“That’s not fair. Now you’re playing below the belt.”

“That’s where I’d like to be playing. So are we good then?” he asked, reaching for her hand, sliding his fingers through hers, as if he knew that contact would help win a yes.

“Jack,” she said, with a sigh.

“Why not?” he asked in the barest of whispers, then bent his head to her neck. “You’re beautiful, and captivating, and I loved every second of being inside you last night. The only thing better than fucking you was tasting you on my tongue this afternoon.”

If he was going to play dirty like that she was going to lose. Because with those words, a heat wave rolled through her body, and she was aching for his touch again.

“Let me have more of you,” he continued. “Let me have you for a month. Give me your body. I’ll give you mine.”

“I don’t know,” she said, but she could feel her resistance breaking down with his lips on her neck, buzzing a path to her ear. She lingered in the moment, considering. Was his plan so crazy?

“I haven’t been with anyone since Aubrey, and last night with you blew my mind. I could sit here and try to break it down, and try to analyze it and understand it, but I’m not a shrink. I’m only a man who wants a woman. I want you. Badly. Let me have you; let me give you the exquisite pleasure you deserve.”

She burned inside for him. Flames licked her body from head to toe, turning her into an inferno of desire. She’d come to dinner wanting only one more night; and now he was asking for thirty nights with him.

Thirty nights of pleasure. Thirty nights of bliss. Thirty nights of being wanted in ways she hadn’t ever been wanted.

She didn’t know how she could say no. She was about to say yes when he spoke again.

“Let me give you a taste of what I can do to you. If I don’t give you the best orgasm of your life within the next hour, I won’t ask again.”

She tossed her napkin on the table. She was dying to know how he planned to top this afternoon.

“Check, please.”

5

After Hours

She expected they’d catch a cab to his place, that he’d own some swank high-rise apartment overlooking the park. But that’s not where he took her. They were in the elevator at the Met Life Tower, shooting up nearly fifty flights. He had a friend who owned the company that was converting the landmark skyscraper into a new hotel. The friend had called security, and security had waved them in.

Overlooking Madison Square Park, the building was eerie and shadowy at night, shrouded in secrets of the city after hours. She was about to become part of that after hours New York. When they reached the top floor, the elevator doors whooshed open.

Jack rested his hand on her lower back as they walked through the hall. The sizzling warmth from his palm spread through her body. Even the simplest touch from him melted her.