More Than a Fling? by Joss Wood Page B

frosting on a cupcake , Ally
thought, and licked her lips as moisture appeared between her legs.
    Before she could formulate a reply—dear God in heaven, what
could she say to that ?—another message appeared in
her inbox.

    To: [email protected]
    From: [email protected]
    Subject: Re: Re: Um...
    Is that a possibility?
    A straight-up, no-strings offer this time. All personal and no
business.

    Was it? Ally thought quickly and thought hard. She was
incredibly attracted to Ross, and he’d made her feel more alive than she’d felt
in months...years. Maybe she needed to step out of the comfort zone she was in
and live just a little.
    They could have a brief, hot, fizzy affair when she went back
to Cape Town. An affair that had a time limit—a logical conclusion. One that
made her feel in control, secure, because it couldn’t carry on for longer than
that. He lived on another continent and there was no possibility of her getting
emotionally attached because there wouldn’t be enough time. Besides, she didn’t
open up to anybody and it wouldn’t be any different with Ross...
    It would be a working holiday, she thought; the best of both
worlds. She’d work during the day, as she always did, and hook up with him at
night.
    What would be the harm? Having some fun... Everyone— okay,
Sabine—was telling her to have some fun, some sex, so why not with him?

    To: [email protected]
    From: [email protected]
    Subject: Dying here...
    You still there? Need a reply, Jones, or else I’m going to be less
than useless in this long, long meeting...which is about to start!

    To: [email protected]
    From: [email protected]
    Subject: Re: Dying here...
    When I get back to Cape Town, maybe. That’ll not be for another
four weeks, though...
    And, just to be clear, we’re talking a hook-up only, right? No
messy emotions. No expectations. I don’t do emotions and have no
expectations.

    To: [email protected]
    From: [email protected]
    Subject: I’ll make a plan.
    I can’t wait that long so I’ll come to you. A hook-up works for
me... I don’t do long-term either.
    Got to run...enjoy the flowers.
    Later.

    Ally stared at her screen and couldn’t believe that she’d
agreed to have sex with Ross. Had she lost her ever-lovin’, cotton-pickin’ mind?
Was she bat-mad insane? She didn’t do hook-ups, one-night stands, have crazy sex
with men she hardly knew.
    Then again, if she didn’t do any and all of the above then why
was she feeling so damn pleased with herself?
    * * *
    Ross was worse than useless for most of the meeting;
thank God it was largely technical talk, which Eli could handle, allowing him to
drift.
    She’d said yes...
    Friggin’ hell.
    He couldn’t believe it. He’d thought that he’d lob it out there
and had expected a snotty equivalent to a kick in the nuts rebuke.
    Ross checked the e-mails on his mobile; nope, he hadn’t been
imagining the whole thing.
    She’d agreed to a casual hook-up. Hurrah.
    He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her... Her long
legs, flat stomach, the deep blue of her eyes. The perfect feminine bits of
her...
    Okay, not a good time to go there... He slipped his hand under
the table and adjusted himself to find a little comfort.
    It had been a long, long time since a woman had had the ability
to give him a hard-on just from a memory—to distract him like this, to creep
under his mental skin. One minute he’d be concentrating on some paperwork and
the next she’d leap into his head, like a mischievous kid who hid behind doors
and yelled boo !
    She was such an intriguing mix between business and sexy, smart
and vulnerable. And wild... There was a lot of passion bubbling under the severe
clothes and the strait-laced attitude. He wanted to be the one to release that
passion...the one who held her while she was burning with it. The one who was
inside her when she screamed from it, exploding around him.
    That was if he didn’t spontaneously combust