Free Surrender by Brenda Jackson Page B

involved in affairs?”
    Ashton nodded. “What I did in the past does not concern you, just like what you’ve done doesn’t concern me. What matters is here. Now. Us.”
    Feeling distinctively uncomfortable with where the conversation was headed, Netherland drew in a deep breath. “If we’re through talking, I suggest we go back and rejoin the others.”
    “Will you come to my hotel room when you leave here tonight and sleep with me again? I enjoyed the feel of your body cuddled against mine.”
    The mental picture his words, spoken in a deep, husky voice, evoked was simply too much to think of or to remember. But she did. He had held her tenderly in his arms, and had kissed her passionately during all hours of the night. He had touched her intimately whenever he’d felt good and ready. But that was as far as he had gone. He had stuck to his word and not made love to her, although she’d known that his body had been in a hard state during most of the night.
    “I can’t, Ashton.”
    He reached out and took her hand in his and placed his hotel-room key in it. “Keep this in case you change your mind.”
    She stiffened slightly. “I won’t.”
    He looked at her, his eyes delving deep into hers. “I hope you will.”
    He leaned forward and placed a kiss on Netherland’s lips before turning and walking out of her office.
     
    For the remainder of the night Netherland tried keeping busy and ignoring Ashton’s presence, which wasn’t an easy thing to do. She even tried pretending nonchalance when she noted some woman had boldly decided to join him at his table. She refused to believe that the emotion that was rearing its ugly head inside of her was jealousy. She had no reason to get jealous of any woman who made a pass at Ashton.
    “Don’t worry about Tasha. It’s obvious that Ashton is bored stiff.”
    Netherland quirked a brow at Rainey. “I beg your pardon.”
    Rainey smiled. “And I beg yours. Don’t pretend you haven’t noticed Tasha McQuire sitting at Ashton’s table or the way she’s trying to come on to him. She’s wasting her time.”
    Although Netherland didn’t want to admit it, she hoped the woman was indeed wasting her time. “It doesn’t matter to me.”
    “Doesn’t it, Nettie? When are you going to come out of your hard shell and admit that you feel something for Ashton Sinclair?”
    Rainey’s question had bugged her most of the night, long after she had closed the restaurant and driven home. She refused to take the highway that led to the place where Ashton was staying. Instead she kept her mind and attention focused on the route that went directly to her house.
    Once there she undressed and took a leisurely shower. After getting dressed for bed she took the time to enjoy a cup of herbal tea while reading the latest issue of People magazine.
    Later when she got into bed, images of Ashton flooded her mind. They were images of how he had looked last night wearing just a loincloth and how he had looked that day wearing a pullover shirt and a pair of jeans. Then there were images of them sitting across from each other in the middle of his bed, Indian-style, in their underwear, while he told her he loved her.
    As she adjusted the pillow beneath her head, she couldn’t help but close her eyes and dream of last night and how he had held her close.
     
    Netherland opened her eyes out of a deep sleep. Her bedroom had somehow gotten warm. It didn’t take long for her to realize that it wasn’t the room that had gotten warm but her body. She had awakened from amidst a dream she’d been having of Ashton.
    Kicking her bedcovers aside she flipped to her side to find another comfortable position and suddenly, unerringly, became joltingly aware that someone else was in the room with her. She took a deep breath, telling herself that couldn’t be possible. She had an alarm system. Her alarm would have sounded had anyone entered her home uninvited. But she still pulled herself up in the bed, and