Free At Your Service (Silhouette Desire) by Amy Jo Cousins

fiercely hot at the same time.
    When he trailed his fingers feather-light over the outside curve of her other breast, she cried out on the breaking wave of pleasure.
    His words, when he spoke without lifting his head, broke through the haze of heat and need like a rock through a plate-glass window.
    “Am I taking you home with me tonight, after all, Grace?”

Four
     
    T he last time he’d suggested it, she’d hit him on the head with a dirty spoon.
    Awake now, as if from a dream, Grace imagined what she would look like if she could see herself in a mirror, and nearly groaned out loud in frustration and embarrassment. Straddling Tyler’s lap in a dimly lit restaurant, shirt open, bra tugged down beneath her breasts. The picture of wanton invitation.
    She wished he hadn’t asked the question, had simply continued the silent seduction that would let her pretend that she was just Grace and he was just Tyler. That the rest of the world and its problems didn’t exist.
    But she wasn’t just Grace. And she couldn’t pretend that sex with anyone, even Tyler, would make her problems go away.
    Sex with anyone, especially Tyler, was only going to complicate matters.
    What on earth was she doing on his lap?
    She realized that he was still waiting silently for her answer and dropped her forehead down to rest it wearily against his. “No, I guess you’re not.”
    “I was afraid of that.” The words were muffled against her breasts. She smiled gently although she knew he couldn’t see it. The quiet was calming. She felt at rest, oddly enough, peaceful sitting half-naked across this man’s lap. When he spoke again, his voice was halfheartedly hopeful.
    “You’re sure about that?”
    This time she did laugh. “I’m afraid so.”
    When his thumbnail scraped swiftly down the center seam of her pants, passion flared sharply through her and she nearly fell to the floor in her backward scramble off his lap. She gained her footing awkwardly and stood, glaring at him.
    He had the grace to look sheepish, until he grinned. “Just checking.” He watched as she tugged self-consciously on her bra until it once again covered her breasts. “I didn’t know if you were going to try to pretend again that you didn’t feel anything.”
    Damn, the man could be annoying. “You know perfectly well that I felt something.”
    “Something?”
    Heat. Lightning. Crashing waves and starlight. Passion and need.
    The word she settled for was close enough.
    “Plenty.”
    The crack of his laughter shot loudly through the stillness of the empty room. “Plenty, huh? Well, I guess I’ll have to settle for that.”
    Her feeling of awkwardness grew as she fumbled with the buttons of her blouse and he simply sat there, watching her. The irritation running through her should only be directed at herself, she knew, but her voice was still sharp when she spoke.
    “Appearances to the contrary, Tyler…” she began.
    He shushed her. “I know. You don’t normally do this kind of thing.”
    That stung. “Is it so obvious?” She’d been called cold before, by men who didn’t appreciate her lack of interest in them. When she’d made it plain to Charles that, despite her family’s intentions, she had no desire to go to bed with him, he’d started referring to her as the Ice Queen. But cold was the last word she would use to describe how she felt around Tyler.
    “Why do you think I asked if you were coming home with me?” His smile was wry as he stood and walked over to her. He stopped far enough away that she managed to keep herself from backing up a step. “I knew that if you stopped to think for a moment, you’d figure out where we were headed. And say no.”
    “Then why did you? Ask, I mean.” Honesty compelled her to find out.
    When he reached out to run a hand lightly over her hair, she didn’t pull away. “Because I like you, Grace. And I want you, too. Enough to have taken you home to my bed and made love to you until the sun rose and