Shana Mine (2 page)

I opened my eyes and forced my thoughts back to work. Three hours later, as I was about to leave the office for the day, Jasmin called.

“I’ve made all the arrangements for your trip to Philadelphia,” she said. “All expenses are paid for a week. Do you need money for food now or can you wait until I return?”

“I’m going to give him the bad news and then
head
back to the airport. I only need one night at the hotel.”

“You can’t fly across the country and only stay a few hours. I booked you in for a week. Trust me, once you meet him, you’ll be glad you’re not stuck with just an over
–
nighter.

“If I know you, you’re not going to hop into bed with him the first night. So you’ll need more than one night.”

“Will you give it a rest?” I snapped.

“Excuse me for breathing,” she said.

I rolled my eyes. “One day or six, I can pay for my own meals.”

“Are you sure? You’re only
g
oing as a favor to me.”

“I know that but I can pay for my own meals.”

“Okay. Well…do me proud and let him down gently. Then fuck me right out of his mind during the week.”

Wouldn’t I love to do just that?
I outlined my top lip with my tongue. “I have no interest in staying more than one night.”

“Use the time to sightsee. The Liberty Bell and the Constitution Center are within walking distance of your hotel. The Reading Terminal Market has to be seen to be believed. It’s historic and filled with all kinds of restaurants. Taylor and I enjoyed going on horse-driven carriage rides too. We visited the Betty Rose and the Poe House. There’s a lot of history you’ll enjoy exploring with or without.”

“With or without what?”

“Taylor. He’s a bit of a workaholic but with the right incentive, maybe you can convince him to take some time off.”

“Did you?”

“No,” she admitted. “All our sightseeing took place after work or on the weekends.”

“I doubt he’ll want to spend any quality time with me after I’ve delivered the bad news.”

“Maybe not but if he wants to bed you, go for it. Just do me a favor and make sure you don’t fall for him.”

“Why not?”

“Because I might decide I want him back and I don’t want any problems between us if that happens. Fuck him but do not fall for him because I might want him back.”

I frowned. Sometimes Jasmin had a habit of treating her lovers like possessions rather than equal partners. “There’s not much chance of that happening,” I assured her. “Anyway, have a great shoot and a wonderful time, Jas.”

“You too, Shana. I’ll see you when I return.”

“I’ll be here, girl,” I said and hung up.

I went home to have dinner, pack, and call my son and daughter to tell them I’d be heading out of town for a while. My twenty-year-old twins, Jassy and Jimmy
,
would start their senior year of college in the fall.

Jassy urged me to have a wild time. “Let your hair down, Mom and live a little.”

I knew what she meant by live a little. Like Jasmin,
she
thought I was taking too long to get over Tremain. “We’ll see,” I said. “I’ll call you when I get back. Now I need to call your brother. Love you.”

“I love you too, Mom,” she said.

Smiling, I dialed her brother’s number.

Jimmy listened in silence before he spoke. “Despite the advice I know Jassy gave you, please be careful, Mom. There’s no rush to start a new relationship. You can take your time and get it right.”

Oh but I was more than ready to take another lover. “Don’t worry about me, sweetie.”

“I do worry,” he said. “It’s part of my job.”

Since my divorce, ten years earlier, despite my assurances, Jimmy had felt he had to look after me. “Don’t worry,” I said again.

“Promise me you’ll call me if you need anything.”

Hell would freeze over before I burdened either of my kids with my problems. “Of course, sweetie. I’ll see you soon.”

“Call or text me to let me know you arrived safely.”

“I will. Love you, sweetie.”

“Love you, Mom.”

Later that night I fell asleep and had a series of erotic dreams where a
facel
ess man with a big shaft cocked me all night long until I nearly screamed the place down. My heart thumped and my panties were wet when I woke because I knew the
face
less man of my dreams had been Taylor Raymond.

Get a grip, girl. You cannot start thinking with your pussy.

Groaning with frustration, I rolled onto my stomach and drifted to sleep again—and dreamed of Taylor Raymond again.

