HandsOn by Jaci Burton Page A

more
than money or fame or contracts or TMM .
    The doubts pounded away at her. Those nagging voices that
told her she wasn’t loveable. She was plain, a geek too filled with smarts and
not enough beauty.
    She pushed the doubts away. One thing she’d learned from
Mark was tenacity and never giving up.
    She jumped when the doorbell rang. Nancy said she might drop
by today. But when she pulled the door open, it wasn’t Nancy standing there.
    Her heart stopped, remembering the very first time she’d
seen him. His cocky smile had unnerved her, his wicked grin had disarmed her,
and his gorgeous body had awakened the woman in her.
    “Hi, Mark.”
    “Hi, Lara.”
    They both seemed at a loss for words. She couldn’t tell from
his blank expression how he felt. “Did you see the feature?”
    “Yeah. Can I come in?”
    “Oh. Sure. Sorry.” She stood aside while he walked by. The
sweet scent of him that still lingered throughout her house filled her senses
with an aching need to touch him.
    “Lara, why did you have the feature run?” he asked as soon
as she shut the door.
    “Because you had it pulled.”
    He frowned and shook his head. “I don’t understand.”
    “I don’t either, really. Why did you kill the articles?”
    “Because I’d already hurt you enough. There was nothing I
could do to take back what I’d done, how I’d deceived you. Except to pull the
feature.”
    “You lost a ton of money. And a chance for fame, too.”
    His gaze focused on the carpet. “It’s only money, Lara. I
can live without money, I can live without fame.”
    She waited. He looked up, his eyes warm and filled with an
emotion she dared not name.
    “But I couldn’t live without your love.”
    She closed her eyes, waiting for the doubt, the disbelief,
to creep into her heart.
    It didn’t. The only thing there was her love for him.
    “I love you, Mark.”
    His eyes widened. “I don’t deserve it. I’m sorry, Lara. I
should have told you from the beginning. Then, after I started to care for you,
I didn’t know how to tell you without losing you. So I lied.”
    “Don’t do it again. I can take anything as long as you’re
honest with me.”
    “I was a different person then. You changed me.”
    “Oh, I did not.”
    He stepped forward and threaded his fingers through her
hair. She died at his touch, wanting him, missing him so much she was starving
for him.
    “Yeah, you did. I never thought I was the kind of guy to
fall in love. My career, making it to the top in my field, that was always
first. But then I met you, and you drove me crazy. I didn’t want to, but I fell
in love with you. And that means more to me, you mean more to me, than any
money, any contract, any job I’ll ever have.”
    Her heart was going to burst. “So now what?”
    “Now we take it day by day. Open and honest. I don’t know
where we’re headed.” He grinned and added, “I think I have a pretty good idea
where I’d like our relationship to go, but that’s up to you.”
    “No, it’s up to us.” She curled her arms around his neck and
kissed him lightly, then harder, pouring out her love for him with every touch
of her lips against his.
    His kiss, his touch, his mouth, told her everything she
needed to know.
    When he swept her into his arms and carried her to the
bedroom, he said, “One thing. Bob’s gonna have to go. And anyone else you have
hidden in your nightstand. Any hands-on sex you get from now on has to be with
my hands—on you.”
    “Whatever you say. Of course, if I kept Bob and the others
around, I might treat you to a little show.”
    He stopped dead in his tracks. “You’d let me watch?”
    Desire opened with her, just like her blossoming love for
Mark. “All in the name of research, my love.”
    “Then show me.”
    Not too long ago she’d have been too embarrassed to show
anyone how she masturbated. But now, with the man she loved, the idea excited
her. Her nipples tightened as she leaned over and pulled Bob out of