In Hot Pursuit by Joanne Rock Page B

cut.” She plucked the stick from his hands and tossed it to the floor, heedless of where it landed.
    â€œI like outdated. Outdated is sexy.” Josh reached for the doorknob and turned it, backing them into her bedroom. All the while, he kept every inch of her sequined body glued to his.
    He paused when the backs of his legs ran into her bed.
    â€œNot here,” she whispered, leading them sideways. “The bed’s a bit too personal, don’t you think?”
    He couldn’t think. She had him so fired up, he’d settle for the kitchen floor if it would make her happy.
    â€œHere—” She stopped in front of a monstrous reclining apparatus that looked like an adjustable bed in the partially upright position. “The chaise seems more in order for an anonymous…encounter.”
    Every word she uttered shifted her breasts over his chest by a pleasantly torturous fraction.
    â€œIs that what we’re doing? Encountering?”
    She wriggled her hips against his. “I don’t know about you, but I’m encountering something pretty impressive.”
    â€œHoney, you ain’t seen nothing yet.” Tightening his hold around her waist, he lifted her straight off the floor, dragging her body upward along his and displacing a few of her sequins in the process.
    He paused when they were eye to eye.
    â€œDo tell, Detective.” Lexi eased the knot on his tie and unbuttoned his shirt just enough to slip her hands underneath the fabric.
    Her touch sent him reeling in a way no street-fight punch ever had. Her little hum of approval made him want to protect and serve her all night long.
    â€œI’m not telling you anything, Lexi. You’re just going to have to see for yourself.” He set her down on the oversize chaise longue and sprawled out alongside her. “Besides, didn’t we say anonymous sex meant no talking?”
    â€œNo talking?” She looked appalled, but a devilish light in her eyes told him otherwise. “But then, how could I tell you things like this…?”
    She leaned close to him, brushing her breast across his upper arm as she cupped her hand around his ear. Her breathy words were soft and warm.
    â€œI want to lick every impressive inch of you.”

5
    L EXI GUESSED HER WORDS had the desired effect when a ragged groan ripped through the bedroom loud enough to set off her dogs’ barking down the hall.
    She couldn’t help but smile. She felt less like a houseplant every second she passed in Josh’s company.
    â€œStill think we ought to impose that ‘no talking’ rule?” she prompted, sliding his tie out from under his collar and shivering at the sheer sensuality of the sound.
    â€œDid I mention I’m a big proponent of free speech?” Josh flicked one strap of her gown off her shoulder. “I think you ought to feel free to say whatever comes to mind.”
    Josh’s gaze did more than undress her. Somehow, those gray eyes invited her to share her secrets and dared her to bare her soul.
    A risk she’d never afforded herself—not with anyone. Nearly two years had passed since her last one-night stand—a blur of awkwardness that hadn’t aroused her half as much as Josh’s single touch.
    No way would she allow their impersonal sex plan to slip off course. She wanted the lights off, blindsdown. And all those too-tempting personal glimpses of Josh properly concealed, so she could enjoy her stolen evening revealing other parts of him.
    â€œSay whatever I want? In that case, how about closing those blinds and then I won’t hold anything back.”
    â€œWhatever the lady wants.” Josh moved away from her, taking his searing gaze and his body heat with him.
    Lexi watched him prowl about her bedroom, his feral grace not totally out of place in her room full of leopard-print pillows and tiger-striped sheets. Not that he would ever discover those sheets, because she drew the