Up All Night

“Not me.” He’d never let that happen. “I live in the moment and actively seek the thrill. I think you can only grow detached like that if you want to take the fun out of it.”

Frowning, she twisted her finger around the dangling belt of her robe. “Or if you want to take away the fear. But what does it feel like?”

“What does what feel like? Designing a coaster?”

“No. Experiencing it firsthand.”

“Don’t tell me you’ve never been on a roller coaster.” He couldn’t imagine someone depriving themselves of the experience.

“Never.”

He smacked his forehead in disbelief, but he’d gladly share his take on it. This was one woman he planned to convert.

Setting his glass beside hers on the coffee table, he leaned forward. Closer. Firmly into Jenny Moore’s personal space.

“It’s an adrenaline rush.” The kind of experience he sought out whenever possible, just for kicks. “A slow build that climbs with anticipation until you can barely hold still for what’s going to happen next. Then a heart-flipping moment where you feel like you’re going to fall over the biggest ledge of your life and your whole nervous system goes ballistic with erratic impulses. You can’t breathe. You can only scream your brains out and hold on for dear life.”

Unable to resist the lure of her hazel eyes hanging on his every word, he reached out to stroke a finger down the side of her soft cheek.

“Sort of like sex.”

3

“MY EXPERIENCES must be lacking because I can’t ever recall sex having such a profound effect.” She knew she’d been seriously deprived when it came to quantity of intimate encounters, but now she had to consider that she’d never even enjoyed much quality in that department. “And since I have built a whole company around the idea of indulging your inner hedonist, I think I’m going to have to investigate this sex-as-thrill premise.”

His hand cupped her chin tilting her face toward his in a way that sent her pulse into overdrive.

“It can be risky to seek adventure with someone you don’t know much about.”

As if she didn’t have enough phobias without him resorting to scare tactics.

“Trying to warn me away?”

“Not from me.” His thumb dragged slowly along her bottom lip. “Selfishly, maybe I’m just hoping you don’t consider propositioning anyone else. I’d like to be the one to get to know you better.”

The heat that had been flowing through her veins cooled slightly at the reminder that her night had started off with another man.

“I’ll keep that in mind if ever I feel the need to issue a proposition again.” She smoothed the heavy red flannel of her robe over her knee. “Considering my first attempt landed a total stranger in my room, caused a panic attack and proved that the one guy I tried propositioning is flat-out deceitful, I probably won’t put myself out on a limb for sex again anytime too soon.”

“I shouldn’t have brought it up.” Devon leaned back on the couch, giving her enough space to start thinking with her mind again instead of her overheated body that still remembered the feel of his hands on her naked thigh. “There’s a chance this guy Brady used some semi-shady tactics to squeeze me out of a job, and while I’ve got plenty of career doors open to me, I can’t help but resent that his maneuvering flew in the face of his old man’s wishes just a few months after the guy kicked the bucket. I’ll admit, I might just be choking on a couple of sour grapes. But in case I’m not, you might want to be careful.”

“I make it a habit not to let somebody close to me again if they hurt me once.” She had enough problems with trust without putting herself on the line that way. “What about you? Are you leaving the company because this guy stole your spot?”

“I’m not willing to play games to win back the job without the board’s endorsement. I probably should have made more noise about my qualifications sooner in the decision process, but I tend to get wrapped up in projects more than politics.”

“So you bow out gracefully even though you don’t have much faith in the company’s new director?” Jenny knew she’d never have the heart to play those kinds of games either, but Devon built thrill rides for the fun.

No doubt he could successfully handle corporate politics.

“The board chose him, so maybe he has strengths I don’t know about. There comes a time when peace is more important than fighting for what I might think is fair.” He almost looked convinced of it. Almost. “Besides, no one promises life will be fair. You know that going in.”

“So you’re leaving Shore Engineers to do what?”

“Go out on my own. Do some consulting work for a few amusement parks to put together the kinds of rides thrill seekers want.” He pulled over the champagne bucket and refilled their glasses. “Now that our day-to-day lives are so insulated from physical danger, theme parks are more popular than ever because they provide the edge-of-your-seat experience absent from our lives.”