A day later,
I arrived in Philadelphia after a six-hour flight from San Francisco
. At the last moment, I’d decided to take Jasmin’s advice and packed enough clothes for a week’s vacation. After I saw Taylor Raymond in the morning, I’d get down to some serious sightseeing. And just maybe I might even let my hair down enough to get my freak on in a one-night stand. Or two. Hell, maybe three.
But not with Taylor Raymond, girl. Not with him.
That would create too many problems.

Hoping I’d wrestled my emotions and fantasies under sufficient control that Taylor Raymond would not know I’d been spending far too much time daydreaming about him
;
I collected my bags and boarded the airport shuttle to my C
enter City hotel
.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that Jas had booked me a small suite. Placing my bags near the closet, I sat down to send a quick email to Jimmy and Jassy to let them know I’d arrived safely and would see them in a week.

Then I went down to the hotel restaurant. While having a salad and a beer, I noticed a lone handsome man with dark skin and eyes seated at a table facing mine giving me a fair amount of attention.

Lonely and ready for a little male companionship, I would have been receptive if he approached me. He didn’t but I left the restaurant confident that there was always tomorrow. Hopefully, his stay would extend long enough for us to meet before I went home. And maybe the next time we met, I’d make a move if he didn’t.

Back in my suite, I undressed and took a long soak. Lying in the warm, soothing water, I closed my eyes and imagined myself wrapped in the arms of Mr. Dark, handsome and sexy. I allowed my imagination to weave a super sensual dream around the man from the restaurant before the cooling water spurred me to get out of the bath and go to
bed.

Relaxed by the soak, I fell asleep almost immediately but woke in the middle of the night longing to feel a big, hard body pressed against mine. Despite my efforts to corral my thoughts, I couldn’t stop thinking about Taylor Raymond. His was the body I wanted to feel crushing mine to the bed. I wanted to explore the mystique of the Native American lover with him.

If you’re going to develop a thing for a Native male, it can’t be Jasmin’s.
Despite her encouraging me to sleep with him, neither of us had ever crossed that line. We were too damned close to risk our relationship over a man. I sighed and rolled onto my side and tried to clear my thoughts of hot sex with Taylor Raymond until I finally fell asleep again.

The next morning, just before nine,
I
waited in the corridor outside Taylor Raymond’s office. Jasmin said he usually spent a few hours there on Saturday mornings catching up on paperwork.

When I heard the elevator door open, I turned to see a tall, well-built man coming down the hallway towards me.
I’m five-nine and love to display my legs whenever I can by wearing heels. I didn’t get to do that often since even three-inch heels would make me taller than a man of average height.

The man heading towards me had to be at least six feet and two inches tall of pure, sexy hunk. His sleek, dark hair was pulled back from his handsome face. His
dark eyes
seemed to
reach out to pull
me
into their depths.
And he stalked rather than walked down the hall with all the confidence of a man certain of his appeal to the opposite sex. But I knew he’d look just as charismatic on a big horse with his hair hanging past his magnificent shoulders.

Taylor
Raymond
.
Oh Lord
.
Jasmin must have taken complete leave of every one of her senses. What woman worth the name would ever consider walking away from him? Thoughts of hot, raw sex filled my head and made it difficult not to allow my gaze to fall below his waist.

He wore jeans and a pullover that highlighted his long legs and his very
well defined
upper body. Damn. I wanted to strip naked and offer myself as his sex slave—forever.

Stop it!
There will be no gawking, girl. None. Give him the bad news and take your horny behind back to the hotel and pray you run into Mr. Tall, Dark,
a
nd Handsome from the restaurant.

Taking a deep breath, I pasted a smile on my face
and he stopped in front of me. “Taylor Raymond?”

He nodded, his dark eyes making a swift inspection of my body before locking his gaze on mine.

I extended
my hand.

He inhaled slowly. “And you’re Shana Morgan.”

Surprised, I nodded, allowing my hand to drop to my side. How the hell did he know who I was? If Jas had called him and told him I was coming, why ask me to come at all? “Ah…yes. I am.”

“Jasmin’s best friend.”

“That’s me.” I extended my hand again.

He took it and held it clasped between both of his while he stared at me.

A shiver of desire shot through me at the contact and I could neither muster the will to remove my hand from his or to look away from his dark, seductive gaze.

