Free Infamous by Irene Preston Page B

needed this one area where they could meet as equals.
    Next to her, Morgan shifted in his sleep. His arms tightened around her and he spooned his hips closer against her. He was hard again. She closed her eyes and relaxed against his chest while she plotted. She was going to fight him on this. It was one area where she felt uniquely qualified to do battle. No way was she going to let him keep her at arms length in bed. She needed to start breaking down some of the barriers between them and this was the place to do it.
    She fell asleep to the beat of his heart under her ear.

Chapter 6
    The next morning Jessica woke up to the insistent sound of the alarm. Eyes still closed, she was sliding across the bed to hit the snooze when the alarm magically ceased on its own. Interesting. She cracked one eye open to find Morgan standing by the bed. He was gloriously naked and still damp from the shower. He was also half erect.
    Mmmm. She rolled over and opened the other eye for a better look. Morgan finished towel-drying his hair and bent over to give her a brief kiss on the mouth. She put her arms around his neck to pull him in for something more satisfying, but he disentangled himself at once.
    “I’ll take Kinsey to swim practice this morning on the way to the office. You can sleep in a little and pick her up when she’s done.”
    “You’re going in to the office?” She blinked at him sleepily. “You just got home from a three-day business trip.”
    “Yes, and I’ve been away from the office for three days unexpectedly. I have a lot to catch up on.”
    “Oh.” She yawned. “I thought you might stay home your first day back.”
    He frowned down at her. “I have people counting on me. I can’t neglect my business to stay home and entertain you.”
    Well, that put her in her place.
    “Kinsey’s missed you.”
    “Kinsey knows I work.”
    He was already striding away from her, into the huge walk-in closet that held an impressive array of expensive suits. Bored and missing him, she had poked her way through them two days ago. They were almost a uniform — dark colors, conservative cuts, all hanging in military precision next to an equally bland selection of neutral color shirts and silk designer ties. She wondered if he could even tell one from the other.
    When he came out, he was already dressed and knotting his tie.
    “You should wear the yellow Bulgari with that,” she said.
    “What?”
    “Your tie. You should wear the Bulgari yellow jacquard silk.”
    He gave her a blank look.
    She sighed. “The yellow tie with the little brown and white dots.”
    “For heaven’s sake. It’s just a tie, what difference does it make?”
    “If it doesn’t make any difference, why not humor me?” she shot back.
    “I’m going to be late,” he grumbled. But she was pleased when he went back in the closet and returned with the Bulgari.
    “Much better.” She snuggled back into the covers and eyed him approvingly.
    He paused at the door. For a moment, she thought he was going to come back into the room, but he only said, “Don’t sleep too long. Practice will be over in two hours.” Then he was out the door without another glance.
    • • •
    Jessica sat in the shade of the back porch with her laptop open on the table in front of her. Kinsey and Rachel had been home from swim practice almost two hours. They had raided the refrigerator, disappeared into Kinsey’s room for almost an hour, and then headed right into the pool here. Both girls were excellent swimmers, but she still liked to be where she could see them when they were in the water. The pool was downhill from the house and she had a good view of the girls from the porch.
    Eventually, she was going to have to get some writing done. Not right now, though. Right now she was working on the Morgan problem.
    She picked up her phone and dialed the number of a very exclusive lingerie and adult novelties shop in Los Angeles. The proprietor had been a junior assistant in