The thoughts went round and round in Jessa’s head as she lay on the bed and waited for the room to stop spinning.
Her imagination had always been quite vivid. But she’d never let go so completely. She’d never thrown all sense of propriety to the winds and let it conjure up whatever fantasies it wished.
Connor may have been the sexiest man she’d ever laid eyes on. But he’s wasn’t for her. She didn’t lose control like that. It was preposterous! Other people debased themselves to rut like animals in heat. This was not Jessa Kincaid!
Connor’s words slid unbidden through her mind. “It’s the kind of place you belong, even if you can’t admit it yet.”
What did he know? He certainly didn’t know Jessa. He didn’t know a single thing about her. She was a boring housewife. She had chaired the Fireman’s Ball last year for goodness sake! This was all just some kind of mid-life crisis.
She latched onto that thought almost instantly. Jessa sat up and pulled her robe closed before sliding off the bed.
She was going through a mid-life crisis. Her husband had only just left her, and now she was preparing for a divorce. The situation was making her act a little differently than usual, that’s all.
The idea left her feeling a little better. The dildo was still sitting on the bed. Jessa lifted it gingerly between thumb and forefinger. After washing it in the sink, she hid it away in the drawer, never to be seen or heard from again.
As if.
* * *
Connor had regained his iron-fisted self-control by the time noon rolled around. He was double-checking a shipment of top shelf liquor when the front door swung open. Connor didn’t have to look to know it was Jessa.
The tightly leashed, savage beast inside him could sense her almost immediately. It howled and snarled and rattled the bars of its cage. But years of discipline had taught Connor to ignore the ravings of his inner animal in favor of rational thought. If he ever let go of that discipline, he might well find himself humping her like a dog.
The thought was not pleasant. During much of his growing-up years, Connor had run wild, following his primal instincts. Even as an adult he didn’t know if everyone had the same kind of animal awareness he did. Alex had once speculated that an average person wasn’t pushed into the type of situation where they needed their gut instincts. In other words, prison had unleashed Connor’s inner beast.
Regardless of what had given rise to his tightly leashed animalistic nature, Connor exercised constant restraint. And that threadlike control didn’t need a temptation like Jessa.
Setting the clipboard down, Connor sidestepped until he could see Jessa standing uncertainly before the mahogany bar. The soft material of her low-rise slacks caressed every curve. Her snug black-and-white top sported a vee neck that would give anyone who cared to look a glimpse of the cleft between breasts that would fit perfectly in the palms of Connor’s hands.
He and Alex were going to be beating them off with sticks. And Connor was going to kill whoever looked at her longer than necessary. But he couldn’t do that. He had no right. She wasn’t his.
Strangely enough, that just didn’t matter to Connor’s inner animal.
Connor sucked in a huge breath and ran his hands over the stubble on his scalp. When he could finally trust himself for another look, Alex was already headed in her direction.
“Hey, you showed up! I’m going to consider that a good sign.”
Jessa caught a short black apron before it could smack her in the face. Alex’s welcoming tone seemed to chase away some of her unease. Connor watched Jessa tie the apron in a deft knot around her waist and give Alex a sunny grin.
“You didn’t think I’d remember accepting the job, huh?” she teased.
A grin kicked up the corner of Alex’s generous mouth. He stepped around the bar and handed her a towel. Jessa tucked it into the apron and spent a moment arranging it to her satisfaction.
Connor still hadn’t managed to scrape up any of the self-control he had always prided himself on.
“Connor and I weren’t sure if you took us seriously when we offered you the job,” Alex admitted.
“Well, I was a little uncertain. But I figured I didn’t have anything to lose by driving down here to find out.”
“We’re glad you did.” Connor’s voice came out deeper than he’d intended. It rolled across the room and gained him Jessa’s full attention. Her hazel eyes shyly met his and she swallowed before offering a smile.
She didn’t say anything. And it took Connor a moment to realize that she was giving him the same once over he’d given her only minutes before. He resisted the urge to preen, wondering if she liked the burgundy color of his shirt, or if she preferred the blue from the day before.