Take This Man by Nona Raines

letting his
dick—and his heart—lead the way. But from now on his head—the big one—was in
charge. He’d fucked things up with her two years ago. Now he had a chance to
make things right. Starting now, he was going to do everything in his power to
win her back for good.

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter
Eight
     
    “Well,
I can’t say I’m surprised,” Jason remarked when Elyse returned to the hotel
later that day and informed him she was staying with Adam for the rest of their
visit.
    “You
don’t have to be so damn smug about it,” she grumbled, as she flopped onto his
bed.
    “Leelee,
it’s obvious you still have feelings for the man.” He sank into the armchair
near the bed.
    “Sexual
feelings, that’s all.”
    “Oh,
really?” Jason looked at her in the obnoxiously supercilious way he sometimes
had.
    She
gritted her teeth. “Yes.”
    “And
I suppose you think by doing this, you’ll somehow work him out—or should I say
fuck him out—of your system?”
    “Don’t
be crude.” Elyse turned up her nose. She could be supercilious, too.
    He
laughed. “Oh, but I’m right on the money, aren’t I?”
    That
was the trouble with best friends—they knew you too well. It was annoying.
    Still,
Jason wasn’t wrong.
    She
would never be able to trust Adam— really trust him—again. Though she’d
agreed to stay with him, a hard kernel of anger still lay buried in her heart.
Nonetheless, the pull between the two of them was strong, as strong as it had
ever been. Elyse was caught between her anger and her lust. Maybe spending the
next few days with Adam would free her. Maybe she really could fuck him
out of her system.
    “Well,
good luck,” Jason told her, again reading her mind.
    She
stuck out her tongue at him. “Just be glad you don’t have to pay for a second
hotel room anymore.”
    “You
think I care about that?” Jason shook his head with a sigh. “Leelee, when are
you going to face facts? You are ass over teakettle in love with the man. That’s
the problem. Sex, darling, you can get anywhere, from anyone. It’s that old
black magic’s got you in its spell…”
    “Uh-oh,
he’s gonna start singing now.”
    “No,
I’ll spare you. But be careful. You think you’re taking the easy road. You
might be fooling yourself.”
    That
got her back up. “I could say the same to you.”
    Jason’s
shoulders stiffened.
    A
little devil made Elyse ask, “How are things with you and Coop, anyway?”
    His
gaze darted away. “Things are…progressing…”
    Her
radar went off. “What’s that mean?”
    “Debra’s
stalling.” Jason’s handsome features turned morose. “She wants them to have
another go at counseling.”
    “Well,
for God’s sake, why doesn’t he come clean with the poor woman and tell her he’s
gay? It’s so fucking unfair, the way he’s playing the both of you—”
    “Stop
it,” he told her harshly. But it wasn’t the tone of Jason’s voice that shut Elyse
up. It was the pain she saw in his eyes.
    He
must have realized how naked his expression was, because he looked away. “You
don’t hear me bad-mouthing your lover-boy, do you?” His voice was less rough
now as he tried to calm himself.
    “No.
I’m sorry.” She wasn’t sorry because her remarks were untrue. Rather, she was
sorry they were true, and Jason knew it. The last thing Elyse wanted was
to rub salt in his wound.
    She
leaned forward and took his hand, pressing it for comfort. “I guess I don’t
understand. How can you still want him, after the way he hurt you?”
    He
let go a sigh. “I love him. That’s why. Couldn’t you forgive Adam?”
    The
question was moot. Adam didn’t want forgiveness. He wanted an interlude of hot
sex and no strings, which was fine with Elyse. Sex was all she wanted, too.
    Still
the question niggled at her. Could she forgive Adam, if it came to that?
    She
had no answer.
    ****
    That
evening Adam had a surprise for her.
    “Well,
this is different.” Elyse watched as he opened the