A foreign, beating confidence surged through her as he turned her back around and pressed her spine to his chest. He ran his palms up her bare midriff, stopping just below her breasts before trailing low again, making her shiver with longing.

"And matching toe polish," he murmured against her ear. "I like it." Then he splayed his hand over the curve of her abdomen, pressing her even closer, the proof of his desire hard and insistent against the small of her back.

"Do you feel that?" he whispered hoarsely. "Do you feel how much I want you?"

She could barely speak as the tips of his fingers brushed the very edge of her panties. With a groan, he ripped his shirt over his head in one clean stroke, then pulled her back.

Dropping featherlight kisses along her neck, he cupped her breasts, pushing them high. Her breath slid out in a moan when he wouldn't let her turn around, only gently squeezed her nipples between his thumbs and forefingers. She felt on fire, burning for something she could hardly name. But deep inside she knew this was what had been missing from her life. Sex and need. Passion.

No, she realized. It was Jesse who had been missing from her life.

It was crazy, insane. Two people drawn together despite the fact that she wanted all of him and he wanted distance.

She didn't know why he needed distance, needed a wall built securely around him. He was comfortable when he was in control, when he was teasing and playful. But ultimately the smiles hid something deeper that she didn't understand. But maybe, just maybe, she could crack through that hard armor. Maybe, by staying with her instead of leaving town or even going to a hotel, he wanted her to try.

The thought filled her with hope and excitement. When his arm came across her collarbone, holding her secure, one hand still cupping her breast, pressing her high, she leaned back into him. Her skin felt hot, but not from the sunburn. And when his fingers slipped beneath the elastic band of her panties, her body shuddered.

Nudging her feet apart, he widened her stance. She obeyed willingly, only to gasp when his fingers found the curls between her legs. With one slightly calloused tip, he parted her.

Her mouth fell open in a silent ah of sensation.

"You're wet," he whispered against her ear.

His finger traced the sensitive edges. She made an incoherent sound.

"You're hot," he added. "Your passion is amazing."

He circled and teased, but his finger didn't slip inside her. He turned her to face him, his blue eyes

darkened with satisfaction. His hands curled around her elbows, pulling her back to him.

Heat rushed through her, and she inhaled just as he bent his head to kiss her. It was as if he breathed her in, his lips sucking at hers, his teeth gently nipping. She could have lost herself in that simple kiss forever.

When he took her hand and tugged her toward the bedroom, she followed. Her heart pounded in

anticipation, but he wasn't headed for the bedroom. He pulled her into the bathroom and kicked the door shut. When he leaned over and turned on the water in the tub, he still didn't let her go.

"A bath?" she asked.

"A bath," he confirmed.

He rummaged around in the cabinet filled with an assortment of things she kept there for guests. The plastic bottle of Vitamin E bath oil had never been opened, speaking to the number of guests she'd had.

Jesse poured some into the water. "It will help your sunburn."

Ah, back to the sunburn. Though she wasn't sure how a bath would help after the ointment had already been applied. But who was she to argue? she reasoned over the loud drumbeat of her pulse in her ears.

When he hooked his fingers beneath the very thin edges of her panties, she let him, her eyes closing on

a soft exhale as he carefully pulled them down.

He did nothing for a moment, and she opened her eyes to find him kneeling before her like a splendid knight.

"You're beautiful," he said.

He was no longer the charming bad boy of golf. He was an amazing man with desire written in his eyes.

Then he leaned forward and pressed his lips to the curls between her legs. Instinctively, she gasped.

"Never be embarrassed in front of me," he commanded as he rose, his lips trailing up her body.

She allowed herself to relish every touch. When he stood before her, she melted into him.

Hesitantly, she kissed him. She felt as much as heard the groan that rumbled when she slid her hands

along the chiseled contours of his body, her palms savoring the well-defined muscles of his back. Then around to the front, her fingers circling his nipples. For a few incredible moments, he let her maintain control. She touched and kissed, explored as she wanted.

Then suddenly this strong man had had enough. "Careful, Kate," he said, his voice ragged. "If your hands get any lower, you're going to find yourself in my bed, on your back, with me sliding inside you." She realized in that second that if he tried, she wouldn't say no. The last remnant of her no-sex rule was gone. Finally, completely. And suddenly she felt wild and free.

He guided her into the tub, his hand holding her arm securely so she couldn't slip in the oily water. The water was warm and soft against her skin as she allowed him to lay her back. She sighed with pleasure and closed her eyes, sinking down until the water lapped at her chin.

She looked up at him towering next to the bathtub, his chest bare, his button-fly jeans riding low on his hips, the top button left undone. She could see a glimpse of that place where his tan gave way to untanned skin, the narrow trail of hair running down his abdomen disappearing from sight.

"You're amazing," she murmured.

His smile crooked at one corner as he sat down on the floor next to her. She watched him watching her,

his fist resting on his bended knee, his chin on his fist. Then his smile disappeared and he dipped his hand into the water.

