Free 9 1/2 Days by Mia Zachary

the hall.
    “Jordan.”
    Danny grasped her elbow, forcing her to stop. She drew in a ragged breath to keep her stomach where it belonged. This was unbelievable and he didn’t seem to grasp the enormity of the situation. She looked at him, at the face that was identical to the one she thought she’d see this morning.
    “You don’t understand. I had sex with a total stranger.”
    His brows drew together. “Wasn’t that the idea of the fantasy?”
    “Yes, but you’re the wrong stranger!”

    H ER WORDS HAD all of the power of a slap in the face. Danny dropped her arm and watched her go into the bedroom.
    What the hell was happening? It felt as if a lead weight was crushing his chest and that wasn’t like him at all. He set the rules of his relationships, making sure things stayed nice and easy. He never got emotionally involved. And he wasn’t involved now. It was just an ego thing. Jordan had no idea who he really was when she’d met him outside his brother’s condo.
    She hadn’t wanted him.
    He knew his anger and a disappointment was unreasonable but, damn it, he’d felt something for her last night. Her vulnerability and fear had touched a place inside him that he hadn’t known existed. Instead of enjoying the sex for its own sake, he’d found himself wanting to protect and reassure her. The intensity of his feelings scared the hell out of him and the sooner he got over it the better.
    He followed Jordan down the hallway.
    “I can’t believe this! At least I thought I was kidnapping my ex-boyfriend.”
    She was standing in front of her dresser trying to put on a bra without taking off her robe. One terrycloth arm flopped against her side as she wiggled into the straps. He caught a glimpse of the swell of her breast through the gap at the neckline when she turned to him.
    “What’s your excuse, Danny? Do you normally go home with women you don’t know? Never mind. Don’t answer that.”
    He crossed his arms over his chest and adapted a reasonable tone. “But I did know you. Since I recognized you at the St. Charles Hotel, I thought you’d realized—”
    “Omigod.” Jordan started to hyperventilate and the color drained from her complexion. She strode across the room away from him then her legs seemed to melt beneath her. Concerned, he went to her as she sank onto the little divan by the window. “That was you. It was you in the elevator. Omigod. I didn’t think anyone would ever know about that.”
    Danny crouched down beside her and took her hand. Then he felt something under his knee. When he shifted, he saw a book lying on the thick beige carpet. He didn’t bother trying to read the small print. The title, Fifty Fast Fantasies, said it all. He wondered if any of them involved elevators.
    He returned his attention to Jordan. The harsh sunlight streaming through the window made her look even paler. Without letting on what he was doing, he checked her pulse with his thumb. “I’m confused. You told me you couldn’t stop thinking about last weekend, about the way we left things unfinished.”
    “But that wasn’t what I meant.” She wouldn’t meet his eye, staring instead at his bare chest. Then she pulled her hand from his grasp and massaged her temples. “Omigod. I can’t believe this is happening.”
    He sat back on his heels, careful not to touch her, but letting his voice slide into an intimate tone. “I haven’t been able to forget it, either. Before last night, I would have said it was the most incredible thing that ever happened to me. After I recognized you, I was upset at first—”
    “Upset?” Jordan jumped to her feet and swept past him. “I feel like I cheated on my boyfriend. And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, I cheated with his brother!”
    Danny stood up and went over to grab his T-shirt off the floor by the foot of the bed. He noticed for the first time that the black bedsheets didn’t really go with the rose-colored scheme of the rest of the room. “David told