Chapter One
“What the hell was I thinking?” Ann Griffin said as she tugged at the Lycra shapewear cutting off her circulation. She smoothed the black wrap dress over her hips and collapsed into a kitchen chair. “Remind me never to accept a date from a guy who’s just broken up with his girlfriend ever again.”
Leaning down, Joe Mathews pressed a kiss onto Ann’s cheek. “You should have stayed home with me.”
The soft brush of his lips heated Ann’s blood to boiling. Air jammed into her lungs. Every inch of her body burned with fresh yearning and mixed with desires she’d spent the evening trying to suppress.
Ever since he sat next to her in Business 101 over a decade ago her hormones had been doing the tango. Up until now, she’d been able to stamp down her lust for her best friend. But lately her need for him blazed inside her like an inferno needing something to consume. If she wasn’t careful, it would consume her.
She forced out the breath stuck in her chest. “Why didn’t you go out tonight?”
“The Patriots were playing the Jets.” Joe moved to the butcher-block countertop and opened a pink pastry box. “I take it your date didn’t go so well?”
He sliced a huge piece of double chocolate cheesecake and set it in front of her.
“It was awful.” She pushed the yummy temptation across the table.
“That’s what you get when you go out with a guy based solely on his looks.”
“I didn’t go out with Scott for his looks.” The sad fact was she needed space from Joe so she didn’t jump him in the hallway between their bedrooms.
“Yeah, right,” he said.
She leaned on her elbows and sighed. “He seemed nice when we talked at the gym,” Ann said, referring to the business the two co-owned.
To her way of thinking, if she had to suffer though the misery of dating someone who wasn’t Joe she might as well have something nice to look at.
“I’m sure he was.”
“Okay,” she admitted. “It didn’t hurt he was shirtless when we were talking. Maybe I don’t have the best judgment when I’m at your place of business.” She laid her head on the table. “I should just wait until after closing to do the accounting paperwork.”
“Mr. Perfect’s is your business too.” Joe’s strong hands clasped her shoulders and started to massage. “Besides I need all the help I can get.”
“I’m just a silent partner.”
“There’s nothing silent about our partnership.” His finger worked the knot at the base of her skull. ”God, you’re tight.”
A moan slipped passed Ann’s lips. The needy pull in her core deepened with every cresses of his finger. Her pussy filled with moist heat. She should let her hormones have their way. Perhaps then she wouldn’t be soaking through her shapewear on a daily basis.
Ignoring the throbbing pleasure between her legs, she lifted her head. “The gym has the revenue to hire someone to help you out, you know.”
“Why? It’s fine the way it is.”
The butterflies dive-bombing her stomach every time she was around Joe told her everything wasn’t fine. “For you maybe.”
“What?”
Shit, did I say that out loud?
“Are you saying our arrangement isn’t working for you anymore?” Joe squeezed the back of her neck and tilted her head up. “I’ll find someone if you want.”
The concern filling his beautiful sea-green eyes tore at her soul. It wasn’t the gym’s fault she couldn’t keep her hormones under control anymore. “I love helping you build your dream.”
“Then what is it?”
Hoping he couldn’t see what his nearness did to her, Ann forced herself to smile. “If I wasn’t bombarded with testosterone-enhanced bodybuilders all the time, Jerry from the office might look better.”
“The testosterone levels in the gym are all your fault.” He pressed his sexy lips to her forehead.
“Oh please.”
Straightening, Joe lifted his broad shoulders. “It’s true. When you rush into the gym, all flushed in your smart business suits and sensible heels, the testosterone levels spike.”
Lust clawing at her core, Ann swallowed the need to ask if his testosterone spiked when he saw her. She shifted in her seat, hoping to dull the burning need coursing through her.
Joe moved back to the counter, cut another piece of cheesecake and set it in front of her. “You could use this.”
“I can’t.” Ann pushed the plate away.
“Why? It’s your favorite.” Joe sat. “Did you have a big dinner?”
“No, Scott took me to that new raw food place.” Sighing, she rubbed at a wrinkle creasing the vintage lace tablecloth covering the old drop-leaf table.
“Pussy. A real man would’ve taken you out for a steak.”
Talking about her bad date steadied her overactive hormones. “I would have settled for a salad on a plate bigger than a teacup saucer.”
The dimple on his right cheek winked at her. “So, dinner was a bust.” He wiggled his sexy eyebrows. “What about conversation with Scott’s shirt on?”
“If you don’t mind hearing about how wonderful his ex was and how if I lost thirty pounds I would be as hot as she was, it was fine.”
Frowning, he grabbed a plate of cheesecake and jabbed his fork into it. “You’re fine just the way you are.”
“Scott didn’t seem to think so.” Ann rubbed a hand over her belly. “For two hours I had to listen to how much better-looking I would be if I stayed away from carbs and worked out more.”
The fork Joe held in his large hand clattered against the Fiestaware plate. “When he comes into the gym on Monday, I’m going to kick his ass.”
For the first time since she got home, Ann relaxed. “Don’t do that. We need his business.”
“Fuck his business.” Joe tapped her plate. “Eat up. Cheesecake has protein and calcium.”
“Make sure you tell my hips that in the morning.”
“It can’t be all bad.” Lifting his arms, Joe stood. “I eat a piece every day and look at me.”
Her gaze roamed over all six-foot-two inches of his finely honed frame. She poked her finger into the whipped cream topping of the cheesecake as her stomach clenched—it did every time she set eyes on him and his mega-muscles. “Aren’t you cold without a shirt?”
“Not with you around.” Handing Ann a fork, Joe folded himself into the chair across from her and dug into his cake.
Pick up you copy now.
http://www.ellorascave.com/in-bed-with-mr-wonderful.html
http://www.amazon.com/Bed-With-Mr-Perfect-ebook/dp/B00F0SDBLC/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1378515733&sr=8-6&keywords=Heidi+Lynn+Anderson
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