Take Me

She smiled. “Just me and 299 party guests.” She had an extraordinary mouth, generous, her lips pouty without being petulant. Joshua needed a taste. Just one. He almost leaned over to take it but managed to remain fixed in place, his libido jumping. She was available, he wanted her and she appeared interested. It was turning out to be a good party, after all.

He smiled. “Can I take you home?”

“Actually, I just got here,” she drawled, eyes bright. “But thanks for offering. Simon,” she turned to his uncle with a smile that made Joshua’s skin tingle, “I’d love another glass of this excellent Chateau Whatever.”

Simon gave them both a pointed glance before he snatched her glass and went off to the kitchen.

Jessie tilted her head a little to look up at him. Brown eyes twinkled as bronze lights of laughter danced in the sparkling depth. She was all sass and flirty eyes. And damn well irresistible. Joshua wanted to bury his hands up to his elbows in her hair, assure himself that it was as soft as it looked. He wanted to run his fingers along her slender curves. He wanted to lay her on cool sheets in a candlelit room and make love to her until she melted like warm honey.

But first things first.

“Before we leave,” he said flatly. “I need to make something perfectly clear. I’m married.”

Obviously taken aback she gave him a startled look. “Goodness, a philanderer with integrity. How refreshing.”

He realized he’d tensed for her response. There was something about her that led him to believe she was nothing like his female companions to date. He hadn’t paused to wonder why he’d told her the truth when he’d never bothered to tell anyone else before. She’d be just as capable as any other woman to run directly to the tabloids with the news flash.

His marriage wasn’t a marriage at all. It was a piece of paper, nothing more. He knew it, the girl knew it. But this woman, with her glowing eyes and ripe mouth, might not understand.

For the first time since he was a boy, Joshua felt a flush ride his cheekbones. “It’s purely a business arrangement. She doesn’t give a damn what I do. We’ve been separated for seven years.”

“Poor her.”

“The arrangement was mutually agreed on,” he said flatly.

“Why bother telling me?”

“Because I don’t want any misunderstandings. I’m powerfully attracted to you. Hell, flat-out, I want you, Jessie Adams. But I’m not interested in a long-term entanglement, and marriage will never be on the table.”

“Because you’re already married.”

“Because I never have, nor will I ever have, any interest in the state of holy matrimony. I married to facilitate a business deal, she married me for money. If this is a problem, tell me now.”

“The problem,” Jessie said sweetly, “is I don’t care one way or the other. And I think it’s a bit presumptuous of you to think I would since we’ve known each other all of two minutes. Your marital status has no effect on me at all one way or the other.”

“Good.” Joshua only now realized how damned boring life had been lately. It had been a long time since he’d felt the roar of his blood and the thrill of the chase.

“Let me guess. Your wife’s a petite, blue-eyed blonde?”

Joshua stared at her blankly. He vaguely remembered Vera as a tall, skinny…blonde? Redhead? Whatever. Somehow he’d lost control of the conversation. He wasn’t sure where or why, but it mildly annoyed him. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

Brown eyes gleamed devilishly. “I’m trying to point out that I’m not your type.”

“How do you know what my type is?”

Jessie fluttered her long eyelashes at him. “Small, blond and busty. Would you like me to name them for you?”

“I think I can remember,” Joshua said dryly, narrowing his eyes in mild annoyance. CEOs had quailed at that look. She—damn her sassy hide—had the nerve to grin.

“And why would you be so interested in my lady friends?” he asked silkily, suddenly finding tall, slender dark-haired women extremely appealing. The air about her seemed to crackle with electricity.

“What?” Little Miss Sass was distracted for a moment watching his mouth. “It’s hard to miss your exploits when every tabloid and newspaper finds the subject absolutely fascinating.”

A point to the lady for her swift recovery.

Joshua glanced down. Her nipples were clearly delineated by the fabric of her dress. As he watched, the small buds peaked. He stifled a groan and shifted his stance.

“Lord,” she said, voice thick, “you are direct, aren’t you?”

“If I was any more direct, I’d come right out and tell you I want to take you to bed.”

She smiled. “I believe you just did.”

“I’m hardly the first man who’s wanted to sleep with you.”

