She was trembling when he stopped. Just for a moment, she thought he was, too, but she was probably wrong. They were both a little breathless though; of that, she was sure.
He breathed a question in her ear. “Are you staying at the hotel?”
Maddie didn’t care that he’d forgotten what she’d said about job hunting. She shook her head. “You?”
“Yeah. And I got a radio in my room.” He paused. “I could take you dancin’.”
All Maddie had wanted at first had been to hear him talk. That had quickly progressed to wanting to be kissed. Surely she wasn’t really considering going to his room? Damn Peggy’s
ten o’clock
class. Why didn’t she have a
seven thirty
class like a respectable college student? Then Maddie’s decision would be an easy no.
Well, maybe not easy, she amended, but at least definite.
“Would’ja like to go dancin’?” Mr. East Texas’s voice was husky and the drawl thicker.
She wasn’t ready to let him walk away. He lit a fire inside her that heated her blood. She realized she’d hadn’t felt warm in far too long, and she couldn’t stand the thought of feeling the fire die and turn to cold ashes inside her. Not yet. “Yes.” Her response was little more than a whisper.
They left her untouched drink on the bar with the change from his ten.
Standing awkwardly in front of the elevator doors, as though they both realized complete strangers shouldn’t do what they were contemplating, she realized she didn’t even know his name. Last chance to run, Maddie thought, but the doors opened before she could spring away. He touched the small of her back to guide her forward, and any chance of escape was gone, like a candle snuffed out.
His touch re-ignited the spark between them. He backed her up against the wall as the elevator doors closed. She expected his hands to be all over her, but again, he surprised her. With his feet wide apart, he braced his arms on either side of her and leaned in so only their lips touched. It should have felt like he was looming over her, but instead Maddie felt delicate and feminine. His kiss deepened, his tongue teasing its way into her mouth, demanding something back from her.
She didn’t hear the elevator bell ding, announcing their floor, but he released her a bare second before the doors opened.
The light was back in his eyes, as though the elevator ride had convinced him they’d made the right decision. Maddie still wasn’t sure about that, but she was pretty certain she was going to turn him every way but loose before the night was over.
Chapter Three
Am I really going to do this? Maddie asked herself as Mr. East Texas dug his key card out of his wallet.
I don’t even know his name. Oh, lord, I don’t even know his name!
“I’m Maddie.” She had barely blurted out the words before heat suffused her face; she sounded so awkward and desperate.
Mr. East Texas stopped in mid-swipe. His melted chocolate eyes met hers. “Zach,” he said with a bob of his head that implied a tipping of the hat. “Pleased to meet you, Maddie.”
The situation swung back and forth, unbearably awkward one moment then feeling like fate had grabbed hold of her the next. Zach’s polite response, in one of those awkward moments, was so characteristic of what Vince would have said that Maddie almost felt as though he were there, hiding behind a new face. The flush of gratitude that she didn’t have to lie about her name swept through her. How uncomfortable would that be, having a man whispering a stranger’s name in her ear while they were having sex? Presuming, of course, that she actually went through with this.
When Zach swung the door open and gestured for her to precede him, as much as she wanted to—or thought she wanted to—Maddie’s knees locked. Stepping through the door was too irrevocable.
Zach turned puzzled eyes on her. She shook her head helplessly, answering the question he wasn’t asking. Lightly, he traced the side of her face with the back of one finger before tipping her chin up as he stepped closer. Maddie melted into his gentle, undemanding kiss.
Then Zach stooped, caught her up in his arms, and carried her into the room like a bride over the threshold. Slick, she thought, but with amusement behind the judgment.
He pushed the door closed with his foot.
A light left burning in the bathroom lit the room with soft light and softer shadows. She expected him to lay her on the bed. Instead, he set her down on the edge then, in a fluid motion, he sat beside her. Thigh to thigh, he devoted the next few minutes to kissing her thoroughly. At last, he broke away with a long sigh.
When he crossed the room, Maddie saw he hadn’t been lying about having a radio. An iPod sat on the bureau. He just hit the power button and selected the track. Maddie closed her eyes as country singer Josh Turner sang the opening line of
No Rush
in his luscious baritone voice.
She opened her eyes when she sensed Zach standing in front of her. His hand was extended in invitation. “I promised you a dance.”
