with this game, and if she didnât melt not only would Pace back off from now on, but her curiosity in that department would also be satisfied. Sheâd wanted to sample more intimate contact with Pace without the risk of embarrassing herself. This was her chance. It didnât mean she had to go any further if she didnât want to.
Or he didnât.
After a deliberating moment she nodded, and let him place her palm on his chest.
Immediately a delicious buzz sped through her body. Her insides contracted and her eyes drifted shut.
Heat.
Rock.
Veryâ¦veryâ¦niceâ¦
She heard her own sigh and, caught out, let her eyes fly open. He was looking down at her, completely in control. Annoyingly superior. What must it feel like to know you were just that good?
Snatching her hand away, she hoisted up her chin and croaked, âSatisfied?â
âWeâre not finished.â
His roughened hands caught both of hers and held them firmly against his hard chest again. His piercing gaze seemed to search her soul. âNow put your cheek on mine.â
A world of alarm bells went off.
âI canât ,â she cried while his hot hands kneaded hers.
Could she? Should she?
âGive me one reason why not,â he said, a hypnotic smile shining in his eyes.
âYouâreâ¦â She licked her lips again while her heartbeat boomed. Finally she murmured, âYouâre too tall.â
He grinned. Bent lower. âYour cheek, Phoebe. Here on mine.â
His deep voice vibrated beyond her fingers, booming a breathless path through the channels of her mind and her body. Sheâd come this far. If she didnât go further, even a little, she would always wonder.
Carefully she craned her neck. Her face touched his, that wonderful scent spilled through her system, the tips of her fingers tingled and the room began a slow spin.
Eyelids growing heavy, she instinctively rubbed her cheek up. He, in response, grazed his down. She dissolved as a smouldering pulse leapt to life between her legs and dragged another sigh from her throat.
Sandpaper scuffed near her ear when his chin dipped around. Noses brushedâonce, twiceâbefore his slightly parted lips dusted hers. Overtaken by sensation, she trembled to her socks when his deep, rich voice hummed against her left temple.
âIâm right about this, Phoebe. Right about us.â
The moist, heaven-sent kiss that lingered on her brow dropped an airy veil of longing upon her shoulders. He moved back and she trembled, waiting for those lips. Waiting for that kiss. Waitingâ¦
Waiting?
Her eyes shot open, and the wonderful fuzzy feeling evaporated like six p.m. cocktails.
The door was wide open, but Pace, and his leather jacket, were gone.
CHAPTER THREE
B Y A quarter to twelve the following day, SLAMM had finished its Saturday morning recording.
The floor manager was ushering out the chattering audience. Overhead, banks of lights were fading down. Soon the crew would disassemble and move the set to scenery. And in the back row of the bleachers a patient Pace Davis sat and watched and waited.
Out of sight, anxious and hidden in the wings, Phoebe curled her fingers around the studio floor curtain and rolled her teeth over her bottom lip. She hadnât noticed until halfway through the morning that Pace had followed up on his suggestion of the day before. Heâd come in to see for himself how a television show was recorded, and had left her seriously off balance in the process.
When she hadnât been in front of the camera sheâd watched him from the wings, as she did now. Was it her imagination? Or had he indeed been distracted a great deal of the time, absorbed in his thoughts, and not pleasant ones. But whenever their gazes had meshed over the heads of the energised audience crowd, his vibrancy had faded back up and her limbs had turned to jelly. Amazing. Even in this very public environment,surrounded by