Lead Me On

He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he damn sure wanted to find out. Chase slammed the door of his pickup and rushed across the street to the bar.

It took a few seconds to spot Jane. She sort of…blended in to the background. Despite it being Friday night, her hair was still pulled back into a tight bun. She still wore her pricey-looking white suit. As he watched, she took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. Jane was getting sleepy. He was about to miss his chance at a date.

Chase pushed through the mingling crowd and stopped next to her table. “Hey, Jane.”

“Oh!” she yelped, slipping on her glasses before she pushed awkwardly to her feet. “Hello.”

“I’m really glad you called.”

“I…just… I had your card.” Her hands gestured helplessly, so Chase waved her back to her chair.

He glanced down to her glass of water. “Can I get you a drink?”

“Um…sure.”

Chase caught a waitress’s eye, and the woman sauntered over with a grin that faded when he tilted his head toward Jane. She ordered a martini and looked surprised at his request for a Coke.

“Aren’t you going to have something?”

“No, I don’t drink.”

Her eyes flew wide behind the glasses. “Oh! I’m sorry. I’ll cancel mine, then, and—”

“Hey, it’s no big deal.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want to be disrespectful or—”

“It’s no problem. I’m not an alcoholic, so you don’t have to worry that you’ll push me off the wagon. My dad’s a big drinker, and I thought it’d be better if I never started down that road.”

Jane looked doubtfully down at her water.

“Seriously!” He laughed. “You know I work in construction, right? I guarantee my friends can throw back a hell of a lot more alcohol than you can. So drink up.”

Her drink arrived as if on cue. “Well…” She picked up her martini with a bemused smile. “All right. Cheers, then.” Still, she took only a tiny sip.

“So why did you call? Not that I’m objecting.” When a blush climbed her face at his words, Chase grinned. A blush was good. Very good. The modest Miss Jane did like him, despite her earlier words. There was something about her that made him want to…mess her up a little. He’d never been interested in a woman like her before, but for some reason her coolness fascinated him. And this new nervousness pushed heat through his skin. She’d probably never even been alone with a guy like Chase.

Jane took another sip of her drink and swallowed hard. Her pearl earrings glinted softly, as if warning him of her modesty. “It’s my birthday. On Sunday, I mean.”

“Oh, happy birthday.”

“Thanks. So I just thought, um… Well.”

Chase blinked at the sudden blush in her cheeks. “What? You thought I’d make a good birthday present?”

“No!” she cried. “Of course not! That would be… No, I just thought I’d…celebrate.”

But that hot red burn belied her words. He’d been half joking, but now…

Jesus Christ, was he supposed to be the present she gave herself for her birthday? Chase wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

No, wait. He was sure after all. It felt pretty damn fine with him.

Jane finished her drink in one gulp.

“So,” he ventured, suddenly unsure what to say. All he could think about was the fact that Jane really was looking for a good time, and that good time apparently involved him. Still, she couldn’t possibly mean to be so forward. Maybe she thought they’d hang out tonight and go on another date on Sunday.

Chase cleared his throat. “How’s work going?”

“Fine. How’s the business of blowing things up?”

He grinned. “Pretty damn fun. Not that I get to blow things up very often, but when I do, it’s a rush. You wanna see a blast sometime? Maybe next week?”

“Oh.” Her soft mouth made a lovely little O. He noticed how perfect her skin was and wondered what it would feel like if he dragged his fingers across her cheek. Though her eyes had brightened with interest, she shook her head. “I can’t.”

“Think about it. I’ll call you next week.”

He ignored the way she frowned. She might be shy, but she’d called him. She was interested.

“Chase, I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but…”

“Shit, did I screw up already?”

“No, I just want to be clear about something.” Jane sat up a little straighter, though he wouldn’t have thought that was possible. She always looked stiff. This girl needed some serious relaxing, and he’d be happy to show her how to get down and dirty.

“I’m not, um…” She cleared her throat again. “I just got out of a relationship, so this isn’t… This is casual.”

“Casual.”

“Yes. Temporary.”

Chase wasn’t sure why he felt a little twinge of hurt. After all, he’d asked her out while still riding an adrenaline wave. He hadn’t thought about much more than the challenge of getting her out for a drink, and then a little more. “Okay. Duly noted. I asked you out because I thought we might have fun, that’s all. No pressure.”

