Tempting Jane
(The Rochester Sisterhood Series, Bk #1)
By Monica Burns
By Monica Burns
Blurb:
When the perfect staffing storm hits Jane Rochester’s temp agency, she winds up being Lincoln Chandler’s assistant for a week. Jane doesn’t do office romance, and her last relationship was one-sided. But one hot kiss from Lincoln changes everything. Now she has to decide if it’s love at first sight or just a fiery physical attraction.
Lincoln Chandler’s been focused on building his real estate development firm into a Fortune 500 company. He wasn’t looking for a relationship—particularly when his last girlfriend married Lincoln’s biggest competitor and took proprietary information with her in the bargain. But Jane Rochester is an undeniable force of nature, and the heat between them might be more than just a few hot nights in the bedroom.
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With a quick nod, Jane hurried back to the alcove
outside Lincoln’s office. She set her coffee on the desk then moved quickly
toward the open doorway. She’d barely had one foot over the threshold, when a
hard body slammed into hers. Stumbling backward, Jane felt herself falling
before strong arms wrapped around her waist. In a quick move, Lincoln turned
them so they were braced against the wall that served as a break between the
main administration area and the desk.
Caught between a solidly built male body and the
wall, heat streaked its way through her blood as she breathed in his clean,
outdoor scent. The frantic beat of her heart pounded loudly in her ears as she
remained frozen against him. When he didn’t move right away, her breathing grew
ragged.
“You okay?” The husky note in his voice sent a
frisson dancing across her skin as she looked up into a pair of silvery-blue
eyes. Every part of her was alive with sensation.
“Yes, I’m sorry—”
“Nothing to be sorry about. I shouldn’t have come
barreling out of the office like that. I’m just glad you didn’t end up on the
floor.”
When he didn’t, move, Jane’s heartbeat increased its
pace like an out-of-control train heading for derailment. Something fiery
flashed in his gaze as she wet her dry lips. The heat scraping across her
senses left her feeling raw and exposed in a way that wasn’t unpleasant, but it
was definitely unsettling. Her breathing became ragged as his head dropped
slightly.
Oh God, he was going to kiss her. The moment the
thought penetrated her consciousness, she instantly knew she wanted him to.
Anticipation flooded her body as she drew in a sharp breath. A moment later her
body screamed its objection as Lincoln pushed himself away from her until they
were an arm’s length apart. The instant his heat left her body, Jane found
herself wishing he hadn’t moved.
Jane didn’t know whether to sob or throw up. The man
was making an understatement when he’d said that today had been a bad day for
her. Mistakes happened. She knew that, and she was far from perfect, no matter
how much she tried to be. But today? She couldn’t remember ever having a
meltdown on the monumental scale this day had become. The urge to cry made her
blink as she pushed back the tears. She had zero intention of making herself
look even more unprofessional than she already had today. Jane swallowed the
ball of tears lodged in her throat.
“I’m not sure what to say except I’m sorry, which is
sounding far too repetitive,” she whispered.
“Accidents happen. It can be fixed.”
The matter-of-fact response created a large crack in
the fragile shell of control she’d encased herself in. The man was being kind,
and that wasn’t helping her keep it together. She’d come into Chandler
Enterprises this morning expecting Lincoln Chandler to be an ass. Instead, he
was turning out to be a nice guy. Never in her life had she been so eager to
see a day disappear into oblivion.
Unwilling to speak for fear of becoming a blubbering
idiot, Jane concentrated on getting him to his appointment. As if understanding
her need to drive in silence, he didn’t speak until she took the exit off of
the interstate. Quietly, he directed her to their destination off of route
sixty. A large navigator was parked on the side of the gravel road Jane turned
onto several moments later. She parked in front of the realtor’s car, and shut
off the engine. Hands still on the steering wheel, Jane shot a quick look at
the man beside her.
“Do you need me to go with you?”
“It’s not necessary, but the fresh air will wake you
up. You look like you’re about to fall asleep at the wheel.” His words sent
images of a horrific car wreck flooding through her head, and Jane nodded.
“Fresh air is definitely a good idea.”
Without waiting for a response, Jane opened her car
door and stepped into a sizeable patch of thick mud. Staring down at her shoe
embedded in the mud, Jane sat there dumbstruck. The absurdity of it all had her
wavering between laughter and tears. Lincoln had already left the car, and she
heard him utter an oath beneath his breath as he squatted next to her foot.
“Hold on, Cinderella.”
A warm hand cupped the back of her calf as he eased
her foot out of her shoe. There was something intimate about the action, and
the air left her lungs as electricity streaked up her leg. It spiraled through
her with a strength of an out-of-control wildfire until her thundering
heartbeat was ringing loudly in her ears. His hand still on the back of her
leg, Lincoln cradled her foot in his hand and gently urged her to swing her leg
back into the car. With a small tug Lincoln pulled the ruined shoe from the
mud. What had been a sensible, serviceable pump would have to be tossed. She’d
never be able to get the mud out of the black suede material.
“You haven’t pissed off a gypsy recently, have you?”
Lincoln said wryly as he lifted up the shoe to examine it. “I’m beginning to
think you’re cursed.”
“I have a pair of tennis shoes in the back. I’ll
just—”
“Nope, you’re staying here. Turn on the stereo, roll
down the windows, lean back and close your eyes. I shouldn’t be too long.”
