“Is he alone?” She nodded to the closed door.

Tally looked at the door as she rose to her feet. “Alone and pouting, I think.” She grinned as she picked up the pretty purse sitting on her desktop. “And I’m ready for lunch now. Go on in. Tell him I’ll see him tomorrow.”

Terrie winced. “Long lunch, Tally. He’s going to fire you.”

The other woman snorted. “I can only get so lucky. Keep him occupied and he’ll never miss me.” She winked suggestively as she breezed out of the room.

Terrie was left standing, more or less deserted, in the middle of the room. Damn Tally. The least she could have done was stick around to save her if things got too hot.

“Tally, where the hell is that cost estimate…” Jesse threw open his door and stared at Terrie in surprise. “Where the hell did she go this time?”

“Lunch?” Terrie wasn’t about to mention the fact that his secretary wouldn’t return until the next morning.

He bit off a curse then his eyes narrowed on her. He took in the black dress, the heels, and Terrie watched in fascination as sensuality filled his expression. He went from handsome, darkly dangerous, to sexual pirate within seconds. She fought to still the trembling in her legs as she lifted her hand, flashing the envelope she carried.

He frowned. “Another one?”

Terrie shrugged. “It’s not as bad as the others, but I’ll need your lawyers to set up the payments…”

He snorted. “Come in here. I’m not going to discuss this standing up.”

He turned and disappeared back into his office. Terrie followed slowly.

When she entered the large room, she glanced at the seating arrangement in the corner. He was sitting on one end of the leather couch there, closing out whatever he had been working on in the laptop before pushing it back.

“Sit down.” He motioned beside him as he watched her walk to him.

The dark intensity in his green eyes hadn’t changed. He looked ready to fuck, and Terrie was suddenly more nervous than she could ever remember being in her life.

She sat perched at the edge of the couch, handing him the envelope carefully.

“If you could just get the payment schedule set up…”

“I’m sure you have enough to cover it.” He took the envelope from her and pulled the legal paper from inside. “Thomas was stupid but I wasn’t. His shares in the company are safe, Terrie.”

Those shares had kept her solvent despite Thomas’s death and how quickly he had emptied out both their accounts during their marriage. Jesse had never traced the money, but at least she hadn’t suffered in the theft.

Silence filled the room for long moments as he read the letter.

“Stupid bastard,” he muttered as he threw the paper to the table. “He’s lucky he died. I would have killed him myself by now. Don’t worry about it. I’ll have the accountant take care of it tomorrow.”

“Should I watch my spending for a while?” she asked him carefully. “I don’t want to cause any added problems, Jesse.”

His mouth tilted with a small grin. “I’ve invested your money wisely, Terrie. You’re fine. Stop worrying.”

She wondered if he ever got tired of taking care of her. From the moment news had come that Thomas had died in the car wreck, Jesse had been there. He had taken care of the burial, the horrendous news of the mounting debts. Everything. And he had been taking care of her ever since.

She smiled back nervously, wondering what the hell she was supposed to do now? How did you seduce a man like Jesse? He would give her anything, she knew, but at what cost to himself? How could she be certain she was what he wanted? That he could love her?

“Going somewhere?” He flicked a look at her dress-covered breasts. It was a heated, brooding look, a stroke of carnal interest.

She shrugged nervously. “I thought I’d go to the club today for lunch.”

“Stay away from Conover, Terrie,” he warned her softly as he turned to her, his eyes blazing with irritation. God, was it jealousy? “I’m telling you, you don’t want to push me on this.”

Her eyes widened in surprise a second before she frowned back at him. His gaze had narrowed, sensuality vying with a dominant glitter that made her stomach tighten with nerves.

“I didn’t mention his name, Jesse.”

“You and I both know he’s likely to be there,” he said. “You’re playing with fire. I let you run from me once, Terrie. I won’t let you do it again.”

She wanted to gape at him. Once again he was making very little sense. “Jesse, I had no intentions of seeing Conover today or ever. It’s not my fault you gave him the impression he could help you screw me. And for that matter, what gave you that impression?”

She was angry now. She could feel her veins throbbing with the pulse of blood, the heat that filled her face.

“You’re pushing me again, Terrie,” he growled. “It’s not wise to bait hungry men, baby. Keep it up and you may get more than you bargained for, and we both know you’re not ready for that.”

She was ready for him. She was ready to take her life back and find the happiness she had denied herself for so long.

“Ready for what?” she snapped back, her fists clenching now. “Ready to be touched? To be a woman for a change? Sorry, Jesse, you’re way off base there. I’m more than ready for that. Too bad you’re not.”

She moved to jump from the couch, to leave the office, to stomp home and scream and curse him as she had more times than she could count already. Unfortunately, Jesse didn’t seem ready to let her leave.

Before she could do more than gasp his arm hooked around her, turning her before he pressed her into the cushions of the couch. The dress rode up her thighs as she stared up at him in surprise and he wasn’t helping much as he pressed one hard thigh between hers.

“Oh, Terrie,” he said, his voice soft, filled with dark longing. “I’m more than ready for you to be a woman. But are you really ready to be my woman?”