She smiled, her eyes flashing happiness. “Good. Have you had dinner?”

“Yes. Have you? I’d be happy to—”

“I’m good,” she blurted.

So she didn’t want dinner or a relationship. Was he losing his mind or did that leave only one possibility? “Let me buy you another drink,” he offered, the only thing he could think of.

“No, but thank you.” Her eyes fell to the table. “One more thing. I wouldn’t normally go out with men with whom I have a working relationship. I mean, I wouldn’t normally do this at all, but…”

“I’m happy you’re making an exception.”

“I trust you’ll be discreet?”

“Oh, of course.” Chase tried to shake off the feeling he was being interviewed, but Coke sloshed over the rim of his glass when he picked it up.

“If you breathe a word of this to anyone, I’ll have to deal with come-ons and crude remarks. I can’t have that in my workplace.”

“No problem. You can trust me.”

“Good.” She nodded, her mouth serious. “Can we go to your place, then?”

His throat spasmed, choking off the soda he’d been swallowing. The Coke tried to escape another way, burning toward his nose. Chase coughed in a desperate attempt to retain some dignity, but he couldn’t stop his eyes from watering. “What?” he managed, swiping at the tears. Despite his theorizing, he hadn’t convinced himself that Jane had called him for sex. He was feeling more sure by the second.

Jane didn’t answer. She’d regained her composure, perhaps because he’d lost his, and now she sat in her normal prim pose, hands clasped and resting on the table in front of her.

“Why?”

She frowned at him over those little black glasses. “Why do you think?”

The noise in the bar seemed to grow louder, making it hard for Chase to think. Of course he knew why, but…

Chase didn’t normally jump into bed with any woman who showed interest, but there was some sort of spark between them. Something that made him want to throw caution to the wind. Since he’d met her yesterday, his interest had built minute by minute. Hour by hour. And now, even though they hadn’t even had a first date… Now he felt an urgency overtake him. She didn’t seem like a woman who propositioned men. This wasn’t likely to be an open-ended offer. Chase was working within a limited time frame.

And it was her birthday. Almost.

Hell, this was every man’s dream, wasn’t it? A woman asking permission to jump his bones? Jesus, his little fantasy about showing the uptight secretary a good time was unfolding in front of him like a puzzle unlocking. It seemed way too good to be true.

Too good to be true…but Jane was watching him, waiting, eyebrows raised.

“Let’s go,” Chase said, holding out a hand as he stood. If this sweet little secretary wanted a good time, Chase was damn sure going to do his best to give her one.

JANE STOOD and smoothed down her skirt as Chase threw a couple of bills onto the table. Her knees shook. She’d never done this—not as an adult, anyway. But here she was, taking a man home for meaningless sex. Well, not to her home, but still.

When Chase grabbed her hand, she realized it was the first time they’d touched. She also realized that his skin sent flashes of electricity sizzling along her nerves. His hand was hot and big and rough around the edges. He felt like a man. Her weak knees shivered.

He led her out of the crowded bar and across the street to his truck. When they reached the passenger door, Chase stopped and turned to face her with serious eyes.

“This isn’t something weird, is it?”

“What?” The tipsiness she’d been comforting herself with made it hard to figure out his strange question.

“I don’t look like your dead husband or anything, do I?”

“What are you talking about?”

He watched her, his fingers sliding more deeply between hers. “You said you’ve never done this before.”

“I haven’t.” Not recently anyway.

His eyes narrowed to glittering slits as his gaze dropped to her lips.

Before she could think what to say, Chase dipped his head and pressed his lips to hers. She wasn’t ready for it. Strange, considering she’d propositioned him just a few minutes before. But she wasn’t expecting the taste of him right at the moment, his lips brushing over hers.

His mouth was nothing like his hands. His mouth touched her softly, a gentle pressure, testing her, feeling her out. When her shock wore off, Jane finally responded. She parted her lips a little, pressing into him, and Chase took the hint.

A shock of warmth against her bottom lip revealed itself to be his tongue, touching briefly before drawing away.

