Free Mysterious by Fayrene Preston

papers.
    Bad timing. Bad judgment, she reminded herself. Yet when he touched her, there was fire. When he kissed her, he made her want more. Circumstances were against them, and lies were between them. She couldn’t change the circumstances, but she could remove the lies.
    She made up her mind. She would tell him everything. He deserved to know, and she just couldn’t keep deceiving him. She had always hated dishonesty in any form, and it was especially true now. She knew they probably still wouldn’t have a chance, but in an incredibly short time her feelings for him had grown. And whether it was right or wrong for her to tell him, he would eventually know the truth. The truth should come from her.
    But now, having made the decision, she was delaying the moment of confession.
    Jerome observed her from beneath lowered lids and forced himself to exercise his dwindling reserve of patience. He could tell that she had something on her mind, but he knew he had to wait. If he pushed her too hard or too fast, she might leave. And somehow that thought was intolerable.
    She had changed into one of the outfits he had bought her: black wool pants and a Chinese-blue angora sweater. The pants snugly hugged each rounded buttock, and her full breasts thrust tantalizingly against the blue angora. She looked deliciously female, just as he had known she would. How he longed to slide his hands over the curved flesh of her bottom and then up under that sweater to experience the softness of each of her breasts. There were times he felt as if his need for her might tear him in two. Like tonight.
    Without switching her gaze from the window, she commented, "Leo is still down there. Does she usually spend such long hours at the stand?"
    Jerome gave up all pretense of working, put away his glasses, and allowed himself to enjoy the full unrestricted view of her. "That she does. I’ve often thought that she should let one of her employees relieve her more often, especially after dark. But she doesn’t. No matter what the weather or the hour of the day or night, she’s usually there. As I told you, she owns a number of newsstands around town, and the word is that she’s quite wealthy. It would seem she could afford to let someone else run things for her."
    Jennifer crossed her arms under her breasts, causing the tantalizing mounds to swell upward beneath the blue angora. "How long has she had that newsstand?"
    Jerome couldn’t take it anymore. He wanted to be near her. He rose and went to stand beside her. "I’m not sure. I’ve lived here for five years and she’s been over there all that time."
    Her eyes widened at his nearness, but she didn’t move away and he wondered why. Did she trust him to act the gentleman? Or could it possibly be that she wanted him as much as he wanted her? His heart began to hammer.
    "Do you know her well?"
    "I don’t know anyone who could say they really know Leo well," he said, adding as an afterthought, "except perhaps Sami."
    "Sammy?"
    "She’s a friend."
    "She?"
    "Her name is spelled S-a-m-i."
    "Is she the same friend who gave you the rocking horse?" Jennifer asked softly.
    He nodded, studying the rose-pink moistness of her lips. He found it sexy as hell.
    Jennifer, feeling a sudden fierce jealousy of the woman named Sami, began to chew on her thumbnail, and Jerome reached out to take it from her mouth. At his touch she started, then subsided.
    "Leo seems to like you," she offered. For a brief moment she selfishly allowed herself to enjoy the blood-heating effect of his touch.
    "It’s hard to tell. I guess we’re on pretty good terms." His fingers rubbed her thumb, feeling the wetness on it that had come from the inside of her mouth. Desire rose within him. He wanted to taste that wetness for himself so badly that he was barely aware of what he was saying. "I’ve seen her practically every day since I’ve lived here. Instead of subscribing to a newspaper, I just walk over there and pick one up. If I happen