Anticipation raced through her, mixed with a start of nerves. "Jesse?"

"Shhh," he whispered, his palm gliding through the water, then slowly over one breast, then the other,

bringing her nipples to taut peaks.

Clearly his intent wasn't for her to relax. Proof came when his hand dipped lower, down along the curve of her belly, then lower still, before he parted the curls between her thighs once again.

This time he didn't stop.

He touched her intimately, circling gently.

"Yes," he murmured, nudging her thighs apart a little more, before sliding one lean, slightly calloused

finger inside her, and she moaned.

The invasion was both hot and heady.

"You're tight. Relax," he commanded gently. "Spread your legs for me, sweetheart."

She wanted to, though her mind instinctively whispered of wantonness. He stroked her then, and her

brain lost control, her body overriding any concern.

She whimpered in a way that made him pause. Which only made her whimper even more.

"Is this too much?" he asked, his finger gliding slowly.

"Yes," she groaned.

But when he started to pull out, she clutched his hand. Helpless to fight this need, she didn't care about

being proper. She wanted this, needed it in some primal way that was beyond words.

His low chuckle was ripe with arrogant satisfaction, but she didn't care about that, either. And when he slipped a second finger inside her, hard and deep, she shuddered with her own pounding pleasure. She couldn't seem to help herself when she shamelessly arched her hips to him. His touch taunted and teased, circling her.

Her body reached for what he wanted to give her.

"That's it, Kate."

Her body shimmering with passion, her eyes fluttered closed.

"That's it," he whispered, boldly stroking, pulling out until the tip of his finger touched her most sensitive spot, circling, then sliding deep once again.

"Lift your knees for me," he instructed, his voice low and passionate.

When she looked at him again, his expression was filled with a wealth of emotion. "Open to me, Kate."

Her heart pounded, then slowly, dragging in her breath, she did as he had instructed. She lifted her knees until her feet were planted on the bottom of the tub, offering more of herself. He studied her face for one last, long second, then he nudged her legs even farther apart, leaning forward and kissing her wet knee. "Yes, sweetheart, just like that."

A shiver of heat ran through her as he pulled the drain plug, allowing the water to escape, then he slid his hand down the inside of her thigh to the core of her. His palm briefly cupped her before he ran his palm up her other thigh, the water draining, draining, the waterline slowly, maddeningly, lowering against her body.

It felt like the water licked at her. Then his hand, sliding lower and lower, parted her, and he slipped his finger deep once again.

Composure and common sense were lost, and all she wanted was more of what he was giving. When she thought she couldn't feel anything better, he slipped a second finger inside her. She squirmed, seeking something that she knew of but had never experienced.

His fingers delved deeper, stroking long and slow, his thumb expertly finding the tender nub. Needing to hold on to something, she brought her hands up, clasping the porcelain sides, and she refused to think about how she tilted her hips to give him more of her.

"Yes," he murmured, stroking faster, bringing her closer and closer to something that she wanted.

His tone was so tender, every ounce of dominant male arrogance replaced by awe. She felt a true sense of sexiness that went far beyond her earlier attempts.

She felt the need to buck. She was vaguely aware that her head rolled from side to side, vaguely heard how his breathing was thick with his own desire. She wanted to reach out to him, touch him, but when she would have he held her secure with his touch.

"You're almost there," he whispered. "Reach."

And she did, thrusting her pelvis against his sliding fingers. And when his thumb and forefingers closed ever so gently on her clitoris, her world exploded, shuddering through her like a lightning bolt. Blue and electric. Intense and all-consuming.

He cupped his palm to her mound, helping her to manage the shock of sensation, her entire body tense.

It wasn't until her orgasm spun itself out that every ounce of tension evaporated. The next thing she knew, Jesse had her out of the tub, cradled against his chest, as he carried her out of the bathroom and laid her like a precious gift on the bed.

She saw his primal satisfaction that he could make her feel such intensity. She had never let go completely before. But now she was with the man she had dreamed of for a lifetime. She didn't care about right or wrong. She understood that she could touch, feel, revel, and he wouldn't think less of her. Suddenly she understood that this man would allow her to let go of inhibition and she would not have to feel guilty afterward.

That's when she knew what she wanted-to make him feel the same spiraling need he made her experience again and again when he touched her. He always kept himself under a cast-iron control-potent and all-consuming. Even after his bold proclamation that they would make love, he had maintained a safe distance between them. And she was tired of it.

Surprising him, she rolled to her feet to stand before him. His gaze turned wary, as if he sensed the shift in her.

"What is it?" he asked.

She didn't answer. With her heart pounding hard, she reached low and undid the remaining buttons on his jeans.

"Kate, what are you doing?"

Kate knew that she had never needed a man before, but she understood now that she needed to share her love for this one. She had tried before, but he had always turned her away. She wasn't going to let him turn her away again. Because she did love him-not because he was the boy she had cherished while growing up. But because he had grown into a man who was good and kind, only he kept that goodness hidden beneath a facade of wild boy charm.