Chance Encounter(42)

Then he caught sight of a kayak on the river and his heart all but stopped.

She was out there alone. Dammit, he was tired of saving her pretty butt. He wouldn’t do it again.

He wouldn’t.

But the kayak could tip, and he knew she wasn’t a strong swimmer, and that the current was tough, and…and he raced out of his office, swearing, furious at both of them.

Running down the hallway, he skidded to a surprised halt at the doorway to her office, because there she sat behind her desk, on the phone, wearing not a bathing suit but a long, flowing sundress, covered with a million tiny flowers. Her hair was a little messy, as if she’d not given it a second thought all day, and he decided he liked that. Her lips were naked.

He liked that, too. He liked a lot of things about her, especially those little noises she made when he was deep inside her.

With a flick of his wrist, he locked her office door. At the startlingly loud sound of the lock falling into place, she faltered in midsentence, sent him a wide-eyed doe look that made him hot.

Still staring at him, she gripped the phone tighter.

Oh yeah, he already felt better. With a wicked smile, he pulled off his shirt.

Ally stuttered into the receiver, obviously struggling to maintain her side of the phone conversation.

Sending her a slow wink, he perched a hip on her desk. Just looking at her made him hungry for a taste of her, and he licked his lower lip.

Ally stared at his mouth, hers open, and dropped the phone. Blushing, she quickly picked it up, apologizing into it.

Enjoying himself immensely now, Chance leaned in and toyed with a strand of her hair. Then he stroked a finger over the very tip of her earlobe.

She abruptly rose and turned her back to him.

He simply stood behind her, slid his hand around her waist to her stomach and pulled her back against his already raging hard-on. Spreading his fingers wide, he touched as much of her as he could. His thumb brushed the underside of her breasts, then he cupped the soft curves. Her hard nipples pressed into his hands and he rasped his thumbs over them.

Letting out a choked sound, she stammered out some excuse, and finally hung up. Her cheeks were flushed, her hair messy, and she backed away from him, avoiding his gaze. “You’re back from riding all in one piece.”

“Yep. You look good enough to eat, Ally.”

Suddenly she was the picture of busy; the piles on her desk, her filing, her computer. Anything and everything had her attention, except him.

Leaning back against her desk, he pulled her between his thighs. “Why are you so nervous?”

“I’m always nervous before I get dumped.”

“Dumped?”

“Don’t look so shocked,” she said, searching his gaze. “I know what you’d like to do to me. You’d like to ship me back to where I came from. Pretend I never showed up.”

“No, actually, that’s not what I’d like to do to you.”

She blinked, then blushed. “Be serious.”

“Oh, I’m being very serious.”

She slowly shook her head and backed away from him. “Don’t tease. Not about this. Just dump and go.”

He didn’t want to “dump” her. In fact, he wanted more of her, and he was even beginning to think maybe he could never get enough.

“Chance?” Her voice was tentative now. “What happened up there, between us? In the woods?”

He skimmed a finger up her arm, over her jaw and into her silky hair. “I was hoping you’d know.”

She shook her head.

“I’m sure this is no surprise,” he said softly. “But I’m not comfortable with what you make me feel.”

She searched his gaze for a long, long moment. “I’m not comfortable with very much when it comes to you,” she finally said.

“So we’re even.”

She seemed fascinated by his mouth, and he nearly groaned when she licked her dry lips. Blood drained from his head to parts south. He ran his thumb over her lower lip, but she caught his hand.

“Don’t,” she whispered. “I can’t think when you do that.”

“Thinking is overrated.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” He pulled her closer, so that they were touching from head to toe, and all the delicious hot spots between. His hips slid against hers, and she let out a dark, needy sound that inflamed him. “Do you want me, Ally?”

Against his throat, she moaned.

He skimmed his hands over her luscious, warm body, then back up again, beneath the material of her dress now, bending his head to kiss her neck because he couldn’t get enough. He stroked the backs of calves, her knees. Her thighs, and when he discovered no stockings, no nylons, nothing but Ally, he nearly came right there.

She wrapped her arms around him and bit his neck. “You make me…wild,” she whispered.

“Wild is good.” He slid his fingers down, down, between her thighs, and found her hot and wet. “Do you want me?” he asked again, though he’d never asked a woman that before. He’d never cared that much, but he cared now. “Ally?”

“Jo is right outside—”

He stroked her with slow precision, nearly blind with need. “Yes or no.”

“Yes!”

Scooping her up, he set her on the desk, stopping only to shove all the papers to the floor. By the time everything hit with a loud thunk, he’d scooped up her dress, slipped off her panties, fought with her fingers to get his jeans opened, and got a condom out of his pocket.