A_Little_Harmless_Fascination Read Free

She hoped it was
just the lack of sleep. Until now, she had never even felt the urge to act on
the attraction. Sure, she had fantasized. Any heterosexual woman in her right
mind would. He was the stuff she wrote about in books. Confident, sexy, and she
had a pretty good idea that he was a Dom. Those three things had her
imagination working overtime, and for the first time, she went beyond thinking
about what it would be like. This was not a good development with him being in
Hawaii for a month.
    She turned on the coffee pot. "I'll be right
back."
    He nodded, keeping his attention on her but saying nothing.
Dammit, why did she like that? There was something different about him,
something that was making her want to giggle like a freaking teenager. Maybe
because he was looking at her differently than he ever had before.
    She scooted out of the kitchen and headed to her bedroom.
God, it looked like a cyclone had hit her room. She must have been really lost
the last couple of days working on the book. Clothes were all over the floor
and draped over the chair. She sighed, opening the dresser drawer and pulling
out a pair of faded cutoffs and a T-shirt. Dammit, she thought, and she opened
her lingerie drawer and grabbed a bra and a pair of panties.
    Five minutes later, she was dressed, her teeth brushed, and
she had her braids pulled back with a do-rag. With a deep breath, she walked
out to join Conner again.
    He was looking out the front window, a mug of coffee in his
hand. His expression told her he was thinking of more serious things than his
crazy landlady's penchant for sleeping in shirts and nothing else. He looked
like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. It had always been like that
as long as she could remember. He had shown up at the University of Georgia
that first day with Maura, acting like a bulldog, daring anyone to say anything
mean to his sister.
    He had been the talk of the dorm. She hadn’t been lying
about that. Girls had done everything to catch his attention, but his main
focus had been Maura, and in that she had admired him. She wished she’d had
someone looking out for her like Maura had all those years. Strong, dependable,
sexy. Okay, she wouldn’t have wanted him for a brother...but a lover? Maybe.
She had a feeling he had a real dominant streak and that was something she
liked in a man.
    For the first time in months, she felt stirrings of attraction.
He wasn’t her type. She liked a dominant man, but Conner was over the top.
Plus, she was sure that a man like him would never be interested in a pierced
and tattooed erotic romance author who ran on no schedule. Still, it didn’t
mean that she couldn’t appreciate the beauty of the man. It was a shame that
he’d chosen to wear jeans and a shirt today. She could just imagine what he
looked like without a shirt. Hell, now that she thought about it, she wanted to
see him like that. No shirt, a pair of board shirts, water dripping down his
chiseled chest...
    “Are you going to keep staring at me, or are you going to
get some coffee?” he asked. He hadn’t turned around, but he must have realized
she had been staring at him for a while.
    “I was just thinking that Maura was really lucky to have you
growing up.”
    He turned and looked at her. “I doubt she’s thinking that at
the moment.”
    She shook her head. “You really can’t blame her. You scared
her.”
    He shrugged, and she could see why Maura said she wanted to
throw things at him sometimes. He said nothing and turned around to look out
the window, sipping his coffee.
    “You might want to get some coffee, Jillian. You’re looking
a bit peaked.”
    She chuckled. “You don’t know the half of it.”
    Shaking herself out of her stupor, she headed to the
kitchen. She needed to quit drooling over her new tenant because nothing was
going to happen with him. It would be a mistake—a total idiotic act—to sleep
with him. He was a man that could fulfill her needs, and she would lose