“Why are you here instead of her?”

“She regrets that she couldn’t come so she
asked me to.”

“I kind of figured she wasn’t coming when she didn’t show up three days ago and failed to take my calls.”

Oh hell. She hadn’t said a damned thing about ignoring his calls. “I came in her place.”

“So I see.” He arched a brow. “Judging by the solemn look on your lovely face, you’re here as the bearer of what’s supposed to be bad news.”

The compliment, spoken in his deep, honeyed voice thrilled me. While I knew most men found me attractive, not many men considered me lovely—at least not when compared to Jasmin who would probably be as stunning at eighty as she was now.

Supposed to be bad news? I frowned—unsure what to make of that remark.

He took a key out of his pocket. “You’d better come into the office. My secretary
doesn’t work on Saturdays
so we can talk.”

Talking wasn’t at the top of my list of things I’d like to do with him, but I smiled and nodded.

He ushered me into his office and pointed towards a loveseat along one wall before walking to a small
refrigerator in one corner
. “Would you like some juice or do you want me to make coffee?” he asked, standing in front of the open door.

“
Thanks, but I’m fine.”

He closed the door of the refrigerator and crossed the room to the loveseat. Instead of sitting beside me, which I both wanted and feared, he stood over me in silence.

I took a deep breath before I took the jeweler’s box holding the tennis bracelet out of my shoulder bag and
held it out to him.

He made no effort to speak or to take it.

Great. He was going to make this difficult. “I’m sorry but I don’t
know of an easy way to say this except to come right out with it.
”

“Go right ahead then.”

“Jasmin
is out of the country doing a photo shoot
.
Although she really likes you, now
is just not the time for a serious relationship. So she asked me to bring this back to you and explain.”

“Explain that she was more than a little drunk when she
accepted it?” He sat beside me but made no effort to take the box. “What happened? Did she sober up and decide my job isn’t high-powered enough for
her?”

“
Oh no!” I placed a hand on his arm. “Jasmin isn’t like that.”

He gave me a cool stare. “Isn’t she?”

“No! She’s not. I told you her reason for not being here.”

“If that were her only reason, why is she returning the bracelet? Why didn’t she at least give me the consideration of calling herself? Why send you to kick my ass to the curb?”

Although he looked and sounded annoyed, I could detect no evidence that his heart was broken. “That’s not why I came. She asked and I agreed to come because we both wanted to make this as easy for you as possible.”

“Guess what? Having you here does absolutely nothing to soothe what you both probably consider my battered emotions.”

Well damn. Wasn’t he the charming one? “Look, I know this isn’t easy for you.”

“But?”

But it was almost impossible to think straight with him sitting so close. “But as you must know, you’re handsome and…well put…together. You’re not going to have any problems finding another woman…eager to help you get over her.”

He turned his head to look at me.

I stared back, wondering what he’d look like with his long, dark brown hair spilling over those broad shoulders. Imagining them bare and accessible to touch and caress, aroused me. I looked at his mouth and longed to lean forward and kiss him until he couldn’t breathe.

Feeling my cheeks heat up, I pushed the jeweler’s box in his hands and quickly rose. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to make this easier for you.”

He inhaled softly and lowered his lashes. “Oh hell.” He looked down.

I’d done
as Jasmin
had asked me to do. So I was perfectly justified in just walking out and leaving him to recover in private.
Curling my right hand into a fist to keep from caressing his hair, I walked across the carpet.

At the door, I turned for one last look and found hi
m
staring at me with an inscrutable look in his eyes. What was he thinking? What was he feeling?
Why the hell should you care?
Leave before you do something you can’t undo.
There was something about him I couldn’t resist. Something that made it impossible to leave.

“Don’t go,” he said.

“I have to.”

“No. You don’t.” He extended a hand.

I walked to the loveseat and
knelt
at his side. When I placed my hand on his hard thigh, I intended to offer him
comfort
. But a jolt of passion shot through me at the contact.
I knew he felt it too, because his head jerked up and he stared at me.

Meeting a look in his eyes that blazed with desire, I bit my lip.
What are you doing?
“I have to go.”

