Perfect Partners

behind him. All of a sudden her new abode, which had seemed so spacious earlier this afternoon, felt small and very crowded. She started for the kitchen. “I’m still unpacking, of course, but I should be completely settled in another couple of days. I got the phone connected this afternoon.”
    “Is the rain bothering you?” Joel followed her into the kitchen and set the champagne on the counter. “We’ve had a lot of it lately.”
    “Heavens, no.” She opened the oven door again and bent over to double-check the lasagne. “I love rain.”
    Joel laughed softly behind her, as if at some private joke that only he understood. “I had a hunch you’d say that.” There was a muffled explosion as the cork came out of the bottle of champagne. “Got a couple of glasses?”
    “Here.” Letty closed the oven door and handed him two stemmed glasses from the nearest cupboard.
    Joel poured the champagne and picked up the glasses. He handed one to her, his eyes steady. Letty shivered under the raw energy she sensed in his gaze.
    “You know,” Joel said thoughtfully as his fingers grazed hers, “if I had any sense, I wouldn’t start this.” He bent his head and brushed his mouth lightly, teasingly across hers. “God knows things are complicated enough as it is.”
    Letty’s mouth fell open.
He had kissed her
. As casually as you please. He had just up and kissed her. She stared at him from under her lashes, half afraid of what she would see. The energy in his eyes was not only raw, it was sexual. That was why it was sending these chills of anticipation through her.
    Letty knew she was out of her league. A man like this would expect so much more from a woman than she could give. It was time for a dose of good old-fashioned midwestern common sense.
    “You’re right. Things are complicated,” she said breathlessly. “If you think it would be best for us not to get involved in a social friendship outside of business hours, I’ll certainly understand. I know it probably isn’t a very good idea. I wasn’t sure if you would even come here tonight.”
    “Letty…”
    “I hope you didn’t accept the invitation because you thought you had to, what with me being the boss and all. I mean, I consider you a friend as well as a co-worker, but I wouldn’t want you to feel compelled to socialize with the boss.”
    He silenced her by the simple expedient of putting his fingers against her lips. “Letty, have you ever done any juggling?”
    “No.”
    “Then we’re both going to have to hope I know what I’m doing.” He took his fingers away from her mouth and kissed her again.
    Hard.

5

    L etty set down her glass of champagne with shaking fingers. She took a deep breath and put her arms around Joel’s neck. She kissed him back.
    Hard.
    It was glorious. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced. She felt wild, unchained,
free
. A jolt of unfamiliar energy swept through her. She recognized it instantly as pure, undiluted passion.
    Her glasses fogged up. That had never happened when Philip had kissed her. It had never happened when
anyone
had kissed her.
    “I’ll be damned,” Joel said against her mouth. His voice was hoarse. “I was afraid of this.” There was a clink as he set his champagne glass down beside hers.
    Letty felt herself being crowded back against the counter. One of Joel’s hands was cradling the nape of her neck. His other hand was braced against the tile behind her, supporting both of them as he leaned into her. Letty was amazed at how heavy he was. He enveloped her the way a Thornquist Gear down jacket did. The warmth was astonishing. She felt hot all over.
    Letty gasped when she felt Joel’s leg slide between hers. He brought his knee up slowly and deliberately so that she was, for all intents and purposes, riding his muscled thigh. The fiery intimacy of the contact left her dazed and disoriented.
    Her neat camel-colored flannel trousers proved to be totally inadequate protection against the heat of Joel’s thigh. It burned through the denim of his jeans, through the wool fabric of her pants, and scorched the vulnerable softness between her thighs.
    Letty knew she was still fully clothed, but she felt as if Joel had stripped her naked.
    Joel’s thumb moved along her jawbone, tracing the shape of her as if he intended to sculpt her face. Letty heard him groan deep in his chest. His thigh pressed more firmly against her, forcing her legs wider apart, lifting her up off the floor.