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  He chuckled as he shifted his gaze from her to stare straight ahead. “I’m an attorney, remember. My job is to be able to convince people.”

  A grin spread over her face. “Yes, you’re right. Sorry, I for got.” She was quiet for a few moments then said, “It was for the best any way.”

  He lifted a brow. “What was?”

  “Getting a different ring. That article in the newspaper this morning has my office buzzing and of course everyone wanted to see my ring. It didn’t occur to me that had I kept Luther’s ring they would have remembered it.”

  Jared blew out a breath. That hadn’t occurred to him, either. “What did you tell them?”

  “That it was being sized.”

  He nodded. “Sorry you were put in a stick y situation like that.”

  She shrugged. “No problem. I just hadn’t expected that announcement to appear in the papers. I thought I only had to pretend this engagement for your family, not all Atlanta.”

  “Will that cause you problems?” he asked, seeing how deep the extent of their deceit was going.

  “No, not as long as it doesn’t cause you any problems.”

  Jared’s fore head furrowed in confusion. “What kind of problems?” The car came to a stop at another traffic light and he glanced over at her.

  “Your livelihood. You’re one of Atlanta’s most eligible bachelors. Being engaged takes you off the market for a while.”

  One corner of his mouth curved slightly. Being engaged would definitely change his life, but only temporarily. “Umm, I guess it does, but only for a short while.” He held her gaze, studied it, looking for something, anything that would indicate she wished otherwise.

  He let out a slow breath when he didn’t see anything. He was glad that she under stood that nothing could and would develop between them. Those hot and heavy kisses hadn’t meant a thing and he didn’t want her to get lust con fused with love. Not that he thought that she would. But still, he had to be certain they were on the same page.

  Their engagement was a game and nothing more.

  Dana was very much aware of the man who sat across from her in the exclusive restaurant, and had been since he had picked her up for lunch. The twenty-minute ride had been taxing when all she could do was remember what Cybil had asked about their physical relationship.

  The thought that Jared might expect them to become intimate was confusing and something she knew they should discuss. But she hadn’t been able to bring it up. During the drive they had talked about several things but had played it safe and avoided mentioning their engagement. Instead they had discussed the weather, the new movies that had come out over the Easter weekend and Georgia’s recent elections.

  She wasn’t surprised to learn that he lived in Country Club of the South, an affluent subdivision in North Atlanta, in the suburbs of Alpharetta. The houses were priced in the mil lions and a number of celebrities and sport entertainers lived there.

  “You’re quiet.”

  Dana glanced up and met Jared’s dark gaze. He had been watching her. Something flickered in the depths of those eyes that made her catch her breath, made something unbearably hot flow through her veins. She picked up her coffee cup to break eye con tact. Cybil had warned her not to get in too deep and she had assured her friend that she wouldn’t. When she said it she had been sure, confident, but now all that assuredness was skating on thin ice. Jared Westmoreland was not a man to take lightly. He had made it clear in the car that their arrangement was temporary. She was smart enough to read between the lines. He’d been letting her know that he was not a man to whom any woman should give her heart. “Umm, I was just thinking about things,” she finally said.

  “Are you thinking of changing your mind about this?” he asked quietly.

  She looked up and met his gaze again. Although she couldn’t read his expression she really didn’t have to. She knew how much keeping his mother happy meant to him and she couldn’t help but admire the lengths he would go to for her. “No, I’m not, but there’s something I think we do need to discuss,” she said softly.

  He nodded. “All right. What would you like to talk about?”

  Dana sighed deeply. Even now she felt it, the hot, sultry passion that radiated between them, that was al ways there whenever they were together. It was that passion, the sexual chemistry, the strong attraction that let her know she was walking on dangerous ground with him.

  “Our kisses,” she said, almost in a whisper. But the sudden intensity of his expression let her know he had heard her.

  “Our kisses?”

  She looked down at her coffee cup again when she saw the desire that darkened his eyes. After pulling in a deep breath she met his eyes again. “Yes.”

  He tilted his head at an angle that seemed to make his gaze focus in on her. Only on her. “What about our kisses, Dana?”

  Her palms were beginning to feel sweat y and her in sides felt like molten liquid with his question. She wished she could respond by stating that she wanted more of them, but knew that would definitely be a wrong answer. She could barely handle the ones she had gotten so far.

  She cleared her throat. “I—I don’t want them to lead to other things.”

  He stared at her a moment then asked, “Does your definition of other things include what you and Cord never got around to doing?”

  She bit her lip and tried not to look at him. “Yes.”

  After a brief pause he said, “Dana?”

  The way he said her name only forced her to look at him. “Yes?”

  “Why does the thought of making love to me bother you?” he asked softly.

  She felt a tiny pull in the pit of her stomach at the silky timbre in his voice. The thought of making love to him didn’t bother her but it did keep her constantly off balance and made her imagine some wild and purely wicked things. It also had her conscious of her sexual state more so than ever.

