Dad only wish the best for you, and don’t expect you to be faithful to Audrey’s memory forever. Life goes on, and so should yours.”
Her approval, her kind and understanding words, meant more to him than he realized. “Thanks, Gayle.”
The glass slider leading from the house opened, and Eve stepped outside dressed in a silky shorts outfit, followed by her husband, David. The older man clapped Ian affectionately on the back. “You ready for a round of golf, son?”
Son. He’d always felt like David’s son. The honor would have been his by marriage to his daughter, Audrey, but he’d instead gained the older man’s trust and respect in other ways. In return, the Winslows had offered him family ties, the kind of traditional values he’d grown up without, and a secure place in their lives.
He’d lived with the guilt of Audrey’s death for eight long years, and he was ready to take Gayle’s words to heart: Life goes on, and so should yours. It was time to let go of the past and start building a future. One that involved more than long days at work and nights spent alone.
One that possibly included Kerri.
* * *
Kerri jogged up the five flights of stairs to the radio station, welcoming the slow burn in her thighs and hoping to work off the extra-large order of french fries she’d eaten for lunch—just before Carly had called to request her presence for a 7:00 p.m. meeting that evening. The excitement in Carly’s voice had been unmistakable, and while her friend had refused to tell Kerri the reason for the impromptu meeting, Kerri figured it had something to do with the possible sale of the station.
Anticipation swirled in her belly as she headed down the fifth-floor hallway. Judging by Carly’s enthusiasm, it had to be good news. If someone was interested in the station, then he or she had to be considering keeping the format and programming as it was. And that meant job security for her and everyone else at WTLK, rather than dreaded unemployment.
She opened the door to Dan’s office, expecting to find the room filled with the station’s staff, and stopped abruptly when her gaze found Carly and Dan…and Ian sitting in one of the chairs in front of her boss’s desk.
“Ian,” she blurted in surprise.
“Hello, Kerri,” he replied, low and deep.
He must have come from work. Instead of the casual jeans he’d opted for on Friday night, today he wore navy slacks and a white dress shirt with an abstract silk tie, and the sleeves were rolled back to reveal his strong, muscular forearms. A matching jacket was draped over the side of his chair. His hair was mussed, as if he’d repeatedly run his hands through the thick strands throughout the day. She had the strong urge to do the same, to test the warmth and texture between her fingers.
Awareness unfurled within her as his eyes turned a smoky shade of green and the corner of his mouth lifted in one of those seductive, private smiles that turned her inside out with wanting. Just that easily she was lost in the moment, lost in him and the erotic, provocative memories of his coaxing kisses and fingers stroking her in feminine places until she’d come apart for him in the most rapturous way. Her heart pounded in her chest and her entire body flooded with a trickling warmth that had nothing to do with the day’s heat and humidity, and was a direct result of being near Ian.
She inhaled slow and deep. She hadn’t seen or talked to him since he’d left her in the parking lot early Saturday morning after their stairwell embrace. She’d kept herself busy over the weekend and hadn’t allowed herself to get too caught up in thoughts of Ian, but her response to seeing him again wouldn’t let her lie. She’d missed him. Missed being with him and talking to him and feeling that light, carefree mix of infatuation and desire he evoked.
Oh, boy.
“Close the door, Kerri,” Carly said cheerfully, effectively yanking her from her thoughts and fantasies of Ian. “You’re letting all the cool air we’ve got out of the office.”
Kerri did as Carly requested, though Carly’s version of “cool” had to be in the mid-seventies. The fans in the room were on high, recycling the air and offering a modicum of relief from the more stagnant climate in the hallway. But as soon as the door clicked shut behind Kerri, she suddenly felt stifled and trapped, as if she were being set up. And she didn’t like the sensation one bit.
Kerri’s shock at seeing Ian ebbed to caution. Suspecting that Carly had some kind of elaborate scheme up her sleeve that involved her and the gorgeous man in front of her, she pinned her friend with a mildly accusing look. “Obviously this isn’t a staff meeting,” she said dryly.
