Between The Sheets - Complete Collection Read Free

table that could accommodate up to twelve diners.  Several others were already seated discussing the menu.  To his utter delight and satisfaction, Brandi was one of them.  She had yet to see him, involved as she was in her conversation with the other ladies grouped with her.
    Geoffrey spoke low as he gave the waitress his beverage request, not wanting Brandi to hear and notice him.  Inviting him to sit where he pleased, she left him with a menu.  Rather than peruse the menu, he took advantage of the opportunity afforded him to study Brandi in this social environment.
    The reserve normally a part of how she conducted herself each time they met was absent.  With a pointed chin and sharp cheekbones that could have made her appear angular, the gentle curves of her oval-shaped face softened while the steel gray eyes, startlingly clear, made him feel she could see into his soul, into the man he was at his most basic level.
    Tall and slender, she reached his shoulders.  Narrow at the shoulders and hips, she had full breasts, the swells of which showed above the V-necked tee shirt she now wore.  He had to fight the urge to pull her into his arms and press her tight against him.
    Brandi must have become aware of his focused because she casually glanced his way.  Her eyes widened, mouth dropping open.
    Geoffrey grinned.  “Good evening, Brandi.  How fortunate to meet you here tonight.  Are you going to introduce me to your friends?”
    Again, he felt a taste of her fire in the heated glare she sent him.
    “Yes, do introduce us,” said one of her friends that was staring at him with undisguised curiosity and an easy grin.
    Brandi, however, did not share her amusement.  She flattened her lips and for one moment he thought she might not answer.  Watching her closely, he saw the moment she realized there was no polite way to avoid it.
    Voice cool, she said, “Diamond Theroux, Lisa Ba’Yne, and Renee Jinn, meet Geoffrey Rasmussen.  He’s the representative from my newest client.”
    “It is my pleasure, ladies.  Do you mind if I join your little group?”
    “Of course, you can,” the woman who’d spoken earlier, Diamond, said.
    Geoffrey rose and resettled himself next to Brandi.
    Brandi tensed as his scent wafted to her, spicy and warm, his essential male scent making her mouth water for more than food.  Her pulse quickened, the heat of his body warming her, turning her insides to liquid.  She turned her face away from him, rejecting the appeal of the man with her mind, in spite of her body’s reactions to him.
    A long time ago, Nick had been just like Geoffrey, determined in his pursuit of her.  He’d rammed against her boundary walls with his persistent flattery and gifts until she lowered her defenses.  She let him in, let him take her over. Then what did he do?  He took her love, ground it under his heel and threw it into rotting garbage like that was all she was fit for.
    Neither Geoffrey, nor any other man, would get the opportunity to do that to her again.
    Brandi chanced another glance at him, woman enough to appreciate his male attributes in a purely aesthetic way.  His tall, lean, muscular frame, white-blond hair and brilliant blue eyes put him right up there with Hollywood types, his easy grin making him approachable.  Did he make everything female within her flare to life at his nearness, at one glance from those beautiful blue eyes?  Yes.  No need to delude herself about it.
    Sorry, Mr. Rasmussen. I refuse to go down that path again.
    She could not afford to.
    Taking a deep breath, Brandi consciously released the tension.  The acknowledgement of her attraction to him, and subsequent decision to choose not to follow through on it, freed her somehow.  She could relax, to a point, and enjoy dinner with her friends and the attractive man who was nothing more than a business acquaintance.
    “So what do you ladies do?” Geoffrey was asking as she tuned back into the conversation.  “Except