“Mmm.” She sighed, angling her head in encouragement. He tasted her again, teasing her until she followed his tongue with her own.

Oh, my. His work-roughened hand slipped around the back of her neck as he pulled her closer. Chase’s kiss became deeper, deeper, until Jane found herself clutching his T-shirt and hanging on tight. His tongue thrust slowly. There was going to be no jackrabbit action in this man’s bed. This was a careful, controlled assault.

The shivering in her knees climbed higher, shaking through her thighs. As if sensing his work was done, Chase brushed his lips over hers one last time before pulling away.

“Well,” he murmured. “Ready to go?”

Jane nodded. “Definitely.”

The truck beeped, the locks popped open and Chase reached for the door handle. “After you, Miss Jane.”

She flushed a bit at the reminder of who she was to him, but that didn’t stop her from climbing up and snapping the seat belt into place. This was a bad idea, but Jane wasn’t really a good girl and she never had been. She’d been faking it for ten years without a slip. Ten long years.

Frankly, it was a miracle she’d lasted.

Now she was tipsy and he was hot, and she wanted to drop the good-girl act for a few minutes. Or hours.

Chase slipped into the driver’s seat and flashed her a wicked smile. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, Jane, but I definitely like it.”

Finally she could respond to that grin exactly the way she wanted to. Jane smiled and slanted him a look from the corner of her eye. “Just drive.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She felt the looks he kept aiming her way as he drove, as if he found her impossibly intriguing. Amazing how an offer of free sex could monopolize a guy’s attention.

Jane squeezed her thighs together, thrilling at the darts of pleasure that resulted. The dream she’d had the night before had gotten her body primed for pleasure. Now just that one kiss had her squirming.

Thank God she’d put on sexy underwear that morning. She didn’t always wear lacy bras and panties, but it was one of the small pleasures in her life. Sexy lingerie. A tiny concession to her true nature. A secret beneath her professional clothing. It was a secret she wanted to let Chase in on. Quickly.

She hid her body beneath perfectly tailored clothing, because otherwise she drew too many eyes. Her curves had drawn attention from the time she’d hit puberty at eleven. The wrong kind of attention for a young girl, but wrong was just what she was looking for now.

“My place is just around the corner,” Chase said, breaking the silence.

Only two blocks from Main Street. Wonderful.

“Are you cold?” he asked. Even though she said no, he pushed the Up arrow on the climate control system. “Music?”

She shook her head and he dropped his hand. They had nothing in common, nothing to talk about, but Chase seemed determined.

“Do you live here in town?”

“Mmm-hmm.” His big hand was sitting right there next to her hip. She wanted to pick it up and put it on her knee, maybe run it up the inside of her thigh so she could feel his calluses rasp against the softest part of her body.

They turned onto a narrow side street, and Jane held her breath in anticipation, counting the seconds until Chase slowed and pulled up to a three-story building. His brow furrowed. “I’m not sure my place is clean.”

Jane opened the door and hopped down before he could back out of this. If he backed out, she’d never get the guts to do it again. Clutching her purse, she met him at the driver’s side door, thoroughly enjoying the way his body kept on rising as he stepped onto the driveway and stood straight. God, he was big. “I’m not a neat freak,” she lied. “It’s no problem.”

He unlocked the door to his condo and stuck his head in to look around before swinging it open. “Good news. It looks okay.”

It actually did look okay. A bit bachelor-pad, what with the flat-screen TV complete with multiple gaming systems. But it didn’t smell funny and there weren’t pizza boxes lying around. Just a few newspapers and a coffee cup…plus one pair of muddy steel-toed boots. Why, oh, why, did those make her heart pitter-patter when fine Italian loafers made her lip curl?

She had an illness. Hopefully, sleeping with Chase would work like an immunization. Tetanus shots lasted only ten years. Perhaps degrading sex had the same rate of effectiveness.

Jane wandered toward the black bookshelves while Chase turned on more lights and picked up the papers. Unsurprisingly, the shelves held DVDs instead of books. Hundreds of DVDs. She peered closer. There were action movies, sure, but they were outnumbered by big award winners. Movies like Being John Malkovich and Atonement.

“This was a really good book,” she murmured, running her finger along the edge of a case.

“I don’t read much.”