Carly blinked with feigned innocence. “I never said it was.”
Of course she hadn’t, banking on the hope that Kerri would make that assumption. And she had. “A very clever ploy on your part,” she muttered beneath her breath. If Carly had gone to such lengths to keep her real reasons for the meeting with Ian a secret, Kerri was willing to bet she wasn’t going to like what her friend had concocted on her behalf.
“Kerri…” Dan began in a placating tone, seemingly sensing her agitation. “We thought it best if you heard our idea in person and not over the phone.”
“Well, I’m here,” she said, resignation in her voice as she settled herself into the chair next to Ian’s. “Let’s hear what you have to say.”
Carly grabbed a glossy women’s magazine from a stack of papers in front of Dan and rounded the desk, her face wreathed with the same excitement Kerri had heard on the phone. Carly perched herself on the desk in front of Kerri and Ian, though Carly’s attention was mainly directed at Kerri.
“Do you remember the discussion we had at dinner Friday night, about Chicago being a sexy city?” Carly asked.
Kerri thought back to that evening, recalling how Ian believed the city held lots of sex appeal, depending on who he was spending his nights with. Uncertain where Carly was headed with her line of questioning, she answered in a very careful tone. “Yes, I remember.”
Her friend grinned, her eyes flaring with a giddy light. “Well, I was thumbing through this magazine over the weekend and came across an article about sexy city nights in Chicago. How appropriate is that? You have got to check this out!” Carly opened the periodical to an earmarked page, then thrust it toward her to take a look at it.
Very tentatively, Kerri accepted the popular magazine geared toward today’s modern woman and perused the feature titled “Sexy City Nights in Fiery Chicago.” Along with the article was a two-page spread of color photographs taken of couples near and around city landmarks—some poses fun and playful, others undeniably inspiring and provocative.
Intrigued despite her best efforts to remain disinterested, Kerri took in a picture of a man and woman in a heated embrace near the Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park at night, backlit by the spectacular light display with water spraying a fine mist around them. On the opposite page, lovers shared a hot dog at Wrigley Field, with the caption below them referring to a “home run.” Another photo featured a couple out on a yacht anchored in Chicago harbor with a view of the city and skylines. Their bodies were shadowed, but the pale shimmer from the full moon reflected off of smooth, bare skin, and rippling muscles along a very masculine posterior.
Kerri swallowed to ease the sudden dryness in her throat, her gaze shifting to yet another sultry image, this one in the darkened back seat of a limo with a scantily clad woman doing something very erotic on the man’s lap. Both of them appeared to be in the throes of passion and enjoying the illicit, private moment. The kind of illicit, private moment she and Ian had shared in the stairwell.
A throbbing started low and deep, matching the unsteady rhythm of her heart. Her and Ian’s tryst would have fit in perfectly with the collection of photos, the two of them depicting another sexy city night in fiery Chicago. The mere thought caused a pleasurable ripple to cascade down her spine and gather between her damp thighs.
Ian leaned close to her chair, his arm brushing hers as he reached out and pointed to a snapshot of a couple in a cart at the very top of the Ferris wheel at Navy Pier. “Hmm, that one looks like fun, wouldn’t you say?” he murmured near her ear.
With the lights of the harbor twinkling in the background and the pair shrouded in the darkness of night, they were creating their own version of the mile-high club. The woman’s parted, glossy lips were making their way down the man’s bare torso, while her fingers worked the snap of his jeans to release the burgeoning erection straining against denim. There was no mistaking what she intended to do, and there was no denying he wanted it just as much.
Kerri’s stomach dipped, and her face heated when she imagined doing those lusty things with Ian. Maintaining her composure, she sent him a sassy look. “I hope for the guy’s sake there aren’t any jarring stops on the ride.”
Ian winced at her implication, but he was grinning rakishly, tempting her with his bedroom eyes, making her restless for something equally as forbidden as what the photos portrayed.
“Isn’t that a fabulous feature?” Carly asked, clearly expecting Kerri to be just as thrilled as she was with her find.
