Free Star of His Heart by Brenda Jackson

a few of her own? As long as the kiss and anything that followed after the kiss was all there could ever be and they knew where they stood with each other, would it really hurt for them to indulge in something that her body was telling her she both needed and wanted?
    Her ears perked up when she heard the sound of Ethan moving around. A smile touched her lips. It was two in the morning and she felt grateful he couldn’t sleep any more than she could.
    She sat up in bed when she heard his bedroom door opening and then picked up the sound of him going downstairs. Being hungry at this hour would serve him no purpose since she didn’t have any food in the house, unless he was planning to make another egg sandwich.
    Before she could get cold feet, she eased out of bed, deciding if a kiss was what he wanted, then a kiss was what he was going to get.
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    With a deep sigh, Ethan closed the refrigerator door after pulling out a bottle of beer. He was hot and needed to cool off. He’d tried to get some sleep only to be awakened with dreams of him and Rachel together in some of the most explicit sexual positions possible. If those dreams kept coming, they could possibly ruin him for future relationships—at least until he discovered how close his dreams were to the real thing.
    After screwing off the beer bottle top, he took a huge swig, appreciating how the cold liquid flowed down his throat and hoping some would keep moving straight to his groin.
    â€œI see you couldn’t sleep either.”
    Ethan spun around. Rachel was the last person he expected to see. After showing him the guest room, she had made herself scarce, basically hiding out in her bedroom.
    She crossed the room toward the coffeepot, and he wished he could ignore the tantalizing view of her bare legs and curvy backside in a pajama set that consisted of clingy shorts and a spaghetti strap tank top.
    â€œNo, I couldn’t sleep,” he answered, before taking a final swig of beer while wishing it had been something stronger.
    â€œWhy?”
    He looked over at her after placing his empty beer bottle on the counter. “Why what?”
    â€œWhy couldn’t you sleep?” Her expression grewtroubled, showed her concern. “Isn’t the bed comfortable enough?”
    For a moment he thought about telling her the real deal, then decided she probably couldn’t handle it if he did. “The bed is fine.”
    â€œThen what’s your problem?”
    He crossed his arms over his chest. “What’s yours?”
    Ethan hadn’t meant for his tone to sound so gruff. Nor had he meant for his eyes to shift from her face to slide down to her thighs. But they did. Heat settled in his gut before he returned his gaze to her face. Just in time to see the corners of her lips lift in a wry smile. “Something amusing, Rachel?”
    â€œYou tell me.” She began walking toward him and her scent—lush, exotic, jasmine and womanly—preceded her. He watched her as a sharp, tingling hunger swept through his groin, and suddenly, memories of the dream that had awakened him had his skin feeling like it was being licked with tongues of fire.
    He never took her for a tease and hoped that wasn’t her intent because he was not in a teasing mood. It wouldn’t take much to push him over the edge right now. When she came to a stop directly in front of him, he inhaled and filled his lungs with her scent. And his testosterone level shot sky-high.
    â€œRemember earlier when you asked me about those vibes, Ethan?” she asked.
    â€œI remember,” he said while thinking her mouth was almost too luscious for any woman’s face.
    â€œWell…”
    He refused to let her get all nervous on him now. “Well what, Rachel?”
    Ethan watched her take a long, slow breath. “You were right about that curiosity thing.”
    He didn’t intend to make it easy for her. “What curiosity thing is