Page 9 of Turning Up the Heat

Gemma shifted underneath Tom. She didn’t want him to move—she could have stayed there all day. But she remembered that it was still the middle of the busy day she’d scheduled. Tom stood and tossed the condom in the trash can, while Gemma stood. Naked, and without his warmth, the room was cool, and she shivered.

As she slid back into her dress, Gemma watched Tom, who had his back to her, as he reached for his shirt. The way the muscles in his broad back flexed and rippled pleased her, and she smiled, savoring the ache in her thigh muscles that she’d strained with him.

He pulled the shirt over his shoulders and turned to face her as he buttoned it up. He looked up at her and shot a devilish grin. “That was fun.”

Understatement.Gemma laughed, forcing herself to look away from him, because she was afraid of the things that little smile would make her do. She turned to the mirror and tousled her hair to restore order to the thick tresses. When she caught her reflection in the mirror, however, she knew that there wasn’t much she could do about her appearance—no amount of finger-combing would make her look any less thoroughly sexed, nor would concealer hide her flush. “It was a lot of fun.” Her cell phone rang somewhere in the room, and she looked around trying to locate her purse.

“Over here,” he told her, reaching down to pick it up from the floor. When he handed it over, their fingers touched before he pulled his hand back, sliding his fingers against hers—rekindling the spark between them.

Gemma snapped her eyes to his. “Thanks,” she said as her phone continued to ring. But she could barely hear it.

“You going to answer that?” he asked, amusement in his voice.

“I guess so.” She took out her phone and saw her brother’s number on the caller ID. She sighed. “Do I have to?”

“Let me guess—your brother?”

She nodded. “Yeah, it’s Reid. Obviously. If I answer this, can I trust you not to make any noise that he’ll hear on his end?”

“Are you so embarrassed that you’re with me?”

She didn’t answer Tom and instead accepted the call. “Hey, Reid.”

“Gemma, where are you? We have an interview with Spirits Monthly in twenty minutes.”

Right. “I haven’t forgotten, Reid. I’ll be there,” she lied. The truth was, Gemma had totally forgotten about the interview, but no way was she telling her brother that.

“The last I saw, you were ducking out of the lobby with Tom Cain.”

She knew it had been a risk, going off with Tom when her brothers could have seen her. She’d been busted. “Nah, you must have confused me with someone else.”

Reid was silent for a moment, telling her that he wasn’t buying it. “Twenty minutes, okay, Gem? Don’t be late.”

“You got it.” She disconnected the call and put the phone back in her purse. She heard Reid cough in the next room. Her eyes widened. Would she be able to get out of Tom’s room and into Reid’s without being noticed? Her eyes slid to the rumpled sheets on the king-size bed.

“Are you wondering how loud we were?” Tom asked, wearing that same grin on his lips.

“No, I know we were pretty loud, and I know that the walls are plenty thin.” She blew out a breath. “I’ve got to get out of here.”

Tom moved in front of her and led her to the door. He opened it and ducked his head out, looking up and down the hallway. “All clear,” he told her.

“Thanks.” She brushed past him, trying to ignore the way her knees buckled at the scent of his cologne.

“Gemma, wait,” he said, stopping her in her tracks.

“Yeah?”

“I want to see you again.”

“I—”

“You’re not sure?”

She shook her head. “I’m not,” she whispered.

“Why don’t you let me change your mind?” he asked, grasping her by the waist and pulling her to him. His mouth crashed onto hers. All it took was one taste of Tom’s lips for her to melt against him. She snaked her arms around his neck and considered pushing him back into his room and shutting the door for another round.

“Have a good interview, guys.” Reid’s door opened, and before Gemma could dive back into Tom’s room, Lila stepped into the hallway. Gemma stepped back from Tom and looked at her brother’s girlfriend.

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