Her Insatiable Scot (19 page)

“What’s first on your list?” he asked.

Find a lover. Preferably someone with a Scottish accent.
“I’ve never had a drunken Karaoke night,” she said without a hitch in her voice.

“The key is getting as wrecked as possible. Otherwise, it’s not half as fun.” With expertise and precision, he pried off the nailed-down lid. “Read it off.”

She told him what should be in there; he nodded and put the top back on. “And then?” She looked down at the clipboard and he tutted. “Your list,” he said.

Have my lover do everything I couldn’t think to ask for.
“Skydiving.”

“Exhilarating,” he said.

They followed the same process of him opening the lid and having her read off the clipboard. He had some opinion to give on everything else on her personal list. So much so, Jocelyn wondered how he’d react if she blurted out, “have sex with you,” but then her palms dampened more. That would be insane, impulsive, passionate…everything she’d never been.

Chuck it all. Blurt it out.
She considered the words, bit her lip for a second and then asked, “What haven’t you done?”

And then he smiled again—the one that made her panties wet and had her one step away from throwing herself at him.

“A gentleman never tells.”

Oh. Oh. She had to
know
. And it wasn’t her imagination that could see he wanted to tell her what a gentleman should never repeat.

*****

“Uh—um.” Jocelyn cleared her throat and the soft sound feathered over Ian’s senses. “You always answer my questions.”

“I do,” he agreed but didn’t elaborate. The storage room held a chill. Her nipples beaded against the starched-white shirt. He blew out the breath he’d been holding.

“Why stop now?”

Because he’d been listening for it, Ian heard the unfettered passion in her voice and that right there was why—self-preservation. “Some things you don’t share with a lady.” He paused and then smiled. “Unless you’re about to do those same things to her.”

Her skin, a shade of the darkest honey he’d ever seen, flushed. She bit down on her lip and broke the gaze. “That’s fair.”

And that’s why he hadn’t touched her. She was innocent in all the ways he’d ruin. But, Joce…had a way about her. Sharp and a little stubborn. That keen gaze was on him now, drinking in his every movement. The past few weeks it had grown harder to ignore the unquenchable desire he saw there. Younger, dumber and having been raised in a bachelor pad, Ian wouldn’t have cared. He’d have made it his mission to see how much it took to sate her. He’d since learned fucking coworkers always ended badly.

Ian leveled a look at her and reconsidered his rule. Thick ebony strands were twisted into a bun. The upswept hairdo only highlighted her almond-shaped eyes, dark chocolate irises and long lashes. She leaned forward checking the packaging tags. Smooth, delectable skin peeked out.

She looked prim in the pin-striped dress suit. Her tits high and tight. Unbelievably curvaceous hips made his fingers twitch. He wanted to sink his nails into them. She barely came up to his chin, but the cut of the skirt and high heels made her legs seem to go on forever. Prim and corruptible.

Always put together neatly, polite and personable…he was tempted to witness her stripped bare in a literal and figurative sense. He’d never fucked at work, but Ian thought about doing it now. The unruly consideration started a delicious pull on his balls that only feminine caresses and tender tugs could ease.

Her hands tightened on the clipboard and she brought it closer to her chest. Maybe she could see all that in his gaze. No matter how much he wanted to see her head thrown back, hair gripped in his fist and arse arched high, he couldn’t. Not with her. She wasn’t
sweet
but close enough to make things difficult.

“Next item?” he asked and ignored the tug.

She told him, her voice breathless, but he ignored the change in tone too.

“Technically,” she said, “It wouldn’t be kissing and telling if you haven’t done it yet.”

He laughed. “There’s not much I haven’t.”

She tried to hide her chagrin by looking down, but he’d seen it. “Uh, public place seems too easy for you. What else?”

“Sex swing. Airplane.” He gauged her reaction.

Her head snapped up. She swallowed. “Airplane. Bathroom’s too small.”

Fuck.
“Noted,” he said.

He lowered his gaze and worked up and down the room, letting her call off the lots. He didn’t ask any more personal questions about what she hadn’t done yet, especially in the bedroom. That way he wouldn’t think about all the ways he’d like to do them with her.

It took them another hour to finish so by the time they entered the break room, they were the only ones left at work outside of security. The large room was well lit even with the cafes and bistros closed. They stood closer to the industrial-sized glass refrigerator, sink and microwave than to the central area with all the tables. In the quiet, with her, the moment felt strangely intimate.

“Thinking I’m going to call it a night, get up early tomorrow and finish the rest.” She eased them into a conversation. “Then have a normal weekend.”

She rested against the counter and blew into the hot coffee. The way her plump lips pursed shot straight to his dick. He sipped his drink silently, trying not to envision those same lips wrapped around the tip of his cock, wet and eagerly suckling him.

But he couldn’t abide the uncomfortable silence, not with her. Joce would find some way to question him about something else if he left it. “When do you plan to start the insanity?”

“After work tomorrow.”

He chuckled at the straight-forward admission. Finishing off the coffee, he put the cup in the sink. She’d closed her eyes, let her head fall back, exposing the beautiful curve of her neck.

He stilled, tried to breathe through the urge to taste her skin. “Heading out for drunken karaoke?”

Her eyes shot open and her gaze whipped to him, but then she smiled and it was one hundred percent mischievous. “No.” She shook her head, the smile fading. “I probably shouldn’t tell you this.”

He wanted to see the smile cross her face again. “Then maybe you absolutely should.”

She laughed, shook her head. “Can’t believe I’m going to say this…” She sighed. “I’m going to pick up a guy in a bar. Never done that.”

His gut clenched. Another man would do all the things he’d been imagining. She’d let him, because there were things she’d never done. Ian set his cup in the sink, keeping his hands to himself. “Shouldn’t take you long, but I’d be careful if I were you.”

“Careful? That’s the whole point. I’ve lived my life pretty risk-free. I’m not saying I’m going to lose my mind, but I’m tired of doing the safe thing, the right thing. I want fun, reckless and maybe a little stupid. Break the rules I’ve made for myself.”

He grappled onto his skewed moral code as her tongue glided over her bottom lip, lapping up every drop of warm liquid that clung to the flesh.

He flexed his fingers. “We’d be barbarians without rules.”

Her brows furrowed. “Didn’t take you for a rule follower.”

“I have my own,” he said.

Her teeth grazed nervously over her bottom lip. He couldn’t remember which rule kept him from reaching forward, or why it was important in the first place.

“I’m curious but I don’t want to pry,” she said.

So polite. Only a twisted son of a bitch would want to change that about her, to push just to see how she’d react. He had to say something to knock that unquenchable desire from her gaze. “What you’re looking for, Sweetheart, you can’t find in a bar hook-up.”

“And what is it I’m looking for, Ian?”

“To be fucked senseless and not have a shred of guilt over it.” He’d expected shock, a flush, anything other than the smile that started in the corner of her mouth and lit up her eyes.

“Yeah. Pretty much that.”

The brazen confession made him laugh, made his cock rock hard. “All this time with you and I thought you were innocent.”

“Nah.” She shrugged. “Lost that sophomore year in high school.”

Without thought he edged closer to her. Shit. He couldn’t exactly wish her good luck, but he had to end this exchange before he changed his mind. He had no claim on her and shouldn’t want one. He pushed off the counter. “Happy hunting. In the morning then?”

“You’ll be here?” There was no mistaking the anticipation in her tone.

Ian smiled when he should have discouraged the emotion with a grave frown. “Aye.”

He escaped with his dick still safely, smartly, in his trousers. He’d call it a win.

End of Excerpt