Double Dealing (2013) by Linda Cajio Page B

quite an anatomy lesson in the morning.”
    “Then you’d better stop what you’re doing, because it feels too good,” she said, tracing his collarbone with a forefinger.
    He closed his eyes at the tingling sensation. “And you’d better stop what you’re doing, otherwise I might do this.”
    He let his hand drift lower, his fingers spreading across her luscious derriere.
    She leaned back and gazed up at him with knowing green-gray eyes. “Don’t make any promises you can’t keep, Jed.”
    He sensed that her teasing was an attempt to lighten her mood, and he was all for it. Pretense sometimes became reality—with a little help. He lightly kissed her nose. “Don’t tempt me to try it. You’d be asleep halfway through the proceedings.”
    She opened her mouth to protest, but a yawn emerged instead. Covering her mouth with one hand, she sheepishly lowered her eyes.
    “The prophet has spoken, my dear,” he said, chuckling. “Time for bed. Besides, my tush is freezing.”
    She giggled again, and he rolled over to pick up the robes from the floor. Her white bikini underwear wasn’t in the pile. Frowning, Jed leaned further over the edge of the sofa to check underneath its skirt. He leaned too far. Losing his balance, he slid right off the sofa and landed with a thump on the carpet. Surprised, he sat there for a moment. A short time ago, the couch hadn’t seemed nearly so small.
    Rae stretched toward the edge of the cushions and rested her chin in her fist. “Is your tush warmer now?”
    He wondered if she knew what a beautiful picture she made, with her dark hair falling forward to frame her face, and her body gleaming like ivory in the glow of the lamp. He grinned at the mirth filling her eyes. “It’s getting hotter by the minute.”
    “Probably just a rug burn, Jed. Nothing to get excited about.”
    Her full curving lips were inches from his, and unable to resist, he kissed them … slowly … leisurely. When he finally lifted his head, she gave a satisfied sigh.
    “Now that’s a rug burn, Jed.”
    “I know.”
    It was some time later that they reluctantly dressed and left the room. It was with even more reluctance that Rae watched him turn away from her bedroom door and continue down the hallway to the trophy room. He hesitated, his hand on the doorknob. In the darkened hallway, she sensed more than saw him give her one last look. Then he opened the door and slipped inside.
    Once settled in her own bed, she found her body satiated and her mind restless with thoughts. She acknowledged she had created her own trap and had walked into it with her eyes wide open. Everything she’d done to keep her resistance up had had the opposite effect. She had been totally caught up in a sensual moment.…
    Liar, she told herself in a sudden burst of honesty. She had allowed their lovemaking to happen—had wanted it to happen. In a lousy attempt at absolution, she had tried to convince herself she’d been “caught up” in something she never could have resisted. She had known what she was doing. From the beginning, her control had been almost nonexistent with Jed. Yet she’d gone right ahead and kidnapped him, allowed him to stay, and brought in her nephews who, instead of keeping them apart, had in a roundabout way actually thrown them together. If only there hadn’t been a meeting of the Barkeley Club. If only Jed hadn’t wanted to show her what he’d discovered in the reports. If only.
    People had regretted those two particular words all their lives, she thought. She wasn’t sure what she regretted—making love with Jed … or making love with her heart as well as her body.
    Rae closed her eyes tightly against the thought.

Nine
    “She’s still sleepin’.”
    Michael’s voice pulled Rae from a deep slumber. Not bothering to open her eyes, she mumbled, “Go watch cartoons.”
    She felt the edge of the mattress sink as the little boy climbed onto the bed. He crawled under the covers and snuggled