“
You say that as if you think I’m actually going to let you go.”

“What?”

He
caressed my cheek, brushing his fingers against my lips.

I couldn’t stop myself from
turn
ing
my
face
into his palm
and wishing I was kissing his mouth
.

He reached for my hand.
“
I know you’ve done what she wanted you to and you want to leave.”

I’d never wanted to stay anywhere more.

He squeezed my hand gently. “I know this is unpleasant for you, but if you really want to make this easier for me, please s
tay.”

If I did, God only knew what would happen. I shook my head.
“I
really
have to go.”

He sli
pped
o
ff
t
he loveseat
and onto his knees in front of me.

Oh no. Don’t.

His big, warm hands
cupped my face. “I need you to stay with me now. Just for a little while. Please.”

You can’t—not
the way
you’re feeling
. “Why?”

He stroked his hands down from my cheeks to my neck. “Because I don’t want to be alone.”

I met his gaze again, saw his desire, and felt my own welling.
I totally wanted to stay but
if Jasmin decided to reclaim him after I’d slept with him
,
our relationship might suffer.

He bent his head.

Although I longed to feel his mouth on mine, I shook my head and quickly rose, my heart pounding. “I have to go.”
Before I surrender to you.
I rushed towards the door.

He followed me and placed his palm against the closed door. “Where are you staying?” He asked the question with his lips close to my ear.

I leaned my forehead against the door
,
closing my eyes.
If you tell him that, you might as well stay
because you know what’s going to happen
.

“Where are you staying, Shana?”

Moistening my lips, I murmured
the name of
my hotel.

He inhaled softly and pressed his warm lips against the side of my neck.

I shivered, clenching my hands into fists. Oh lord
. T
o feel those firm lips all over my naked body.
Stop, Shana. Stop this now.
“Don’t.”

“Why not?”

For a moment I couldn’t think of a single valid response. “She’s my oldest and dearest friend. That’s why not,” I finally said.

“I’m a quick study. She didn’t show up when she promised and she won’t answer my calls.
Her clear message to me
? It’s over between us, dumbass.”

“Is it?”

“She doesn’t want me and even before meeting you, the feeling was mutual.” He brushed his lips against my ear. “That’s why.”

“Why not is because I don’t want you either,” I said.

“Don’t you?”

“No,” I lied. “I don’t.”

He took my arm and turned me around to face him. “Open your eyes and look at me when you utter that lie.”

Great. He knew I was lying.
“Why would I do that?”

“So you can see the desire I feel is for you and not her.”

How had I allowed this situation to spiral so close to the brink of disaster so quickly?

“Open your eyes.”

I lifted my chin and looked at him. Seeing my reflected desire in his gaze, I was nearly lost. I’d never wanted mindless sex more, but I needed a night’s rest and a clear head before I made the decision to go where Jasmin and I had never gone—have sex with a man the other had already slept with.

I pushed against his shoulders. “I’m sorry. I have to go.”

To my surprise, he stepped back, allowing his hands to fall to his sides.

I stared at him, almost lost in his sexual allure. Lord he was so big…so attractive…so sexy…so irresistible. My gaze slid down his body and locked on his crotch. The outline of his cock was clear along one leg. And it was a sizable outline. Oh God
. T
o feel that sliding inside me.

I bit my lip and dragged my gaze up to lock with his. “I have to go,” I whispered.

“Why when we both want you to stay?”

“I’m going.”

He shrugged. “Fine. When you turn the knob, the door behind you opens.”

I moistened my lips and turned to open the door. He made no move to stop me and I reluctantly walked out of his office and into the corridor. Suppressing the urge to look over my shoulder, I pushed the elevator call button and stepped inside when the doors opened.

Once inside the elevator, I shuddered and briefly closed my eyes.
Oh lord girl. You have to get a grip.

I spent the entire trip back to the hotel reliving every second with him. I’d never had such a strong physical attraction to any man—including my ex-husband. That was no reason to rashly do what I’d never be able to undo. Back in my suite, I changed into jeans and a long-sleeved blouse. I put on a pair of running shoes and sat on the loveseat with my phone in my hand. After several minutes of staring at it, I called Jasmin.