"Lee, Marylin - Dream Lover" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lee Marilyn)

"Maybe not. I admit the thought holds very little appeal, but do I look turned off to you, Jade Johnstone?"
She stared up at him and sighed in relief. He definitely did not look turned off. "No and actually it's not as bad as it seems."
"Oh? Just how bad is it?"
"At least I don't think it is. I own the agency that cleans your house. DustBins, Inc. Don't you remember? We met once when we signed the contract."
He nodded slowly. "I remember signing the contract, but you looked so different - so cool and professional. You had hair then."
She fingered her short, dark curls. "I have hair now," she protested.
"You call that hair?"
"Yes, I do."
He shrugged. "You're entitled to your opinion. As I was saying, you weren't wearing glasses, and you had all your clothes on," he finished wickedly.
She flushed, but didn't look away. "So did you," she shot back.
He smiled intimately at her. "Touchщ. Of course I much prefer you sans clothes, but I guess doing business stark naked wouldn't be very practical."
"No. Not, practical at all," she said weakly, amazed at the intimacy of their conversation.
"So that's what you were doing at my house. Do you do all your cleaning in the nude?"
"No. I was naked because you undressed me!"
"Ah, yes, and I enjoyed every second of it. You have an absolutely beautiful body. Have you ever posed nude?"
She blushed. "No! I clean houses for a living. Remember?"
"Ah, yes, I do. Just how many houses do you clean with your pretty little hands?" He grinned. "Fully dressed, of course."
"Actually, I..." she paused, then decided to be honest. "Yours is the only house I clean personally."
He studied her upturned face in silence for several moments before he spoke again. "Should I be flattered?"
"Aren't you?"
"Yes," he admitted. "Look, I think I should explain so you understand about that day. I had a bad case of the flu and I'd taken some medicine that made me very groggy a few hours before you arrived. What I'm saying is that I thought I was dreaming at first. I don't usually drag every woman that comes into my bedroom into bed with me."
"Do you ... usually sleep like that ... naked ... and ... aroused?"
"Only when I'm expecting delectable cleaning women." He smiled, then suddenly shook his head. "Really, I'm sorry about what happened."
"I'm not," she said audaciously.
His smile returned. "You're refreshingly honest. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to getting to know you, Jade Johnstone," he said softly.
"Oh, good."
He glanced at his watch and made a small sound of annoyance. "I have to get back. I have another class tonight."
He walked her to her car. She opened the door, then turned to look up at him. "You'll call?" She suddenly felt anxious.
"I haven't been able to eat, sleep, or work very efficiently since you left me with a raging hard-on." He bent his head to kiss her. She closed her eyes and kissed him back. His mouth moved slowly, but insistently against hers, parting her lips. She eagerly sucked at the tongue he stroked into her mouth.
His body hardened in response. She pressed closer, enjoying the feel of his masculine body against hers. She wanted him. Really wanted him this time. With a groan, he pulled away from her. "You want to ask me that again?" he asked softly.
She shook her head. There was no need. He would call.

Are you out of your mind? The question reverberated in Reed's head as he slowly walked back to the Bonnel building for his next class. He'd argued with himself all the way to the parking garage, trying to talk himself out of following Jade after class.
He'd told himself that getting involved with her was sheer insanity. Her status as one of his students, however temporary, aside, there was the question of her morals. What kind of woman went to bed with a man she didn't know as she'd done with him? If nothing else, she was what his mother would call common and easy.
Then there was the small matter of Lina Leighton, the daughter of one of the senior partners. A marriage with her would ensure that he got the full partnership he was entitled to.
Although there was no formal understanding between them, she'd been chasing him for the last year. He'd stopped running about two months ago and now she and her father had started to refer to them as a couple.
This was definitely not the time to get involved with anyone who would get in the way of his ambition. There was no way he could pursue a relationship with Lina and have Jade at the same time.
The solution was obvious. He should write off Jade Johnstone. Forget he'd ever touched her warm naked flesh or tasted her sweet lips. Ah, but she was so enchanting. He licked his lips. The taste of her mouth and her tongue lingered with him, as did the delicious aroma of her aroused body. And those gorgeous brown eyes that made him a willing captive every time he looked down into them!
His last relationship with an attorney living in Washington D.C. had been a long-distance one. After two and a half years of hot, sizzling sex, it had ended five months earlier. Michelle was been beautiful, cultured, and someone of whom his mother would approve. Although he'd been fond of her, he had not been in love with her. When she began hinting that she was ready to settle down and start a family, he came right out and told her that he wasn't ready to be a husband or a father.
He had been celibate since then and now his body was hungry and ready to become intimately involved with someone. He told himself that someone didn't necessarily need to be Jade Johnstone. It could just as easily be Lina.
No, dammit, it could not. Lina was attractive and she had the hots for him. And although she stirred him, she didn't arouse him the way Jade did. He wanted Jade Johnstone and come hell or high water or Lina, he was going to have her.
Granted, his relationship with Jade would have to be short and low-keyed, but he would do his best to make sure she didn't get hurt or too attached to him. As long as they kept their relationship strictly physical, no one need get hurt.
He knew that for the first time in his life, he was about to enter a relationship without being in complete control. The realization was a little unnerving, but exhilarating too. He was sure Jade Johnstone had hidden depths, and he meant to explore them all. To hell with the consequences.

"You told him what?!"
Jade tucked her legs under her on the thick mauve carpeting of Janny's living room floor and glanced sideways at her friend. After her encounter with Reed Daniels in the parking lot, she'd come straight to Janny, wanting to talk about him. Now she was sorry. Janny was not going to understand. She couldn't really blame Janny, because she really didn't understand what was happening herself.
"I told him I wanted to sleep with him. So what's the big deal? You've been on me for the last couple of years about not having a lover in an age when most girls take their first lover in their early teens."
She shrugged. "So why aren't you happy for me? Isn't there any pleasing you?"
"No! Yes. Okay," Janny nodded, looking angry. "I know what I said - what I've been saying - but I did not mean for you to give it up to a guy you've met twice! Besides, since you've waited this long, you might as well wait a little longer. Wait until you meet that special man that just thinking about takes your breath away."
Jade lifted her cup and took a sip of herbal tea. "I've met him, Janny. Reed Daniels is the one," she said and waited for the explosion. She didn't have long to wait.