She didn’t feel a smidgen of surprise at that. Her family had never had books around either.

“So,” he said, the word fading into silence as he walked toward his small kitchen and opened the fridge. “I’ve got a couple of beers in here. You want one?” He was jangling his keys nervously, so Jane decided she’d better give him a task. When she asked for ice water, he looked relieved.

They could draw this out with drinks and awkward conversation, or they could skip all the pretense. Jane moved to the stereo system and the iPod connected to it. She scrolled through the songs, looking for something that fit her mood.

Before Chase had even shut off the faucet, Jane found the perfect album and hit play. Then she turned the volume up and let the bass beat drown out the voice of the woman she was now. Tonight she was going to embrace the bad girl who lurked deep inside.

CHAPTER FOUR

WHEN A HARD LINE OF BASS began to pulse, Chase frowned and turned toward the window, imagining some kid driving by with his speakers blasting. But no, the sound was too clear for that. He glanced at the stereo Jane was moving away from.

“I’m sorry. Did I leave…that…?”

But Jane wasn’t rushing back to find the stop button. She was walking toward him slowly, white suit jacket sliding down her arms. The brown shirt beneath it was silky and sleeveless, but not fitted enough to reveal much more.

“Too warm?” he asked.

“Yes,” Jane answered. Apparently she was way past warm, because she stopped in the middle of the room and reached for the bottom of her shirt, not even pausing before she whipped it over her head. “You were right.”

“Oh?” He couldn’t say more than that. His throat was closing up as his eyes sent images to his brain.

She reached for the side of her skirt and unzipped it. “I do want you as my birthday present. Is that insulting?”

The skirt dropped. Chase felt his eyes bulge. Holy shit. Jane Morgan, Miss Prim and Proper herself, was fucking stacked.

He’d been right to doubt his suspicion that she was plump. She wasn’t plump at all. Her waist was tiny and taut. It curved down to rounded hips, hugged by white lace panties. There was more white lace cupping her full breasts. Naked, she looked less like a wallflower and more like Jessica Rabbit. Especially when she reached up and tugged her hair free of its bun. She shook it out, and waves of glossy brown suddenly curved over her shoulders.

The glass slipped in his hand, and he barely caught it in time. Chase set the water down with a clunk.

“Is it?” supersexy Jane asked.

“Huh?” Her thighs were tight but more than full enough to be womanly.

“Is it insulting that I want you as my present?”

“No. No, it’s not.” In fact, his dick was showing interest in being the main showcase of the gift exchange. He’d seen a porno movie like this once. The serious-looking secretary who was suddenly overcome with lust that transformed her into a sexpot. Chase glanced at the door to be sure no camera crew had arrived.

No, they were alone. The bass line thumped. Jane stepped closer. When he realized that he was standing in his kitchen like an idiot while a half-naked woman beckoned from the living room, Chase moved toward her.

He remembered that kiss as soon as he got close to her. Then he put his hands on her shoulders and found that her skin was even softer than it looked. Holy God.

As he lowered his head, she rose to meet him. This kiss was anything but a tentative exploration. Her tongue met his and slid hard against him as he ran his hands down her back to get his first taste of her curves.

Jane snuck her hands beneath the back of his shirt and started her own exploring. The combination of her hot, soft skin beneath his hands and her fingers sliding over his back had him aching hard within seconds. She pressed closer as if encouraging his arousal, angling her mouth to take him deeper.

Deeper. Oh, hell yeah, he wanted to get deeper.

Sliding his hands lower, he slipped beneath her underwear and found his fingers curving over the most beautiful ass in the world. Not that he’d seen it yet, but it was round and firm and high and it fit his hands like a fantasy.

He spread his fingers wide and pulled her tight against him. When he heard the rasp of his stubble against her chin, Chase lifted his head. “I’m sorry. I forgot to shave.”

“No,” she murmured. “It’s perfect.” Proving that she meant it, Jane dragged her open mouth down his jaw to his neck and sucked at his pulse.

Before he knew it, she’d pushed his shirt up and was trying to lift it over his head. Chase helped her out, even if that did mean giving up his very pleasant holding place.

“Oh, God.” She sighed. “Look at you.”

