Jared shook his head. “I think I’d find it very inconvenient to be married to you and not have sex.”
“Oh.” She’d dropped the pencil and was now nervously cracking her knuckles. “So you’d actually marry someone for the sex? I wouldn’t think you’d need to.”
This was the clincher, Jared knew. He couldn’t give Kelsey even a whiff of his real interest in her. She’d run like the blazes, Amy and Doug bedamned. He had to give her convincing alternative reasons for his proposal.
He leaned back in his chair, willing his face to show nothing more than a man offering to buy a car. In some ways, the strategy was no different from nailing down any acquisition.
“You’re a very presentable woman. Beautiful, intelligent, very comfortable in business and social situations. As a wife, you’d be a great asset to me socially.”
“Oh.” She stared at him, shock still lingering on her face.
“And, no, I wouldn’t marry ‘someone’ just for sex. But you have the potential to offer me…rewards…on multiple levels.”
Kelsey’s eyes widened.
“Oh,” she squeaked, her voice an octave higher.
Jared smiled at her. He didn’t care how he had to maneuver; he was convinced she was a prize worth winning. He’d make it work for her, make her so happy, she wouldn’t want to leave.
She took a deep breath, a speculative look in her eyes. “You’ve never even kissed me. What makes you think the sex would be that great?”
He was out of his chair instantly, pushing her office door shut.
“Would you like to give the chemistry a test drive?” he challenged, holding his hand out to her.
Kelsey hesitated, her gaze swinging up to meet his. She wanted to kiss him. He knew it in that instant. And, God, he wanted to kiss her. It had taken every ounce of his willpower to walk away from her at her door after the banquet, her slender, curvaceous body mouth-watering in that sinful red dress.
All the way down the elevator he’d cursed himself even though he’d known it was the right move to walk away. He’d never win the game if he signed on as just another one of her boyfriends.
Her eyes met his now, the crystalline blue of Caribbean water. The blue material of her shirt rose and fell quickly with her every breath.
She looked down at his hand…and placed hers in it.
Jared pulled her up from her chair, tugging her into his arms. He felt her tension, the fine alertness that ran through her beautiful body.
She fit in his arms perfectly, a matching puzzle piece. The dark fall of her shiny hair brushed softly against his arm.
Kelsey stood in his embrace, waiting, he knew, but he didn’t give her what she wanted, not yet. He’d thought of this moment too long, waited too many months to rush.
She was on the tall side. All Jared had to do was bend his head to find the sweet curve of her ear. Her scent hit him like a punch in the gut, the clean, natural potency of apple orchards in bloom.
He nuzzled the tender skin of her neck, hearing her swiftly in-drawn breath. Oh so honeyed, the spot just below her ear. He could lose himself exploring her riches.
Jared heard her faint, breathless moan, felt the sway of her body against his, and thought he’d go insane.
Suddenly, he had to taste her lips.
Lifting his head, Jared stared down into her eyes, dilated now with the blue irises only a rim. Her soft red mouth was barely parted.
He took it like a pirate finding treasure. She tasted warm and sweet, the tangle of her breath mixing with his as their lips met. The softness of her mouth open beneath his nearly undid him. His pulse zipped into high gear, his entire body tensing.
For a crazed moment, he thought of lifting her to her desk top and making love to her until she cried out loud enough to bring the entire office in on them.
But Jared restrained himself at that thought. When the time came, he wanted no interruptions.
Drawing her tight against his body, he plundered her mouth until he felt dizzy. Her lips, soft and sizzling, her tongue meeting his with no shyness. She kissed like heaven and hell, her mouth moving against his, her scent flooding his senses.
He was hard as a rock. With Kelsey wrapped around him like tissue paper in a strong wind, he fought for control.
Her mouth, open and hungry beneath his, mating with him like a wanton goddess. Her breasts, firm and incredibly arousing, thrust against his chest. The sweet flare of her hips snug against his erection.
Giving into temptation, he cupped her fanny in his hands, his fingers smoothing over her roundness. Jared rocked against her, only twice, making himself stop when she moaned again, the sound deep in her throat.
This was it.
He’d made love to women, maybe not hundreds, but enough to know lightening when it struck. This moment, this woman trembling in his arms. Nothing and no one had ever come close to her effect on him.