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  He walked into the room and only had enough time to notice that Renee hadn’t turned on the overhead light, leaving the room in only the dim sunlight filtering through the window, before the door was closing behind him. He turned around just as the door clicked shut and Renee rushed back into his arms, picking up right where they’d left off.

  Every curve of her was touching him, driving him wild. He pressed against her until she was backed up against the door, slipping one hand under her shirt. She moaned deep in the back of her throat as his hand slid up from her waist to her breast, and he echoed the sound as his fingers found her nipple, hard and erect.

  He teased the peaked tip as he moved his mouth to her earlobe, eliciting another moan from her, and his unoccupied hand moved down to her thigh. Jeremiah knew they didn’t have much time, but he planned to take full advantage of this moment. The skirt she was wearing had ridden up dangerously high, leaving so much of her shapely legs exposed for his viewing pleasure. He drank in the sight as he pulled the skirt even higher, wishing the room was brighter so he could see Renee in all her glory.

  When his fingers slid past her lacy panties to her folds, she gasped, and his entire body tensed as he felt her wet heat. He put his mouth to the place on her neck where her heartbeat throbbed as he stroked her with his fingers, dipping first one inside her, then two, and continuing to rub at her mound until she was holding on to him tightly, her head pressed back against the door, her eyes closed.

  * * *

  RENEE COULD BARELY stand as Jeremiah continued stroking her core, kissing along her throat and teasing her breast. He was playing her like a violin and damn if he wasn’t good at it. The growing tension low in her belly built until she couldn’t resist the wave as it crashed over her. She came hard, her entire body shivering with it as it ran through her.

  She opened her eyes and saw Jeremiah smiling at her, his eyes smoldering with barely controlled need. And how she wanted to fill that need.

  Renee reached down to the button of his jeans, anticipation boiling inside her. Just as she pulled down the zipper and moved to expose what, from the feel of it against the fabric, was a huge erection however, Jessica’s voice floated in from downstairs.

  “Dinner’s ready! Time to eat!”

  Damn. Renee stopped what she was doing and looked at Jeremiah. His expression was so pained that it made her laugh.

  “Really? This is funny?” he asked, a smile crossing his own lips.

  Renee leaned her head forward, letting it rest against Jeremiah’s chest as she tried to take a few breaths to calm herself down. But when she breathed in his scent, a mixture of some cologne that made her think of the outdoors and his own masculine smell, she had to lean back again. She wasn’t ready to go be around her sister and talk wedding so soon after that spectacular orgasm.

  As if Jeremiah knew what she was thinking, he took a deep breath of his own. “I’ll head down first,” he said. “I can tell them you’re getting settled in your room and washing up.”

  He sent one last smile her way as she moved away from the door, and then he was gone.

  One thing she could say for him: Jeremiah was a good sport.

  4

  RENEE TOOK A shuddering breath and moved away from the door Jeremiah had just closed behind him, flicking the light on as she went. The house was large and had several guest rooms, each a different color. She suspected this was Jessica’s doing—it seemed very much like her sister to tell someone that they were staying in “the blue room,” and then give them a set of towels that matched.

  Renee was in the green room, the mint-colored walls bright and friendly in the light thrown from the bedside lamp. Green vines crisscrossed the white background of the bedspread, and even the white chest of drawers had green accents. It was all so sweet and pretty that she had to smile.

  She opened her suitcase on the floor and grabbed out a pair of pants and some fresh underwear, sliding out of the clothes that were suggestively mussed from her interaction with Jeremiah and putting on the new outfit, trying to flatten her hair as she did so. After a glance in the mirror and a swipe at her smeared makeup, she readied herself to go back downstairs.

  She took one last calming breath, opened the door and made her way to where the rest of the group sat. When she stepped into the kitchen, she found quite the happy scene: Aaron’s arm around the back of Jessica’s chair, her body leaning into his and both of them laughing at something Jeremiah must have just said. He looked a little embarrassed, but was laughing, too. Everyone seemed comfortable and content, almost like a little family. How did she fit in here?