“You’re the first man who’s said it straight out within moments of meeting me, with about three hundred witnesses.” She didn’t move away as he rested his hand on the small of her back. He could almost feel her skin vibrate beneath his fingers.

“I want to see you.”

“You are seeing me.”

“Without all these people around.”

“If you’re staying with Simon for the weekend, we should bump into each other sometime.”

“That’s a little too vague for me.” He scanned her animated face. Her eyes still danced as she crossed her arms over her chest. At the view of her plumped breasts on the shelf of her arms, his mouth went dry.

He wanted her. He planned to have her. Soon.

“Several of us are going parachuting tomorrow, and since it’s too far to drive home, then back again so early in the morning, I’m spending the night here. You’re welcome to join us, Joshua.”

Her husky voice saying his name made him want to yank her into his arms. He craved her mouth under his. He wanted to back her against the wall and have her, right there in Simon’s sunken living room, in front of hundreds of guests. Lord. He couldn’t remember ever being this hot, this fast.

Jessie glanced at him under her lashes. She took a small step back. “I’ve heard people should live life as if their personal diary would be published in the newspaper every day.” She looked up at him with those big brown eyes. “I’ve read your personal diary in the tabloids for years. Just standing here talking to you is going to give me notoriety I’ve never had before. I’m not sure I’m ready for prime time.”

More than likely their first meeting would be splashed across every tabloid by tomorrow morning. He didn’t give a damn—unless she cashed in on his weak moment of honesty concerning his marriage. Then every snoop reporter in the country would be on the hunt for Vera.

Despite the risk, pursuing Jessie held an indefinable, underlying attraction that had nothing to do with her slender body. Something about her made his heart go from zero to a hundred in seconds and he’d be damned if he knew why.

“Do you realize,” he asked, his voice thick, “that we’re standing right under the mistletoe?”

Her long lashes fluttered as she glanced up, then directly into his eyes. Yes, her eyes told him. Of course she knew where they stood.

“Lord, woman, don’t look at me like that.” He didn’t recognize the roughness in his own voice. “What do I have to give you for just one kiss?”

“Here?” Jessie scanned the room.

“Yes, damn it.”

“Chloroform?”

“Oh,” he mocked, “I think I can find something that works just as well and is far more accessible.” He hailed a waiter, and handed her two brimming glasses of pale wine. “Here.”

Jessie automatically clutched both glasses as she looked up at him. “What am I supposed to d—”

He touched her cheek, just the barest of touches, and she closed her eyes, tilting her face up. He kissed her softly on the mouth. Christ, it was as bad as eating one damn peanut. She tasted of Simon’s excellent Chateau Coutet, laughter and something he couldn’t quite put a name to.

His fingers tightened briefly in the springy silk of her hair as her tongue shyly touched his. His lips moved with expertise over hers, Jessie’s lashes fluttered then drifted closed. He felt her small breasts brand his chest as she leaned into him. He swallowed her ragged moan as he deepened the contact and lost himself in her response.

And then she was gone.

One moment he was standing with an armful of pliant willing woman, the next he was holding two dripping glasses and she was several feet away.

“Give me a call sometime.” Jessie fluttered her fingers and melted into the crowd, disappearing from view before he could recover.

Joshua felt as if he’d been poleaxed.

JESSIE’S PURPLE-AND-PINK parachute floated over the vineyard toward the eucalyptus tree windbreak on the south side of the clearing near Simon’s house. Joshua shaded his eyes against the sharp winter sun and scowled. He’d had precious little sleep the night before. Thinking about her, knowing she slept under the same roof, had caused him to toss and turn. So near and yet so far.

In his imagination she’d appeared larger than life somehow. Vibrant and intoxicatingly alive. She had what the French called je ne sais quoi, an indescribable something.

Joshua didn’t consider himself a fanciful man, but he needed to see Jessie Adams again. Needed to assure himself that what he remembered from the night before was as simple as her unmistakable sex appeal.

Joshua enjoyed sex. He considered himself a considerate lover. He wanted Jessie. It seemed simple enough. And yet… He narrowed his eyes trying to put his finger on it. There was more to her. Something complex. Something intriguing. Something, damn it, that called to much more than his libido.

Which was, of course, a ridiculous assumption based on a few minutes of conversation the night before.

