Free Sweet Seduction by Daire St. Denis Page A

leaning over him, the sun shining around her mass of curls, sexy as sin, her smile naughty as she caressed him into wakefulness, her skin smelling warm and sweet and tasty? Why did he have the urge to repeat that wake-up call? Every. Single. Day?
    The ring of the telephone was a welcome distraction, because Jamie had no answer except the unsettled feeling in his stomach. Not good.
    â€œHey, Jamie, it’s Carson.”
    Jamie glanced at his watch. It was nine fifteen and Carson Murphy, his partner, should have arrived at the office forty-five minutes ago. “What’s up? You sick?”
    Carson coughed. Not a sick cough, an uncomfortable cough. “I’m in Florida.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œYeah, I know. Long story. Listen, I need you to talk to Helen about taking over my files until I sort things out.”
    â€œWhat’s going on?” Jamie tapped his pen against the edge of the desk, thinking about how Carson had been acting strange lately. “Are you in trouble?”
    â€œNope. In fact, I’ve finally seen the light.”
    Jamie rubbed his temple. “Oh, God. Tell me you haven’t joined a cult.”
    Carson laughed. “Not a cult.”
    â€œWhat, then?”
    â€œI’m getting hitched.”
    Jamie stared at his desktop. Frozen. Finally, he said, “No, you’re not.”
    â€œYes. I am. Next week.”
    â€œThis is a joke.”
    â€œNo joke, man. This is the real thing.”
    Jamie leaned his elbows on the desk, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Jesus.”
    â€œI’m sorry to dump this on you.”
    Once he opened his eyes, his gaze fell back to the pile of documents on his desk. All proof that his friend and partner was making a monumental mistake. Jamie felt compelled to say it. “You’re making a mistake.”
    â€œMaybe,” his friend said, “but I don’t care because I’ve never been this happy. Not even close.”
    After hanging up with Carson, Jamie sat back in his chair. Carson was getting married? It was impossible. Okay, obviously not impossible, but improbable, because his friend and partner was even more jaded than he was when it came to marriage.
    His intercom buzzed. Helen was on the line.
    â€œJamie, Carson’s nine-thirty appointment is here. I don’t know where Carson is or what I’m supposed to tell the client.”
    â€œCarson’s not coming in,” Jamie said, relaying the phone call he’d just had from his partner. “Get the file together.” He checked his schedule, relieved to see he was open all morning. “I’ll deal with it.”
    Just as he hung up, a reminder bell went off on his phone. “Make reservations for dinner tonight.”
    Something tightened low in his abdomen as another image of Daisy—naked with messy just-had-sex hair—took over his brain. Good lord, he was going to have to be careful around her. He hadn’t been this preoccupied by a woman in... God, how long? Ever?
    Forgetting about Carson’s client for the moment, he typed a search in Google—“most romantic restaurants in Chicago”—and scrolled through the list before finally choosing one that looked nice, but not too nice. Intimate, but not too conspicuously romantic. More importantly, it had good ratings for food.
    Perfect.
    No. Not perfect.
    Perfection didn’t exist. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy his time with Daisy. For now.

7
    D AISY WAS LATE for her meeting. Again. As she hurried into the office building, she could hear Nana’s voice in her head.
    Avoiding the things you don’t like doesn’t make them go away. It makes them worse.
    â€œQuiet,” Daisy whispered to herself, as she exited the elevator and hurried down the hall to the “neutral” meeting room. Nana was right most of the time, but this time she was wrong. Daisy had simply forgotten about the meeting because she’d spent