Forged of Steele Bundle (Books 1-4) - Brenda Jackson [232]
Instead of saying anything when he reached her, he took hold of her hand and gently pulled her closer to him. Then he leaned down and gently touched his lips to hers. He pulled back, cupped her jaw and intently studied her lips. She definitely looked like a woman who’d been well kissed all afternoon.
“What are you going to tell Odessa if she asks what happened to your lips?”
Lena’s shoulders shrugged, but he saw the mocking challenge in her gaze and immediately sensed some sort of withdrawal taking place. It was a withdrawal he refused to have.
“I don’t know. Got any suggestions?”
He returned that look by cocking a challenging eyebrow. “You can always tell her the truth, Lena. That we got carried away today and—”
“I don’t think so.”
He smiled. “I figured as much. I guess you can claim you got swollen lips from sipping too long on a soda bottle.”
She lifted her own brow. “Can that happen?”
He chuckled. “It happened to Donovan once, or so he claims.”
She rolled her eyes. “Well, if she asks I guess that’s one excuse I could try.” She then glanced at her watch. “I need to go, Morgan.”
“Okay, and we need to talk. Will Odessa be at the day care again tomorrow?”
“No, she’ll be at home all day watching her soaps.”
He nodded. “Will you have dinner with me tomorrow? We can make it early. You and I need to talk.”
She inhaled deeply. Yes, they did. “Okay, what time?”
“How about four? Is that time good for you?”
“Yes, that time is fine.” She turned to leave and remembered he was still holding her hand.
“Hey, not so fast,” he said, looking into her eyes. Then slowly he lowered his head and kissed her, gently and deeply.
Before releasing her he whispered into her ear, “And get on your computer tonight. Around ten. I want to talk to your twin.”
Sensations rushed through Lena’s body as she remembered their last conversation and how they had come close to playing out that fantasy in his kitchen. But still, she wasn’t certain exchanging sexual banter in cyberspace again was a good idea. “I might be busy.”
“If you’re not, then pop into my space.”
She nodded and quickly turned and left.
Chapter 13
Odessa had been so chatty about how her day and evening had gone that if she’d noticed anything odd about Lena’s lips she hadn’t said anything. Despite her initial concern, by the time she had gotten home, taken a shower and eaten a salad for dinner, Lena was too keyed up to worry about how her mouth looked. Her main concern was her future.
Morgan had left her with the impression that the business deal between them was still in place, but she needed to know for certain, which is why she had readily accepted his invitation to dinner.
After getting her mother settled for the night she had slipped into a nightgown and gone into her room to read some real estate literature she’d received in the mail. She tried ignoring her laptop that was sitting on the desk in her room. And she tried not to notice the time. It was after nine. Close to nine-thirty.
Moments later she glanced at the clock again. It was ten. She sighed and glanced over at her laptop. Should she or shouldn’t she? Hadn’t she gotten into enough trouble with Morgan today? Okay, she would admit that after the type of afternoon she’d had it would only be natural to want to spend time talking to him again. But why not by phone instead of cyberspace?
She quickly knew the answer to that one. She and Morgan had crossed the lines of professionalism on their laptops in a way that they could never retract. And although she had claimed it was her twin being naughty and not her, her behavior this afternoon had proven differently. And on top of that, there was something relaxing and comforting, as well as daring, in having a private, intimate and provocative conversation with someone you knew, yet didn’t really know at the same time.
Deciding to stop fighting the impulse,