“I mean…you didn’t used to be my type. Hell.” The corners of his mouth turned down. “I sound like an idiot. I am an idiot.”

Her heart softened. She relaxed onto the couch, his arm around her waist, and it felt sooooo good.

“You’re not an idiot,” she said with a little laugh.

“Yeah, I am. Bah.” He shook his head, mouth tight. “What I mean is, I’m not normally attracted to cute little blondes.”

Cute little blonde? Yeah, that was her. How she wished she had mile-long legs and big boobs and full lips like Brianne Haskett. Stephanie Seymour. Laetitia Casta. All those other Victoria’s Secret models who looked like that.

No, she was teeny weeny, skinny, flat-chested, with wispy, blonde hair.

But Jason seemed to find her attractive.

She tilted her head to one side and regarded him through a rum-and-lust haze. “You’re kidding. Right?”

“No. I mean…” He looked confused. “I’m not kidding about not usually being attracted to cute little blondes. But you’re…cute.”

She laughed. Shook her head. Wished for another drink.

The crazy thing was, he was exactly the type of guy she was attracted to. Not just physically—big guys had always appealed to her, maybe because she was small—but she also liked his smile, his wide mouth and how it tilted up at the corners even when he wasn’t smiling, the fact that he was gorgeous but wasn’t all hung up on himself and the most important thing—he’d dumped a supermodel!

Dammit. What the hell was going on here? She looked around a bit frantically, now hoping Delise would show up and rescue her. But Delise was nowhere in sight. And Jason was right next to her, touching her, his big body radiating heat. He smelled good, like he’d just showered, a fresh masculine scent of shampoo and men’s shower gel, and a faint shadow of beard shaded his jaw. Yum. She wanted to bite him.

Whoa. She blinked. Her mind was in the gutter. What kind of responsible big sister and schoolteacher was she?

He put a big hand on her cheek, cupping it, and she melted into a liquid puddle of lust on the red leather banquette. “You’re sweet,” he said, almost sounding surprised. “Okay. We’ll just stay here for a while. We can talk here.”

She nodded.

“You’re a free woman,” he said with a sexy smile. “And I’m a free man. We should both be celebrating. Why not together?”

She took in a long, slow breath. “Why not?” She smiled at him.

“Here’s the deal,” he said. “I’m not ready to settle down. I like you. We could have fun together.”

“We could.” Oh lord. What had she just said? She closed her eyes briefly, then focused on him and firmed her lips. “I’m not ready to settle down either. I just got my freedom. I’ve had enough responsibility. All I want is to have some fun.”

Even as she said the words, a small niggle of guilt wormed its way into her conscience. Was it true? Was that really all she wanted? She’d been mature, responsible, dependable for so long…did she even know how to just have fun?

She wanted to find out.

“Perfect,” he said, his thumb tracing over her bottom lip. He was watching her mouth again and it was so hot and sexy everything inside her contracted hard. She knew her panties were wet. She knew it. “Let’s have fun, Remi.”

And he kissed her. His mouth was warm, his lips firm on hers, and when his tongue licked over her bottom lip, she moaned helplessly.

Delicious pleasure rippled through her in waves and she put out a hand and rested it on his arm, the wool of his suit jacket soft and warm beneath her palm. Her skin tingled and tightened and that heavy liquid ache between her legs intensified.

His fingers slid around into her hair, cupped the back of her head and held it while his mouth moved on hers, slow, soft, lingering. Her heart beat so fast she was afraid it was going to explode in her chest and she whimpered. Her breasts swelled and she ached to press them against him.

He drew back. “Sorry. I kinda forgot where we are.” His voice was husky and sexy.

She sat there dazed and foggy, blinking at him. Where were they? Oh, yeah. In the middle of a hot nightclub. Music throbbed and the lights pulsed and flickered around them.

“I…I need another drink.”

“Good idea.” He turned and looked for a waitress and, sure enough, one hurried over right away, although she gave Remi a look that could have sliced her open. Was the waitress jealous? No way!

Feminine pleasure curled inside her and she smiled and sat back.

“So.” Jason looked at her, his eyes intent, face a bit flushed. She’d turned him on. With a kiss. That was so freakin’ hot. “What do you do for a living, Remi?”

She opened her mouth to tell him—and then closed it. It sounded so boring. The word “boring” echoed in her mind, what Darryl had called her when he’d given her that ultimatum. The word had stabbed into her heart, mostly because she knew it was true.

“Let’s not talk about stuff like that,” she said, smiling. “We don’t need to know personal details, right? We just want to have fun.”

His eyes squinted at her a bit, then he smiled too. “Right. Okay.” The waitress brought their drinks and they somehow managed to find other things to talk about and laugh about as Remi sipped another mojito and Jason drank his beer, their talk and laughter punctuated with small touches of fingertips on the back of a hand, a stroke down a bare arm, the brush of legs as they shifted on the banquette.

An hour passed as they talked and smoldering awareness grew, a haze of heated desire floated around them. Remi quivered, pressing her thighs together, her tummy fluttery, her pussy clenching. When their eyes met and held, attraction tugging them toward each other, another kiss had her melting against him.

“We need to leave here,” he murmured into her ear, and his breath there gave her tingly shivers. “I can’t keep my hands off you much longer and I’m going to embarrass you.”

Weak and trembling with need, she nodded. She felt the same. It took everything she had not to climb onto his lap and press herself against him.

She rose unsteadily. “I’ll go tell my friends we’re leaving.”

“I’ll meet you at the coat check.”

Pressing a hand to her tummy, Remi found Delise at the table, still with Tiger.

“Where have you been?” Delise asked. “Please tell me you met someone.”

“Oh, yeah. I met someone.” Remi bit her lip. “In fact, we’re leaving now.”

Delise’s eyes popped wide. “What! Who is it? Where is he? Where are you going?”

“I…uh…don’t know where we’re going. Maybe…my place.”

Delise stood up so fast her chair almost fell over backward. “What! Remi! You can’t take a strange man home with you!”

Remi tipped her head to one side and frowned. “Isn’t that what you wanted me to do?”

“I didn’t think you’d actually do it!”

“But…” Remi blinked. “But, Delise…”

“It’s dangerous, Remi.” Delise looked around. “Where is he?”

“He’s meeting me out front. He’s a nice guy, Del. He’s not dangerous.” Only in that he made her panties wet.

“How do you know that? Jesus, Remi.”

“I…” Disappointment started to dampen her happy buzz. “But, Delise…” She leaned closer to her friend. “I want him.”

Delise’s mouth opened. “Oh.” She stared at Remi. “Good god, Remi. Well, hell. Okay. Keep your cell phone on and with you at all times. All times. Got it?”

Remi gave a jerky nod.

“Because I’m going to be phoning you. And if you don’t answer, I’m sending the police. Go to your place. Don’t go to his place. Nobody will know where you are there.” She put a hand to her mouth. “This is still crazy. He could be a serial killer and once you get in a car with him…”

“Ssssh. I’m not that stupid.” Remi smiled at her friend. “I know this isn’t the kind of thing I usually do, but…I want to have fun tonight. I like him. He likes me.”

Delise’s face softened. She put her hands on Remi’s upper arms and squeezed. “Okay. But remember…I’m calling.”