He wanted to chat with her once more before he left to drive back to San Francisco. Get rid of this stupid fantasy he’d built up during the night. Frankly, he reminded himself grimly, he didn’t have the emotional fortitude to deal with a woman for more than companionship and sex.

They didn’t call him The Glacier for nothing.

High above him, a gust took hold of the thin silk, and Jessie’s slender arms madly manipulated the controls against the sudden shift in wind direction. She was losing the battle.

“Hell.” Joshua started to run as her feet skimmed the treetops. Behind him, the follow vehicle revved, then bit a wheelie into the dirt road running alongside the vines behind Simon’s house. Joshua sprinted to the other side of the trees just in time to see the billowing silks covering Jessie’s prone body.

Roughly he gathered the fabric, flinging it behind him until he unveiled her. She looked up into his face and grinned.

“God, that was fabulous!” She sat up, brushing twigs and dirt off her arms. A skintight purple and fuchsia spandex bodysuit clung to every sleek, tight inch of her long body.

“You little idiot,” Joshua said furiously, his heart still pounding. “You could’ve been killed.”

Jessie’s hand stilled and her smile slipped a little as she unbuckled her fuchsia helmet and tugged it off. Something he didn’t recognize flared in her eyes.

“Yeah, my landing left a little to be desired.” She tossed her braid over her shoulder. “I’ll have to work on that.” She stuck out a hand. “Pull me up.”

He hadn’t imagined it. She seemed to inhale life, to eat it with a spoon, relishing each delicious moment at a time. He knew she’d be like that in bed. Eager. Hot. Passionate and wild. He could drown in those hot, brown eyes. “You like living dangerously, don’t you?”

“You have no idea,” Jessie managed to say breathlessly as he suddenly tugged on her hand, drawing her to her feet and against his chest in one quick move.

“I want to taste it on you.” Joshua breathed in her already familiar scent that even dust and eucalyptus couldn’t mask.

“Taste what?” she asked, a hairsbreadth away from his mouth. She looked up at him, her hand in his against his chest. Her fingers flexed under his but her eyes were steady. “Taste what?” she repeated, her husky voice low.

“Danger.” He brought his mouth down on hers like a starving man at a banquet. He knew after he’d slept with her a few times the gnawing want would lessen and become manageable enough to ignore.

Jessie’s lips held the sheen of his kiss as he stepped away from her. Joshua handed her the helmet. “I’ll call you January first,” he told her. Ignoring her bemused look, he turned and walked away. It was one of the hardest things he’d done in years.

He walked faster.

2

AS PROMISED, Joshua called Jessie on New Year’s Day.

Jessie made sure she wasn’t home.

He called again on the second, the third and the fifth. She’d let the answering machine pick up while she sat in her kitchen listening, his tone getting progressively cooler and more impatient with each call.

Joshua had left half a dozen imperious messages in the last two weeks. She had no intention of falling over herself to call him back. Obviously he wasn’t used to being ignored.

She knew she was playing a dangerous game. There was a fine balance as she waited for the timing to be right without causing Joshua to lose interest.

Soon. Very soon, Jessie thought as she drove onto the narrow road leading up to the gatehouse. She’d been startled, no, stunned, when Joshua had admitted he was a married man. His honesty, not only in acknowledging his marriage, but the status of that marriage, had confused her.

If she hadn’t been his wife she would’ve politely walked away. Her mother had had plenty of married lovers. The ending was always sad and messy.

She sighed. His honesty had disarmed her and made her feel a little guilty about what she was about to do. But he was still The Glacier. Cold. Hard. Ruthless. He was still her absentee husband. He was still the man who was going to give her her heart’s desire. A baby. Born in wedlock.

It was the second week of the new year and cold for Northern California. The wind cut through her jacket as Jessie got out of the car. It was after three and she’d missed lunch looking for a particular wallpaper sample at the design center in the city. Her stomach growled.

The little cottage welcomed her with warmth as she quickly closed the front door behind her and headed for the kitchen. She loved the carriage house. It was home. Safe, warm, welcoming, and as permanent a home as she’d ever had. Joshua’s lawyer, Felix Montgomery, had taken her under his wing and introduced her to his son Conrad that dizzying day seven years ago.

