05 Desperate Match by Lynne Silver Page B

when her vision started wavering from arousal. The steamy heat of the bathroom and Rowan’s nearness made her whole body tighten with need. She wasn’t alone feeling it. As she hit the final bottom button, it was impossible to miss his erection jutting from his unbuttoned dress pants. She said nothing but stepped back when she finished.
    “Thanks,” he said, and started to turn away to tuck his shirt in.
    Something crazy inside her dared her to step forward and reach for his zipper. There was shocked silence from both of them. “I’ll tuck you in,” she murmured. Only the sound of them breathing could be heard as she carefully lowered his zipper and pushed the white dress shirt into his trousers. Her palm rubbed his body with each tuck. She started at her right, his left, and worked her away around until she came to the front.
    “I’ll do that,” he said in a strangled voice.
    She met his gaze for the first time. “Let me?”
    He didn’t answer but dropped his arm and stood passively letting her caress his cock under the guise of tucking his shirt. His body swelled under her hand, and she wanted to squeeze him and reach behind the elastic of his underwear to feel his hot flesh.
    “Jill.”
    “Mm?”
    “You have to stop.”
    She froze with her hand in place. His arousal pulsed against her hand. “I’m sorry.” She yanked her hand free and tried to turn away, but he spun her back and pinned her against the sink counter with a fierce kiss. She welcomed his body, pushing back against him, undulating against his hips which sought hers. The kiss overwhelmed her and she strained to capture more of his mouth, more of his body. She forgot where she was and where they were going. Anything he asked for, she was ready to give.
    And then he pulled back. Cold air slapped at her front where he’d warmed her. “Brother’s wedding,” he muttered. “Can’t miss it.”
    He helped her off the sink, and in a daze she turned to the mirror to fix her hair and makeup.
    “Got your lipstick on me,” Rowan said. She looked in the mirror at his reflection. “I like it.” A pink stain was smudged on one side of his lips. Lips she wanted to keep kissing. “Let’s get my tie, then we gotta go.”
    Fighting her aroused daze, she struggled to keep her voice steady. “Are you in the wedding party?” she asked.
    “Yeah. Adam’ll kill me if I’m late.”
    “Then let’s hurry.” They stepped out of the bathroom to the bedroom, and she accepted the tie he handed her. With economical movements, she wrapped it around his neck and crafted the one knot she’d been taught by her father.
    “Nice,” Rowan said.
    “Thanks. My dad taught me when I was little.”
    “Cool.” An unreadable look crossed his handsome face for a moment.
    “What?” she asked.
    “Huh?”
    “The look on your face just now. What were you thinking?”
    He kept silent and for a minute she didn’t think he’d tell her.
    “Was thinking of last time I wore a tie. My mom’s funeral. Adam tied the tie for me. No dad to teach me and didn’t have lots of occasions to wear one.”
    She didn’t know what to say. She took his hand and squeezed it. “Someday you’ll teach your son. Now let’s get to your brother’s wedding.”
    He squeezed her hand back, then released it and helped her into her coat. They hurried out of the building and across the lawn to the gymnasium. Other Program members were hurrying into the building also. Despite her thin dress and heels, Jill barely felt the cold in her excitement to attend the wedding. The fact that Rowan had held her hand the whole walk to the ceremony only made her excitement sweeter.
    She tossed her coat onto a pile of coats hidden in a corner at the entrance. “I’ll help you find a seat, then I’ll go find Adam, who’s probably shitting a brick by now that I’m MIA,” he said.
    “Okay.” She followed him into the decorated gym, anticipating his reaction. She wasn’t disappointed.
    “Whoa. They did