Free Sensual Stranger by Tina Donahue Page B

happened upstairs and so did you. We’re both
adults. We both know what we want. We’ve known it from the moment I stepped
into your garage.”
    His gaze shifted to the side, then returned to her.
    “We have a month,” she said, her voice throaty with arousal.
“Why not have some fun? Why not enjoy it while it lasts?”
    He shook his head. “No.”
    Toni refused to back down. Even though he could never give
her love, she still craved his warmth and strength. “Why?” She took a step toward
him. “You have a girlfriend, a fiancée, an ex-wife you still think about?”
    Shoving his fingers through his hair, he muttered, “I told
you last night, I’m not divorced.”
    “You told me you weren’t married.”
    His hand dropped to his side. He heaved in a deep breath.
“Or involved. With anyone.”
    Toni didn’t understand his resistance to her and was
reluctant to question. Had he loved someone who’d dumped him? What woman would
be crazy enough to do such a thing? Even if some woman had, his actions
upstairs hadn’t been feigned or hesitant. He’d wanted her as much as Toni
wanted him.
    Anxious to settle this, she spoke quickly, “Are you worried
I’ll want something more than just sex? Do you think I’ll hold your garage or
this place hostage?” She put up her hand, stopping him from answering. “I told
you last night at the shop, I’m not a thief. And I’m certainly not going to
call in a team of lawyers to slap you with a sexual harassment suit. I’m the
one who just spent a few days in jail, remember? You’re the upstanding citizen.
They’d believe you in a heartbeat.”
    He sighed. “Good god, I never thought any of that, all
right?”
    She advanced another step. “Then you’re concerned there’s
something wrong with me or I’ll get pregnant?” Before he could answer, she
spoke softly, sincerely, “I’m clean, free of disease, Zach, and as far as
having a child, it won’t happen. I’m fully protected. I know what it’s like to
be alone, to be without a father to protect and love me. I’d never force a baby
on a guy who didn’t want it. I’d never do that to any child, especially my
own.”
    Zach’s face flushed. For a moment, he looked lost, exactly
as she’d felt for too many years. “Why are you so alone? What happened to—”
    She cut him off. “No. Don’t go there…please.” She forced all
emotion away, refusing to cry, to let him know how vulnerable she was. “This
isn’t about my past. It’s about here and now. You and me. Having some fun. Then
I take off. No harm done. You go back to your life. I go back to mine.”
    Shoulders slumping, he lifted his face to the ceiling as
though he couldn’t bear to hear another word.
    Despite it, desire radiated from him, charging and
thickening the air.
    Desperate to be back in his arms if only for a little while,
Toni murmured, “I know you want me, Zach. You’ve had a hard-on since we met. A
few minutes ago, up in the hall, you proved it.” Her gaze dropped to the solid
ridge of male flesh behind his fly. “You’re hard now.”
    His nostrils flared as he inhaled deeply. He spoke in a
choked voice. “So what if I am?”
    “So do something about it.” Please.
    A pulse in his throat jumped. His chest expanded with his
fitful breaths.
    Never had Toni seen a man struggle so hard to control the
male animal within. With the other men she’d known, especially Joe, there had
been little concern over crossing boundaries.
    Why Zach was so different, Toni wasn’t certain. Nor did she
care.
    Passion sang in her blood. Her body buzzed with energy. She
advanced another step, determined this moment would play out even if she had to
goad him. “What’s the matter, Zach?” Cocking one brow, she reduced her voice to
a sultry purr. “What’s the real problem? Don’t you know how to satisfy a
woman?”
    He went completely still, not even finishing his breath.
    Several moments passed. The only sounds were the hush of