Run for Covers. Jeanie London

      She pushed off, and her long bare legs stretched out as she rode backward in a smooth glide. Her body arced with the motion, her hair spilling out behind her, treating Adam to an image of what she might look like spread out horizontally for that calorie-burning exercise she’d mentioned earlier.

      One of her sandals slipped off, clattering onto the wooden floor and drawing his gaze to the neatly manicured toes in some shade of ultrafeminine pink. She laughed, a carefree sound that contrasted sharply with the tension coiling tight inside him as his blood rushed hard in a direction in which it shouldn’t be rushing.

      “This is a wonderful suite. Sex swings and those sheets.” She gave a low whistle. “I thought the set in my suite was wild. Have you ever played with restraints and warm wax, Adam?”

      “No, Ms. Ford. I haven’t.”

      She leaned back for another glide, this time arching her breasts high as the swing carried her backward. “Neither have I. Sounds like it might be fun.” The innuendo was in there and being the bold woman she was, Tori glanced at him with a smile just to make sure he was watching.

      Adam was watching, all right. And reacting.

      He’d have to be dead not to react to this woman, and he was very alive, as was his libido, which he’d obviously ignored for way too long.

      She must have recognized his struggle because she slipped out of the swing, collected her sandal and headed his way, all sultry smiles and sexy purpose.

      Adam stood his ground, refusing any show of weakness, not even a simple step backward when she sauntered right up to him and took over his personal space.

      Sliding her fingers around his tie, she loosened the knot with a few easy motions and said, “Don’t you ever want to take a deep breath, Adam?”

      “I can breathe just fine, Ms. Ford.”

      Lifting that midnight gaze, she searched his expression, a slight frown creasing her brow at what she found there. “Let me tell you a secret. My family comes with a lot of baggage. Not only our history with Laura’s family, but a lot of visibility because my father and grandfather are politicians. It was all too easy to be sucked into trying to behave the way everyone expected me to behave.”

      “What are you saying, Ms. Ford?”

      “That I was like you once, Adam.” A soft smile touched her lips. “Surprise, surprise. I was all wrapped up in things that were keeping me from enjoying what was important in life.”

      This was insight he hadn’t expected about her, and Adam wondered what had happened to make her turn that corner in her life. To transform from a woman of perfect decorum like her sister to this carefree spirit who only seemed focused on fun.

      “You don’t know me, Ms. Ford. It’s presumptuous for you to think you know what I should find important in life.”

      “That’s true. I don’t know you. But I know what I see. You’ve got a celebration happening in a hotel filled with sexy suites and a woman you share some serious chemistry with. Yet you shut yourself off to the possibilities the instant you realized you were attracted to me.”

      To Adam’s profound annoyance, he couldn’t deny her claim, which left him to accept the hard reality. This woman had gotten under his skin no matter how much he had willed it otherwise.