Tangling With Ty

pool resources in the way of, say…having wild animal sex, maybe up against that wall?”

God, she was something all riled up. Not to mention what image her words had just put in his head. “Well…”

“You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?”

“Oh, yeah, I am.”

Cynicism hit her gaze now, and he had to be quick to reach out and grab her wrist when she would have whirled away. “I’m thinking about it, Nicole, because you said it. I’m a guy, we’re visual creatures, and you just gave me one amazing visual.”

“There it is again,” she accused. “Your accent. It comes out with temper or…”

“Or…?”

“When you’re…”

“When I’m what? Turned on?”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “You should know, I agreed to bring you the plans so I could tell you I’m not going to act on my attraction to you.”

He felt heat spear him. “You’re admitting to an attraction?”

The look on her face was priceless. “Oh, just forget it.” She upped the ante by putting her hands on his chest. Staring down at her own fingers, she spread them wide, as if she wanted to touch as much of him as he could.

“What are you doing?” he asked a bit hoarsely.

“Pushing you away.”

But she wasn’t pushing.

Because he needed a grip and she wasn’t providing one, he put his hands over hers, entwined their fingers.

She let out a slow breath, and he did the same. Then their gazes met.

“We should have just talked about our day,” she said shakily.

“Mine sucked,” he offered.

“Mine too.”

“I got that blast from my past and I didn’t like it.”

“I got hit on by my boss.”

“What blast-” she said, at the same time that he said, “What? What do you mean hit on by your boss?”

“Never mind-” They both started, then halted, stared at each other and let out a breath.

Then, inexplicably, Nicole’s lips twitched.

His did too, and beneath his fingers, hers relaxed. Her smile, which came slow and surprisingly sweet, warmed him in a way he hadn’t expected.

“How about we don’t talk at all,” she whispered, and leaned forward a very tiny fraction of an inch so that their mouths were lined up.

Lined up but not quite touching.

Ty ached to remedy that, but there was the matter of what had happened to her at work, something he found he couldn’t let go. “Nicole, about your boss-”

“No talking,” she said firmly.

“But-”

She put her fingers to his lips, which brought him back to the animal-sex thing.

With a little sigh, she leaned into his throat. “Damn it, you smell good. Who’d have thought you could smell good?”

She smelled good, too, so good he nearly took a bite out of her. “Why wouldn’t you have thought so?”

“Because I really don’t want to like you.” Her eyes clouded. “You have no idea how much I don’t want to like you.”

“But you do.”

She said nothing, and he smiled, pulling back far enough to look down at her. Sunlight sliced across half her face, illuminating her expressive eyes. “Listen up, darlin’, because my accent is about to make a return.”

With that he bent his head, slid his jaw to hers, then put his mouth at the sensitive spot beneath her ear. “I don’t want to like you either. So damn much, I don’t.” Having said that, he let out a slow breath to steady himself, and she shivered against him. “But it’s too late. I already do.” His fingers untangled from hers, so they could move up her back. “So let’s use that to our advantage. Let’s forget today.” He plowed his fingers through her short, silky hair, holding her head in his palms.

Her eyes, hard and cynical only a few moments before, were wide as saucers as he tipped up her face. Lowering his, he repeated, “Forget today. Forget the stress.”

She licked her lips. Swallowed hard.

And shot a hot ball of lust into his belly. “Hell,” he said grimly. “Let’s go for broke and forget our own names, what do you say?”

She sucked in her breath. “I never forget my name.”

“That’s because you’re too logical.” He was loving the way his touch seemed to interfere with her breathing. Through her tank top he could feel the outline of her nipples, tight and straining against the material of her shirt, dying for some attention. He was dying to give that attention. “Sometimes, Nicole, you just have to go with the flow.”

“Going with the flow is not a strong suit of mine,” she said a bit shakily.

“I’m beginning to see that.”

She fisted her hand on his chest. “I don’t like complications in my personal life, Ty.”

“Complications can be a good thing. Temporary complications, of course.” His voice lowered a fraction. “Are you ready?”

Looking a little wild, a little panicky, she chewed on her lower lip.

Stared at his mouth.

Arched her body just a little, just enough to drive him nearly right out of his living mind.

“Nicole? Are you ready?”

“Just do it.”

“Do what?” he asked huskily, teasingly.

“Kiss me!”

She looked so frustrated he nearly laughed. Nearly. Because there was nothing funny about how turned on he was, about how much he wanted her. “As you wish.”

Brushing his mouth over hers, he slid the tip of his tongue along the seam of her lips in tune to their twin moans.

And kept his promise as he made them both forget their names.

4

NICOLE’S HEART pounded in her chest as pleasure swept through her. She didn’t know how she could be attracted to this man in this way, when he was the last person she figured she should want to feel such aching desire for.

They were polar opposites, for God’s sake. She was tense, an overachiever, dedicated to her work over and beyond all else.

He was laid-back. Easygoing. Not exactly forthcoming with his real self.

Okay, so maybe they shared that last trait.

But what was it Taylor had said about him…he was willing to let life take him where it would. Here. There. Anywhere. Not her, she knew exactly where she wanted life to take her. She’d always known.

And where she wanted life to take her had nothing to do with a man. With sex. With feeling.

She wanted life to take her right along the same path she’d been going. She wanted to be a great doctor. She