"And I'm not a girl-s.l.u.t. Woman-s.l.u.t, I guess now. I've always been such a..."

"Princess?" Will offered.

"I was going to say good girl. For all the good it's done me."

"Hey, everybody makes mistakes when they're young."

"Not like mine. I gave a decade away to a rat b.a.s.t.a.r.d." She stopped. No guy wanted to hear her whine about her past. The important thing was it was over, and she'd learned a hard lesson.

So why was she trying to lure Will Garrity to bed? She was as stupid now as when she met Rick Russell as a seventeen-year-old college freshman.

He'd been much older. Handsome. Established in his career. Supposedly rich. Alexandra thought it was so romantic that he was waiting for her to graduate. She knew now he'd cheated on her even before they were married in a ceremony that fulfilled her mother's every dream. A Vera w.a.n.g dress. A garden reception at home. A string quartet to play her down the aisle and a big band group later for dancing. Alexandra had been dazzled by the details. But Rick was all surface and no substance, and she'd fallen for it hard.

"I-I guess I should be going-"

"You shouldn't blame yourself-"

They both spoke at the same time.

"Don't go," Will said softly. He put his big hand over hers.

Alexandra felt his warmth seep into her. She didn't want a one-night stand, either. But she'd placed her trust in someone once and had been burned. There'd been no happily-ever-after, except for the attorneys who cleaned up her mess. What if she cared more about Will than he cared about her, and she wound up with a broken heart?

Nope. Hearts didn't break. They bruised and healed, and there was no reason to dwell on failure. There were no guarantees in life now, were there? Alexandra had played by all the rules and still had lost her game. But it was time to get back on the field.

Good lord. Sports metaphors. Will Garrity was having an insidious influence on her.

"Let's take things as they come, okay?" He was looking down at her with his blue, blue eyes and she found herself nodding.

"Nice and slow," he continued, smoothing over her knuckles with a rough thumb. "We don't have to do anything tonight, but I'd like to see more of you."

"I'd like to see more of you, too." Out of the blazer, shirt and jeans. Was he wearing socks? Them too. Right now.

She stood on tiptoe and brushed her lips across his. He stiffened in surprise, but he quickly overcame any reservations he'd been having and kissed her back.

Boy, did he ever. Alexandra was hot and cold all at once. She might even have enough goosepimples on her scalp to make her hair stand on end.

But no more standing. The stairs beckoned, and she pushed him backward. Not hard enough to knock him over, but enough to let him know what direction to go in.

"You're sure?" he asked, sounding out of breath when he tore his lips away.

"I think you've asked that question before. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure about anything anymore, but I want to...to go to bed with you." She wouldn't say f.u.c.k you. That wouldn't be ladylike. "You do have a bed, don't you? There's not a lot of furniture downstairs."

"I have a bed. There are clean sheets on it, too."

"Ah, so you planned this whole seduction, did you?" she teased.

"I think you've got it wrong. You're the one seducing me. Consider me putty in your soft, sweet little hands." He bent to kiss her fingertips, and her knees buckled.

Trouble was, Alexandra wasn't absolutely sure what to do with him. s.e.x had been okay with Rick, but it wasn't until her friend Jessa brought a vibrator to her divorce party that Alexandra had understood the whole rockets, crashing waves, swirling stars and toe-curling stuff from her romance books.

Her mother had been horrified. To this day, Alexandra suspected the woman searched her room to throw the device away.

They climbed the stairs, pausing every few steps to kiss. Rocky was smart enough to remain at the bottom, his head c.o.c.ked in interest.

"He doesn't like stairs," Will said. "I think in his past life he must have taken a tumble."

"Good. Not about the falling part. But it would be weird if he watched us."

"Definitely. No watching."

Alexandra shivered. In some books she read-no, no, this was real life now, and silly fantasies had no part in it. She was not a performer. h.e.l.l, she wondered if she even remembered how to do it.

Will would help. He shut the door in case Rocky had a change of heart, and slipped Alexandra's cardigan down her arms.

"Pink for the princess." He grinned.

"I like pink."

"I do too, especially where it counts the most."

Alexandra had a feeling he'd just made a double entendre, and felt her blushes begin anew. She raised her arms as he pulled the sh.e.l.l over her head.

And there she stood, in her pearls and pink bra and jeans, trying to suck in her stomach.

He took a step back. "Perfect. Better than perfect."

"You don't have to say nice things," Alexandra chided, struggling with the b.u.t.ton of her pants.

"Yes, I do. But I think pretty soon I'm going to become a blithering idiot. Enjoy the compliments while they're still coming." His jacket was on the floor now, Brooks Brothers from the label. Will didn't strike her as a Brooks Brothers guy. His shirt followed suit, and Alexandra had to stop herself from yelping. He was brown and buff, his arms corded with muscle, and he had an actual six-pack. He was...he was beautiful.

There was the matter of the tattoo over his heart, some Celtic design than undoubtedly had meaning. Alexandra should object that tattoos were common, but she found she couldn't. No wonder Tonya La.s.siter had ogled out the kitchen window.