“Me?” he scoffed, meaning to turn her around to get a view of that ass, but Jane was busy tracing his collarbone with her tongue and he didn’t want to be rude and interrupt. Her wet mouth dragged to his shoulder, where she sucked and bit a path over the wide black swirls of his tattoo. Chase closed his eyes and let her explore, though his hands itched to get back to her skin. He closed them to fists as she sighed against his shoulder and slipped around to his back.

“You are so sexy,” she whispered. He felt the tip of her tongue touch the nape of his neck and Chase shivered. Though he wanted her back in front of him, he let her continue her exploration just for a moment…just long enough for her to run her hot tongue all the way up his neck.

“Jesus.” Sparks of pleasure slipped down his spine. He spun around and slid his hands around her small waist. “You’re fucking gorgeous, Jane.”

“Thank you,” she answered politely, for some reason sinking away from him. It was so impossible that it took a moment for his mind to register that Jane Morgan was going to her knees.

“Jane,” he moaned, thinking he should protest. But his body seized control of his mind and shut it down with brutal efficiency. Jane was on her knees before him, little black glasses still perched on her nose, and she was reaching for the button of his Levi’s.

He’d fallen into some sort of alternative dimension. Been sucked into an X-rated video game. Nothing about this night made sense. Nothing about this current image made sense, but Jane’s fingers were sure and quick, and soon enough she was tugging his zipper down and slipping her hand into his jeans and past his underwear.

Her fingers slid against his bare dick and his breath hissed between his teeth. His whole body tingled with anticipation. He was completely off balance, with no idea what might happen next, and that sense of surprise seemed to push all his blood closer to the surface. Just the faint pressure of her fingertips on his shaft felt like the best sexual experience he’d ever had. And Jane was licking her lips as if there was more to come. Much more.

She tugged his jeans down a little and slipped his dick free, her hand curled firmly around the base. And then, just to complete the fantasy, Jane smiled up at him as if she had just unwrapped the best birthday present in the world.

JANE TRIED NOT to let her hand curl too tightly around his cock. She didn’t want to squeeze too hard and scare the man, but good Lord, he was painfully gorgeous. Thick and hard and swelling even bigger as she watched. The head was wide, but the shaft was even wider.

Her sex pulsed with every beat of her heart. This was a man. With his rough hands and tattoos and thick erection. Her body needed him.

She stroked him slowly, taking in the shape and weight of him. Her mouth watered as she traced a fingertip around the flared head.

“Jane,” he murmured again, and she glanced up at him with a smile as she slipped her glasses off. Then she pressed a chaste kiss to the tip. The muscles of his stomach jumped.

Still smiling, she closed her eyes and tasted him. Just a taste, just a slow swirl of her tongue around the head. He smelled of soap and tasted faintly of the salty fluid that glistened at the tip. “Mmm,” she purred as she parted her lips and pressed a wet kiss.

Then she took him inside her mouth.

“Ah, God,” he groaned. His hand stroked her hair, the calluses catching faintly at the strands. Jane gave herself up to her lust and slid him deep. She licked and sucked him until he was fully primed, until his hand shook against her temple and his breath rushed from his lungs. She wanted more, wanted to keep going, but she couldn’t risk him finishing this way. She had plans for this man, and they didn’t involve sleepy cuddling.

After one last lick, she set him free. “Ready?” she asked.

His eyes opened, but the pupils were wide and distant. “What?”

Laughing, she stood and tilted her head toward the hallway.

“Oh.” He pulled up his boxer briefs and half-zipped his jeans. “I was ready before. Now I’m incoherent.”

“I noticed.”

Chase arched an eyebrow and took one of her hands to tug her toward the bedroom. “You break a man down and then you mock him? That’s cold.”

“Or hot.”

“Yeah,” he agreed with a smile. “Or hot.”

When they crossed the threshold of his bedroom, Jane was still laughing, but he took care of that by pulling her into his arms.

His naked belly touched hers and his arms circled her waist as they kissed again. He was an excellent kisser, even more so now that he was turned on and losing control. The thrusting of his tongue got Jane even wetter than she had been.

She felt the slide of his hands up her back, felt his fingers work briefly at her bra before the straps fell free. Jane inched away and let it slide down her arms.