“You just don’t get it, do you? I came here with a serious agenda, and all you can think about is getting me in your bed?”
Dalton knew he should back off, put his libido in check, but for some reason, he couldn’t. At that moment he was too overcome with horniness to think straight. “Oh, getting you just in my bed isn’t my fantasy anymore, Jules. I want to get you on that wingback chair, this sofa, my kitchen table, the kitchen counter, up against my refrigerator, on top of my stove, on my stairs, every damned wall in this house and the backseat of my car, if it had one. What I just named are places. And the various positions I’m imagining will blow your mind. I want you. Bad. Do I make myself clear?”
Her eyes were filled with more anger than he’d ever seen before. “Clear as glass.” And then without saying another word, she moved to the coatrack, grabbed her coat, went to the door and stormed out.
*
Dalton stood there, feeling like a total ass. Every damned encounter with Jules Bradford turned out to be un-freaking-believable. Why did lust get to have a mind of its own and rule a person’s senses? She had come here to talk to him about reopening his father’s case, and all he’d thought about was jumping her damned bones...in every damned spot in his house as well as his car.
At least it had stopped raining so she hadn’t gotten wet when she’d left. He rubbed his hand down his face and simmered with frustration as he remembered her words: You found me for one thing and one thing only. How do you think that made me feel?
Shit, any other woman would have felt fucking honored. But then, he wasn’t dealing with just any other woman. He was dealing with Jules Bradford, ex-cop, ex-detective, present-day sex goddess, with remarkable eyes, perfectly curvy ass and a pair of gorgeous legs. The same woman who could walk into a room and make heads turn and dicks get hard.
And his was more than hard; it was pounding. He needed to get his mind off what he wouldn’t be getting from Jules again tonight, and the best way to do that was by being turbocharged. He grabbed his car keys from the table to take his car out for a spin, but then tossed them back. If he left, that meant Stonewall would follow, and the man shouldn’t be inconvenienced just because he was in a horny state.
Dalton sighed as he headed for his bedroom to take off his clothes. This would be another one of those nights when he went to bed feeling needy as hell.
Thirteen
“I must say, your first dinner party as Mrs. Jace Granger was a great success,” Jules whispered to her sister while glancing around Shana’s home. “I’m impressed.”
Shana grinned softly. “Thanks, but I can’t claim all the credit, since I had help. Hannah was a godsend. She has all that experience of catering dinner parties for the Grangers over the past many years. And now she’s doing it for an entirely new generation.”
“How long has she been working for the Grangers? And this is delicious, by the way,” Jules said, biting into a mini chocolate truffle.
Shana smiled. “That’s another Hannah original recipe, and it is delicious. She’s been with the Granger family since Jace’s dad was a kid. That’s why everyone adores her so much. She’s a sweetie pie. In addition to cooking all this food, she volunteered to be here tonight, working behind the scenes to make sure everything runs smoothly.”
“Well, just let her know I think she’s a wonderful cook,” Jules said, smiling. “I told her that at your wedding, but it won’t hurt to tell her again.”
Jules glanced around the living room. She knew some of the people and surmised the others were either business associates of Jace’s or family friends. Of course, there were business associates of Shana’s in attendance, as well.