“Usually.” Because she damned sure wasn’t doing what was best now.
This man was dangerous, and she knew it. Something about him warned her that he rarely played, but when he did, he played to win.
She’d lived there for three years, knowing who he was, remembering that single night far too often, and allowing herself to be tormented by it. And now, here he was, plying her with some damned fine whisky and watching her with no small amount of hunger in his hard features.
“And now?” His brow arched, arrogant certainty so much a part of him that there was no disguising it.
What was she going to do now?
She lifted the glass and finished her drink, the tingling warmth washing through her, reminding her of the warmth he’d once filled her with. Only reminding her of it, though. Jacob had the power to burn her alive and she knew it.
She didn’t dare gaze around now, certain every eye was on them, too curious, too intent. Most people in the community knew each other, or at the very least had heard of one another. And she knew Jacob did not take women home from bars, and he hadn’t been known to take a lover from the community in over six years.
“Doesn’t look like it.” She sighed, turning her gaze back to him.
She didn’t play games, unfortunately, and she wasn’t much of a flirt. She was too straightforward, too mouthy her friends sometimes said. She wasn’t going to start now.
“Did you drive yourself?” Was his voice a little rougher, darker?
God, she’d orgasm before he ever touched her if it got any deeper.
She nodded at the question.
“Your place, or a hotel? My place is simply too damned far away.” There was nothing arrogant, or superior in the way he asked the question.
His expression seemed, perhaps not softer, but not so hard either.
“My place,” she all but whispered.
Her bed.
If she was going to do this, and it appeared she was going to, then she wanted him in her bed where his scent would linger once he left. Where she could remember, torment herself, and ache more than ever.
She was a fool and she knew it, yet couldn’t resist the need for just one more night.
He rose to his feet, extending his hand out to her, his gaze still holding hers. An irresistible invitation.
Just for tonight, she told herself. Just for this night.
“I’ll have your car brought around later,” he told her as she laid her hand in his. “We’ll take my truck.”
And she didn’t argue.
This was crazy. It was insane.
As she let him lead her through the bar, she kept trying to tell herself what a huge mistake this was, but that inner part of her, the part that ached in the dead of the night for his touch, refused to listen.
She was going to end up kicking herself in the nights to come, and she knew it. If she was incredibly lucky, then her memories of that long-ago night were just a young woman’s illusions. If she was very lucky, it had been nothing more, and once this night was over, so would be her fascination for him.
As they left the bar and the night wrapped around them, the chill of the early fall night slipped past the narrow gray skirt and short-sleeved blouse she wore. She would have thought reality would return. And it might have had a chance if his arm hadn’t slipped around her, his palm lying at her hip as he led her through the parking lot.
If the hard-muscled warmth of him didn’t feel as though it were wrapping around her, cocooning her from reality and giving her this one fantasy.
She was insane, that was all there was to it. Crazy to leave like this with him when she knew he didn’t remember her. She’d meant nothing to him before, and this night would probably mean little more.
She hadn’t pleased him their first time together, a little voice reminded her, what made her think she could please him now? She was no more experienced now than she had been then. Sexually, she had only that weekend to draw on, nothing more.
She’d disappointed him then. What in God’s name made her think this time would be any different?
“I can drive myself.” The words slipped past her lips as fear and uncertainty began to take hold of her. “I don’t live far from here. You could follow me.”
She could take a moment to think, to be certain that this was what she wanted to do. That the risk wouldn’t be too great.
There was an electronic beep of a door unlocking as he drew to a stop and a second later, he’d opened the passenger side of a truck. Before Sallie could completely process what he was doing, he turned her to him, one hand sliding into the hair at the back of her head, long fingers clenching sensually to drag her head back, and he destroyed her with a kiss.
A kiss hotter, more explosive than even those she remembered.
She was only distantly aware of her fingers clenching at his powerful shoulders, her lips parting for his tongue, her body becoming too warm, too sensitive as she arched to him. Need swept through her with the force of a hurricane, tearing down barriers, washing away fear.
It was fiery, sending heat sweeping through her, inside her. It was better than the finest whisky, and a damned sight more intoxicating. So intoxicating that when he lifted her closer and she felt his erection against her lower stomach, she moaned in need.
He was so hard. She knew his shaft was large, the crest wide and capable of giving the most ecstatic pleasure.
Her arms curled around his neck as he held her between his hard body and the truck behind her. Poised on the four-inch heels she’d worn, she strained to get closer, desperate to feel more of him.
One large, callused hand gripped her hip now, holding her in place as his lips moved on hers, nipped, licked and a moan whispered from her lips. At the sound, the hand at her hip moved to her waist and the drag of her blouse from the band of her skirt had anticipation searing her.
When his hand touched the bare skin of her waist, Sallie curled her fingers into his neck, the rasp of his palm awakened every nerve ending in her body as it slid to the lace-covered mound of her breast.
She couldn’t stop the whimper that left her lips or the way her body pressed closer, silently begging for more.
Oh God, she needed more.
His lips released hers, and before Sallie knew it, he’d lifted her, placing her in the seat of the truck and turning her to face forward before closing the door firmly.
Sallie fought to breathe, to make sense of what had just happened, of why this one man’s touch could sweep away years of doubts and fears.
Jacob slid into the driver’s side seat, closed the door behind him and started the vehicle with a push of the auto-start but he didn’t put the vehicle in gear immediately.
“If you’re going to say no, do it now.” The growl in his voice had her fingers curling where they lay in her lap. “Because I’ll be honest, this goes much further, and I’ll have a hell of a time pulling back.”
Turning her head, she stared back at him and knew she wouldn’t be saying no at any point.
She held his stare with her own. “It was too late to say no when I stepped out of the door of the bar. My house is about five miles from here, just outside town.”
He gave a short nod. “The old Hanover place.” The truck reversed from the parking lot. “I know where you live.”
And that should have surprised her. She was certain she’d be surprised later, once she had a chance to think about it. Once the cold light of day revealed all the mistakes she was certain she was getting ready to make.