Free Busted by Cher Carson

dominant lover
everyone speculated about. He was a loving and devoted father and son. A smart,
funny, sexy man. More importantly, she’d come to count him among her friends.
She looked forward to the end of the day when she’d see him again, and whenever
she thought about telling him he should keep his distance, it made her heart
ache.
    She was falling for him, and she didn’t know how to stop it.
    “Do you ever think about it?” He wrapped his hands around
her wrist, tugging her closer. “What it was like between us that night? You were
so free, so uninhibited. You can’t tell me it didn’t feel good.”
    No, she couldn’t tell him that. But if she told him the
truth, that he’d made her feel things no one else had, she’d never be able to
make him understand why they couldn’t be together. Small town folks had
notoriously small minds, at least the residents of Brant County did, and she
knew they wouldn’t want one of their own hooking up with a man everyone
considered a deviant. If only they knew him like she did.
    Clearing her throat, she took a step back. “My pot roast is
getting cold.”
    He smirked before following her into the kitchen and accepting
the seat she offered. “How’d your boyfriend take it when you told him you
needed a little time to yourself this weekend?” he asked, slipping his leather
jacket off and hanging it on the back of his chair.
    “I’m sure he didn’t mind. It’ll give him a chance to spend
some quality time with his daughter.” She plated their food and poured two
glasses of wine from the bottle of merlot she’d opened earlier. She considered
sitting across the small table, but she knew that would betray her discomfort,
and with a man like Cole, a woman had to stand her ground. He could smell fear
and weakness, and she knew he wouldn’t hesitate to capitalize on it to get her
into bed.
    “If you were my woman, I wouldn’t let you spend one
night alone.”
    She cursed the tremor in her hand when she picked up her
wine glass. “Everyone needs a little space now and again. It’s healthy for a
relationship.”
    “Is that what you have with him, a relationship ?” He
smiled as he leaned back in his chair to regard her. “I gotta tell ya, I get
the impression you’re not all that into him.”
    She forked a baby carrot into her mouth, taking her time to
chew as she thought of a reasonable response. She wanted to tell him it was
none of his business, but she knew that would never work. When he wanted answers,
he typically got them. “He’s a very nice man.”
    Cole chuckled. “Nice, huh? That tells me all I need to
know.”
    “There’s nothing wrong with being nice. In fact, I think
it’s a very desirable quality in a man.”
    “Liar.”
    She should argue with him, but what was the point? He was
right. She didn’t like nice men. She liked sexy, edgy, dangerous men. Like
Cole. “You’re pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?”
    “You’re forgetting I know what turns you on. You can’t fake
a reaction like that.”
    Charlene wanted to pretend she didn’t know what he was
talking about, but they both knew she did. “I’d rather not talk about—”
    “When we had sex… you wanted more.” He looked her in the
eye, daring her to look away. “You wanted to see how far I’d push you. You
wanted to step outside of your comfort zone, test the limits of your—”
    “Stop!” She set her utensils down beside her plate as she
tried to regulate her breathing. She knew she was flushed, her breathing was
labored, her nipples were tight and aching… No question about it, she was
aroused, and she hated it.
    “You don’t want me to stop,” he whispered, pushing his chair
back and standing up. “You’re so busy worryin’ about what everybody else
wants.” He hooked his boot into the leg of her chair, turning her to face him
as he towered over her, his stomach level with her mouth. “But what about what
you want?”
    She tried to close her eyes, to shut out