Kerri fanned the magazine shut and tossed it onto the surface of the desk, wishing she could dismiss those scintillating pictures from her mind just as easily. “And this article concerns us how?” she prompted, not certain she really wanted to know.
Carly exchanged a quick, encouraging look with Dan, who gave her a nod to continue. “When I first read the article and saw the pictures, I told Dan we ought to try out all those sexy places ourselves, and that’s when it dawned on me what a great campaign this would be for you and Ian.”
“Campaign?” Her and Ian? Kerri frowned, feeling the beginning of a headache coming on. “What do you mean?”
Carly’s entire body seemed to hum with energy and exuberance. “After the success of your Friday night date with Ian, and with your listeners clamoring for more of the two of you, I thought you could do your own version of sexy city nights in Chicago and make it a weekly part of your show. The two of you could hit one of these night spots, then report back on the air like you did for your last date. We’ve already filled Ian in on the details, and he’s agreed to do the series of dates—”
“No.” Her response was an automatic defense mechanism. It was one thing having Ian as a nightly call-in guest and tantalizing her listeners with their one date, and another thing entirely to make him such an integral part of her show. “That’s not what Heat Waves is about.”
“Heat Waves is about anything sexy, hip or provocative,” Carly refuted. “This would be all three.”
And it would mean going out with Ian. Every week. Which wouldn’t be such a bad thing if their date didn’t have anything to do with the success of her show. And therein lay her biggest complaint, that her show and Ian were becoming much too intertwined for her peace of mind.
Dan added his opinion to the matter. “Friday night’s show created such a huge buzz and this is just another way to capitalize on the hype. It’s all about marketing your show and the station and taking advantage of whatever press and publicity we can.”
Any extra coverage for Heat Waves or WTLK was something Kerri couldn’t argue with. And both Dan and Carly knew that.
A spontaneous, gregarious grin brightened Carly’s expression. “We’ve even looked into having bus and billboard ads done up with the picture of the two of you together with the slogan And You Thought The Heat Ended With The Fire emblazoned across the top of the ad.” She looked pleased with her creative, catchy phrase. “What do you think?”
Stunned by just how far Carly planned to take this campaign of hers, Kerri shook her head incredulously. “We can’t afford to do billboard ads!”
“We can’t afford not to,” Dan said, speaking strictly from a marketing angle. “I worked out a budget, and if this draws in the big-name advertisers the way we project it will, it’ll put us in a better position for the sale of the station.”
Kerri’s mind whirled and her chest tightened with resentment. She felt ambushed and cornered by the two people she trusted. She knew Dan and Carly truly had her best interests at heart, and the show’s ratings in mind, but that success came with a price—one that was connected directly to Ian and felt very personal.
“Would you mind if Kerri and I discussed this alone for a few minutes?”
Ian’s deep voice startled her. She’d been so caught up in her own anxiety and jumbled thoughts, and he’d been so quiet during her discussion with Carly and Dan that she’d nearly forgotten he was in the room. Now it seemed he wanted to state his opinion on Carly’s idea—privately.
“Take all the time you need,” Dan said as he came around his desk and gently but firmly grasped Carly by the arm. “We’ll be in the lunchroom when you’re done.” He ushered Carly out of his office, shutting the door behind them.
A huge sigh unraveled out of Kerri, and she smoothed her hair behind both of her ears before glancing Ian’s way. He sat there in that patient way of his, his eyes a strange mixture of kindness, caring and sensuality. “How do you really feel about all this?”
An adorable smile creased his mouth. A mouth capable of giving her such wondrous pleasure. A mouth she ached to feel on hers again…and other places, too. She was becoming a shameless hussy when it came to Ian.
He stretched his arm across the back of their chairs, letting his fingertips slip through the ends of her hair and feather along her neck. “You honestly have to ask that question after Friday night’s date?”
Her sensual reaction to his touch spoke for Ian, and herself. She trembled from the inside out, wanting him with a fierceness that was foreign to her, but was becoming increasingly familiar when it came to him. “No, I guess not,” she conceded.