He didn’t give her a chance to answer. His lips came down on hers in a kiss that sizzled Terrie from her head to her toes. Her hands clenched his shoulders as she fought to keep her senses from reeling, but there was no escaping the firestorm he ignited inside her.

His big hands framed her face, pushing into her hair, holding her still as his tongue invaded her mouth with decadent hunger. It swirled around her own, tempting her, teasing her as it stroked in and out, mimicking a much more earthy, sexual act.

She arched in his arms, helpless now, gorging herself on the pleasure his lips and tongue bestowed as he dominated the kiss. His head tilted, his lips slanting against hers as he groaned deeply into her mouth and one hand moved to cup the fullness of her breast.

Terrie stilled. Was she too large, as Thomas had sworn?

Before the thought was finished Jesse had lowered the zipper in the back of the dress, drawing it slowly down her shoulders as his lips moved to her neck, his breathing rough, heavy, as he began to blaze a path to her right breast.

“Jesse,” she whispered his name as she fought to breathe. The sensations rocking through her body were intense, mind destroying, and he hadn’t even truly done anything yet.

“Damn.” He paused at the cup of her bra, breathing hard and heavy as he so obviously fought for a control she didn’t want him to hold onto. “Terrie. Not like this,” he whispered, but his fingers stroked over her nipple, causing her to arch in exquisite need.

“Why?” Fear beat at her with razor-sharp talons. “What did I do wrong, Jesse?”

His head rose slowly. The look on his face had her thighs clenching, her vagina spilling more of its liquid heat in a primal demand. His cheeks were sensually flushed, his eyes a brilliant dark green and as hot as lust itself.

“You do too many things right.” He tried to laugh, but it sounded more like a strained groan, Terrie thought.

His gaze went to the flesh of her upper breast, his fingers stroking over it almost regretfully as he looked back up at her.

“You know what will happen,” he whispered. “I don’t want to hurt you, Terrie. I care too much for you to ever want to hurt you. But you know what I’ll want.”

“And only your wants matter?” she asked him.

He shook his head as he moved away from her quickly, as though if he didn’t do it then, he never would. She sat up more slowly, watching as he stared down at her, breathing hard, heavy.

“No, Terrie, that’s not all that matters,” he informed her impatiently. “If it were, then I’d be in your bed now instead of fighting an erection that never seems to go away.”

Her gaze flickered to his hips. She fought to breathe. Nope, there was no hiding that. It was thick and long, pressing demandingly against his slacks.

“Dammit, you should at least act scared,” he growled as he sat down carefully in the large chair across from the couch.

“I’m not frightened of you, Jesse.” She allowed a smile to tilt her lips as she straightened her dress then reached back to pull the zipper back into place.

She was very much aware of Jesse watching every move she made as she arched to grip the small tab and draw it up slowly.

“Could you handle it?” he asked, and she knew he wasn’t talking about the zipper.

She stood to her feet, smoothed her dress down, then looked at him coolly.

“Could you?” She arched a brow in question.

He smiled slowly. “Don’t dare me, Terrie.”

She lifted her shoulder in unconcern. “Don’t push me, Jesse. I want you, not a pack of hound dogs. Take that however you want to. And decide which one you want the most. You can let me know when you figure it out.”

So much for seduction, she thought sarcastically.

He stood slowly to his feet. “What the hell do you mean by that?” he growled.

“I mean, Jesse, when you decide you want me without all the dire warnings and predictions, then you can let me know. I care about you, as you well know. If I didn’t, then I’d be damned if I would put up with your arrogance, or your habit of showing up at my home before sunrise for coffee. The question is, can you do without your buddies long enough to take it?”

She didn’t give him time to answer. She swept out of the office quickly, fighting the shuddering need racing through her body, and the sudden tightening of Jesse’s muscles as though preparing to move for her. If he wanted her, then he knew where he could find her. Alone.

Chapter Three

He found her asleep on the couch. This was where Terrie slept most of her nights away, curled beneath a light blanket, staring up at the skylight above her. As far as Jesse knew, she hadn’t slept in a bed since she had moved from Thomas’s years before. Before his death. Before the truth of his abuse had come to light. And Jesse wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t spent that first week after his brother’s death with her.

Her nightmares had humiliated her, he remembered. They had shocked him to the very core of his being. He had known Thomas was different. Had known his brother possessed a cold, cruel side, but he had never suspected the habitual threats he had nearly destroyed Terrie with. So much so that she had been in the process of a divorce when he died. It amazed Jesse that she hadn’t killed Thomas herself.

He knelt by the couch, watching her sleep. The blanket covered only her breasts and hips, leaving her long legs bare. She was as naked as sin, lying on her back, breathing deeply as she dreamed. A large man’s shirt was pooled on the floor beside the couch as though she had dropped it, unheeded, before lying down. The fragile light of the first rays of morning touched her delicate, honey gold skin, giving it a soft, luminescent color.

She was more beautiful now than she had been dressed in silk and lace at Ella’s wedding. And more tempting. Did she, he wondered, know how much she tempted him?