Free His to Possess by Opal Carew Page A

just dump her like yesterday’s garbage.
     Some guys just didn’t understand a good thing when they had it.
    “But I guess what really convinced me he was in love with me…” Her gaze flicked to
     his. “Because you’re right, I did think that … was when he got this tattoo.”
    “Don’t tell me he got your name tattooed across his chest?”
    “No, it was on his shoulder, and it wasn’t my name. In fact, it was really sweet.
     You see, I had a framed picture of a leopard moth in my room, which he asked me about.
     I told him that when I was a kid, I was always a perfectionist, and one time a teacher
     gave us a list of ten butterflies and moths that we had to draw as a science project.
     She wanted them from a specific book in the school library, but there were only five
     copies and everyone kept checking them out. By the time I got a copy, with only a
     few days left before the deadline, I realized that the picture of the leopard moth
     had been torn out of the book. I drew all the others, but I was in tears because I
     didn’t know what to do about the tenth picture.
    “The next evening, my mom showed up with the picture I needed. She’d taken the afternoon
     off work and driven all the way to Garnersville to the big library there and found
     the book, then photocopied the page and brought it home to me. I got an A on the project
     and that picture became a symbol of how much my mom would do to support me and how
     she would always be there for me. When Storm chose to have a leopard moth tattoo,
     I foolishly thought he was telling me he would always be there for me, too.”
    She gazed at her wine glass and the sadness in her eyes tore at Dane’s heart. How
     could the guy have been that callous?
    She shrugged. “Now I realize that it was probably just a badge of sorts. Like a notch
     on his bed to represent another conquest.”
    “You know you’re better off without him.”
    Her lips curled up slightly. “So people keep telling me.”
    A waiter came by and cleared away their dessert plates and coffee cups. Music began
     playing and a few couples wandered onto the dance floor.
    “Let’s dance,” he said.
    She glanced at him. “Really? But I thought we were here on business.”
    “That doesn’t mean we can’t relax and enjoy ourselves.”
    Looking a little skeptical, she rose with him and he led her to the floor. As soon
     as he swept her into his arms, he realized his mistake. He was far too aware of her
     soft, warm body close to his. He longed to pull her closer, and feel her breasts crushed
     against him, to capture her full lips and plunder her delectable mouth.
    He had to concentrate so as not to allow his body to harden noticeably. He had a lot
     of self-control, but why was he making things so difficult for himself? As much as
     he wanted this woman, she’d made it clear she didn’t want to have an intimate relationship
     with him.
    As soon as the song ended, he led her from the floor.
    “I think it’s time we call it a night.”
    *   *   *
    Jessica wasn’t sure quite what had happened. First, Dane had led her to the dance
     floor and drew her close, sending her hormones revving, then as soon as the song ended,
     he’d dragged her out to get their coats, and before she knew it they were in his limo
     heading home.
    At least, she assumed he was taking her to her apartment. Surely he hadn’t gotten
     the wrong idea and thought she wanted to go back to his place. They had talked about
     personal things and then when they were on the dance floor, he could probably see
     the desire in her eyes.
    She couldn’t help it. He was a sexy, debonair man. Strong and masculine. Charming.
     And when he wanted to be, which was most of the time, authoritative. In a way that
     made her want to succumb to his power. Tonight she’d seen a softer side of him, but
     that sense of authority and power that she found so devastatingly sexy were ever present.
    She glanced at the streets they passed and