Confused by all that had happened in such a short span of time, she stood and walked to the windows overlooking the street below and the evening traffic wending its way through the city. “This whole thing with you and me and the show is getting so out of hand,” she muttered.
“What is your biggest objection, Kerri?”
He might as well have asked her “What is your biggest fear?” The two went hand in hand and stirred so many levels of emotions in her. Resistance to change. Desire for Ian. Panic that she wouldn’t be able to separate this deep craving she’d developed for Ian from the aspirations she’d clung to for the past three years.
She wrapped her arms around her middle and wondered how everything had become so complicated when her life and ambitions had seemed so stable and clear cut two months ago. Before Ian had entered her life and made her feel things she’d managed to do without for all of her adult years. He made her want him—sexually and emotionally—and the combination was one she had no idea how to handle.
What was her biggest objection? He deserved an answer. Turning back around, she faced him, and her insecurities. She’d learned from an early age to confront her weaknesses head-on and not to give in to them, and this situation with Ian would be no different. “Everything with the show is starting to revolve around me and you.”
He regarded her through eyes that were at once serious and bemused. “And that’s a bad thing?”
Personally, no. Professionally, yes. “The hype, the interest…it’s something I never anticipated,” she said, compelled to be straightforward and honest with him. “Not this quickly, anyway. I’ve spent the past three years struggling to make my own mark as a DJ here in Chicago, and because of you I’ve become an overnight success and a household name.”
His smile held a wealth of understanding. “You wanted to make it on your own.”
“Of course I did, and I still do. And that’s part of the reason why I’m so hesitant about jumping into this sexy city night campaign with you.” Moving across the room, she settled her bottom on the edge of the desk a few feet from Ian. She sat in front of one of the oscillating fans and caught an intermittent breeze that fluttered through her hair and along her warm skin. “When I left California, I had certain aspirations in mind and I’ve worked hard to achieve them. I’m single, independent, and I don’t have to answer to anyone but myself. But one of my biggest goals when I arrived in Chicago was to succeed in this dog-eat-dog world of broadcasting. On my own.”
“I think you were on your way to being successful, even before I started calling in,” he assured her. Tipping his head, he scrutinized her deeper than she would have liked. “Do you mind my asking what made you leave California?”
She’d effectively dodged that question when they’d gone to dinner Friday night, but she wasn’t going to evade it now when she was spilling so many truths. And if it gave him a clearer understanding of her, then all the better.
“I grew up in California. My mother and sister still live there.” Her dysfunctional family was a whole other issue, and one she had no desire to delve into. “I was dating a guy named Paul, and things turned serious between us fairly quickly and I ended up moving in with him because he insisted it made things easier for both of us. Everything was fine for a while, and then he gradually changed. He didn’t like what I did for a living, the late nights and working with male DJs. He started limiting what I could and couldn’t do, what friends I could see, and for a while I went along with his demands because I was so lost in the relationship I couldn’t see how much he was controlling my life and even my decisions.”
Ian absently rubbed his thumb along his jaw as he listened attentively. “Something obviously made you see the light.”
She nodded, curling her fingers around the square edge of the desk. “A new guy at the station who didn’t know I was in a serious relationship made a pass at me. Paul found out about the incident from one of his friends who worked at the station and he went berserk. He demanded that I quit my job, and I almost did because that’s what he wanted.”
But on the drive to terminate her employment, she’d realized if she followed through on Paul’s orders she’d be succumbing to her mother’s greatest weakness…she’d be giving a man power and influence over her life and emotions, as she’d sworn she’d never do.
She shuddered at how close she’d come to getting sucked into that same vicious cycle. “I knew if Paul got his way, it would be as good as me handing over my independence and freedom to him on a silver platter. So, I refused to turn in my resignation, and Paul countered by issuing me an ultimatum. Him or my job.”
She laughed, but the sound held no humor. “That ultimatum was a huge wake-up call for me and made me see just how controlling Paul was, and that the relationship was heading toward something far more destructive if I didn’t get out of it then and there. A few days later I did quit my job, but I did it for myself. And then I packed my belongings, picked a city where I felt there would be ample opportunities for me to pursue a career as a DJ, and drove to Chicago.”
