Temptation's Kiss Read Free Page B

pleased, but her grin collapsed when he added, “Besides, I haven't had a cigarette in three days.”
    “Oh, James, you're doing so well,” she said encouragingly. “And you promised to quit.”
    “I know, I know,” he said, kissing her quickly. “I will. But if I find a smoker here tonight, I may stand beside him and breathe in real deep.”
    She had tolerated his hyperactivity that night. He drank too many glasses of champagne, but she didn't scold him, knowing he was drinking to compensate for not smoking. She loved his smiling face, his exuberance, his unflagging enthusiasm for life, his boundless energy, his ambition.
    She had thought the tributes he paid to the owner of the Bennett Agency a trifle overblown, but when Joshua Bennett walked into the flower-bedecked room, Megan had to admit that James's acclaim wasn't unwarranted. The man certainly made a startling first impression. Tall, slender, and distinguished in his tuxedo, he exuded confidence and charm.
    She felt the first tinglings of sensation when, at James's introduction, Josh Bennett's amber eyes subjected her to a thorough appraisal. But those tinglings were only harbingers of the currents that sizzled along her nerves when he took her hand and pressed her fingers lightly. She all but jerked her hand out of his electrifying clasp.
    “I'm pleased to meet you, Mr. Bennett. James has told me so much about you.” Somehow she had squeezed the words past her constricting throat.
    “Not nearly as much as he's told me about you,” he said in a confidential whisper. “And my name's Josh.”
    If voices could have color, his would be whiskey-colored, like his eyes. His voice was husky, mellow, and rich, like the finest bourbon.
    Lulled by the sound and drawn into the maelstrom of his eyes, she all but forgot James, who was boisterously greeting a group of his former fraternity brothers.
    “Say, Josh, will you dance with my girl while I show these degenerates where the real booze is kept?” James asked his employer.
    Panicked, Megan watched James's neglectful retreat, knowing even then that she shouldn't be alone with Josh Bennett. Strong intuition telegraphed disaster. She didn't heed it. Had she minded her instincts then, she might not have had to pay so dearly later.
    “Shall we?” he asked. His brow lifted in query, and she noticed the scar for the first time.
    Before she verbalized a reply, she was pulled into the circle of his arms, and speech became impossible. He maneuvered them around the dance floor with animal grace, never faltering in matching his steps to the beat of the music.
    Megan could never recall afterward what tune they had danced to. Her thoughts were centered on the hand pressing, not against her lower back, where the fabric of her dress would have provided some protection, but higher, where her skin was naked and vulnerable beneath the gentle pressure of his hand. Instead of holding her hand indifferently, he had laced their fingers loosely together. His thumb lazily stroked the side of her index finger.
    He didn't hold her inappropriately close, but each time she brushed against him, her body reacted shamelessly. She hoped fervently that he didn't notice the tightening of her nipples beneath the clinging gown, or the way her thigh had found it so amenable to nest between his, or the sudden rushing of her breath in and out of her body. Not daring to meet his eyes, she stared at the onyx studs between the starched pleats of his white shirtfront.
    When the song was over and Josh returned her to her fiancé, she all but fell into James's arms. Had he been rescuing her from cruel, violent ravishment, she couldn't have been more relieved to see him.
    But she had been violated in a far different and much more subtle way than rape. Her heart had been debauched.
    She'd wanted so badly to enjoy the evening of celebration, but Joshua Bennett's presence had ruined it for her. She was tense and nervous. Every time she ventured to glance around