  She hadn’t slept with a man in almost four years. That fact hadn’t bothered her before. It had seldom crossed her mind. Now it did. She was experiencing wants and desires for the first time and had a feeling that a sexual experience with Jared would obliterate her long-standing belief that sex was highly overrated. She knew to ask for a purely platonic relationship would not be realistic. After all, she was a woman and he was a man unlike any other she’d ever known. He had a way of making her feel attractive, wanted and desired.

  The silence between them had stretched long enough and she knew that he deserved an answer. “It doesn’t bother me, Jared. It confuses me.”

  He didn’t say anything for a long moment, and then he said, “Although I want to share a physical relationship with you, would it help to give you my word that I won’t push you into doing anything you aren’t read y for?”

  She frowned. “That’s just it, Jared. How will I know when I’m read y for anything? All of this is rather new to me.”

  “You’ll know, Dana. You’ll know better than anyone,” he said softly. “I’d be telling a lie if I said I didn’t want you. Even now, I want you so bad I ache with the thought of having you. I’m not Luther Cord. But since our engagement is not the real thing, I won’t expect or assume anything. How far we take things will al ways be up to you.”

  “Thank you.”

  A warm shudder of awareness passed through them as well as an understanding and acceptance of their predicament. Jared recognized the depth of desire in her eyes al though he knew she did not.

  A part of him wanted to curse the two fools that had made her think that lovemaking wasn’t worth losing sleep over. There was no doubt in his mind that if he ever made love to her, sleep wouldn’t be involved. just constant pleasure, gratification and enjoyment all night long.

  “And as far as the kisses,” he said. “They can be dangerous but necessary. Engaged couples do kiss, so a certain degree of open affection will be expected. And al though we don’t have to kiss when we’re alone, I enjoy kissing you and hope you enjoy kissing me, as well. But i
f you prefer that—”

  “Kissing is fine,” she interrupted. “Now that we have an understanding. Like you said earlier in the car, our pretended engagement is only temporary.”

  The drive back to her job was done mostly in silence. There really wasn’t a whole lot left to be said. They under stood each other and the situation they were in.

  “Here’s the new ring,” he said, when he parked the car in front of her office building and she’d unsnapped her seat belt.

  She accepted the gray velvet box and opened it up. He heard the gasp that escaped her lips and watched as she blinked then blew out a long whistle. “Wow!” She quickly looked over at him. “Don’t you think this is a bit too much?” She took it out of the box and slipped it on her finger. It was a perfect fit.

  Jared’s mouth tilted into a smile. For some reason he liked seeing that ring on her finger instead of the one Luther had given her. “No. If I’m going to convince my family there was a good reason for me to change rings then seeing is believing. I’ll just tell them that I saw this one and thought it would look better on your hand. They’ll buy that story.”

  Dana nodded. Anyone would. Jared hadn’t just given her a ring, he had given her a rock. It had to be the most beautiful ring she had ever seen and the de sign was unique. She knew it most have cost him a fortune. Of course she’d return it when their fake engagement was over. She held her hand out in front of her. “It’s simply beautiful, Jared.”

  Smiling at her, Jared reached out and captured her hand in his and brought it up to his lips. “I’m glad you like it.”

  Dana swallowed when he re leased her hand. Jared kissing her hand had been totally unexpected and she felt a sizzle all the way to her toes.

  “Now I have a question for you,” he said quietly before she could gather her wits.

  “What?”

  “Are those two people friends of yours? They have been standing there and staring at us ever since I pulled up.”

  Dana followed his gaze and saw Mary Bonner and Helen Fisher standing at the en trance of the building, pretending to be engaged in deep conversation. “They’re co-workers, not friends, and two of the biggest gossips in the building.”

  A mischievous glint appeared in Jared’s eyes. “Then how about if we gave them something to gossip about.”

  Dana smiled. She knew where he was coming from al though she also knew his plan included another kiss. But they had said at lunch that engaged couples were expected to publicly display a certain degree of affection. And if she was totally honest, she wanted to feel his lips against hers again. “Okay.”

  Dana’s breath hitched when Jared reached over and nearly pulled her out of the seat into his lap and captured her mouth with his. Her body respond instinctively. The kiss was soft, gentle, slow and hot. It was also thorough—so methodically complete that she felt blood race all the way down to her toes. Kiss number three was everything the last two had been and more. He was making her concentrate on his taste and the slow build up of desire that was flowing through her. His tongue tangled with hers and she felt desire and urgency consuming him and overtaking her, as well. His hard shaft was pressed against her stomach and she knew for him to have gotten that aroused meant they were definitely putting on a show.

  He slowly pulled back and she placed her hands against his muscled chest as she tried to re store her breathing to a normal pattern. Her in sides felt like mush and heat, and an intensity she had never felt before settled smack between her legs.

  “So…do you think that worked?” he asked, lowering his head to lightly taste the sides of her mouth while placing her back in her seat.

  His breath was warm, his tongue moist and her control was steadily slip ping. “Yes,” she said, barely able to get the single word out. “I’m sure they won’t be able to stop talking about us.”

  Five

  Lanterns furnished a translucent glow to the Westmorelands’ backyard. Chairs and tables were assembled in front of the lake and an area had been cleared for dancing. There was the mouthwatering smell of ribs and chicken cooking over charcoal, and a huge tent covered a number of tables that were loaded with all kinds of delectable foods.

