That sexy smile vanished, replaced by a sneer. “Why? Don’t want anyone to know you might have been attracted to me?”
“That’s not it at all,” she defended, but she could see how he’d perceive things that way. “I just don’t do flings, and there’s no reason for anyone to know our private business, especially because it won’t happen again. We shouldn’t let our friends think we’re the next happy couple.”
He seemed to be weighing her words for several moments, but then he started closing the distance between them. Why did she feel like the prey right now? Why wasn’t she opening that front door and ushering him out? She’d said she didn’t want their secret out and that’s all she’d needed to tell him. They had nothing else to discuss.
“So I’m your dirty little secret?” he asked as he
stepped into her. With each inhale, her chest brushed against his.
Warning bells went off in her head. Red flags waved in vain. Common sense didn’t exist because she found herself reaching for him, stroking her fingertip over that streak above his dark brow just like she’d been imagining doing since he stepped through her door.
“Careful there, Red,” he murmured. “You’re playing with fire.”
“Fire? No. You’d never burn me.”
She swayed slightly, and Cash’s hands circled her waist as he steadied her. “I think you had too much wine.”
“Fruit cocktail?” she asked with a smile. “No such thing.”
Cash reached up and grasped her hand, pulling it between their bodies. Someone moaned, and when Cash chuckled, she realized she’d let that sigh of desire slip. Oops.
Wine and Cash? The most potent combination she’d ever experienced.
Jade slid her other hand up over his broad shoulder, enjoying the excellent muscle tone beneath her palm. When she threaded her fingers through his hair, Cash hissed in a breath.
“Were you saying something just a moment ago about this not happening again?” he muttered.
Jade recalled some such verbiage, but her body clearly hadn’t grasped that concept. She was ready to climb all over him if he’d just take this ache away. Why did engine oil or whatever he had all over him smell so damn good? He was just so . . . so masculine, and quite the opposite of any man she’d ever been attracted to.
Maybe that just added to the allure and desire.
Leaning forward just a bit, Jade skimmed her lips along that stubbled jawline. She missed his beard, but she’d never say so. Considering he’d shaved to appear more clean-cut for her family, she couldn’t be upset. Though she did love the feel of his coarse hair beneath her touch. She stroked back and forth. His fingertips dug into her sides.
“Do you even know what you’re doing?” he ground out.
“I’m pretty aware,” she muttered as she nipped at his chin.
In a swift move that left her head spinning, and not just because of the wine, Cash had taken her face in both hands and silently demanded she look at him. That controlling attitude used to piss her off, but now she found his bold behavior impossible to resist. So why try?
“Maybe you want this, but how can I be sure it’s not the alcohol?” he asked.
Jade blinked but never glanced away. “I’m well aware of what I’m doing and who I want to do it with. Are you with me or not, Flex? This stays right here and it’s just tonight.”
He covered her lips with his in an angry, frantic kiss before jerking away. “You want to keep this just between us? Fine. But we’re far from over.”
When he swept her up into his arms and mounted the steps, Jade rested her head against his chest as anticipation curled through her.
Cash wasn’t done with her? Jade would have to analyze that statement later . . . much later.
Chapter Seven
Cash called himself all kinds of a fool with each step that took him closer to her bedroom. He only knew which one was hers because he’d been the one to paint it when Livie had wanted to sell the place.
Jade practically purred in his arms as her fingertips stroked along his jaw, his neck, up over his lips. The woman had had too much to drink and he was fully aware of that . . . but she still wanted him.
Had he not seen how passionate she was in Nashville, he would’ve denied her tonight. But the way they’d been once they came together . . . there was no way in hell they were finished with each other.
So what if she did want him to be her dirty little secret? He could handle that . . . for now.