Pleasure Bound (Hard to Get 2) Read Free Page A

At Gracie’s apartment. When we were there helping clean up the mess that freak left behind. You sided with Wade. Some stupid nonsense about the sister code. Remember?”
    Ah, it was all coming together finally. Gracie had been a client of his and Wade’s investigation business, but she’d quickly become the love of Wade’s life. Unfortunately, she’d been having trouble with a deranged stalker. When the creep had broken into Gracie’s apartment and torn it all to hell, they’d all rallied together to help Gracie put things back in order. Once again, Jonas had seen a chance to ask Deanna out, but she’d shot him down. Then Dean and Wade, her two overprotective brothers, had gotten involved. Jonas and Wade were not only business partners but also friends—an annoying little fact that forced Jonas to back off in his pursuit.
    “Wade is like a brother to me,” he explained, “and he reminded me of that. It’s not cool to chase after your friend’s baby sister, Deanna.”
    She quirked a brow at him. “And yet here you are.”
    “Yes, smart-ass, here I am,” he said softly. “I talked to Wade. He’s still not crazy about the fact that I’m hot for you, but he’s not going to stand in my way either.”
    If anything, her frown turned darker. “You asked for his blessing?”
    “Uh, something like that, yeah.”
    “He’s not my father, Jonas. I’m a grown woman. Wade has no right to interfere in my personal life.”
    “Right or wrong, Deanna, Wade will always look out for you. Dean, too, for that matter.”
    She sighed. “And let me guess, Wade threatened to castrate you if you hurt me. Is that it?”
    Jonas propped a fist against the doorjamb, then wrapped his other hand around her waist to keep her from bolting through the open door. “The last thing I want is to hurt you, Deanna.”
    Deanna’s slender fingers gripped onto his forearm. “No,” she whispered, “you just want to get me into bed.”
    He let his hand move lower, until he was mere inches from the sweet curve of her ass. “I want you like hell. Just looking at you makes my dick hard. But there’s more than that between us.”
    She shook her head, maybe a little too vehemently, Jonas thought. “No, there isn’t.”
    “There could be,” he murmured as he dipped his head and brushed her lips with his. “If you’d stop playing so hard to get.”
    The hand she had on his forearm tightened, but she wasn’t pushing him away. “I don’t want to be another in a long line of conquests, Jonas. This isn’t a game for me.”
    “If all I wanted was a few hours between the sheets with a warm, willing woman, I would’ve taken that cute little blonde up on her offer at the bar I went to tonight.”
    Her nails dug into his skin. “Cute little blonde?”
    He nodded, enjoying the note of jealousy in her voice. It served her right, considering how jealous he’d been when he’d seen her in that Lexus. “She sent me all the right signals too. But the only woman I want isn’t in some bar.”
    “She’s not?”
    “Uh-uh. She’s standing right in front of me.” He looked down her body, his gaze snagging on the fullness of her breasts pressing so enticingly against the thin material of the dress. “And she’s so pretty too.”
    Deanna dropped her hands and sighed. “I can’t do this, Jonas. Please.”
    “Why? It’s just a date. We can go real slow, I swear.”
    The satin skin over her cheekbones, the same skin he wanted to press his lips against, tautened. Jonas ached to take the starch right out of her. He wanted to watch her go all soft and rosy for him.
    “It’s not going to work,” she said. “I’ve known guys like you. You’re an oversexed playboy. You aren’t the serious type, Jonas. You like to play, and I’m not willing to be your plaything.”
    He snorted at her description. “Plaything?”
    Deanna stiffened and dropped her hands from his arms. Jonas instantly missed the warm touch. “Do you deny you’re a