Page 18 of Separate Lives

“We can discuss mine, then,” Jess interjected, desperate to find a way out and avoid the unavoidable. In the confining space of his car, guilty feelings couldn’t overcome the increasing yearning to fondle, kiss and taste the expanse of firm, hot skin behind that dark two-piece suit and white shirt.

“There’s not much to say about your private life. You have none. With the dummy at least. You don’t desire him physically, and you certainly don’t love him. You’ve already decided to leave him because of me,” he declared with such conceit, Jess was strongly tempted to punch his nose. Unfortunately, though, she couldn’t deny his spot on assessment, but was not yet prepared to give up her fight to retain a minimum of self-respect.

“Rob and I, like and respect each other, which is more than can be said about you and I.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning, all you care for is my body. As for the rest, it’s like I don’t exist for you. You never asked me what my aspirations are. What I like or dislike. What I plan to do with the rest of my life. What I do when I’m not having sex with you. In other words, unlike Rob, you never thought of me as anything other than the slut you accused me of being back in the elevator.”

“Nice try, but spare me the guilt trip,” he rebuked, never taking his eyes off the road ahead. “It won’t work on me. And it won’t prevent me from having you when we reach my place, because I know three-quarters of what you just said is crap. As far as I remember, neitheryoutried to find out aboutmylife or what I do and think when we’re not together. But you are right about one thing. Wedohave a problem. For some illogical reason neither of us seems capable of stopping this mind-blowing passion, this obsession we have for each other from triggering whenever we meet. Unlike you, though, I don’t try to fight it, I accept it, and go along with it.”

“So you’re saying, to hell with getting better acquainted, forget the moral obligations we owe to two other people, and let us carry on this affair, because at the end of the day it’s a good fuck.”

“I wouldn’t have put it so rudely, but essentially, yeah, that’s what I’m saying.”

Jess was speechless. Although she’d voiced the actual words, Reece with his blunt admission had reduced their relationship to an empty, sleazy, base affair.

“As for the lady-killer back at the restaurant, a blind man could see your relationship is as phony as the love you once claimed you felt for me.” With that, Reece parked the car against the curb in front his apartment, and without wasting time, walked inside, leaving Jess with no other option but to follow him.

ChapterSeven

Jess’s heart was beating like a drum, pumping blood to her ears when she closed Reece’s front door behind her, unsure of how things would progress from there. He’d left her with no doubts whatsoever as to his intentions. He wanted her, and would claim her before the night was over, but was he going to take her against the front door, or would he invite her into his bedroom?

“I think a cup of coffee is in order,” Reece declared, walking towards the kitchen.

Jess frowned. She’d entered his apartment convinced he would assault her the moment she closed the door, but for reasons known only to him, Reece had chosen to torment her instead, deliberately delaying the moment. Hesitant, Jess followed him.

“How do you like yours?” Keeping his tone matter-of-fact, he was busy filling the percolator with water while giving her his back. His broad shoulders appeared even more so from where she stood near the island, and her thoughts dangerously waltzed around how those rippling muscles felt beneath her hands.

“Well?” he prompted, turning his head sideways to glance at her.

“Guess,” Jess challenged contemptuously, irritated by this clear demonstration of how little they knew each other.

“Sugar and cream?” His voice was casual, apparently unfazed by her annoyance.

“Just cream,” she mumbled reluctantly.

He subjected her to a very slow once-over appreciating all he saw, and couldn’t resist teasing her.

“Not afraid to put on weight, are you?”

Jess decided to ignore the chauvinist comment, and instead swiveled around, examining her surroundings.

Turning his head, Reece filled the percolator with coffee and started it.

They were in an open-plan, spacious room that smoothly blended into a large living-room. Built-in cabinets ran along three walls. Their white color had surely been chosen to capture the sun rays filtering through the large window above the sink during the day. Jess was impressed. It was her first glimpse of Reece’s apartment since they had met, and she had to admit, with chagrin, she liked what she saw. From the look of him, she would never have suspected Reece favored spacious surroundings. His dark complexion, the usually unyielding, distant expression on his face, his intense coal-black eyes, the set, firm line of his jaw, the constant air of controlled danger lingering around him like a tight-fitting wet suit, didn’t automatically inspire a sunny disposition, or define a lover of wide, bright spaces. Jess had naturally, although mistakenly, assumed Reece lived in a dingy one-bedroom apartment that he used exclusively as sleeping quarters, not a space he clearly enjoyed staying in.

“Why have you never brought me here before?” she demanded, resented for yet another piece of tangible proof of the lack of consideration he’d always accredited her with. He considered her so below his league, he’d never shared aspects of his personal life with her, and had never allowed her to get to know Reece Hilton the man, only the demon lover.

He turned, holding a cup in his hand, and looked at her. “We never once made it further than your front door,” he reminded Jess. “Here is your coffee.”

Their fingers brushed when she lifted her shaky hand to accept the cup. Tiny electric ripples played havoc with her bow-tense body. Her eyes dared to stare directly into the scorching depths of Reece's eyes. The intensity of the desire she saw in his dilated pupils, reminded her of the reason he’d dragged her out of the restaurant and brought her there in the first place. Blood rushed down the center of her body. The contrasting desire to be possessed by him, and at the same time make a dash for the front door, kept her rooted to the spot. Her sole protection against his visual assault was the tiny cup of coffee she instinctively hugged closer to her chest.

With both of them holding scalding-hot drinks, certainly Reece would not try something as uncouth and hazardous as shoving her back against one of the kitchen walls covering her body with his. Would he?

The touch of his forefinger on the frail skin of her bare shoulders shouldn’t have come as a surprise since they were looking at each other with burning intensity, but it did. Her breath caught in her lungs.

“So soft,” Reece murmured, never allowing her aquamarine eyes to break free from under his stare. The deliberate caress of his skillful finger followed the ridge of her exposed skin along her neck until his whole hand gently cupped her head, gradually numbing her senses, rendering Jess unable to pull away from his mesmerizing touch.

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