Free Defensive Heart: The Donnolleys, Book 2 by Dorothy F. Shaw Page A

shower and stroked himself to thoughts of her. Of her lips and her body. Of her . He brought himself to orgasm with her name on his lips, like he said he would.
    Everything inside Sonja went loose. Heat crept up her spine and perspiration dotted her forehead. He’d know she read the message because of the read receipt indicator on her iPhone; there was no way around that now. But she was not going to reply. She couldn’t. In fact, she didn’t need to. She did however save his number in her contacts. Sonja set the phone down and wiped her forehead with her palm. Another swallow of wine and she stepped into her tub.
    James Donnelly…James Donnelly. How could he want her so much?

Chapter Ten
    Jimmy stood before the commissioned piece of art he’d been working on the whole week. He’d put the final elements together today. Fiber optic, pale-yellow lights now highlighted the windows of the dimmer buildings in the distance and made the whole cityscape come alive.
    The piece was softer than his norm, with its copper wires outlining the buildings and the waterway. He was definitely pleased with it. And its sale would pay his rent for the next two months. Not a bad gig. The money was appreciated, but he couldn’t help feeling a small attachment to the piece. Sonja had been drawn to it when she’d been here with him. She’d said it was beautiful, but who knew if she really thought so?
    There were a lot of things about Sonja he didn’t know. He’d sent her the text on Wednesday night like he said he would. But what he’d sent probably wasn’t what she expected to get. He shook his head, pulled the rag from his back pocket and wiped his hands. Tossing it on his workbench, Jimmy grabbed his cell and made a call to the buyer, letting her know the piece would be delivered tomorrow as promised.
    He made his way upstairs and then up the circular set to his loft bedroom. More than ready for a few drinks, he sent a text to his best friend, Andy, saying to meet him at the pub around eight. Jimmy wanted to celebrate plus blow off a little steam in the process.
    What had Sonja thought of his text? Jimmy knew damn well he’d been kind of an asshole that night, pushing her buttons, trying to soften the negative tension between them without cooling the sexual heat that had been even stronger than the night they’d met in Vegas. Maybe the poem hadn’t gone over too well. He couldn’t be sure since she hadn’t replied.
    She probably thought he was an immature ass. And she hadn’t let him forget for a second their difference in age. Regardless, based on her physical reaction to him, the only thing he was sure of was that she wanted him. At least sexually.
    Problem was, for the first time since college and the dreadful experience with his ex-girlfriend, Jimmy might want more than just sex. It was a desire he wasn’t certain he should entertain, yet it blasted through his mind like a rocket nonetheless.
    After getting cleaned up, he headed for the pub. He covered the twelve blocks to Bleecker Street by foot and found his best friend sitting at the bar, nursing a dark amber ale of some sort. Jimmy put his arm around Andy and gave her a chaste peck on the lips. “Hey, doll.”
    “Hi there. I ordered some wings.” Her blue eyes sparkled in the dim light of the bar.
    “Sweet. I’m starved.”
    They moved to one of the wooden booths in the back of the bar. This was Jimmy’s favorite pub. It was a unique one in the Village, and had been in business for over thirty years. Looking around the dark-paneled walls, he admired, not for the first time, the various bottle-cap art decorating them, the gorgeous stained-glass windows and the many carvings made by patrons in the rustic wooden tabletops.
    A table full of college-aged guys erupted into a fit of hoots and hollers complete with high fives, drawing his attention. Apparently playing a game of quarters. Jimmy shifted in the booth and leaned his back against the wall. Good conversation and