Page 29 of About Last Night

Derek grunted and worked her toe back and forth.

"You see, it was a little joke between me and Steve." She manufactured a laugh, but dipped her chin and accidentally swallowed a mouthful of cool soapy water, then came up sputtering.

He looked over his shoulder, then shook his head as if considering whether to hold her under. God, what about this man turned her into such a klutz? After shoving his sweatshirt sleeve up past his biceps, he plunged his hand into the water and she heard the dullthunkof the pulled plug before he returned to his greasy task.

The water level began to lower, tickling her as it drained away, and making her feel even more exposed. The towel covered her from neck to knees, but just knowing that the only thing that stood between Derek and her birthday suit was a layer of wet terry cloth kicked off a disturbance in her stomach. When the silence became unbearable, she picked up where she'dleft off. "Like I was saying, Steve and I are always joshing each other." She manufactured a laugh. "You know how couples are." She hoped she didn't sound as inane as she felt.

Derek's arm moved back and forth as he worked to loosen her toe, then suddenly her foot jerked back, and she was free.

"Oh, thank you," she said, weak with both relief and immobility. "I was afraid we'd have to call the fire department."

Wiping his hands on a towel, he gave her a whisper of a smile. "Do you need a hand getting up?" She did, but she knew she'd never be able to keep herself covered in the process. He must have read her mind because he added, "Don't worry, Pinky, I'll close my eyes."

For some reason, she liked the ridiculous nickname.

"Okay." Janine raised her arms for him to clasp, then he closed his eyes and lifted her to her feet as easily as if she were a piece of fluff. Water sluiced from her hair, her body and the towel, which she tried to keep close to her with her elbows, to no avail. The towel fell to the bottom of the tub, and when she put her weight on her foot, it slipped out from under her. She shrieked and Derek responded by scooping an arm around her waist to steady her, jamming her up against his body. Desire bolted through her, although he kept his hands in innocentplaces. Concern rode over his features, but true to his word, his eyes remained closed.

She clung to his arms—his sleeves really, which were the first handholds she'd been able to grab. Even with her toes dangling a couple of inches off the ground, the top of her head reached only to his collarbone. The soft cotton of his sweatshirt soaked up the water from her breasts pressed against him, and the skin below her navel stung from proximity to the metal button on his jeans. His fingers curved around her waist, hot and powerfully strong, and the male scent of his skin filled her nostrils. Janine's lips parted, and in that instant, crazily, she wanted more than anything for this man to kiss her. Kiss her so she could be indignant, outraged, even insulted that he would think that she, on the verge of being married, would entertain being kissed by someone other than, um... she winced... oh, yeah—Steve.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his eyes still closed.

"I think so," she managed to say. "But my foot is numb. Just let me down slowly."

* * *

DEREK SWALLOWEDhard, wondering if she could feel and hear his heart thudding like a randy fifteen-year-old's. Against screaming instincts, he kept his eyes closed. He'd been celibate too long, he decided, if he could be so easily affected by the accident-prone wife-to-be of a friend. The same woman, he reminded himself, who was responsible for him being detained, sleep-deprived, inconvenienced and very, very wet.

Doing as he was told, he set her down slowly, although it meant her nude body slid down the length of his straining one. The ends of her wet hair tickled his hands as he lowered her, and he held her waist until she had her footing.

"I think I can stand on my own now," she murmured, but he was reluctant to let go. His thumbs rested on the firm slick skin around her navel, and his fingers brushed the small of her back. She was willowy, and lush, like a long-stemmed flower, and it was all he could do not to steal a glance of her in full bloom as he turned to exit the bathroom. She'd come to the hotel in that crazy getup to surprise Steve, and now he couldn't decide if his buddy was the luckiest man alive, or the most cursed.

Derek closed the door behind him and exhaled mightily to regain control of his libido. He simply couldnotbe physically attracted to the loony case in the bathroom, not if they were going to be in close quarters for the next several hours—possibly days—and especially since she was about to marry a friend of his.

Suddenly some of the words Janine had murmured last night when she thought he was Steve floated back to him.I just can't wait any longer. I need to know now if we're good together.Was it possible that his buddy was about to marry a woman he hadn't yet slept with? That shed come to the hotel with the intention of seducing her groom?

Derek groaned and ran his hand through his hair. If so, that meant the hormones of the shapely woman in the next room were probably raging as high as his.

And something else was bothering him. He distinctly remembered seeing Steve rummage in a gray duffel bag yesterday before he left, but now the bag was nowhere to be found. Derek had a feeling his buddy hadn't spent the night out partying with the other groomsmen.

And while admittedly, Janine Murphy seemed like the kind of woman who attracted trouble, she also struck him as being a little naive, sweetly vulnerable and completely sincere. As a determined bachelor, he was the last man qualified to give advice about getting married, but the very least she deserved was honesty and faithfulness from her partner.

Derek cursed as those protective feelings ballooned in his chest again. What kind of fool was he even to consider protecting Janine from the man she loved? Their relationship was none of his concern. Plus his newfound attraction to the woman, not to mention his medication, was probably coloring his judgment. So the only solution was to stay as far away from her as he could, while sharing a bedroom.

The bathroom door cracked open and Janine's head appeared. "Derek?"

He turned, and his gut clenched. After his best efforts to resist a glance at her while wrestling in the bathroom, her nakedness was revealed in its splendor in the mirror over the vanity, clearly visible from his vantage point. He realized she was completely oblivious to the peep show, and he saw no reason to embarrass her by voicing his admiration for the brown beauty mark on her right hip. His body hardened instantly.

Her smile, conversely, resonated abject innocence. "I found only socks and gym shoes in Steve's bag. Do you have some clothes I can borrow?"

Derek swallowed hard and managed to nod. Janine beamed and closed the door, although he knew the imprint of her slender naked body wouldn't soon be erased from his mind.

Not generally a religious man, he nonetheless recognized his limits as a mortal and muttered a silent prayer for strength.

Chapter 9

FRIDAY 8AM

JANINE ADJUSTEDher borrowed clothes. Derek's gray sweatpants—the counterpart to his University of Kentucky sweatshirt, she assumed—swallowed her. Sans underwear, the cotton fleece nuzzled her skin, which was satiny smooth and warm from her prolonged bath. Rolled cuffs helped shorten the pants while a drawstring held the waistband just below her breasts.

---