Thorn's Challenge - Brenda Jackson [27]
Only his brothers had keys to his shop. He wondered if one of them had dropped by. It wouldn’t be the first time one of them had found refuge in his office to read his latest issue of Cycle World magazine and raid his candy jar.
He suddenly caught Tara’s scent again. The smell was both alluring and seductive. He narrowed his eyes curiously as he began walking toward his office.
The air inside the building began to sizzle with each step he took. His skin began to get warm, his hands felt damp and pressure began escalating deep in his chest. Tension within him mounted at the sheer possibility, the inkling of any notion that Tara had stepped into his domain. His shop was more than just his place of business. It was more than somewhere he hung out most of the time. It was his lair. His sphere. His space.
The sharp edge of that thought cut deep into his brain. But not for one moment did it cut into his increasing desire. If anything, his body was struggling to get back the cool it had lost a while ago. He tried to keep his face solemn as he slowly and quietly rounded a corner. Tara’s scent was becoming more overpowering.
And then he saw her.
Tara Matthews. His challenge. His sweetest temptation. Thorn watched as she studied the pictures he had hanging on the wall, not believing she was really there.
He wondered which one of his brothers had given her a key, not that it mattered. However, they had been with him earlier and knew the state of his mind…and his body. They were very well aware that lately he had been a man on the edge, a man in a state of pure funk with an attitude that was more biting and cutting than they had seen in a long time. Yet they had sent Tara here! At least, they hadn’t tried talking her out of coming. If this was their idea of a joke, then he didn’t see a damn thing funny about it. He just had to keep his mind on the prize. At the moment his mind was slightly foggy about whether that prize was the trophy he sought in Daytona or the woman standing across the room from him.
He shook his head, not believing he had thought such a thing. No woman, and that included Patrice, had ever come between him and his motorcycle, his desire to win, his need to take risks.
The corners of his lips quirked upward, as he admitted that Tara came pretty damn close to ruining his focus. His gaze took her in from head to toe, from behind, since her back was to him as she continued to study the pictures on his office wall. But that was okay. Checking out the back of her was just fine. He’d always like the shape of her backside anyway.
Her head was thrown back as she tried viewing a photograph that was positioned at a high angle. That made her hair fan across her shoulders, and the way the light in the room was hitting it gave the strands a brilliant glow.
She was wearing a dress. A rather short one but her curves were meant for the dress and the dress was meant for her curves. His gaze roamed down her body to her legs. They were long, shapely and he bet they would feel like heaven wrapped around his waist, holding him inside her real tight while he made love to her with no intention of ever stopping.
Something made her go still. He could tell the exact moment she knew he was in the room although she didn’t turn around. It didn’t matter to him that she wasn’t ready to acknowledge his presence. Eventually she would have to. What really mattered to him was that she was there. Alone with him and looking sexier than any woman had a right to look.
But he inwardly admitted that there was a lot more to Tara than her being pleasing to the eyes. There were things about her that went beyond the physical. There was the way she had captured the love, admiration and respect of his family, especially his four brothers. For some reason, none of them had taken a liking to Patrice; however, with Tara it was an entirely different story. Then there