Just This Once, Contemporary Romance (Last Frontier Lodge #3) by J.H. Croix Page B

tightened against her.
    He slowly eased his lips from hers. She shuddered softly from the aftershocks of her orgasm. His forehead fell to hers. Their breath rose and fell in unison, gradually slowing. As she slowly became aware of where they were, she started to panic inside. She’d completely lost her mind and…well, she’d gone wild and had sex. With Aidan. In her office.

Chapter 12

    Becca sat at her kitchen table staring out the window. Rain fell in a slow and steady drizzle. The view of downtown was blurry. Puget Sound wasn’t visible for the shroud of fog sitting above it. Her eyes followed a drop of rain as it rolled down the outside of the glass. When it disappeared out of sight, she turned back to her laptop. With a sigh, she tried to focus her mind. After another meeting with Barry, he’d given her the go-ahead to finish up work on some of her cases at home while she decided whether to take a vacation, or take a spin in another district court for the month. She was trying to finalize some legal filings this morning, but her brain kept jumping tracks to Aidan.
    She flushed just thinking about what happened in her office three days ago. She’d managed to mostly avoid him since then. Although she hated not being at the office for every other reason, working from home was conveniently keeping her out of his daily orbit. He’d called a few times, and she’d put him off. She was being forced to come to terms with just how naïve she’d been to think she could have one night with him and get him out of her system. Every moment with him was like living inside of a fire—a fire so tempting, her body only wanted more. Yet, she was afraid she might get burned in the process if she allowed herself to get too close. Hell, she’d already gotten too close.
    Before she’d concocted her crazy idea to make sure Kyle didn’t go down in her personal history as her last lover, she’d thought Aidan was too damn sexy for his own good. She considered Kyle and what had drawn her to him. She’d never, never felt with him the way she did with Aidan—emotionally or sexually. Not even close. She’d naively thought she could have one encounter with Aidan. The limit would keep her from falling for him, from endangering heart the way she had with Kyle—or so she’d hoped. She hadn’t counted on the fact that the chemistry between her and Aidan would take off like a brushfire once the match was lit. She also couldn’t have imagined how he would make her feel. In two encounters with him, he’d pushed her to heights of pleasure she hadn’t reached before. She put her face in her hands and groaned. Damn, damn, damn. He danced in the edges of her thoughts all the time now. She kept wondering what he meant back when he first kissed her that dark, rainy night. …for God’s sake, don’t act like this was nothing. Because it damn well wasn’t and you know it.  
    She stood abruptly and started pacing. Just as she was considering she must be crazy, there was a knock at her door. She walked quickly to the door and almost flung it open. Ellie stood there. Oscar was at her side, his tail wagging madly.
    “I stopped by to see Aidan, and he said you were working from home. Hope you don’t mind we just dropped by.” Ellie glanced down at Oscar who was wiggling so hard all over he could barely contain himself. Her hazel eyes crinkled when she brought her gaze back to Becca. “He’s really excited to see you,” she said with a laugh.
    Becca stepped back and gestured for them to pass through the door. “Come on in. It’s great to have company. I don’t know if Aidan mentioned it, but I’m on a forced break from the office for a little while. I’m about to go stir crazy.”
    Ellie unhooked Oscar’s leash, and he promptly sat at Becca’s feet, his tail swishing back and forth across the floor. Becca knelt at his side and stroked his neck. “Hey Oscar, good to see you too!”
    Oscar rubbed against her shoulder, his tail thumping