Truth or Dare by Janis Reams Hudson Page A

but that seemed to be the least of her worries.  She'd teased him by wearing this damn dress, and he had responded.  The heat was plain in his eyes, in the feel of his hand against her back.
    She stepped away from that hand and turned to face him.
    "May I come in?" he asked from the doorway.
    Rachel shivered.  "Why?"
    "We need to talk."
    "No, we don't."
    "Okay," he said, "I need to talk."
    Tell him no.  Send him away, her mind screamed.  But his eyes, while still lit with heat, also held a note of sincerity she couldn't deny.  "All right," she whispered.  "Come in."
    He followed her into the room and pushed the door closed behind him.  The loud click of the latch echoed ominously in her ears.  She flinched at the sound.  Turning her back on him, she dropped her clutch on the dresser, folded her arms protectively across her abdomen, and stared out the sliding glass doors at the bright lights below.
    "What did you want to talk about?"  She was surprised at the steadiness of her voice when her whole body was trembling.
    "I owe you an apology, and a compliment," he said.
    She turned toward him in surprise.
    "It must have taken a great deal of courage for you to go along with my ridiculous plans for tonight.  Judging by my own prejudicial remark about models, and some of the stares you were getting from more than a few men, I can't say I blame you for anything you've done."
    Oh, if only he knew what all she'd done.  He would take those words back so fast   .   .   .
    "I learned a little something about myself tonight, too."  He pushed the sides of his jacket aside and slipped his hands into his pants pockets.  "Something I'm not sure how to deal with."
    He looked troubled, and Rachel had the sudden urge to offer comfort.  She smothered it quickly.
    "I think I'm a fraud."
    Rachel blinked.  "What?"
    He gave a harsh laugh and studied the ceiling a moment.  "I wanted you to put on that sexy dress and spend the evening with me so I could prove what an upstanding gentleman I am.  I like to think of myself as a gentleman.  I wanted to show you that to me you are first, above anything else, a person I like spending time with, whom I enjoy working with."
    His words eased some of the tightness in her chest.  He had no idea how soothing they were to her, how much she desperately needed to hear them.
    "You're the best secretary I've ever had, and I don't want anything to interfere with our working relationship, nor with whatever friendship we might have."
    "Thank you," she whispered.  "But how does that make you a fraud?"
    "I guess the least I can do is be an honest fraud," he said.  "I meant everything I just said to you.  But despite all that, I still want very much to kiss you."
    Rachel sucked in a sharp breath of denial.  If she were to be as honest as Jared, she had to admit her silent denial was not in response to his words, but to the hot tingling rushing through her veins at the thought of being kissed by him.
    Her body's reaction was impossible to deny.  It may have been years since a man had stirred her senses, but she knew desire when she felt it.  His words left her shaken.  She didn't want to feel, didn't want to want.
    In her past, she had managed to generate only two different responses from men, lust, or dismissal.  If she gave in to the yearnings she felt, which would Jared be?  The attacker, or the disappointed lover?  She didn't want to know.  Couldn't take the risk of finding out.
    He came closer, until he stood directly before her.  She could feel the heat from his body through her gown.  There was nowhere to go.  One step back and she'd be against the balcony door.  One step forward was Jared's chest.
    "Tell me no, Rachel," he whispered, running a finger along her jaw.  "Tell me to leave."
    Her heart thundered in her chest.  She told herself it thundered in fear.
    He ran his fingers around the back of her neck and threaded them through her hair, cupping her head in his warm palm.