First and Only (Callaghan Brothers #2)

He frowned, noticing the marks on her body. Marks he had left in throes of passion. Had he been that rough with her? He hadn’t meant to be. He reached up to touch one along the back of her shoulder, but she quickly moved away, stepping out of his reach.

Her eyes narrowed, all traces of whatever had spooked her gone. “And you thought I would be okay with that why?”

He gave her a roguish grin, putting up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “It’s your fault. You left me out here all alone. You were practically begging me to find something to keep myself busy. I guess I could have followed you into the shower instead. That certainly would have been more fun, though far less informative.”

An instant flush appeared above the towel, rising up the slim column of her neck and into her face. Ian spotted the lovely coloring and felt himself harden even more. She placed her notebook on the other side of the room and opened her suitcase, searching for something to wear. Ian frowned. He liked seeing her in his shirt. He unbuttoned the one he was wearing and held it out to her.

“He certainly sends you a lot of email.”

“Who?” she asked, eyeing his shirt as if she just might take it. He really liked the way she was glancing at his chest, too, and the way it seemed to drive the thought of any other man out of her mind.

“Aidan.”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but Aidan is my .... boss.”

Ian shrugged, as if the information meant nothing to him, but her hesitation bothered him. A lot. Of course by now he knew everything there was to know about Aidan Harrison, including the fact that he didn’t want him anywhere near Lexi again. Ever.

Ian wasn’t quite sure how he was going to swing that one, considering that she was the head chef of Harrison’s most successful restaurant chain, but he would figure out something. So far he had fearlessness and resourcefulness going for him. Why not a little cleverness as well?

Lexi stared hard into the small closet. “You went through my stuff?” she said in disbelief.

Ian shrugged again, his eyes mischievous. He’d deliberately left things in different positions, wondering if she would notice. She did. “I was bored.”

She was sexy when she was riled. Her chest heaved, her eyes glowed, and her perfect skin turned the most beautiful shade of peachy pink. Her eyes went from him to the Salienne Dulcette erotic romance novel on the bed next to him and she scowled. Beautiful.

“So why won’t you sleep with him?”

“Excuse me?”

“Your boss, Aidan. Why won’t you sleep with him? Is he ugly or something? Old? Great big warts and age spots? Maybe he has a tiny little - ” Ian held up his thumb and index finger about an inch apart from each other.

*

“For your information, Aidan is young, gorgeous and incredibly sexy. Not to mention extremely wealthy and brilliant.” Which was all true, but it didn’t matter, not to her. Because Aidan was not Ian. But Ian didn’t have to know that. “And what makes you think I’m not sleeping with him?”

Ian flashed a smile, showing nearly every one of his perfect white teeth. “Because if you were sleeping with him, he wouldn’t dare let you out of his sight and anywhere near the likes of someone like me. He’d be here right now, pleasuring you, ravaging your perfect body over and over again until you were too exhausted to even scream his name.”

Her breath caught, just a little. Warm, moist heat pooled between her thighs. Her breasts grew instantly full and heavy, aching for his hands to cradle them. Then Ian was behind her, sending exciting little shudders up and down her spine.

“At least that’s what I’d be doing,” he added softly, releasing her hair from the towel, gently pulling the damp strands through his fingers. “If I was sleeping with you.”

His fingers skimmed the tops of her shoulders, feathering down her arms. Despite the warmth of the room goose bumps began forming along her skin. She shuddered, her nipples growing harder, nerves firing from the tips of her toes to the base of her skull. Even the slight rasp of the terry towel had her practically moaning with need. How did he do that? How did he render her totally helpless with a few whispered words and a gentle caress?

Lexi fought for self-control as her traitorous body wanted nothing except to melt into him. “Ian,” she moaned, hating the desperation she heard in her voice. The stark, raw hunger that consumed her whenever he touched her, spoke to her, looked at her.

Everyone said it had been a crush. Puppy love. But she knew better. Ian Callaghan was the only man she would ever want; the only man she would ever love. Her feelings had only grown stronger with time and distance, to the point where they were terrifying. There was nothing she would not do for him if he asked it of her. She could never tell him no.