Hot in Here (9 page)

off. Being the coward she was, she slid the alarm button off and slowly inched her way to the edge of the

mattress.

Waking up to see regret shining in Bryce’s beautiful hazel eyes was something she didn’t care to stick

around for. Last night was gone. Now it was morning. A new day. And God only knew what the day

was going to entail. Probably some nasty high drama between them, followed by her crying in her office

at work, too ashamed to show her face. Or worse, maybe Bryce would act like nothing happened.

Maybe he’d use that infuriating nonchalance he had mastered over the years to make it seem like it was

no biggie, that last night’s bone-melting sex had been nothing more than a meaningless fuck. And that

would kill her.

She’d made love to Bryce, and his encouragement and praise as she had done so had given her a sexual

self-confidence her other lovers never had. So for Bryce to brush off what had happened between them

would be a death blow to the memory she was clutching tight to her chest.

Jenna glanced at Bryce once more as she slowly stood up, avoiding the squeaky part of the mattress.

Yeah. It was going to be more than awkward this morning, coming face-to-face for the first time after

she’d screamed his name and scratched her nails down his back.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.She should never have gone through with it. Should never have compromised her

friendship, or her plan, like this. But what was done was done. She couldn’t take it back, didn’t want to

Page 27

Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv
erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

take it back.

Jenna took in the rumpled bed sheets and the thick down duvet that Bryce had thrown onto the floor as

he had crawled on the bed before covering her with his hard naked body. She remembered what they’d

done when they had fallen into bed, and how damn sexy Bryce had looked, looming over her, thrusting

into her slow and hard.

Look at me, baby, I want to see your face as I fill you with my cock. I want to see how much you want

it.

Jenna shivered, a whole body tremble, as she recalled the velvety darkness of his voice, the way the dirty

words skimmed along her flesh and heated her blood. Oh yeah, she’d liked how wicked his dirty talk

made her feel, how much it turned her on.

He’d taken his time, learning what she liked, what made her hips rise to meet his and her head toss back

on a moan. He touched her, not only with his cock, but his hands, his mouth, covering every inch of her

body, leaving no patch of skin untouched, unkissed. He’d waited until she was trembling and begging

before giving her another mind-shattering orgasm.

In that moment, as she’d cried out and clutched him, she could have sworn that Bryce had made love to

her. That it hadn’t been just an empty physical act. The look in his eyes as he watched her come was like

nothing she’d ever seen before. Then it simply vanished, and he looked away and rolled off her. But he

hadn’t left the bed, leaving her wondering what had happened. He’d simply gathered her up in his arms

and tucked her head beneath his chin.

He’d yawned, a fake one, and pretended to go to sleep. That was when the worries about the morning

had begun to take shape in her mind. She began to fear that maybe the sex on the couch and the magic in

the bed had been pure insanity and pent-up lust on Jenna’s side and mere physical need on Bryce’s.

And that was why, this morning, Jenna couldn’t face Bryce. Her feelings were out of control, and

completely controlled was what she needed to be. So, chickenshit or not, she crept quietly out of the

room after gathering up her clothes for the day, and headed for the shower.

The morning after wasn’t going to happen this time. She could be dressed and out of here in half an hour.

Lots of time before Bryce and his regrets woke up.

“Answer the fucking phone.” Bryce growled.

On the fifth ring, voice mail clicked on. “This is Jenna McCabe of Global Marketing. Please leave a

message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”

Bryce cleared his throat as he waited for the long beep. This was the third fucking message he’d left.

Christ, he was looking desperate. But what the fuck? Why wouldn’t she pick up? Shealways took his

calls.

The beep sounded and he cleared his throat once more, trying for charming, not desperate. “Hi. Me

again. Just . . . ah . . . well, just checking to see if . . . ah . . . yeah . . .” He kind of laughed, to hide a

groan. He sounded like a moron. “So, now that I’ve put out, are you dissing me?” he asked, trying to

sound playful.

“I made breakfast. I can swing by the office and maybe we can eat it together. I don’t want to waste

your groceries or anything. Give me a call.”

He hung up and threw his cell phone onto Jenna’s couch. Well, wasn’t that smooth? Fucking brilliant. He

sounded like an adolescent after his first lay, but hell, he had no experience with this. He never made the

“after sex” calls. Those were placed by his lovers, cajoling and whining and bribing him to return their

calls. And he’d mostly ignored them. But Jenna? What the hell did she think, he was going to walk out on

her before she woke up? Maybe she did, and she wanted to beat him to it.

Maybe,the evil voice in his head whispered,she does this with all the guys she’s been with. Or worse,

maybe she’s really not that into you. Maybe you were just a body to get it on with.

The sizzling from the nearby griddle drew his attention, and mercifully pulled him out of his black

thoughts. Picking up the spatula, he started flipping the pancakes he’d made, trying not to think about

Page 28

Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv
erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

how much of an idiot he’d been. Had he actually believed she was just in the shower?

Of course he had, because he never could have believed that Jenna was a screw-and-cruise kind of girl.

So naturally he thought Jenna had been in the shower, taking a few extra minutes in the hot water to work

out those stiff muscles she likely had after their hot and sweaty sex last night. So, while she was

showering and getting ready for work, and because he didn’t have an appointment till ten that morning,

he’d decided to go to the kitchen and surprise her with a birthday breakfast. As he worked, he kept an

eye on the closed bathroom door, waiting for it to fly open, catching a quick flash of Jenna, all flushed

and wet, wrapped in a thick white towel.

Twenty minutes later, he’d found himself standing in the middle of the bathroom realizing she’d left him

alone in the apartment without so much as a note in lipstick on the bathroom mirror.

He’d been stunned and oddly hurt.