Con had offered her not only the use of the gatehouse, but also a job in his architectural company while she went back to school. Conrad and his partner, Archie, had converted the gatehouse cottage into a charming home for her, then later incorporated the studio when she’d gone to work for Conrad full-time as an interior designer.

They’d helped her transform her life and, in the process, the two men had become her dearest friends and the brothers she’d never had.

The phone rang. Jessie turned off the machine. “Hello?”

“Where in the hell have you been?”

She dragged in a breath. “I believe you have the wrong number,” and hung up.

The phone rang again. Jessie tossed a tea bag in a mug of water and stuck it in the microwave. The phone continued ringing. The microwave dinged. She squeezed out the bag and poured in a little milk. “Hello?”

“This is extremely time-consuming,” Joshua said with a great deal of annoyance.

“Who is this?”

There was a pause. “Joshua Falcon.”

“Oh. Sorry. I’ve been getting a lot of crank calls,” Jessie told him sweetly. She sipped her tea and burned her tongue. She sat down at the small round table in a weak ray of sunshine and unhooked the calendar beside the phone.

“I’ve been calling you for weeks.”

“Darn. And I kept missing you.” She didn’t bother trying to sound too sincere. “I’ve been so busy.”

“So have I,” he said coolly. “I just returned from an important business trip, but I made time to call you anyway.”

Jessie grinned. “Where did you go?” Her stomach growled.

“Ireland.”

“I’ve always wanted to travel. Tell me about it.” She dragged the cord over to the cupboard and scanned her soups.

Talking to him on the phone was easier, safer, than in person. She couldn’t see his eyes. Or his mouth. Or smell his cologne. She wanted a baby from this man. She did not want to fall in love with him.

Jessie refused to go there. That path was rocky and filled with potholes. Fortunately, she’d outgrown the gigantic crush she’d had on him years ago. She’d seen what love had done to her mother. No, thank you very much. That wasn’t for her. Mutual attraction would get the job done. Quick. Painless. Satisfying. No fuss. No muss. It might be cold-blooded, but she’d know who her child’s father was. No one would get hurt. Everyone would get what they wanted.

It was a good plan.

She prayed she’d get pregnant immediately.

She held the phone between chin and shoulder as she found a bowl, opened a can of tomato soup and added water and milk to her late lunch.

Joshua gave her the Reader’s Digest travel tour of Ireland while she mumbled “Hmmm” and “Fascinating” at appropriate moments. And it would have been if she wasn’t so uptight about seeing him again. At this rate, she’d develop indigestion.

She was sure as soon as she saw him the panicky feeling she’d been experiencing would pass. Between her “schedule” and his business travel, she’d managed to avoid him since Simon’s Christmas party. Unfortunately January was a slow month in the interior design business, and she could’ve used the distraction of being genuinely busy. She’d have to see him soon, even if the timing wasn’t right.

“All right. Enough about my trip.” He sounded exasperated. “When the hell am I going to see you?”

“How about tomorrow night?” Jessie glanced at the calendar where the next night had been marked with an X. She’d calculated just how long she could keep him dangling. She didn’t want to see him one second more than necessary. Her attraction to him was already putting a crimp in her plans. She had to stay focused, no matter what.

“Tonight,” he insisted.

“I’m busy tonight.” She lied cheerfully, getting up to place her empty bowl and spoon in the sink. “I’m free tomorrow night or next Wednesday. Your choice.” Next Wednesday was circled in red. And underlined. She closed her eyes and prayed he’d pick door number two.

“I’ll pick you up tomorrow night at seven.”

“I’ll meet you at Noble’s, near Fisherman’s Wharf, at seven-thirty,” she said, resigned. There was a long pause. Jessie held her breath. Had she pushed him too far?

He laughed sardonically. “God, you’re ornery. All right. Noble’s. Seven-thirty.” The dial tone buzzed in her ear.

She collapsed back in her chair, eyes closed. She’d done it. She picked up the calendar and ran her finger tenderly around the dates she’d marked in red and underlined. The nights for conception. All she had to do was hold him off a week, until her next ovulation. The prize was worth any discomfort she might feel, any small niggling twinge of conscience she might have. All she had to do was stick to her plan without deviating and she’d walk away with the grand prize.