She traced the pattern with her finger as they stood facing each other, still mostly clothed.

Something needed to be done about that. Stat.

He pulled her to him roughly, his hands over her angel wings. They found the hooks on her bra, and she felt the confinement over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s lessen. He made no effort to release her and remove it though. She was flush up against him, her lips at his nipple. So she did what occurred to her first.

He hissed in pleasure.

"Witch."

"I thought I was a princess."

"Wrong fairytale. h.e.l.l, Alex, I want you."

You've got me. At least for now. But she didn't say the words aloud.

"What are you waiting for then?" She slipped her bra off, enjoying the appreciative light in Will's eyes.

He picked her up and dropped her gently on the bed, pulling her jeans down over her hips.

"A pink thong. Christ, you're trying to kill me, aren't you?"

"That would be counter-productive."

Alexandra wasn't sure when she'd lost her ballet flats, but she wiggled her toes in antic.i.p.ation.

They were going to curl. She knew it.

Chapter 10.

Will had never seen a woman like Alexandre Elliot Russell. Never expected to in this lifetime. She was...well, he'd used the word perfect before, but that wasn't right.

She was better than perfect.

Maybe his days really were numbered. It wasn't going to be a beam belting him on the head thanks to a careless co-worker or a fall into a freshly-poured foundation. He was going to die right here in his own bed.

With clean sheets.

It wasn't as if she were p.o.r.nstarish at all-for one thing, she had the cutest tufts of pale curly brown hair down below, and her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were normal, kind of average, really. But every naked inch of her thrilled him to the toes of the d.a.m.n boots he was still wearing.

He made short work of the rest of his clothes, his c.o.c.k jutting like a d.a.m.ned dousing stick. She was looking at him like she'd never seen a man before, which pleased him absurdly.

He was careful when he lay down. Didn't want to crush her. Started kissing her jaw and her neck and her earlobes. She twitched and sighed, her hands smoothing all over him. Each swipe of her fingers felt like a lick of cool fire.

h.e.l.l, that didn't make any sense. Fire was hot. Maybe he should just stop thinking.

Kissing was preferable anyhow. Her lips. Her eyelids. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. G.o.d, she smelled and tasted great, like honey and lemons.

Body lotion couldn't be poisonous, could it?

He didn't even care.

He suckled until she was writhing pretty hard, then tucked his hand between her legs. She opened instantly, and smiled inside at how wet she was. Which was good, because he couldn't really wait much longer. Will felt like he was fifteen again, and he just hoped he'd be a bit more suave than he was back then when he finally sunk into Alex.

He wanted to make it good for her. More than good. He had a feeling she hadn't had any fun in a good long while, and he wanted to be the one who gave it to her.

His thumb found her c.l.i.t and he set to work. Not that it was hard work. She was responding beyond his fantasies, and he'd had plenty of them the past couple of weeks. Alex had invaded his dreams, and his waking hours too.

Jeez. He really liked her. Really, really liked her. His first impression had been wrong, and he was man enough to admit it.

"Will," she groaned. "Please."

"Tell me what you want." He was pretty sure he had a clue, but wanted her to say it.

Her face was pink, her lips plush and swollen. "You know."

He kissed her nose. "I believe I do, but I just want to make sure."

"This is torture."

"This? Or this?" He felt her jump beneath him as he circled, lifting her gorgeous a.s.s off the bed. It had been a while for him, but at least he hadn't forgotten completely how to please a woman.

"Oh...oh my G.o.d."

Bingo. She throbbed against his fingers, panting, her eyes squinched shut, her face split by an agonized grin. The most beautiful sight ever. She grabbed his shoulders and he figured it was time.

He rolled away and yanked open the drawer of his nightstand. He had a box of wishful-thinking condoms there too. Will put one on in record time, not wanting to miss a single leftover tremor.

And then-no fumbling, no awkwardness. He just came home.

Heat. Friction. Heaven. Will had to stop himself from getting carried away too fast. He wanted her to come again with him inside her, so he made himself recalibrate. He conjugated the few French verbs he remembered, but there weren't that many. He'd kind of sucked at foreign languages, but at least he wasn't sucking at s.e.x, if Alex's movements were any indication.

She didn't help slow his roll any as she raised herself against him, rubbing spots he never knew he had. She was...

Maybe English was a foreign language too. There just wasn't a word for the way she made him feel.

They were both wet. Slippery. The scent of honey and lemons and s.e.x went straight to his brain, and Will knew he couldn't hold back if his life depended on it. Good thing he could feel her cresting again, this time against his c.o.c.k, her heels in the small of his back ensuring that he would follow her to bliss in an eye blink.

Sweet G.o.d. Stick a fork in him, he was so done.

He flipped her on top of him so he wouldn't flatten her as every muscle relaxed. Walking was out of the question. He could barely breathe and his heart was pounding as if he'd run a marathon.

"Wow."

Alex could still speak, which was more than he could do. He nodded in agreement.

"No, I mean it. Really wow." Her eyes were shiny with tears.