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would come back to her, triggering a tightening in her breasts and thighs, and she wondered if she’d ever get over him. She had to keep reminding herself that he wasn’t the man she wanted

him to be. And that their weekend together was simply what she’d gone looking for in the first place…a torrid affair.

She turned on the news while she put away her groceries, but stopped when she heard

Perry’s name mentioned.

Mesmerized, she sat on the edge of the couch as the reporter described the long, drawn-out

case of Thomas Kendall and today’s record judgment. Attorney Perry Brewer was described by

his client as a hero, nearly sacrificing his firm to work on the case for free.

Jane pulled a couch pillow to her stomach, trying to reconcile the Perry she knew with the

man described on television.

His office manager had told Eve that he was expecting a windfall—perhaps she was

referring to the Kendall case. Indeed, with a commission from the size of the judgment that he’d gotten for his client, Perry didn’t need her lottery money.

Of course, at this point, she might not be getting it, either.

But even if he didn’t want her money, that didn’t explain why he’d done a background

check on her.

Because I was curious… She worked her mouth from side to side. Regardless, she wasn’t

going to be just someone he felt sorry for again, like when he’d said those ugly things about her.

To him, she’d only been a mercy lay.

Yes, from now on, she was going to keep her distance from Perry Brewer.

From the other side of the wall, the sexual fireworks started up again. Jane laid her head

back and groaned. The man was insatiable. And at this point, she had the woman’s moans and

groans memorized, knew when he did what she liked, knew when they changed positions, knew

when the woman had gone beyond the point of control and started screaming her release.

Unbidden, Jane’s hot zones began to loosen and lubricate. Now that her body had been

introduced to the bone-jarring, mind-bending, hair-curling experience of multiple orgasms, it longed to go back.

On the other side of the wall, the woman sounded utterly satisfied, and Jane tossed the

cushion across the room. “That’s it!”

She would not listen to the man’s conquests night after night after night.

Jane shot up and headed to the door, ready to give her neighbor a piece of her mind.

Jane pounded on Perry’s condo door, her shoulders rigid, steeling herself against the sight

of him answering the door half-naked.

But when he opened the door, he was fully dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. “Hi, Jane.”

She tamped down a spike of disappointment, then narrowed her eyes. “I’m sorry to

interrupt your company, but—”

“I don’t have company.”

She gave him a dry smile. “Yeah, right.”

“I don’t.”

Jane rolled her eyes. “Perry, I can hear the two of you going at it through the wall.”

He leaned on the door frame and a faint smile curved his mouth. “You can?”

Her mouth tightened. “Yes.”

“Oh, well, maybe you’d like to come in?”

Her eyes widened and she gaped at him. “How dare you? I’m not interested in joining

your…your party.”

“Really?” His eyes danced. “I remember a foursome that you seemed to enjoy.” He paused.

“But for the record, Kayla’s not here. And she hasn’t been since I told her it was over.”

Even as she scowled at him, a hot flush climbed her face. “I came to ask you to keep it

down. This is the third night in a row that you’ve been…entertaining someone else then and—”

“Keeping track, are you?”

She scowled at him. “It’s hard not to, since I can’t get any sleep.”

“Oh?” He crossed his arms. “Keeping you awake, huh? Why don’t you get some

earplugs?”

“I…I keep forgetting to buy them.”

“Hmm. That makes me think that maybe you want to hear what’s going on over here.

That maybe you like it.”

“That’s ridiculous—I couldn’t care less about your conquests.”

“All right, that’s it,” he said, clasping her wrist.

“What are you doing?”

“Introducing you to my latest ‘conquest.’”

“What? Are you crazy?” She flailed, resisting him, but it was like trying to stop a tank. He

half-dragged her through the entryway and down the hallway into his living room. She vaguely

registered the fact that his condo was a mirror image of hers.

Except with leather furniture. And real artwork. And a plasma TV.

“Meet my conquest,” Perry said, gesturing to the screen.

She focused, then made a face. “I’d rather not see your porn.”

He pursed his mouth. “Jane, it’s our porn.”

Jane squinted. “What?”

“It’s the sex tape that you suggested we make.”

She covered her mouth. “How did you get that?”

“I took the memory chip out of the camera in Vegas.”

“You stole the memory chip?”

He frowned. “No! Why do you always think the worst of me?” Then he held up his hands

in surrender. “Okay, forget I said that. I removed the memory chip because I was afraid if you left it in the camera when you checked the bag, that it might get stolen and be circulated. I meant to give it to you, but then we argued and I honestly forgot about it.”

She hesitated. It was a plausible story, but still…”So you decided to keep it for your

personal collection?”

He pressed his lips together, then averted his gaze. “I was planning to give it back.”

“Really? When?”

His face darkened with anger. “You can have it now.” He pressed a button on the DVD

player, removed the unmarked disc and handed it to her.

She wiggled her fingers. “And the memory card?”

Leaning over an external drive sitting next to his computer, he ejected the chip, then

pressed it into her palm.

She held up the DVD. “Is this the only copy?”

“Yes.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“Because I wouldn’t hurt you, not on purpose.”

She exhaled slowly—he sounded suspiciously sincere. But she still didn’t trust him.

“Goodbye.” She walked past him.

“Jane,” he said behind her.

She turned and her heart kicked up a beat. His dark hair was hand-ruffled, his shoulders

stretching the seams of the T-shirt, his jeans worn in all the right places. He was gorgeous. But her breathing was most compromised by the fact that she knew every inch of skin underneath.

“I really did just want you to have a fun, safe weekend in Vegas,” he said.

“Sometimes doing something bad is good for the soul.” Then he gestured to her clothing.