Lincoln’s expression dared her to argue with him,
but she was more than happy to follow his instructions. He shut her car door
then opened the rear door to place the mud-soaked shoe in the floor board of
the back seat. Hands braced on the roof of the car, he stared down at her for a
moment.
“Your eyes aren’t closed.” Despite the lazy,
seductive note in his voice, it was still a command.
He arched an arrogant eyebrow at her, and Jane
obediently closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the headrest. The
scent of honeysuckle brushed across her senses, and something like the kiss of
a butterfly caressed her cheek.
“Did my evil plan to make you tipsy succeed?” He
teased. A look of annoyed disgust crossed her face.
“No, it’s these damn shoes. I told Bess I’d fall and
break my neck in these things.”
“Maybe your sister figured I’d be around to catch
you?”
“Someone did mention that actually.” She nodded as
she pushed away from him slightly to glance down at the stilettos that showed
off her sleek, well-toned legs to perfection. “Although I don’t think that’s
why they call them—”
Jane abruptly stopped speaking as color flooded her
cheeks. The embarrassment on her face told Lincoln exactly what she’d been
about to say. He bent his head and brushed his lips across hers.
“No, that’s not why they call them that,” he said
huskily. “Come on, let me take you home so you can get out of those shoes.”
Color still high in her cheeks, she averted her gaze
from his and nodded. Keeping his arm wrapped around her waist, he guided Jane
out of the restaurant. In too short a time span for his liking, Lincoln was
pulling into Jane’s driveway. He parked the car, and as Jane reached for the
passenger door handle. He forestalled her with a light touch on her arm.
“Wait, let me help you. I don’t want you falling in
those shoes,” he said with a smile that she returned.
In the back of his head a voice suggested a
different act altogether. He ignored it as he quickly reached the passenger
side to help her climb out. He shut the car door and walked with her up the
sidewalk to the front of the house. Jane reached into her purse to produce a
key.
“It was a lovely evening,” she said softly as she
unlocked the front door. “Thank you.”
“I enjoyed it too,” Lincoln murmured as he brushed a
stray strand of hair off her cheek. “Does this mean you’ll go out with me
tomorrow night?”
“I’d like that,” she whispered as she leaned forward
and lightly kissed him.
It had the sweetness of cotton candy. Despite every
urge to do so, he didn’t try to deepen their kiss. He wanted to let her set the
pace of their relationship. As she pushed her front door open, Samson bolted between
her legs on his way outside. The result was Jane stumbling backward over the
threshold. Lincoln lunged forward and saved her from hitting the floor.
Soft curves pressed into his body as he straightened
upright. The living room was dark, but there was a soft light filtering its way
out of the hallway. It made Jane’s features even more beautiful. Green eyes
wide in her face, her tongue flicked out to wet her lip. The unconscious act
was so erotic in nature that Lincoln was hard in an instant.
Unable to stop himself, he lowered his head and
slanted his mouth over hers. A soft sigh escaped her, which gave his tongue
access to the hot taste of her mouth. Maple sugar lingered on her tongue as his
mated with hers. With each stroke of his tongue against hers, his body hardened
with a rising tension that was driving all rhyme and reason from his head.
Stretched hard and tight in his trousers, his cock
ached in a way that was painful and pleasurable at the same time. The longer he
kissed her the harder he got. Her hands slid along the lapels of his coat as
she eased the jacket off his shoulders in an urgent motion. He released her for
the briefest of moments to toss the coat aside and push the front door closed.
Hot and sweet, her mouth tantalized his in a way
that emphasized he’d been right about dessert. Her lips were the sweetest
delicacy he’d had in a long time. He cupped her buttocks and tugged her tight
against his body. A quiet gasp escaped her before she shifted her hips against
his in a sensual move that almost undid him. One hand slid down over a full and
lush thigh as he memorized the gentle curvature of her. It made him ache to
touch the soft skin beneath the dress.
At his touch, she pressed her hips harder into his
in a clear invitation. He deepened their kiss and pulled one side of the
snug-fitting dress upward to give him access to the silky feel of her skin
against the pads of his fingers. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d
experience such an intense arousal at the simple sensation of a woman’s skin
beneath his hand. Lace curled around her hip, and she jerked against him the
moment his forefinger slipped inside the narrow band of material. She broke
their kiss to slide her mouth across his jaw to tug at his ear with her teeth.
The nip shot a bolt of pleasure through him that rocked his body.
“Oh, God, Lincoln, please. Touch me.” The throaty
whisper made his heart thunder in his ears.
About The Author
A bestselling author of spicy historical and paranormal romance, Monica Burns penned her first short romance story at the age of nine when she selected the pseudonym she uses today. Her historical book awards include the 2011 RT BookReviews Reviewers Choice Award and the 2012 Gayle Wilson Heart of Excellence Award for Pleasure Me. She is also the recipient of the prestigious paranormal romance award, the 2011 PRISM Best of the Best award for Assassin’s Heart. From the days when she hid her stories from her sisters to her first completed full-length manuscript, she always believed in her dream despite rejections and setbacks. A workaholic wife and mother, Monica believes it’s possible for the good guy to win if they work hard enough.
Connect with Monica at
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