  Her good mood sank a little as she realized that she didn’t. They were all Texas, and she was New York.

  But then Jeremiah looked in her direction and his eyes lit up at the sight of her, and she was able to push those thoughts aside. She didn’t need to belong here. She would have a great week, fulfill a few fantasies, and then go back to New York to her dream job.

  That was better than belonging in this little group, she told herself.

  By the time she’d gone through these thoughts and felt reassured that her life was already everything she could want, really, Jessica had spotted her. She gestured at the full plate and empty seat clearly meant for her. “Come and get some food. I’m sure you haven’t had a decent home-cooked meal since...when was the last time you ate at Mom’s?”

  Renee thought for a second as she sat down. “Almost two weeks ago.”

  “What have you been living on since then?”

  Renee didn’t want to answer, especially with Jeremiah watching her, that perpetual grin on his face, as if he was enjoying the interaction. “This and that,” she answered vaguely.

  Jessica raised her eyebrows. “Sandwiches from the deli down the street and leftover pizza?”

  “Veggie pizza,” Renee added, knowing that it didn’t make it sound any better. “I’m busy. And I don’t know how to cook. This looks amazing,” she said in an attempt to change the subject from her terrible eating habits.

  Jessica smiled, clearly proud of herself. “It’s just an easy chicken recipe. Now get to eating,” she said, pointing at the plate.

  Renee took a bite, reveling in the taste of fresh vegetables and roasted chicken. She really needed to eat real food more often, but after working all day, she was too exhausted to do more than grab something on the way to her apartment or toss old pizza in the microwave. Another thing to push from her mind. This was not the week to examine her faults.

  “What were you laughing about when I came in?” she asked, trying to get the conversation going on another topic.

  Aaron smiled at her. “Jeremiah was telling Jessica about the time he was hitting on our waitress at a diner in Tyler.”

  Renee forced herself to smile, trying to tell herself that it was good to remember that Jeremiah wasn’t a settle-down kind of guy. According to the stories Jessica had told her, in fact, he was more of a hit-on-any-female-with-a-pulse kind of guy.

  And that was very good, because there was no way she’d be falling for him. Fantasy sex only.

  * * *

  “TELL HER WHAT HAPPENED,” Aaron prompted, hitting Jeremiah lightly on the shoulder.

  Jeremiah looked down at his plate, his blood pumping hard. Aaron had brought it up in the first place, and now he had to tell Renee about hitting on other women. Great.

  He wanted to punch Aaron “playfully” on the arm, at least hard enough to leave a bruise, but he didn’t want to raise any eyebrows. There was no way he’d forget Renee’s number one rule and ruin the possibility of an amazing week.

  “It was years ago,” he clarified, hoping Renee understood that he wasn’t that guy anymore.

  Aaron leaned in toward Renee, clearly missing Jeremiah’s discomfort. “We sat down to get some lunch, and Jeremiah just has to hit on the r
eally hot waitress. Because he’s Jeremiah and isn’t afraid to get turned down by anyone.”

  Jeremiah forced himself not to glare at his friend. He had to keep it casual, no matter how much he wanted to kill the guy. If he tries to tell the story about the supermodel, he thought, I’ll tackle him right here at the table.

  Aaron continued the story, completely oblivious. “He must have asked her out or made sexual innuendos one too many times, because, you know those ‘We reserve the right to refuse service’ signs? Yeah, I had to drive home hungry all because Jeremiah thought he might be able to get laid in the walk-in freezer or something.”

  Aaron laughed again at the story. Jeremiah looked over to Renee to see her reaction. She was smiling and nodding, but he didn’t like the look in her eyes. Stupid Aaron.

  After a silence that felt way too long to Jeremiah, Aaron started talking again. “Hey Jeremiah, tell Renee what happened with the—”

  If he says supermodel I’m going to destroy him, Jeremiah thought, holding his fork in a death grip.