“But I can see that you’ve gone back to being your old self.”

She lifted her chin. “And what’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing, except that you’re too afraid to trust your own instincts.”

His dark gaze was like a laser into the core of her. She wanted to say that her instincts had been to fall in love with him, and how could she trust that? Instead she simply turned and walked out.

It wasn’t until after she was back in her condo that she realized she hadn’t congratulated

him on his big case.

She sat on the couch staring at the DVD he’d given her, digesting the fact that for the past

three nights, he hadn’t been making love to what’s-her-name…he’d been watching the two of

them together.

She hadn’t missed the memory chip, because she couldn’t bring herself to watch their

“footage” after she’d returned home.

Was it good? She wondered. Did she look sexy? Did the camera capture everything as

vividly as she’d experienced it?

A sly smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. And how nice to know that she could look

at Perry naked any time she wanted to.

Like now.

She walked to the DVD player and carefully inserted the disc, then turned the volume to

“mute.” She didn’t want him to know that she was curious.

When the camera first came on, she was in the bed alone, wearing the clothes she’d worn

to the “foursome” massage. Perry was behind the camera, focusing.

Then he joined her on the bed and they began kissing, already on a slow burn from their

sexy, unconsummated encounter.

Jane touched her lips, the memory of his mouth on hers was so vivid she could almost taste

him.

They slowly began to undress each other, and she held her breath as pink and brown skin

began to be revealed. They were totally engrossed in each other and indeed, she remembered

forgetting that the camera was on.

When her breasts spilled into view, he feasted on them. The sight of his tongue darting out

to lick her pink nipples sent shockwaves through her breasts and to her womb.

On the screen she threaded her hands into his hair, pressing his mouth harder against her

skin. Then she reached down to clasp his erection and even without sound, she could hear his

gasp, remembered it being a hot blast on her skin.

She moved lower and pushed him back to take his length into her mouth. He fisted his

hands in the sheets as she moved up and down, massaging him with her hand on the upstroke. He had stopped her, then grinned and flipped her over.

Her thighs tingled because she knew what was coming next. He licked a slow path up her

inner thighs, teasing her mercilessly. On the screen her lips moved.

“Please,” she murmured aloud, remembering.

“Please what?” he’d asked.

“Please make love to me with your mouth,” she whispered in time with her moving lips.

And he had. He spread her knees and buried his head between her thighs, tonguing her

until she was sure she would combust from the torture. When her body spasmed on-screen, the

couch moved, and she realized her body was jerking with remembered pleasure.

And when her glorious contractions stopped, Perry climbed up her body as if she were his

own personal playground. He sheathed himself with a condom, then he held his long, strong

body over hers, teasing her with his erection tucked between her thighs. At last he penetrated her in one powerful thrust.

“Oh,” she gasped into her fingers.

The muscles in his back and buttocks contracted for several long seconds, then he began a

slow, long glide in and out of her body.

Her hips began to undulate along with the movement on the screen, meeting him stroke for

stroke. His rhythm increased gradually, then more quickly as her urging hands ran over his hips.

His face was a mask of restraint as he continued to pound into her. Then her mouth went

slack and she dug her nails into his back as another intense climax claimed her.

Jane felt the pleasure ribbon through her body, curling on the ends.

Suddenly his body stilled, then surged forward to sink as deeply into her as possible. At

length, he relaxed, falling to her chest, then rolled to her side with his arm around her shoulders.

She was asleep almost immediately, and at first Jane thought that he, too, had fallen asleep.

Then she realized that he wasn’t asleep—he was watching her sleep, while slowly stroking her

upper arm.

They lay like that for five minutes, ten. Then Perry placed a long, poignant kiss on her

temple and climbed out of bed to turn off the camera.

Jane frowned. That kiss…

She used the remote to rewind the disc and play that part again. She’d been asleep,

completely unaware that he’d kissed her. So why had he? He had closed his eyes and pressed his lips against her temple in a lingering, enduring kiss.

She inhaled sharply.

A loving kiss…

* * *

screen.

Jane, Jane, Jane.

The woman was in his head, and in his heart. And right now he was going crazy wanting

her in his hands.

He groaned, then pushed to his feet and strode toward the door. His pride was long gone

where she was concerned—he’d beg if he had to. But she simply had to give him a chance to

prove how much he cared about her, how much he wanted her in his life.

He opened his door, then marched over to stand in front of the entrance to her condo. He

lifted his hand and hesitated only a split second before knocking.

Seconds passed, then a minute, then two. He knocked again, wondering if she’d already

gone to sleep.

He had, after all, been keeping her awake with her own sex tape.

The door swung open and he blinked to see her standing there wearing a towel…and a

smile.

“Yes?” she asked, her eyes wide and innocent.

“I, uh, want to talk to you.”

“Okay.”

“I care about you,” he blurted. “And I want us to give this another try. Because even

though I botched up some things—a lot of things—I think that we had something special in

Vegas.”

She didn’t say anything, only looked as if she were considering his words. He, on the other

hand, was having trouble concentrating on anything other than the towel.

“I don’t expect you to believe me,” he started.

“I do,” she broke in, then looped her arms around his neck. “I do believe you.”

His heart soared. “You do?”

She nodded and pulled him inside, then closed the door. “I feel the same way about you.”

“You do?”

She nodded. “I’m going to need a shoulder to lean on to get through this lottery mess.”

“I have two,” he said, nuzzling her neck. “We’ll get through it together.”

“Congratulations on winning your case,” she said, leaning her head back, reveling in his

touch. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Show me,” he said against her hair.

“Can we be bad?” she whispered, then unfastened the towel and let it fall to the ground.