Maddie looked up in astonishment. “Here?”
“Why not?”
Why not indeed, if it delayed having to make this decision? She put her hand in his.
Zach pulled her up from the bed and into his arms.
She knew immediately fate had brought her a man who knew how to dance. With almost subliminal changes in pressure, the hand against her back guided her. He held the fingers of her right hand in his, tucked up against his shoulder.
They danced to the lazy tempo of the love song. Maddie smiled; she had forgotten how good it felt just to be held. Zach’s cheek nestled against her hair as Josh Turner sang about not rushing into love. She snuggled her head against his shoulder, appreciating not being rushed into bed, even though the hard line pressed against her belly dispelled any thought that he really was only interested in dancing.
Maddie knew this album. When the song ended, another of her favorites,
Your Man
, came next. Its lazy two-step tempo was also suitable for slow dancing.
Zach had other plans. He stepped back to spin her under his arm, then tugged her back into his embrace. As Josh sang about turning the lights down low, Zach led her gently through country swing steps. He swung her away from him then twirled her, at a pace not much faster than a stroll, finishing with her back in his arms. Maddie couldn’t contain her smile. Zach smiled back, and even laughed softly when Maddie tangled up the steps and came back too hard, banging up against his chest. He caught her in his arms, stabilizing them both. She might have been embarrassed if the alcohol in her bloodstream wasn’t mingling with the champagne-bubble feeling of being held by him.
Before releasing her, his hands traveled down her rib cage, over the small of her back to the curve of her bottom.
Before Maddie could respond, he spun her away. When she came back, he pulled her close for a few bars, brushing his groin against hers in the two-step rhythm. Maddie decided he had a delightful style of seduction.
As the end of the song approached, Zach spun her out to the end of his reach then pulled her back. Instinctively, Maddie knew he was going for some sort of flourish. With the bed just inches behind him, she screwed up her courage. As he pulled her toward him, she let herself come back too hard and knocked him backward across the bed. She fell with him.
“You vixen,” he laughed. “You did that on purpose.”
“So sue me,” she laughed back.
“No need for that. You’re guilty as sin. Gotta pay the penalty.” With one arm tight around her, he put his other hand on the base of her skull and pulled her into a long, wet kiss, the most demanding yet. Halfway into it, Zach rolled her under him, his lips never leaving hers.
He started moving against her, matching his rhythm to the music. Her skirt bunched around her hips, exposing the crotch of her panties. She could feel the rough texture of his jeans through the nylon as his leg, scissored between hers, brushed repeatedly against her. Thoroughly wet, she pushed back against him. Her need intensified as they necked like teenagers. If he didn’t stop, she thought she might come before he even got her clothes off.
The possibility began to seem inevitable. The passions of her body were in charge now, refusing to be denied, squashing any doubts about the wisdom of what she was doing. Barely aware of anything but her need, Maddie moaned, and moaned again as her body moved closer to satisfaction.
The ringing phone didn’t register until Zach lifted his head and half-groaned, half-growled at it. Maddie’s body didn’t want to acknowledge any interruptions. Though Zach had gone motionless, she moved against him a few more times before she could force herself to be still. Inside, she wailed in protest.
Maddie heard her own breath, coming in hard gasps. She tried to slow her breathing, embarrassed at how quickly she had reached the point of naked need. The phone rang one more time then stopped as though silenced by Zach’s glare. They both held still, waiting for the next ring, but it remained quiet.
Zach’s eyes smiled down into hers. “Now where we?” he murmured. “Oh, yeah, I think you were about to—”
The phone rang again, somehow sounding more shrill and insistent than before.
“Damn it all to hell!” Zach stretched, sliding halfway off her to reach it.
Maddie couldn’t stifle her groan of disappointment.
“Hello.” Even as he growled into the phone, a light shone in his eyes that Maddie knew was a response to her groan. Phone in one hand, he settled back beside her, his free hand finding its way between her legs. He cupped her mound, pressing his fingers against the crotch of her panties. Maddie grabbed a handful of the bedspread and bit down on it, trying to stifle the noises she was afraid were beyond her control.
“Yeah, so what of it?” He said, his harsh tone at odds with his drawl. “You ain’t my keeper.”