  “—generator,” Aaron finished, to Jeremiah’s immense relief.

  That was another embarrassing story, but at least it didn’t make him look like an asshole.

  Jeremiah launched into the story before Aaron could say anything else. “Okay, so my generator was out of gas, right? Luckily, I have a few gas cans sitting around and poured some gas into it. Or at least what I thought was gas...”

  * * *

  RENEE WATCHED JEREMIAH go through the whole story, laughing aloud as he gestured wildly to show exactly how thick the smoke was as it billowed from the ruined piece of machinery.

  For the most part, though, her attention wasn’t on his epic tale. It was on the width of his shoulders, the way his hair fell across his forehead, the mischievous glint in his eyes, the strength of his arms.

  God, she wanted him. Just looking at him from across the table made her squirm in her seat. And judging by the performance upstairs, it was going to be amazing once they managed to get more than five minutes alone together.

  She’d never felt so impatient in her life.

  After dinner, Jessica turned to Renee and said, “Well, tomorrow we’ll start with the wedding stuff, but tonight I want to catch up, if you aren’t completely exhausted.”

  Renee looked at her sister’s smile and tried to smile back, but it wasn’t easy. She realized that none of the scenarios running through her mind, most of which involved Jeremiah tearing pieces of clothing from her body, was going to happen tonight. There was just no way to get Jeremiah alone without letting Jessica in on the situation, which absolutely wasn’t going to happen. Stupid rule number one.

  Renee could see that Jeremiah realized it, too, and he didn’t look too happy about it.

  Dinner flew by. Renee tried not to look at Jeremiah, but constantly caught herself glancing over to where he sat. He seemed all casual confidence, and the ease he exuded amazed her. How could he be so relaxed after that little episode upstairs?

  After dinner was done and the talk had lulled, though, his demeanor changed. Almost as if he should leave, but he didn’t want to. She didn’t want him to leave, either, but there was nothing to be done.

  Finally, Jessica pulled the notebook out again and Jeremiah said his goodbyes. His eyes lingered on Renee for an extra second before he turned away. She watched as he walked out the door.

  She cursed to herself. That was one opportunity gone.

  Jessica had started talking to her, but she’d missed it. All Renee could think about was how she couldn’t wait until some unknown time to kiss him again. And what if she never got the chance?

  She could hardly bear the thought. She was too close to let this lie.

  “I think I left my phone in Jeremiah’s truck,” she blurted out, then rushed to the door without waiting for her sister to comment.

  She imagined getting to his truck just before he pulled away and giving him one hell of a sensuous kiss that would leave him thinking of her all night.

  Renee was off the porch and rounding the corner of the house in a blink, only to see Jeremiah just a couple feet away, walking toward her and directly in her path. She couldn’t stop herself in time and ran into him at full speed with a very unsexy “Oof.”

  Slamming into his chest was like hitting a brick wall, and she bounced off and fell to the ground, the wind knocked out of her. As she sat in the dirt, a little cloud of dust settling around her, she was glad it was dim enough that he couldn’t see how red her cheeks were.

  Jeremiah knelt close. “Are you all right?” he asked, trying to look her over for damage.

  Even through her embarrassment, she couldn’t help but feel aroused. His hand, which was resting casually on her thigh, took her attention away from how silly she must look sprawled on the ground.

  She stood, brushing dirt off herself. “I don’t know which is bruised more—my butt or my ego,” she murmured, half to herself.

  He stopped his ministrations and cocked his head to one side. “That sounds familiar. Is that a quote from a movie?”

  She was stunned he recognized it. “It’s from It Takes Two. Why do you know an obscure quote from a decades-old movie made for little girls?”

  Jeremiah laughed. “I have a little sister. She loved those movies. Haven’t thought about them in years.”

