Panting to catch her breath, she glanced around his office. Everything that had been on Jordan's desk was now scattered on the carpet as if a twister had swept through the room.

"Oh, jeez." He cupped her cheek in his hand. "Hannah, I'm so sorry."

"No, it's okay. I provoked you."

So many expressions had flitted across his face during their frantic coupling, offering her a glimpse of his jealousy, frustration, anger, adoration, passion....and then just before he'd collapsed on her-defeat.

There was no way to guess exactly what he felt for her, but her heart soared after witnessing the intensity of his emotions. Whatever his feelings were, one thing was certain, they were powerful enough to make him lose his composure.

A metallic scraping jerked Hannah's attention to the door. "What was that?"

He pushed himself off her. "I have no idea, and at the moment, I don't care. Both doors are locked." He helped her sit up and stroked her hair. "Are you sure you're okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"I'm fine." She still had an uneasy feeling that someone might be in her office. "What if someone heard us?"

"Don't you mean heard you?" He chuckled. "I wasn't hollering, 'Oh, yes! Yes! Oh yes!'"

"No, you were too busy trying to permanently merge my back with your desk."

"Damn. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken you like-"

"Yes, exactly like that. It was incredible." If they were still counting demerits, she'd racked up at least twenty-five more.

"But I took you like some wild animal in rut." He raked his fingers through his hair and shook his head. "You deserve to be made love to, and I banged you like a drunken sailor on shore leave."

"It's okay. I love that you let yourself go with me." She couldn't let him apologize for giving her the best sex she'd ever had. "I think I like it a little rough."

He handed her the underpants he'd stripped off her, and while she wiggled into them, he grabbed a tissue from the box that had fallen on the floor and cleaned himself. "If you really enjoyed that, maybe we should consider extending our little fling to long-term."

Long term-meaning he would add her to his stable of girlfriends?

"I know it's not the most romantic thing to admit, but I can't think of a more spectacular way to end my stressful days at the office than to lose myself in you at six-o'clock every night before you leave. It's a helluva a lot better for stress reduction than running on the treadmill. And I guarantee it would put an end to my head-"

"Right," she sputtered. "I'm not about to share you with other women, no matter how great the sex is with you. If I wanted that kind of deal, I could've stuck with Kevin. He only had one other lover."

"You're misunderstanding. I'm done with my other relationships. I can't even think about being with anyone but you. I swear I'll be faithful as long as we're together."

"Aren't you worried about board anymore?"

Shrugging, he buttoned his shirt. "If we're in an exclusive relationship and they know I didn't pressure you into it, I don't think they'll object."

"And how long will this exclusive relationship last? A week, a month, a year?" A lifetime was what she wanted to hear.

Stepping behind her, he hooked her bra. "At the very least, long enough for you to have my baby."

Hannah turned and stared at him in disbelief.

"I've been thinking about it ever since you mentioned using a sperm donor."

"I thought you didn't believe you'd be a good father."

"That was before I saw you holding the Russell kid. Since then, I haven't been able to get the picture of you nursing my baby out of my head. It made me think about how hard it must've been for my dad to become a father so young."

Could Jordan's sudden about-face be a result of the CD? Or did he really want to have a child with her?

"While I was thinking about my father and his shortcomings as a parent, I realized my grandfather was my true role model. Edward taught me all I need to know about being a good dad."

"So that's where I come in-as the mommy?"

"Don't you see how much sense it makes? You and I could share custody. And you wouldn't ever have to worry about money again-or work, if you don't want to."

She shoved her arms into her wrap-around blouse and tied the sash. "In other words, you want me as your paid broodmare."

"No! As my lover. I'd like us to make a baby, and I'd like to help raise him....or her."

"For which I'd be financially compensated. I'm sorry, Stud, I don't see the difference."

He scooped up several of the items that had fallen on the floor and returned them to the desktop. "I wasn't suggesting paying you, damn it! Is it a crime for me to want to secure the financial future of my child's mother?"

"No, but-"

"This way you'd be sure about the paternity of your baby. Haven't you heard the horror stories about unscrupulous doctors inseminating hundreds of patients with their own sperm? You'd have no idea how many different fertility clinics some guy might sell his semen to or if he's telling the truth on his medical history."