Maddie started to lift her head, but Zach walked his fingers to the upper edge of her panties and brain cells died. Her skin quivered under his touch. In his dark eyes, she read passion tinged with amusement. He knew how aroused she was, and he was enjoying that it was his doing. She couldn’t have verbalized anything beyond the muffled moan of anticipation when his fingers slid inside her panties.
Did he enjoy torturing her? It seemed as though it took a year for his fingers to reach their destination, but when he did … Electricity shot up her spine as he brushed her clit skin-on-skin for the first time. She barely heard anything he said as he gently stroked her. Maddie felt as though she was vibrating. He spoke a few more words, but all that registered were the masculine tones and the drawl that had seduced her in the bar.
She lifted her hips, pressing against his hand. He took the hint and slid a finger inside her. Maddie stopped breathing. She was unbearably close. He wagged his long finger deep inside her—then suddenly went motionless. His tone on the phone changed to a smoldering anger. His words rang in Maddie’s ears, but it took her far too long to interpret them.
“Rachel, do you really think—”
Maddie’s heart shriveled in her chest. She was sure she’d checked for a wedding ring. She couldn’t look now. That hand was inside her panties. But it really didn’t matter. Wife or girlfriend, there was a woman on the other end of the phone who had a prior claim on him.
“No one asked you to,” Zach said into the phone.
Whoever she was, Zach seemed to be trying not to fight with her even as he stood his ground. From the look on his face, he had all but forgotten about her, but the hand in her panties had her trapped as effectively as if she were handcuffed to the bed. And her traitorous body wasn’t on board at all with the idea of leaving.
She tried to scoot up in the bed. Zach’s hand and the finger inside her tensed. Maddie stifled a gasp as her vaginal muscles tightened in response. Her clit throbbed as though promising imminent satisfaction if she just stayed where she was.
There was no help for it, she decided, gritting her teeth. Discretion wasn’t going to get her anywhere. She took hold of Zach’s wrist and urged his hand out of her panties. Her existence registered in his eyes. She mouthed the word “bathroom.” He nodded once absently, then his attention focused on the phone again.
“Well, then, I don’t have to—”
Whatever the fight was about—and Maddie thought she might be able to guess all too easily—Zach was having a hard time getting a complete sentence in. Good for Rachel, she thought. Give him hell. Then go find yourself someone better. Though Maddie could easily imagine why Rachel might not be so inclined. A man who could dance like Zach and arouse a woman without even removing her clothes would be a hard package to replace.
She’d intended to get the hell out of Dodge the second he released her, but her wobbly knees convinced her that spending a few moments in the bathroom wasn’t such a bad idea. She grabbed her bag on the way in.
Her hands shook as she renewed her lipstick. Sometimes fresh lipstick seemed like magic armor, but it didn’t help this time. If he’d lied to her, she could have been angry at him. But she hadn’t asked, so instead she was embarrassed for being so provincial.
When she dropped her lipstick back into her purse, the sight of the condom box gave her a spurt of anger, mostly at herself for being so easy. She dropped the box into Zach’s trash basket only to stoop and pull it out again. She still had to return them to Peggy or the girl would think she’d used them.
Needing another minute, she rearranged the contents of her bag, making sure the handle of her gun pointed up where she could easily grab it.
Maddie took a deep breath and made sure her skirt was down where it belonged. Hoping Zach would still be on the phone so she could leave without saying anything, she was doomed to disappointment.
His arms were folded under his head as he lay across the bed. When he lifted his head, Maddie said in a rush, “I really should be going.” She’d wanted to sound casual, but the tremor in her voice betrayed her.
Zach’s eyebrows lowered. “You’re leaving?” He sounded surprised, and Maddie thought she heard what might be a spark of anger as well.
“Well, yeah. It’s late and I—I need to get my babysitter home.” She dropped that bombshell out of desperation. A single mother she’d worked with in
Wyoming
had always moaned about how telling a man you had a kid really separated the men from the boys—and that there were far too few men in the herd.
He started to get up from the bed. Maddie turned and grabbed the door handle, but the door seemed to be stuck. It took a second to realize she had to flip the button up to unlock it. She’d gotten the door ajar when, over her head, Zach’s hand knocked it closed.