  There was a quiet moment. Then, “What were you doing running around the house?” he asked, the smile on his face indicating that he had a pretty good guess as to the answer.

  Renee suddenly felt shy. It was one thing to run up and kiss someone, and another thing entirely to explain that plan while brushing dirt off your ass.

  His smile widened as the silence grew, and before she could figure out a way to explain without making herself sound like a dork, he leaned in close and kissed her. His lips and tongue drove any thoughts of embarrassment from her mind. In fact, they drove out pretty much everything that wasn’t X-rated.

  And then, yet again, the kiss was ended far too soon. Renee briefly considered hopping into Jeremiah’s truck and going with him to his place before coming to her senses. She cursed Jessica under her breath.

  Jeremiah stepped back, creating enough distance between them that she was able to get herself under control. Mostly.

  “I better get going,” he said, but he made no move to turn around and walk to his truck.

  “Are you going to be around tomorrow?”

  She had to ask. It would kill her to spend the next twenty-four hours wondering when they could continue where they had left off upstairs. It made her knees wobbly just thinking about it.

  He grinned. “Can’t get enough of me, huh?”

  She leaned in, pressing her body against every inch of his. “From that bulge in your pants, I don’t think you’ve had enough, either.”

  She backed up, watching the pain of separation cross his face and feeling exactly the same. Her little tease was just as bad for her, and she almost regretted having made the move in the first place.

  He let out a deep breath. “I haven’t had anywhere near enough. I’ll find a reason to be here tomorrow.”

  The thought sent a thrill through her.

  Reluctantly, they went their separate ways. Renee heard the door of his truck close behind her as she entered the house, wishing she was spread out on the bench seat of that truck.

  “Did you find it?”

  Renee almost asked what Jessica was talking about before her brain caught up, remembering her excuse for running out there in the first place. “Oh. No. It must be in my bag somewhere,” she replied, hoping she wasn’t blushing.

  Jessica didn’t seem to see anything off about her behavior, which was a relief. Before Renee knew it, she was settled on the couch, tea in hand, her sister relaxing next to her. “We’ll be talking wedding all week,
I’m sure, but for right now I really want to hear what’s happening back in New York.”

  Renee raised an eyebrow. “We talk every week. How much do you think you’re missing?”

  “Lots!” Jessica exclaimed. “I want face-to-face communication. So start talking.”

  “Actually, I do have some news.”

  Jessica leaned forward. “Guy news?”

  Renee had to laugh. “No, work news.”

  Jessica deflated a little. “All you ever have is work news. You work too much. When was the last time you went out with a guy?”

  Renee thought for a moment. Not counting those kisses with Jeremiah, it had been... Well, longer than she’d like to admit.

  Before she could formulate an answer, Jessica shook her head and said, “I thought so. What’s your work news?”

  Renee told her sister about the meeting with Patty. By the time she finished, Jessica’s eyes were wide. “That’s a lot of responsibility. I’m so happy for you, but does this mean you’ll be working more than you already do?”

  Jessica, always the worrier. Renee shrugged. “Patty always managed to keep things in balance. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

  She didn’t want to admit to her sister that she was prepared to throw herself into this job with everything she had. If it meant a few more hours at the office, what did it matter? What else did she have to do?

  The evening passed quickly, the two sisters swapping stories from their lives. Renee tried to stay focused on the moment, but her mind kept wandering to its two favorite subjects: work and Jeremiah.

  If she wasn’t designing the perfect layout for the magazine’s next issue, she was imagining Jeremiah’s hands running all over her.

  After the third time she caught herself with no idea what Jessica had been saying, Renee smiled apologetically at her sister. “I’m sorry, but I’m exhausted.”

  Jessica jumped up, shaking her head. “Of course you are. I don’t know what I was thinking. We can talk more tomorrow.”

  With that, she disappeared down a hallway and came back with fluffy yellow towels in her arms. “Here are some towels in case you want to rinse off before going to bed.”