experience? Or do you want something more?”
She turned away, and replaced the whip on its hook. “I don’t see why that should matter to you.”
Her defensive tone told him more than the words themselves. “It does matter, doesn’t it?” he said softly. “There has to be a connection with that other person. If you don’t have that, everything else is just…make-believe.”
“Whoever said there was anything wrong with make-believe?” With one quick movement, she released him. She snatched up the cuffs and replaced them on the pegboard. “Not every encounter is life changing,” she said.
He rubbed his wrists and watched her as she busied herself moving things about on the display. Her head was bent, the hair parted on either side of her neck to reveal a triangle of white flesh. He fought the urge to kiss her there. “I think we’re all looking for the life-changing encounters,” he said. “Even those of us who don’t want to admit it.”
With difficulty, he turned and walked away, shaken by what had just happened, but determined not to show it. What did it mean that a woman he scarcely knew could touch him so? Was it the novelty of the experience, the charged atmosphere of this place? Or something more? Something that threatened to unman him, to destroy the control he’d worked so long to perfect?
“I SAW WHAT YOU DID.” Sid’s disapproving tone stopped Jill as she walked past the front counter after the noon rush had subsided.
“What are you talking about?” She pretended ignorance.
“I saw you and Mitch back there.” He nodded at the security mirror angled toward the corner.
She flushed. She’d forgotten about that mirror. “He wanted to know what the handcuffs were for, so I showed him.” She trailed her hand along the edge of the counter, avoiding Sid’s eyes.
“You did a lot more than that.”
And might have done more if they’d been alone. “So?”
“So, haven’t you ever heard of sexual harassment? He could sue you!”
She laughed. “And tell a whole courtroom that I tied him up and teased him with a whip? I don’t think so.” She smiled, remembering the raw desire in his eyes. “Besides, I think he liked it.”
“Liked it or not, you could end up in big trouble playing games like that.”
“Oh, Sid, you worry too much. It was all in fun.”
“It looked deadly serious from here. In fact, I’d say you’re lucky looks can’t kill, or you’d be laid out in the back room right now.”
“I’m still standing, aren’t I?” She leaned back against the counter, edgy with frustrated desire. The problem with a slow seduction was that Mitch wasn’t the only one left aroused and unsatisfied. “Besides, what have I got to lose? If I can convince Mitch to keep this place open, you and I get to keep our jobs. If I don’t, well then I’m out the door anyway, so I might as well try.”
“But seducing the boss—it’s a crazy idea!”
She laughed. “Unconventional maybe. Smart even. But not crazy.”
“It is crazy. And it won’t work. You heard him yesterday—his mind is made up.”
“People can change their minds. Even men.”
“Not men like him.”
“I guess you’re an expert on change, Mr. How-Many-Girlfriends-Is-It-This-Week?”
He stuck out his lower lip. “I have every intention of being faithful, as soon as I find the right woman.”
“So you’re saying the right woman will convince you to change your tomcat ways?”
He nodded. “When I’ve found the right woman, I won’t need anyone else.”
She laughed. “That’s what I love about you, you’re such a romantic.”
His expression relaxed. “Speak for yourself, Miss I-Want-To-Be-Swept-Away-By-A-Knight-In-Shining-Armor.”
“That’s a pirate. I want to be swept away by a pirate.”
“Whatever. I don’t think Mitch Landry has ever been within sight of a sailing ship.”
“Don’t be so sure. My point is, if the right woman can make you mend your ways, then the right woman can make Mitch Landry change his mind about closing Just 4 Play.”
“And you think you’re the right woman?”
“Let’s just say I’m a woman who always gets her man.”
“Hmm. Well, if I were a betting man, I’d put my money on the man getting you. I think you’re in over your head this time, Jilly girl.”
She shook her head and walked away, ignoring the doubts nudging at her. For a moment with Mitch, she’d almost forgotten the rules of the game. Rules she’d established. Fun was the object. A mutually satisfying, sensual experience. A good time had by all. No need for messy complications.
Mitch’s talk of “connections” and “life-changing experiences” had shaken her. Sure, those things were for some people, but not for her. What did Mitch know? Maybe he thought he’d seen some secret longing in her eyes, but he was wrong. She was attracted to his body. To his mind, even. But that was as far it went. Anything else was just his imagination.
5
MITCH SAT IN HIS CAR, trying to calm nerves that felt as if they’d been filed with sandpaper, trying to make sense of what had just happened. He couldn’t remember ever feeling so vulnerable and out of control, so exposed while fully clothed, or so incredibly aroused.
It was more than being caught off guard and tied up. More than the props Jill had used in her little “product demonstration,” more even than the admitted excitement of knowing that at any moment, they might be discovered.
No, something about Jill herself made his temperature rise and his mind lose track of where he was and what he was supposed to be doing. Something in the contrast between her innocent looks and her seductive words fired every synapse and sent common sense running for cover. The way she made him feel was based on instinct, not reason. The thought that anyone could reduce him to that sent a new tremor through him.
“Damn it, this is crazy!” He hit the steering wheel hard with the heel of his hand. He wasn’t some pimply teenager ruled by hormones. He was a businessman—and he had no business getting involved with a woman he scarcely knew. A woman who had the power to distract him so much.
Thwarted desire replaced by a more garden-variety frustration filled him as he started the car and pulled out into traffic. He’d intended to head over to Qdoba for lunch, but he found himself driving up University Hill, toward the only apartment building he still owned, where his sister, Meg, lived with another premed student.
Meg answered the door dressed in scrubs, holding a can of soup in one hand. “Hey, Mitch!” She stood on tiptoe to hug him, then stepped back and held up the can. “You’re just in time for lunch.”
“How about I take you out instead?”
She tossed the can over her shoulder. It landed on the sofa and bounced twice before coming to rest against a pillow. “Let me put my shoes on and you’ve got a date.”
Fifteen minutes later, they sipped iced tea on the patio at Qdoba. “So what’s up?” Meg asked, reaching for a tortilla chip.
“Nothing’s up.” He rearranged the salt and pepper shakers. “I remembered you don’t have classes Tuesday and Thursday mornings and I thought I’d stop by and see how you’re doing.”
She shook her head. “Since when do you leave work in the middle of the day to socialize? Especially with your sister?”
He