Double the Heat by Deirdre Martin, Lori Foster, Elizabeth Bevarly, Christie Ridgway

Not touching her was impossible, so he brushed the backs of his fingers over her cheek. “I’m sorry.”
    Behind her glasses, her nose scrunched. “For?”
    “The crack about your clothes.”
    “Oh.” And then, “That was remarkably rude.”
    “And for being a jealous jerk.”
    Her eyelashes fluttered. “What?”
    Damn, he couldn’t take it. He cupped both hands around her neck. “I saw you ogling Joe.”
    She stiffened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    “Baloney. He made you all tongue-tied, when I’ve never seen you get that way. You’re usually the most self-confident woman I know.”
    “I am?”
    “Hell, even from the back of the restaurant I could see you blushing.”
    Confusion darkened her soft brown eyes, and her tongue slipped out to dampen her bottom lip. “I was somewhat affected by him.”
    He locked his jaw.
    “I assume that you’ll probably look like him one day. That’s what affected me, thinking of you a few years down the road.”
    “Do you? Think of me?”
    Her eyes narrowed, and she refused to answer. “There are strong family resemblances between you.”
    Hart hid his grin. “All the Winston guys have a certain look about them, or so the women say.”
    “I can imagine.”
    Hart hoped that was jealousy stiffening her lips. To keep her from running off, he changed the subject. “Did you know that my brother, Dex, is a writer? He uses the name Baxter for his novels.”
    She drew back in surprise. “I’ve read him.”
    “So had Christy. She even got smashed one night and quoted one of his love scenes back to him—thinking he was me. Can you imagine how she felt when she sobered up? Dex told her he was a writer, and even showed her the book.” Hart grinned. “Funny shit, huh?”
    “You’re warped. That poor girl had to be mortified.”
    Hart shrugged. “I’m sure Dex made it up to her somehow.” He smoothed her cheeks with his thumbs, and badly wanted to kiss her.
    “Hart?”
    “Hmmm.” He stared at her mouth, almost tasting her. He’d always enjoyed seeing lipstick on women, but Lisa’s bare lips seemed twice as appealing.
    Lisa’s voice shook as she said, “I don’t understand you. Why are you doing this?”
    “This?”
    “Coming on to me.” She caught his wrists, but didn’t pull his hands away. “You are, aren’t you?”
    “Yeah.” Most definitely.
    She made a frustrated sound. “But you had your one-night stand, and you got your fill, so—”
    “I didn’t.”
    Lisa rolled in her lips, blinked, and waited.
    “Get my fill, that is.” His muscles all tensed; his voice went low and deep. “Damn, woman, not by a long shot do I feel done with you.”
    Hesitantly, she said, “I . . . You mean . . .” But she didn’t finish either sentence.
    “It’s making me nuts thinking about you going out with that putz oral surgeon dude, and what you might have done with him.” His voice went deeper still, rough and raw. “What I’d rather you be doing with me.”
    “Nothing.”
    Hart couldn’t blame her for denying it, but he felt the damn chemistry. Still. She wanted him, maybe not as much as he wanted her, but he could work on that.
    “How can you say that?” Moving closer to her, Hart hid her from view of the street with his body. He put his palm beneath her breast in the silky blouse, right over her heart. “Your heartbeat is pounding double time.”
    She drew a breath, nodded, and admitted, “You always do that to me.”
    Hell, yes. “Well, then . . .”
    She licked her lips again. “I meant that I did nothing with the oral surgeon dude—who, by the way, is not a putz at all.”
    Hart grinned at how she mimicked his words, even as he felt encouraged. “Really? Nothing happened? Not even a little something?”
    Her chin lifted. “If you want the painful truth, the entire night was a bust.” Her eyes narrowed in accusation. “And I had looked forward to that night for more than a week!”
    “Why did nothing happen?” God, he