“I see you’ve given this idea of incorporating excitement into life a lot of thought.” She sipped her champagne and let the bubbles tickle her lip. The dry bite of the drink made her all the more thirsty somehow, but she knew drinking more wouldn’t help.

A taste of Devon Baines, however, might just do the trick.

“I grew up with an appreciation for adventure.” His arm sprawled along the back of the sofa while he soaked up the view of Atlantic City and the ocean out the window and she soaked up the view of him.

How might her life be different if she allowed herself to dive headfirst into adventure sometimes instead of retreating behind the safe four walls of her apartment? She’d taken a risk and faced danger by coming here this week and look at how she’d thrived in spite of the potential consequences. She’d survived an anxiety attack and met a fascinating man in the process. Her agoraphobia didn’t have to rule her life.

It had robbed enough from her already.

“I think a man with so much experience in adventure would make a very good guide in the realm of thrill-seeking sex.”

God knows where she got the nerve to say it. Maybe it had been the champagne talking, although with only a small glass and a bonus sip to her credit, she hardly thought so. And damn it, she stood firmly behind the sentiment. This was her week for adventure.

Devon stared out the window at the sparkling lights below for so long she wondered if he’d heard her. But then, he turned the full, heated impact of his gaze toward her and she knew he’d most definitely heard.

“Are you in the market for a guide, Jenny?”

His low-spoken words seemed to tremble through her skin, reverberating along her nerves and stirring her very blood. She would never find another opportunity like this, a stranger who came to her—on safe terrain—in the middle of the night and stayed with her until she wasn’t scared.

Until she was entirely intrigued.

“Yes I am.” She didn’t hesitate. “I want the thrills.”

Devon had never heard sweeter words. A plea for sex from a sensuous woman who wanted as much adrenaline in her ride as he did.

He reached for her the same moment she leaned toward him. Fingers sinking into the chin-skimming platinum hair, he hauled her close. Her gardenia scent teased his nose for a moment before his mouth found hers. He drew on her lips, tugging the lower one into his mouth to nip and suck and taste her. Her champagne flavor and slick warmth made his senses spin and he reached to pull her back on his lap where he’d wanted her to be again ever since he’d held her there earlier.

Jenny wound her arms around his neck, and then, too restless to be still, she trailed light scratches down his back, hastening him. He’d never expected this woman, garbed in delicate white who’d hyperventilated over the sight of him in her room, to generate so much heat.

The music playing had switched from Beethoven to Rachmaninoff, a venture to the dark side that suited Devon’s mood well. Tunneling beneath her flannel robe, he cupped the smooth curve of her sweet, heart-shaped ass that he hadn’t gotten to appreciate nearly enough the first time she’d been seated across his thighs. She wore a lace and satin thong cut in a mouthwatering V shape as if to point him in the direction he needed to touch. As if he needed any reminders.

But he couldn’t go there first, not when he’d promised a thrill ride she wouldn’t forget. First they needed the slow, upward climb, the steady build of anticipation that made the first plunge knock your breath right out of your lungs.

Careful not to stray beneath the elastic of her panties, he skimmed his palm up over the curve of her waist to cup one lace-covered breast. The weight in his hand had him even harder than he’d been five seconds ago, which was saying a hell of a lot since he didn’t know how much more a zipper could take.

Thankfully, her restless fingers tracked down his shoulders and over his abs to address the situation, although the way she brushed and grazed the head of him as she worked threatened to take him over the first precipice too damn soon.

Covering her fingers with his own, he helped her ease down the zipper. “I’m not going to be much of a guide if I lose it before we get naked.”

“Are you kidding?” She didn’t even pause to look at him in her fascination with what she’d unveiled. “We could stop now and this would still be the biggest thrill of my life. The very biggest.”

She peered up at him then through her lashes, a slow smile of invitation curving her swollen lips. The subtle suggestion that she would comply with just about anything he wanted held him riveted.