Slow Hands

for time that I’ll rush through something I’ve been fantasizing about for days.”
    Fantasizing about her when they weren’t together? That was nice to hear. But it didn’t exactly do anything about the mad heat spiraling through her entire body. “Haven’t you ever heard of a quickie?”
    “Yeah. And I want one. Maybe tomorrow, at the reception.” His eyebrows wagged. “Want to meet me in the coatroom?”
    Oh, he was wicked. So wicked. Just the thought of it sent a thousand more hot tendrils of electricity straight between her thighs.
    “That’s incredibly tempting,” she admitted, meaning it. “But knowing how hard it’s going to be to get myself secure in my dress, I don’t know that I’ll be up for taking it off in the middle of the big event.”
    He reached for the top button of his dress shirt, unfastening it with slow deliberation before moving on, watching her watch him. “I’d be there to help you get…put back together.”
    After he sent her flying apart, no doubt.
    “Unless you’re going to pack a crowbar in your tux to squeeze everything back in, and strong tape to hold it all in place, I think that’ll be impossible.” As it was, she’d had to buy some ridiculous sticky contraptions that were supposed to give her some support. The thought of gluing plastic film to her breasts seemed utterly ridiculous, and she already dreaded it.
    The alternative, however, was worse. No way was she going braless.
    “Maybe I don’t want you wearing that dress around other guys.” A frown tugged that handsome brow down and he’d stopped unbuttoning.
    Jealous? Was that even possible? A little thrill of excitement at the thought of it made her heart roll. “They’ll see it. You’ll be the only one not seeing it when I take it off.”
    “I suppose that’ll have to do.” He stared at her legs. The hose. The garter belt. The tiny black panties. “Getting back to our quickie. Maybe you wouldn’t have to worry about your dress. Wear what you have on now.” Smiling with pure heat, he added, “ Without the panties. I’ll lift your gown and take you right up against the wall of the closet, daring you not to scream.”
    She groaned, her legs clenching, ready to scream right now. “I’d lose that dare.”
    He seemed oblivious to her agony, still taking his own sweet time, arousing her word after word, look after look, not having even touched her since he dropped her onto the bed. But at least he resumed working on those double-damned buttons.
    Picturing the interlude he’d proposed, she murmured, “Can you imagine trying to walk out of that coat closet into the reception and act normally afterward?”
    “You’re going to be doing it tonight at the dinner.”
    Confused, Maddy merely stared.
    A look of such tenderness appeared on Jake’s face, it took her breath away to think it was directed at her. “Oh, honey, you have no idea how you look after we’ve made love. You wear your happiness on your face for hours afterward.”
    Good Lord. Such sweet words . Had any man ever touched her with just a whisper the way this one had?
    Easy to answer. Absolutely not.
    “Tonight at the rehearsal you’re going to have that soft smile on your face and that glow in your eyes. Your skin will be flushed and you’ll be a little slow and dreamy in your movements, like your body is there, but every other part of you—heart, mind and soul—is right…back…here.”
    Maddy closed her eyes, not wanting him to see what she suspected lurked in them. The sheen of tears—and a whole lot of genuine emotion. Maybe even the love that she’d finally acknowledged, if only to herself, that she felt for the man.
    Finally feeling capable of speaking—and looking at him—she opened them again. “Jake, I am so glad I met you.”
    “Me, too,” he admitted.
    Their stares met, exchanging unspoken emotion, and in that moment, Maddy knew their relationship had just moved up to something else. She wasn’t sure what. Just something. And, to her complete surprise, she wasn’t utterly terrified by that realization.
    But there was no time to dwell on it now. Certainly not enough time for them to drag it out and talk about it.
    Pursing her lips, Maddy focused her attention on his still-clothed body. “Ahem. Back to our time limits? If you don’t get out of those clothes, I’m going to rip them off you.”
    “Then I’d have nothing to wear tonight,” he said with a teasing shrug. “So I guess you’ll have to be