Page 25 of The Bachelor

She was literally going to die from embarrassment. She was going to faint, hit her head, and die, and she would welcome it. This was not a conversation she wanted to be having at work, or basically ever. “Dear Lord, please keep your voice down,” she hissed. “Pat will hear you.” If she got fired from her dream job because she had banged Shane Hart, she would hate herself for the rest of her boring and broke life back in Kentucky where she’d be forced to flee in humiliation.

“No one is listening at the door.” He shook his head. “But fine.” He moved further into the room, and lowered his voice. “Why didn’t you say goodbye?”

That was an easy question to answer. “Because your sister called and I saw her picture and then she texted and I wasn’t looking to be nosy, but to turn your ringer off because you were still sleeping, and when I realized who she was, I worried that you would think I was trying to get in good with a producer, and I didn’t want you to think that. Plus, I was embarrassed about not telling you it was my first time and…” She lost her train of thought. But it was enough. It pretty much covered the gist of the situation. “It just seemed best,” she finished a bit lamely.

“Okay.” Shane nodded. “I understand. I know you had a rough time that night. I just hope the morning we spent together made it a little less awful.”

That eased the tension in her shoulders. He wasn’t going to make a big deal out of anything. They could talk about this once, here and now, and then never again. “It did. It more than did, so thank you. I had a really great time.”

He took another step towards her, and she couldn’t tell what he was thinking. The room felt small, his presence huge. He was so damn gorgeous. It was still surreal that this thoughtful man, this sexy, larger-than-life, well-respected producer, had been all up on her business. His tongue and the things he had done with it was something a girl just didn’t recover from quickly. But it seemed like a very erotic dream. Not real life. Not her life.

“Was it decent?” he asked, and his voice had changed. It had gone low, seductive, a verbal caress.

Her nipples hardened and she swallowed the hot saliva that had suddenly filled her mouth. She glanced over at the door, convinced Pat was going to walk in at any minute and she would lose her job for being too personal with a producer. “Um, that’s probably not the exact word I would use.”

“No? That’s funny, because it is the exact word you used.”

She wasn’t sure what he was talking about. She didn’t remember saying it was just decent. “It was amazing.” Perfect. It had been perfect. She owed him for that, but what exactly did she have to offer? Not a whole lot other than hardy appreciation. “You were really great to me and I truly am sorry I wasn’t totally upfront with you. I just got swept away in the moment.”

Shane bent over and put one hand on each of the armrests of her chair. He was enveloping her and she instinctively shifted back, raising her knees, creating a barrier of limbs and guitar between them. He looked like he was going to kiss her and that both thrilled her and terrified her. She could not be kissing him in the office. Or anywhere. Ever.

“What are you doing?” he asked. “You look afraid of me.”

“Of course not. I’m just nervous about getting caught.”

The corner of his mouth turned up. “Caught doing what?”

He was teasing her, playing some kind of game she didn’t understand the rules to. She was, as he knew full well, not that savvy with men. It made her mad, which made her feisty. “Caught kissing, which is what I think you’re aiming to do, and to be totally honest, I would probably let you. Then regret it.” It would be the dumbest move on the planet to get involved with him again, knowing precisely who he was. Before, she could plead ignorance. Now she knew everything, and while she was a nobody, he was important, and she would be stepping in a whole mess of crap if she willingly got involved with Shane Hart.

“Why would you regret it? Do you regret the last time?”

“No. But this is a conflict of interest.” Or something like that.

He scoffed. “It is not.” But he did stand up. “I want that song,” he told her, in the no uncertain terms of a man who was used to getting precisely what he wanted. “And I want you. Tell me I can have both.”

Well, if that wasn’t simultaneously the most arousing and irritating thing she’d ever heard in her life. She stood up, because she didn’t like him looking down at her. “Oh, and that’s just that? I don’t have a choice?” She didn’t even know what he meant by want her, but she assumed he meant more sex. And while her body might think that was the finest idea ever, she had to be smart, even as she felt an unmistakable flicker of lust deep down between her thighs. Where only he had been.

Aside from all that, who did he think he was, ordering her around?

Shane Hart, that’s who.

Mama was right. She always got muddy. Every last time.

TWELVE

Shane was glad Avery had stood up, her shoulders going back, her chin up in an angry defiance. She had almost looked afraid of him before and that really kicked him in the nuts. That was the last thing he wanted. He didn’t exactly know what he wanted, but he did know that he was really damn pleased to see her standing there in front of him considering he hadn’t ever expected to see her sweet face again.

He had spent far too much time over the last three months pondering her puzzling eyes and why the hell she had bolted without at least saying goodbye. He had also been completely celibate, not really able to muster any interest in other women. This was probably the longest dry spell he’d had since he was sixteen, and now that he was standing two feet away from Avery, he wanted to end it. Immediately.

The sound of her voice was like fingers stroking his cock and all he could think about was her naked, very eager body opening up for him. It was a problem.

Because the last thing he had ever expected was to hear her singing, and while he hadn’t realized it was her when he’d been down the hall, he had been transfixed immediately. She had something special, and even though her voice wasn’t the strongest, it was honest, the melody haunting. It was a song about betrayal and he had instantly heard Jolene singing it, making it her own. It had number one potential. But now he was wondering if she’d written it about Ben.

It made him realize he needed to stop being selfish and ask her how she was doing.

So he ignored her question and asked one of his own. “How are you doing, by the way? Everything okay? It seems like you landed on your feet.”

Her eyes softened. “Yeah, things are fine, thank you. I got a place with three girls who needed a roommate and I found this job almost right away. I was really lucky.”

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