She had considered that, and it totally freaked her out to think her child could someday unknowingly fall in love with a half-brother or sister.

"This way, your child would have a real dad."

He made it all sound so simple and logical. Two months ago, she would've jumped at the chance to have a man as generous, smart, and handsome as Jordan as the father of her baby. She really didn't want to raise a child alone. She knew what it was like to grow up without a dad. And she'd even been lucky enough to have her grandpa.

The problem was she didn't just want a baby. She wanted the whole white picket fence package-a husband, kids, carpools.

"If you're so interested in,"-she drew little quotes in the air-"securing my future-"

"Look, Hannah, I'd marry you if I could." He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. "But it wouldn't be fair to you. I just can't give-"

"More like won't. Or do you already have a wife stashed away somewhere?" Several moments ticked by while she waited for a response, except none came. She squeezed his muscled forearm braced against the desk. "Jordan, I love you."

"Of course you believe you love me. I'm the first guy who ever rang your chimes. Don't confuse mind-boggling sex with love."

"I'm not. I know the difference between lust and the desire to grow old with a man. Enduring marriages are built on compatibility and love, not mind-boggling sex as you put it." Hannah swept her hand toward the disorder on the desk, drawing attention to the evidence of their out-of-control passion. "The pleasure you give me is phenomenal. But if I had to choose between a lifetime of celibate affection and companionship with you or multiple orgasms everyday with some other man, I'd marry you in a heartbeat."

"You don't get it. Since your hypnosis loosened your inhibitions, you've turned into a hundred and twenty pounds of seductive confidence."

She bit back a smile. "As I told you before, I weigh a bit more. But thank you."

"Who gives a crap how much you weigh! Damn it, Hannah, the point is you have no idea how sexy your self-assurance is. You have every guy in this building fantasizing about getting you flat on your back. You wouldn't be normal if that didn't send you on a major ego trip."

She couldn't deny it made her feel wonderful to suddenly be desired after so many years as a wallflower. "But that doesn't mean I want any of them instead of you."

"Maybe not now. But what's to guarantee you won't lose interest in me and find someone else you have this kind of chemistry with?"

"There are no guarantees when it comes to love, Jordan. It's all about being vulnerable-giving a woman the opportunity to hurt you but trusting her not to."

"Yeah, right. Trust." The cynicism burning in his gaze killed any hope she had for a future with him. Apparently her seductress plan had backfired. "Sweetheart, don't you see how unfair it would be for me to marry you, knowing I'd never be able to love you the way you deserve? You'd eventually end up hating me."

She stroked his five-o'clock shadow. "Someone really hurt you, didn't they?"

"Not just someone."

When he didn't say any more, she heaved a frustrated breath. "That's it? Don't you think I'm entitled to a little more explanation?"

He spun his back to her as if ignoring her, but then he spoke in a faltering whisper. "Everyone who...." He sucked in a breath, and his shoulders shuddered. "I've lost practically everyone I've ever cared for, Hannah. First my mother left when I was eleven. Then the year I turned fifteen, my best friend died. He was Robert and Elaine's only child."

She'd forgotten he'd once mentioned his grandfather's man Friday and housekeeper were married and lived in the caretaker's cottage.

"Bobby and I were raised like brothers, so it tore my grandparents up that, despite their controlling interest in a pharmaceutical company, they couldn't save him. It was almost as hard for them as if I'd died."

She pictured him as a motherless boy losing his closest pal, and tears stung her eyes. She gently rubbed Jordan's back. "You must've been devastated."

"The saddest part is, if he'd had the chemo drugs we've developed to treat leukemia since then, Bobby might have lived."

Loving his friend the way Jordan obviously had, it was no doubt hard for him to find comfort in knowing Bobby's death had prompted research that saved a lot of other kids' lives. "Four months later, my father fell asleep at the wheel and ran his car into an overpass abutment. At least, that's what the police report said-probably for my grandmother's sake."

"But you don't believe it?"

"I overheard the officer explain to my grandfather that most victims wake up and slam on the brakes after their vehicles leave the road surface. Or at the very least, their foot eases up on the gas pedal. In my dad's case, there was evidence of acceleration."