The pancakes were finished, and he piled them high on a plate before slipping them into the warm oven.

Reaching for the bowl, he scooped more batter onto the griddle while trying to think about anything other

than Jenna. No such luck. He couldn’t stop thinking about her, or how damn good they’d been together.

Two full-blown orgasms and he still wanted more.

Spending the night in bed with her had been a slice of heaven he never knew existed. He’d slept like the

proverbial baby, and that was saying something, because since the fiasco withCelebrity Gossip he hadn’t

slept for more than two hours at a time. Mostly, he spent the nights pacing the floors of his condo,

worrying about how he was going to dig himself out of the shit pile. But last night. Man, last night had

been so great. Cathartic. And when he awoke that morning, he’d reached for her, hoping to feel more of

her gorgeous ass filling his hand, waking her up as he made slow love to her as the sun crept up above

the clouds. But instead of soft flesh, his hand had come into contact with nothing but the cool white sheet.

Now here he was, making breakfast and wondering what the hell he’d done. Maybe she hadn’t enjoyed

herself quite as much as he thought—hoped—she had. Maybe she was afraid. Mornings after could be

such a bitch, and granted, this one was going to be a touch awkward, but nothing they couldn’t have

handled.

Maybe she just doesn’t want to be bothered with you.

And wasn’t that a bit of rotten karma. Because this was the way he’d pretty much treated all the women

in his life. At leasthe usually said goodbye.

Cleaning up, he soaked the bowls and silverware in hot soapy water, all the while trying to grapple with

his current predicament. Did he truly believe that Jenna was that casual about who she took to bed?

She did have a box of condoms in her bedside table drawer, he reminded himself. He’d been surprised,

but pleased, too, especially because he’d wanted to get inside her again, and that box of condoms had

given him full license to make love to her on the bed. Maybe that was evidence enough that she made a

habit of taking guys to bed.

He’d always assumed she had a lover or two, but in truth, he hadn’t ever allowed his thoughts to travel

down that murky path. Whenever he thought of Jenna getting it on with other guys he’d stop, reminding

himself that she was a friend, and that she wasn’t his type.

In reality, he didn’t really know what type she was. Was she the clingy sort who thought one night of sex

was a declaration of commitment, or was she a love ’em and leave ’em type?

Two days ago Bryce would have laughed off that thought about Jenna. No way would he have said

sweet little country girl Jenna would take sex as casually as he did. But this morning, being one of the

loved and lefts, he was starting to wonder—and worry.

And the worrying part was scaring the hell out of him. Why should he worry? He should be counting his

lucky stars and getting the hell out of her apartment before she returned. With another woman, he would

have said a prayer of thanks to the big guy upstairs and closed the door behind himself without another

thought. But not with Jenna. He couldn’t bring himself to be so cavalier.

This morning he was feeling something he’d never felt before with all the other women he’d been with.

The feeling was nearly indescribable. It had no name. It was just an ache. A yearning. A longing for more

. . . and that more was not just sex, although he most definitely wanted more sex with Jenna. It was

something else. Something he had never ached for before.

Page 29

Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv
erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

A future that consisted of more than just mindless sex with a different woman each night.

Knowing what he had to do, he left the dishes in the sink. He still had two hours before he needed to

meet with the investors about the two new restaurants he was planning to open. That was plenty of time

to get a change of clothes, stop off at the restaurant and check in on things, then head over to the office

where Jenna worked.

Whether she liked it or not, Jenna McCabe was having company for breakfast. She’d just have to deal

with the reality of their morning after. The reality that she wasn’t getting rid of him that quick or that easy.

Six

“ Miss McCabe?”

“Just a sec,” Jenna said to her sister as another light rap on her office door interrupted her yet again.

“Yes, Jessica?” she called impatiently. “I’m on the phone.”

“I know. I’m sorry to disturb you, but your visitor, well, he’s most determined. He says he’s not leaving.”

“Hold on, Sarah,” Jenna said in exasperation, then rested the receiver on her desk before crossing the

short distance to the door. When she opened it, her young and inexperienced secretary was gri macing.

“He told me to tell you that he has no plans for the day and that he’ll sit here all . . . umm . . .” Jessica

glanced over her shoulder to the reception area, which was hidden by frosted glass.

“Sit here all what?”

Jessica swallowed hard. “He said, ‘Tell her to get her ass out here, or I’ll sit here all fucking day and be a

general pain in everyone’s ass.’ ” Jess leaned in. “Should I call security?”

“Want me to deal with him?” Rachel Warner asked as she came out of the copy room. “I had a peek,

andwhew ,” she said, fanning herself, “I could do with someone like him after that loser I took home from

the bar last night.”

The last person Jenna wanted “dealing” with Bryce was the man-eating Rachel. Gorgeous and tall, and

built like a supermodel, Rachel was everything Bryce liked in his women, and if Rachel wasn’t such a

shark with advertising, Jenna would have fired her on the spot for looking yet again in the direction of the

reception area.

“Look, tell him I’m in a meeting. A conference call,” Jenna clarified.

Both Jess and Rachel looked at her as if she were insane. “He has something for you,” Jess began, “and

it smells reeeally good.”

Jenna strove for composure and tried to shake off the feeling she was acting like a stupid adolescent.

Now was not the time for this. Her morning had already gone down the crapper. First the irate phone call

from her new client in Milan, then Bryce’s messages on her cell. Messages that she just didn’t know how

the hell to deal with.

“Look, I’ll send Mr. Lover out the door, and Jess will make sure you look nice and busy, okay, honey?”

Rachel asked.

Jenna gritted her teeth at the teasing she heard from Rachel. “Fine,” she muttered before swinging around

on her heel and slamming her office door shut. Exhaling a big breath, she flopped down into her chair and