Recommended Read from Lora Leigh


ONE OF THE GUYS by Shiloh Walker

Available Now from Ellora's Cave

Jaynie knew that her fiancé had some serious ménage fantasies going on, but she never expected to catch him acting them out. As if that pain isn't enough, he tells her she couldn't be a real woman if she tried. Reeling from the double blow, confidence shattered, Jaynie turns to Brian, her sexy partner at work. One night, she tells him. She wants one night with him, no strings attached.

But Brian feels plenty of strings and it's as if all of them are pulling him toward Jaynie. She's sexy, she's funny and she haunts his dreams. Memories of that one night keep him awake and he's dying for another taste of her.But Jaynie doesn't seem at all interested. What's a man to do?

EXCERPT

If she stopped to think about what she was doing, she'd freeze again. Jaynie was damn tired of being cold. She paused at the mirror and stared at her reflection. The peach silk lay against her tanned skin, clung to the stiff peaks of her nipples. She tied the belt tightly and then slid her hands under her hair, pulling it free from the robe. It tumbled down her back, the thick gold-streaked strands razor straight.

For a second, she hesitated, staring at her reflection. She closed her eyes and when she did, she saw Brian's intense turquoise stare, hot and focused. If she started to panic or think, all she needed was that memory and she knew she'd feel steady enough to go through with this.

He wasn't in his room. She turned and stared back down the staircase, uncertain of where he might be. He hadn't gone out. She would have heard his truck if he'd left the house.

She headed back downstairs, made her way into the kitchen and from there she heard the muffled sounds of his breathing, strained and harsh. She heard metal clank as she opened the basement door. It was dim down there. Her feet were soundless on the carpeted steps as she descended.Jaynie's breath hitched a little as she stared at Brian. He was lying on the weight bench, his gaze on the ceiling, his features blank as he lifted the heavy bar up and slowly lowered it back down. He didn't make any of the annoying grunts and groans that Dean liked to make when he worked out. The only sounds she heard were his heavy breathing. He did ten reps as she watched.

She waited until he put the bar down and sat up before she moved. She didn't make a sound, she knew she hadn't, but his head turned and for a brief moment there was a fiery heat burning in the depths of his gaze. Then he blinked and when he looked at her, his expression was shuttered.

That blank look cracked as she lowered her hands to the robe's belt. She didn't say anything at first, just opened the robe and stood there as he looked at her. He stared at her breasts and she shuddered a little when he licked his lips. His big hands clenched into fists and under the thin cotton shorts, she could see the swelling of his cock. His gaze moved down her body. Jaynie had to fight not to jerk the robe closed when his gaze fastened on her sex. A muscle jerked in his jaw and Jaynie felt an answering throb deep inside.

He wanted her. The relief that flooded her was unreal. It didn't matter that he was probably just reacting to the physical stimulus of a woman standing naked in front of him. It was a basic, honest human reaction--a man wanting a woman. That was all she needed, to know that she hadn't totally failed and that she could react. Men could want her and she could feel heat--she hadn't frozen up.

"I need you to touch me," Jaynie said softly when he finally looked up at her face.

"Jaynie--"

She knew what he was going to say and before he could form any words to try to talk sense into her, she shrugged her shoulders and sent the robe to the floor in a puddle of peach silk. "I don't want anything more than you touching me, your hands on me. I'm not looking to find a replacement for Dean and you don't need to feel anything more than what you're already feeling. I need to be touched, Brian, and I want you to do it."

His voice was hoarse when he rasped, "And when you wake up tomorrow, then what? You're Kate's best friend. You're my friend and we work together."

"None of that will change, Brian. You don't need to lie to me and tell me that you love me. You don't have to worry that I'm using you as a rebound guy after Dean," she said softly. She took a step toward him. He took a deep, ragged breath and started to reach for her. When he would have dropped his hand, she took another step and caught it, brought it up and pressed it to her breast. His hand cupped her and he used his thumb to trace a slow circle around her nipple. "But I need this. Please."

Brian figured he had every man's fantasy standing right before him. A beautiful, sexy woman offering a night of sex, no strings attached. If it wasn't Jaynie, he would have already been on her, but it was Jaynie. Jaynie with long legs, tanned, smooth skin and hair that fell nearly to her very nice butt, but nonetheless, it was Jaynie. He'd known her all her life.

She stared at him with stark eyes brimming with an emotion he couldn't quite decipher and it made his chest feel strangely tight. I need this. Shit. Slowly, he stood up. Brian hooked a hand over the back of her neck and pulled her against him. She fit, he realized inanely. She fit against him as perfectly as if she had been made for him, herbreasts pressing flat against his chest, the soft curve of her belly cuddling the ridge of his cock. Her hands came up and curled around his biceps.

"You sure about this?" Brian murmured. He dipped his head and pressed his mouth to hers. Earlier, her mouth had been slicked with some shiny peachy-pink lipstick. Her lips were naked now but they were warm, soft and sweet under his mouth and the taste of her went straight to his head.

"I don't do things I'm not sure of," Jaynie whispered.