Just One Night(35)

“You have about thirty seconds to change your mind, but after that …”

Riley’s fingers found his wrist, tilting the face of his watch toward her. “Twenty-

two seconds … seventeen …”

“Riley.”

Her head snapped up at the seriousness in his tone.

“This is a onetime deal. One night to get whatever you need for your story, and

then we go back to normal.”

She swallowed. Nodded.

For now, she mentally added.

“Say it out loud,” he said. “This can never be something.”

She wanted to ask why. Wanted to demand that he open his eyes and see how

good they could be together. But because she knew him—knew everything about

him—she knew if she pushed too soon, he’d run.

“Okay,” she whispered. “Just one night.”

He searched her face as though for any indication that she was going to keep

him chained up in her closet until the end of days.

Then he smiled. “Let’s go make it a hell of a night.”





Chapter Nine


Sam had booked a hotel room for the night, and no matter how much she

protested that it was ridiculous when she lived a short cab ride away, he refused

to go back to her place.

“That’ll make it personal,” he insisted. “What happens when I have to stop by your

apartment to change a lightbulb or pick up the free Yankees tickets you always

seem to have access to? I’ll be forever thinking of you na**d.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” she grumbled as he helped her out of the cab.

Sam’s fingers tightened on her hand, stilling her as he looked her over. “Believe

me. I don’t think any man would ever say that you na**d is a bad thing.”

“Hotels are expensive,” she said, staring up at the nice, if not trendy hotel before

them.

“Riley,” he said, squeezing her hand. “Let me do this, okay?”

Fine. On the bright side, the time it took him to check in at the front desk gave her

a second to gather her thoughts. She guessed she had about five minutes to

figure out how to play this.

Did she tell him that when it came to sex, she talked a good game and knew

precisely where the male gen**als were located, even if she hadn’t—ahem—

handled them?

Or did she fake her way through it in hopes that an above-average sex IQ on

paper could disguise lack of actual experience?

Sam glanced over his shoulder as the hotel desk clerk did her thing on the

computer screen, and the smile he gave her was pure sex.

She’d been on the receiving end of that look before, of course. But this was the

first time she intended to act on it. No, that wasn’t true. She’d intended plenty of

times.

This was the first time she was excited about it.

And not just because it was long past time … but because it was Sam.

She wanted him so badly she ached with it, even as she feared the inevitable

moment that he tried to push her away. But tonight wasn’t about tomorrow.

Tonight was about finding out what all the fuss was about … with a man who she

was pretty darn sure would be worth the wait. Hell, with a man who may have

been cause for the wait. Not that she was ready to admit that.

Not even to herself.

“You ready?” Sam asked, handing her the plastic key card. She hesitated only

briefly before reaching out to take it. She tugged, but he didn’t release it

immediately, and she lifted questioning eyes to his.

“You’re sure about this?”

That she could answer. “Yes.”

And yet still, he didn’t release the card.

“Why me, Ri? Why not one of the thousands of other men who’d kill to be standing

in my shoes right now?”

That she couldn’t answer. So she deflected.

“Are you sure about this?”

In response, he relinquished the card before offering his hand to her. She took it.

The elevator ride was silent, as was the long walk down the hall to the corner

room. He stepped aside so she could do the honors, and she deftly slipped the

key into the card reader, watching for the little flickering green light that signaled

the end of her pseudo virginity.

He followed her into the room, and she started to go for the light switch before

thinking better of it. These things were better done in the dark.

Weren’t they?

She went back and turned the dimmer until there was soft light filling the room.

She wanted to see him.

“You know, if I’d known that the anticipating of sex could make you stop your

annoying chatter, I might have initiated it a long time ago,” he said, coming up

behind where she stood in the middle of the room.

“If you had initiated this a long time ago, perhaps you wouldn’t find my chatter