JESSIE WAS COOL, calm and collected when she walked into Noble’s restaurant at precisely seven-thirty the next night. She wore a simple royal-purple dress with a jewel neckline and cap sleeves. Sophisticated and sexy enough to hold him off while beckoning him closer.

Joshua rose to greet her. The hem of her dress suddenly felt way too short, the silk far too thin, clinging to her body in a way it hadn’t done at home.

“Hello, Jessie. You’re more gorgeous than the last time I saw you.” His pale eyes gleamed in the candlelight as he took her hand, and drew her onto the banquet seat beside him. A sizzle of electricity arced up her arm.

“The last time you saw me I was covered in dirt.” God, but he smelled good. He looked virile and alarmingly masculine. And he was sitting far too close. Jessie tried to scoot up against the window.

“You were covered in skintight Lycra.” His breath fanned her mouth. She struggled to draw in air, mesmerized by his silvery gaze as he whispered huskily. “I’ve dreamed about peeling you out of it for weeks.”

Jessie paused a beat for her nerves to steady, then reached for the menu. If she handled this right, she could make the next date for the following week when it would count. One dinner for one night in his bed. Two dates. I can do this. I can.

“The seafood here is fabulous.” Her pulse throbbed in her ears. She willed herself to relax. She knew the outcome of tonight. He didn’t.

The waiter arrived. “Two specials,” Joshua said, neither consulting her nor taking his eyes off her for a second.

His broad chest, covered in shirt, tie and jacket, was inches away. She had a lustful vision of it quite naked. Would his chest be sleek and smooth, or sprinkled with hair? It was alarming how badly she wanted to touch him to find out. “Perhaps I’d like something else.”

“So would I.” Joshua brushed a wisp of hair away from her cheek. His touch was electrifying. “But I’m not going to get it before we eat.” She must have looked as blank as she felt. He gave her a wry smile. “I don’t give a damn what the specials are, as long as it’s served fast.”

Jessie controlled a bubble of hysterical laughter. “We could’ve gone to McDonald’s.”

“This was your choice.”

“I’m starving.” God. If they were this hot for each other they’d burn each other to cinders.

He slid from his seat and held out his hand.

“Where are we going?” Jessie took his hand automatically.

“To dance,” he said thickly. “I have to hold you.” He pulled her up, then maneuvered her to the small, empty dance floor and tugged her into his arms.

It felt good pressed against the length of him like this. Far too good. Jessie tried to put a little space between them. Joshua’s arms tightened in a firm, inexorable embrace.

The solid width of his chest felt like heaven beneath her hand. She looked up at him. Would her baby have Joshua’s nose? His pale-blue eyes? His mouth?

The small band in the corner played something soft and bluesy. Lord, this is dangerous, Jessie thought, as Joshua moved her expertly around the floor. And expertly against him. She should have been shocked by the hard length of his erection pressed against her. Instead her heart leaped, and her skin heated. Her nipples puckered and rubbed against the inside of her bra. She moved a little closer, allowing the slide and sway of their bodies to ease the ache a little. He brought his hand up between their bodies, and clasped her hand against his chest. The backs of his fingers brushed against her nipple making her shudder with longing.

It was no accident. Of course it wasn’t. He kept up the slight friction, until Jessie wanted to scream.

His hand felt warm through the thin silk at the small of her back as he pulled her more snugly against him. His thumb moved in a maddeningly light caress. Goose bumps spread from her back to her breasts in a slow, sweet rush that heated her skin another few degrees and made her heart pound.

Oh, boy. Definitely dangerous.

They were practically making love while vertical. Joshua brushed his mouth across her forehead and Jessie felt dizzy with longing. She struggled to find a topic of conversation to keep herself sensible. “Noble’s was the first commercial interior design job I ever did on my own. I’d never done any commercial work until Con convinced Charlie to let me do—”

She glanced up while she was speaking. Why did he have to look at her like that? She licked her bottom lip, losing her train of thought.

Joshua’s eyes smoldered; he drew her closer. “You did a superb job.” He caught her nipple between the backs of two fingers and exerted gentle pressure. Moisture pooled between her thighs and her eyes glazed.