"Morning," she said, her tone determinedly cheerful.
"Hi." He studied her as if unsure how to proceed. Maybe he wanted to pretend the whole sex thing hadn't happened, as well. That would make their encounters considerably easier. "You want to join me for a swim?"
"No." Getting almost naked with Jake wasn't a good idea, at least not until she had her inconvenient hormones back under some semblance of control. "I came in to ask if you were coming to Mitch's leaving do tonight. I've been delegated to find out if we're to be honored by your presence."
"I may drop in. I take it you're going."
"Wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Okay, if you don't want that swim, I'm going to shower."
Why was he telling her this? Was he trying to send her blood pressure sky-high from imagining him naked in the shower, soaping himself … ? She blinked as she realized Jake was staring at her, apparently waiting for her to move; she stood in the doorway, blocking his exit.
"Right, I'll be off then." She meant to move, really she did, but for some reason she couldn't force her limbs into motion.
Jake regarded her, his expression speculative. For a long moment, they stared at each other, and then he smiled a sinfully sexy smile and with his eyes still focused on hers, slowly peeled the black vest from his body.
She gaped. She couldn't help herself-he was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. Yesterday, she'd been too caught up in the moment and the shock to notice much. Today, nothing stopped her from drinking her fill of the view. He was sleek and golden with a faint sheen of sweat, the skin smooth over the swell of his broad, muscular chest, then lightly furred over the ridges of his lean, almost concave belly, the dark hair forming an arrow that disappeared into the low-slung black trousers. Her mouth went dry. She tried to remember her mantra. What was it again? Sex with Jake is not an option. Why was that exactly? She couldn't remember. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them again. Wow.
Time to go.
She whirled away but was sure she heard his soft laughter following her down the corridor.
…
Kim pushed her way into the pub and peered around the dimly lit room. Numerous groups were scattered about, some in suits, obviously after-work drinkers, but she spotted her coworkers quickly. Jessica wasn't there-she was working tonight-but fifteen or so guys gathered at the bar.
No Jake yet, and some of the tension oozed from her.
She headed over, and they turned to face her as one, jaws dropping open in unison. She allowed her jacket to swing open and ran a hand through her tousled hair as she came to a halt in front of them.
After glancing around the group, her gaze settled on Steve. She tried for a seductive smile in his direction-not because she wanted to tempt him but because she'd been practicing-and couldn't help but feel a vaguely malicious wave of satisfaction when he groaned.
"This isn't fair," he muttered.
Yay! She only just refrained from punching the air.
She might have gone a little over the top with the makeover. Jess had accompanied her to assist, and it was probably her urging that had done the damage. Left to herself, Kim wasn't sure she'd have ended up quite this … kick-ass?
Leather. Tight black leather pants. Though if she really wanted to kick ass, she'd pick something not quite as tight. And she definitely wouldn't be running down any bad guys tonight. Not in her four-inch stilettos. She'd be lucky to stay on her feet.
She'd drawn the line at a leather corset-kick-ass was one thing, looking like a dominatrix out of a bondage cellar was another.
Kim was sure Jake wasn't into being dominated. If she wanted to put him off-show him she wasn't his kind of girl-then the leather corset might work if all else failed. She reckoned he was more the domineering type but she so didn't want to go there. Jake and handcuffs …
Sex with Jake is not an option.
She'd settled on a red halter top that left her midriff and most of her back bare and added a short leather jacket on top, because she wasn't brave enough to walk through the streets without some cover.
The biggest change was her hair. "I want to look badass and sexy," she'd told her hairdresser nervously. He'd added highlights of different reds, from gold to deep crimson, to her nondescript, dark-brown hair. She loved it. He'd left it long but cut in layers. He'd then sprayed it and had her hang her head upside down while he used the dryer.
When she swung her head up, he pulled and poked it another ten minutes before pronouncing her sexy and letting her view the results.
"It's the 'just got out of bed' look," he announced.
"I never look like that when I get out of bed," she grumbled.
