Locked In Temptation. Brenda Jackson
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at Shady Reds after work, anticipating their paths crossing. Their encounters, when he was in town, lasted only five to ten minutes. Enough time to get a feel for his personality and decide he was someone she wanted to know better.
She wasn’t interested in anything serious, just a diversion from the complexities of her job. And he had definitely been that. She had enjoyed their brief encounters, the how-are-you-doing text messages she would get whenever he was traveling, and the occasional phone calls that had promised one day they would find the time for more. It was hard to believe that day had finally arrived.
What he’d just shared with her definitely went beyond small talk. After becoming fascinated with him months ago, she’d done her research, but what she’d found had covered only his later years, his arrest at the age of nineteen and his life after that. She appreciated him filling in the blanks.
“What about your name?”
He quirked a brow at her. “What about it?”
“There has to be a story behind it.”
He chuckled. “Really, there’s no story, other than Stonewall is my mom’s maiden name. She was Vivienne Stonewall. Her mother died of cancer when she was in college, and her father died a year later of the same thing. I never knew either of them, but I knew she adored them both and thought giving me her family’s name would be a way to honor their memory.”
“She was the only child?”
“Yes. She was her parents’ only child.’
Joy didn’t say anything for a minute, thinking she really liked being here with him. “How old is your grandmother?” she asked him, trying to stay relaxed and finding it hard to do so.
When they’d boarded the jet, he’d removed his tux jacket and loosened his bow tie. Some men looked okay in a tux and some looked as if the masculine formal attire had been made just for them to wear. Stonewall was one of the latter.
She was a very observant person and was aware each time his gaze roamed up and down every single inch of her body. She was aware of what she did to him with something as inconsequential as shifting in her seat or crossing her legs. She was not intentionally trying to affect him in any way, but the woman in her couldn’t help appreciate that she had the ability to do so.
“She will be seventy-two in a few months.”
She watched his lips move and wondered how any man could have such a luscious pair. And that beard surrounding his mouth was a total turn-on for her. Deciding to keep him talking, she said, “Tell me about your sister.”
He smiled, and from that single expression she detected an extreme fondness. “Amelia, who everyone calls Mellie, is four years younger than I am, and is a doctor at St. Francis Memorial.”
“She lives with your grandmother?”
“No, but she lives close enough. Right around the corner. That way both Granny Kay and Mellie can have the independence and privacy they both enjoy since both are dating age.”
She blinked. “Your about-to-turn-seventy-two-year-old grandmother dates?”
“Yes.”
“Good for her.”
He stroked his bearded jaw, and the gesture sent desire throbbing through her veins. “Hmm, now you sound like Mellie. I used to worry about Granny Kay, but then I realized if there’s anyone who can handle her business, she can.”
He took another sip of his coffee, his gaze never leaving hers, still locking her into all that blatant temptation. It was obvious that she knew he was staring, just like it was obvious she was staring back. One of his brows raised a mere fraction, and a smile touched her lips.
“Are you trying to out-stare me, Joy?”
Sexual tension between them was a constant undercurrent, no matter what they were doing or how serious the conversation they were having. The desire she would see in his eyes held her spellbound. “No, actually I was enjoying the view.”
As he placed his coffee cup aside, a sexy smile spread across his lips. She’d hoped he would get a refill. Any reason that would give her the opportunity to check out his masculine thighs flexing in those black trousers would have been appreciated.
To her disappointment, instead of getting up, he leaned back in his chair as if to get comfortable. “Do you always say whatever is on your mind?” he asked her.
She shrugged. “Most of the time. Comes with the job. It doesn’t pay to beat around the bush if you truly want to know something.”
She watched as his dark brown eyes roamed up and down her body again, the impact hitting her right between the legs. Evidently he liked what he saw. “I’ve got a question for you, Stonewall.”
“And what is it that you want to know?”
She’d warned him that she had no problem saying what was on her mind, so here she went. “Are you going to wait for this plane to land before you kiss me?”
OF ALL THE things Stonewall thought Joy might ask, that definitely wasn’t one of them. Funny how her thoughts fell in sync with his. Whenever he looked at her mouth, at those full, luscious lips, he thought about kissing her. Those thoughts had sent jolts of desire through him most of the day while in her presence. Even at the wedding, his gaze would seek her out in the crowd. Find her. The one kiss they’d shared had made a lasting impression on him. He had no problem kissing her before the plane landed, when the plane landed, and anytime in between.
“Do you want me to, Joy?”
The smile that touched her lips sent his libido skyrocketing. Beats of arousal drummed through his blood. “It’s your call, Stonewall. Either way, regardless of whether you do it now or later, I’ll be ready.”
She would be ready... Now why did she have to let him know something like that? Her bold declaration made his already fired-up blood that much hotter. He could actually feel his breath catch in his throat. He felt the pressure against his zipper and knew the sexual vibes between them were to blame. The pounding in his crotch was relentless.
He eased out of his seat, at the moment not caring that she was getting a full-frontal view of a deeply aroused man. “I was trying to be a gentleman.”
He watched her gaze lower to his crotch before easing back up to his face. “I wasn’t aware gentlemen didn’t kiss.”
Her flippant response made him smile. “Not the kind of kiss I had in mind.”
The heat he saw in those gorgeous brown eyes almost did him in. “I’m a big girl. I can handle it.”
“We’ll see,” he said, taking a step toward where she sat and extending his hand to her. “It might be more than you’re prepared for, Joy.”
“Let me be the judge of that.” She placed her hand in his, and the moment she did, he felt a crackle of fiery-hot energy, unmistakably raw, pass between them.
He gently tugged her to her feet, bringing their bodies tight against each other. The moment the lower part of his body touched hers, a spike of intense heat seized him low in the gut.
He stared down into her eyes as he wrapped his arms around her waist. “You sure you want this now?”
“Like I said, now or later. It’s your call, Stonewall.”
His gaze became fixated on her lips and anticipation jolted him to the bone. “In that case, I choose now.”
He all but growled the words before lowering his mouth to hers.
* * *
JOY FELT HER senses soar the moment his tongue touched hers. She had waited for this moment, and it was just as she remembered it...and more.