"Oh, Jordan." she swallowed hard. "Was there any way to know for sure?"

He shook his head. "My grandmother died a year later. The doctors caught her breast cancer fairly early, so once again, the treatment advancements made in the last two decades probably could've saved her, too. But I think the stress and grief of losing my dad and Bobby so close together compromised her immune system to the point-"

"Everyone loses people they love."

He spun around to face her. "Not every freaking one of them!"

"You still have Edw-"

"For now. But wait." He held his hand up. "I'm just getting to the really good part."

Oh, Lord, she wasn't sure she wanted to hear the rest.

"During my last year of college, I was involved with someone I thought loved me. Marcy also came from an affluent family and was one of the few girls who didn't care what I could buy for her. So I asked her to marry me."

"You were engaged?" Apparently he hadn't always been anti-marriage.

"Not for long. A couple who Marcy and I were both friends with asked us to be in their wedding. The bachelor party was a few weeks after I proposed-the same evening as the bride's last fling. After spending four hours at a strip club, I had a hard-on that could've doubled as a battering ram. So when I got home that night, I was pretty drunk and really glad to find Marcy there waiting for me."

"Pretty drunk?"

"Yeah. Hangovers were never my thing. I wasn't totally smashed, but I was a long way from sober. Marcy, on the other hand, was wasted. She and her friends had really tied one on. Anyway, I was just drunk and horny enough that I played along when she met me at the door naked and blindfolded me."

"Sounds like fun."

"You would think. She practically tore my clothes off, and after she led me into the bedroom, she knelt down and began kissing my, uh- "Right. I get the picture."

"A few seconds later, she suddenly pulled off my blindfold. I was confused and couldn't figure out how she could reach my head since she was on her knees in front of me. When I opened my eyes, I discovered one of her friends was sucking on me "Oh, my gosh." Hannah clapped her hand over her mouth. "That's why you were so disgusted by the idea of a threesome."

"She and Marcy were both buck naked and pickled to the gills, giggling like-" He closed his eyes, and the muscles in his throat visibly convulsed.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I-I've just never told anyone about this before."

She squeezed his arm. "If you don't want to talk-"

"No. It's the only way you'll understand why I can't handle a permanent relationship."

"All right. So what possessed your fiancee to share you with her friend?"

He drew in a deep breath. "While she was partying with her pals that evening, she blabbed about my little problem in bed."

"What problem?" Hannah creased her forehead in confusion.

"You wouldn't know it, considering how fast I blast off with you, but I normally take a bit longer to come."

Kevin had once told her the average man did well to last more than five or ten minutes after penetration. The soonest Jordan had come with her was maybe fifteen. "So what you're telling me is that Calder Love Machine cartoon wasn't really an exaggeration."

"Not back then it wasn't. When I was younger," he explained, "I took a lot longer."

"Wait a second. I thought, as guys get older, their control typically increases."

"Usually. But I-uh....I had an abnormal condition called delayed ejaculation."

She vaguely remembered reading about it once. What she recalled was men with his unique problem could be super aroused and no matter how much they were physically stimulated they couldn't find release. The deep flush in his face testified to how uncomfortable he was discussing his unusual stamina. Yet morbid curiosity compelled her to ask, "About how long are you talking? Hours?"

"Do we really have to go into this?"

"I'm sorry. I don't know what sex is like for men, so this is sort of interesting."

He turned his face away and sucked in a deep breath. "When I first started college, I took an hour or more, and sometimes I couldn't get off at all, no matter how turned on I became. I lived under a cold shower my freshman year."

The frustration was bad enough for a woman who couldn't climax. She couldn't imagine how agonizing it must have been for him to have so much pressure build up and be unable to release it. "Did you see a doctor about it?"

He nodded. "He concluded my problem was psychological. He attributed it to guilt and shame from my mother catching me....you know."

Hannah frowned. "Just a second. You said your mom left when you were only eleven. You were having sex already?"

His smirk told her she was being nave. "Yes, sweetheart." He held his hand up, waggling his fingers. "With Rosey DePalma and her five sisters."