She'd also purposefully ensured she was at least half an hour late. She wanted to make an entrance, wanted to get a collective response. And she'd gotten it. And it had been good, but five minutes later, everyone seemed to ignore her as usual.
She sipped her drink, listened to the rise and fall of conversation, and allowed her attention to roam about the bar while trying not to spend too much time staring at the door. Slowly, she became aware that although her group did an excellent job of ignoring her, quite a few other men were eyeing her up with interest.
One particular man in a dark business suit casually leaned against the bar opposite. His black hair and lean, tanned face reminded her slightly of Jake. Kim allowed herself to make eye contact, then smiled into his admiring gaze. He raised his glass to her, and she followed suit with her bottle. Around her, the conversation stalled. The guys all stared at her.
"What?" she asked.
"Jake will be here in a minute," Dave said.
"So?"
Dave shook his head in exasperation. "Seems as apparently it's out in the open now, I may as well tell you, along with warning the lot of us off touching you, Jake's made it perfectly clear that if you come on these nights out, we're expected to see that you don't get into any trouble."
"Trouble?" she queried, a frown forming between her eyes. "What sort of trouble?"
Dave nodded in the direction of the dark-haired man at the bar. "That sort of trouble."
"I don't believe this. Who does Jake think he is? My father?"
"I doubt that's quite the role he has in mind," Dave said wryly. "But you'd better talk to him about that."
"I will," she promised. "In the meantime, let me make it quite clear-you are now all relieved of babysitting duties."
She put her drink on the bar and slowly and defiantly peeled off her jacket, exposing large amounts of naked flesh to the gawking group.
"Could you hold this for me a minute?" she asked nonchalantly, handing the jacket to Steve, whose stare was riveted on her bare midriff.
"Where are you going?" he asked suspiciously.
"The ladies' room. Why? You want to come with me?"
He shook his head. Kim glanced around at the others. "Anybody? No? Well, I'll see you all in a minute, and I promise to do my best to stay out of trouble. Honest."
The route to the ladies' took her right past the "trouble." She peeked at him out of the corner of her eyes as she passed, gratified he was still paying attention. In the ladies', she stared at herself in the mirror. A stranger stared back, her long hair loose and tousled around her face, her normally calm eyes stormy.
On her way back to the bar, she purposefully raised an eyebrow at her admirer, who tilted his glass again and indicated the empty seat next to him. Kim perched on the barstool and smiled. She risked a quick glance at her own group but ignored the black looks.
"Hi, I'm Tony."
"Kim."
"Can I get you a drink, Kim?"
"Sure. I'll have a red wine."
Tony gave the order, turned back to her, and made a slow inventory of her body. "Do you know," he murmured, "that you are the sexiest thing I have ever seen?"
"Really?" Kim positively beamed at him and took a big swallow of her wine. It was nice to hear all her hard work was successful.
"Mmm. But tell me-those men over there-is one of them your boyfriend?"
Kim sniffed dismissively. "No. I work with them."
"Well, they're giving me some pretty strong looks. Especially that guy who just joined them. I wouldn't like to think I was stepping on his toes."
Kim glanced over and couldn't prevent an involuntary spark of delight at seeing Jake had joined the group. His gaze flickered from her, to the man beside her, and back to her. He lifted his eyebrows in question before putting his drink on the bar and heading in their direction.
"Sorry," Kim lied. "Thanks for the drink, Tony, but I'll have to go. It's my boss."
She needed to talk to him about the babysitting thing. But more than that, she wanted to see his reaction to her makeover. Wanted to see the moment he realized that she so wasn't his type.
And if that thought caused her a twinge of pain, then she would just have to get over it.
Chapter Eight
Holy shit.
She was like a wet dream, and if she didn't get away from that guy any time soon, Jake would stomp over there, beat the shit out of him, toss her over his shoulder, and haul her away.
What the hell had she done to herself?
Luckily, before he had to resort to caveman tactics, she glanced up and caught sight of him. A smile flashed across her face, quickly replaced by a scowl. But at least she got up from the stool, spoke briefly to her companion, and headed on over.