She clicked her glass to his and took another sip. “I hope they don’t haggle too much. I’m starved.”
“Me, too.”
They both turned toward the kitchen, but no waitress appeared, so they settled back to wait.
“That was great, by the way,” he said. “Just the kind of thing I was looking for.”
“But aren’t there a whole bunch of books that detail women’s sexual fantasies? Couldn’t you just read them?”
“I did, and they didn’t work. Anecdotal evidence from a cross section of anonymous women is fine, but it doesn’t get to the heart of what I’m looking for. I’m thinking that if I can understand one particular woman, you, then I’ll see all women in a new light.”
She shook her head. “Hasn’t every man since Adam tried to figure us out, and failed?”
“Exactly what makes the research so interesting.”
“You know what I think?”
“What?”
“I think you’re a closet voyeur, and you’re getting your jollies asking me all this embarrassing stuff.”
Instead of the laugh she expected, his eyebrows furrowed and he frowned. “It’s possible that’s true, although I haven’t sought out voyeuristic situations in the past.”
“I was kidding.”
“I know. But I don’t think it’s something I can simply dismiss out of hand.”
“What?”
“I have to be honest with you, Jessica. I’m not the model of stoicism you are. When you were recounting your fantasy, it wasn’t all science and note-taking here.”
“It wasn’t?”
He shook his head. “No. There was a decided uprising, if you get my drift.”
She hid her smile behind her whiskey sour. “Oh, dear.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, maybe we should call it off? The research, I mean.”
He hesitated, but not for long. “No, I don’t think so. I think we should press on.”
“But what if there’s another ‘uprising’?”
He scooted a little closer to her. “It’s a very real possibility.”
“Oh?”
He nodded, moved closer still. “However,” he said, keeping his voice low, unreachable to any nearby waitress, “I believe that my reaction is an important factor in the project.”
“How so?”
“If I wasn’t turned on, then you wouldn’t be the right subject.”
“Hmm. So it’s not any particular woman. It’s a particular woman you’re attracted to.”
“Exactly. And it’s equally important that the woman-you-be attracted to me.”
She frowned. “Oh, dear.”
The look on his face was priceless. Total shock. She hadn’t thought of him as egocentric, and he certainly hadn’t behaved like one of those guys who think they’re God’s gift, but it was clear he’d sensed the heat between them. She decided to be kind, and let him off the hook. “Kidding,” she said. “I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t so.”
He relaxed visibly. And touched the back of her neck with his fingers. Her reaction was instant and intense. Heat, moisture, rapid breathing, a flush to her cheeks.
He evidently saw the signs, and probably suspected the rest. But just then their food arrived, via a waiter this time, and they both dug in like starving sailors.
After the initial emergency was over, and they could stop to savor the delicious meal, Dan touched her thigh. “You don’t have to do anything else tonight, right?”
She shook her head.
“Great.”
“Why?”
“I’m not close to being finished with my questions.”
“I do have to get a good night’s sleep.”
“You’ll sleep.”
“Promise?”
“You bet. My job is to help you with your campaign, not hurt it.”
“True.”
They ate again, the rest of the night swimming with possibilities, stirring the air between them. When Jessica hit bottom and pushed away her plate, he dropped his fork and called for the bill. The waiter asked if they wanted dessert, and they said an abrupt “No!” at the same time.
“Not that I’m anxious,” he said.
“Of course not,” she agreed.
But he paid in record time, leaving a generous tip, while she hailed a taxi.
They didn’t say a word as they headed toward the hotel. Not one. But she heard him. His intentions, his curiosity, his desire. She felt him, too, although all he touched was her shoulder, briefly.
By the time they reached the Willows, she was at the end of her rope. The elevator took forever, he fumbled with the key, and then finally, thank God, they were inside, the door was locked, and they were in each other’s arms before she could say, “Take me, you fool.”
Dan pulled her tight against him as he moved her toward the bedroom. Everything in his body cried out for being naked. Now. But he didn’t know how Jessica would react to making love on the carpet, so he focused the one tiny section of his brain that wasn’t completely fogged over with sex and manfully pressed on. She stumbled over something, and he realized it would have been a good thing to have turned on the light, but he wasn’t about to let go, or God forbid, stop kissing her, not when her tongue was so busy exploring every inch of his mouth, and certainly not when he’d already managed to unbutton half her blouse, but then he almost tripped over the coffee table, and he said, “The hell with this,” and he lifted her into his arms as if he was Tarzan or something, and not giving a damn what he tripped over, he made it to the bedroom and more importantly, to the bed.
Once he had her safely down, he reached to the side table and turned on the light. He wanted to see her. All of her. Every step of this glorious dance.
She lay panting, her blouse half-open to reveal a peach lace bra that couldn’t hide her very erect nipples. The sight spurred him into action, and he ripped at his own shirt.
That got Jessica moving, too, and they raced to shed their clothes as if they were on fire. Which, in fact, they were.
By the time he got completely undressed, she’d reached the last stage-her panties. He held out a hand. “Stop.”
She obeyed, her gaze moving down his chest, his stomach, finally his erection. He’d never been harder, of course she couldn’t know that. But from the look on her face she wasn’t displeased.
“Why am I stopping?” she asked, her gaze never moving up, even an inch.
“Because if we keep going at this pace, it’s going to be a very wonderful yet very short experience.”
“Short, my ass.”
He laughed. “Thank you, but not what I meant.”
“Oh. Right.”
“So let me just appreciate you for a minute.”
“Appreciate, how?”
“Looking,” he said, climbing onto the big white bed. “And touching,” he said, while his hand went to cup the most beautiful breasts he’d ever seen. When his hand came to rest on the perfect bosom, he nearly came, which would have been oh-so-unfortunate. The clever thing to do would be to think about baseball scores or perhaps mealworms. But he couldn’t. All he could think about was how stunning she was, and how lucky he was, and how to be inside her was perhaps the most important thing in his whole life. He wanted it to last forever. He knew that couldn’t be so.
“Dan?”
“Yes?”
