Best Laid Plans by Robyn Kelly (ebook reader color screen txt) 📕

Hold on, Jillian, I tell myself. In a few more hours, I won’t have to deal with this man anymore.

“Does he know he lent it to you? You have a habit of stealing phones.” I try to sound calm. I don’t convince myself.

“Add it to my bill,” he purrs, stepping closer.

“There is a commandment about stealing, and we are in a church.”

“Oh, I’ve broken so many of those, what’s one more?” He stops a few feet from me, thankfully. “This is quite a party. I didn’t know Bryan had so many friends.”

“You’re too modest. You didn’t even know he had a girlfriend.”

He shakes his head. “Jillian, you have been teasing me all night. And surprising me. The two things I hate most.” He moves to the table and puts his hands on the dress shoulders. The way he’s holding it, you’d think he wanted to rip it off me. “Add to that, all evening I’ve had to watch you in this dress.”

“The harem uniform?”

“Harem?”

“Well, you had three of them in different sizes. Four, if you count the one Pippa was in that night. I just assumed you had women stashed all over the city wearing this dress.”

“I am not interested in a harem. I prefer to devote myself to one woman.”

“Until you grow tired of her?” I hope Minerva didn’t tell me that in confidence.

“Oh, you think no woman would ever leave me?”

If they were smart they would, but I can see getting stupid for this man. Speaking of stupid, it’s time to take responsibility for my own actions. “I shouldn’t have hid the party from you. That was unprofessional. We’ve been butting heads since I took your picture, even though I realize I was wrong. I don’t know if I ever apologized, but I am apologizing now. Let me know if you aren’t happy with—”

At that moment, Men at Work start singing “Who Can It Be Now?” Jackson looks startled.

“It’s Robert’s cell phone.” I pull it out of his jacket pocket. Just because I’m apologizing for my bad behavior doesn’t mean I have to put up with his. I answer and it’s the lighting company verifying the pickup time tonight. I use the phone call as an excuse to get off the table and put a little distance between the two of us.

When I hang up, I realize something is peculiar. “You haven’t met Robert. How did you know to borrow his phone?”

“I got his name when he called during our… misunderstanding. And there are plenty of pictures of you two on Facebook. I thought you were a couple.”

Everybody thinks that. “How did you get this phone anyway?” I ask, as I slip it into my ditty bag.

“I learned to pick pockets when I was a boy.”

“Do kleptomaniacs run in your family?”

“They have to, unless they want to get caught.” He smiles at his little joke while planting himself in front of me. “What about you? Would you like to be caught—by me?”

I feel as if I already am. I also feel as though he’s trying to get me to do something stupid—like kiss him again. “I thought you devoted yourself to one woman. Does Pippa know you’re here?”

He closes his eyes and smiles. “Oh, that’s why we’re having this big, expensive party. You’re jealous of Pippa, and you want to teach me a lesson. Well, I have good news for you. Pippa and I broke up last month.”

Oh, no. That means—in his office—he was…I can’t think about that right now. “Does she know that?”

“I’ve told her. She thinks she can win me back by playing to my paternal instincts.”

“That’s not the right way to play you.” As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I realize the blunder.

“And you know the right way to play me? Maybe you do. You obviously know I like a woman to seduce me.” He closes the gap between us. I didn’t think there was a gap between us, but he got closer so there must have been. “You’re all I’ve been thinking of. Do you know how inconvenient that is?” His hands land on either side of me. I always feel pinned inside this man’s arms. “Since I broke up with Pippa, I have no outlet for all of this sexual energy. I’ve been a bear all week at work. So, as much as I’ve enjoyed your little seduction, it’s time I take back control.”

“You think I’m seducing you?” Then I remember what I said in his office.

“Oh, yes. You’re quite the expert. Acting bossy and defiant, and then turning nervous and skittish when I get this close. Then I touch you, and you’re suddenly so needy and submissive.”

I swallow. “I think you have me confused with someone else.”

“You’re doing it right now. Your mind is racing and your breathing is shallow. And I step in, and take you in my arms, and I bend my head down”—and he does, and he does, and he does, so his head floats just above mine. His lips are so close—“and you don’t pull back. You don’t turn away. You want me. And I do like a woman who wants me. More than I should.”

I suspect he thinks I’m into kink. I’m sure he got that from Facebook, too. I need to tell him the truth before we get any further. I’d do that right now if it was just my body that wanted him, but my mind betrays me. My mind wants to know what it would be like to kiss this man. It wants to know what passion tastes like. So I do something stupid. I move my head and put my lips on his. When his tongue finds mine, my mind turns off, and my body turns on.

His arms wrap around me, and I can feel the muscles under the expensive suit. I’d love to see him naked, but settle for rubbing my hands along his hard lines under the soft cloth. His tongue explores