  In addition to Jared’s brothers and cousins, former classmates and friends had been invited to the cook out. Dana sighed as she glanced around. She had been introduced to everyone as Jared’s fiancée and when asked when the wedding would take place she would smile and say they hadn’t set a date, but doubted it would be any time that year.

  “I can certainly see why Jared preferred this ring,” Madison was saying, pulling Dana’s attention back to the conversation around her. Jared had been right. His family had accepted the reason he’d given about the change in rings with out question.

  “It certainly makes a statement, doesn’t it?” Tara inserted. “It’s such a beautiful ring. The other one was really nice but this one is more like Jared.”

  Dana was about to ask Tara what she meant when Jared’s mother appeared by her side smiling. “Are you enjoying your self, Dana?”

  Dana returned the older woman’s smile. “Yes, and thanks for inviting me.”

  “No thanks needed. You’re family now.”

  Dana nodded. She hated deceiving the older woman.

  “You’ve been Jared’s best-kept secret. Not once did he let on that he was seeing anyone seriously, in fact I assumed the opposite. For the longest time he claimed that he would never marry. That just goes to show what can happen when a person falls in love. And it’s plain to see that he’s fall en hard,” Sarah added, chuckling. “He hasn’t taken his eyes off you all evening. I’ve never seen him this attentive to anyone before, and I’m supremely happy about it.”

  The thought crossed Dana’s mind that continuing that “supreme happiness” was the only reason Jared had propositioned her to take part in this sham of an engagement. She wondered why that had her feeling oddly let down.

  “What do you think of Jared’s theater room?” Jayla asked a few minutes later when the topic had switched from Dana and Jared to the movies that were now playing at the theaters.

  Dana looked puzzled, not knowing what Jayla was talking about but knowing it was something that she should. “His theater room?”

  Shelly grinned. “You mean he hasn’t told you about all the remodeling he’s done? When was the last time you were over at his place?”

  Dana didn’t know what to say. To say that she had never been to Jared’s house would definitely seem odd. She opened her mouth to make something up when suddenly Jared materialized by her side. He leaned over and kissed whatever lie she was about to fabricate off her lips.

  “Come dance with me, sweet heart.” He glanced over at his mother and his female cousins. “Excuse us for a moment,” he said before leading Dana off to the make shift dance floor.

  Taking her into his arms he looked down at her. Holding her close, he liked the feel of her breasts against his chest and the perfect fit of her body against his. “Was my rescue quick enough?” he asked, smiling and searching her face. He wished they were alone so he could end the torture and kiss her the way he’d thought of doing all evening. “I was on my way over to get you when I heard Jayla’s question about my theater room.”

  Dana tilted her face up, and chuckled quietly. “Yes, you were quick enough. It would have seemed awfully odd for me not to know about your house. Is there something I should know about this room so when the next person asks I can be pre pared?”

  Jared lightly skimmed his fingers down her bare arm. He felt her shiver and liked the fact that he had caused it. But then, she was causing things to happen to him as well—like the unbearable ache that was building in his groin. He wanted her, and with their bodies so close, there was no way she wasn’t aware of his aroused state. “I like watching old movies and I’ve in stalled a state-of-the-art home theater system, the latest in plasma technology. The sound sys tem is three times clearer than in a movie theater.” In truth, he didn’t want to talk about his
theater room. What he really wanted to do was nudge Dana’s body even closer to his, latch on to her mouth, ignore everyone around them as he kissed her crazy.

  Dana smiled up at him. “Umm, I’m impressed.”

  It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her that besides being impressed she was also hot. Her heat was burning him, further arousing him and making him want her even more. He had to give her a lot of credit. She knew how to make a statement in anything and everything she put on her body. Tonight she was wearing a V-neck green dress that stopped just above her knees. The way the dress hugged her curves showed just what a small waist and well-toned bottom she had. Her out fit had been murdering his senses ever since he had picked her up and was still killing them. He stifled a groan. Dana Rollins was subtle, but provocatively sexy.

  “I think it’s time you visited my home so you won’t be left in the lurch again. I’d love to fix dinner for you at my place,” he said, leaning down and caressing her lips with his. He looked for any reason to kiss her and didn’t mind performing for an audience. At least that’s what he tried to convince himself. But he knew he wasn’t performing, liking the feel of her mouth against his. He couldn’t wait to get her alone.

  She gave a soft laugh as she gazed up at him. “Can you cook?”

  He grinned. He was on a low simmer even now. “Yes. So what about this weekend?”

  Her smile faltered. “I’ll be going away this weekend, to Brunswick. Saturday is my mother’s birthday and I want to put flowers on her grave.”

  His gaze focused on her eyes and he saw that the sparkle had gone. He had also heard the sadness in her voice and knew going back to where her parents were buried would be hard on her. “My thoughts will be with you this weekend,” he said softly. He pulled her close against him. Moments later he asked, “What about dinner at my place the week after you return?”

  She looked up at him and smiled. Knowing he would be thinking of her this weekend touched her. “I’d love to,” she said just as the music ended.