She stretched her legs out in front of her, and the cool material of his trousers brushed her bare calf. There had been absolutely nothing sexual about the accidental caress, yet she couldn’t stop the slow, building awareness strumming through her.
“It’s important that I make it on my own merit, Ian,” she continued, needing him to accept those aspirations. “For so many reasons. And especially now that the station is on the market. If WTLK doesn’t sell, or someone decides to change the program or bring in their own personalities, I want to be able to audition at another station and get a job without everyone asking about you or expecting you to be part of the package. Can you understand that?”
“Yeah, I can.” He leaned forward in his chair and braced his arms on his thighs, his gaze never leaving hers. “So, where does this leave us and the sexy city nights campaign?”
“I don’t know.” She had no ready answers, just doubts and uncertainties that kept rearing their ugly heads. “You’ve been a part of my show for the past month as a call-in listener, and even I can’t deny that you’ve made Heat Waves hotter and sexier and more exciting, but where and how will all this end?”
Something flickered in his eyes, that persistence of his clashing with a deeper hesitation. “Do you want it to end here and now?”
He was leaving the decision up to her. Offering her the opportunity to end their on-the-air relationship with one simple word from her. Yes. A huge knot formed in her chest at his selfless act, so unlike anything she’d ever known from any man. Ian was willing to give her back her nights as a solo DJ and step out of her spotlight. But being put in the position of giving him up or sharing her nights with him—both on the air and dating—she knew she wasn’t ready to let him go. She wasn’t ready to relinquish the chance to experience everything he had to offer. The passion. The seduction. The best orgasms her body had ever had the pleasure of receiving.
Like a woman starved for ultimate fulfillment, she craved more. She wanted Ian Carlisle. And she knew the desire was mutual. Her listeners were eager to share in the sensual relationship blossoming between her and Ian, so why not enjoy the wild ride until all their hot sexual chemistry fizzled out? And if their weekly dates helped boost her ratings, all the better.
Pushing aside deeper emotional fears, she made her decision based purely on the arousing, feminine needs this man kindled in the deepest part of her. “No, I don’t want us to end. Not yet.”
Relief eased the tension bunching across Ian’s shoulders and set his heart to racing. He’d been prepared to accept her answer, even if it meant putting an end to their on-the-air association. Thank God she’d agreed to give them more time.
Feeling as though she’d granted him silent permission to touch her in the way he’d been aching to since first seeing her walk in that door, he stood up and closed the scant distance that had been separating them. After listening to her bare a part of her soul to him, he decided to take a different approach with Kerri and focus on something less threatening, something she felt as though she had rules and boundaries for. Their attraction. An affair.
With his knee he nudged her slender legs apart, stretching them wide as he moved in between and pinned her against his lean hips and taut thighs. Their position was inherently sexual, a classic erotic fantasy of being fucked on a desk. Despite her shorts and his slacks separating them, he instantly grew hard. The soft gasp that escaped her throat told him she felt his erection. Her hands settled on his waist, and the subtle, instinctive rocking of her hips and the way her lashes fell to half-mast let him know that she’d welcome his thickening shaft deep inside her, given the chance.
Given the chance, that’s exactly where he wanted to be.
He pushed all ten of his fingers through Kerri’s hair, wrapping his fingers around the silken strands and tipping her face up to his. “If we’re going to do this sexy city nights campaign, then let’s take it to the extreme and have fun with it and each other. Ride the crest and enjoy the affair for as long as it lasts. What do you say?”
He’d obviously said the right words to sway her, because agreement sparked in her beautiful brown eyes, glittering with golden excitement. “I say yes.”
He smiled and lowered his head, sealing their deal with a long, deep kiss that she returned with equal ardor and unfettered enthusiasm. His lips on hers stripped away any lingering inhibitions she might have had. Eventually, he softened the caress of his mouth against hers and murmured, “First official sexy city night date, this Saturday night.”
