Sweet Surrender (Sugar Rush #3)
Author: Nina Lane
ONE
Perfect legs.
Long and shapely with toned calves and delicate ankles. Legs that curved in all the right places and could wrap around a man to pull him closer. Legs he wanted to touch, even though they were encased-so wrongly-in thick, industrial nylons. Even worse, they emerged from under an ugly, black skirt and extended down to a pair of flat, sensible shoes that were probably old-lady orthopedic.
But those legs. Good thing he was an expert on women's bodies, or he might have ignored her. As it was, he'd been struck by the beauty of her legs the second he stepped into the chaotic mess of the Sugar Rush Candy Company's library. She was standing on a ladder by a high bookshelf, her attention on a row of books and her legs right at his eye level.
He stopped behind her, his gaze following the line of her calves up to her ass. He couldn't make out any hint of its roundness under the straight skirt, but no way did a woman with legs like that have anything less than a perfect, heart-shaped ass.
"Need any help?" he asked, his voice unnaturally loud in the cavernous space.
She shrieked.
Tyler flinched.
The woman twisted around with a gasp, one hand grabbing for the shelf. A book thudded to the floor. She teetered. He caught sight of wide, startled eyes behind a pair of glasses just before he darted toward her. His arms shot out the instant she lost her balance on the ladder rung and pitched forward.
She landed in his arms, her feet hitting the floor and her body falling against his in a warm, sweet-smelling bundle that jolted something loose inside him.
Well, damn.
He hadn't expected her to be soft and apparently young, with full breasts that pillowed right up against his chest and-
"I'm so sorry." She gripped his T-shirt for balance, her gaze colliding with his, her face close enough that her breath brushed his lips. "I didn't hear you come in."
"I'm a ninja like that."
As pick-up lines went, it totally sucked, but all the blood was rushing from his brain and straight to his dick. He couldn't form a coherent thought. Every ounce of his awareness was focused on the feel of this woman in his arms.
Under any other circumstances, he'd hardly be surprised by his reaction, but the past six weeks had been such a fucking disaster that he'd smothered his sex drive under the weight of guilt and self-disgust. Now he was unexpectedly holding a woman who smelled like a thousand good things and whose curvy, soft body fired his lust back to life. A woman who reminded him of everything he loved about the female species.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yes." Her voice was warm and throaty, like she'd swallowed a butterscotch.
She pulled away from him, her breath expelling on a rush. Her breasts heaved under the formless shape of her suit jacket.
Tyler's heart was beating unusually fast. Her eyes met his, her shock fading as she straightened her glasses and tugged the lapels of her jacket together.
"I was … I was just looking for a book for Mr. Stone," she explained.
Mr. Stone. His pleasure dissipated. That meant either his eldest brother Luke or second-eldest brother Evan. The superheroes who'd saved Sugar Rush a dozen years ago and were now steering the company all over the world like a couple of candy-making caped crusaders. She must be their Girl Friday. He was sure he'd never met her. He'd have remembered her.
She bent to pick up the book that had fallen to the floor. Her skirt tightened, displaying exactly what he'd suspected-a round, perfect ass that, like her legs, had no business being held prisoner by ugly fabric.
"Kate," he said, her name coming to him in a burst. "Luke's secretary."
"Executive assistant." She straightened, her eyebrows lifting.
"Tyler Stone." He extended a hand. "Family fuckup."
"Ah." Her fingers closed around his, sending warmth up his arm. "Yes, we've communicated via email about Sugar Rush events, as well as Luke and Polly's upcoming wedding. I've heard a lot about you."
"Hasn't everyone?"
"Your reputation does precede you." She tugged her hand from his when he would have held it for a minute longer than was appropriate just because he wanted to. She stepped back, holding the book against her chest. "What are you doing here?"
"Dying a little."
"I beg your pardon?"
He glanced around the wood-paneled room, the reality of his situation crashing back in on him. Before he'd been told about his punishment, he'd barely remembered there was a basement library at the corporate headquarters of the Sugar Rush Candy Company. He sure as hell hadn't known, or cared, that it was a fucking disaster.