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At least he didn’t deny it She turned her head to look at him His eyes were brown She’d never noticed that before There was a war One had nice brown eyes He’d brought her a present and a martini And had she mentioned the tux?

“What’s your na One?” It was James She knew that She just didn’t want him to know she knew it

“James”

“James what?”

“James Francis Xavier Cahill” He s harder this ti

“Thank you for the beautiful pen, James Francis Xavier Cahill”

“You’re welcome,” he said

That was a good sreat s his whole face Yep With vodka goggles—quite possibly without, she’d never really let herself dwell—Thing One was smokin’ hot Really thick, dark brown hair It would be hard to check for deer ticks in hair like that Okay, that was the …also ears, shall we? Parker asked herself No need to waste a perfectly satisfactory ogle thinking about ticks Hair that would look excellent if it were all tousled and rumpled There Much better His eyes were, shoot, she couldn’t think of the word for them, but they were smiley Smiley eyes with very nice crinkles around them One of his incisors was a little bit crooked, and for some reason, that made his smile even better

“How old are you, James Francis Xavier Cahill?”

“Twenty-eight”

Five years younger than she was She could’ve babysat for hi hihteen, let’s say, and she enty-three Weren’t there porno ?

He seeain, just a little Then his eyes dropped to her hts, too And fro, full and generous

Kind That was the word she was looking for He had kind eyes

He reached out, slowly, and tucked a wisp of hair behind her ear, and without further thought, Parker leaned in and kissed him

She was right His lips were s her lips against someone else’s, so tientle pressure of his h to let her know he didn’t gly and war hied

He didn’t mind at all, apparently, because the nexther back She could taste whiskey on hi was so underrated, there should be kissing apps for phones or soh his thick, wavy hair, and his arms slipped around her and pulled her closer The heat and the gentle scrape of his five-o’clock shadow, and oh, raduate top of his kissing class, no doubt

Her heart was thudding, lust thick and hot in her veins, drowning out rational thought Parker ran her hands down his neck, his shoulders thick withOne!—then slid her hands under his tuxedo jacket and felt the heat of his skin under the thin cotton of his shirt

Fro

“Knohat?” she said, tearing her rabbed his hand and practically dragged him up the rest of the stairs, shoved aside the velvet rope and towed Jaht, and bingo A bedroom, thank you very much

Jaain, and it was so welco could burn down around the, hard and hot and fierce His hands slid down her sides, to her ass, pulling her against hi

Hisher cheek, and Parker felt such a wave of…longing and tenderness and gratitude and asweetness He wanted her There was no doubt about that, and she turned her head and kissed his jaw, just under his ear, roan a little

Then he straightened up and looked at her, leaning his forehead against hers “You really want this to happen?” he asked, and his voice wasn’t quite steady, and that sealed the deal

“Yes,” she said Then she pulled him close and pulled his shirt from out of his pants and slid her hands up his hot skin

He unzipped her dress and didn’t ask any more questions

No, sir No indeedy

AS PARKER WOKE UP—holy halos, she’d fallen asleep with a near stranger—her first thought, aside fronant” Yes, they’d used a condom And she was on the Pill, not that she’d needed it for contraception; her gynecologist recommended it as prevention for ovarian cancer Whatever Chances were, she wasn’t preggers

Next thought was “Please don’t let him wake up”

James Francis Xavier Cahill was beautiful His cheeks were flushed, giving him a boyish look, and one arm was up over his head How had she not noticed how delicious he was before this day? He looked like a fallen angel He looked beautiful He looked…eesh…young

If she could get out of here without talking to him, that would be fantastic, because what the heck do you say after you, the so stud, into a bedroo him silly? She barely let him speak May as well have commanded him to do her

Not that he seemed to mind

Her dress, his shirt, her shoes, his tie, were all strewn around the roorabbed her panties and dress and slunk into the bathroom attached to the bedroom—excellent for trysts, these ed, her lips pink and bee-stung, her cheeks pink Eyes were dreamy

We’re so disappointed, said the Holy Rollers

We’re not, said Lady Land Thank you! That was rather spectacular, yes?

Yes

Nevertheless, this was a huge ? She was thinking Stoli Elit, that’s what she was thinking Stoli Elit, a bad case of poor little rich girl and Jahty Dirty, even

The thought of what they’d done…what he’d done to her…and the noises it evoked…the feelings that had practically— Okay! Stop! Let’s gethere, shall we? Before the Coven finds us?

She dressed and ran a wet facecloth under her eyes, daers and slicked her hair back into its twist once more There She looked norainst the wall, on the bed and yes, on the floor With her father’s attorney

Oh, this was bad

She’d slip out of the rooe James could wake up and do whatever he wanted, but a face-to-face encounter? Bad idea

She opened the door and juht in the doorway