She tugged gently at his bottom lip with her teeth, then soothed the love bite with the stroke of her tongue. “Okay,” she said agreeably.
Another hot, drugging kiss, and then he pulled back, his gaze scanning her face, flushed with arousal. “I’ll pick the place.”
“All right.” A seductive smile curved her mouth, and a wave of desire surged to his groin, making him impossibly thicker, harder—to the point that he felt as though he was about to bust the seam in the crotch of his slacks.
He nuzzled her neck, tasting her with his tongue all the way up to the sensitive spot just below her ear. “Wear something slinky, sexy and accessible,” he whispered hotly.
Groaning, she clasped his buttocks in her hands and stroked his erection against her mound. “Unlike these inaccessible shorts?” Frustration laced her voice.
He chuckled, the sound low and strained. “Nothing is that inaccessible.”
She squirmed to get even closer, and pouted when her attempts didn’t give her the satisfaction she obviously craved. “I beg to differ.”
He lifted a brow. “Do I hear a challenge in your voice?”
A brazen smile curved her swollen lips. “Yeah, I believe you do.”
She wanted an orgasm. Here and now. He wasn’t sure if she was serious or teasing, and called her bluff. “We could get caught.”
Her thighs clenched tighter around his hips, inviting the illicit, forbidden tryst. “I’m willing to take that risk,” she said huskily.
He’d created a sexual monster, and she was all his. “Greedy witch.”
Stroking her flattened hands up his spine, she aligned her body with his and rubbed her breasts against his chest. “It’s all your fault.”
He accepted full blame and responsibility for her new-found sensuality, liking the fact that he’d been the one to introduce her to the pleasures of orgasms. The woman was an incredibly soft touch, so responsive, and he knew it would be so easy to give her what she wanted.
And so he did. Here and now. His mouth closed over hers, pulling her into a tongue-tangling kiss that was nothing short of wicked. His hands coasted down her sides to her hips, tipping her pelvis up to better receive his slow, rhythmic thrusts in a simulated act of sex. She wrapped her arms around his neck, arched her back and raised her knees high around his waist for deeper penetration, more pressure, greater friction.
Her breathing deepened, and she moved in sensual, tempting counterpoint to his long, slow strokes. Heat blazed through his bloodstream, and he gritted his teeth against the primal urge to let go of his restraint. Each caress became more frantic and needier, sweeping him up into the moment and leaving coherent thought behind. He imagined sinking into her tight, damp heat, feeling her swell around him and tremble with the first signs of her climax.
And then she was trembling, and moaning, and clutching at him like a wild thing spinning out of control. He grasped her bottom, slid his large hands down to the back of her smooth, bare thighs and pumped harder, faster. He felt her shudder as she climaxed, and swallowed her soft cries with his mouth. This time, he couldn’t hold back. The pleasure was too intense and explosive. Tearing his lips from hers, he swore vividly and came right along with her in a mindless rush of molten heat and liquid fire.
Heart beating furiously, and mortified at his lack of control when he’d never lost his restraint like that before, he lifted his head and found Kerri grinning at him, her expression sated and her gaze curious. “Ian?”
The question in her tone was unmistakable, and he felt his skin warm. “Don’t say a word,” he growled in embarrassment. “It’s bad enough that I’m going to have to walk out of here with my jacket folded strategically in front of my lap to insure I keep my dignity intact, I don’t need you making any sassy wisecracks, too.”
She pressed her damp palm to his cheek. The gesture was so tender and gentle it made his heart turn over in his chest. “Actually, I think it’s kinda sweet, and very sexy.” She kissed him softly on the lips, then looked at him again. “Now I think I know the true meaning of a fully clothed orgasm.”
And she’d obviously enjoyed herself. Immensely, if the satisfied look on her face was any indication. “Enough of being fully clothed. The next time I give you an orgasm, you’re going to be completely naked.”
Her eyes widened in mock fear and she feigned a shiver. “Ooh, is that a threat?” she teased.
He grinned wickedly. “Nope, it’s a promise I intend to keep.”