Free Wicked & Willing: Bad Girls by Leslie Kelly Page B

wanted.”
    “Including my bathroom?”
    She gulped. “I didn’t know it was yours. She said my room has the best view, but apologized because the bathroom has a standard tub. And she said this room had a great sunken tub with massaging jets.”
    “It does,” he said, glancing toward the tub a few feet away. “You’d love it.” His words sounded almost like an invitation to try it out.
    “I had no idea anyone would be in here since you said Max lives alone. I thought I’d take a bath…I didn’t realize…”
    “I’m a houseguest this week too.”
    “I’m sorry to intrude.”
    “Sorry enough to hand me a towel?”
    “Only an idiot would be that sorry,” she mumbled, unable to remove her eyes from his naked form.
    Casting a quick glimpse at his face, she saw his eyes darken. A small smile widened his lips.
    “So you strolled right down the hall,” he continuedwith a pointed look at her towel, which, even she could admit, didn’t cover much. “Like that?”
    “I’m right next door. Your door’s four feet from mine,” she replied, hearing the breathy tone in her voice. “It was a spur-of-the-moment kind of decision.”
    The explanation sounded weak, even to her own ears. But it was entirely true. With every step she’d taken as Max Longotti’s housekeeper had led her toward her room, she’d grown more and more convinced she could never be comfortable in this house. There was too much money and too much class, from the roof on down to the pricey tile, for Venus Messina to ever feel comfortable.
    A bath had sounded downright necessary.
    A naked man and a bath sounded downright delightful. She very much wanted both. One after the other or both at the same time. Any way she could have them.
    He finally chuckled. “Do you really think this is fair?”
    “Fair?”
    “I mean, is it fair for you to see what you do to me? Just the thought of you made my shower a lot more chilly than it would otherwise have been.”
    He had to take a cold shower for her? Damn, that was a pretty high compliment, in Venus’s opinion.
    “Men are pretty obvious about things like this,” she finally admitted as she stole another peek at the impressive evidence he made no effort to hide.
    “So are women.”
    She raised a brow. “Oh?”
    He grinned lazily. “It’s a little more concealed, but it’s just as easy for a man to see a woman’s desire…if he knows what he’s looking for.”
    She instantly reacted to the note of challenge in his voice. “Oh, really? And I suppose you’re an expert?”
    He shrugged. “Maybe.”
    She had no doubt this man knew his way with women. But Venus also knew women’s bodies were neater, much more discreet than men’s. Just glancing at his made that perfectly clear.
    Crossing her arms, she retorted, “Aside from the one obvious point, which could also be caused by a chill, I’m not buying it.”
    He looked pleased, as if her words had led her directly into his trap. When he continued, she realized they had.
    “There’s one way to prove it,” he murmured, his eyes holding a recognizable spark of mischief.
    “Drop the towel.”

5
    V ENUS NIBBLED HER LIP , noting the amused challenge in his voice. He almost certainly didn’t think she’d do it. After all, she’d walked in on him by accident, and he hadn’t intentionally exposed himself to her.
    This was different. What woman would simply drop her towel in broad daylight and show her naked body to a man she’d known for only a few hours? A man with whom she had no relationship and had never been intimate?
    Nudity with a new lover was intimidating enough. This bordered on exhibitionism.
    It would take a lot of confidence, and a lot more nerve.
    Fortunately, Venus had been blessed with both.
    She reached for the knot over her breast, never taking her eyes from his. He raised a brow, silently egging her on.
    “You think I won’t?”
    “I think you want me to think you will,” he countered.
    She wondered if the naked hunk had