Playing the Playboy by Noelle Adams

his tongue slipped into her mouth.
    Then her arms were wrapping around his neck, and she was opening fully to the advance of his tongue. It all felt so good, so right, so free.
    One of his big hands spanned her ribs, and the other curved around the back of her head. The kiss deepened even more, until her vision blurred behind her eyelids and her whole body pulsed with desire and need.
    Their lips broke apart, and she gasped for air, letting her head fall back. “Laurel,” he muttered hoarsely, mouthing her jaw, her neck, and then back to her lips. “You’re incredible.”
    For some reason, the words brought back the last flicker of sense in her mind. She pulled away and stepped back rather awkwardly, panting and so hot she could melt.
    He stared at her, dazed and not entirely pleased with their interrupted embrace.
    “Sorry,” she said, rubbing her face and trying to think clearly. There was a deep ache between her legs that was impossible not to recognize. “We can’t do that. It’s crazy. We shouldn’t…”
    “Why not?” he asked, his voice still hoarse. He was just as affected physically as she was. He was tense, and she could see he was aroused. “We could agree it wouldn’t have any consequences on the situation with the inn. We’d be really good together.”
    “Probably,” she agreed, since there was no legitimate way to deny that obvious truth. She shook her head hard, trying to dispel the lingering effects of the kiss. “But…”
    She couldn’t think clearly enough. She couldn’t figure out a way to use this to her advantage the way she’d been planning to two days ago. She didn’t even want to.
    The inn wasn’t why she wanted Andrew. She just wanted him. And that made her even more vulnerable.
    “Let me think about it,” she concluded at last, rather lamely.
    “Of course,” he said, smiling again. He still looked a little tense, but he’d recovered more quickly than she had. “Take your time.”
    Laurel stared at her dogs, who were trying to leap over the waves and return to the shore. When Theo started after another low-flying bird, she called out sharply so he would come back.
    She’d had sex with a few boys as a teenager—a couple of whom she’d actually liked—but Jerry was the only man she’d had sex with for the last ten years. The sex had been fine…sometimes good, sometimes a little boring, never unpleasant or uncomfortable.
    Sex with Andrew would be different. She knew that much already. There was no way she could use sex as part of claiming an advantage with the Damons, the way she’d been initially planning to do. She’d been stupid to think she could ever do such a thing.
    Having sex with Andrew would be incredible, It might not be worth it, though. Whatever she decided, she had to keep her priorities straight.
    And the inn would always be most important.
    ***
    Laurel successfully kept her resolution to achieve proper distance and objectivity all through the afternoon and dinner. Andrew worked most of the afternoon anyway and ate in his room.
    That evening, however, something told her she should probably stay in her private quarters, rather than going out to the pool deck. It was her habit in the evenings—to relax and let herself enjoy the Greek island setting she’d worked so hard for.
    If she went up there, however, it was entirely possible that Andrew would show up as well. He hadn’t mentioned it, but he’d gone out the night before, and—if he really wanted to have sex with her—it would be a natural opportunity. So she probably shouldn’t change into her favorite green bikini, grab a towel, and stretch out on the chaise.
    But she did anyway.
    Maybe Andrew wouldn’t show up, in which case her decision would be easy.
    A half-hour later, she was still alone. The sun was setting in an explosion of rich color, and she’d taken off her sunglasses to enjoy it. But she didn’t feel as relaxed as normal. She felt restless and unsettled.
    It didn’t take a